History YMMV / GIJoeARealAmericanHero

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Even in-universe Cobra Commander was derided as a DirtyCoward and GeneralFailure. [[RealityEnsues 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.

* HilariousInHindsight and HarsherInHindsight:

* HilariousInHindsight/HarsherInHindsight:

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Cobra Commander, in the stories where he went into politics. He generally ran a populist campaign against government corruption and incompetence, offering the people simple and drastic solutions to Washington's shenanigans and ranting against the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything crooked media]] and the villainy of the [[ConspiracyTheorist Federal Reserve]]. Like Pat Buchanan, [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump he was a couple of decades ahead of his times...]]

** 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 InTheBlood. Suddenly, all her [[NonLethalWarfare improbable survivals]] and [[SuperWeight extreme physical feats]] in the series take on a new and more frightening significance...

** Cobra Commander, in the stories where he went into politics. He generally ran a populist campaign against government corruption and incompetence, offering the people simple and drastic solutions to Washington's shenanigans and ranting against the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything crooked media]] and the villainy of the [[ConspiracyTheorist Federal Reserve]]. Like Pat Buchanan, he was a couple of decades ahead of his times...

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

** Conversely, screenwriter Buzz Dixon (himself a military veteran) has [[http://buzzdixon.com/christianity/how-much-responsibility-do-i-bear/ expressed dismay]] at the thought that the WarIsGlorious nature of the show could have subconsciously fed into U.S. propaganda for TheWarOnTerror, justifying situations such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay and any number of military casualties in an effort purported "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything to defend human freedom against… a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.]]”

** Sadly, some [[MisaimedFandom real-life fascists]] apparently like Cobra because they're Nazis lite, PuttingOnTheReich and being [[EvilColonialist ethnic whites ruling Third World countries]]. This is supposed to contrast positively against the multiculturalism of the Joes.

** For all the problems of the DIC series, it ended up keeping Cobra Commander's appearance as "Old Snake" in [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers]] consistent after what he went through in the movie.

** 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 Roadblocks detachment from earlier, have been awake the whole time?

* BrokenBase: A lot of fans disliked the Creator/DiCEntertainment continuation, viewing it as a terrible follow up that amped up all the negative, but forgivable, traits that Sunbow series had to eleven and dumbed the series down to a much younger age group, making it more comedic with unrealistic and over-the-top stories that were pale shadows of the Sunbow episodes, with animation that rarely did the show any favors. Most, however are willing to admit that the "Operation: Dragonfire" arc decent, as was the episode "An Officer and a Viper-Man, while the episode "I Found You Eevy" is generally considered the best episode and is considered as good as some of the great Sunbow episodes. And with all that said there are also fans who find it a good show on its own even if it doesn't quite live up to the quality of the Sunbow series.

** 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....

** In the third season of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersGenerationOne'', 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.

** 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.

* 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 DIC episode "Injustice and the Cobra Way" has a few similarities with Film/G.I.JoeRetaliation.

* BrokenBase: A lot of fans disliked the Creator/DiCEntertainment continuation (though some at least consider the "Operation: Dragonfire" arc decent), but there are also fans who find it a good show on its own even if it doesn't quite live up to the quality of the Sunbow series.

* FanonDiscontinuity: The Cobra-La storyline is often ignored by fans. And sometimes everything that came after it, too.

** 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, until G.I. Joe put a stop to it. What kind of crazed maniacs give their money to a terrorist organization like this?

** 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 actually reach their 5 billions dollars goal, until G.I. Joe put a stop to it. What kind of crazed maniacs give their money to a terrorist organization like this?

** Cobra launches a televised [[{{Telethon}} Cobrathon]] to finance the construction of their supercomputer. The broadcast can't stopped and ''people actually donated their money''. It went so well that actually reach their 5 billions dollars goal, until G.I. Joe put a stop to it. What kind of crazed maniacs give their money to a terrorist organization like this?

** 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 InTheBlood. Suddenly, all her [[NonLethalWarfare improbable survivals]] and [[SuperWeight extreme physical feats]] in the series take on a new and more frightening significance...

* HarsherInHindsight: The idea of a terrorist NGOSuperpower with a faceless leader and a legion of brainwashed fanatics taking over whole countries and terrorizing the world isn't as fictional now as in the 1980s. Granted, Cobra is ''very'' different from ISIS thematically, but there are some parallels.