What rules regulate how your what exists in your joeverse?

Here's mine:

1. Characters age as convenient for story telling but never reach retirement age.
2. Characters children do not reflect the age of the characters. Characters from the same era may have grown children serving beside them with GI Joe and others may have infants.
3. Time is fluid for the last 50-ish years of real world history. Characters may have Vietnam-era experience, but not WWII unless there's some cryogenic freezing coming into play.
4. Marvel and DC superheroes don't exist.
5. Almost any cartoon characters from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, are welcome into my universe. Centurions, Thundercats, MASK, COPS, Inspector Gadget, etc. are all in play.
6. Real world locations don't exist outside of North America. Established GI Joe geography takes over. Sierra Gordo, Sierra Muerte, Darklonia, Benzheen, Truncial Abysmia, Trans Carpathia, and Wolkekuckukkland are all viable countries
7. Springfield is every Springfield on the US map.
8. Real people may exist like Sgt. Slaughter, Fridge, and Roddy Piper but it's the over the top caricature versions.
9. All GI Joe comic, cartoons, and fiction are ripe for picking the history of GI Joe.

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My joe verse is the only verse and there are no rules. Multiple times and dimension all happening right now, in my head lol

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My 'verse co-exists with Transformers definitely, MASK and Centurions occasionally, and others as I like. Sgt Rock and Easy Company were the WWII predecessor of GI Joe, with Cobra growing out of the descendants of The Bad Guys. CC was somehow related to The Bad Guys, possibly an offspring of one but nobody knows for sure, he's that mysterious. But that is where he got the idea for dangerous animal names and his reptile theme. He is not a former used car salesman nor is he a reptile-man from a humanoid race living in the Himalayas. None of the Joes or named Cobra characters have adult children. Even the ones that do have children, most of their fellows don't know anything about them. For the Joes, this is for security and to help protect their civilian family members. For Cobra, it's because none of them trust the others to have that sort of leverage on them.

As for Cobra itself - CC is the undoubted ruler. He mostly dons his blue suit and either helmet or hood but has been known to wear his battle armor on occasion. Most of the major unrest and fighting going on in the world, as well as terrorist groups, cartels, and tin pot dictators are actually backed by Cobra, either knowingly, or more likely, unknowingly. A large portion of their money winds up back in the hands of Cobra. This is done for three purposes: 1) It provides Cobra nearly unlimited funding 2) It keeps the world at large looking at these smaller, more obvious, groups and keeps their eyes off of Cobra 3) it keeps any of these other groups from becoming too big and becoming a threat to Cobra. The only group CC is truly concerned with is a group in Great Britain known as The Red Shadows because their aims and ambitions seem to mirror Cobra's and he's unable to get a handle on their leader, nor bring him into the fold.

There is a religious sect that has sprung up in Cobra that has some strong followers who are loyal to their prophet but as of yet, they have not made any plays for taking over Cobra. This sect is called the Church of Cobra-La and they believe that before humanity, a humanoid society ruled the world, using biomechanical constructs just as we use machines today. The prophet of the church is a former Viper now known as Serpentor. He claims to be the reincarnation of several great military leaders of the past. In reality, he is a Viper who underwent some experimentation by Dr. Mindbender and Crystal Ball, in the hopes of creating a more loyal and fervent trooper, willing to give his all for Cobra. The experiment failed, leaving the Viper believing he was the ultimate military and religious figure and that he had been brought forth by the powers of Cobra-La to lead Cobra to greater heights and to convert or kill any who oppose him. The Commander, being a shrewd and ruthless man, sees value in keeping this man around for now but is prepared to destroy him should the need arise.

The Iron Grenadiers are Destro's private army that he hires out as private contractors. Cobra happens to be his biggest customer, so the IGs fight alongside Cobra frequently. Destro does not have any world conquering goals and sees CC as rather provincial and short-sighted but gladly accepts the money this grants him. He and Baroness are a strong couple, with her keeping him informed on the goings-on of CC when Destro is not around.

The Dreadnoks do a lot of work for/with Cobra but operate on their own. They are the ones who keep the seedier branches of Cobra's funding ventures (see above) in line.

The time aspect of it, GI Joe exists in its own time. They use some WWII and Vietnam equipment, even if outdated but they also have modern equipment as well. Older equipment, such as Mainframes 'laptop' are retired for modern versions, but others, such as the Bridge Layer, server their purpose well, so there's no reason to replace them. The Skystriker is still flown but mainly as a symbol of GI Joe, since it is the iconic plane for them, with 'newer' jets, mainly the Conquest X-30, being used for major ops.

