G.I. Joe-related characters appearing in IDW comics that are part of the Hasbro Comic Universe.

For the rebooted IDW universe, go here.

For general G.I. Joe character tropes, go here.

Note: Due to this universe's tendency towards codename reuse, real names should not be noted unless they've been acknowledged in IDW continuity.

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G.I. Joe team

A secretive U.S. military special forces team, dedicated to operating against superterrorists like Cobra. Its members all gave up their previous lives and took on codenames as their only identity, and were believed dead by the rest of the world; after Cobra revealed their existence to the world, however, they brought in the original G.I. Joe to lead them as a publicly operating team. While they were mothballed after Cobra was defeated, they were eventually brought back to deal with the threat of the Transformers, and subsequently detached from the U.S. military to operate as an independent, international team.

Hawk

The hard-edged veteran leader of the Joes, General Hawk served as a tough-but-fair leader until being made to step down by the government.

Actually Pretty Funny: Hawk's reaction to Chuckles' "joke" in his final letter?^note
Hawk: "Heh."
Big Good: The overall leader of the heroes for the first two volumes.
Fall Guy: Takes the punishment for the Joes' failure to stop the destruction of Nanzhao.
Four-Star Badass: Never really gets to show his skills in the field, but after his forced retirement, he manages to easily defeat a Cobra team led by Munitia that comes to try and kill him.
Good Is Not Soft
Pragmatic Hero: As Chuckles puts it, he's constantly calculating how to spend 30 lives to save 40.
Reluctant Retiree: Is forced to retire after the "Cobra Command" storyline and the Joes' failure to stop the destruction of Nanzhao, thanks to a senator in Cobra's pocket.

Duke

Duke/Conrad Hauser

Duke was one of the first members of the G.I. Joe team, recruited after heroic actions in the Middle Eastern country of Trucial. An archetypical All-American Face, he was made the leader of the Joes after Hawk was made to step down, but was eventually thrown out himself.

Big Good: Takes up the sword after Hawk's forcible retirement.
Dark Secret: His wife, Ayisha, who lives in a nursing home after being brain-damaged in a bomb attack. This wouldn't normally be much of a dark secret, but considering that the Joes were meant to break off all connections to the outside world...
Drill Sergeant Nasty: While training troops in Trucial.
Expansion Pack Past: Given one with Mad Monk and Ayisha in volume 3.
The Hero
Hired Guns: By volume 4, he's working as one of these alongside Big Ben.
Love Triangle: He and Snake-Eyes both have feelings for Scarlett. (As does Mainframe, later. And that's not getting into his secret wife...)
Reluctant Retiree: Gets thrown out of the Joes after they find out about his wife.
Sergeant Rock

Scarlett

Scarlett/Shanna O'Hara

One of the initial members of the team alongside Snake Eyes and Duke, Scarlett is a tough Action Girl who's shown herself to be a skilled and responsible leader time and again throughout the IDW run. In volume 5, she is promoted to overall leader of the Joes.

Action Girl
Big Good: Takes over as the Joes' leader after Revolution.
Love Triangle: First she's in one between Duke and Snake Eyes, then (she thinks) between her and Helix over Snake Eyes, then she's between Duke and Mainframe...
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Goes on one against Optimus Prime in Revolution after Rom (whom she believes is Cybertronian) kills Joe Colton, actually a Dire Wraith impersonating him, even though Mainframe, Doc and Helix all point out the inconsistencies between Rom and Optimus' actions suggesting the two aren't connected.
Sergeant Rock: Holds the rank of Master Sergeant.
The Straight and Arrow Path
Territorial Smurfette: Gets very prickly towards Helix over her friendship with Snake Eyes.
Unknown Rival: During Revolution, it's debatable whether Optimus even knew she existed until the end and by then she'd abandoned her vendetta on him.

Snake Eyes

A silent, masked ninja with a Mysterious Past and a connection to Cobra and the Arashikage ninja clan, recruiting Snake Eyes was Duke and Scarlett's first mission as part of the Joes. Though something of an enigma with a tendency towards going rogue, Snake Eyes is a Determinator who's proven himself to be a loyal soldier.

Cowboy Cop: Goes off on his own way against orders way more often than he should be allowed to; though nobody entirely trusts him (apart from Scarlett and Helix), he's always allowed back into the team afterwards.
Face–Heel Turn: Joins Cobra in Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra. He's faking it to infiltrate and sabotage them, obviously.
The Faceless
Fake Defector: In both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra.
Faking the Dead: At the end of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow he's presumed dead, but left his mask with the Hard Master to show Storm Shadow that he had survived. He doesn't show up again until Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has some fairly un-heroic full-head scarring; we never see it, but considering the Trauma Conga Line he went through to get it, it's definitely not pretty.
McNinja
Memetic Badass: Considered in-universe to be a One-Man Army who nobody wants to have to fight.
Rogue Agent: Goes rogue before the events of the main series to investigate Cobra.
Unexplained Recovery: It's never explained why he decided to stop Faking the Dead to join Cobra, or why Ronin isn't surprised to see him alive.

Rock 'n Roll

Rock 'n Roll/Craig McConnel

One of the first members of the team, Rock 'n Roll is an arrogant, boisterous fun-lover with a strong sense of loyalty. He's one of the core members of the team in volume 5.

Ascended Extra: Has a much bigger role in volume 5 than he had previously.
Butt-Monkey: Comes off as a bit of one in the 2016 series. (He mostly brings it upon himself.)
Casanova Wannabe: Spends a good chunk of Origins' first arc trying to hit on Scarlett.
Expansion Pack Past: Background material reveals that he was once a roadie for the Holograms.
Innocently Insensitive: Accidentally offends the Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy Quick Kick by implying that he was taken along for the mission because of his ability to speak Chinese, not because of his fighting skill.
More Dakka: Initially is a machine gunner...
- Shotguns Are Just Better: ...but swaps it out for a laser shotgun.

Stalker

Stalker/Lorenzo R. Wilkinson

One of the earliest members of G.I. Joe, Stalker acted as Hawk's second-in-command on their first mission; he'd previously been a member of Joe Colton's Adventure Team, having earned a spot by being the youngest Army Ranger of all time.

Artistic License – Military: Being a senior Commissioned Officer, he would probably have made more sense to take over from Hawk than Duke.
Composite Character: Between the black Adventurer from the G.I. Joe Adventure Team and Stalker from A Real American Hero.
Improbable Age: Being the youngest Army Ranger ever was what drew Joe Colton's attention to him.
Out of Focus: Despite being Hawk's second-in-command in the first arc of Origins, he doesn't really make any more significant appearances until being retconned into being part of the Adventure Team in Revolutionaries.

Breaker

The Joes' communications officer, who was part of their initial mission against Chimera.

Communications Officer
Killed Off for Real: By Steeler/Black-Out.
Legacy Character: By the time of Revolution, there's a new Breaker.
Out of Focus: After the initial Origins arc, he doesn't show up again until Cobra volume 3.
Trademark Favorite Food: The second Breaker is heard chewing bubblegum, the character's traditional quirk.
Unwitting Pawn: Manipulated by Serpentor into acting as a mole inside G.I. Joe.

Heavy Duty

Heavy Duty/Lamont Morris

Heavy Duty served as The Big Guy on their first mission against Chimera, and later recruited his cousin Roadblock into the Joes.

