Johann Schmidt

Johann Schmidt was the founder and commanding officer of HYDRA, a special weapons division of the Nazi Schutzstaffel. A brilliant scientist in his own right, he fought his way through the ranks of Nazi elite to become a confidant of Adolf Hitler himself. However, his ambition to become the superior man led him to test the Super Soldier Serum on himself which transformed him into the horrifying Red Skull. After gaining possession of the mystical Tesseract and its unimaginable power, he decided to turn his back on the Third Reich and rule the world alone. However, as World War II raged, his plans would be challenged by the only Allied super soldier,Captain America.

Towards the end of the war, Nazi Germany and HYDRA fell, Schmidt attempted to use the Tesseract to defeat Steve Rogers but accidentally opened a worm hole which pulled him through and banished him into open space... presumably killing him.