Cobra Commander

Strength
6d

Agility
7b

Intellect
10c

Willpower
9b

Hand Size:
Edge:

5 (30)
3

Origin:

The one and only Cobra Commander, despite his justifiable reputation as a monster, is but a normal human in the strictest sense of the term. He lacks special powers of any sort, merely having a wide array of resources and technology at his disposal, which might prompt one to consider him a high tech villain. Furthermore, he has been known to wield an advanced suit of armor now and then.

Powers:

(none)

Hindrances / Augmentations:

(none)

Equipment:

Battle Helmet (s): this helmet is the Cobra Commander's original combat gear, and is loaded up with all kinds of high tech goodies to assist him in the perpetration of nefarious deeds. This device is basically a blue metal helmet, with a mirrored, one-way visor that offers his head intensity 8 (+2) protection against incoming assaults. Its custom modifications include the following devices:

* Anti-Tampering Safeguards (i): to prevent anyone from unmasking him, or to otherwise avenge himself upon anyone who happens to kill him, Cobra Commander has armed his battle helmet with about a quarter pound worth of plastic explosives. Should they be activated, they will detonate to inflict intensity 13 fragmentary damage to everybody within near missile distance of his position.

* Cellular Phone (i): a prime example of microminiaturization, this telephone allowed Cobra Commander, even way back in 1982, to have portable communications on the go. This telephone system works at intensity 3, granting it a 5 mile communications range (assuming the Commander doesn't dial into a remote operator service), and is equipped with intensity 12 signal encryption.

* Sealed Systems (s): the Commander's helmet is highly effective against airborne contaminants, filtering out poisons, airborne bacteria/viruses, and the like with intensity 12 ability. Furthermore, it has access to miniature air tanks, stored within the Commander's uniform, that allow him to subsist without air altogether for at least an hour at a time, possibly longer.

Laser Pistol (a): for a large portion of his criminal career, Cobra Commander has utilized a simple, yet effective energy weapon, a laser pistol capable of inflicting his Agility +4 in Armor Piercing Energy damage with each blast. He can fire this device about six times before either recharging it or replacing its existing power pack with a fresh one. He often uses this gun for show, more than anything else.

Submachine Gun (a): while he has a veritable arsenal at his beck and call, Cobra Commander usually prefers to use a submachine gun when he needs to shoot someone - or something. This usually takes the form of a pistol, but if he's on a specific mission, he'll often wield a rifle if necessary. Either way, he can fire these weapons to inflict his Agility +4 damage with a single shot, raised to +5 in a semi-auto burst.

Skills:

Boxing (s): a vital combat skill that the Commander has picked up in his years in charge of Cobra is the essential ability to defend himself should he find himself unarmed - no matter how unlikely that turn of events may be. In unarmed melee, Cobra Commander can divide his pre-card play action score between two attacks per exchange, the last of which will occur as a contingent action.

Business / Finance (w): his original claim to fame, the Cobra Commander knows money - and how! Of course, his particular business deals are what one could call shady in nature (pyramid schemes, etc.), but he's a master of financial matters. He has countless contacts in the business world, and he may attempt all Willpower actions concerning financial maneuvers at a reduced difficulty.

Crime (i): the flip side of his business dealings, this skill reflects the abject disrespect for others that Cobra Commander has demonstrated when making money - no matter who gets hurt in the meantime. Telemarketing scams, door to door salesmen, money laundering, and more - if a financial scheme isn't on the up and up, Cobra Commander is a veritable master of making it happen.

Electronics (i): one of the many talents that he acquired in his descent into criminal despotism, this skill reflects the Cobra Commander's mastery of advanced hardware - either the design or repair of such, since his group needed a technological edge to overcome the forces before it. When building, repairing, or reverse engineering a device, Cobra Commander attempts related actions at a reduced difficulty.

Guns (a): one of Cobra Commander's hobbies - well, virtually his only hobby, really - is target shooting with automatic pistols. He's done this for years, both for personal enjoyment and to give himself something of an edge should he run into one of his innumerable opponents in the field. This skill grants him a reduction in difficulty when firing standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic rifles or pistols.

Manipulation 3 (w): more than anything else, Cobra Commander is an extremely savvy and charismatic man. He knows what makes people tick - especially the criminally minded. Cobra Commander can easily bend evil men and women to his line of thinking, often subverting their own goals in the process, and makes actions when attempting to do so with the benefit of an autotrump.

Marksman (a): wishing to be proficient in all the hardware that Cobra produces, as well as most of the other stuff out there, Cobra Commander has spent years and years figuring out how to effectively utilize any and all weapon systems out there. Essentially, Cobra Commander can use any line-of-sight weaponry at one difficulty level lower than is normally necessary.

Military (w): Cobra Commander has never been trained in a proper, military fashion, but has erected his own, quasi-military structure around himself. This skill gives him a reduced difficulty in all military matters, whether he be trying to concoct some violent mission or coordinate one. Furthermore, it gives him all kinds of contacts from his own organization, Cobra, who are loyal to him and him alone.

