Cobra Commander

Cobra Commander

Cobra Commander is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe franchise (specifically, the Real American Hero timeline). He appears in the toyline, animated series (the 1985 and 1989 incarnations and the Sigma 6 animated series), comic books, video games, and movie as the usual principal antagonist. The character was created by Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama and was loosely based on the James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Cobra Commander is set to appear in the live action G.I. Joe movie, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film is slotted for an August 2009 release date.

A Real American Hero

Character Overview

The following text appeared on the "File Card" Character Dossier which came with the original Cobra Commander action figure:

Absolute power! Total control of the world... its people, wealth, and resources - that's the objective of Cobra Commander. This fanatical leader rules with an iron fist. He demands total loyalty and allegiance. His main battle plan, for world control, relies on revolution and chaos. He personally led uprisings in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other trouble spots. Responsible for kidnapping scientists, businessmen and military leaders, then forcing them to reveal their top level secrets.

Cobra Commander is hatred and evil personified. Corrupt. A man without scruples. Most dictators and would-be Napoleon types are hampered by the need to pretend that they are pursuing a noble and just cause. Cobra Commander doesn't have that problem. This guy's in it for the money and the power, and if anybody else is interested in these things, they can pick up an assault rifle and get in line behind him.

Hasbro Action Figures

Vintage

Cobra Commander was first released as a mail-in figure in 1982. Wearing a light blue uniform and his signature Battle Helmet, early production runs were marked with a prototypical Cobra sigil, nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse" emblem for its overly round shape. In 1983, a swivel-arm version of this figure, with a proper Cobra sigil would be released on a card for mass market. In 1984, the Commander was offered again as a mail-away, this time in a darker blue, with the iconic hood that he wore prominently in the Marvel comics. This figure would continue to be available as a mail-away until the line ended in 1994.

In 1987, a new Cobra Commander figure was designed, this time outfitting him in full-body Battle Armor. Cobra Commander was given another overhaul in 1991, wearing a blue and black ceremonial uniform with an ornate redesign of his original Battle Helmet. Finally, in 1992, Hasbro released a Talking Battle Commander figure featuring a blue and yellow uniform inspired by the admiral's jacket and hood worn by Cobra Commander in the comics since Marvel #1. This figure was repainted in black, with silver accents, for 1993's Battle Corps subset. A 12" version of the Commander wearing the same uniform (blue with yellow accents) was released in 1993 as well.

Finally, Cobra Commander was suited up for Space Combat in 1994, as part of Star Brigade. Wearing a strange teal and purple spacesuit, the Commander's domed helmet was removable, revealing a masked head underneath. This face is the same as that which lay under the hood of the 12" figure, with dark hair, and a half mask covering his nose and mouth.

After the line was cancelled in 1994, Hasbro made several attempts to resurrect A Real American Hero through repaint series. In 1997, Cobra Commander was released as part of the "Cobra Command Team" 3-pack, utilizing the 1987 Battle Armor mold in a dark blue. In 2000, the Talking Battle Commander mold was repainted (sans talking backpack) in an even darker blue, with silver highlights, with a new character "Chameleon" (a Baroness dopplganger created to sidestep copyright problems). A second repaint of the 1987 figure was made available in 2001, in a muted version of its original color scheme.

Modern

In 2002, Hasbro reinvented G.I.Joe for the new millennium, and Cobra Commander was among the first to be redesigned. Once again sporting the iconic hood, the Commander was initially meant to wear a long flowing trenchcoat. After the more radical elements were removed (before production), the Commander emerges as one of the least extreme make-overs of the line. A second Commander figure was released for Spy Troops, featuring a more military look than the Commander has ever had before, and utilizing the Commander's signature Battle Helmet. This figure went on to be repainted multiple times in 2004's Valor vs. Venom line, including one version with an interchangeable helmet and hood.

A 12" Cobra Commander was released to coincide with the Spy Troops line, and it is based on the same design as its smaller counterpart.

