Characters / G.I. Joe Film Series

aka: GI Joe The Rise Of Cobra

The character sheet for the live-action G.I. Joe film series, consisting of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

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G.I. Joe

An elite special missions force whose mission is to defend the world from terrorists.

Duke

Conrad Hauser / Duke

Played by: Channing Tatum

A soldier who joins the Joes in the first movie, and serves as the first film's protagonist.

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• A Father to His Men: Becomes a captain the second movie, and has good relationship with his teammates. Roadblock describes him as "A good captain, a better friend".
• Dating Catwoman: The Baroness is his ex-fiancée whom he still has feelings for.
• Determinator: His absolute refusal to tire or give up helps him save Paris in the first movie.
• Demoted to Extra: Despite getting a promotion, his role was much smaller in the second movie, where he dies in the first act.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Goes out pretty abruptly during a Cobra attack. People certainly wouldn't expect the first movie's main protagonist to die in such a manner.
• The Hero: Of the first movie. It's a Welcome Episode for him as he joins the G.I. Joes. In the sequel this role is passed on to Roadblock.
• Honorary Uncle: Roadblock's kids call him "Uncle Duke", establishing that the two are close friends.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to save Flint in Retaliation.
• Love Redeems: How he brings about Baronness' Heel–Face Turn.
• Mauve Shirt: In the second movie, where he has little screen time but plenty of characterization and plot significance.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He's regretted leaving Ana because he couldn't face her when he failed to protect her brother Rex.
• My Greatest Failure: Not being able to protect Rex Lewis as he promised Ana, since he ordered an airstrike which arrived too early, leading to his supposed death. Then he left Ana to grieve alone since he couldn't face her, which led her to become the Baroness.
• Sacrificial Lion: In Retaliation where his death makes the stakes clear and motivates the surviving Joes.

Gen. Hawk

Gen. Clayton Abernathy / Gen. Hawk

Played by: Dennis Quaid

The leader of the Joes.

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• Authority Equals Asskicking: Picks up a gun when the Pit is attacked. Also, he manages to evade some blows from Storm Shadow and punch Zartan in the face!
• Four-Star Badass: Very high-ranked.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He picks operatives well and insists on getting good intelligence.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Keeps the Joes on-mission even when he's been ordered to disband them- because a Joe has been captured and the world is in imminent danger.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He doesn't appear in the second movie. Whether he's been killed off between the films, or if he's simply left, is not made clear.

Scarlett

Shana M. O'Hara / Scarlett

Played by: Rachel Nichols

The G.I. Joe team's intelligence expert.

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• The Ace: Smarter, and a better shot, than most of her teammates.
• Action Girl: As opposed to Cover Girl, who isn't one in this continuity.
• Adaptational Nationality: Hails from Canada in this universe, whereas other incarnations hailed from the state of Georgia (her codename and last name being a Shout-Out to Scarlett O'Hara).
• Badass Biker: Rides a motorcycle in the infamous Paris chase.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: For very long, at least.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: One of the promotional posters has her this way.
• Cold Sniper: Downplayed. She's a Defrosting Ice Queen, not a sociopath.
• Fiery Redhead: Downplayed. She's more aloof than furious.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: Her crossbow, which can computer-target any part of an enemy's body.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: She's an excellent shot with or without her crossbow.
• Spy Catsuit: Well, she's wearing black body armour like all the Joes in the first movie, but hers is particularly form-fitting.
• The Squadette: She's the only female member of Alpha Team (the unit of front-line Joes from the first movie).
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't know if she was killed during the events of the second movie nor is she ever mentioned in the second movie.

Ripcord

Wallace Weems / Ripcord

Played by: Marlon Wayans

An soldier who joins the Joes in the first movie, the team's expert pilot.

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• Ace Pilot: Not for most of the movie, though.
• Chekhov's Hobby: When he's introduced, he mentions that he'd like like to transfer from the army to the air force and has some simulator time completed. When he joins the Joes, most of the operations we see him carry out are on foot, but at the climax, a pilot is needed...
• Dogged Nice Guy: To Scarlett. It annoys her at first.
• Improbable Piloting Skills: Shoots down two nanomite warheads aimed at Moscow and Washington D.C.
• The Lancer: To Duke.
• Race Lift: Was white in all canon before 2009 (i.e., the cartoon series from the 1980s and 2000s, the action figures that corresponded to the cartoons, and the comics from the 1980s and 2000s).
• Sidekick: To Duke. They're even introduced as buddies in the army.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't know if he was killed during the events of the second movie nor is he ever mentioned in the second movie.