Piloting (a): finally, to fully make use of the gear at his organization's disposal, Cobra Commander has been trained in the use of his various kinds of aircraft, from helicopters to fighter jets to even Cobra's experimental spacecraft. When operating any such vehicles, whether he's in combat or not, Cobra Commander may attempt any actions to control them at a reduced difficulty.

Contacts:

In the decades that he has headed the clandestine terrorist outfit known as Cobra, the Commander has acquired countless contacts in criminal, political, and legal circles. Though the legions of Cobra are fanatically loyal to him - with a few exceptions in the higher echelons - Cobra Commander also has dozens of politicians under his thumb, whether they be in charge of their respective nations or not.

Calling:

World Domination: it pretty much goes without saying, but more than anything else, Cobra Commander wants to rule the world. To this end, he's schemed endlessly, plunging countless nations into chaos and - in one of his most brilliant schemes, making his own. However, he sometimes gives various hints that suggest greed as a secondary motivation, as the man loves money. And how!

Costume:

Cobra Commander has worn a variety of quasi-military uniforms over the years, though his first is perhaps his most distinctive. It consists of blue trousers with red racing stripes along the side, a black long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish blue jacket with a large, red Cobra sigil in the center, a small back holster for his laser pistol, black leather boots and gloves, and a black belt with a shiny red belt buckle.

Supplementing this basic ensemble, the Commander also wears either a blue executioner's hood or his custom-built, mirrored helmet.

Personality:

All that matters to Cobra Commander is the acquisition of money and power - everything else is irrelevant. After years of heading his own terrorist organization, his sheer criminal genius has been tainted by an infectious paranoia - and he has truly bought into his own hype, believing that he is the best new thing since sliced bread. However, he almost always seems to succeed in his conflicts against the Joes.

If not immediately, of course, he'll do so in the long run!

Real Name: unknown, but his last name is reportedly quite unusual
Occupation: world-wide troublemaker, former used car salesman, former small business owner, former ruler of Cobra Island
Legal Status: American citizen wanted by most governments on earth and beyond for a plethora of crimes large and small
Marital Status: divorced
Alias(es), if any: too many to count
Group Affiliation: Cobra

Height: 6'
Hair: brown
Eyes: sometimes brown, sometimes blue (possibly due to false-color contact lenses)
Weight: 165 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: on the few occasions where the Commander is seen without a mask or helmet, he wears a short ponytail, a long, Fu Manchu style moustache, and a pair of round-rimmed sunglasses. These artifacts of the 1970s could be how the Commander prefers to appear while undercover, but may well be yet another layer of misdirection and obfuscation of his true appearance.

Story:

The man who would become the one true Cobra Commander didn't start as a world-wide chaos bringer, instead having his roots as a small time businessman. While he was generally unsuccessful in his ventures, either in used car sales or in other shady schemes, the man didn't truly go off the deep end until his brother, Dan, was killed in a car crash.

The fact that Dan was dead drunk when he caused the wreck that killed him, much less took out three innocent people in the process, was irrelevant - the man was compelled to blame someone else for the accident. Turning matters around in his head, the nascent terrorist decided that the last surviving relative of the family Dan wiped out was to blame for all this.

After all, they were going to pick him up from the airport, and if he hadn't been there, Dan wouldn't have hit his family - they wouldn't have been on the road! As his twisted mind dreamed of vengeance, his business collapsed around him, and when his wife confronted him about this, he who would become the Cobra Commander left her, taking his young son Billy with him.

Descending into a wandering life on the road, the future Commander's paranoia grew in staggering leaps, and he came to the conclusion that Big Government and Big Business was out to get the little guy, guys like him, and that something had to be done about this state of affairs. To this end, he began to hold meetings across the country, recruiting local thugs and malcontents into his growing power structure.

Having a band of the disenfranchised, stupid, and lazy at his beck and call, the man launched an ambitious pyramid scheme sales program, and used all its profits to found an underground organization dedicated to circumventing the system, garnering power through terrorism and extortion. He named this organization Cobra, and renamed himself the Cobra Commander!

Originally, he based Cobra in the quaint town of Springfield, a nice place that had fallen on financially hard times - and was more than ready to accept Cobra's goal of beating the system by disregarding it. Everybody, from the mayor to the police to the small business-folk were under the complete thrall of the Cobra regime, which was just the way the Commander liked it.

During this time, as Cobra really picked up steam, the Commander put his revenge fantasies into motion. He started by contacting the mercenary known as Firefly, who he sent to Japan to track down and kill the man he held responsible for Dan's death, a man known only as Snake-Eyes. However, Firefly found his target to be unreachable, having been taken under the wing of the Arashikage ninja clan.

As such, he recommended another assassin to do the dirty deed, and with that information in hand, Cobra Commander journeyed to Daytona Beach, where he first met the shape-shifter known as Zartan. Tempting the man with the challenge of the kill and the thrill of exceptional remuneration, Cobra Commander convinced Zartan to take the job - even though it would require months of his time.

