Cobra Commander
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Cobra Commander is a fictional character from the GI Joe franchise. He appears in the animated series, comic books, toyline and movie. The comics generally portray him as a ruthless terrorist leader in the mold of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, while the animated series takes a more comical approach, as was common with villains in children's television of the 1980s.
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Animated Series
A Real American Hero
Image:Cobra commander.jpg In the first season of the original 1980s animated series, Cobra Commander is the leader of COBRA, described in the show's theme song as "A ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world". His face is always covered, either by a featureless chrome mask which covers his entire face or a hood which covers everything but his eyes. He always wore a blue military Cobra uniform, and occasionally wore a cape and carried a scepter, depending on the occasion.
Although we can only see Cobra Commander's eyes, it is clear that he is Caucasian with brown eyes. Why he wears the mask is not mentioned explicitly, but at one point, Destro walks in on him eating, prompting him to say "It takes a strong stomach to watch me eat, eh, Destro?", implying he may have some deformity. This is later confirmed in GI Joe: The Movie; as it is shown that his face was horribly disfigured as the result of a laboratory accident involving "genetic altering spores".
Cobra Commander frequently led assaults himself, but was a coward at heart and was the first to begin running when the tide of battle turned. A fairly hyperactive fellow, he frequently descended into fits of rage whenever things went badly for him, often going into extended rants. Although he often came up with original and rather creative schemes for world domination (including cloned dinosaurs, giant amoebas, and miniaturized troops hidden inside Christmas presents), 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 miniseries "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!", in which the COBRA organization decided that, after Cobra Commander had repeatedly failed to lead them to victory, they should literally build a new leader. COBRA's scientists used the DNA of the world's greatest military leaders to genetically engineer Cobra Commander's replacement, Serpentor, who took control of COBRA and reduced Cobra Commander to the status of "Lackey". At the end of the episode arc, Cobra Commander managed to regain some degree of control over the organization from Serpentor when, in a rare moment of competence, he appears at the last minute wielding a flamethrower and single-handedly managed to save the COBRA forces from defeat at the hands of the Joes. Cobra Commander spent most of Season 2 trying to regain his former power, forming his own secret society called The Coil.
He was voiced by the late Chris Latta.
G.I. Joe: The Movie
GI Joe: The Movie explained Cobra Commander's origin in full, although it contradicts material from the animated series. Cobra Commander is revealed to be a former scientist and nobleman from the ancient, pre-human society of Cobra-La. He is humanoid in appearance, but has pale blue skin, no hair, and eyes with cat-like pupils. The nobleman was disfigured in a laboratory accident when a strange plant he was studying exploded and showered his face with spores, causing him to grow multiple, asymmetrical eyes all over his face, explaining why he must wear the mask. Despite this, he was chosen by Cobra-La's ruler, Golobulous, to go forth from Cobra-La into the human world, and to raise an army that would destroy human civilization, allowing Cobra-La to retake the world. COBRA was this army, but after their continuous failures, Golobulous punished the Commander by exposing him to mutating spores which began to devolve him into a snake. Escaping with Joe member Roadblock, Cobra Commander's mind began to slip away as his body transformed, attempting to retain his "humanity" as best he could. In the end, he transformed entirely into a large snake, but appeared briefly during the final battle to rescue Lt. Falcon. This allowed Falcon the opportunity to defeat Serpentor, fight Golobulus, and save the world.
Many fans despised this revelation, citing that it made no sense and took the GI Joe series too far into the realm of fantasy and science fiction.
Cobra Commander was subsequently restored to human form at the start of the DiC-produced Season 3 using a mysterious element called "Dragonfire."
This origin for Cobra Commander goes against the previous continuity of the series. The Commander stated in the episode "Twenty Questions" that he led a mutiny at his military academy in his youth, and his face was seen by Destro in the episode "Lights! Camera! Cobra!", and although he was disgusted, he would surely have made a comment about the Commanders inhuman, multi eyed face.
As in the animated series, his voice was provided by Chris Latta.