25th Anniversary

2007 is the 25th Anniversary of the original launch of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero. To celebrate, Hasbro created three boxed sets of brand new figures, featuring modern sculpt and updated and increased articulation (including the replacement of GIJoe's trademark O-Ring construction). Cobra Commander is included in the two Cobra sets, along with Destro, Baroness, Storm Shadow, and a Cobra Trooper. The figure was repainted in black and gold for a second "Cobra Legions" 5-pack. Mirroring the vintage line, Cobra Commander was released with a hooded head sculpt in the first wave of single carded figures.

A second Cobra Commander sculpt, based on the 1987 Battle Armor figure, will be released in 2008.

Comic Series

Marvel (Volume 1)

Not much is known of Cobra Commander's past, but in his early career he was a used car salesman. While struggling to keep his business afloat, he learned that a car crash had taken the life of his older brother, Dan, who had been driving drunk. Embittered by this tragedy, Cobra Commander became obsessed with vindicating his brother's death. He took specific interest in the surviving son of the family killed in the accident with Dan. That man was the soldier now known as Snake-Eyes.

Cobra Commander managed to track Snake-Eyes to Japan, where he was training to become a member of the Arashikage ninja clan. The Commander hired a mercenary called Firefly to kill him, but Firefly soon realized he was no match for his target, instead referring Cobra Commander to another assassin, Zartan, who infiltrated the clan and shot at Snake-Eyes with an arrow stolen earlier from another ninja, Storm Shadow. Zartan used a sound amplification scope attached to a compound bow to hear his target's distinctive heartbeat, which was being mimicked by the Storm Shadow's uncle, the Hard Master, to test Snake-Eyes' powers of observation. As both Snake-Eyes and the Hard Master were obscured from Zartan's vision, the Hard Master was mistakenly stricken and killed by the arrow. Storm Shadow was blamed for the murder and fled in search of the killer.

Cobra Commander returned to his domestic life, but after his wife gave birth to a son, Billy, she found out about what had happened in Japan. He took the child and left his wife, becoming increasingly paranoid and blaming all his problems on "the system". He traveled across America with Billy, seeking out people who shared his desire to topple big business and the government, using money he had earned from pyramid schemes to attract followers.

He then moved to the town of Springfield, where the businesses were struggling and the population had become disillusioned with existing policy. He applied his influence to corrupt the township and eventually took control of it. Within the town, he established a clandestine terrorist group called Cobra. For reasons and in ways unknown, Billy leaves his father, and joins the anti-Cobra underground organization. Storm Shadow's search for his uncle's killer eventually led him to Cobra, which Storm Shadow joined, pledging loyalty to Cobra Commander as his personal bodyguard.

Cobra's agents spread throughout the world, overturning or subverting unstable third-world governments, and becoming an international threat. Eventually, Cobra became so large that Cobra Commander could no longer control it on his own and created a "High Command", which included Zartan, Baroness Anastasia DeCobray, the Scottish arms dealer James McCullen Destro, and Australian mercenary Major Sebastian Bludd. This dubious staffing led to frequent power-struggles within the organization and ultimately the Baroness and Major Bludd enacted a plot to assassinate the Commander.

In a twist of fate, they recruited Billy to carry out the assassination, but he was intercepted by Destro before he could accomplish his task. Cobra Commander had become such a rabid megalomaniac by this point that he had no qualms about torturing his own son, yet Billy refused to surrender any information identifying who had sponsored the hit. Such tenacity impressed Storm Shadow, so he freed Billy and they both escaped to New York, where Storm Shadow trained him in ninjitsu. Billy was later caught in the crossfire between the Soft Master (Storm Shadow's other uncle) and Cobra agent Scrap-Iron, when the car he was driving in exploded.

It was during this time that both Cobra Commander and Destro were trapped underground, presumed dead, and were forced to work together to make their way back to Cobra. Cobra Commander is shown here as an average-looking American with a beatnik image evinced by a pony tail, beret, green-spectacled sunglasses and a slender mustache — a motif that resurfaced on subsequent occasions when he was seen without his mask.

