#serpentor

G.I. Joe:

Hawk: The leader of the G.I. Joe from the start, back when everyone (save for two) was wearing green. Hawk was the classic 80s "blonde, blue-eyed leader guy" that was common throughout the toylines of the era. Now, while Hawk was always the commander in the comic, he wouldn't make an appearance in the cartoon until Season 2, which is when his new toy and his promotion to general came about. The cartoon also changed his hair to brown, so that we wouldn't mix him up with Duke, a change that has carried on to other Joe media, and even the comic has retconned Hawk's hair color.

Duke: The face of G.I. Joe to many, the team's First Sergeant was a relative latecomer in the comics, only appearing a little over twenty issues in alongside Roadblock, while in the cartoon he was in charge from episode one. Like Hawk, Duke was another 80s blonde leader archetype; unlike Hawk, he got to keep his hair color. While Duke remained prominent throughout the cartoon, even after the introduction of Hawk, the comic didn't really know what to do with him until the IDW continuation in the 2010s, where his wife Claire was introduced. Also, the comic version was best friends with Roadblock, whom he debuted alongside.

Snake Eyes: Arguably the most well known character, and certainly the Joe with the most action figures sold, the mute ninja commando is porbably the best example of the differences between comic and cartoon. In the comics, despite (almost) never seeing his face or hearing him talk Snake Eyes is more or less the protagonist; his backstory is large (to the point of being convoluted) and intertwined with multiple characters (his romance with Scarlett, his wartime friendship with Stalker, ninja training with Storm Shadow, and the center of a grudge held by Cobra Commander). In the cartoon though, despite major roles in the first three mini-series, Snake Eyes fell off into a background role as the show went on, most likely as a result of Sunbow not knowing what to do with a character who doesn't speak.

Scarlett: G.I. Joe's counter-intel specialist and most prominent female character, Scarlett has the distinction of being a major character in both comic and cartoon. She's mostly depicted the same in each, being a touch, no-nonsense soldier. However, she also finds herself at the center of one of the oldest shipping wars in the fandom. Y'see, in the comics, she's in a long-term romance with Snake Eyes, while in the cartoon she's in a "will they won't they" deal with Duke.

Flint & Lady Jaye: Putting these two together to save time. Like Scarlett, they are major characters in both comic and cartoon, though their roles and even personalities differ depending on the medium. In the comic, Flint is kind of an arrogant blowhard, though he can back that up with legitimate skill, while in the cartoon he's more of a straight-laced leader type. Speaking of which, he's almost used interchangeably with Duke. Lady Jaye in the cartoon gets to show off her undercover skills more often, and has about as many "trick javelins" as Green Arrow has trick arrows. Also, both characters are a couple in each medium.

Shipwreck: The differences between comic Shipwreck and cartoon Shipwreck are like night and day. In the comic, Shipwreck's appearances are limited to whenever the Joes go out on the ocean, which makes sense, given that he's a sailor. He's also presented as a tough, no-nonsense sea-dog. Cartoon Shipwreck on the other hand is very laid-back, alost lazy guy, based on Jack Nicholson's character from "The Last Detail." He's also a major character in the cartoon, appearing in more episodes than anyone short of Duke, Flint, Cobra Commander, & Destro, and was the main protagonist of the Season 1 finale.

Sgt. Slaughter: A fictional version of WWF star Sgt. Slaughter, real name Robert Remus. The good Sgt wasn't the only real world celebrity who got an action figure in the toyline, but he was by far the most famous, as well as the face/spokesman for the entire franchise for much of the 80s. Outside of his introduction and a few issues afterwards, Slaughter was never a major presence in the comics. Compare and contrast the cartoon, where he was a one-man army and frequent team leader. He'd have a major presence throughout both Season 2 and the movie.

Stalker: One of the original thirteen Joes, and Hawk's first second-in-command. In the comics, he remained as a senior member of the team even after the arrival of Duke, and Flint, regularly leading squads into battle. He also had a long history with both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, being their squad leader during the Vietnam War. Larry Hama considers Stalker to be one of the "core" Joes alongside the three "S's".

Cobra:

Cobra Commander: The leader of Cobra, as if you couldn't tell from the name. What he lacks in martial skill and military strategy, he more than makes up for in ruthlessness, cunning, and getting like-minded people on his side. His origins also varied depending on the medium. In the comics, the man who would become Cobra Commander was a failed used-car salesman, mad at an uncaring system that led to his brother getting himself killed, and the ruin of his business. He would form Cobra out of people left behind by society, and forge them into a militaristic quasi-fascist organization. The Cobra Commander of the cartoon, due to it's more pulp-adventure themes, was a scion of the hidden civilization of Cobra-La, sent out into the human world as the vanguard for his people's eventual takeover. Despite his grandiose plans and larger than life persona, he wasn't very good at the whole "world domination" business, to the point that the rest of Cobra got together to overthrow and replace him with Serpentor. Cobra Commander in the comics also had a son named Billy, with whom he was at odds with, and even tried to kill on several occasions.