Zartan spent over half a year at his task, but ultimately failed when he accidentally killed the Hard Master, lord of the Arashikage clan, while he demonstrated a technique to imitate another person's body language and sounds - namely, Snake-Eyes. Though furious, Cobra Commander simply decided to wait for more competent assassins to make themselves known before attempting to kill Snake-Eyes again.

Horrified by what was going on, Billy, the Commander's son, blanked out most of his childhood, and joined an anti-Cobra resistance movement in Springfield. As he did so, his father embarked on various plots to take over the world - or at the very least, several small portions of it. However, the Commander did not go unopposed in his goals, for a new military unit had been formed to combat groups like Cobra.

It was called GI Joe - and claimed his imagined nemesis, Snake-Eyes, as one of its members! As such, the Joes got in the way of innumerable schemes devised by the Commander, forcing him to eventually bring in various outside assistants to keep the good fight going. However, adding personalities like Destro, Major Bludd, the Baroness, and more only heightened his paranoia levels.

This put a damper on Cobra's overall success for years, though it turned out that this paranoia wasn't totally unfounded. On one particularly dark day, for instance, Major Bludd and the Baroness used Billy in a plot to assassinate the Commander, and thanks to the quick actions of Storm Shadow (his ninja bodyguard, of the Arashikage ninja clan), Cobra Commander was saved at the last minute.

Once this matter was resolved (namely, after Storm Shadow rescued poor Billy from a Cobra dungeon), the Commander embarked on his most ambitious scheme ever - the creation of Cobra Island! He did this by tricking the Joe team into dropping enough ordnance on the ocean floor to trigger a shift in the tectonic plates beneath the Caribbean Sea - thus raising a large chunk of land from the bottom.

Once he'd done that, the Commander moved onto the island and occupied it until his lawyers, acting in the capitol of every nation bordering the Caribbean, could get the island recognized as a legitimate country. This was the single greatest victory against the Joe team he'd achieved to this point, and after moving most of his armed forces to the island, Cobra went legitimate - legally, at least.

While the world now had to tolerate Cobra as a political entity, Cobra Commander launched several other schemes meant to destabilize various hot spots around the earth. However, he made the mistake of allowing one of his newer recruits, Doctor Mindbender, to perform an experiment that would conceivably create a super-soldier from the DNA of various warriors from days long past.

His scheme inexplicably worked, and when the GI Joe team located and invaded Springfield, Cobra unleashed their newest creation - dubbed Serpentor - on the hapless Joes. Unprepared for the man's sheer military genius, gained through hundreds of years of combat experience, the Joe team was completely befuddled while the rest of the Cobra forces in Springfield evacuated - with nary a trace left behind.

With no evidence, the Joe team had been left with the smoking remains of a small Vermont town in their wake, and as such the group was suspended until things could be sorted out. While this occurred, Serpentor made his way to Cobra Island and, though the Commander figured out that Serpentor would try to take his place, he wasn't quick enough to kill the construct before he landed.

Having been a hero of Springfield's evacuation, Serpentor exuded his greasy charm all over the ranks of Cobra, and within weeks, had wormed himself into a position to co-rule Cobra with the Commander. This didn't sit well with him, and hoping to regain control of the group, Cobra Commander led an assault on the Joes' base, the second Pit, to make himself look better.

Though all the Joes save for Hawk were outside the Pit, the battle didn't go in Cobra's favor. Seeing a unique opportunity, Hawk caved in the compound to take the majority of the Cobra Command out in one fell swoop, burying Cobra Commander and Destro under tons of rubble. Luckily for these two villains, the Joes had also left an escape vehicle deep underground, and the duo used this to dig their way free.

Once they had done so, Cobra Commander learned that his son, Billy, wasn't dead. Caught up in the middle of a battle between the Soft Master (tracking the Hard Master's killer) and Scrap-Iron, Billy was blown up real good, but somehow survived. Recovering his son, Cobra Commander vowed to be a better father, and hoping to start in that direction immediately, took him to see Fred 7.

One in a series of look-alike Crimson Guardsmen, Fred 7 was a mechanical genius, adept in the creation of robotic technologies. When Cobra Commander came to him, Fred devised a robotic leg for Billy, who had lost one in the explosion created by Scrap-Iron, and acquired a suit of combat armor made especially for him by his faithful operative. He even tested it out in single combat against the Joes right away.

Once Billy recovered from his coma and later cybernetic grafting, he confronted his father about his villainous ways and, hoping to be there for his son, the Commander abandoned his goal to regain control of Cobra. Hearing this, Fred 7 lost it, feeling that he'd invested years in a sham, and shot the Commander in the back. With the help of Raptor, he even buried him in the outskirts of Denver, Colorado.

While Fred 7 got it in his head to take over Cobra, posing as Cobra Commander, the original head of that group was dug up by Fred 7I, who was watching Fred 7's activities (as all the Fred series Guardsmen were instructed secretly to keep tabs on each other), and he took the Commander to a Fred-series doctor to have him fixed up. Once he recovered from his near-death, Cobra Commander started over.

