The Basics

G.I. Joe is the anti-terrorism force that we all grew up with.  They were started as a top secret division just for combating terrorism in the 1980's.  As the team grew and Cobra grew as a mojor opposition the team was outed to the public.  Now forced to keep a good public face, the Joes always have at least two operations going at a time.  One that the public knows about and approves all of their actions and another that is still top secret and no one outside of the G.I. Joe command knows about.

Cobra is still a huge threat to the world.  Now with their own nation on Cobra Island they have proved to be an even larger threat.  Cobra Commander rules with an iron fist and Cobra Island is mainly a military base that hs been classified as a country.  None of the Cobra soldiers have family on the island although Cobra Commander has promised them that once they have secured peace that their families can be brought to the island.  The troops continue doing his bidding because he is their only hope now.  They are branded as traitors to their home countries and the Commander is their only hope.  Several figures that were labeled as troop builders are individual characters for me so I could boost Cobra's ranks.

James McCullen is the head of M.A.R.S., the lead weapons designer in the world.  As Destro he leads his own army known as the Iron Grenadiers.  Using them as a threat on smaller countries he has been able to force purchases of M.A.R.S. weapons from the countries.  Always looking to make money, his army is for hire for the right price.  With as much pride in his troops as his weapons, they are very valuable to him.  He has three types of troops; Iron Grenadiers for the footwork, Iron Anvils for airborne missions, and a group for naval missions that I have yet to name.  Wild Boar, Undertow, Targat, Ferret, and Nullifier are all individual characters for me and not troop builders.

The Dreadnoks are a favorite of mine.  Right now they are involved in a Civil War.  Zartan has gone crazy and Zandar took him in hiding while looking for a cure.  Zaranna and Zanya became bitter enemies over the leadership postion and each side had their own followers.  Now what has transpired can be decribed as one of the dirtiest and most violent disputes in history.  Anything goes as the two factions of The Dreadnoks go after each others throats.  There is Zanya and her Dreadnok traditionalists versus Zarana and her Dreadnoks reformers.

Firefly has started his own mercenary business, known as Firefly Inc.  Vypra can be found at his side almost constantly.  Rarely doing field work anymore, Firefly has found a new passion in getting contracts for his work and letting his team of highly trained saboteurs do all of the footwork.  They all dress identical and are known as Firefly when in the field.  This way if one is killed in action the name lives on and Firefly will never truly die.

Major Bludd has his troops as well.  They are known as The Plague and operate as private military contractors (PMC).  They are former military members from around the world that found the higher pay and relaxed rules of a PMC a better fit for them.  They work in teams of two and are hired buy anyone for military actions.  They have even been hired by the U.S. government and other top governments of the world but no one will hire them to work against Cobra due to Bludd's well documented history with the organization.  This idea came from the videogame Army Of Two.

The Night Creepers are an organization that can trace their history back to World War II.  After the Holocaust, the Jewish leaders around the world agreed on financing a group known as the Knights of David with each member being known by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Over the years they crushed many attempts at persecuting the Jewish community and no one ever knew they existed.  The name evolved into Night Creeper for their stealthy actions.  Sometime in the 1980's the Jewish leaders decided their services were no longer needed and ceased all funding of the group.  Without funding the Aleph decided to start hiring out his group.  He hired Martial Arts experts to train them in new fighting techniques.    Its members were planted in various organizations and governments over the next few years.  It was during this time that they came to work for Cobra.  Their martial arts expertise coupled with the latest technology makes them a very capable foe.  Still available to anyone for the right price they are more loyal to Cobra than anyother organization.   Many of the original members were not pleased with this new direction and disappeared from the group.  Others have been killed in action.  All of them have been replaced.  Still known by the Hebrew alphabet when they are in the field, its the only thing they have in common with the original Knights of David.

I was never a big fan of Serpentor as a kid.  I never had the figure and the movie ruined anything that was cool about him.  But I have been able to work him into my world and the character is growing on me.  After his "death" by the arrow of Zartan, Serpentor was laid to rest in the freighter bured beneath the volcano.  Most everyone escaped the freighter and when Cobra Commander had the freighter searched he found Serpentor's body missing.  Little did he know Dr. Mindbender had rescued the body and began reanimating it in his lab.  After losing the second Cobra Civil War, Serpentor took his headquarters in Truncial Abysmia.  He now has an intense following in that region and several Cobra members have defected to his side including, Overlord, Croc Master, Raptor, Crystal Ball, and Copperhead.  This new faction has been dubbed The Coil.

After witnessing Cobra Commander's carelessness for the BATs, Overkill vowed never to help Cobra again.  He took over the SKYnet factory that produced the Battle Android Troopers and has tried to "liberate" all BATs from Cobra's service.  Aided by a young cybernetics genius, Hotwire, Overkill and his SKYnet army are a force to be reckoned with.  And to add insult to injury, Overkill and Hotwire added cybernetic enhancements to Fred VII, so now SKYnet has their very own Cobra Commander to send into battle.

Seeking revenge on his father, Billy has started his own attack against Cobra.  Billy has gathered a group of like minded individuals to help him in his fight.  Known as the Underground, they are fighting to liberate Cobra Island and free the soldiers from their service to Cobra Commander.  They intend to rename the island Springfield and set up a democracy and allow the soldier's families to join them.  Aided by Ghost Bear, Darklon, Tiger Claw, and Zanya and her Dreadnoks, the Underground is in their infancy but they are strong enough to make Cobra notice them.

No longer a part of Cobra or G.I. Joe, Tommy Arishikage has set out to rebuild his family's legacy.  Although he has set up the Arishikage Clan in Japan and started taking apprentices he is still pulled into the conflict no matter how hard he tries to stay out of it.  He swears one day he will be done with the fight and finally be able to settle down in the clan's home.