Snake Eyes

Snake Eyes

Played by: Ray Park

An American who studied martial arts under the Arashikage ninja clan, taking a vow of silence. He is the rival of Storm Shadow. Real name: Classified.

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• The Big Guy: He's the Joes' best combatant, and gets involved in most of the physical action.
• Combat Pragmatist: When he was a kid, he was willing to hit his opponents with any available object. He mosly avoids this as an adult. He has no problem with using chloroform on Storm Shadow in the sequel, though.
• Cool Mask: To the point that it covers his face and head completely.
• Determinator
  Baroness: He gave up.
  Storm Shadow: He never gives up.
  [their car is blindsided by an oncoming train]
• Expressive Mask: In a final gag for his last scene in the first film the sculpted lips on his mask are switched from their neutral expression to a smile (It was either that or letting him talk).
• The Faceless: In the second movie, they got rid of the lips on his mask, as it proved distracting to the audience and to reinforce the fact that he never speaks.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Subverted. He only beats Storm Shadow (both as a child, and in the climax) when he switches to bladed tonfas.
• McNinja: Is the world's best ninja despite being American. In a bit of a subversion, the world's second best ninja seems to be Korean.
• Ninja: Probably the most over-the-top awesome one in twenty-first century American film.
• The Quiet One: The low exhalation he utters at Storm Shadow's apparent death is the most he's ever said in any continuity.
• The Rival: To Storm Shadow.
• The Voiceless: He's taken a vow of silence, and not only does the man not speak, he's never heard making any noise (no shouts, whispers, sighs, nothing).
• You Killed My Father: His enmity with Storm Shadow began when the latter killed Hard Master — who had served as a father figure to both boys.

Heavy Duty

Hershel Dalton / Heavy Duty

Played by: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

The field commander of G.I. Joe and the team's heavy machine gunner.

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• Adaptational Nationality: This Heavy Duty is English.
• Adaptation Name Change: from Lamont Morris to Hershel Dalton.
• The Big Guy: Shared with Snake Eyes and Roadblock (from the second movie).
• Expy: Of Roadblock (who later appeared in the second movie).
• Scary Black Man: Downplayed. He's tall, muscular, and wields a minigun as his personal weapon, but he's firmly on the side of good.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: There's no hints of any relation to Roadblock.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl
  "Don't make me shoot a woman."

Breaker

Abel Shaz / Breaker

Played by: Saïd Taghmaoui

The Joe's communications specialist and hacker.

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• Adaptation Name Change: From Alvin Kibbey to Abel Shaz.
• Character Tics: Chews a lot of bubblegum while on missions.
• Fate Worse than Death: After the Paris incident, he's been exiled from French soil for as long as he lives.
• Hollywood Hacking: Hacks a dead man's brain.
• Interrogating the Dead: Via MacGyvering a palm pilot.
• Mixed Metaphor:
  Breaker: Locating McCullen's base will be like finding a needle in a coal mine.
  Ripcord: Haystack.
  Breaker: Oh, right. Haystack in a coal mine.
  [Ripcord looks at him]
• Non-Action Guy: Never uses a weapon.
• Race Lift: Was white before this movie, now he's a Moroccan Arab.
• The Smart Guy: In the first movie.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He seems to really like Dubble Bubble gum, since he made Duke give him his only one before the action scene in Paris.

Cover Girl

Courtney Kreiger / Cover Girl

Played by: Karolína Kurková

The personal assistant to Gen. Hawk.

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• Demoted to Extra: Many didn't even realize she was supposed to be Cover Girl.
• Disposable Woman: and how! She is reduced from a fearless and highly competent female warrior to a helpless slasher victim, her death only serving to illustrate how evil Zartan is.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Courtesy of Zartan.
• In Name Only: All other versions of Cover Girl are tank drivers. The prequel novel explains that she was a field operative until she was critically injured on a mission, which made her unfit for combat.
• Sexy Secretary: Oddly enough.

Sgt. Stone

Sgt. Geoffrey Stone IV

Played by: Brendan Fraser

G.I. Joe's special operations instructor who teaches combat training.