It was during this cross-country trek with Destro that Cobra Commander learned of Billy's fate: though he survived the explosion, he had lost a leg and an eye, and lay in a coma ever since. Unnerved by the tragedy, the Commander took responsibility for Billy's condition, and promised to be a better father. Seeking out the Crimson Guard Fred VII, a mechanical genius who built Billy a new robotic leg, the Commander set up shop in Denver, where Billy eventually awoke from the coma. Fitted with a mechanical prosthetic leg by Fred VII, Billy unwittingly stumbled upon the Blind Master (yet another Arashikage ninja) and Jinx (Storm Shadow's cousin). Seeing that Fred VII had constructed a suit of battle-armor for Cobra Commander, who was once again plotting to take over the world, Billy walked out on his father. The incident left Cobra Commander to reflect on the folly of his ways, but Fred VII was so angered to see his commander throwing away what he had dedicated his life toward that he shot Cobra Commander in the back, apparently killing him.

Unaware that he was being watched, Fred VII buried the body. It was exhumed by another Crimson Guardsman, Fred VIII, who discovered that Cobra Commander was not dead after all, and managed to revive him. With Fred VII masquerading as him in Cobra, the Commander began to form a new organization in secret. When Dr. Mindbender went to Cobra Commander's supposed grave to harvest DNA for the genetic creation of a new leader, he instead discovered the empty grave.

Cobra Commander took that opportunity to return to Cobra, this time even more maniacal than before, filled with rage and unwilling to harbor any traitors (real or perceived). His first act was to imprison those who had betrayed him: Fred VII, his partner Raptor, Firefly, Dr. Mindbender, Zartan, Billy, and numerous Cobra troops, all of whom he had buried alive within a volcano on Cobra Island. He relinquished all traces of morality and humanity, and rebuilt a new command infrastructure by instituting a brainwashing program to compel allegiance from those around him, including repeatedly brainwashing Destro, The Baroness, Zartan, Storm Shadow and Billy.

He also became much more willing to kill, even personally executing Borovian rebels Magda and the White Clown.

Devil's Due (Volume 2)

Among the few revisions Devil's Due instituted was the expansion of Cobra Commander's origin. After his brother's death, the future Commander sought out the surviving son of the family killed by Dan. He found the soldier, Snake-Eyes, at a bar, where the Commander saved him from an oncoming truck and the two became friends. They traveled from state to state, acting as vigilantes. One night, Cobra Commander took Snake-Eyes to the house of a corrupt Judge who he blamed for the hardships they had both experienced: years before, the judge had presided over a case involving Cobra Commander's brother Dan, who ran a veteran's hospital. The hospital had been burned down by a patient, but the judge ruled that it was insurance fraud; Dan lost everything and turned to drinking, which led to the crash that took his life and the lives of Snake-Eyes' family. Realizing where his anger had taken him, Snake-Eyes refused to kill the man and walked away. Cobra Commander killed the judge himself and vowed revenge against Snake-Eyes for having turned on him.

After the Marvel series ended, Cobra forces fell to a unified assault organized by the G.I. Joe leader, General Hawk. Cobra Commander managed to escape, becoming an international fugitive as the remnants of his organization retreated into hiding. He spent the next seven years sheltered in non-extradition countries, rebuilding his organization from the shadows.

By the time he had fully restored the terrorist group, however, he was usurped by Destro's illegitimate son, Alexander, who hoped to impress his father by eliminating his old rival and leading Cobra to victory. Alexander was defeated by the G.I. Joe team, and Cobra Commander was freed by Storm Shadow, retaking his organization soon after. He then proceeded to attack Destro, believing him responsible for Alexander's coup. Destro shortly cleared himself of such suspicions and offered to atone for Alexander's actions by serving Cobra again.

Cobra Commander quickly proved himself deadlier than ever, smuggling a nuclear warhead into the United States, and using a decoy ship as a means for Storm Shadow to infiltrate the G.I. Joe base and assassinate Hawk. Unfortunately, both plans ended in failure, with the Joes capturing the warhead and Snake Eyes arriving to stop Storm Shadow. (It is hinted that it was Storm Shadow himself who informed Snake Eyes of the assassination attempt.)