Decomposite Character: An odd example. He initially seemed to be a Composite Character of the classic Heavy Duty and Roadblock who was renamed back to "Roadblock" during volume 2, but a one-shot story in volume 3 revealed that Heavy Duty was Roadblock's cousin and was responsible for recruiting him into G.I. Joe.
Forced Transformation: Gets transmuted into a Dire Wraith by the Talisman.
Genre Savvy: Comments to Mayday that "folks who look like us don't do well in horror movies".
Lethal Chef: By Word of God, this is one of the ways he differs from Roadblock.
Related in the Adaptation: As in Renegades, he's Roadblock's cousin.
Series Continuity Error: A caption during Revolution refers to him as "Hershel Dalton", his Renegades/Rise of Cobra name.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Roadblock, in volume 1.

Roadblock

Roadblock/Marvin F. Hinton

Marvin Hinton is Heavy Duty's cousin, who managed to track down the Joes through the "Sigma Six" training program. Because of the skill required to do so, he was brought into the team under the callsign of "Roadblock". He became a member of Duke's public team in volume 3, and was promoted to field leader in volume 5.

Bald of Authority: Acts as the Joes' field leader in the 2016 series.
Chef of Iron
I Call It "Vera": Refers to his machine gun as "Ma Deuce".
More Dakka
You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: In Revolution #1, he gets pretty annoyed that both Rom and the Cybertronians are totally immune to bullets.

Shipwreck

G.I. Joe's most senior naval officer, Shipwreck commands the team's fleet, including the captured submarines "Lemuria" and the "Tuna". He was also made a member of Duke's public "celebrity soldier" team during volume 3.

Animal Companion: Averted until volume 5, when he finally got his classic companion Polly.
The Captain
Formerly Fit: In volume 3, he had a triangle-shaped muscular physique, but by the time of volume 5 he's got a serious gut on him.
General Failure: Gets put in charge of the Joes while Scarlett is on Cybertron during the events of First Strike. As Sitterson stated in an interview, it goes about as well as you’d expect from a guy named Shipwreck.
Lethal Chef: With Roadblock acting as Joe field leader in volume 5, Shipwreck takes over as head of catering... but only serves deeply unpleasant seaweed-based vegetarian food.
The Nicknamer: Tends to rename ships that are captured from the enemy; Cobra's Dreadnaught becomes the "Tuna", and the Nemesis becomes the "Lemuria".
Small Name, Big Ego: Spends a good part of volume 3 complaining about his codename, and how he'd rather be called "Badass", like he was during his Navy days. Then he gets to show why he deserves that nickname...
Underwater Base: Commands one in the 2016 series in the form of the Lemuria.

Cover Girl

Cover Girl/Courtney Krieger

A former model famous for her beauty, Courtney Krieger joined the army after fighting off a band of Ruthless Modern Pirates during a game show gone wrong and finding that she had a talent for it. She was brought into the Joes on the advice of Richard Ruby, aka Bulletman, and later was selected to be a member of Duke's public team.

Action Girl
Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: It was only the last two panels of page 13 of #7 that showed she was wearing anything while saving Shipwreck from a midget submarine test gone wrong.
Boisterous Bruiser: She's very... enthusiastic in a fight.
Meaningful Name: "Krieger" is German for "warrior", which is particularly appropriate here.
Wrench Wench: Downplayed, compared to her traditional depictions (to the extent of her specialty in volume 3 being listed as "Infiltration"), but it's definitely still there, particularly in volume 5.

Quick Kick

G.I. Joe's "silent weapons expert", and an expert martial artist who — unlike Snake Eyes, for instance — doesn't need a gun to take down his enemies. Though arrogant and proud, he's also friendly and helpful to his allies. He's a member of Duke's public team in volume 3, and a main character of volume 5.

Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Considers himself to be the best martial artist in the world. It's possible that he's right.
Bare-Fisted Monk
Nonchalant Dodge: Does this in his fight with the Dreadnoks, while getting himself drunk for the hell of it.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Early on. He gets a more sensible martial arts outfit in volume 5.

Agent Helix

A new recruit to the Joes with a unique mental condition, "total battlefield awareness", that allows her to perfectly track everything going on in a fight at once, giving her near-perfect fighting skills; she's commonly teamed with Snake Eyes, who can use her skills to the highest extent, and whom she has a rapport with. Despite this, her condition makes it hard for her to relate to and understand others, and she also suffers from face blindness.

Canon Immigrant: Originally created for the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra toyline and video game, and brought into the comics to promote it.
Combat Clairvoyance: Has something similar thanks to her "total battlefield awareness", letting her track everything that's going on simultaneously.

Tunnel Rat

The Joes' tunnel operations specialist, whose expertise comes in useful whenever the Pit's tunnels and vents need to be traversed.

Tunnel King: It's in the name, of course.

Gung-Ho

A Marine from New Orleans, who's one of the team members in volume 5.

Ambiguously Gay: Lady Jaye rather pointedly says that she's "not Gung-Ho's type"... and also, well, look at him.

Steeler

Steeler/Black-Out/Thomas Stall

A G.I. Joe infantryman who aspires to drive a tank. In actuality, he's a Cobra operative reporting to Major Bludd under the codename of Black-Out.

Composite Character: Of the classic character Steeler and the G.I. Joe vs Cobra character Black Out.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Always felt like Cobra valued him more than G.I. Joe did. As Firewall points out: "All you ever wanted was to drive a tank, and they wouldn't let you."
The Mole: For Major Bludd.
Walking Spoiler: Pretty much anything you can say about him risks spoiling the fact that he's a Cobra.

Dial Tone

A mainstay of the Joes' communications officers, who often serves as Mission Control.

Gender Flip: Traditionally, Dial-Tone is a male character, but here (as in G.I. Joe: Resolute) she's female.

Brainstorm

Brainstorm/Ward Michaelmas

An experimental scientist responsible for enhancing the team's arsenal, Brainstorm was the first to realize the existence — and deadly potential — of Destro's MASS device.

Canon Foreigner: Created for the comics.
Heroic Sacrifice: Fatally irradiates himself in the process of slowing down a reactor meltdown long enough for the Joes to escape.

Mainframe

Mainframe/Blaine Parker

A scientist and computer specialist good at recognising patterns, Mainframe realised the existence of Cobra through the underlying patterns of the data he analysed. Unable to convince his superior of the truth, he went rogue in order to collect the information himself. He was later brought back into the fold, and helped to develop an algorithm that predicted Cobra attacks and operations. In the aftermath of Revolution, he's a member of Talon's anti-Transformer team.

Cassandra Truth: Realised the existence of Cobra years before anyone else did, but couldn't get anyone to believe him.
Non-Action Guy: As one of the "Fobbits". He later takes a much more active role in combat, particularly in Revolution.
Odd Friendship: With Soundwave, in Optimus Prime. Made stranger because Soundwave had apparently killed one of his friends years earlier. Even Soundwave is a bit put off by how eager Mainframe is about it.
Rogue Agent: Went rogue after being barred from continuing his investigation into Cobra.

Beach Head

Beach Head/Wayne Sneeden

A Ranger, and a mainstay of the team in volumes 1 and 2; he suffers from a form of amnesia, meaning that he essentially can't remember his life before G.I. Joe. In the aftermath of Revolution, he goes rogue with Grunt to keep eyes on Rom the Space Knight.