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• The Cameo: He's only there for the training scene.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Downplayed.
• Expy: Sgt. Stone seems to be a replacement for the character/professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter. Oddly, he's not the first Expy of him, with Beachhead having also filled the role. He also aligns with multiple "Lt. Stone" characters in Joe cartoons and comics.
• Identical Grandson: According to Brendan Frasier, he's a descendant of Rick O'Connell.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly, he seems much more pleasant than most iterations of the Joe's Drill Sergeant.

Gen. Joe Colton

Gen. Joseph "Joe" Colton

Played by: Bruce Willis

The original G.I. Joe, who helps out Roadblock, Lady Jaye, and Flint.

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• Adaptation Personality Change: Much more gruff than the easygoing Joe Colton from the comics.
• Big Good: He founded the Joes. Also, he joins Roadblock's team and provides them with essential weapons and allies.
• Crazy-Prepared: He's got a lot of weapons hidden in his kitchen, including a pair of grenades hidden in a bowl of fruit.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Develops one with Lady Jaye.
• Retired Badass: He comes out of retirement and proves to be an essential member of the team. Also, he fires an assault rifle from the back of a speeding El Camino.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: With Lady Jaye.

Roadblock

Marvin F. Hinton / Roadblock

Played by: Dwayne Johnson

G.I. Joe's infantry heavy weapons specialist and cook.

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• The Big Guy: Shared with Snake Eyes and Heavy Duty from the first movie.
• Chainsaw-Grip BFG: He wields a Browning M2 Aircraft machine gun at the climax. This is an homage to the Marvel comic book series where it was his his weapon.
• Composite Character: His background has several elements which makes him more like Stalker in the comics, such as being involved with a gang when growing up in the city, being best buddies with Snake Eyes, and having kids.
• Genius Bruiser: He's not only strong, but he's also pretty smart and good at coming up with strategies.
• In Name Only: Though most of him has changed, he is still a Lethal Chef though, but it's barely examined on in the film. He's also the The Leader in the film, whereas in the source material he's a minor but still important member of the Joes.
• The Leader: Becomes the leader of the Joes after Duke's death.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: There's no signs of any relation with Heavy Duty.

Lady Jaye

Jaye Burnett / Lady Jaye

Played by: Adrianne Palicki

The covert ops specialist and the only female member in Roadblock and Duke's squad in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. She is also a guns specialist.

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• Action Girl: Very capable of fighting, to the point that she earned the respect from Gen. Colton himself.
• Adaptational Name Change: She's named Jaye Burnett here rather than Alison R. Hart-Burnett.
• Badass Bookworm: She's kind of a Breaker/Scarlett combo.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Her Secret Service dossier at the gala dinner is taken from the comics. It has her original name, Alison R. Hart, as her "file name", mentions her Army qualifications even though she's a Marine in this version, and that she graduated from Fort Holabird intelligence school, which was closed in 1973 in real life.
• Girliness Upgrade: She's much more feminine than her original counterpart, who was a Tom Boy and The Lad-ette. She also wears form-fitting clothing as opposed to the more casual clothing the orignal wore.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Develops a bond with Colton, who is probably twice her age.
• Ms. Fanservice: She wears revealing running attire to attract a high-ranking government official and then a red dress while disguised as a Fox News reporter. Later, she ends up undressing.
• Semper Fi: She comes from the marines.
• The Smart Guy: Takes over this role from the absent Breaker.
• Parental Abandonment: Her distant father died before she had the chance to prove herself to him, while nothing much is said of her mother.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Her father was a military chauvinist who believed that women can't make good soldiers. She enlisted in the army, determined to outrank him so that he would respect her. The fact he died before she got the chance meant that plan was up in smoke.

Flint

Dashiell R. Faireborn / Flint

Played by: D. J. Cotrona

Special Forces Warrant Officer in Duke and Roadblock's Squad.

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• The Lancer: To Roadblock following Duke's death.
• Leeroy Jenkins: More than once he failed to stick to the plan and did his own thing.

Mouse

Mouse

Played by: Joseph Mazzello

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• Friendly Sniper: A sniper who cracks some jokes.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed off in the purge.

Jinx

Jinx

Played by: Élodie Yung

Another ninja in the service of the G.I. Joes. She is Snake Eyes's protege. Real name: Classified.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Other versions of the character usually wear a simple red ninja outfit. In the movie, she has a black and yellow outfit which seems based on a G.I. Joe character named Agent Helix. This was likely done to keep her visually distinct from the enemy red ninjas in the film.
• Affirmative Action Girl: Her existence prevents Lady Jaye from being the sole female on the team.
• Dressing as the Enemy: Disguised herself as a Cobra red ninja to get close to the Cobra Commander, Firefly and Zartan along with Storm Shadow, who was going after Zartan because he murdered the Hard Master.
• Ninja: She's a member of the Arashikage clan.
• The Quiet One: Though she has a few lines, unlike Snake Eyes, she's relatively taciturn.
• Sidekick: She's Snake Eyes's apprentice, and travels with him to the Himalayas to capture Storm Shadow.