Sigma 6
Image:Sigma6cc.JPG In G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, Cobra Commander's profile has been changed, stating he sees himself as a warrior king. This version possesses snake-like eyes as well as full battle armor. He wears a helmet resembling 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 is far more in charge of his organization, having the loyalty of all his troops and being feared and respected, he is no longer a coward or a hysterical madman, and mainly operates from behind the scenes.
Comic Books
American Comics
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 a car crash had taken the life of his older brother Dan, who had suffered a breakdown after serving in the Vietnam War.
Cobra Commander became obsessed with finding someone to pay for Dan's death. The other car which Dan had hit contained the family of the G.I. Joe operative codenamed Snake-Eyes, and Cobra Commander began to blame him, eventually tracking him to Japan, where he was a member of a ninja clan, and hiring a mercenary called Firefly to kill him. Firefly knew he was no match for Snake-Eyes, so he referred Cobra Commander to another assassin, Zartan, who infiltrated the clan and shot Snake-Eyes with an arrow he had earlier stolen from another ninja, Storm Shadow. However, it was not Snake-Eyes who was hit, but the clan's leader and Storm Shadow's uncle, Hard Master. Storm Shadow was blamed for the murder and fled, along with Cobra Commander, and both vowed revenge against Snake-Eyes.
Cobra Commander returned to his normal life, but after his wife gave birth to a son, Billy, she found out about what had happened in Japan. He took Billy and left his wife, becoming increasingly paranoid and blaming all his problems on "the system". He travelled across America with Billy, finding people who shared his desire to bring down big business and the government, and using money he'd earned by running pyramid schemes to attract even more followers.
He then moved to the town of Springfield, where the businesses were struggling and the people had become disillusioned with the way America was being run. He used his power to corrupt the town and eventually control it. Within the town, he founded a clandestine terrorist group called COBRA. Billy, realizing his father was now totally insane, fled and joined an anti-COBRA underground organization, but Cobra Commander cared little.
COBRA's agents spread throughout the world, overturning or subverting unstable third world governments. During a 1980s nuclear standoff, COBRA fought against both American and Soviet forces. Eventually, COBRA became so large that Cobra Commander could not control it on his own, and hired a cadre of arms dealers, assassins and bodyguards to aid him. This led to frequent internal power-struggles within the organization, and ultimately The Baroness and Major Bludd hired an anti-COBRA fighter to assassinate Cobra Commander. The boy they hired turned out to be Billy, and he was captured before he could kill his father. Cobra Commander had become such a raving lunatic by this point that he had no qualms about torturing his own son, but Billy refused to reveal who had hired him. This impressed Storm Shadow, who now worked for COBRA, so he freed Billy and they both escaped to New York, where Storm Shadow taught Billy ninjitsu. Billy was later involved in a fight between COBRA and a group of Ninja, and a missile attack blew his leg off and left him in a coma.
It was during this time that both Cobra Commander and Destro were trapped underground, presumed dead, and forced to work together to make their way back to COBRA. During this storyline, Cobra Commander and Destro were both shown without their trademark masks, although Destro wore a fake beard and wig to look older. Cobra Commander was depicted as an average looking WASP-ish American, with a slight hippie image demonstrated by a pony tail and goatee, a motif that was used in the subsequent occasions when he was seen without his mask on.
After several failed world domination schemes and the creation of Serpentor by Dr. Mindbender, Cobra Commander found out about Billy. He found him and promised he would now try to be a better father, and brought Billy to the Crimson Guard soldier Fred VII, a mechanical genius who built Billy a new robotic leg. Upon seeing that Fred VII had also constructed a suit of battle armor for Cobra Commander, who once again planned to take over the world, Billy walked out on his father. Cobra Commander realized the folly of his ways and also began to walk out, but Fred VII was so angered to see his commander throw away what he had dedicated his life to that he shot Cobra Commander in the back, apparently killing him.
Unaware that he was being watched, Fred VII buried his body. The body was exhumed by another Crimson Guardsman, Fred VIII, who discovered that Cobra Commander was not dead after all, and managed to revive him. Cobra Commander was assumed dead by the rest of COBRA, so he began to form a new organization in secret. Dr. Mindbender went to Cobra Commander's supposed grave to harvest DNA in order to create a new leader, but of course found the grave to be empty. Cobra Commander eventually returned to control of COBRA, this time even more insane than before, filled with rage at Billy for attempting to kill him, and at himself for thinking about abandoning COBRA. He gave up all traces of morality and humanity, and re-built a new Cobra "high command" by repeatedly brainwashing everyone in sight including Destro, The Baroness, Zartan, Storm Shadow and Billy into serving him again.