Amnesiac Hero: Though he remembers more than most typical examples of the trope.
Flying Firepower: Suits up with a jetpack and guns from his weapons locker.
Gun Nut: Has access to an enormous weapons locker filled with advanced weaponry and equipment.
Rogue Agent: Goes after Rom against orders with Grunt, due to not trusting him.
Unexplained Recovery: After being abducted by Cobra at the climax of Special Missions, he turns up alive and well in Revolution.

Grunt

Grunt/Robert Graves

An infantryman who goes rogue with Beach Head in the aftermath of Revolution to keep eyes on Rom the Space Knight.

Ascended Extra: Wasn't very prominent prior to Revolution.
The Engineer: Claims there's no weapon that he can't take apart and put back together even better.
Rogue Agent: Goes after Rom against orders with Beach Head, due to not trusting him.

Flash

The team's laser rifle trooper, responsible for wielding Directed Energy Weapons.

Energy Weapon: His specialty as a laser rifle trooper; it helps him to identify that the orbital laser beams are low-power and harmless during Revolution.
Forced Transformation: Gets transmuted into a Dire Wraith by the Talisman.
Pungeon Master: Apparently a tendency of his.
Retcon: Was first seen as a picture in Duke's wallet alongside various dead Joes, but shows up alive and well during Revolution.

Wild Bill

Wild Bill:

The G.I. Joes' eccentric, Southern pilot.

Ace Pilot: Even referred to as such by the G.I. Joe: Revolution character page.
Body Snatcher: Fell victim to this.
A Death in the Limelight: Despite being a well-known classic Joe, Wild Bill's first major role is in the G.I. Joe: Revolution one-shot, in which he's revealed to have been possessed by a Dire Wraith.

Doc I

Doc I/Carl Greer

One of the team's medical specialists, responsible for helping Duke while he was infected with a modified virus, who passes on his codename and role to his daughter Carla during volume 3.

Ascended Extra: Ironically enough, all his major appearances were after he passed-on his codename to his daughter.
Formerly Fit: He puts on a lot of weight between volume 3 and volume 5.
Heroic Sacrifice: When Skywarp's teleport test malfunctions and sends shrapnel everywhere, Doc takes the bullet for Grand Slam, revealing his true heritage. Skywarp, predictably, feels nothing over this.
The Medic
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He's a Dire Wraith.
Non-Action Guy: Operates out of the Joes' base, in contrast to his daughter, who acts as their field medic.

Doc II

Doc II/Carla Greer

Daughter of Doc I, who serves as the core team's field medic in volumes 3 and 5.

Barrier Warrior: Uses a portable energy shield in combat.
Deadpan Snarker: Makes a few jabs at her allies' less sensible decisions. Mostly Rock'n'Roll's.
Half-Human Hybrid: Half Dire Wraith.
Legacy Character: The second user of the "Doc" codename, after her father.
The Medic
Traumatic Superpower Awakening: The possibility of being dissected to see if she's half-Wraith causes her Wraith heritage to flare up.

Hashtag

An embedded journalist attached to Duke's public team of Joes against his wishes.

Canon Foreigner
Does Not Like Guns: Which the other team members are pretty incredulous about, given that she joined the Army.
Idiot Ball: Seriously, how dense do you have to be to update social media with your location in the middle of an infiltration mission?

Big Ben

Big Ben/David J. Bennet

A former member of the SAS who was attached to G.I. Joe. Left the team at some point prior to volume 4 to work as a mercenary.

I Am Very British: His name isn't subtle.
Parental Neglect: As he's dying, he expresses regret that he wasn't a big enough part of his daughter's life.
Remember the New Guy?: The first time we ever see him is as an ex-Joe working with Duke as a mercenary in Eastern Europe.
Sacrificial Lion: Is killed off in the start of the Revolution crossover after warning Action Man about the Ore-13 crystals.

Grand Slam

A G.I. Joe techological specialist who was responsible for guarding Skywarp on Bikini Atoll.

The Bus Came Back: After only appearing briefly in the Origins mini-series, he returns in Vol. 5 as part of the main cast.
Career-Ending Injury: Being shot.
Only Mostly Dead: Twice.
- The bullet that was fired into his brain was half an inch away from hitting a fatal area.
- He survives Rock'n'Roll shooting him, but in a wheelchair.
Non-Action Guy: After being shot by Rock'n'Roll under the belief that he was a Dire Wraith.
The Resenter: Detests Rock'n'Roll for crippling him.
Unexplained Recovery: Subverted. Initially, it seemed to be a case of this, given that he was shot in the head, but Word of God and later materials explained his survival.

G.I. Joe intelligence unit

A special unit of G.I. Joe, led by Flint and dedicated to intelligence operations. They primarily appeared in Mike Costa's Cobra, The Cobra Files, and Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra. ^note

Chuckles

Chuckles/Phillip M. Provost

A charming, gregarious jokester who was thrown out of G.I. Joe for being a disruptive influence... officially. In fact, Chuckles was instead tasked with infiltrating the world's criminal organisations and providing intelligence on them to the Joes... but when he comes up against Cobra, he gets in over his head.

Abusive Parents/Parental Abandonment: His mother left him with his father, who was abusive to him.
All for Nothing: Despite having to shoot Jinx to maintain his cover, it turns out that the Paolis knew about his allegiance all along.
Fatal Flaw: His weakness for beautiful women led to Erika Le Tene finding out about his membership in the Joes.
Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: His standard outfit.
I Did What I Had to Do: After he destroys a country's economic supply and kills Jinx to maintain his cover.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Well done, Chuckles, you shot Cobra Commander! Just a pity that it'll trigger the devastating Cobra Civil War, lead to the occupation and destruction of a third world country, and end with Hawk being fired and the Joes' operating budget being slashed.
Posthumous Character: Following his death, Thundercracker goes on to produce a (grossly inaccurate) retelling of his exploits, that goes up for the Academy Award for best picture.
Tranquil Fury: After finding out that Jinx died for nothing, he'll stop at nothing to take down the men responsible.

Jinx

Chuckles' handler and G.I. Joe contact on his undercover mission, as well as his lover.

Bare-Fisted Monk: Is a martial arts expert.
Dirty Harriet: Poses as a stripper in a strip club in order to make contact with Chuckles.
Heroic Sacrifice: Has Chuckles kill her to ensure that his cover isn't blown.
In Name Only: All she really has in common with the classic Jinx is 1) being Japanese, 2) being a martial artist and 3) being female.
Sanity Chain: She's the only sane person that Chuckles speaks to for weeks at a time. He loses it a bit after she dies.
Spared by the Adaptation: In Thundercracker's movie about Chuckles, he chooses to shoot the one holding her hostage rather than her.

Flint

Flint/Dashiell Faireborn

The head of G.I. Joe's intelligence unit, and the illegitimate father of Marissa Faireborn, head of the Earth Defense Command. In the aftermath of Revolution, he's a member of Talon's anti-Transformer team.

May–December Romance: Between him and Chameleon, who (as Marissa points out) is young enough to be his daughter. They've broken it off by the time of Optimus Prime, however.
Never My Fault: Played with. While he didn't put forth the idea to give the Junkions a refugee camp he did convince Marissa to come back and she had the idea. He's quick to say how stupid he thinks the idea is and she retorts that he wanted her back.
Older Than He Looks: He doesn't particularly look older than the rest of the team, but he's old enough to be the father of Marissa Faireborn, the head of the Earth Defense Command. (Kei Zama's art in Optimus Prime makes him look a bit older and more world-weary.)
Parental Abandonment: Was never a part of Marissa's life until after G.I. Joe's existence was revealed to the public.
Signature Headgear: His trademark beret.