Aliens and other sci-fi stuff exist but not magic or sword & sorcery type stuff. Also no superhumans or super powers, so no Marvel or DC stuff here, either. The Go-Bots are on Earth as well as the Transformers, but they're a small group and stay fairly well hidden. It turns out they are sort of the ancestors of the Transformers (I have a whole unified toyline story I wrote up long ago that explains all this, allowing the various lines to exist together without too much contradiction). There's no time travel, so futuristic lines, such as the Alien franchise don't exist, nor does COPS.

There are other military groups out there: While GI Joe focuses almost exclusively on Cobra, The Corps! fights the more run of the mill groups and organizations. Action Force takes on the Red Shadows in Europe and while the GI Joe movies did not actually happen in my 'verse, most of the new/reimagined characters in them do exist, with them filtering either to Action Force (such as Breaker, who is a separate character from the Joe's Breaker) or GI Joe (such as Heavy Duty, who works as my Heavy Duty, since I never had the original and he had no real personality for me before this version).

I have more but this has already gotten too long and disjointed. This is a topic I love because this sort of thing is what really drew me into GI Joe in the first place and what made it hold my interest for all these years.

My "Spectreverse" is based around the "Star Wars" Universe (non-Disney continuity) including the "Expanded Universe" presented in the novels/comics/games/etc., but a version of G.I.Joe, Cobra, Iron Grenadiers, Dreadnoks, and Red Shadows exist.

"G.I.JOE" (Galactic Intelligence Joint Operations Elite) is a covert unit in the Rebellion and later New Republic. 13 main members with a handful of reserve members for specific missions. Originally under the command of General Madine, but after his death in the novel "Darksaber", Hawk takes command.

The Brotherhood Of The Serpent is my version of Cobra. They are an underworld organization similar to the Black Sun (Jabba's "bosses") and other organizations introuduced outside of the movies. Their leader is Cobra (does not use the Commander title) and a small group of advisors based on the Baroness, Doctor Mindbender, Crystal Ball and the Crimson Twins (here a failed cloning experiment) make up the command structure. Assorted troop types based on the classic blue shirts and Vipers as well as a few different battledroid models make up the bulk of their army.

Durosteel Grenadiers are led by Destro and he supplies advanced weapons/vehicles/droids/etc. to whoever pays him.

The Dreadnoks are a seedy swoop gang that operates in the outer rim. Lead by Zartan and his siblings (members of the same shape-shifting race as Zam Wessel from "Attack Of The Clones") and made up of assorted anarchists and goons including a surly Gammorrean known as "Road Pig".

The Red Shadows are a rival criminal organization led by the Red Skull (supplanted Marvel based character) and the Black Major. Their Red Shadows are rumored to be clones. They also have a torture droid called "Skeletron" that has a fiersome skull-faced visage.

I have made customs of most of these characters although none of the Dreadnok faction have been made as of yet.

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Hmmm

1) As my main character is the GI JOE Recruiter (vetts all potential members of the Team and then familiarizes them with JOE equipment), any custom character listed in the Gallery could exist.

2) Mortal Kombat is thought to be an illegal bloodsport type martial arts fighting tournament by those that have even heard of it's existence. Not known by general public.

3) Clark Kent is a reporter, Peter Parker is a photographer, Tony Stark made the RoC Accelerator Suits (but keeps his more advanced stuff secret), the Baxter Building is a scientific think tank. There is a very private school in Westchester for gifted individuals. Hal Jordan is a test pilot. Carol Danvers and Rhodey are pilots.

There are no outed superheroes. Diana Prince is either working for the agency from the TV show or is doing what she did in the movie. There is some nut dressed up as a bat running around Gotham.

4) Recondo might run into Lara Croft in the middle of some jungle. The JOEs might run into the Danger Girls. The SOBs, Mack Bolan and the Stony Man group (Phoenix Force and Able Team), Jack Ryan Jr, Patrick McClanahan, Wingman, and a host of other literary characters could interact with the JOEs.

5) Shadaloo is small Asian country completely taken over by the renegade Red Shadows operative M. Bison.

6) James Bond is either a real operative or a book/movie franchise character. Depends on my mood.

7) Many JOE universe characters have ties to other military movies and TV shows. One could be the offspring of a M*A*S*H nurse, or rehabbed at China Beach, or served with the men of Tour of Duty.

8) The agents in black suits from Transformers are a sister branch of MiB.