Not long after this, COBRA forces fell to a unified assault organised by the G.I. Joe leader, General Hawk. Cobra Commander managed to escape, becoming an international fugitive as his organisation fell into shadow. He spent the next seven years hiding in non-extradition countries, rebuilding his organization in secret. But by the time he had fully rebuilt his organization, 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 organisation soon after. He then proceeded to attack Destro, believing him to be responsible for Alexander's actions. Destro promptly cleared himself, and offered to atone for Alexander's actions by working for COBRA again.
Cobra Commander quickly proved himself to be deadlier than he had ever been, smuggling a nuclear warhead into the United States as well as tracking down Billy and shooting him in the chest. His leadership was challenged again by a resurrected Serpentor, but the Commander managed to defeat him and consolidate his rule. The Commander saw this as a wake-up call, a sign that he needed to take a more pro-active role in eliminating his enemies. To that end, he attempted to assassinate General Hawk, eventually managing to critically injure him. His rivalry with Destro soon resumed as both were after the Tempest, a device that could seed the clouds to make it rain. This device was considered a weapon of mass destruction because it could be used to make biological or chemical weapons rain down upon a chosen area. Cobra Commander won out and was soon in control of the Tempest and planned to use it to unleash a mortal virus codenamed Deathangel. A test firing prompted the Pentagon to authorize a nuclear strike on Cobra Island. The Commander had been alerted to this by a corrupt Pentagon official and moved his operations away from the island before it was destroyed. However, a G.I. Joe team led by General Phillip Rey (Hawk's temporary replacement) managed to track COBRA to their new base. They defeated the Cobra forces and destroyed the Tempest. Cobra Commander managed to escape capture, but became a target of the Red Shadows, a secretive organization that sought to destroy G.I. Joe and Cobra alike. A Red Shadow operative named Dela Eden tracked down the Commander and shot him; he is presumed dead, though it is probable that he survived and went into hiding.
UK Comics
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 comprised of legions of brainwashed fanatic soldiers, armed with sophisticated, high-tech weapons. The Red Shadows were declared to be the single greatest threat to world security by the UN, with Ironblood being declared "World Enemy #1".
Ironblood betrayed the Shadows, leaking information on their bases and dispositions to the UN. While the Shadows were wiped out, Ironblood went into hiding and constructed a new identity for himself, becoming Cobra Commander. While the Shadows were wiped out, Cobra Commander created his new organization, COBRA, in secret.
In the UK comics, Cobra Commander's character is a mix 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.
Transformers
The evil of Cobra Commander has not been limited to menacing only the G.I. Joes; he has also had several encounters with the Transformers, primarily in their respective comic book universes.
The most notable appearance of the character in a Transformers story, however, 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 G.I. 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 is not stellar, so this costume detail may be simple misinterpretation.) Most tellingly of all, the episode concludes with Old Snake lamenting that "they 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.
Other appearances
An episode of Robot Chicken which parodied "Where Are They Now" TV specials depicted a reformed Cobra Commander working for Home Shopping Network. Cobra Commander also appeared with Skeletor, Mumm-Ra and Lex Luthor in a sketch about going to work and being caught in a traffic jam that included their heroic enemies — General Hawk, He-Man, Lion-O and Superman. 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 as in the comics version. Also, 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.
Recently, a person (Hal Sparks) dressed as Cobra Commander made an appearance on the VH1 special I Love Toys in a segment called "Cobra Commander's Day Off", where he would commit evil deeds on the street like stealing newspapers and vandalizing.
Toyline
Cobra Commander's G.I. Joe File card reads as follows:
- COBRA COMMANDER
- Code Name: Enemy Leader
- File Name: (Classified)
- Primary Military Speciality: Intelligence
- Secondary Military Speciality: Ordnance (Experimental Weaponry)
- Birthplace: (Classified)
- Grade: Commander-in-Chief
- 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. Probably the most dangerous man alive!"