Military Armaments Research Syndicate (MARS)/Cobra

The Military Armaments Research Syndicate (MARS) is a weapons developing company that in turn became Cobra, a terrorist organization bent on world domination.

Rex Lewis / The Doctor / Cobra Commander

Rexford "Rex" Lewis / The Doctor / Cobra Commander

^{Click here to see him before his disfigurement}

^{Click here to see him with his second mask}

^{Click here to see him in G.I. Joe: Retaliation as Cobra Commander}

Played by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra); Luke Bracey (body), Robert Baker (voice) (G.I. Joe: Retaliation)

One half of the Big Bad Duumvirate of the first film. He assists McCullen in his evil plans, but secretly has plans of his own.

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• Ax-Crazy: Gradually becomes this, eventually gaining the nerve to nuke entire cities.
• Badass Longcoat: Sports one in Retaliation.
• Batman Gambit: His plan in the first movie is one.
• Bald of Evil: His hair has been burned off, but he initially wears a wig.
• Big Bad: Of the second movie.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With McCullen.
• Canon Character All Along: At the end of the film, he steps up from being "The Doctor" of Cobra to "The Commander". As in he's the film's version of Cobra Commander.
• Cold Ham: Barely ever raises his voice, but still hammy nonetheless.
• Cool Helmet: Once he becomes Cobra Commander. More so in Retaliation, where he dons his classic mask from the cartoon.
• Cool Mask: The Doctor has one to assist with his breathing. Furthermore, in the sequel he wears the classic Cobra Commander mask.
• Composite Character: He is a merger of Doctor Mindbender, Cobra Commander, and Eugene (The Baroness' brother from the Marvel Comics version).
• Dark Lord on Life Support: He needs to wear his helmet to breathe.
• Deadpan Snarker: Develops this habit in Retaliation despite being Darker and Edgier.
• Dragon Ascendant: He takes his first opportunity to overthrow Destro, take over MARS, reform it as the terrorist organization Cobra, and declare himself to be Cobra Commander.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted. He claims to love his sister, but he's not above killing her to spite Duke.
  Duke: (to both Rex and McCullen) Neither one of you deserve her.
  Rex: (attempts to turn the kill switch) That's it, she dies!
• Evil Genius: In the first movie.
• Evil Is Hammy: Even before he becomes Cobra Commander, he had his hammy moments. He's a bit calmer in Retaliation.
• Evil Sounds Deep: When he puts his mask on... it is downright satanic. This especially goes for the sequel.
• For Science!: The Doctor's motivation for all the evil he does seems to be this, even offering earlier on in the film the possibility of selling one of nanite warheads on the black market in order to fund his continued research.
• High-Class Glass: His first mask has a modified jeweler's glass that looks like a monocle.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: While he was the one who brainwashed her, Rex was right to call Duke out for abandoning Ana to grieve for her brother's death alone.
  "Let's not forget that point."
• Karma Houdini: Pulls off a Villain: Exit, Stage Left at the end of Retaliation after his plans are ruined and is still at large.
• Mad Scientist: Oh hell yes! For one thing, he creates the Vipers.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Downplayed. While he does leaves the dirty work to his Vipers and McCullen, he does use his tools in wanting to torture Duke. Which makes sense since Rex blames Duke for his apparent death.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: The film's director stated that they avoided using Cobra Commander's hood (which he often swapped with his battle helmet in the cartoon and comics) as they wanted to avoid having him resemble a Ku Klux Klansman, thus the original mask design in the first movie. They also felt it was too early to introduce his classic battle helmet, wanting to save that for the sequel.
• Red Herring: He initially seems to be the film's version of Dr. Mindbender. He's a mad scientist, for one, and his breathing apparatus even has a monocle. Then Mindbender shows up as a separate character, while "the Doctor" turns MARS into Cobra and names himself Commander.
• Related in the Adaptation: This version of Cobra Commander is Baroness's brother.
• The Starscream: He succeeds in overthrowing Destro as well.
• The Stoic: Very rarely does he raise his voice.
• Terms of Endangerment: When he has Duke strapped down in preparation to turn him into a Viper he starts referring to him as "Duke" and puts particular emphasis on that call-sign, which is the first clue to Duke that he knows him on a much more personal level.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Until he saw Doctor Mindbender's experiments.
• Vader Breath: He isn't able to breathe without his mask, and it gives his voice an echoed, raspy edge whenever he speaks. The classic Cobra Commander mask he dons in the second movie does the same, but adds a snake-like hiss whenever he exhales.

