History YMMV / GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel

* EvilIsCool:
** Storm Shadow as a ultra badass NobleDemon was designed this way by Larry Hama.
** The Baroness, Cobra Commander, and Destro are at their most capable as well as likable here.
* EvilIsSexy: The Baroness after her plastic surgery starts wearing a lot of form fitting leather and vamping it up.

* EvilIsSexy: Baroness

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Due to the huge cast, this trope is inevitable. Snake-Eyes, for example, is extremely popular among fans. For a later part of the Marvel Comics run, the cover title actually included "Featuring Snake-Eyes."

** Cobra Commander's IronWoobie son Billy, who has a long and impressive character arc through the series and eventually gains an EyepatchOfPower.

** Among the characters who have yet to appear outside of this series, one standout is Captain Minh, the boatman who gets stranded on Cobra Island and spends years in a cat and mouse game with the islands guards, before becoming an ally of characters like the Joes and later Zartan.

* HesJustHiding: Among those sealed in the freighter, there's a little room for doubt about the fates of [[spoiler:Captain Minh and Tyrone]]. While it's later stated that the bodies all of the "traitors" sealed inside were accounted for besides [[spoiler:Billy]] and [[spoiler:Zartan]] (with [[spoiler:Firefly]] later being revealed to have got out and put his costume on a body already inside), [[spoiler:Tyrone]] and [[spoiler:Captain Minh]] ended up with the people who got sealed more or less by bad luck than design and weren't actual members of Cobra, so they might not have been considered in that tally, and their bodies aren't among those clearly visible when Cobra soldiers survey the freighter.

** Among the characters who never appear outside of this series, one standout is Captain Minh, the boatman who gets stranded on Cobra Island and spends years in a cat and mouse game with the islands guards, before becoming an ally of characters like the Joe's and later Zartan.

* HesJustHiding: Among those sealed in the freighter, there's a little room for doubt about the fates of [[spoiler:Captain Minh and Tyrone]]. While it's later stated that the bodies all of the "traitors" sealed inside were accounted for besides [[spoiler:Billy]] and [[spoiler:Zartan]] (with [[spoiler:Firefly]] later being revealed to have got out and put his costume on a body already inside), [[spoiler:Tyrone]] and [[spoiler:Captain Minh]] ended up with the people who got sealed more or less by bad luck than design and weren't actual members of Cobra, so they might not have been considered in that, and there bodies aren't among those clearly visible when Cobra soldiers survey the freighter.

** Ripcord's girlfriend Candy was a decently interesting character who is killed off right after one of her best moments (a DamselOutOfDistress scene involving one of the Dreadnoks) and before the implications of her dad being a cobra scientist (something shed just found out) get much exploration.

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: Having done almost the entirety of the Marvel run of ''G.I. Joe'' himself, any writer not named Creator/LarryHama will inevitably be compared negatively to him when writing Joe stories.

* DorkAge: Near the end of the original run, and with both comic and toy sales declining, the writers were forced to include numerous gimmicky sub-divisions like the Eco-Warriors, Drug Elimination Force, and the Star Brigade. Hama would do his best, but it was clear the toys were dictating the direction of a lot of the stories, rather than the other way around.

** Dr. Sidney Biggles-Jones is an interesting case. Normally she'd just be a minor scientist (albeit [[HotScientist a good-looking one]]), but she was a key player in the ''ComicBook/TransformersGeneration2'' crossover/BackDoorPilot, making her a memorable figure in two different fandoms.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Due to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, this trope is inevitable. Snake-Eyes, for example, is extremely popular among fans. For a later part of the Marvel Comics run, the cover title actually included "Featuring Snake-Eyes."

