Captain America's shield is impenetrable. It absorbs any and all kinetic energy that impacts it, thus protecting its wielder, but it's not without limits.
In the people with those kinds of abilities are far and few. With that in mind, here are 15 Characters Who Have Broken Captain America's Shield.
15. Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom is not only Fantastic Four villain, Doctor Doom has had some quality run-ins with the Avengers over the years. One of those run-ins was during Marvel's massive limited series crossover event in the mid-'80s: Secret Wars.
Masterminded by then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, Secret Wars features several superhero teams and supervillains, including Doctor Doom, as well as the cosmic entity Beyonder (who was, at the time, portrayed as being the most powerful villain in the Marvel Universe). In the story arc, the Beyonder transports Earth's mightiest heroes and supervillains to the distant planet Battleworld to, quite literally, battle each other, with the promise that whoever wins will be granted whatever their heart desired.
At one point in the story, Doctor Doom steals the Beyonder's godlike power and then later uses it to incinerate the remaining heroes - all 21 of them - and the only image we're left with is Captain America's shield, broken, lying in the wreckage. But we're talking about comics here, a medium in which no one really stays dead, and an iconic object like Captain America's shield cannot remain broken.
14. Thanos
During Jim Starlin's famed 1991 miniseries Infinity Gems - Power, Mind, Soul, Time, Space, and Reality. By putting the Gauntlet on, Thanos becomes omnipotent, a seemingly unstoppable force.
After Thanos wipes out half of all sentient life in the universe (simply by snapping his fingers), Adam Warlock leads Earth's surviving heroes in an attack on the Mad Titan - which results in a catastrophic failure. In a last ditch effort, Captain America battles Thanos head-on, but with one swift blow, Thanos shatters Cap's shield. Could this be what Tony Stark saw in his nerve-racking dream (premonition?) in Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron?
Marvel Studios has been Avengers: Infinity War.
13. Molecule Man
Very few characters in the Marvel Universe can damage, let alone break, Captain America's shield, but with a character like Molecule Man, whose power is controlling virtually the entire multiverse (because, you know, everything has molecules), it's not that difficult to destroy the Captain's most prized possession.
With his powers, Molecule Man can be considered one of the most powerful supervillains in the multiverse, something he proved when he battled the Avengers in the All the Ways of Power story arc. In The Avengers #215 comic, the Molecule Man's wand attempts to enslave the Silver Surfer's body, but fails to do so, and instead recreates Molecule Man. When confronted by the Avengers, the supervillain does what he does best - destroy his enemies' weapons.
However, Molecule Man does not only disintegrate Cap's shield, but he also destroys Thor's hammer Mjolnir, Iron Man's armor suit, and the Silver Surfer's board - three things that are virtually indestructible. He later agrees to reassemble everything, except for because its advanced circuitry is too much for Molecule Man to comprehend.
12. Sentinels
Similar to what we saw happen in the future timeline in Bryan Singer's the Sentinels were once dispatched by the U.S. government to eradicate the world of mutants. It was a genocide on the largest scale possible, and that didn't sit right with the mighty Captain America, who embraces his morality above all else.
With the virtually all of the mutants gone, including the X-Men, many of whom were Steve Rogers' friends and allies, the surviving heroes on Earth sought to avenge their comrades and took the fight to the Sentinels. But just like what happened with the mutants, the Sentinels adapted to the powers and heroes they faced. Captain America, with all his brute strength and high morale, never stood a chance. He was quickly defeated by the Sentinels, and all that remained was an image of his shield, with a piece broken off.
11. Hyperion
There have been a number of alternate Earths and timelines in the Marvel Universe, which contain alternate versions of heroes and villains. One of those villains was Hyperion, who became commonly known as the God-Emperor. Years before his meeting with Steve Rogers, King Hyperion once ruled an Earth where the populace rebelled. Those rebels eventually brought about a nuclear holocaust resulting in the death of every human the planet, with the exception of Hyperion himself. After spending years alone on Earth-4023, King Hyperion was later saved and given Storm's position on the dimension-hopping team Weapon X.
As leader of Weapon X, Hyperion sought to conquer all the alternate Earths in the multiverse with the help of alternate versions of Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel. But he was met with some resistance by of the Avengers, namely Captain America, who tried to prevent Hyperion from taking over his planet, Earth-4400. Unfortunately, the Captain failed his mission - at the cost of his own life - as well as his shield, which cracked in the aftermath.