Not long after, Cobra Commander was betrayed by one of his own troops, the Dreadnok Zandar, who brought him to Cobra Island and presented him to his new leader, Serpentor. Serpentor's army, the COIL — which also included another Cobra traitor, Dr. Mindbender — struck out at the world. During their campaign, a group of Joes that included Snake-Eyes was captured and thrown in the same cell as Cobra Commander. The prisoners managed to escape along with Cobra Commander while G.I. Joe and Cobra attacked the island. The Commander came across Serpentor, who took him captive and ordered the Commander to remove his helmet. The Commander did so, handing it to Serpentor, but his face was still concealed by a balaclava worn beneath the helmet. Cobra Commander then activated an explosive in the helmet and landed a kick that sent Serpentor falling out a window to his seeming death.

Cobra Commander then contacted Storm Shadow, and together they sought out the Red Ninja Clan for protection. The two were tracked down by a G.I. Joe team but managed to escape while the Joes battled the Red Ninjas. Cobra Commander then made his way back to the U.S.

The Commander wasted no time in returning to Cobra Island, which Tomax and Xamot had bought back. Following Destro's capture by G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander led a rescue operation. During the operation, he managed to severely injure General Hawk, but was betrayed by the Baroness. It was revealed Destro had cut a deal with the U.N. in exchange for his freedom. The Commander would spend weeks in custody before being freed by the Dreadnoks. Zartan had traded places with Cobra Commander, allowing the Commander to learn Destro's true plans and watch as the Coil joined Cobra in the wake of Serpentor's death. In a swift coup, Cobra Commander regained his organization and appeared to kill the Baroness.

Destro had been after the Tempest, a device built by Dr. Mindbender that could seed clouds to cause rainfall. Once back in control of the Cobra and Coil forces, the Commander moved all Cobra personnel to the Monolith Base in Budakistan. The Coil forces were to remain on Cobra Island. The Jugglers had alerted Cobra to the U.S.'s plans to drop a nuke on the island. The entire Coil force was killed in the strike.

In Budakistan, Cobra Commander unleashed the Tempest, armed with a flesh eating bio-engineered virus known as "Deathangel" upon the country. A G.I. Joe team led by General Phillip Rey (Hawk's temporary replacement) managed to track Cobra to their new base, where they defeated Cobra forces and destroyed the Tempest.

Although Cobra Commander was able to elude capture, he became a target of the Red Shadows, a secretive organization that sought to eliminate G.I. Joe and Cobra alike. A Red Shadow operative named Dela Eden tracked down the Commander and shot him.

America's Elite

A year passed after the Red Shadows are defeated by G.I. Joe, and Cobra Commander has been written off as dead. While most accepted this as fact, Hawk and Duke believed he was alive and still dangerous. Hawk sent Spirit in search of the Commander, and after a long hunt, the tracker found his prey but was captured by Cobra Commander, and imprisoned.

Duke went on his own search for the Commander but instead found a squad of B.A.T.s who took him captive. The androids were under the control of a former Crimson Guardsman who had a grudge against the Commander and wanted him dead, planning to launch a missile at his position. Duke managed to free himself and to stop the missile's launch, learning its target location from a computer screen: Washington DC.

In Washington, a group of presidential advisers ask to speak to the President, but he tells them to take it up with his Chief of Staff — Garret Freedlowe. The men are shocked when they open the door to find Cobra Commander in the office. The Commander informed the men that he had taken Garret Freedlowe's place with Zartan's masking technology and that he would kill them, replacing them with his own operatives. Cobra Commander then proceeds to tell the President that the abilities of the GI Joe team are lacking, and organizes his very own Elite Anti terrorism team, the Phoenix Guard, led by one time G.I. Joe commander General Rey. He then sent the team to destroy numerous Cobra cells around the world, a step ahead of the Joe teams own efforts. He then accompanied the President on a tour of the secret G.I. Joe base, the Rock, where Colton reveals to them that they have the Baroness secretly in custody. After the trip, Cobra Commander sends new orders to the Phoenix Guard, sending them to the Rock to replace G.I-Joe as America's anti-terrorist force.