But not the way he originally intended. You see, he built up a brand new criminal empire, with the assistance of the highly motivated workforce that the Crimson Guard represented. Years later, when Doctor Mindbender journeyed to the site where Fred 7 buried him, hoping to recover enough genetic material to clone him and replace Fred 7, the original Cobra Commander made his move.

Collecting Mindbender and Raptor (who led him to the burial site), Cobra Commander returned to Cobra Island, where he proceeded to bury those two, Fred 7, his son Billy, Zartan, Firefly, and the corpse of Serpentor (who'd been murdered by Zartan some time back) in the freighter that was land-locked on the island, and then buried it under the inactive volcano in the center of Cobra Island.

Having returned with a vengeance, Cobra Commander then embarked on a new scheme, creating another Springfield out of Millville, a small town in the Midwest that had fallen on hard times similar to those that hit Springfield so long ago. Rather than win the populace over with his charm and economic philosophy, Cobra Commander simply subjected the entire town to Doctor Venom's brainwave scanner.

Now having an industrial town in the Midwest with which to build his arms for cheap, Cobra Commander pulled all kinds of new maneuvers worldwide, hoping to foster unrest and conflict to have folks to sell his Cobra gear to. This made him billions, even after he eventually abandoned Cobra Island to Firefly and his ninja cronies, having done so just in time to avoid a massive GI Joe assault.

Though he abandoned his legitimate cover, Cobra Commander immediately found another as the backer of a real, pre-existing nation in Eastern Europe, the crumbling Borovia. After doing so, the US government decided that Cobra Commander would have his hands full with this disaster area for years, and as such, they deactivated the force designed to combat Cobra. They shut the GI Joe team down!

(Historical Divergence)

These politicians failed to calculate the sheer, unmitigated evil that Cobra Commander represents, and as such, their erroneous move gave the man free reign to fan the flames of dozens of conflicts worldwide. Unopposed for several years, the man did irreparable damage to world peace, which prompted the government to finally reactivate the Joe team several years later.

Through a variety of schemes, and various ups and downs, Cobra Commander continued his war for earth itself for years. Though momentarily inconvenienced by a seemingly revived Serpentor and the so-called Red Shadows, Cobra Commander has led Cobra on to increasingly bigger conquests, though this finally ended when he put his end game into motion, triggering nothing less than World War 3 itself!

And it worked, for a time. After his forces took command of every government on earth, Cobra and its Commander enjoyed a very brief period of abject victory, though those meddling Joes managed to steal his thunder one final time, defeating him at long last. Capturing him alive, the Joes made sure he would never rise to threaten the world again, namely by placing him in a prison built just for him.

At the bottom of the sea! Though this undersea prison may in fact hold him for the rest of his life, the sad truth is that the Commander's last words would haunt the world for years to come. Though he'd been taken off the playing board, he'd shown the thugs, hooligans and low-lifes of the world that his way works, and that it was only a matter of time until someone would rise to replace him.

As such, the Joes are working hard to round up those Cobras that escaped when the Commander was captured - pulling out all the stops in their effort to prevent this chain of events from coming to pass. Of course, they may just cut out the middle man and, after finding out where the Joes have stashed their leader, come to rescue him anew. It may've been better to have simply killed the man.

1987 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Combat Armor, Mark 1 (i): designed and built for him by the treasonous Crimson Guardsman Fred 7, this incredibly advanced and astoundingly expensive suit of combat armor makes Cobra Commander very dangerous while he wears it. Of course, while Fred 7 eventually took the suit back and took his place for a time, the Commander eventually had a new version of this armor made. Both had these capabilities:

* Ability Boost / Strength (w): one handy feature of the Cobra Commander's combat armor is that it greatly enhances the Strength of its wearer. In fact, it boosts it to the point that he can use the armor to crush an engine block with his bare hands! This roughly translates into an intensity 13 ability boost, giving him like Strength while wearing this armor.

* Battle Helmet (s): smart enough to know what works and what doesn't, Fred 7 incorporated the technology of Cobra Commander's original battle helmet into the armor he designed for the man. In addition to enhancing the general protection it offers by intensity 4 (+1) and duplicating all of its inherent gadgets, Fred 7 added infrared scanners that function at intensity 6.

* Body Armor (s): the principal feature of the Cobra Commander's armor, this suit is comprised of beryllium steel plate components lined with flexible bullet-proof polymer fabrics. These layers of protection combine to provide the Commander intensity 12 (+3) armor that is proof against both physical and energy attacks (replacing his standard resistance).

* Cellular Phone (i): a prime example of microminiaturization, this telephone allowed Cobra Commander, even way back in '87, to have portable communications on the go. This telephone system works at intensity 3, allowing it a 5 mile communications range (assuming the Commander doesn't dial into a remote operator service), and is equipped with intensity 12 transmission encryption.

* Sealed Systems (s): the Commander's armor is highly defended against airborne contaminants of any variety, filtering out poisons, airborne bacteria/viruses, and the like with intensity 10 ability. Furthermore, it has access to miniature air tanks, stored throughout the armor, that allow him to subsist without air altogether for at least an hour at a time, maybe longer.