9) The NEST Team from Transformers is a quick reaction force that deals with specific problems. Sort of a black bag group nobody has clearance to know about

10) There are a number of specialized people that can be called in to assist with specific missions, whether those missions involve poltergeists, the supernatural, people pretending to be poltergeists or the supernatural, etc. If need be, these agents would disguise themselves as Steel Brigade members.

11) Any movie/TV/literary Scientist is fair game to be kidnapped by Cobra Commander and forced to use their knowledge in some scheme to take over the world. That could be Dr. Bruce Banner, Dr. Sam Beckett, Dr. Reed Richards, etc...

12) All rules to be altered depending on future figuring out how to use them...

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My personal Joe-verse loosely follows the Hamaverse for the most part, but not completely. Also pretty much if I can buy a figure of a character, that character is still alive.

- I add some ideas/characters from Sunbow (Mainframe/Zarana romance, Honda Lou, Teiko, Green shirts, etc), DiC (in my version, Armadhila is the Alley-Viper that was friends with Scoop in Operation: Dragonfire, Evy the Range-Viper, etc), DDP (Firewall, Mayday, Mariner, Alexander McCullen, Mistress Armada, [American] Red Shadows II, Phoenix Guard, etc), IDW (Hashtag, Ronin, Lighthorse, etc), etc.

- A lot of Legacy characters get renamed: Resolute/RoC/IDW Dial Tone is Landline, IDW Hard Drive is Network, Sean Collins is Kamakura and Throwdown is his brother, Sunbow's Daina is Krasa (Russian for Beautiful), etc

- Final Faction is a branch of Star Brigade that deals with alien encurscions to Earth.

- MASK is based more on the original season of the cartoon, but has ties to GI Joe.

- Street Fighters are a loose collection of street fighters that include members of Interpol, British intelligence, US military, etc that regularly deal with various low level threats that would not require action by any of the larger teams.

- Oktober Guard is made up of Brekhov, Daina, Horrorshow, Schrage Stormavik, Krasa, Volga, Vorona, Gorky, Misha, Dragonsky, Red Star, Big Bear, Wong, and a couple of customs.

- Action Force is made up of non GI Joe characters (ie Skip, Scout, Doc, Wheels, Jammer, Quarrel, Stalker, Steeler, Moondancer, etc) and the Joe's that were of European nationality (Big Ben, Action Man, Natalie Poole, etc). They are Europe's GI Joe equivalent.

- Argen7 is the Argentinan Joe equivalent. Made up of Shimik, Glenda, Sokerk, Redmack, Manleh, Topson, & TNT.

- Commandos En Açāo is the Brazilian version of the Joe's. Made up of Athena, Sparta, Estopim, Tigor, etc. They actually work a lot with the Argen7 team to fight Cobra in South America.

- India has the Commandos Force made up of the original characters from Funskool (Rednok, Canary Ann, Streethawk, [red Caucasian] Stalker, Wireless Tracker, Super Cop, Skydiver, etc)

- Bronze Bombers (original & 97 characters) are a private contractor group that operate out of the African continent. They operate along the lines of the A-Team in the fashion that they usually work for the oppressed and underdogs. And don't let them find you poaching if they are in the area.

- The Corps are the UN equivalent of the Joe's. They are made up of the original & modern characters.

- Cobra is based around the Hamaverse version. There are also South American & Indian branches of the group based around the figures released in the area (Armadhila, Mortal, En Aco, Kangor, O Invasors, etc for Cobra SA and Snake Shadow, Scorpion, etc for India).

- Iron Grenadiers are Destro's personal army. Other named characters are Darklon, Roddy Piper, Mayhem, Voltar, Metal Head, Copperback, Alexander McCullen, Mistress Armada, etc.

- Athena is the private contractor company owned by the Baroness' family. They were really only seen once in the DDP comics, but I have a couple of Fortnite figures I used to represent them. (Calamity is an officer and the Elite & Rogue Agents are the troops).

- Dreadnoks are a multinational biker gang lead by Zartan. Pretty much a combo of the Hamaverse & DDP versions of the group.

- SKAR is a terrorist group led by Iron Klaw. They occasionally encounter either the Joes, Action Force, or Oktober Guard.

- IRON Army is a group of cyborgs created by the former ally of Sgt Savage, Garrison Kreiger aka General Blitz.