During the attack, the Phoenix Guard became too ruthless and reckless for Rey's liking. He soon learned his team were secretly members of Cobra. Several members of G.I. Joe were captured while Kamakura, Scarlett and General Colton made it to Colton's hidden radio to contact the White House. The president was shocked to find Garret Freedlowe's decaying corpse in the Chief of Staff's office and a video recording of the Cobra Commander. On the recording, the Commander revealed he had been using the Chief of Staff position to learn everything he could about the United States' strengths, weaknesses and secrets.

The Phoenix Guard was ultimately defeated and most of its members imprisoned. At a secret Cobra base, the order to every sleeper cell went out, announcing Cobra was once again active. The Commander was seen looking down at an infant boy, the son of Destro and the Baroness, whom he planned to mold into the physical manifestation of his ideals. However, he would trade the child to his parents, in return for Destro's family arms dealing empire, MARS.

Animated series

Sunbow

In the first season of the original 1980s animated series, Cobra Commander is the leader of Cobra, described in the show's opening theme as "A ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world." His face is always covered, either by a featureless chrome mask concealing his entire face or by a hood with eyehole cutouts. He wears a blue military uniform, occasionally sporting a cape and carrying a scepter, depending on the occasion. His distinctively raspy voice was provided by Chris Latta, who also provided the voice of Starscream in Transformers. The voices of Starscream and Cobra Commander were virtually identical, with the difference being that for the former, Latta's voice was run through a vocoder to produce the characteristic digital echo effect of the Transformers.

Although only Cobra Commander's eyes are ever openly exposed, it is clear from this partial view that he is a brown-eyed Caucasian. His reason for wearing the mask was not expressly divulged, but in one episode,Lights! Camera! Cobra!, Destro interrupts his unmasked privacy during a meal and is repulsed at what he saw (which is not shown on-screen), prompting the Commander to wryly muse, "It takes a strong stomach to watch me eat, eh, Destro?" implying that he may have some unsightly deformity. This is later confirmed in G.I. Joe: The Movie, where his face is shown to have been horribly disfigured as the result of a laboratory mishap involving "genetic altering spores." It is not the original origin the writers of the cartoon series had in mind, however. This is further evidenced by Cobra Commander's blue skinned appearance during that particular scene.

Cobra Commander frequently led assaults himself, but often vacillated between being a coward at heart, usually the first to turn tail in retreat whenever the tide of battle shifted unfavorably, or pushing his troops to seize victory at all costs, berating them when they turned to retreat. Impatient and frequently hysterical, he was prone to fits of rage when things went badly, often launching into extended rants. He was also greedy and egotistical, often mistreating his own troops to the point of mutiny, and on multiple occasions saw his plans foiled by his own arrogance.

He had a knack for concocting creative schemes for world domination - including cloned dinosaurs, giant amoebas, miniaturized troops stowed away inside Christmas presents, and using a superlaser to gleefully carve a picture of his face on the moon à la Chairface Chippendale - plans which his immediate subordinates, particularly Destro, often blasted as ridiculous. (In fact, when Destro found out about the moon carving, he shouted why were millions of dollars wasted on "this... cosmic graffiti!?") As such, he was less of an evil genius and more of a psychotic egomaniac. The writers later commented that they only found Cobra Commander's personality when they stopped writing him as an Adolf Hitler-type and started writing him more in the vein of Yosemite Sam.

Season 2 opened with the 5-episode mini-series Arise, Serpentor, Arise! in which the Cobra organization decides that, after Cobra Commander had repeatedly failed to bring them victory, they should literally create a new leader. Under the guidance of Dr. Mindbender, Cobra's scientists combine DNA samples retrieved from the tombs of history's most notorious despots (along with DNA from current G.I. Joe member Sgt. Slaughter) to genetically craft Cobra Commander's successor, Serpentor, who immediately assumes charge of Cobra and deposes the erstwhile Commander to the status of "lackey."