* Resilience (s): intensity 10.

Costume:

The Commander's third costume, built by Fred 7 the Crimson Guardsman, was actually a suit of powered armor. The suit is made from beryllium steel plates, giving it a chrome-like sheen, though the joints are made from some black metal, and other sections have been covered with a synthetic blue, bullet-proof fabric. The armor's helmet had a more advanced look than his old one, and added a Cobra sigil on the forehead.

1991 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Battle Helmet (s): unlike his original, device-laden headgear, this second helmet is primarily just a ceremonial headpiece. It is a gold-coated steel helmet that is forged in an oriental style, with a large, red Plexiglas ™ shield handy to cover his face. Overall, the helmet provides the Cobra Commander intensity 8 (+2) protection against physical attacks aimed at his head.

Radio Controlled Glider (i): for a short time after taking back Cobra from the inept hands of Fred 7, Cobra Commander made use of several of these remote-controlled, buzz-bomb gliders, each of which were equipped with full audio-video surveillance gear, thus allowing him to keep tabs on his soldiers no matter how far afield they are. These m.s. 7 gliders possess intensity 8 flight (375 MPH).

Costume:

After Fred 7 took his armor (and Cobra itself) away from him for a time, the Commander adopted an all new, if temporary look.

His fourth uniform primarily consists of a blue and black jumpsuit with gold trim around the shoulders, cuffs, and calves, not to mention an oversized, golden Cobra medallion over its belly. The Commander accented this look with black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt with a golden belt buckle, and a golden helmet with a Cobra molded into the top, one equipped with a red Plexiglas ™ face shield.

1992 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Rocket Launcher (i): on occasions, Cobra Commander finds himself on the field of battle with the need for exceptionally heavy firepower. As such, he often takes a rocket launcher or two along in his personal vehicle of the day, each of which can fire projectiles capable of inflicting intensity 10 physical damage to everybody within near missile distance of their detonation point.

Costume:

Eventually reverting to type, Cobra Commander once again adopted a variant of his original uniform. This fifth ensemble consists of a blue jacket with a red Cobra sigil on its chest, blue trousers with red stripes down the sides, golden accessories and military-style awards, black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt with a red belt buckle, red holsters for his weapons, and a blue executioner's hood.

1993 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Flamethrower (i): a consummate believer in overkill, particularly where his personal safety is involved, Cobra Commander carries a flamethrower with him on missions now and then. He can use this brutally lethal implement to spray bursts of burning, jellied fuel at something, inflicting intensity 12 SD energy damage to a single target, reduced by -4 when coating everything within near missile distance.

Costume:

Cobra Commander's sixth uniform is a variant on his fifth. It includes a black jacket with silver, military-style lacing and awards - and a Cobra sigil on the front, black trousers, black leather boots, black leather gloves, silvered holsters for his smaller guns, a silver belt with a red buckle, and of course his signature, black executioner hood that he wears at all times.

1994 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Combat Armor, Mark 2 (i): this 'space snake' combat suit is built with all the capabilities of the Commander's original armor in mind, though it is drastically different in appearance. It was engineered to fully function in the cold depths of space - whether dealing with near orbit situations or missions that are very, very far out there, and is known to have these powerful capabilities:

* Resistance to Cold and Pressure Variance (s): two hazards you're likely to see in space constantly, the Mark 2 armor that Cobra Commander uses is naturally shielded against them. His armor possesses these resistances at intensity 20 (+5), letting him move freely in vacuum without having to worry about freezing to death or exploding - at least, for as long as his air supply lasts.

* Resilience (s): intensity 12.

Combat Armor, Mark 3 (i): for a short time, the Commander wore another armor based on the design Fred 7 built, but enhanced by Doctor Mindbender. Though it has all the capabilities of the Mark 2 suit (minus the resistances), this armor is much more streamlined in appearance, able to be worn under the Commander's regular uniform without betraying its presence, and has an integral weapon.

This gun, which was activated once Cobra Commander stuck his arm into the trigger component (the armor actually had this gun in place of a lower left arm section), could be fired by him to inflict his Agility +5 in a semi-automatic burst, or his Agility +6 in a fully automatic spread of ammunition, and could expend an ungodly amount of such before it needed to be reloaded.

* Resilience (s): intensity 10.

Space Crawler (i): a strange device that the Cobra Commander could use when - and if - he operated in space, this thing basically consists of a wheel with eight powerful magnets on it. When it is activated, it can drive him about with intensity 2 ground speed - sixty miles per hour - on the exterior of any kind of space vehicle, assuming it is at least partially comprised of ferric materials.

Costume:

In 1994, Cobra Commander made use of a few... specialty suits. For one thing, the Commander had a suit of space combat armor built for him, should he find himself on some mission in the great beyond. This suit is mainly blue in color, being dark blue in the torso, light blue in the legs, waist, and upper arms, and black in the lower arms and helmet - and has been given a scaly texture.