Chameleon

Chameleon/Erika le Tene

Formerly a member of Cobra, Erika defected and turned herself over to G.I. Joe. Though not trusted at first, she eventually proved herself when she risked her life to take out a Cobra mole in the team, and served as a loyal and skilled member of the team. In the aftermath of Revolution, he's a member of Talon's anti-Transformer team.

Ascended Extra: Prior to Cobra, the only use of Chameleon was a re-released action figure of the Baroness with a bio claiming her to be the Baroness's identical half-sister.
Deadpan Snarker: She's not afraid to let it be known when she doesn't care for the other Joes' ideas.
Heel–Face Turn: Surrenders to the Joes after deciding she couldn't take Cobra anymore, and eventually becomes a member of the team.
Identical Stranger: To the Baroness. Played more-or-less realistically; she's not close enough to fool those who know the Baroness personally, but it's an uncanny enough resemblance to let her get away with it around those who only know her indirectly.
Legacy Character: To Chameleon I, aka Ronin.
Parental Neglect: Her parents were never a big part of her life.

Ronin

Initially recruited by Hawk to rescue Chuckles under the codename of "Chameleon", she quit the team after her mission was completed, but eventually returned under the name of "Ronin".

Action Girl
All Asians Know Martial Arts
Canon Foreigner
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Stabbed through the chest by Storm Shadow while protecting Billy.
10-Minute Retirement: Quits the team after trying and failing to rescue Chuckles (who didn't want to be rescued), but later returns to the fold.

Lady Jaye

An intelligence specialist, and member of Flint's unit.

Action Girl
The Lad-ette: Downplayed, but it's there.
Ms. Fanservice: Averted. Compared to the classic Lady Jaye, she's less well-endowed and doesn't show cleavage often.
Official Couple: Similarly averted; while she and Flint work together, there's no sign of any romance between them.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: Flint's daughter Marissa Faireborn exists in this continuity, but Lady Jaye is no longer Marissa's mother.

Clockspring

A computer specialist in Flint's unit with a crush on Chameleon.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Tomax manipulates him by preying on the fact that the others don't appreciate how rare his skills are.
Entitled to Have You: Resents Chameleon for not returning his affections or paying much attention to him, and Flint for hooking up with her instead.
Green-Eyed Monster
Jerkass: Quickly becomes one.
Redemption Equals Death: Sacrifices himself by ensuring that the civilians and other Joes can be evacuated from the casino, before detonating the explosions while the Cobra operatives are still inside.
Unwitting Pawn: Gets manipulated by Tomax into helping him take back control of the casino in which the intelligence unit is based.

Firewall

A computer security specialist and administrative overseer for the Joes, and later a member of Flint's team.

Reluctant Retiree: Was transferred from the front lines to a desk job after an injury, and never allowed to return.
The Smart Guy
Younger than She Looks: Her hair went grey early from stress.

Post-Revolution recruits

Members of the team who debuted or were brought into the G.I. Joe team after Revolution.

Skywarp

Yes, that Skywarp. After being rescued from an Earth Defense Command facility under the control of Dire Wraiths, the former Decepticon Skywarp has joined the G.I. Joe team as their secret weapon... at least until they can give him back his teleportation powers.

For more tropes, see Skywarp's entry on the Robots In Disguise character page.

The Brute: Big, intimidating, and brutal.
Humongous Mecha
No Sympathy: Considering he views organics as vermin, it's no surprise that he barely reacts to Doc's Heroic Sacrifice.
Teleportation: Not anymore; thanks to his repairs at the hands of the EDC, his teleportation abilities have been removed, and he's hanging around the Joes until they can be restored.
Token Evil Teammate: He's been described by the author as "the team's Vegeta".

Mayday

Mayday/Ayana Jones

A member of G.I. Joe who served under Duke in Nanzhao, before becoming the second-in-command of the Earth Defense Command. After the EDC was absorbed into G.I. Joe during Revolution, she returned to her old role as a field leader for the Joes, and is currently working with Action Man, Blackrock, and the Transformer Kup.

Ascended Extra: She was originally just a background character in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, who John Barber took a liking to after giving her a few lines.
Black Boss Lady: Was the second in command of the EDC, and serves as a Warrant Officer for the Joes.
BFG: Carries one in Revolutionaries.
Deadpan Snarker: Does a lot of commenting with wry amusement on the Transformers' antics.
My Greatest Failure: Flash, Heavy Duty and Quarrel were mutated into Dire Wraiths on her watch.
Mythology Gag: The codename Mayday originated in the much-loathed G.I. Joe Extreme.
Not So Above It All: Complains about surfing onto the moon's surface on Blackrock's back being ridiculous, before admitting that she'd have dreamed of it as a child.
Remember the New Guy?: Is retconned into having been a member of G.I. Joe during the events of volume 2 and joined the Earth Defense Command after that.
Shout-Out: Her surname is a rather obscure reference to the birth surname of David Bowie. (Appropriate for someone who ends up working with Action Man...)
Transplant: She was created as a non-Joe-related character for The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, and folded into G.I. Joe.

Quarrel

A Swiss helicopter pilot who accompanied Mayday on her mission into Schleteva.

Canon Immigrant: From Action Force, the British version of G.I. Joe.
Forced Transformation: Gets transmuted into a Dire Wraith by the Talisman.

Talon

Talon/Zilong Qian

A Humongous Mecha pilot in the Chinese military who worked alongside the Earth Defense Command, defending Earth against the Transformers, who he neither likes or trusts. After the EDC was merged into G.I. Joe, he joined them under the codename of "Talon", but worries that his independence is being subsumed by the originally-American organization.

Artistic License – Military: Zilong is listed as a "Pilot (First Class)"... but assuming the same ranking structure as the PLA Air Force, that would make him just a junior enlisted airman.
Freudian Excuse: Hates Cybertronians because he was there on the day that they destroyed Beijing.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Seems to have developed one in Optimus Prime.
Irony:
- Though it's not been commented on, both Seekers who destroyed Beijing, Thundercracker and Skywarp, now work with G.I. Joe in some capacity. The latter is even a field operative.
- When the Junkions arrive, he fires on the Autobots to try and force them back onto their ship and let the humans handle first contact. The Junkions like the Autobots better and find him annoying so they leave the area as well.
Meaningful Name: "Zilong" was the courtesy name of Zhao Yun. It's an appropriate name for a great military leader.
Small Name, Big Ego: He's not quite as competent as he likes to think. It's best highlighted when he pushes Soundwave to his limit in All Hail Optimus and finds his mecha outmatched in melee combat in under a minute. To date, the only Cybertronian he's scored a victory against is Blitzwing and only because he caught him by surprise.
Token Non-American: Fears that he's become this after the integration of the Earth Defense Command into G.I. Joe, despite his leadership position.
Transplant: He was created as a non-Joe-related character for The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, and folded into G.I. Joe.
Unknown Rival: The Autobots know who he is but don't view him as a threat in any way. Literally the most effort Optimus has put into thwarting him is sending a text message and even then he didn't know Qian would be present.

