History YMMV / GIJoeARealAmericanHero

* FridgeHorror:
** When Scarlett and the [[EvilTwin Duke android]] fight in "Synthoid Conspiracy". Imagine if they were real people: She knows he's a fake by then, but it's still a young woman ''beaten up and almost killed'' by someone who looks, walks and talks ''exactly'' like the man she loves, down to the smallest detail. Of course, she's saved before he does any permanent damage to her, but even so, what does that (realistically) do to her psychologically? Will she ever feel safe with Duke again?
** "Glamour Girls," when Cobra kidnap auditioning young model hopefuls to feed to a latter-day [[LifeDrinker Countess Bathory]] expy. This is obviously pretty bad in itself, but if one ignores the fantastic life-draining aspect, the episode reads ''very'' much like Cobra are running a human trafficking ring.
** [[DarkActionGirl Zarana's]] life might double as this. See the [[TearJerker/GIJoeARealAmericanHero Tear Jerker page]] for more details.
** Extensive Enterprises. GI Joe ''knows'' this massively corrupt MegaCorp is run by Cobra, but they apparently can't shut it down. Only two explanations for this are possible. Either Washington is so corrupt in this setting that the government protects a company that ''finances domestic terrorism.'' Or, even worse: Cobra is so ''powerful'' that they can lean on the government to stay out of their business.
** That last bit must be true, anyway. Cobra semi-regularly ''launches full-blown military attacks'' on domestic targets in the CONUS, with ''air support and armor'', and the government is by all accounts either unable or unwilling to stop them. So, imagine what a CrapsackWorld this universe must be: The ''United States'' is subject to air raids by an NGOSuperpower of fascist terrorists, like Yemen or Pakistan are to American bombings in real life. And then you remember their world ''also'' has [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers giant robots from another planet]] ''and'' [[WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}} giant monsters from the center of the earth]] running around...
** The Cobra Academy, which turns out the elite of Cobra's troops. It's run by a dishonorably discharged ex-Marine who ''is'' an exemplary soldier and brilliant officer, but who was run out of the Corps because he is also a bully and {{Sadist}} who injured, abused and extorted his own classmates as a cadet. Now he's in charge...
** Really, a lot of Cobra's cartoonish villainy becomes this if one stops to think about it. For example, having unarmed captives fight wild beasts for entertainment? Within the limits of the show (where, of course, nothing graphic happens) this makes for an exciting scene; taken seriously, it means that the Cobra leaders are depraved sadists on par with the nastier Roman emperors, who enjoy seeing people horribly mauled and eaten alive.
** Lady Jaye is a bastard daughter of the [=McCullen=] clan, which Destro is the head of, which means she has the taint of the Old Ones' VillainousLineage. Suddenly, all her [[NonLethalWarfare improbable survivals]] and [[SuperWeight extreme physical feats]] in the series take on a new and more frightening significance...
** In the animated movie, the reaction from various characters of seeing Cobra Commander after his exposure to a spore pod.
** Also in the movie, what all the Joes captured by the "trees" may have gone through, could those trees have had some kind of anesthetic effect, like when a close up of Scarlet later is shown with her eyes closed, or could they, especially Roadblock's detachment from earlier, have been awake the whole time?
** In "The Traitor" Duke schemes to sabotage large amounts of Cobra's arsenal by letting them have the Joe team's secret armor formula, which he knows is unstable and thus unreliable. A lot of Cobra equipment is ruined, which is cool and all, but what if Cobra actually found a way to ''stabilize'' the armor formula?
** In the third season of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', which takes place in 2006, the one off character "Old Snake" is revealed to be Cobra Commander himself. Everything he's done and he's a KarmaHoudini.
** Cobra launches a televised [[{{Telethon}} Cobrathon]] to finance the construction of their supercomputer. The broadcast can't be stopped and ''people actually donated their money''. It went so well that they actually reach their 5 billions dollars goal, at least until G.I. Joe put a stop to it. Even among criminals, what kind of crazed maniacs give their money away to a terrorist organization like this?

** Senior Cadet Sheila [=McDermott=] at the Cobra Academy, a one-episode minor villain. A DarkActionGirl who served as TheDragon to that story's major villain, [[SociopathicSoldier Commandant [=McCann=]]], she is popular mainly for providing a name and human face for the regular, usually anonymous Cobra soldiers, who was more of a "realistic" fascist true believer than a megalomaniac supervillain (though it probably didn't hurt that hers was an ''[[EvilIsSexy attractive]]'' face, either).

* EvilIsSexy:
** The Baroness, obviously.
** Cadet Sheila [=McDermott=]. Especially noteworthy because she ''' ''completely'' ''' averts the CustomUniformOfSexy rule ''all'' other female villains in the series fall victim to, and still looks great in a [[PuttingOnTheReich standard Cobra dress uniform]].
** Played with, and to some extent inverted, with Zarana, who is [[BeautyEqualsGoodness actually more attractive]] in her undercover identity as classy US Army Sergeant Carol Wiedler than as herself.
** At least some people consider Destro a male example.
** Probably why Crimson Guard cadet Demming from the Springfield episode existed.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Say what you will about the [=DiC=] episodes themselves, but the opening music ("Got to get tough! YO JOE!") got you pumped! It even fit perfectly as the background music for the arcade run and gun game!

** In one of the [=PSAs=], a kid greets an unknown dog with [[Film/TheRoom "Hi, doggie!"]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: In the Creator/DiC episode "Operation: Dragonfire, Day 2", Cobra Commander was mutated back into a yellow-scaled snake-man (as shown in TheMovie), thus, keeping in continuity with ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' episode "Only Human", which by then Cobra Commander becomes Old Snake.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Even in-universe Cobra Commander was derided as a DirtyCoward and GeneralFailure. [[KnowWhenToFoldEm However, in Serpentor's first episode, Cobra was almost destroyed by the fact it didn't have the military hardware to fight the United States of America]]. Cobra Commander ordering retreats whenever things turned south was probably the smartest thing he could have done.

