"Striking from the shadows, a ruthless organization named COBRA has returned to unleash an endless army of robotic troops and massive machines on the world. Our only hope, a group of highly skilled young operatives thrown together to save the planet. With time running out, they must become the super secret team known only as Sigma 6."
Initially a Hasbro toyline re-imagining characters from one of the company's popular 1980s franchises, GI Joe Sigma 6 is also an animated series (2005-2007), produced by the Japanese animation studio GONZO. Ironically, this description fits another series (Transformers: Cybertron) to a T.
A continuation (sort) of the direct-to-video films by Reel FX, Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom, Sigma 6 has Cobra Commander broken out from prison and the Joes forced to evacuate their base. Traveling in their mobile command center, the R.O.C.C. and equipped with Hi-Tech's Sigma suits, the Joes renew their battle to protect the world from Cobra.
The show ran for two full seasons on 4Kids TV, and is later re-aired on The Hub before it was rebranded as Discovery Family.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Distillation: The series draws from the original mythos, along with bits and pieces of other, more recent works.
- Adaptational Badass: The Cobra Commander of this continuity is played much more seriously and is a far cry from the whiny and inept clown he was in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
- Animesque: Inverted, it's a genuine anime based on a American toyline. And the first one animated in Japan since the 1980s original.
- Ascended Extra: High Tech used to be one of the less important Joes. Here, he often outpaces Duke and most of the other Joes in screen time. It helps that pretty much everyone is using a lot of super technology (more so than usual, anyway) and this gives him a lot of chances to flaunt his specialty. Destro specifically considers High Tech his "Sigma 6 Counterpart", giving him one of the show's primary rivalries.
- Bloodless Carnage: Nobody bleeds.
- Broad Strokes: The series is suggested to take place after the direct-to-video CGI films by Reel FX (for instance, Cobra Commander being imprisoned in the beginning of the series and General Hawk recovering from an incident that altered his DNA seems to reference the events of Valor vs. Venom, where Hawk was mutated by Cobra into a power-hungry behemoth named Venomous Maximus and Cobra Commander was captured in the end), but the Joes and Cobra members have noticeably different appearances and characterizations.
- By-the-Book Cop: Heavy Duty refers to Scarlett as such.
- Clip Show: The episode "Awards" shows clips from previous episodes. Even the framing devices are edited together from footage of previous episodes.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Devil's Due Publishing released a comic book tie-in that lasted six issues.
- Continuity Reboot: While implied to take place after the direct-to-video films Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom, at least in some capacity, the series for the most part comes off as being a completely new continuity.
- Continuity Snarl: The first season established the series as a sequel to the CGI G.I. Joe specials (Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom) produced by Reel FX Creative Studios. The biggest evidence of this is the fact that General Hawk is still in the hospital recovering from the "Venomization" process he suffered during the events of Valor vs. Venom. However, a later Compilation Movie of the first five episodes (called "First Strike") added a scene that established that the Joe team from Sigma 6 were not the same Joes from the CGI specials, but new members who inherited the codenames of their predecessors 20 years after the original members retired. Somehow, most of the Cobras also got identical successors as well and they managed to get a new Storm Shadow who just happens to be the rival of the new Snake-Eyes.
- Cool Car: Lot's and lot's and... did I mention there are a lot?
- Cool Versus Awesome: Snake Eyes vs Storm Shadow, or maybe it's the other way around.
- Did Not Do the Bloody Research: The Devil's Due Publishing comic at one point has Buzzer refer to Machete as a "bugger".
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Cobra Commander does this in the show's final episodes.
- Family-Friendly Firearms: Not really shocking, it's G.I. Joe.
- Though Buzzer's "Laser Chainsaw" is really pushing it.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: Cobra is nowhere near as ineffective as he was in the past. In fact, he's downright creepy sometimes.
- Five-Episode Pilot: The series began with a five-part episode.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: The energy rocks called "Power Stones" that Sigma 6 and Cobra end up fighting over.
- Grand Finale: The two-part episode "Ice"/"Assault", which ended with every member of Cobra except for Cobra Commander and Firefly captured.
- Immune to Bullets: Much of Cobra's tech can't be shot down.
- Instant Awesome: Just Add Mecha!: Both Cobra and the Sigma team jump on the Mecha-bandwagon.
- Karma Houdini: Cobra Commander and Firefly end up escaping in the finale "Assault", while the other Cobra members are captured.
- Mecha-Mooks: The B.A.T.s are Cobra's robotic soldiers.
- Never Say "Die": Played straight. When warned about the dangers of taking the wrong path, Tunnel Rat is only told that he could get hurt.
- Oh, Crap!: Poor Spud really screwed things up with his playful hacking.
- Pineapple Surprise: Snake Eyes pulls this on Storm Shadow twice!
- In Spy Troops, Snake Eyes provides a distraction for Scarlet, Shipwreck, and Agent Faces by clashing with Storm Shadow and, after an exchange of blows, flicks a pin at Storm Shadow, who barely has time to look down at his bandolier to see a grenade get primed. He survives, presumably by throwing it away, as he and Snake Eyes continue their clash, though we don't get to see it as it cuts to the others running away as the bomb explodes.
- In Valor vs Venom, Snake Eyes pulls the pins on every grenade on Storm Shadow's bandolier to escape him. Storm Shadow survives by tossing the belt before it's too late.
- Polar Bears and Penguins: Actually, manages to get this one correct. When the Terrordrome Project is activated, the scenes of the two devices in the north and south poles have quick shot of polar bears in the north and a penguin in the south, as it should be.
- Powered Armor: The Sigma suits enable the Joes to fare better against Cobra's forces.
- Something We Forgot: The episode "Race" ends with the Joes forgetting that they left behind Tunnel Rat.
- Theme Tune Roll Call: The Joes are introduced by name in the theme song.
- The Voiceless: Snake-Eyes, as always, is silent.
- This Is the Final Battle: In the episode "Duel", Cobra Commander says to Duke that it will be their last battle when they're about to fight in the Cobra Coliseum.
- Took a Level in Badass: Cobra Commander, this time around. He now resembles more of a dictator than a coward!
- Urine Trouble: In the fifth episode, Scott Abernathy's robotic dog Spud shorts out the power core to Cobra's giant laser cannon by "peeing" hydraulic fluid on it.