His next special suit was an upgraded combat armor designed by Doctor Mindbender. This one, a skin-tight, bullet-proof, and mechanized armor, actually fit underneath his regular (sixth) uniform. This suit was made from a metal that was colored blue in the torso, helmet, and thighs, and black in the arms and non-thigh leg components. It also has a really big, integral gun replacing the lower left arm.

1997 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Combat Armor, Mark 1a (i): designed and built for him by the treasonous Crimson Guardsman Fred 7, this incredibly advanced and astoundingly expensive suit of combat armor makes Cobra Commander very dangerous while he wears it. This suit is essentially the same as the Mark 1, save for the fact that it has been given a primarily black paint job. Either way, both suits of armor have these capabilities:

* Cellular Phone (i): a prime example of microminiaturization, this telephone allowed Cobra Commander, even as far back as '87, to have portable communications on the go. This telephone system works at intensity 3, allowing it a 5 mile communications range (assuming the Commander doesn't dial into a remote operator service), and is equipped with intensity 12 transmission encryption.

* Resilience (s): intensity 10.

Costume:

For years, Cobra Commander simply used his most recent suit of powered armor underneath his fourth uniform, until he received yet another suit of advanced power armor, which was a slight change in the armor design created by Fred 7. This armor is really the same as the original, with only its coloration changed; all the beryllium pieces were replaced by other metals, and painted a deep blue in hue.

2000 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Costume:

Dropping his armor for a time, the Commander returned to what was effectively his sixth costume. This was again a primarily dark blue outfit (with a red Cobra sigil on the front), bearing trousers, a jacket, and a hood of this color, along with black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt, and of course, the silver medals and paraphernalia that he so loves to wear.

2001 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

* Resilience (s): intensity 10.

Costume:

Cobra Commander's tenth costume is another modification of his first armor, colored almost identically like the first. It's made from beryllium steel plates, giving it a chrome-like sheen, with joints made from some black metal, and other sections have been covered with a synthetic blue, bullet-proof fabric. The armor's helmet has a Cobra sigil on the forehead. The suit also has a red belt and gun holster.

2002 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Staff (v3) (s): adopted recently in his career, this item is more of a ceremonial device than anything else, but it works in a pinch. Made from a gold-plated metal of material strength 15, Cobra Commander can use this over-stylized, over-sized snake staff to inflict his Strength +2 in blunt (physical) damage with every strike, though he mostly just carries this weapon for theatrical effect.

Costume:

Cobra Commander's eleventh uniform is a stylish revamping of his previous, hooded look. It consists of a blue executioner's hood with the red Cobra emblem on the front, a blue leather jacket with an oversized collar and small, golden shoulder pads, blue trousers, black leather boots with blue shin guards, black leather gloves, a black leather belt with a gold 'Cobra' belt buckle, and various gray straps and holsters.

His next was rather similar to his eleventh, but it was much darker in aspect. It includes a black executioner's hood with the red Cobra emblem on the front, a black leather jacket with an oversized collar and small, golden shoulder pads, black trousers, black leather boots with red shin guards, red leather gloves, a black leather belt with a gold 'Cobra' belt buckle, and various red straps and holsters.

Shortly thereafter, the Commander returned to his previous uniform. Again, it consists of a blue executioner's hood with the red Cobra emblem on the front, a blue leather jacket with an oversized collar and small, golden shoulder pads, blue trousers, black leather boots with blue shin guards, black leather gloves, a black leather belt with a gold 'Cobra' belt buckle, and various gray straps and holsters.

2003 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Staff (v2, v3) (s): adopted recently in his career, this item is more of a ceremonial device than anything else, but it works in a pinch. Made from a gold-plated metal of material strength 15, Cobra Commander can use this over-stylized, over-sized snake staff to inflict his Strength +2 in blunt (physical) damage with every strike, though he mostly just carries this weapon for theatrical effect.

Costume:

Cobra Commander's thirteenth uniform is an homage to his fifth - though slightly modified. This old yet new ensemble consists of a blue jacket with a red Cobra sigil on its chest, blue trousers with red stripes down the sides, red accessories and military-style awards, black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt with a red belt buckle, red holsters for his weapons, and a blue executioner's hood.

His fourteenth uniform, on the other hand, calls back to his first. It includes a long blue jacket accessorized with red and gold ribbons and awards, blue trousers, dark gray boots and gloves, dark gray belts and holsters for his gear, a red half-cape, and his distinctive battle helmet, which he has not used for several years. It is a mainly blue helmet, with a mirrored face mask that completely obscures his features.

The Commander's next uniform is actually his eleventh, recycled. It consists of a black executioner's hood with the red Cobra emblem on the front, a black leather jacket with an oversized collar and small, golden shoulder pads, black trousers, black leather boots with red shin guards, red leather gloves, a black leather belt with a gold 'Cobra' belt buckle, and various black straps and holsters.

2004 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

HISS Tank, BTR (v2) (i): borrowing the GI Joe team's BTR process, Cobra has applied it to several of their vehicles, including the old standby, the HISS tank. Trying this one out himself, Cobra Commander has been able to showcase how the High Speed Sentry can be reconfigured in the field into a completely different vehicle. The BTR HISS Tank is described in its own vehicular entry.