10. Thor
Before teaming up to take down Loki in Joss Whedon's The Avengers, Thor, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers had a little spat in the woods, where the God of Thunder attempted to break Captain America's shield with Mjolnir. But he was not strong enough, and all they did was cause an explosion destroying everything in their nearby vicinity.
If Thor wanted to damage Captain America's frisbee-like shield, he would require greater strength (or magic) in order to do so - and that is where the Odinforce comes in; an ancient force fueled by the combined powers of Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve. Upon Odin's death, the Odinforce ed on to Thor, who assumed the mantle of King of Asgard.
Empowered with the ancient force, an infuriated Thor struck Cap's shield with all his might which resulted in nothing more than a minor dent. But being the good comrade he is, Thor used Mjolnir to pound out the dent, as one would do with a friend's car.
9. King Thor
No, this is not a double entry. In one timeline, Thor managed to acquire enough power merely to dent Captain America's shield, but in another, alternate timeline Thor succeeded in performing a feat no other Avenger has been able to do: break Cap's shield.
When Thor became King of Asgard, he sought to be more involved in the lives of mortals - including humans, which is why King Thor had Asgard moved to earth, specifically above New York City. Essentially, Thor became a god to humans. That didn't sit well with the U.S. government, so in retaliation to King Thor's growing totalitarianism, Captain America and Earth's mightiest heroes attacked the former Avenger.
But with the power of the Odinforce, combined with Rune Magic, King Thor was virtually unstoppable. And when Captain America attacked him, he destroyed the Captain's shield, killing him in the process. However, all of this was later erased from the timeline when King Thor traveled back in time and prevented it all from happening.
8. The Serpent
Captain America's shield has been both dented and broken by Thor, but there is one other Asgardian that also holds the rare honor of breaking the good Captain's shield: Serpent, the God of Fear; who also happens to be the brother of Odin and, therefore, the uncle of Thor.
In the 2011 crossover event Fear Itself (a reference to a quote by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt), the Serpent is freed from his underwater prison by Sin, the daughter of Red Skull, and subsequently begins his campaign to usurp the throne from Odin and assume his "rightful" position as the All-Father. Unfortunately for him, he is met with some resistance from the Avengers, namely Iron Man and Captain America.
When the Captain confronts the Serpent by throwing his shield at him, the god of fear does something no one has been able to do (not without some form of magic, at least): he caught the shield, raised it over his head, and broke it in half with his bare hands. But, again, we're talking about comics here and Captain America's shield never stays broken. With some help from Tony Stark and the Asgardian metalsmith Uru, Cap's shield is fully restored, albeit with a distinguishable scar.
7. Loki
Loki, the God of Mischief and Thor's brother, is the third Asgardian on this list who has damaged or broken Captain America's shield, but he's the only character on this list who has destroyed the shield in a TV series rather than a comic book. In the season one finale of Disney XD's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon, the Avengers launch a final attack against Loki in Asgard as the other eight realms were lost.
Unlike in comic books and live-action movies, the rules are somewhat lenient in cartoons, which is why Loki was able to use his magic - enhanced with the power of Odinforce - to shatter Cap's shield, all while mocking him. But when Thor used the Odinforce in the comics, he barely dented the shield - and he's a god of war! Of course, Captain America's shield cannot remain broken, and with the help of Black Panther, the Captain's shield is reconstructed using a Wakandan vibranium machine.
6. Gregory Stark
In 2000, Marvel Comics launched the Ultimate Marvel Universe which saw re-imagined and updated versions of iconic characters, such as Spider-Man, Thor, and Iron Man. Many characters received varied origin stories, while others received new powers. For Iron Man, though, things were a little different. The writers took this opportunity to introduce a new character into the Iron Man comics and Avengers team: Gregory Stark, Tony Stark's older brother and a charter member of the new Project Avengers.
Things remained largely the same for Captain America, with one notable difference: his cherished shield was no longer made out of vibranium from Wakanda, but rather out of pure adamantium (the same metal Wolverine's claws are comprised of). After a civil war between the Ultimates and the Avengers, seemingly orchestrated by Gregory Stark, Nick Fury and the remaining Avengers confronted Stark, whose nanites imbued him with superhuman strength. And with the help of the New Ultimates, the Avengers eventually defeated the elder Stark brother, but not before Gregory destroyed Captain America's shield.