Fortunately for the Commander, G.I. Joe managed to interfere with the gene collection to deny Serpentor the critical inclusion of Sun Tzu's essence and with only a little of Sgt. Slaughter's. The absence of that ancient military strategist's influence evidently makes Serpentor prone to impulsive foolhardiness that shows when he immediately orders a full-scale attack on Washington, D.C.. While the operation is initially successful, it soon turns into a complete fiasco at the hands of G.I. Joe's reprisals. Cobra Commander is able to convince Dr. Mindbender to free him from his handcuffs because he knows how to use a weapon and Cobra needs all the help it can get. During the battle, Cobra's vehicles began to run out of fuel, except for one Night Raven, which would take the high command back to Cobra Island. A sudden burst of fire cuts the Joes off from Serpentor. The high command is shocked to learn Cobra Commander saved them. Serpentor orders the high command to the Night Raven while he deals with the Commander. In a rare moment of brilliance, Cobra Commander is able to convince Serpentor that he needs him for a scapegoat.

Thereafter, Cobra Commander seems to be employed as the organizations primary field commander, while Serpentor leads mostly from the Terrordrome. Serpentor even allowed Cobra Commander to be the organization's second-in-command, a decision tolerated by the rest of the Cobra High Command. Cobra Commander spent most of Season 2 trying to reclaim his former glory from under Serpentor's domineering shadow, assembling his own secret society called The Coil to that end.

G.I. Joe: The Movie

G.I. Joe: The Movie explained Cobra Commander's origin in full, but it contradicted material seen in the animated series. Cobra Commander is revealed to be a former scientist and nobleman from the ancient, pre-human society of Cobra-La. Although humanoid in appearance, he has pale blue skin, no hair, and eyes with cat-like pupils. The nobleman was disfigured in a laboratory accident while studying a strange plant which sprayed his face with mutative spores, causing him to grow an asymmetrical array of eyes over his face, thus explaining why he wears a mask. Despite this deformity, his ambition was recognized and he was selected by Cobra-La's ruler, Golobulus, to venture from their isolated Himalayan kingdom into the outside world, there he was instructed to establish an army for the razing of human civilization, allowing Cobra-La to retake the planet.

Cobra was this army, but in light of their constant failures, Golobulus decides to put the Commander on trial and punishes him by forcing his further exposure to the spores, whose effect begins to devolve him into a snake. Escaping with Joe member Roadblock, Cobra Commander's "humanity" begins to slip away as his body transforms. Soon he is left mindlessly hissing that he was "once-ssss a man..." In the end, seeking vengeance for his deteriorating condition, he tries to lead a Joe offensive into Cobra-La but ultimately becomes mentally unresponsive as his continuing metamorphosis fully changes him into an oversized snake. He briefly slithers to Lt. Falcon's rescue during the final battle, foiling Serpentor's attack, allowing Falcon to defeat Serpentor and Golobulus and save the world.

This origin stands in contradiction to background information previously hinted at in the cartoon: In the episode Twenty Questions, the Commander told an interviewing journalist that he was responsible for spearheading a mutiny at his military academy in his youth. In other episodes, aforementioned reactions to off-screen unmaskings or glimpses of the Commander's features are not in keeping with the inhumanly blue-skinned figure portrayed in the movie.

DiC Series

After the movie, Cobra Commander is seen as a cobra and he is kept as a pet by Serpentor. However, Baroness steals him and restores him partly to a semi-human form (while the basic shape of his body is humanoid, his skin and features are reptilian and he retains a taste for flies he catches with his prehensile tongue), because she had been rejected by Destro in favor of Zarana, and was seeking revenge. The Baroness had also grown tired of Serpentor's leadership of Cobra.

Back in human form, his attempt to overthrow Serpentor is nearly foiled when his newly created Python Patrol is too scared to attack, but with the help of Low-Light (in disguise as a Viper) , Serpentor is captured. Gnawgahyde provides his Iguana for use in the pythonizing ray and it is unclear if Serpentor (now an iguana) is dead or is a pet. He tries to get the Dragon Fire energy but G.I. Joe has foiled his plans again.

Through that, he took over Cobra once again with Destro rejoining as his second-in-command alongside Baroness and later, Major Bludd. He also joins forces with Eco Terrorist Cesspool, whom he immediately plans to double cross. The Commander is still as hysterical as before, but seems far more in control of his organization with Serpentor no longer around, and other enemies like Dr. Mindbender and The Crimson Twins gone. He also spends much of his time trying to regain his lost fortunes, and states numerous times that Cobra is more or less broke. His subordinates also make reference to this, as he apparently does not pay them much, if anything at all. In the first season he wears the battle armor, and in the second season he regains his hood and blue military uniform.