Spike

Spike/Steven Witwicky

Son of General Daniel "Sparkplug" Witwicky, Spike is an effective soldier, but one who's notorious for acting like he's the hero of an action movie without considering the consequences. Formerly an ally of the Autobots and member of Skywatch, he later betrayed them and spent the next few years on the run, but was eventually brought back in so that G.I. Joe could use his anti-Transformer expertise.

For more tropes, see Spike's entry on the Robots In Disguise character page.

Adaptation Personality Change: From a Wide-Eyed Idealist Kid-Appeal Character and friend to the Autobots to a Jerkass, self-centered military brat who works against them.
Elites Are More Glamorous: His military specialty is listed as "special warfare operations".
The Friend Nobody Likes: Everyone he works with sees him as an unlikeable, self-centered Jerkass who thinks he's the hero of an action movie. Even Zilong Qian, who he considers a friend, is implied to hate him.
Hate Sink: Nobody likes him.
Smug Snake: He's one arrogant bastard.
Team Member in the Adaptation: Spike had no affiliation with G.I. Joe in the Sunbow cartoon and the Marvel Comics continuity.
Transplant: As with Mayday, Talon and Hi-Tech, though in Spike's case he's based on the classic Transformers: Generation One character Spike Witwicky.

Hi-Tech

Hi-Tech/Dr. Sanjay Bharwaney

A scientist who initially worked for Skywatch against the Decepticons, and then the Earth Defense Command. He's friendly and kind, but can be pragmatic about dealing with the Transformers. After Revolution, he transfers to G.I. Joe under the codename of Hi-Tech.

Anti-Villain
The Bus Came Back: He was originally in the Bumblebee miniseries tie-in all the way back in The Transformers (IDW). After that story concluded he disappeared from the narrative, only to reappear in Bumblebee's spotlight tie-in to The Transformers: Dark Cybertron and later appear as a semi-regular in RID's Earth Arc.
Legacy Character: The original Hi-Tech was possessed by a Dire Wraith and killed during Revolution.
Nice Guy: Laid back and accommodating to his staff and coworkers. Buster seems fond of him.
Only Sane Man: During season 2 of The Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
The Smart Guy
Transplant: He was created as a non-Joe-related character for The Transformers (IDW), and folded into G.I. Joe.

Salvo

A Samoan recruit to G.I. Joe who's appearing in the 2016 series.

Gender Flip/Race Lift: Compared to the original Salvo, who was a bald white man, IDW's Salvo is a Samoan woman.
Might Makes Right: Her "The Right of Might" t-shirt suggests this.
Stout Strength: She's visibly overweight, and carries REALLY big guns.

MP3

The last member of the Admin Force operating out of the [[{{Pun}} Action Van]].

Black Dude Dies First: Averted, Misfire and Krok merely think him dead.
Canon Foreigner: Created for The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye as a tie into Revolution.
Hero of Another Story: While his teammates deal with the Dire Wraiths in Monument Valley, he's seeing a robot dinosaur rampage through a town.
Locked Out of the Loop: Has no idea what MASK is.
Mythology Gag: his group name and vehicle are references to the British localizations of G.I Joe, Action Force and Action Man.
Take That!: Does many things his teammates have done in PSAs... and gets brushed aside by the kid in the street.

The Adventure Team

G.I. Joe's predecessors: a team of elite soldiers led by Joe Colton, who fought intruders and protected America.

G.I. Joe

"G.I. Joe" Colton

The legendary leader of the Adventure Team, a bona-fide war hero, and the man for whom the G.I. Joe team is named. He was brought out of retirement during volume 3 to run G.I. Joe's public "celebrity soldier" branch.

Adaptational Villainy: If it means testing an anti-Cybertronian weapon, he has no problems with hiring super-villains.
Ascended Fanboy: He was inspired by Sergeant Savage and his Screaming Eagles.
Big Good: Through volume 3, he's the authority figure the Joes answer to.
Broken Pedestal: Scarlett used to look up to him, but is disillusioned after learning that he is Baron Ironblood and intent on committing genocide against the Cybertronians.
Composite Character: To faciliate his goal to wipe out the Cybertronians, he takes on the identity of Baron Ironblood, a character who originated as the arch enemy of G.I. Joe's UK equivalent Action Force.
Famed In-Story: He and the Adventure Team are "celebrity soldiers", with action figures based on them.
Fantastic Racism: He's displeased at Cybertronians being on Earth.
Not Quite Dead: Considering the Dire Wraiths' usual MO of murdering the humans they impersonate, his survival is pretty unexpected.
Reluctant Retiree: He didn't want to be kicked out of the field to be a "desk jockey", and his replacement team being named after him is somewhat cold comfort.
Retired Badass: Was a prominent war hero in his prime and now focuses on guiding G.I. Joe from behind the scenes.

Miles Mayhem

Miles "Mayhem" Manheim

Given his nickname by Joe Colton for his disruptive talents, Miles Mayhem was a member of the Adventure Team specializing in espionage and black ops strategy. Later in life, he would go on to found Project Spectrum, which eventually resulted in the creation of the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand.

Big Bad Wannabe: Of Revolution.
Composite Character: Between Miles Mayhem of M.A.S.K. and the G.I. Joe Sea Adventurer.
Destructive Savior: Even while he was nominally a good guy he didn't give a damn about collateral damage. Why do you think he's called Mayhem?
Fantastic Racism: Doesn't like Cybertronians, at all.
It's All About Me: It has to be him who makes the Heroic Sacrifice that saves Earth and is viewed as a hero. Not Optimus Prime.
Large Ham: He really doesn't hold back.
Obviously Evil: Even when he's nominally on the side of the "heroes" in Revolution, he acts like a supervillain in every way.
Start of Darkness: You can see the exact moment when it happened as he gives an evil smile when he sees Soundwave's destructive ability and ponders the potential for transformation technology.
Unknown Rival: Like a lot of humans on this page, Optimus is barely aware of his existence.
Worthy Opponent: Came across as one to Matt Trakker in the Revolution crossover, genuinely caring for Matt as a surrogate son despite being Obviously Evil. Then comes the ongoing series, where he's just tormenting Matt for the hell of it...

Bulletman

Bulletman/Richard Ruby

A former member of Seal Team Six who dreamed of fame and fortune, Richard Ruby developed his unique jetpack system while working as a Hollywood stunt pilot, which earned him a spot on the Adventure Team when he used it to save his hometown. More recently, he's retired and enjoying his celebrity status.

Humble Beginnings: Hails from the small town of Poverty Flat.
Glory Seeker: He's always been after fame.
The Mentor: To Cover Girl.
Retired Badass: He's not a hero anymore, but he can still kick ass.
Self-Made Man: Created the helmet and jetpack that effectively gave him superpowers himself.

Atomic Man

Atomic Man/Mike Power

A sufferer of amniotic band syndrome that caused him to be born with a missing arm and leg, Mike Power was an amateur sleuth in his youth until he found an alien machine that helped him to build his atomic prosthetic limbs. He went on to join the Adventure Team, using his limbs to save the world.

Came Back Wrong: After his death, he revives in the body of the Maximal Centurion, with their not quite being a Mental Fusion.
Disability Superpower: Born with a missing arm and leg, which enabled him to build his atomic-powered prosthetics.
Kid Detective: Was one of these in his youth.
Self-Made Man: Built his atomic limbs himself (albeit with the help of an alien artifact).