Destro: Scottish arms dealer, known best for his iconic metal mask, a family tradition, along with selling weapons to both sides of a conflict. Not actually a member of Cobra, but is instead Cobra's most important business partner, supplying most of their advanced weapons and technology. Also, occasionally, tries to usurp Cobra Commander and take over, alongside his longterm love interest Baroness. The Destro of the comics, despite being a villain, was also a man who held fast to his own personal code of honor, which at times aligned him more with his Joe adversaries than his nominal allies in Cobra. Halfway through the comics, he wouldgo solo with his own organization, the Iron Grenadiers, and later on even stopped being a villain. By comparison, the cartoon version wasn't nearly as complicated a character, being more straightforward with his villainy.

Baroness: Cobra's head of intelligence and easily the most recognizable female character in the franchise for obvious reasons. Hailing from an unnamed European country, Baroness was a self-professed revolutionary looking to tear down the old order, while also hypcritically benefiting from her aristocratic title and heritage and looking down on the "peasants." Despite being Cobra Commander's second-in-command, she's more loyal to her boyfriend Destro than she is Cobra (though that doesn't stop the cartoon version from getting his ancestral castle wrecked due to jealousy). Halfway through the comic, Baroness would discover that she was mistaken about the inciting incident which led her to a life of terrorism, and after reflecting on things, left Cobra and went straight alongside her lover Destro. The cartoon version never got to have that level of depth, unfortunately.

Storm Shadow: Cobra's top ninja, and the Commander's bodyguard. Like his fellow ninja Snake Eyes, his appearances in comic and cartoon are wildly different. The comic version was, almost from the start, planned by writer Larry Hama to secretly be a good guy (Hama, Japanese-American himself, didn't like that the only Asian character was evil, and took the initiative to correct that), who only joined Cobra to discover who killed his uncle, the Hard Master. He was also tied heavily to Joes Snake Eyes and Stalker, with whom he served alongside in Vietnam, and was as close as brothers with the former. By comparison, the cartoon Storm Shadow was just an evil ninja, though one with his own code. His main rival also changed depending on the medium as well; in the comic, it was initially his sword-brother Snake Eyes while he was with Cobra (and in every continuity since then; can't beat White Ninja vs Black Ninja), and then later Zartan, his uncle's killer, when he defected. In the cartoon though, Storm Shadow's main rival was, for some reason, Native American (of the Pueblo Peoples to be specific) Spirit.

Zartan & The Dreadnoks: Mercenary master of disguise plus his gang of Mad Max rejects, as well as one of the most enduring and well known aspects of the franchise. While the Dreadnoks (initially Buzzer, Ripper, and Torch, then expanding to include Zarana, Zandar, Thrasher, & others) are more or less the same in both mediums, Zartan hmself gets a spotlight on his backstory in the comic, where he's tied into the greater narrative surrounding Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, being the man who actually killed the Hard Master. Zartan, who always regretted that murder, would eventually, like so many other comic Cobras, defect and join the good guys, and leadership of the Dreadnoks would fall to his sister Zarana. After Zartan, Zarana is the next most prominent 'Nok. In the comics, due thanks to a number of murders and defections within Cobra's High Command, would eventually find herself as de facto second-in-command. The cartoon version would never rise that far in the ranks, but she made up for that thansk to a spotlight episode where she (in disguise mind you) entered a doomed romance with the Joe computer expert Mainframe, which wold be brought up several more times whenever the two interacted in later episodes. The other Dreadnoks are probably best known for the episode Cold Slither, where a broke Cobra has them pose as a rock band, also named Cold Slither.

Serpentor: Cobra Emperor, and Cobra Commander's main rival for leadership. Serpentor is a genetic cocktail of some of history's most (in)famous conquerors; though the people that made up his component genes changed depending on the medium. Shared donors included Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Ceaser, Alexander the Great, Hannibal Barca, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible, and Philip II of Macedon. The cartoon version would also have the DNA of Grigori Rasputin, Montezuma, Eric the Red, Geronimo, fictional Egyptian general Xanuth Amoth-Toth, and King Takshaka. Additionally, each version would have one final geentic donor; in the comics, it was Storm Shadow, and in the cartoon it was Sgt. Slaughter (originally suppsoed to be Sun Tzu, but Cobra couldn't get his DNA). The "why" of his creation also changed depending on the medium. In the comic, Cobra Commander wanted the best field general possible to lead Cobra's armies, only to realize too late that the DNA donors were also great leaders, and that Serpentor might try to usurp him. In the cartoon, Serpentor was made by Cobra High Command to replace the Commander, who had led Cobra to defeat one time too many. While both Serpentors were strong, tough, and brilliant generals, there were prominent differences between versions. In the cartoon, Serpentor was a loud-mouthed hothead, whose first act was the launch a full scale invasion of Washington DC, which quickly blew up in his face, since he had no way to hold the city after he had taken it. He would then spend the rest of Season 2 and the Movie continuing to shout orders and only being slightly more competent than his predecessor, who stuck around to play the Starscream (ironic given that they were voiced by the same guy) to Serpentor's Megatron. The comic version, while no less ambitious, was far calmer, and was charismatic enough to actually gain supporters among the Cobra rank-and-file. Eventually, Cobra devolved into a civil war between Serpentor and Cobra Commander (actually an imposter at the time), which would lead to his death via Zartan shooting an arrow into his eye.