Snake Eyes (G.I. Joe)

Snake Eyes (also known as Snake-Eyes) is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and animated series, created by Larry Hama. He is one of the original and most popular members of the G.I. Joe Team, and is most known for his relationships with Scarlett and Storm Shadow. Snake Eyes is one of the most prominent characters in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero franchise, having appeared in every series of the franchise since its inception. He is portrayed by Ray Park in the 2009 live-action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and the 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Henry Golding portrays the titular character in the 2021 reboot Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

Profile

Snake Eyes is the code name of a member of the G.I. Joe Team. He is the team's original commando, and much of the history and information about his personal life and military service, including his birth name, place of birth and service number, have stayed classified or top secret throughout all depictions of his origin and his military career. All that is known for certain is his rank/grade (originally U.S. Army Sergeant/E-5, eventually reaching Sergeant First Class/E-7 before it too was deemed classified), his primary military specialty is infantry, and his secondary military specialty is hand-to-hand combat instructor. Snake Eyes was trained at the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) Recondo School (Nha Trang), and served in long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) in Southeast Asia with Stalker and Storm Shadow, eventually leaving the service to study martial arts with Storm Shadow's Arashikage ninja clan. He has undergone drill sergeant training, and is a former U.S. Army Special Forces and Delta Force operator. Very little else about his past is known. Basically, all of the intelligence about both his military career and his personal life, including his birth name, birthplace, and childhood has been designated as classified or top secret because of the clandestine military operations that he was participating in.

Snake Eyes was living a life of strict self-denial and seclusion in the High Sierra with a pet wolf named Timber when he was recruited for the G.I. Joe Team. He is an expert in all NATO and Warsaw Pact small arms and has black belts in 12 different fighting systems including Karate, Judo, Jujutsu, Kung-Fu, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Ninjutsu, and Kobudo. He is highly skilled in the use of edged weapons, especially his Japanese sword and spike-knuckled trench knives, but he is equally qualified with and willing to use firearms and explosives. Snake Eyes is quiet in his movements and rarely relies on one set of weapons to the exclusion of others.

During one of his first missions for G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes' face was severely disfigured in a helicopter explosion. Since then, Snake Eyes has had extensive plastic surgery to repair the damage, but his vocal cords cannot be repaired. He usually wears a black bodysuit, along with a balaclava and visor to cover his face. When out of his uniform, Snake Eyes is shown to be a white man with an athletic build, blonde hair, and blue eyes.

Snake Eyes has been shown in most continuities to be romantically involved with fellow team member Scarlett. He has also had several apprentices, including Kamakura, Tiger Claw, and Jinx. His personal quote is "Move with the wind, and you will never be heard."

Toyline

Snake Eyes was one of the original figures in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline in 1982. He shared many parts with other figures of that series, except for his unique head sculpt. He was designed to save Hasbro money in the paint application process, as his first figure was made of black plastic with no paint applied for details, and his head did not require any detail because of the mask. All of the original sixteen figures from 1982 were released with "straight arms". The same figure was re-released in 1983 with "swivel-arm battle grip", which made it possible for figures to "hold" their rifles and accessories in a more naturally human pose, as the forearm could now rotate 360 degrees.