Stalker

Lorenzo R. "Stalker" Wilkinson

See "Stalker" under G.I. Joe team.

Cobra

A secretive, underground international conspiracy and criminal organization with its fingers in criminal activity across the planet; it eventually comes to G.I. Joe's attention, and becomes their main nemesis. Eventually, the second Cobra Commander would bring the organization out of the shadows to devastate the country of Nanzhao and show the world that they were to be feared. Years later, however, Tomax reformed the group into a "legitimate" peacekeeping organization, until the interference of the Baroness caused them to collapse.

Cobra Commander

The enigmatic, manipulative leader of Cobra, who kept the organization in the shadows and manipulated the world from behind the scenes.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His son, William Kessler, who he tried to keep away from his criminal life.
The Faceless: As he points out to Zartan, his Voluntary Shapeshifting can't threaten Cobra Commander, as he doesn't know what the Commander looks like to imitate him.
Horrible Judge of Character: His trust that Chuckles has been completely won over by Cobra ends up leading to his death when he takes no precautions to defend himself, while Chuckles is in the room, with a gun.
If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Pulls this on Chuckles, ordering him to destroy a dam holding water back from destroying a native village. He passes.
Legacy Character: There have been hundreds of Cobra Commanders, stretching back through history.
Man of Wealth and Taste: If there's one thing that G.I. Joe fans can agree on, it's that IDW's Cobra Commander is incredibly stylish.
Non-Action Big Bad: Never directly engages the heroes or displays any combat skill, but still manages to be threatening.
No Name Given: We never learn his name other than "Cobra Commander".
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls this on Xamot, and has Chuckles kill him. Chuckles shoots Cobra Commander instead.

Past Cobra Commanders

A series of past Cobra Commanders described by Siren based on Cobra's records. Tomax later implies that some of the stories may be untrue, though the 1300s Commander was confirmed to be real by the timeline in Revolutionaries.

Dissonant Serenity: The 1915 Commander was calm and detached at all times. The Commander of the 1960s, meanwhile, was friendly, even when killing a traitor with his bare hands.
Faux Affably Evil: The "gardener", despite presenting himself as affable and relaxed, murdered Charles Pyke with his bare hands for planning to betray Cobra. (And for correcting him when he called him "Charlie".)
Literal Genie: After Thom Laurel sacrificed himself to save the 1915 Commander, the Commander honored his request to prevent his son from going down the same path he did. By killing him.
Manipulative Bastard: The 18th century Commander used Captain Shelley's anger and pride to manipulate him into a suicide mission.
Mighty Whitey: The female Commander of the 19th century supposedly taught the Yakuza how to organize.
Noble Demon: The 1915 Commander always honored any debt... though he refused to accept anything for nothing because it incurred the debt in the first place.
Trapped in Villainy: The 1300s Commander, though enchanted by Dante's vision of a redeemed, virtuous Cobra, sadly has him poisoned after concluding that Cobra will never escape "the inferno".

Baroness

The Baroness

An Eastern European aristocrat turned anarchist turned Cobra operative and assassin. Though never given as much clout as the rest of the organisation's higher-ups, she was still one of the candidates for the new Cobra Commander after the death of her predecessor.

Aristocrats Are Evil: Though she rejected her family.
Bad Boss: When an Eel trooper she's overseeing complains about his assignment, she just cuts open his oxygen tube and leaves him to drown.
The Baroness: As per usual, she is this.
Dragon Ascendant: Becomes the new Commander of the reformed Cobra in issue 9 of Volume 5.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Believes that she's not respected by the rest of Cobra because she's a woman, and it's evident that she's a lot more effective than anyone gives her credit for.
Spanner in the Works: Responsible for sabotaging Tomax's attempts to make Cobra into a legitimate organisation... which resulted in the group collapsing entirely.
The Starscream: Assassinated the entirety of the Cobra Council.

Destro

Destro/Laird James McCullen

A Scottish aristocrat and arms dealer contracted by Cobra, who was kidnapped by them and brought into the organisation when he exceeded his deadlines and budget for creating the M.A.S.S. teleporter device. With cunning, he managed to worm his way into the upper echelons of Cobra.

Aristocrats Are Evil
Arms Dealer
Dark Lord on Life Support: After a failed test of the M.A.S.S. teleporter, he has to be sealed into a metal suit in order to stop his molecules from falling apart.
Expressive Mask: After being fused with his suit.
Gone Horribly Right: He goes through a test to try and restore his molecular cohesion so he doesn't have to wear the suit... and it works, by fusing the metal into his skin.
Only Sane Man: After Baroness takes over as Cobra Commander, he's the only person to question the organization's alliance with Dire Wraiths and focus on occultism.
Professor Guinea Pig: Justified: he needs to convince Cobra that it works or they'll kill him, and testing it on himself was the only way to do that.
The Starscream: As are most of Cobra, but he's by far the most open about it.

Krake

Krake/Cobra Commander II

An ambitious, brutal Cobra member recruited from the third world nation of Nanzhao, who would eventually win the Cobra Civil War and become the second Cobra Commander.

Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Compared to the original Cobra Commander, he's far more militaristic and aggressive.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Started out born to an impoverished family on a battlefield in Nanzhao, and worked his way up to the top through sheer brutality.
No Name Given: Because, apparently, he doesn't have one; he starts off going by "Tiger Eyes", becomes "Krake" when he joins Cobra, and then becomes Cobra Commander.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Vanishes in the Time Skip between volumes 3 and 4; all we see of him is a poster on a wall. He's present among a gathering of heroes and villains convened to deal with Unicron.

Doctor Mindbender

Doctor Mindbender/Armand Singh

Cobra's chief Mad Scientist, and a man obsessed with Time Travel, who has no particular loyalties apart from whatever allows him to accomplish his work. He has a grudge against Destro after being made to work on his M.A.S.S. project.

Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite being fixated on the idea of the possibility of time travel, he scorns the idea of Destro's teleportation machine.
The Bus Came Back: During Revolution, he's seen working with Miles Mayhem.
But Not Too Foreign: His real name, "Armand Singh", suggest Sikh heritage, but he's not drawn darker than any of the other characters (and with his immaculately trimmed facial hair, he's unlikely to be a practicing Sikh).
Embarrassing Nickname: He really hates being called "Mindbender".
Mad Scientist
Series Continuity Error: Dialogue and character pages in M.A.S.K. give him the name of "Verstal Bender", though the narration still uses "Armand Singh".
- Later given an Author's Saving Throw when his profile says that "Dr. Bender" is a cover he uses to avoid arrest.
They Called Me Mad!: Hasn't got much traction with his belief in time travel being feasible.

Tomax Paoli

A Corsican businessman, former soldier and twin brother of Xamot, who believes wholeheartedly in Cobra and its goals.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: His Gambit Speed Chess involves turning himself over to the Joes manipulating Clockspring into betraying them.
Creepy Twins
Dragon Ascendant: In volume 4, he's become the leader of Cobra after the Time Skip.
Gambit Speed Chess: Very good at adapting his plans on the fly.
Happiness in Slavery: Believes in this thoroughly, and thinks it's why he and his brother are so happy; they have to answer to each other. (His brother disagrees.)
Legacy Character: In Revolutionaries, Baron Ironblood tries to make him the next Cobra Commander. Tomax absolutely refuses, though.
Manipulative Bastard: Manipulates Clockspring into indebting himself to him, and then continues to prey on his jealousy of Flint and attraction to Chameleon.
Shoo the Dog: He makes his secretary leave moments before Ironblood and Kreiger sic Centurion on him.
Smug Snake: Despite being successful at manipulating the Joes, he's often outfoxed by those supposedly on his own side.
Villain with Good Publicity: Reforms Cobra into this in volume 4.