Destro

James McCullen XXIV / Destro

^{Click here to see him with his mask}

Played by: Christopher Eccleston

The other half of the Big Bad Duumvirate of the first film, though more of The Heavy. A weapons designer and founder of the Military Armament Research Syndicate (MARS). His terrorist agenda sets up the movie's plot.

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• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Destro in the comics, while still technically a villain, is a much more honorable and principled man; vestiges of this made it into the cartoon. Here, Destro has little in the way of redeeming values. Though he seems to believe the world is chaotic and that he's the only one who can fix it with himself as The Man Behind the Man.
  • Destro and the Baroness are genuinely in love in both the comics and cartoon; here, the Baroness is mind-controlled into being with him, making the relationship of questionable consent at best and Destro into a much more despicable character. Though Destro did try to save her when the Doctor threatened to kill her to spite Duke, while also attempting to shoot Duke for saying that he didn't deserve her.
• Arms Dealer: He owns a weapons research facility, and develops a superweapon that can decimate an entire city in a short time.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He is always seen with an almost all black business suit.
• Batman Gambit: He's not as good at these as The Doctor is, though.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With The Doctor, though he later becomes The Dragon when The Doctor's true intent is revealed and he becomes Cobra Commander.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Has DeCobray's husband killed and tries to have Duke turned into a Viper. Destro does not like having rivals.
• Demoted to Dragon: By Cobra Commander.
• Demoted to Extra: He's only briefly in the sequel and doesn't get any lines there.
• Entitled Bastard: He respond badly when Duke tells him that he doesn't deserve Ana. He is a Culture Savvy one too But obviously not a very wise one because after he says the following he gets a headbutt for his trouble:
  McCullen: Isn't it funny, with the entire balance of power in the world about to shift, a couple of guys can still have a stare down over who gets the girl.
• The Heavy: While he's one half the Big Bad Duumvirate, Destro's a bit more proactive than The Doctor.
• Hoist by His Own Petard He uses a blowtorch to kill Duke, who used Ana's gun to shoot him, getting himself burned in the process.
• Just Between You and Me: Defied. He refuses to tell Duke his whole plan, which allows Cobra to continue it in the sequel.
• Karmic Transformation: After being badly burned, he was forced to wear a face of metal, just like his ancestor. Though this is nanotech metal and not actual metal.
  McCullen: "I've finally taken my place in the long line of McCullens."
• Large Ham: Christopher Eccleston is arguably giving a Ham and Cheese performance.
• Legacy Character: His medieval ancestor (who we meet in the opening scene) was a lot like him.
• Revenge: He had the warhead tested on the Eiffel Tower to both get everyone attention and to settle a personal grudge against the country.
  McCullen: "I have a target in mind, one the French will never forget, as I've never forgotten what they did to Clan McCullen."
• Slave to PR: He points out the reason he didn't let The Baroness stage the raid for the warheads at his factory like she wanted to was because such a blatant assault would have destroyed the trust of his clients, thus it had to be NATO's failure to protect them from theft to preserve his reputation.
• Tragic Keepsake: Subverted, he keeps the metal mask of his ancestor to remind him to never get caught like he did. But he did.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: To quote Cobra Commander in the sequel, "Destro, you're out of the band". It's non-fatal in that CC doesn't kill him, just leaves him stuck in stasis.