- Red Shadows are the main enemy of the Action Force. They have a small branch in the Americas based around the DDP version. Baron Ironblood, Black Major, Red Laser, Red Jackal, Red Wolf, Red Vulture, Red Scream, etc are the command force of the European branch with Wilder Vaughn, Arthur Kulik, & Dela Eden lead the American branch.

- Marauders are a former private contractor army that went rogue. They are one of the two enemies of the Corps. Ravage, Plague, Vulture, Road Rash, Remora, Hak Luger, & (formerly) Dusk are the named members.

- Curse created by the former Corps member Shadow, the Curse are almost all infected with nanobots that augment them in some fashion. Plague, as Shadow now goes by, has recruited several allies; Puma, Impact, Reaper, Occulus, etc.

- Pyro's Band Of Thugs are essentially a group of mercs made up of the enemies of Bronze Bombers. Cool Breeze, the Baron, Chilly Pop, Backdraft, Crazeblaze, Firebomb, & Scorch.

- Shadaloo is a small nation that offers sanctuary to many evil people.

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This is a great topic! I have a very thorough, though probably dry version of this here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1weqooDD0JWKngCCbNmlpchSAf8u9h2qTEf6zlmMH4DQ/edit?usp=sharing

1. If it appears in any Joe Media (TV, Comic, Movie, Video Game, Toy) it exists in my universe

2. The Joe team has a large roster but only really keeps an active roster of about 24 with everyone else serving on base or in reserve.

3. The world has stable, relatively uncorrupt governments that act in their own interests but aren't puppets for terrorist organizations. There are few deep cover operatives planted in these governments (IE global overthrow not imminent)

4. The Green Shirts/Reservists/FOBbits/Steel Brigade are all support staff for the team

5. The Joes have a ton of "one-of" vehicles but some are general issues (IE the VAMP) - the "one-ofs" are experimental and rarely used in the field

6. Rule 1 applies to other organizations, businesses, or groups in Joe media

7. Characters that share code names are assigned similar names with the name going to the first character appearing with it.

8. Emphasis on the "five years in the future" kind of reality. Sci-Fi and supernatural elements are present but downplayed.

9. Age-wise, characters are either (Kid (0-18), Young Buck (19-30), Grown Ass (31-45), Seasoned (46-59), Old Timer (60-75), or Sage (76+))

10. Other properties are included as I connect them in (there isn't and probably won't be a limit)

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Great post! I could be hours on here . But I'll try to summarize;

Year is somewhat blurry, and never mentioned, but is more or less around 2000. Time might be counted different, but indeed there are veterans of Vietnam who are not too old, but definitely not WW2 veterans.

Magic doesn't exist, although some limited super power do.

Aliens don't officially exist nor have been found, but may exist .

Cobra Commander is human, and he did sell used cars at one point to fund his empire .

Canada has it's own GI Joe team.

GI Joe are international heroes, and hence backed by the UN; even if created and heavily funded by United States. But many GI Joes are born in Europe.

The US Government has many teams of special forces, many of them compete against GI Joe. One of the is the GDA; which is the Movie GI Joe, hence it is explained the change of logo, image, etc.

Shadowloo is a evil organization led by Mr Bison, with very nefarious members, one of them Deadpool. Based somewhere in Indonesia, presumably.

Action Force is the british version of GI Joe.

Cobra has several branches all over the world. Brazil's branch is highly independent, and that is the Python Patrol and the brazilian variants.

All different GI Joe figures are different characters. Hence, if I have 15 Dukes, 14 are different characters, Buck, Nuke, etc . International names are used many times; Blizzard is the v1, Ventisca is the Tiger Force.

Destro has it's whole family clan involved in the business. Hence, Destro is v3, v1 is a robot made by him (looks so robotic!), as well as Destro v4 Space Brigade. Destro with gold mask is a relative, etc.

Cobra Commander has many clones of himself, and usurpers disguised like him, or special agents to confuse possible assassination attempts.

Dr. Mindbender has been cloned several times, and is not known even to themselves which was the original if any .

Cobra Island is a country and has legal rights.

SHIELD is another government's security agency, and black Fury is his leader. Spider-Man works for them, but he is just stronger than an average human.

Australia also has it's own special forces.

Geography is real except when using locations from the comic or cartoon, or some made up by myself.

Snake Eyes speak and has never died.

Storm Shadow always works for Cobra and is comfortable being evil.

Cobra La is spoken of, but it's not clear if it is real, or legend. It's more like a sect.

Transformers indeed don't exist.

China has also it's special group, the Golden Dragons.