* MagnificentBastard:
** "[[WildCard Storm Shadow]]", Thomas Arashikage, is one of G.I. Joe's greatest enemies and allies alike, a master {{ninja}} warrior and tactician seeking to bring honor back into the world. An old friend and rival to Snake Eyes who was framed for the murder of their master, Storm Shadow drafted himself into Cobra and assisted the terrorist organization for years, all while playing events to draw him closer to his master's true murderer and [[ClearTheirName clear his name]]. Storm Shadow nobly rescues and trains the boy Billy as an apprentice in the ways of the ninja, fights off swarms of sharks before faking his death to avoid capture, and even manages to do the impossible in breaking free of Cobra brainwave mind control through [[HeroicWillpower sheer force of will]]. Eventually turning on Cobra completely, Storm Shadow [[ComicBook/GIJoeDevilsDue becomes one of G.I. Joe's greatest assets]], assisting the group in taking down all manner of evil worldwide while juggling personal missions involving toppling entire criminal organizations, and Storm Shadow ultimately plays a crucial role in drafting Destro and the Baroness in taking down Cobra Commander once and for all.
** [[ArmsDealer James "Destro" McCullen XXIV]] is the brilliant, noble, and warmongering founder of M.A.R.S. (Military Armament Research Syndicate) who serves as one of the G.I. Joe's greatest foes in history. A Scottish Laird who treasures his heritage, Destro willingly wears an unappealing iron mask solely to honor his ancestry, nonetheless capable of charming entire armies into buying his weapons while he simultaneously supplies the enemy side. During his time working alongside Cobra, Destro proves himself time and time again to be a far more honorable and efficient leader than Cobra Commander, regularly outsmarting the madman and taking control of the organization for himself to great success and praise from the troops, sometimes rarely even having to raise a single finger to get what he wants. Destro's deep love and care for his own forces is only surpassed by his love for the Baroness, who he is willing to undergo brainwashing and even torture and death for, at one point leaving behind his successful criminal career just to take care of her. Perfectly willing to ally with the G.I. Joes to work towards mutual goals, Destro's final act is to assist them in taking down a genocidal Cobra Commander once and for all before peacefully turning himself in, securing a bright, safe future for the Baroness and their son in the process.
** [[WellIntentionedExtremist Wilder Vaughn]] is the leader of the Red Shadows, a covert terrorist group seeking the destruction of both G.I. Joe and Cobra itself. Becoming disgusted with the modern governments and military after witnessing a group of American soldiers massacre a village in Asia, Vaughn goes into hiding and carries out a variety of assassinations against the Joes and Cobra, culminating in seemingly killing Cobra Commander and seizing his assets. Utilizing his variety of followers who have infiltrated world governments, Vaughn gains full access to the Umbra systems that he himself developed and that are installed in many of the servers and communications systems around the world. Vaughn plans to wipe out every government, political and religious power in the world, and replace them all with the Red Shadows, who will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans rule with peace and prosperity in mind]], not their own power, and Vaughn [[NearVillainVictory very nearly completes his plan]], only being taken down due to his own soldiers' failings.
** [[AntiVillain Tracker Kwinn]] is an Inuit mercenary defined by his moral code and his impressive skillset. In his introductory comic, Kwinn outsmarts a group of G.I. Joes numerous times, leading them into a trap and stealing their weapons then later, when the Joes retrieve them, revealing that he took all the firing pins out just in case they were able to get them back. Kwinn works with the likes of Russian war criminals and the terrorist organization Cobra, but nonetheless retains a code of honor, refusing to kill anyone who doesn't cross him and swearing loyalty to his current employers until their contract is up--often using the loophole of finishing his contract with them, then working with the Joes to take them down due to his personal distaste at his employers' attitudes. When betrayed by Dr. Venom, Kwinn allies with Snake Eyes to carve a path of destruction through Cobra for revenge, culminating in Kwinn realizing the futility for vengeance and giving Venom mercy, and when Venom shoots Kwinn dead for showing such mercy, Kwinn reveals he anticipated this, and uses his last act to drop a grenade and [[TakingYouWithMe take Venom down with him]].

* MyRealDaddy: Creator/LarryHama is pretty much this for the ''G.I. Joe'' franchise, with his characters and concepts forming the basis for the franchise going forward, save one-off spinoffs like ‘’WesternAnimation/GIJoeExtreme''.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: A lot of readers have expressed sympathy with Cobra Commander due to the fact this version of him was created due to both his Vietnam service traumatizing him as well as the death of the American Dream.

** Tyrone the ninja student. Right at the point where he had the potential to be at his most interesting (due to being on the verge of finding out Zartan [[KillAndReplace killed and has been impersonating his mentor]] while developing a genuine bond with him) the two get sealed in the freighter and Zartan escapes while Tyrone is listen as among those who didn't.

* CathartisFactor: Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow killing the S.A.W. Viper who had killed Quick Kick, Doc, Heavy Metal, Thunder and Crankcase in the 112th issue is immensely satisfying, especially after the murderous bastard had earlier gloated to Hawk that there was nothing he could do about it in addition to talking Cobra Commander out of punishing him for killing the Joes against his orders.