Serpentor
| Fighting |
Excellent |
| Agility |
Good |
| Strength |
Good |
| Endurance |
Good |
| Reason |
Good |
| Intuition |
Typical |
| Psyche |
Typical |
| Health |
90 |
| Karma |
36 |
| Resources |
Not Applicable |
| Popularity |
0 |
Powers
None
Talents
None
Contacts
None
History
Serpentor is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe toyline. He was introduced in 1986 as a toy with an air chariot and introduced in the animated series that same year in the five part mini-series "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" He took over the leadership of Cobra in Season 2. He was created through a breakthrough in cloning research by Dr. Mindbender from the DNA extracted from the unearthed remains of the most ruthless and effective military leaders in history, including Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Genghis Khan, and Grigori Rasputin. Serpentor is often known for his catchphrase "This, I Command!", which Serpentor says after giving Cobra members orders.
Serpentor's character in the comics was somewhat different from the character of the cartoon. While the animated Serpentor was built to be a new, superior leader of Cobra, the comic counterpart was never intended to replace Cobra Commander, and was more akin to a general, someone to lead and inspire the troops, while Cobra Commander remained in power. However, this did not last, and Serpentor was ambitious, leading to power struggles between Serpentor and other members of the Cobra hierarchy. While there was initial tension between him and Cobra Commander, the latter was absent for much of Serpentor's tenure in COBRA. Instead, Serpentor had to contend with the impostor Fred VII. Fred took an immediate dislike to Serpentor and the two were often at odds. Their rivalry eventually escalated in to the COBRA civil war, in which G.I. Joe sided with Serpentor to defeat the forces of Fred and the Baroness. The U.S. Government decided to support Serpentor, looking at it from the angle that they were supporting a monarch over a dictator. During this conflict, Serpentor met his end at the hands of Zartan, who assassinated him via an arrow. After this, his body was preserved in cold storage by Dr. Mindbender, for "purely scientific reasons." The body was later put inside the landlocked freighter and buried inside a volcano on COBRA Island, along with a number of "traitors", by the real Cobra Commander.
Being a clone, Serpentor's story does not end there. He was reanimated by renegade scientists and soon formed a secretive faction called The Coil. The Coil is composed of these renegade scientists and COBRA operatives who are dissatisfied with Cobra Commander. The most elite of the Coil include the legendary saboteur Firefly, Zartan's brother Zandar, Overlord, and later the infamous SAW Viper Robert Skelton (who would become Overkill). Now with a sizable army in hand, Serpentor now targeted both G.I. Joe and COBRA alike from COBRA Island. He lured Mindbender back to his side, and launched a surprise attack, capturing Cobra Commander and several Joes. This resulted in a massive three way battle between G.I. Joe, COBRA, and the Coil. During the battle, several Joes were killed, Serpentor's forces were defeated, and COBRA reacquired the island. During a fight with Cobra Commander, Serpentor fell off a cliff, into the ocean below. His body was recovered by Overlord at the behest of the Jugglers. Serpentor was then placed in suspended animation and the Jugglers instituted a number of brainwashing programs in order to have Serpentor eventually become their instrument. Their plans never came to fruition through, as following COBRA's defeat in Badhikistan, the Jugglers were assassinated by one of their own in General Mars Harring, whose true loyalties were with the mysterious Red Shadows organization. Claiming that the Red Shadows hated loose ends, Harring took a fire axe and broke open Serpentor's suspended animation chamber. Whether Harring killed Serpentor or turned the body over to the Red Shadows for some other purpose has yet to be revealed.
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