Corps figures are spread among the various factions doing all sorts of things, so many are GI Joes, others are Dreadnoks, and only the ones with "Corps" printed on their shirt are really members of the Corps group, which is a sort of cheap, freelance version of GI Joe, underfunded.

And I could go on and on....

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I still need to wrap up my reboot customs to post a huge thread with my new Joeverse, but it boils down to origins. Most of the team had history with other members, so when Hawk started piecing the team together, a lot of members were recommended by others.

Joe Colton's team (10-12 years ago):
LTC Joe Colton - Team Leader (now retired)
MAJ Lawrence Flagg - XO (now Brig Gen)
SSG Conrad "Duke" Hauser (now SGM)
SSG Dash "Flint" Faireborn (now CW3)
SSG Charlie Iron Knife (now retired)
SGT Lonzo Wilkinson (now MSG)
SGT Marvin Hinton (now MSG)
CPL "CLASSIFIED" (now GS-13)
SGT Athena Jackson (original character - now part of the Adventure Team)

Supporting Joe's team were:
COL Clifton V. Mewett (aka- Colonel Courage) - Joe's CO
CPT Carl "Doc" Greer - Team Doctor (KIA)
1LT Jane Martelle (later Colton) - Team Nurse
CW3 Bill Hardy - Pilot (now retired CW4)

The "Squad" (5 years ago):
SSG Robert Graves (now CPT- Joe team XO)
SGT Craig McConnell (now SFC)
CPL Ralph Peterson (Steeler- name changed because I'm changing his ethnicity/backstory) (now 1LT)
SPC Lance Steinberg (left to have a NASCAR career, now back as SSG)
PFC Alvin Kibbey (Signals Intelligence augmentee from NSA) (now WO1)

Ranger/HALO school (4yrs ago)
SGT Wallace Weems
SGT Wayne Sneeden
SPC Franklin Talltree
SPC Ron Tadur

Aberdeen Weapons Lab (3 years ago)
MAJ Clay Abernathy
SSG Craig McConnell
SGT Anthony Gambello
SGT James Barney

I put a good chunk of the Joes in staff positions as if they were a real unit- you'll notice a lot of new Warrant Officers - for those unaware, I might have spent a decade or more as a Warrant myself, and have led staff groups, so it makes sense in a small team like the Joes:

Hawk: LTC, Commander
Grunt: CPT, XO (went to OCS and was a Ranger Platoon leader when recruited by Hawk)
Duke: SGM, Senior Enlisted Advisor
Flint: CW3, Operations OIC
Roadblock: MSG, Operations NCOIC
Ace: CPT, Air Operations OIC (gender-swapped)
Lady Jaye: CW2, Intelligence OIC
Breaker: WO1, SIGINT, S6 (signal/infosec/cyber) - all things comms-related
Steeler: 1LT (prior enlisted -OCS grad after a couple of years on the Steelers practice squad), S4 OIC (logistics, motor pool)
Torpedo, CWO4 (ret) - recalled as a civilian - head of Sea Ops

The rest of the team fills out their roles more or less like the comics, except there are no "specialty" troops that don't have real specialties (Desert Troop, Jungle Troop, Ranger, Airborne, etc) - nearly every Joe is Ranger/SF qualified and every Joe can operate in any environment, so people like Dusty, Ripcord, Beach Head, Stalker, etc are operators without any real specialties. Ripcord & BH are HALO jumpmasters and Stalker is the top linguist on the team (along with Breaker), but they're primarily assault troops.

Scarlett & Snake-Eyes are government civilians, rather than military. Scarlett because she's an agent and SE because he's, uh... classified or something and also legally dead.
Snake-Eyes was on Joe's original team (lowest-ranking member) and is extremely close to Stalker & Flint, who view him as their "little brother"

Lots of retired folks called back to help: Spirit, Torpedo, Wild Bill - I wanted them to be the crusty old farts that other old farts like Duke & Flint still look to for advice.


Cobra:

Cobra Commander - early comic version - not a buffoon, but a clever tactician & strategist. Unknown if he was a businessman (used car salesman), politician, part of the hollywood elite, or even former military. He pulls the strings behind a number of efforts to sow chaos (tampering with elections, spreading misinformation on social media, talk radio programs, stock market manipulation, etc) - He was originally out to get those who "wronged" him (sort of like the comic CC who was mad about his brother's death), but then enjoyed all the money & power that came with the role.

Destro: used to be neutral to play both sides, but hooking up with the Baroness shifted his loyalty. Has a fake sense of "honor" when it suits him, but he's an unscrupulous pre-Iron ManTony Stark, basically.