The Baroness

Ana Lewis / Anastascia DeCobray / The Baroness

Played by: Sienna Miller

A Cobra Intelligence Officer who married a wealthy European aristocrat.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: As Ana, she was originally blonde.
• Adaptational Heroism: The Baroness is mind-controlled into serving Cobra here, versus being a willing member as in previous incarnations.
• Adaptational Name Change: Her real name is Ana Lewis, while Anastascia is her alias. Though it's never revealed if she used "Cisarovna" as a maiden name before marrying Baron Daniel DeCobray.
• Adaptational Nationality: This version appears to be American, and pretended to be European as the Baroness.
• All Women Love Shoes: Baroness forces a woman out of an elevator at gunpoint. Then casually compliments her choice of footwear.
• The Baroness: No surprise here.
• Dark Action Girl: She trained under Storm Shadow, so she fights well. She's also a member of the villainous organisation, Cobra.
• Dating Catwoman: She used to be engaged to Duke. They later reconcile, prompting her High-Heel–Face Turn.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. Even though the nanomites have been removed from her body, she has to stay imprisoned for a while.
• Guns Akimbo: Fights with two guns.
• High-Heel–Face Turn: The only female Cobra member, and later defects to the heroes' side after the effects of her brainwashing is removed.
• More than Mind Control: The reason she's with the bad guys is because she's being mind-controlled by nanomites. Grief over her brother's death and abandonment by Duke made it easy, with her brother Rex claiming that he gave her a reason to fight when he brainwashed her (which easily translates into the vendetta against Duke that she pursues for most of the film). It's only when she moves past those issues that she actually breaks free from the nanomites' influence.
• Ms. Fanservice: A well-endowed seductress and Dark Action Girl who goes around wearing very form-fitting outfits.
• Rejected Apology: Duke tells her he's sincerely sorry that he couldn't save Rex and for leaving her afterwards. She doesn't accept it, until she breaks free of her brainwashing.
  Baroness: Well, everybody's sorry about something.
• Related in the Adaptation: This incarnation is Cobra Commander's sister.
• Shoot Your Mate: She doesn't kill her husband Daniel DeCobray, but she does kiss him knowing Storm Shadow will kill him for touching her.
• Spy Catsuit: Wears a tight leather suit during her behind-the-scene missions. In fact, it's her picture on the page.
• The Squadette: She's the only woman we see on the MARS/Cobra side.
• That Woman Is Dead: When Duke threatens to shoot Ana/The Baroness if Storm Shadow moves, she tells him to "Do it. You already killed me once."

Storm Shadow

Thomas Arashikage / Storm Shadow

Played by: Byung-hun Lee

A member of the ninja clan Arashikage, trained under his uncle, the Hard Master. He is the rival of Snake Eyes.

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• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He's a skilled ninja apprentice who's very proud of his skills. He does not take it well when Snake Eyes bested him in combat.
• Badass Longcoat: Wears one.
• Bifurcated Weapon: Can combine his two swords into a double-bladed one.
• The Brute: In the first movie, he's depicted as one of the more violent-prone member of the Cobra.
• Color-Coded Characters: Whether he's in his Ninja outfit, or in his casual clothes, he's always wearing white. Probably to contrast Snake Eyes's all-black attire.
• Disney Villain Death: Seemingly falls to his death after his final encounter with Snake Eyes. However, he survives and appears in the second movie.
• Dressing as the Enemy: In his introduction in the second movie, he pretends to be Snake Eyes so that he can break into the German facility and free Cobra Commander.
• Easily Forgiven: After The Reveal that he did not kill the Hard Master, and then helping the Joes bring down Zartan, Snake Eyes allows him to walk off scott-free, even though he's murdered numerous innocents and triggered the conflict of the second movie by breaking the Cobra Commander free.
• Enemy Mine: With the Joes in Retaliation.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Killing women disgusts him.
  Storm Shadow: For you, Zartan, I make an exception.
  • He was surprised when the Baroness actually wanted him to kill her husband Daniel DeCobray.
• Freudian Excuse: He was framed for his master's murder and while being on the run, was shown kindness by Zartan, who led him to become what he is right now.
  Storm Shadow: My path was chosen for me by my enemy who framed me for killing the Hard Master, and my friends who believed it.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Resented Snake Eyes for being a better fighter than he, and (supposedly) killed the Hard Master when the latter showed more favour towards Snake Eyes.
• Heel–Face Turn: Pulls one off to help the Joes go after Zartan, who was in fact, his master's murderer. Doubles as a Mythology Gag where he defected to G.I. Joe once.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Possibly in contrast to Snake Eyes's all-black suit, he wears one that's all-white.
• Interchangeable Asian Cultures: Sort of. His last name is Japanese, but his actor's ethnicity (as well as the fact that he spoke Korean as a kid) implies he's actually an adopted Korean. This is not that far-fetched.
• I Surrender, Suckers: He willingly lets himself get caught as Snake Eyes, and even after being revealed to be Storm Shadow, he pretends his heart rate has gone down so that he can get out of the capsule and free Cobra Commander.
• Made of Iron: He takes an unbelievable amount of punishment.
• Marquee Alter Ego: Unlike his animated counterpart, this Storm Shadow is almost never seen with his mask on. He does wear them once in a while, but would always take it off before joining in the big action scenes.
• Master of Your Domain: He can make his heart rate go down, which he uses to free Cobra Commander.
• Mr. Fanservice: He's undoubtedly well-built, and the movies constantly find reasons for him to go shirtless.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Shares a name with a cruise missile.
• Ninja
• Not Quite Dead: He survives a stabbing and fall into freezing water.
• Race Lift: This version of Storm Shadow is Japanese-Korean.
• The Rival: To Snake Eyes.
• Sixth Ranger: To Roadblock's team in Retaliation. following his Heel–Face Turn.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: His last name is Arashikage, which means "Storm Shadow".
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: How he kills Zartan in Retaliation.
• Tranquil Fury: After Zartan's murder of his master is uncovered, he goes into this state and doesn't come out of it until after he kills Zartan in revenge.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: As a boy, he longed for Hard Master's approval.
• Worthy Opponent: To Snake Eyes.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Is disgusted by the murder of Cover Girl.
• You Killed My Father: Why he goes after Zartan in the second movie.