There are presently 19 different versions of Cobra Commander in 3 3/4" action figure form.
Version 1 - 1982
Blue Cobra uniform and chrome mask. Came with a laser pistol.
Version 2 - 1984
Dark-blue Cobra uniform and cowl. Came with a laser pistol. Mainly a repaint of Version 1, but with a different piece for his head.
Version 3 - 1987
Had aquamarine and silver samurai-style 'battle armor'. Came with a pistol, backpack and mouthpiece.
Version 4 - 1991
Blue & black ninja-esque uniform with a golden helmet and red veil covering his face. Came with a submachine gun, glider and a launcher for the glider.
Version 5 - 1991
Blue Cobra uniform with yellow trimmings and cowl. Came with a rifle and a missile-launching backpack. The backpack had four buttons which caused him to say either "I'll get you!", "Vipers attack!" or "Cobra!" depending on which button was pressed. The fourth button produced a 'combat' sound effect.
Version 6 - 1993
Black Cobra uniform with silver trimmings and cowl. Came with four guns, a spring-loaded missile launcher, two missiles and a figure stand. Repaint of Version 5, but with a retooled back.
Version 7 - 1994
Aquamarine, blue and black "Star Brigade" armor which left the entire top of his head uncovered. Came with a rifle, helmet and a device which allowed him to 'crawl'.
Version 8 - 1997
Blue and silver futuristic armor which covered his face. Came with a pistol and figure stand. Repaint of Version 3.
Version 9 - 2000
Black Cobra uniform with silver trimmings and cowl. Came with a rifle, missile launcher, two missiles and a figure stand. Repaint of Version 5 without the backpack.
Version 10 - 2001
Silver and blue futuristic armor which covered his face. Came with an uzi, backpack and figure stand. Repaint of Version 3.
Version 11 - 2002
Blue & grey Cobra uniform with cowl. Came with three guns. Had a T-crotch instead of the usual "o-ring".
Version 12 - 2002
Black & red Cobra uniform with cowl. Came with three guns. Repaint of Version 11.
Version 13 - 2002
Blue & grey Cobra uniform with cowl. Came with a backpack, harpoon rifle, pistol and a golden staff in the shape of a snake. A retool of Version 11 with an o-ring.
Version 14 - 2003
Blue Cobra uniform with red trimmings and chrome faceplate. Came with two guns, a cape and a golden snake-staff.
Version 15 - 2003
Black Cobra uniform with red trimmings and cowl. Came with a backpack, harpoon rifle, pistol and a golden staff in the shape of a snake. Repaint of Version 13.
Version 16 - 2004
Black & silver Cobra uniform with red trimmings and chrome faceplate. Came with staff, cape and two guns. Repaint of Version 14.
Version 17 - 2004
Blue Cobra uniform with gold trimmings. Came with two guns. Retool of Version 6 with a new head piece.
Version 18 - 2005
Blue Cobra uniform with white trimmings and a new head with a ski-mask. Came with interchangeable helmet and mask. Retool of Version 13 with a new head.
Version 19 - 2004
Red Cobra uniform with gold trimmings. Came with a staff, cape and throne. Retool of Version 17.
There was also a 12-inch Cobra Commander released in 1992 with a removable cowl as part of the "Hall of Fame" subset. His face was revealed to be that of a normal looking Caucasian male in his 30s-40s with blue eyes and black hair, but his mouth is covered by a kind of scarf.
In 2002, when Hasbro renewed the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra toyline, 12-inch versions of the GvC characters were being made in addition to their 3" counterparts. A 2002 version of the figure came with a jumpsuit, a blue-colored torso, an armored vest and various weapons. His cowl was molded to his head this time. A repaint of this figure with a black outfit was released in 2003 as a Toys 'R' Us exclusive.
In 2004, a third 12-inch Cobra Commander figure based on the Battle Helmet version of the character was released as part of the Valor vs. Venom line. This version came with a royal uniform (including cape) and a removable helmet, although the faceplate was molded to his head.