His personality and creative schemes are now far more dangerous than the last time, including schemes such as creating a fake General Hawk to make the Joe lax ("A is for Android") or creating an ozone creme that he forces the masses to buy to protect themselves. So far, he is seen far braver than the previous seasons, and now Destro has renewed loyalty to him they attempt to defeat the Joes once and for all. With his leadership, Cobra almost defeats the Joes several times ("Victory at Volcania" parts I & II, "D-Day at Alcatraz" I & II, "Long Live Rock N Roll" I & II), and he is even captured once (in "Shadow of a Doubt") but escapes with the help of Storm Shadow (who is now a G.I. Joe). At the end of the series, Cobra and G.I. Joe are still waging war, and he is still attempting to gain his first real animated victory.

Transformers

The evil of Cobra Commander has not been limited to menacing only the GI Joes; he has also had encounters with the Transformers. This is the only confirmed crossover in the series, although Marissa Fairborne is alluded to be the daughter of GI Joes Flint and Lady Jaye.

Cobra Commander as "Old Snake".

The most notable appearance of the character in a Transformers story took place in the third season of the Transformers cartoon (1986), in the episode "Only Human". Set in the then-future year 2006, a trenchcoated figure — going by the name "Old Snake" — is approached by crime lord Victor Drath, who wishes to purchase synthoid technology, as seen in a few episodes of the GI Joe cartoon series. Old Snake transfers the minds of Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Arcee and Springer into synthoid bodies, leaving their robotic shells for Drath's use in criminal activities.

Although it is never explicitly stated, several details make it clear enough that "Old Snake" is actually an aged Cobra Commander: he is raspingly voiced by Chris Latta (with the voice of Cobra Commander), he wears the character's distinctive silver mask, and has visible traces of his blue uniform underneath his trenchcoat. He is identified in dialogue as the former leader of a terrorist organization that utilized synthoid technology and intriguingly appears to be wearing the gauntlets of Serpentor (although Serpentor's are dark green while these are black) — this contrary to the series' production bible, which notes that Cobra Commander's bare fingers should be visible through torn gloves, and that his skin is scaley, like that of a real snake (The animation of this Transformers episode, as with a good half of season 3 episodes, is not stellar, so this costume detail may be simple misinterpretation.). Most tellingly of all, the episode concludes with Old Snake lamenting that "they simply don't make terrorists like they used to," raising his fists in skyward exaltation with the familiar "Cobra!" battle cry breaking prematurely into a hacking cough. Cobra Commander’s statement hints that at that point in time Cobra no longer exists.

Action Force

Comic Series

IPC Publication

In the UK Battle Action Force comic, Cobra Commander was originally known as Baron Ironblood, leader of the Red Shadows, a ruthless terrorist organization. The Red Shadows were comprised of legions of brainwashed fanatic soldiers armed with sophisticated, high-tech weapons. The group was declared the single greatest threat to world security by the UN, with Ironblood being labeled "World Enemy #1".

Ironblood betrayed the Shadows, leaking information about their bases and intentions to the UN. While the Shadows were wiped out, Ironblood went into hiding and constructed a new identity for himself, becoming Cobra Commander, creating Cobra in secret.

Marvel UK

In Action Force Weekly, Cobra Commander's personality is a hybrid of the U.S. comic and cartoon version: he is intelligent, a skilled scientist and a charismatic leader, but he is also hysterical and prone to fits of rage.

Sigma 6

Hasbro Action Figures

In a new 8" scale, Sigma 6 figures were heavily stylized with help by the Japanese animation company Gonzo. The Cobra Commander was released in the "Commando" collection in 2006. Wearing body armor and a cape, the Commander still donned his iconic hood with a battle helmet on top of it. As an action figure, Cobra Commander had a spinning wheel built into his chest, which registered battle damage if hit.