Xamot Paoli

Twin brother of Tomax, he comes to reject everything about Cobra and his sibling after being wounded in a fight with Chuckles, eventually attempting to kill Cobra Commander himself.

Creepy Twins
Happiness in Slavery: Initially believed in this, like his brother, until his fateful encounter with Chuckles.
Killed Off for Real: When Chuckles detonates the nuclear bomb and destroys Section Twenty.
Rage Within the Machine: He started as a member of Cobra, then soured on it.
Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Well, Chaotic Evil. Though evil from the start, he steadily becomes more chaotic and unstable as time goes on.
Villainous Breakdown

Crystal Ball

A creepy, mystic advisor to the leaders of Cobra who claims to have magical powers.

Enigmatic Minion
Hypnotic Eyes: Has hypnotic powers.
Mad Oracle: Claims to see the future, and the rest of Cobra aren't too sure about his sanity.
Manipulative Bastard: Is content with manipulating Cobra from behind the scenes... until he finds out that the new Commander doesn't particularly care to listen to his advice.
Vagueness Is Coming: In volume 5, he warns of "the horrors beneath the Earth".

Copperback

Copperback/Glynis MacDougall

A Scottish scientist working for Destro alongside her father Rory, who later joins Cobra proper.

Canon Foreigner
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Turns Destro over to Cobra after he has her father killed to save both their lives.
Violent Glaswegian: Scottish, and a lot more hot-tempered than Destro is.

Croc Master

The redneck son of an alligator salesman, who grew up with his father's reptiles as his only friends. After killing his father and using his alligators to kill various Cobra operatives in his local area, he was recruited into Cobra by Serpentor.

Abusive Parents: His father didn't like him much.
Ax-Crazy
The Beastmaster
Hillbilly Horrors
Nonindicative Name: Averted, for once. Croc Master's father thought that "Croc Master" sounded better than "Gator Master", and kept a couple of crocodiles to justify it.

Mad Monk

Mad Monk/Michael Monk

A soldier working for Cobra, discovered to have the incredibly rare quality of ranking a 1 on the Lome scale, and thus having no imagination. He has a history with and vendetta against Duke.

Aborted Arc: His initial story had him placed under Krake by a Cobra psychologist to sabotage him, but when he reappears in volume 3, he's a loyal follower.
Canon Foreigner
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The only thing he truly cares for is his wife and daughter... so Krake sends them to an internment camp to ensure his cooperation.
Expansion Pack Past: Given one with Duke in volume 3.
Wild Card: Due to his complete lack of imagination and incapability of self-deception, his actions can't be predicted.

Zartan

A clone of the original Zartan, Cobra's infiltration specialist, with the ability to morph his features and the color of his skin, as well as imitating the mannerisms and voice of whoever he targets.

Master Actor: Case in point, he went undercover as Brad Turner and no-one noticed until he revealed himself.
Smug Snake: He's very unpleasant.
Voluntary Shapeshifting

The Dreadnoks

An Australian gang of bikers and ruffians, who came under the control of Zartan when his plane crash-landed in the Australian outback. After Zartan abandoned them, they took up with Crystal Ball.

Awesome Aussie: Most of them, though Zandar and Zarana are British.
Badass Biker
Chainsaw Good: Buzzer.
Dumb Muscle: Most of them, but especially Roadpig.
Kill It with Fire: Torch and Burn Out.
It's Personal: After their first meeting, Roadpig has it out for Roadblock.
Master of Disguise: Zandar and Zarana.

Major Bludd

A mercenary leader working for Cobra, driven primarily by profit and efficiency.

An Arm and a Leg: He loses a limb thanks to the Talisman, in Revolutionaries. By First Strike, he's got a new one.
Awesome Aussie
Batman Gambit: Managed to pull off one of these to win the loyalty of the Oktober Guard.
The Bus Came Back: Returns with the Oktober Guard after being thought dead for more than 5 years in-universe.
Butt-Monkey: If he's in conflict with anyone else in Cobra, he's definitely coming out worse. (Though he still did manage to almost win the Cobra Civil War, so he's definitely not incompetent.)
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Mostly motivated by a desire to care for his family.
Only in It for the Money: His main motivation as part of Cobra.
Punch-Clock Villain

Serpentor

Serpentor/Stephen Menasian

The sinister, manipulative leader of the Coil, a cult that worships the snake-deity Golobulus and acts as a public recruiting arm and army for Cobra.

All Your Powers Combined: The Coil holds that he's a combination of the best aspects of Golobulus's past champions.
Ambiguously Brown: His skin tone varies heavily Depending on the Artist, going from pale to tan to a dark bronze.
Church of Happyology: The Coil has heavy shades of this.
Fire and Brimstone Preacher: When it comes to motivating the Coil into serving as an army.
Manipulative Bastard: Acted as a behind-the-scenes manipulator within Cobra, until Cobra Commander was replaced.
More than Mind Control: Uses this on his underlings and victims.
Sinister Minister
Villain with Good Publicity: Maintains a public identity as the self-help guru Stephen Menasian.

Big Boa

A Cobra trainer and former soldier who befriends Chuckles when he's brought into Cobra.

Affably Evil: Genuinely considers Chuckles a friend, and is heartbroken after he assassinates Cobra Commander.
Not in This for Your Revolution: He doesn't care about Cobra's ideology; he's "just here to box", and appreciates the kindness that Cobra Commander showed him.
The Juggernaut: None of the other Cobra members can beat him in a fight. Chuckles only breaks his hands trying to fight him, and only wins by unexpectedly catching him in the throat with the slide of his pistol.
Undying Loyalty: To Cobra Commander.

Big Boa II

A second Big Boa, who trained the Cobra youth.

Drill Sergeant Nasty
Gender Flip
Truer to the Text: A lot closer in design to the classic Big Boa, complete with the same helmet.

Big Boa III

A new holder of the name who appears in MASK

Flat Character: Gets no real focus.
Truer to the Text: Is the most faithful version of the character yet.

Kallikhan

A high-ranking middle-Eastern Cobra member and candidate for the new Cobra Commander, who has a history with Snake Eyes.

Canon Foreigner
It's Personal: With Snake Eyes.
Sadist
We Hardly Knew Ye: Existed just to be a Cobra Civil War candidate killed off by Snake Eyes.
Wicked Cultured

Vargas

A high-ranking Cobra member and doctor of medicine who was one of the candidates for the new Cobra Commander.

Canon Foreigner
Hoist by His Own Petard: Gets infected by the bioengineered plague he had made to kill Duke with, and then ends up bursting when a cure is being tested on him.
Mad Doctor
Man of Wealth and Taste: Is always impeccably dressed. (Not that it helps him in the end.)
We Hardly Knew Ye: Pretty much just existed to be one of the Cobra Civil War candidates killed off by the Joes.

Skull Buster

A sadistic Cobra instructor who takes pride in the fact that most of his recruits don't survive their training.