Shotgun (v1, v3) (a): when he's feeling particularly sadistic, Cobra Commander sometimes takes it upon himself to carry a shotgun while in the field, even though he rarely has to use it. This weapon can inflict his Agility +4 damage in a 30 degree arc (birdshot), his Agility +5 damage to adjacent targets (buckshot), or his Agility +6 damage to a single foe (slugs).

Staff (s): while Cobra Commander's first staff was something merely ornamental, this one is something... more. Intrinsically tied into the Vemomization process, this m.s. 15 device stores all kinds of DNA samples for the Commander's use in building his genetic freakshow troops. In addition, he can use it to inflict his Strength +2 in blunt damage, and wields it as a symbol of the Venom troops' leadership.

Costume:

All three uniforms the Commander used this year are variations on his fourteenth. The first includes a long black jacket accessorized with red and gold ribbons and awards, black trousers, black boots, white gloves, white belts and holsters for his gear, a red half-cape, and his distinctive battle helmet. It is a mainly black helmet, with a mirrored face mask that completely obscures his features.

He wears his second at the wheel of his BTR HISS Tank. It consists of a long blue jacket accessorized with red and gold ribbons and awards, blue trousers, dark gray boots and gloves, dark gray belts and holsters for his gear, a red half-cape, and his distinctive battle helmet. It is a mainly blue helmet, with a mirrored face mask that completely obscures his features.

His third uniform this year is of different coloration, but otherwise the same. It includes a long dark brown jacket accessorized with gold ribbons and awards, dark brown trousers, dark brown boots and gloves, light brown belts and holsters for his gear, a black half-cape, and his distinctive battle helmet. It is a mainly dark brown helmet, with a mirrored face mask that completely obscures his features.

2005 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Costume:

Cobra Commander's eighteenth uniform similar to his fourteenth. It consists of a long blue jacket accessorized with purple and silver ribbons and awards, blue trousers, white boots and gloves, white belts and holsters for his gear, and his distinctive battle helmet. It is a mainly blue helmet, with a mirrored face mask that completely obscures his features. Unless he wears his blue executioner's hood, instead.

His nineteenth, 'imperial' uniform, is similar to his fifth in content if not color. This fifth ensemble consists of a crimson jacket with a silver Cobra sigil on its chest, crimson trousers with orange stripes down the sides, black accessories and military-style awards, black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt with a gold belt buckle, orange holsters for his weapons, and a crimson executioner's hood.

2007 Variations

Costume:

Cobra Commander's twentieth uniform was a slight variation on his very first. It consists of blue trousers, a black long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish blue jacket with a large, red Cobra sigil in the center, a small back holster for his laser pistol, black leather boots, black leather gloves with golden trim, a black belt with a shiny red belt buckle, and his blue executioner's hood.

His twenty first uniform is a darker variant on his original ensemble. It consists of black trousers, a black long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish black jacket with silver Cobra sigils on its shoulders, a small, golden back holster for his laser pistol, black leather boots, silver gloves, a silver belt with a golden belt buckle, and his original battle helmet - if painted black.

2008 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Combat Armor, Mark 4 (v4) (i): designed and built for him by the Battle Android Trooper mechanic known as Hotwire, this incredibly advanced and astoundingly expensive suit of combat armor makes Cobra Commander very dangerous while he wears it. This suit is essentially the same as the Mark 1 in capability, save for the fact that it has been given a primarily black paint job. Either way, both suits of armor have these capabilities:

* Battle Helmet (s): smart enough to know what works and what doesn't, Hotwire also incorporated the technology of Cobra Commander's original battle helmet into the armor he built for the man. In addition to enhancing the general protection it offers by intensity 4 (+1) and duplicating all of its inherent gadgets, Hotwire installed intensity 6 infrared scanners.

* Computer Link (i): replacing his original, cellular telephone link with conventional telephone towers (or his Tele-Viper operatives), this device lets the Commander deliver commands directly into the waiting processors of his Battle Android Troopers. It works with intensity 4 range, contacting any BATs within ten miles of his person, allowing him to coordinate the otherwise dim robots with frightening ability.

* Resilience (s): intensity 8.

Knife (v4) (s): though he rarely closes into melee with opponents, Cobra Commander nonetheless carries a blade with him on occasion, because sometimes you've just got to cut somebody. He can wield this blade, made from m.s. 12 materials, to inflict either his Strength +2 in slashing damage, or to cut through items of up to a like m.s. - though the harder an object is, the longer this will take.

Sword (v5) (s): when acting on even more ceremony than usual, Cobra Commander often carries a special blade during the proceedings. This small, ostentatious blade is made from m.s. 12 materials, and can eventually hack through like objects given enough time. However, its main use in combat is to inflict the Commander's Strength +2 in slashing damage, should it be utilized.

Staff (v4) (s): adopted a few years back, this item is more of a ceremonial device than anything else, but it works in a pinch. Made from a gold-plated metal of material strength 15, Cobra Commander can use this over-stylized, over-sized snake staff to inflict his Strength +2 in blunt (physical) damage with every strike, though he mostly just carries this weapon for theatrical effect.