* IdiotPlot: "The Most Dangerous Thing In The World". Cobra hacks into the Defense Department computers while General Hawk is overseas and issues false orders promoting [[ActualPacifist Lifeline]], [[CommunicationsOfficer Dial-Tone]] and [[MilitaryMaverick Shipwreck]] to the rank of Colonel. And '''no one''' at Joe Headquarters ''questions'' these orders or putting the three of them in charge of the unit, despite the fact that all three of them are enlisted personnel and Shipwreck serves in a branch of the military that doesn't ''have'' colonels.

** Senior Cadet Sheila [=McDermott=] at the Cobra Academy, a one-episode minor villain. A DarkActionGirl who served as TheDragon to that story's major villain, [[SociopathicSoldier Commandant [=McCann=]]], she is popular mainly for providing a name and human face for the regular, usually anonymous Cobra soldiers, who was more of a "realistic" fascist true believer than a megalomaniac supervillain. (Though it probably didn't hurt that hers was an ''[[EvilIsSexy attractive]]'' face, either.)

** [[DarkActionGirl Zarana's]] life might double as this. See the [[Tearjerker/GIJoeARealAmericanHero Tearjerker page]] for more details.

** The Cobra Trawler helicarrier that debuted in the 2-parter episode, "Captives of Cobra", and which continued to appear in other episodes, was from a concept originally intended for S.H.I.E.L.D. and their helicarrier to appear in guest appearances in Marvel superhero cartoons being produced at the time. That idea didn't pan out, but when production of "MASS Device" and ''G.I. Joe'' started, the helicarrier design was recycled into Cobra's. Decades later, the film ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' featured Hydra -- which Cobra is an {{Expy}} of -- having three helicarriers with which it planned to gain world domination.

* InferredHolocaust: Many of Cobra's attacks are of a type that ''will'' have lasting consequences, though these are generally not addressed beyond the end of the episode.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The arcade run and gun shooter was an arcade staple in the early 90's, and is remembered fondly by many.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Say what you will about the DiC episoses themselves, but the opening music ("Got to get tough! YO JOE!") got you pumped! It even fit perfectly as the background music for the arcade run and gun game!

* NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The arcade run and gun shooter was an arcade staple in the early 90's, and is remembered fondly by many.

* AwesomeMusic: Say what you will about the DiC episoses themselves, but the opening music ("Got to get tough! YO JOE!") got you pumped! It even fit perfectly as the background music for the arcade run and gun game!

* DorkAge: Many people feel this way about the Creator/DiCEntertainment continuation, following on the Sunbow series with a smaller budget, ArtShift and a number of other changes that weren't well received. The fact that the toyline was degenerating at the same time did not help.

* FridgeBrilliance: Combined with HilariousInHindsight, if you say "Yo, Joe!" backwards, you get [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow "Oh, joy!"]]...

** The Cobra helicarrier that debuted in the multi-episode pilot, "The MASS Device", and which continued to appear in other episodes, was from a concept originally intended for S.H.I.E.L.D. and their helicarrier to appear in guest appearances in Marvel superhero cartoons being produced at the time. That idea didn't pan out, but when production of "MASS Device" and ''G.I. Joe'' started, the helicarrier design was recycled into Cobra's. Decades later, the film ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' featured Hydra -- which Cobra is an {{Expy}} of -- having three helicarriers with which it planned to gain world domination.

** Played with, and to some extent inverted, with Zarana, who is [[BeautyEqualsGoodness actually more attractive]] in her undercover identity as classy US Army Sergeant Carol Weedler than as herself.

** Probably why the cadet from the Springfield episode existed.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: In the Creator/DiC episode "Operation: Dragonfire, Day 2", Cobra Commander was mutated back into a yellow-scaled snake-man (as shown in TheMovie). Thus, keeping in continuity with ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' episode "Only Human", which by then Cobra Commander becomes Old Snake.

* CompleteMonster ([[Creator/DICEntertainment DiC run]]):

* {{Anvilicious}}: "The Greatest Evil" is yet another DrugsAreBad episode ghat goes at it by showing Falcon's addiction to drive a wedge between him and Duke, a Cobra member's sister ending up in a coma, and even having the Highman ultimately meeting his end [[KarmicDeath from overdosing on his own drug]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: While "The Greatest Evil" is yet another DrugsAreBad episode, it does demonstrate a fairly realistic representation of the consequences of drug addiction by showing Falcon's addiction to drive a wedge between him and Duke, a Cobra member's sister ending up in a coma, and the Highman ultimately meeting his end [[KarmicDeath from overdosing on his own drug]].

** The Cobra helicarrier that debuted in the multi-episode pilot, "The MASS Device", and which continued to appear in other episodes, was from a concept originally intended for S.H.I.E.L.D. and their helicarrier to appear in guest appearances in Marvel superhero cartoons being produced at time. That idea didn't pan out, but when production of "MASS Device" and ''G.I. Joe'' started, the helicarrier design was recycled into Cobra's. Decades later, the film ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' featured Hydra, which Cobra originally is an {{Expy}}, nearly gaining three helicarriers with which it planned to gain world domination.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: While "The Greatest Evil" is yet another DrugsAreBad episode, it does demonstrate a fairly realistic representation of the consequences of drug addiction by showing Falcon's addiction to drive a wedge between him and Duke, a Cobra member's sister ending up in a coma, and the Headman ultimately meeting his end [[KarmicDeath from overdosing on his own drug]].