Cobra Commander
- Cobra Commander is a (more or less) human character in the Generation 1 continuity family.
Whether he's the scion of a bizarre ancient civilization, a former used car salesman driven to the brink of insanity, or a renegade European scientist, Cobra Commander really hates G.I. Joe. As the leader of the ruthless terrorist organization Cobra, he frequently tries (and fails) to take over the world. No matter what maniacal scheme he comes up with, be it raising an island from the sea to form his own independent nation, editing elementary school text books to read pro-Cobra or etching his face onto the moon with a laser, G.I. Joe is there to try and stop him.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon
- Voice actor: Chris Latta (English), Ryōichi Tanaka (Japanese), Bernd Simon (German)
By the year 2006, the once mighty Cobra organization had apparently been defeated. Cobra Commander, who was the only one of his organization that had not been put in jail, was now going by the alias "Old Snake". He was left with little to do to pass the time but hire out his services. He was an independent contractor—of terror!
A mob boss named Victor Drath had hired Old Snake once in the past, and decided to hire him again to learn the secret of synthoid technology so that he might use it against the Autobots. Snake took the job and used the synthoid technology to craft "human" bodies for Rodimus Prime, Arcee, Springer, and Ultra Magnus, then somehow transferred their minds inside them. Drath planned to then destroy the Autobots' now mindless robot bodies, but Old Snake dissuaded him, noting what excellent weapons they would make.
Eventually, the Autobots managed to return to their original Cybertronian bodies and Victor Drath and his gang were arrested. However, Snake managed to escape capture.
After watching Drath and his gang get hauled away, Old Snake walked into the sunset. He mused to himself that "they just don't make terrorists like they used to", and began shouting the old Cobra battlecry to the heavens, perhaps for old times' sake.
He was, unfortunately, cut short by a coughing fit. Only Human
Marvel Generation 1 comics
On Cobra Island, Cobra Commander berated Zartan for the careless actions of his Dreadnoks, which had revealed Cobra's interest in Power Station Alpha to G.I. Joe, and ordered him to send Zarana to retrieve the uncouth mercenaries. He feared that the incident had left him vulnerable to the manipulations of his would-be usurper, Serpentor. Blood on the Tracks He was right to be concerned, as he was apparently deposed soon after by Serpentor, who took command of Cobra. Power Struggle
Marvel Generation 2 comics
After Megatron appeared in Destro's castle (believing it was a Transformer, since it was a shape-shifting building) Unfoldings!, Cobra Commander offered him a deal: a new body in exchange for Cybertronian technology. Realignments Megatron agreed, but Cobra Commander betrayed him, infecting Megatron's rail gun (the new version of his fusion cannon) with a computer virus to disable it. Megatron discovered the virus, removed it and transferred it to the Cybertronian technology he gave to Cobra. Final Transformations However, Cobra Commander didn't know this, and arranged for the Cybertronian tech to be transported back to their HQ. Hot Spot found out about this, and couldn't let the technology fall into Cobra hands, so he attacked the Cobra convoy. Hot Spot succeeded in destroying the truck carrying the Cybertronian tech, but even despite help from Snake-Eyes, he had taken heavy damage from Cobra Detonators, so he chose to self-destruct rather than let his body fall into the clutches of Cobra Commander. All or Nothing!
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
Following directions from Destro, Cobra Commander and the Baroness unearthed an alien spaceship in 2003, before Cobra had made itself known to the world. Finding the ship full of giant deactivated robots, Cobra Commander ordered his troops to haul the aliens away and re-seal the craft. Cobra's scientists soon managed to reprogram the robots to be under their control, except for the one known as Megatron, who was merely locked into the form of a gun and held at Cobra Commander's side. Cobra revealed themselves to the world some time later, when Cobra Commander led an attack on a peace summit in Washington D.C. using his new "Battle Android Troopers". G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #1
After the attack, the commander returned to Cobra Island, where he forced Megatron to give him information on energon and noted a breach in Cobra's network security. He also greeted Destro when the arms dealer came to check up on Cobra's progress in reverse-engineering the alien technology. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #2 Cobra Commander was less than pleased when Destro decided to muscle in on things and take the upcoming attack on the SPS Research Facility into his own hands. He soon got other things to worry about, however, as the Battle Android Troopers broke out of Cobra's reprogramming and the commander found himself face-to-face with a very unhappy Optimus Prime. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #3
Cobra Commander tried to defend himself using Megatron, who strictly refused to fight unless he was restored to his normal self. Realizing he had no other choice, the commander released Megatron and ran away while the Decepticon clashed with Optimus Prime. He made it to the island's shore, only to have Brawn and Gears blow up his escape ship and attempt to capture him. Luckily, he was saved by Storm Shadow and his S.N.A.K.E. mech. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #4 The S.N.A.K.E. squad protecting Cobra Commander was then discovered and defeated by a different group of Autobots, forcing him to flee on foot while grumbling that he was going to need a new ninja. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #5 Eventually he stumbled across Starscream, immobilized and with a grenade about to detonate in his eye socket. The robot struck a deal with Cobra Commander; if the human removed the grenade, Starscream would in turn take him off the island. The commander accepted his offer, and the two began a grudging partnership as they escaped to Florida. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #6
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: The Art of War
Transformers/G.I. Joe
Trivia
- As of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Snake goes by the code name Old Snake. Spoiler alert: Cobra has a Metal Gear.
- Fans have been known to compare Cobra Commander with Starscream. Both were notoriously treacherous. Both had a superior that they wanted to get rid of. And of course, they were both voiced by Chris Latta.
- Following the trend started by Latta, of the three English-speaking actors to have portrayed the various Starscreams in subsequent animation and films, two have also voiced contemporary incarnations of Cobra Commander. Michael Dobson provided the voice of Unicron Trilogy Starscream and Cobra Commander in the Spy Troops and Valor vs Venom movies, while Charlie Adler performed Movieverse Starscream and the Resolute version of Cobra Commander. Whether or not either of these were deliberate instances of duplicating the old Latta formula is unknown, but we're sure Tom Kenny feels left out.