A repaint of this figure, without the battle-damage feature and new weapons, was released in black and silver (now a standard for Commander repaints). A second, more radical repaint followed in 2007, with the Commander's armor painted silver, and an air chariot (a device previously utilized by the Commander's rival, Serpentor) included as an accessory.

The Commander was also released in the 2.5" line, initially as part of the "B.A.T. Attack" figure 4-pack. A second version was included with the H.I.S.S. Tank.

Comic Series

Devil's Due created a mini-series based on Sigma 6. It follows the style and the content of the cartoon series, spotlighting a different member of Sigma 6 and Cobra in each issue.

Animated Series

In G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, Cobra Commander's profile has been modified, stating that he considers himself a warrior king. This rendition of the character possesses snake-like eyes as well as full battle armor. He wears a helmet that resembles a snake's head and covers his face with a hood. The snake staff he carries contains a number of hidden weapons systems.

This version of Cobra Commander displays far stricter control over his organization, having the loyalty of all his troops and being both feared and respected; he is no longer a coward or a hysterical madman. However, like his earlier cartoon counterpart, he has a flair for grandiose and insane schemes, such as unleashing a giant robot to destroy a city or using a high-powered laser cannon to cut the East Coast off the United States to form "The Cobra Coast". While he mainly operates from behind the scenes, he has been shown to be highly proficient in combat, having battled Duke one-on-one three times, and actually having beaten him once.

References in popular culture

• The Robot Chicken episode "Toyz in the Hood" showed Cobra Commander (voiced by Seth Green) with Skeletor, Mumm-Ra and Lex Luthor in a sketch about going to work and being caught in a traffic jam that included their respective heroic enemies — Flint, He-Man, Lion-O and Superman — who mocked them and cut them off, leaving the villains further trapped in the traffic jam. In "Toy Meets Girl," a segment that parodies the "Where Are They Now" TV specials depicted a reformed Cobra Commander working for Home Shopping Network. In "More Blood, More Chocolate," the "Inside the Battlefield: The Weather Dominator" segment showed Cobra Commander threatening the world with the Weather Dominator only to be stopped by G.I. Joe and sent to prison. Duke also mentioned that the other countries of the world wanted him put to death until Zartan busted him out of prison with a remote controled snake.
• Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006, a 2002 album by breakcore artist Venetian Snares features a track called Cobra Commander which features heavily distorted samples from GI Joe: The Movie.
• Cobra Commander had a cameo in the "PTV" episode of Family Guy, where he had taken over the FCC. These appearances spoofed the character's cartoon portrayal (particularly the effeminate mannerisms), although the Family Guy episode had him dressed in his Chrome mask and helmet not the more recent hood.
• Cobra Commander made an appearance on the web series College University as being homosexual, where he was run over by Optimus Prime in vehicle mode during a karate tournament.
• A prank phone call by Brandon Dicamillo found on CKY Vol. 2 features his performing the voice of Destro asking a toy-store if they sell G.I. Joe Action Figures; when the store realizes it's a prank call, they hang up and Brandon (as Destro) reports, "Cobra Commander, I believe they hung up on us," followed by his imitation of Cobra Commander replying, "Destro, you IDIOT!"
• Comedian Hal Sparks dressed as Cobra Commander on the VH1 special I Love Toys in a segment called "Cobra Commander's Day Off", where he would commit 'evil' deeds such as stealing newspapers and toilet paper, cheating at chess and vandalizing a coworker's desk.
• One episode of the Something Awful feature The Flash Tub featured a political ad of Cobra Commander running for U.S. President.[1]
• On G4's show Action Blast! during intervals is a segment called The Cobra Commander Show where Cobra Commander discusses his view on the world and other meaningless information. It also reveals that he likes to watch and play with My Little Pony.
• Cobra Commander was among the numerous fictional villains to appear in the South Park episodes Imaginationland, Imaginationland Episode II, and Imaginationland Episode III.
• There are many myspace profiles dedicated to Cobra Commander and the other members the G.I. Joe universe.

External links

• Cobra Commander's page at the Yo Joe action figure archive
• Comprehensive biography of Cobra Commander (comic book version)
• Unofficial Profile