Snake Eyes – Taking me Back
Snake Eyes debuted in the GI Joe line in 1982. That takes me way back. Unlike many, Snake Eyes wasn’t my very favorite GI Joe action figure, but he was certainly near the top of my list.
I guess every kid loves ninjas. Snake Eyes fit that bill exactly. He was the only GI Joe ninja at the time and I could imagine him kicking everyone’s butt in the Cobra team should they decide to face him hand-to-hand.
A Snake Eyes Tidbit of Interest
Snake Eyes was initially called “spook” in Marvel’s early version of pre-GI Joe project called “Fury Force”. I’m glad they changed his name to Snake Eyes to be quite honest.
It is rumored that Hasbro created the 1982 all-black plastic molded character to save on production costs. Hmmmm…
Ninja or Commando, Still Cool
It can be debated whether the Snake Eyes GI Joe could be classified as a commando or a ninja. He possesses many talents that could easily fall into either category.
Originally, Snake Eyes was listed as a commando and it wasn’t until the later years that he was referred to as a ninja.
Is there a story to this? Yes, of course there is. Snake Eyes is the stuff of legends, and we’ll get right into that.
Snake Eyes – The Commando
- Advanced Infantry Training
- U.S. Army Ranger School
- 1968 – Top Secret mission to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Met and accompanied by Lonzo “Stalker” Wilkinson and Tommy “Storm Shadow” Arashikage.
- During the mission, two Vietnamese killed Baron Eugen DeCobray, who was identified as Anastasia DeCobray’s older brother. She believed that Snake Eyes had killed her brother. So, later she entered into the life of international terrorism as the “Baronnes”.
- About 3 years later, assigned to a Long Range Recon Patrol (LRRP) in the jungles of Vietnam; which was commanded by Stalker.
- Approximately 6 months into the LRRP tour, three commandos were believed to be killed and Snake Eyes was badly injured in a fire-fight with the North Vietnamese. He was rescued by Storm Shadow and Stalker’s remaining team escaped the scene.
Snake Eyes endured much in Vietnam, but the severity of his injuries got him shipped back to the United States where he encountered a very young officer, Clayton “Hawk” Abernathy. Unfortunately, Hawk had to bring the bad news of Snake Eyes’ parents and sister being killed in an automobile accident. 
For months, Snake Eyes vented his anger in frustration travelling about the country meting out tough doses of vigilantism with a shadowy new-found friend. This endeavor came to an abrupt end when Snake Eyes began to see the wrongful actions that he was taking part in.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when this shady friend asked Snake Eyes to kill a judge. This judge was revealed to Snake Eyes by his shady friend to be the very judge that ruined his shady friend’s brother’s life by ruling against him in a case that convicted his brother of burning down a half-way house for veterans that the brother had actually founded. The brother became a drunk and was the actual driver of the car that collided with Snake Eyes’ family vehicle killing them.
This was all too much for Snake Eyes and he refused to kill the judge. The shady friend killed the judge himself and the two parted ways.
Snake Eyes later joined his friend Storm Shadow in Japan. Storm Shadow insisted that Snake Eyes join his “family business”, that would be a ninja clan.
Snake Eyes – The Ninja
- Snake Eyes trained for years in Japan with Storm Shadows’ uncles, the Hard Master and the Soft Master.
- A rebellious group within the clan tried to overthrow the leadership, but Snake Eyes and Tommy Storm Shadow helped bring it to an end.
- The Uncles began to see a future clan leader in Snake Eyes and his adept ninja skills combined with hits leadership abilities.
- A rivalry grew between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. A resentment began to burn in Storm Shadow towards Snake Eyes.
- Tragedy would later strike as Snake Eyes’ old vigilante buddy would hire two assassins, Zartan and Firefly, to quietly kill him.
- After infiltrating the clan, Zartan stole one of Storm Shadows’ arrows and attempted to kill Snake eyes, but accidentally killed the Hard Master.
- Storm Shadow fled Japan in pursuit of the would-be assassin to gain justice. However, he later ran upon the very man that ordered Snake Eyes’ death, the vigilante partner. This man would later be known as, Cobra Commander.
- The death of the Hard Master left the Arashikage clan in disarray. Snake Eyes being orphaned, once again, moved to the High Sierras, to live in solitude with only his wolf, Timber.
I know, what a cool story!
I never really followed the actual GI Joe story until I got older. I guess the boy in me still thrives, because I’m digging deeper and deeper into this awesome creation every day.
Tune in to my little blog again later and learn more about Snake Eyes. How did he become a mute? How did he join the new-founded GI Joe team?
There’s so much to see in this interesting story, and Snake Eyes seems to be the center of it all. Join me again and will learn about it together.
Snake Eyes - The Story -The GI Joe Ninja/Commando Part II
Tags: Gi Joe Toys Action Figures, The GI Joes Story by Cole
No Comments »
Let’s go back in time to the first series of the 1982 G.I. Joe action figures line. I can remember many of these GI Joe figures from when I was a kid growing up. It’s too bad most of them are probably buried in a dirt hill somewhere in West Texas where I used to play with them. 
The Gung Ho action figure is one tough looking son-uva-gun if you ask me! I think Hasbro did an awesome job of the 25th anniversary edition of this marine action figure. He looks “squared away” from hat to boots and the detail is excellent.
