Doctor Abraham Erskine was a German born scientist noted for his work in developing a serum to enhance human strength and abilities to superhuman levels. Erskine's work coincided with the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism in Germany along with Nazi Germany's early attempts to breed Superior Men via racial eugenics. When Doctor Erskine refused to cooperate with the Nazis, Hitler sent Johann Schmidt the head of his research division HYDRA to force Doctor Erskine to finish the formula. Johann Schmidt coveted the formula for his own ends. Johann had heard legends of an ancient artifact attainable only to a superior man and believed Doctor Erskine's formula would make him that superior man. Johann Schmidt took an early version of the formula, which did indeed give him enhanced strength, but also demonstrated severe side effects. Johann Schmidt would lose his hair, his skin would turn a deep red, and his face and head would be deformed into a grotesque skull-like appearance. Doctor Erskine would later say the formula also amplified Schmidt's already malevolent personality as well. The Formula enhances the characteristics of the person in Doctor Erskine's words... "Good, becomes Great; Bad, becomes worse".