The Arashikage clan

A clan of ninja who raised Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and are allied to Cobra until Krake has Oda Satori assassinated. At some point between the events of Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra and Action Man, the clan collapsed and the remainders reformed into the Red Shadows.

Storm Shadow

Highly-Visible Ninja: Par the course, in his white outfit.
Noble Demon
Killed Off for Real: By Snake Eyes, at the climax of Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra.
Rival Turned Evil: Well, more like "Rival Not Turned Good".
Undying Loyalty: To Oda Satori.
Villainous Legacy: Was succeeded by a female Storm Shadow.
We Used to Be Friends: Part of why he takes Snake Eyes' betrayal so hard.

Oda Satori

A high-ranking member of Cobra who holds the loyalty of Storm Shadow and the Arashikage.

Dead Person Impersonation: Gets killed and replaced by Zartan on Krake's orders.
Sharp-Dressed Man

Soft Master

A member of the Arashikage who was assigned to teach Snake Eyes the arts of manipulation and subtlety when he was younger. In the present day, he's nursing a grudge against Snake Eyes and wants him dead.

Adaptational Villainy: The Marvel Comics Soft Master was a kindly and helpful mentor to Snake Eyes.
Evil Mentor: To Snake Eyes.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Is heavily injured thanks to Snake Eyes throwing the acid and neutralizing agent that he was meant to drink into the Soft Master's face.
Guile Villain: What the "soft" in his name refers to.
Humans Are Bastards: Believes in this.
It's Personal: Between him and Snake Eyes.
Underestimating Badassery: Thanks to his name, Serpentor doesn't believe him to be a threat.

Other

Chimera

The first enemy that G.I. Joe ever faced: a sadistic former Green Beret and stockbroker who murders his family before setting up plans to both release deadly neurotoxin in crowded cities and cause a global financial meltdown

Expy: Larry Hama clearly based him off of the Marvel Comics version of Cobra Commander, most likely due to intending him to be this continuity's version of Cobra's leader.
For the Evulz: As it turns out, his motivation is this: he just wants to cause as much destruction as possible.
Never Found the Body: His body isn't recovered after his supposed death, something that was presumably meant to lead-in to him founding Cobra, but later reveals make this impossible.
Pater Familicide: Kills his family before (supposedly) killing himself.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Chimera's story initially appeared to imply that he will become Cobra Commander (as made evident by the character's similarities to the Marvel Comics continuity's version of the character and appearing to fake his death after successfully setting up a pyramid scheme), but later installments of this continuity provide irreconcilable revelations of Cobra's origins, leaving the actual fate of Chimera and the repercussions of his scheme unaddressed.

Hard Master

Snake Eyes' mentor, and a former member of the Arashikage clan, who now lives in America as a grocery store owner.

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite his Grumpy Old Man attitude, it becomes plain that he really does care about Snake Eyes and Alondra.
Cynical Mentor: Doesn't approve of Snake Eyes giving out training to a schoolgirl.
Defector from Decadence: Though it's never explained why he left the Arashikage.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Alondra.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold
Sink or Swim Mentor: In his early days.

Alondra

A teenage girl who Snake Eyes takes under his wing after he sees her being bullied.

The Apprentice: To Snake Eyes, and later the Hard Master.
Intergenerational Friendship: With the Hard Master.
Little Miss Badass: Gives her bullies a beatdown after martial arts training from Snake Eyes.
Parental Neglect: Says outright that her parents don't care where she is, and we only ever see her with the Hard Master afterwards.
Wax On, Wax Off: Some of her training takes this form. That, or she's just doing chores for him; it's not entirely clear.

Scoop

Scoop/Leonard Michaels

An Intrepid Reporter who Hawk used as an informant and invesigator, who was responsible for investigating Serpentor's cult, the Coil. It doesn't go well.

Cassandra Truth: Even after escaping from the Coil, nobody believes him about it...
Despair Event Horizon: ...which leads to him willingly returning to the Coil.
Human Sacrifice: Willingly becomes one in the end.
Intrepid Reporter
More than Mind Control: Is subjected to this.

William Kessler-Latta

The adult son of Cobra Commander, who was kept far away from his criminal activities, but eventually became a target for Cobra and G.I. Joe's intelligence unit.

Action Survivor: He's an ordinary person who still finds himself getting involved with the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra conflict.
Adaptation Name Change: From "Kessler" to "Kessler-Latta", after Chris Latta, Cobra Commander's voice actor from the animated series.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: His location gets found out after he saves a group of tourists from drowning, getting his face onto the internet.
Living MacGuffin: A pin in his leg contains a memory stick with huge amounts of data on Cobra's operations.
Non-Action Guy: Until Cobra and the Joes went after him, he was a civilian.
Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike his counterpart in the Marvel Comics continuity (who was killed off in both the Devil's Due continuation and the the IDW continuation, being shot with a poison dart by his father in the former and killed by the Blue Ninjas in the latter), this continuity keeps Cobra Commander's son alive by his final appearance.

Garrison "Blitz" Kreiger

A member of Sgt. Savage's platoon in World War II, a young Garrison Kreiger found himself inspired by an encounter with a mysterious robot. Over the decades since, Kreiger became driven in his pursuit of this mysterious technology, and the power it grants.

Adaptation Species Change: Due to turning out to be this continuity's version of Merklynn, he is a Prysmosian here rather than a human being.
Adaptational Villainy: He is revealed at the end of First Strike to be a Composite Character with Merklynn from Visionaries. While the original Merklynn was at worst morally ambiguous, this version of the character is straight up evil.
The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of First Strike, he manages to successfully drain Cybertron's energy and gets away without being caught.
Composite Character: The end of First Strike reveals that his true identity is Merklynn, the wizard who was the Big Good of Visionaries.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Around the late 80s, he founded I.R.O.N., to gain more connections, and more access to Cybertronian tech.
Evil Old Folks: By the time of his appearance in Revolutionaries, he's at least sixty years old, and still very evil. Taken even further when he reveals he's actually much older.
Eye Scream: He lost an eye to one of the Talisman drones. By the 21st century, he had it replaced with a cybernetic implant.
Fantastic Racism: Toward Cybertronians. And in fact anyone who isn't Prysmosian.
The Heavy: Of Revolutionaries. While Ironblood is the bigger villain, Garrison is the one the team are after, and who has the most direct influence on the plot.
It's All About Me: He wanted Cybertronian tech so badly, he was perfectly willing to do anything, including the odd spot of murder, to get it. And then he goes and screws over Colton, just to get a slim chance at restoring Prysmos.
Mad Scientist: Thanks to tinkering with the Talisman, he gained a good understanding (or at least the beginnings of it) into how the device worked, occasionally by testing it on people.
Manipulative Bastard: He spent a good several decades tricking Centurion into believing all Cybertronians were inherently evil, and needed to die.
Moral Myopia: He's determined to save Prysmos, and doesn't care how many lives and planets he has to destroy and ruin to do it.
Walking Spoiler: What with actually being Visionaries's Merklynn.

Bildocker

Large and in Charge: Sort of. He's a bit pudgy, but he's not a leader.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: One issue of Special Missions (2013) has him showing off an action figure of himself to Roadblock, Mainframe, and Dial Tone, only to get mocked by the first two.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Number 3. He's only on the Joe team because Hawk wanted him for his requisition skills.

Characters / G.I. Joe (IDW)

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