Zartan

Zartan

Played by: Arnold Vosloo; Jonathan Pryce (when impersonating the President of the United States)

A master of disguises who thanks to The Doctor's experimentation can shapeshift. Real name: Classified

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• Arc Words: Him whistling "Jolly Good Fellow."
• The Bad Guy Wins: By the end of the first movie, he has taken over the presidency of the United States of the America by impersonating the President (and keeping the real President detained). In the second movie, he annihilates most of the G.I. Joes and annihilates Central London to demonstrate Cobra's might.
• The Bully: He uses scare tactics to intimidate all the world's other leaders who possess nuclear weapons into surrendering and submitting to him. And Zartan's not one to miss out on the opportunity to gloat about this.
• Didn't Think This Through: Didn't realize until too late that killing Hard Master and framing Storm Shadow for the crime, would come back to bite him in the ass in the end, and expressed his realization of his lack of forethought to Storm Shadow.
  Storm Shadow: You made me what I am.
  Zartan: Yes, and I see that was wrong.
• Dies Wide Open: In the second movie.
• Dying as Yourself: Reverts to his original form after Storm Shadow kills him.
• Dirty Coward
• Dragon-in-Chief: In Retaliation, Zartan is the President of the United States and puts most of the plot in motion, but he still answers to Cobra Commander.
• The Heavy: In Retaliation, while Cobra Commander is the Big Bad, Zartan is the most prominent antagonist in the film and he does more to set Cobra's evil plan in motion.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In the second movie, thanks to Storm Shadow.
• Karmic Death: He murdered a female G.I. Joe member in front of Storm Shadow, a man who's disgusted with killing women, and one movie later he gets killed by the same man who he killed the woman in front of because he murdered his master.
• Kick the Dog:
  • His murder of Cover Girl.
  • The second movie reveals that he murdered Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow's master, the Hard Master, and framed Storm Shadow for it.
• Laughably Evil: Has his moments in the second movie while disguised as the President. Including one scene where he plays Angry Birds on his phone while the world's superpowers scramble attempting to stop a nuclear holocaust.
• Master of Disguise: Appropriate, considering his actor's previous role. To the point that he's American President.
• President Evil: In the second movie.
• Psycho for Hire: In the first movie.
• Psychopathic Manchild: While posing as the President, he loves making incredibly lame puns, hanging out with celebrities, and playing games on his smartphone, the last of which he does even during a nuclear holocaust.
• Straw Misogynist: When Lady Jaye arrives at a ball in a very seductive red dress, Zartan (as the President) invites her to a dance. She declines, but Zartan objects, "I don't take no for an answer!"
• Walking Spoiler: It is hard to describe Zartan and how vital he plays to Cobra's plans.
• Would Hit a Girl: Unlike Storm Shadow.

Doctor Mindbender

Doctor Mindbender

Played by: Kevin J. O'Connor

A scientist in McCullen's employ who developed the nanomite technology and trained "The Doctor" in the field. His current status is unknown. Real name: Unknown.