Baroness: Spoiled brat - not an aristocrat, just a billionaire's daughter. Became a terrorist because she was bored, then discovered she liked killing & causing chaos.

Serpentor: Super-solider, not an "Emporer" - created with CC's full involvement/endorsement. Has a "kill-switch" implanted just in case he gets too ambitious. Completely loyal to the cause.

Dr Venom: still alive - no Mindbender in this verse, just Venom & Cassandra Knox doing all the Brainwave Scanner/BAT Technology/Venomization stuff.

Tomax/Xamot: Actually just Xamot as an only child. Accidentally killed Tomax as a child and now has visions of his dead brother and multiple personality disorder.

Zartan: no shapeshifting, no chameleon crap, no nanobots, not a ninja, never involved with SE/SS, just a former actor/stuntman who is an expert with make-up, holography, and other methods of disguise. Basically RDJ's character in Tropic Thunder - gets WAY too deep into his roles, but it pays off.

Storm Shadow: more of a Yakuza-type - infiltrated Cobra to get information about the Arashikage clan's criminal dealings (more on that below) and went down the rabbit hole, not caring who got hurt.

Arashikage clan: (Red Ninjas) Bad guys - criminal organization that posed as an "honorable" sect when they recruited Snake-Eyes as a teenager (his dad was a diplomat in Japan). SE & SS were very close and both unaware of the clan's underworld connections. Soft Master killed SS's father (who didn't want to be part of the criminal activities) and had the Hard Master killed to ascend to the top spot and framed Storm Shadow. He also had Snake-Eyes' family killed to drive him back into the arms of the clan after SE decided to stay in the Army. -- Seriously, I have like 8 pages of storyline on this that I need to post one of these days

Cobra-La: Fake "immortals" created by Venom to start a "snake cult" to help recruit more weak-minded individuals to Cobra. Because idiots will believe anything. Because of their mental programming, the Cobra-La members don't know that they're just a publicity stunt - they truly believe the stories implanted in their minds.


Long story short- lots of interconnections. Not quite as bad as Snake-Eyes' parents were killed by CCs brother and the two became friends for a while and also SE was there when the Baroness' brother was murdered and by the way Zartan, Firefly, and others were all ninjas this whole time, though.

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I'm digging this discussion and these lists. Since I'm about to relocate joe rooms again, I'll try to break my universe down here:

GI Joe had grown so large since the original 13 that they became a financial burden in the mid-90s. After Cobra was defeated and Cobra Commander disappeared underground, the team was disbanded officially, leaving the US military to handle counter-terrorism. Cobra Commander emerged less than ten years later and began reassembling his forces.

Hawk, now serving in Congress, fought to have the team reinstated and contacted Duke who had been doing deep undercover wetwork. Hawk gave command of the team to Duke and agreed to serve as an advisor. He would remain in his political seat to fight the "Jugglers" to give GI Joe freedom to operate without government interference. Duke contacted many former joes to rebuild the team. To keep the team from becoming the spectacle it had grew to when they were disbanded, he broke the team into smaller teams of specialist to remain out of the public eye.

SIGMA-The public face of GI Joe. Led by Scarlett. Heavy Duty, Spirit, Tunnel Rat, and Special Agent Hulk Hogan are out putting a positive face on the team.
The Marauders-Led by Sgt. Slaughter, this team operates behind enemy lines and softens the defenses before a full blown invasion. Their successes are never published and the few failures are reported as failed coups.
Action Force- Big Ben leads this team of international operatives.
Ninja Force-At first it was a nickname for the hostage rescue team but they liked it an took ownership of the name. Jinx leads this this group.
The Renegades-Based at the old Slaughterhouse compound, led by Mercer and Red Dog. This is a team of former bad guys, given a second chance to do good. Full deniability by GI Joe if they fail at a mission.
The Adventure Team-Joe Colton was called in out of retirement by his old friend Hawk. This team searches the world to discover treasures that have been lost for ages, before anyone else can get their hands on them.
AntiVenom TaskForce-Built from the old DEF, the team is led by new recruits Rook, Checkpoint, and Red Zone. This team operates in international waters, urban areas, and foreign lands to stop the import of drugs and other contraband.
Arctic Assault, Soldiers who love the bitter cold and can operate in extreme freezing temperatures.
Desert Patrol-The opposite end of the spectrum. Soldiers who love the heat and arid environments along the equator.
Tiger Force-This team specializes in enemy equipment and tactics. They serve more as a training branch but are called into action from time to time.
Sky Patrol-Led by Barrel Roll, the team is built around experimental aircraft and aerial assault tactics.
The Dino-Hunters- A small team led by Rampage and Link to investigate reports from the Pacific concerning large reptiles and missing ships. The team found a group of mutated humans and resurrected dinosaurs on a chain of islands off the coast of Central America.
BF3k-The former Battleforce 2000 blueprint of weapon developers. This new generation of inventors is led by young genius Hi-Tech
Extremis, the three man group of Snake-Eyes, Flint, and Barrage. Flint became a loose cannon after the death of Lady Jaye and went on the hunt for her murderers. Duke assigned Snake-Eyes and Barrage to keep him in check.
America's Elite-Is the nickname given to the team of veterans and new recruits based at Fort Wadsworth.

