Cobra Commander

Origin

Original origin: After an accident which disfigured him, the scientist known later as Cobra Commander was sent from the hidden city of Cobra-La by it's ruler Golobulus to amass an army and take over the world. To this end he formed the terrorist organization known as COBRA. His many attempts at world domination were constantly thwarted by the various members of G.I. Joe.

Creation

A character co-created by Hasbro and Marvel Comics in the early 1980's

Character Evolution

Cobra Commander

G1: Depicted as a cowardly and manipulative mad genius. He often comes up with overly elaborate world domination schemes. This was the original version

Cobra Commander: G.I. Joe Sigma 6

Sigma 6: A warrior "king" he is respected by his troopers and is skilled in combat. He often wears a heavy armored battle suit, and uses a staff which has a variety of functions, including projectile weapon and energy axe as his main weapon. He also uses giant B.A.T.S. robots as soldiers.

Cobra Commander: G.I. Joe Resolute

Resolute: A truly cold blooded killer. He is responsible for killing millions of people in an unprovoked attack on Moscow, Russia. And murders his own soldiers once they have finished being of any use to him. Such terrible fates were met by Major Bludd and several Televipers in this series.

Cobra Commander: G.I. Joe Renegades

Renegades: In the current series he suffers from a terminal illness, he acted as head of a multinational corporation. He seeks to either repair or replace his body, as well as take over the world. This version seems to share a trait with each of the past animated versions, as well as the live action version.

Major Story Arcs

Cobra Commander appears in the majority of episodes in most G.I. Joe series. This is a list of major plot points for the character, by version and in chronological order.

G1 Cobra Commander related arcs

(voiced by Chris Latta and later Scott McNeil in English, and Ryoichi Tanaka in Japanese)

as seen in G.I, Joe A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe The Movie, and Transformers

Original mini-series

(Episodes 1-5)

The first 5 episodes of RAH introduced Cobra Commander and the rest of the original core members of COBRA

Synthoid Conspiracy

(Episodes 26 & 27)

Cobra Commander plots to replace important political and military figures with androids in this 2 part episode arc. Illegal Synthoid sales would later become Cobra Commanders main dealings (Transformers episode Only Human)

Arise, Serpentor, Arise!

(Episodes 66-70)

Cobra Commander is overthrown as leader of COBRA by the genetically engineered being Serpentor.

"Young" Cobra Commander-G.I. Joe The Movie

The Secret of Cobra-La

(Episodes 96-100/G.I. Joe The Movie)

Cobra Commanders true nature as a member of a society of highly evolved reptiles is revealed. Cobra Commander is put on trial for his failures and forcibly devolved back into a snake. As he rapidly devolves, CC helps a blinded Roadblock escape Cobra-La and warn the rest of G.I. Joe about Golobulus' plan to devolve all mankind.

Operation Dragonfire

(Episodes 101-105)

Cobra Commanders humanity is restored by Baroness, he then challenges Serpentor in battle, and defeats him, re-claiming the leadership of COBRA.

(Additional note: As of this story arc through the end of the Real American Hero series Cobra Commander is no longer voiced by Chris Latta and is now voiced by Scott Mcneil)

The Greatest Evil

(Episodes 135 & 136)

Cobra Commander and the rest of COBRA join forces with G.I. Joe and the DEA to take down the drug cartel under the leadership of The Headman.

COBRA World

(Episode 140)

Cobra Commander claims that he and the rest of COBRA have gone straight when the group opens an amusement park.

Only Human

(Transformers episode 88)

Old Snake

In 2007, years after COBRA disbanded, an aging Cobra Commander, now known as Old Snake recruits a group of mercenaries and comes at odds not with G.I. Joe, but with the Autobots instead. In terms of in series order of events, this would be the final appearance of this version of the character.

Sigma 6 Cobra Commander arcs

Resolute Cobra Commander arc

Renegades Cobra Commander arcs

Other Whiskey Media Cobra Commander pages

Cobra Commander Comic Book history on Comic Vine

Cobra Commander Video Game history on Giant Bomb

Cobra Commander Movie/TV credits on Screened