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• Bait-and-Switch Boss: Fans of the franchise would be led to believe that "The Doctor" working with Destro was actually Dr Mindbender, but he's actually Cobra Commander and the real Dr Mindbender is this guy.
• Decomposite Character: Himself and The Doctor are essentially different versions of the franchise Dr Mindbender, with this guy being a minor character and the other one secretly being a composite of Mindbender and Cobra Commander.
• Demoted to Extra: More of an inversion. The character was never intended to have a name, and was only there as a plot device for The Doctor's path to darkness. After the fact, they realized he could easily be Mindbender and threw his name in for the fans.
• For Science!: His motivation.
• Mad Scientist
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We never learn what became of him, other than that he and Rex survived the airstrike and became Rex's mentor.

Firefly

Firefly

Played by: Ray Stevenson

Cobra's explosives/demolitions expert.

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• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: His criminal record is comprised of arson, murder and tax evasion.
• Ax-Crazy: More so than anyone else in the series.
• Beard of Evil
• Berserk Button: He hates tax hikes.
• Blood Knight: Enjoys fighting.
• Demolitions Expert: His job, simply put, is to blow things up for Cobra.
  Firefly: Making more things go boom by 9:00 a.m. than most people do all day.
• The Dragon: To Cobra Commander in Retaliation. He carries out most of the physically violent missions needed for the Commander's plan.
• Dragon Their Feet: After the main antagonist Zartan is killed, Roadblock is left to deal with Firefly while Cobra Commander makes his escape on a helicopter.
• Flipping the Bird: Does this in one scene with both fingers!
  Zartan: Firefly! It's good to know we're not running low on crazy. Still all 10 fingers?
  [Firefly waves his fingers toward Zartan's face, then flips him off]
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Roadblock kills him with his own bomb.
• Hypocrite: He hates tax hikes, though Zartan points out he never pays taxes anyways.
• Lightning Bruiser
• Land Down Under: Possibly. His accent is inconsistent.
• Mad Bomber
• Marquee Alter Ego: The original version of Firefly avoided to show his face, and the comic issue where he finally did had him quickly changed to a new masked costume, so his later unmasked appearances were few and far apart. In the movie, Firefly frequently appears unmasked.
• Mechanical Animals: Particularly prominent in Retaliation are his tiny robotic bombs, which fly and have glowing tails, just like actual fireflies.
• Psycho for Hire
• Pyromaniac
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Zartan.

Zandar

Zandar

Played by: Matt Gerald

President Zartan's aide.

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• Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears a suit with a small Cobra pin.
• Bald of Evil

Other Characters

The President

The President of the United States of America

Played by: Jonathan Pryce

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• Kill and Replace: Subverted. Zartan only replaces the President, but doesn't kill him. He was needed for retinal scanning to authorize the US nuclear football.
• Nice Guy: The reason why Cobra overthrew him is because Cobra Commander decided he wasn't being aggressive enough towards international countries that had nuclear weapons rivaling that of the US.
• No Party Given: As always with US Presidents in action movies.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • He correctly guesses MARS Industries' intentions in the first movie. In the second movie, he attempts to resist Zartan's interrogations and helps restore the Joes' reputation.
  • His calm understanding of Lady Jaye resorting to a Shoot the Hostage moment with him, albeit a deliberately non lethal shot with the intention of rescuing him. The President doesn't so much as even mildly castigate her for it; and is still grateful for the rescue.
• You're Insane!: To Zartan when he shows what the nanomites are capable of for his disguise when he slices his face with a knife.

Warden Nigel James

Warden Nigel James

Played by: Walton Goggins

The warden of the Einsargen prison.

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• Asshole Victim: The Eisengart breakout is shot like an action scene and the Warden is a jerk, so it's hard to feel sorry for him when he dies.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: He shoots an explosive gas canister, seriously injuring Storm Shadow.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He talks about his prisoners as if they were action figures. This, coupled with the fact that he subjects his prisoners to an And I Must Scream fate, makes him less than likable.

Hard Master

Hard Master

Played by: Gerald Okamura

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• Death by Flashback: He only exists in a flashback, but his death is what kicks off the rivalry between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Not by Storm Shadow, but by Zartan, who frames the former for it.
• Parental Favoritism: He seemed to have favor Snake Eyes rather than Storm Shadow while they were growing up and being taught martial arts.

Blind Master

Blind Master

Played by: RZA

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• Blind Weapon Master: It's in his namesake, after-all. Though he is blind from a past event, he still able to teach other students in the way of martial arts.
• Mr. Exposition: He narrates the scenes where Snake Eyes hunts for Storm Shadow.

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