Cobra Commander escaped the attack on Springfield Island, leaving his son to take the fall. He has now remerged as the leader of a multinational ring calling themselves the Red Shadows. A lose alliance of organizations who now have the single purpose to rule the world.
The Commander sits at the head of the table, bringing only his Crimson Guard and Security team from Cobra.
Le Commandant leads the French contingent
Baron Ironblood brought his team from the UK
Krasnyy and his bodyguard Zangief from Russia
Bosi Komanda came in from East Africa leading an alliance.
The Reddokuran known around the world as the Red Ninjas, recently completed a hostile takeover of the Arashikage clan and forcing Storm Shadow back into service of Cobra Commander
The Sith Clan is a mysterious group of swordsmen from unknown nationality. Some claim wizardry while others claim occultists. Either way they aren't to be trifled with.
The Maniax are a group of anarchists from the west coast of the US.
Sir Oliver Killington is the eccentric son of the founders of Overland-Killington Robotics. He has blown through his inheritance traveling the world to collect unique treasures by any means necessary. Now allied with the Red Shadow network to continue his work.
Shadowguard Inc, formerly Firefly Inc., the company of saboteurs founded by Firefly.
SKAR, a new upstart group who hate the military complex.
OverKill Industries is the remains of the Overland-Killington Robotics company that was taken over by Overkill and his associates. Originally set to wage war on humankind, they are now allied with the Red Shadows.
MARS Industries is once again allied with The Commander as Destro is counting the billions to be made from the manufacture and supply of weapons needed in the forthcoming conflict.

The Dreadnoks survived the Uncivil War among their ranks and reunited stronger than ever with Zarana leading beside her brother Zartan, now cured of the mysterious illness that kept him sidelined. The gang has grown to include the IronKlad gang from Chicago founded by his illegitimate son Zeke who was discovered by Zarana. Zanya brought her young Dreadnoks and has buried the hatchet with her aunt. Their rank spreads across the US and Australia with Zanzibar leading piracy on the open seas and in the air.

Billy Kessler has once again taken the mantle of Cobra Commander III and after his escape from The Coffin prison. He has reformed Cobra and brought the Cobra blue back to the world's attention. He has found a diehard alliance with his Underground associate Darklon who will forever hold a grudge against his uncle James McCullen and his cousin Alexander for their attempted assassination on him.

The Phoenix Guard became the scapegoat for the invasion of Springfield. Karma, the team's leader, had allied with Destro in the invasion but was left all alone after he rescued The Baroness and his son Alexander. GI Joe had to make the rescue and she and her team were arrested when her decisions became public knowledge. She escaped with a few members of her team as they awaited trial. She has rebuilt the team with former Cobra asociates and has an intense hatred for all others. GI Joe, Cobra, Red Shadows, and Destro are prime targets for her organization. And no one will stand in her way.

The Lunartix Empire after opening a wormhole to another dimension a team of alien beings led by Blackstar and Spaceshot, once enemies thought to be lost in a upper atmosphere dogfight. They allied to escape the intergalactic prison of Dimension X have become the defacto leaders of the escaped inmates. Drawn to the HAARP facility in Alaska, the Lunartix made their stand and during a treaty talks facade, they took the paralyzed Hawk as hostage and retreated to space where they now maintain orbit. BF3k, Sky Patrol, and The Centurions are on standby at HAARP to defend the Earth.