Costume:

2008 saw Cobra Commander wear a large number of new variants on his original uniform. His twenty second consists of blue trousers, a yellow long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish blue jacket with a large, red Cobra sigil in the center, a small back holster for his laser pistol, blue leather boots and gloves, a yellow belt with a shiny red belt buckle, and his classic, blue battle helmet.

His twenty third uniform is like his first in content, but in hue resembles his nineteenth. This 'imperial' ensemble includes crimson trousers, a black long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish crimson jacket with a large, silver Cobra sigil in the center, a small, silver back holster for his laser pistol, black leather boots, black leather gloves with silver trim, brown belts with a golden belt buckles, and a red executioner's hood.

Cobra Commander's twenty-fourth uniform is again very similar to his first. It consists of blue trousers, a black long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish blue jacket with a large, red Cobra sigil in the center, a small back holster for his laser pistol, black leather boots, black leather gloves with golden trim, black and silver belts with shiny red belt buckles, and his original, blue battle helmet.

His twenty fifth uniform is, in fact, another suit of battle armor. Primarily black in hue, this mechanized suit is accented with a large red Cobra sigil on its chest, various red military awards and like trappings, a gray belt, a billowing gray cape, and a black executioner's hood. Beneath his hood, should he be unmasked somehow, the Commander wears a black ski mask, as well.

Cobra Commander's final costume for this year harkened back to his fifth. This ensemble consisted of a blue jacket with gold buttons and red stripes on its cuffs, blue trousers, red and gold accessories and military-style awards, black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt with a red belt buckle, black holsters for his firearms, a golden sheath for his blade, a blue executioner's hood, and a blue cape.

2011 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Compound Z (v1) (s): Cobra Commander's minions are always experimenting with means by which they can augment the power of Cobra troops. The latest of such is Compound Z, a refined and controlled version of the toxic waste that inadvertently created Toxo-Zombies in the past. The Commander has taken to carrying a canister of this Compound with him on missions, when failed troops need a 'boost'.

Sword (v1) (s): when acting on even more ceremony than usual, Cobra Commander often carries a special blade during the proceedings. This small, ostentatious blade is made from m.s. 12 materials, and can eventually hack through like objects given enough time. However, its main use in combat is to inflict the Commander's Strength +2 in slashing damage, should it be utilized.

Staff (s): adopted a few years back, this item is more of a ceremonial device than anything else, but it works in a pinch. Made from a gold-plated metal of material strength 15, Cobra Commander can use this over-stylized, over-sized snake staff to inflict his Strength +2 in blunt (physical) damage with every strike, though he mostly just carries this weapon for theatrical effect.

Costume:

After a few years, Cobra Commander attempted another all new ensemble. His twenty-seventh uniform consists of a two-tone blue jacket over a long-sleeved, collared light blue shirt, black trousers, black leather boots and gloves, a black leather belt, black holsters for his firearms and other assorted weapons, a striking, navy blue cape, his classic blue battle helmet, and a golden, serpentine scepter.

His twenty-eighth uniform is yet another reference to his original. This one once again consists of blue trousers, a black long-sleeved, collared shirt beneath a stylish blue jacket with a large, silver Cobra sigil in the center, a small, blue back holster for his laser pistol, black leather boots, black leather gloves with silver trim, various black and silver belts, and his classic, blue battle helmet.

2012 Variations

Additional / Substitute Equipment:

Sword (s): when acting on even more ceremony than usual, Cobra Commander often carries a special blade during the proceedings. This small, ostentatious blade is made from m.s. 12 materials, and can eventually hack through like objects given enough time. However, its main use in combat is to inflict the Commander's Strength +2 in slashing damage, should it be utilized.

Costume:

Cobra Commander's only new costume of 2012, his twenty ninth uniform, draws heavily on his sixth for its inspiration. It includes a black jacket with silver, military-style lacing and awards, black trousers, black leather boots, black leather gloves, silvered holsters for his smaller guns, a silver belt with a red buckle, and of course his signature, black executioner hood that he wears at all times.

2015 Variations

Costume:

His first new ensemble in three years, Cobra Commander's thirtieth uniform draws on his nineteenth and twenty first for its inspiration. It includes a black jacket with a golden Cobra sigil on the left breast, black trousers, red leather boots and gloves, gray belts and holsters, a black and chrome battle helmet, a red hood for use when not in battle, and a regal red cape.

Extra Goodies:

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Cobra Commander Saga System 13 Text File Download

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Cobra Commander Imagery

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Cobra directories featuring a version of Cobra Commander:

1982

1984

1987

1991

1992

1993

1994

1997

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2007

2008

2011

2012

2015

* Note: 2002 saw three versions of Cobra Commander (Versions 11, 12, and 13), as did 2003 (Versions 14, 15, and 16), and 2004 (Versions 17, 18 and 19). 2005 saw two (Versions 20 and 21), while 2008 saw five (Versions 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26), and 2011 saw two (Versions 27 and 28).

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