Who Is Snake Eyes?

Who Is Snake Eyes?

With a movie featuring one of the most popular G.I. Joe characters waiting to be released next year, let’s take a look at the background of the character that has become one of the most popular characters to come out of the 80’s.

Snake Eyes was one of the original 16 G.I. Joe figures that were released in 1982. The figure that many fans would be fascinated by was born largely through cost cutting measures. It’s a common practice for toy manufacturers to reuse parts from one figure to others in order to save on time and tooling costs. Snake Eyes shares body parts with other figures that were released in that first wave, with only his head being unique. To save even more on costs, the decision was made to not give him any paint applications. The all black figure stood out from the others, and brought a sense of mystery to the masked soldier. The file card on his package made him all the more intriguing, detailing his many fighting proficiencies and training environments, but stating that his name and birth place are CLASSIFIED.

When Marvel was publishing the G.I. Joe comic book, they gave readers a look into the tragic backstory of Snake Eyes in issues #26-27. Stalker, Storm Shadow, and Snake Eyes were part of a long range recon patrol in South-East Asia. They lost the rest of their group in combat, leaving the three of them to pull out, find a place to dig in, and wait for a helicopter pick up. Storm Shadow, known as Tommy at the time, talked about taking over his family business, and how there would be a place for his close friend Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes held tightly to a picture of his twin sister. He considered it a talisman. Nothing could happen to him as long as nothing happened to that picture.

It looked like they were in the clear when their transport arrived. Heavy fire came out of nowhere and took down Snake Eyes. Stalker gave the order to leave. Tommy dropped his heavy gear and went after his friend. Stalker, the pilot, and the door gunner layed down cover fire while Tommy carried Snake Eyes on his back. Seemingly dodging bullets along the way. They made it out, but Snake Eyes was severely injured. With half his head bandaged, he was sent home.

He returned with no fanfare. And without anyone at the airport to greet him. He waited, and General Hawk would show up to deliver the news that Snake Eyes had already sensed. His family was killed in a horrible traffic accident. With nothing left, he headed to Japan to join Tommy in the family business.

In Japan, he joined Tommy in rigorous ninja training under the tutelage of Tommy’s uncles, who were known as The Soft Master and The Hard Master. Over the next few years, his skill grew exponentially, even surpassing the skill of Storm Shadow. One night when he was in a training session with The Hard Master, an arrow was fired through the room and killed the ninja master. It was believed that Storm Shadow was the assassin. And that he had actually intended to kill Snake Eyes. Storm Shadow fled from his family home and joined Cobra. The family business was dispersed. And Snake Eyes would return to the States and go into seclusion in the wilderness of the High Sierras.

Hawk and Stalker would end up tracking down his cabin so that they could recruit him to join G.I. Joe. Scarlett met Snake Eyes during hand to hand combat training and was instantly fascinated by him. They spent time together, talking about his life and loss. It didn’t take long for a bond to form between the two.

Months later, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Rock ‘N Roll, and Grunt were on a hostage rescue mission in the desert. Their helicopter engine stalled and they went into a spin. Grunt and Rock ‘N Roll were able to jump clear, but Scarlett was pinned inside and Snake Eyes wouldn’t leave her. He was trying to get her free when their helicopter hit the other copter that was with them. There was an explosion. Scarlett was knocked out cold, and Snake Eyes took a face full of the explosion. They crashed, but survived. As the comic described it, Snake Eyes carried her out of the wreckage, “with his ruined mouth opening and closing in his ravaged face, and no sound coming out.”

He spent months in the hospital. No amount of surgeries could return his voice, or make him “look human again.” And he pushed away Scarlett, the only person he had in the world.

Snake-Eyes began as a throw away action figure. Writer Larry Hama took that figure and created a story of compelling personal dramas, friendship, love, loss, determination, and created a compelling character out of the plastic.