Cobra La was born on Las Islas de la Muerte, a string of volcanic islands off the Pacific coast of Central America. Dr. Mindbender was whisked away to the islands by Venomous Maximus after Cobra Commander discovered Maximus was Mindbender's attempt to recreate Serpentor. On the larger of the islands, Isla Nublar, Mindbender discovered abandoned scientific facilities and equipment. The Cobra troopers sent after him were soon captured by Maximus and became the first test subjects in Mindbender's advanced Venomization trials. Soon the island was populated by strange mutations. These creatures ventured out to sea and captured fishing boats. The sailors became test subjects. Soon reports filtered out to the world about the strange island and mythical beasts. The citizens of Cobra La broke off into tribes and soon spread out to Isla Sorna. The wilderness of this failed research center won't hold them very much longer.
Cobra La, led by half serpent king Golobulus, the tribe is what is left of the original experiments by Mindbender. Golobulus rules as a king and even demands Mindbender to bend the knee.
The Wild Things, are the mammalian mutations. They are near feral and will never be civilized.
The Kongans, primate mutations that retain there primate appearance. They have taken residence on Isla del Craneo, one of the smaller islands inhabited by an indigenous tribe who have became their protectors.
The Atlanteans, amphibious tribe led by a creature who calls himself Davy Jones. Due to their nature these creatures were responsible for many of Mindbender's test subjects.
The Dead, true anomalies of reanimated corpses. They suddenly appeared out of the burial pits one day. Mindbender has no idea what he put in the pits to cause the transformation but he dare not bring them into the labs for investigation.
The Intruders, a group of almost men with green skin. They only take commands from the man calling himself Leader. Dangerous and barbarian-like, this is one tribe not to cross.
Thunderians, a feline tribe that escaped the island to the jungles of South America, seeking peace.

Serpentor and the Coil, originally a religious cult like group of Middle Eastern people who worshipped the memory of Serpentor. Built by Raptor and Overlord, it became a haven for former Cobra operatives who were now targets of their former organization. One day a young man appeared and called himself Serpentor, the Resurrected. He claims he is not Serpentor II but the resurrected king. He has taken the throne and a Queen. The people are devoted to him and he he has brought peace to the region for now.

The Guardians have been in pursuit of the Lunartix Empire since the bounty was placed. A ragtag bunch of bounty hunters who realized that they needed the power in numbers to bring in such a threat.

Knights of the Round, a group of treasure hunters who claim lineage to King Arthur, The Knights Templar, and other various historical groups. Their goal is to claim the treasures of the Templar to protect them from evil. Quite the eccentric bunch.

Government Labs and People of Importance
President, Dr. Calvin Philips, just because Marauder released grey suits suits and I had a head that very closely resembled Dr. Phil
Vice President, General Flagg, so Hawk and the joes finally have some backup in the high ranking government
Scientific Advisor, James Starr, aka Commander Stargazer, the leading US scientist with an interest in space travel and occupation.
Military Advisor, Clayton Abernathy, aka General Hawk. Former leader of GI Joe and Congressman. The jugglers made sure he lost his re-election but Vice President Flagg secured him a place in the President's cabinet. Paralyzed and wheelchair bound during a public appearance by those claiming to be Red Shadows, he has now been taken hostage by the Lunartix. Due to the circumstances of his abduction, his disappearance must be kept secret and the Joe team is having to fight for their survival once again.
The Steel Brigade program headed by Dr. Frederick Appel, son of a former Cobra scientist. He has been trying to create an American super soldier by any means necessary. The super soldier serum proved to be highly volatile and caused uncontrollable rage in the surviving test subjects.
The MIB has been aware of inter-dimensional visitors to Earth since the early 1900s. They are now tasked with keeping those visitors on Earth and harvesting technological secrets from them.

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Forgot some,

Der Rote Schadel, leader of the German branch of the Red Shadows. He took possession of Lady Jaye from Baron Ironblood and brainwashed her to believe she is the german agent Kanerianvogel.

The Centurions, a lone group of inventors and scientists that has developed a unique modular weapon system. They became allied with GI Joe to protect their inventions from any ne'er do wells, although they remain their own entity.

The Syndicate is a group of criminals who mainly stick to robbery. Although they aren't on GI Joe's radar as a threat, sometimes they cross paths.

General Rey is the head of President Dr. Philip's security detail. A man with very little known history, he came from the Steel Brigade program and served with Karma in the Phoenix Guard.

Dr. Mindbender was taken from Isla Nublar when The Dino Hunters were rescued by the Marauders. He was taken from his prison cell and forced to work on The Steel Brigade program with one of his clones. Very odd situation but Mindbender is always one to take advantage of a situation, if he can earn their trust.

The Children of Serpentor. This group of test tube misfits have the DNA of the first Serpentor coursing through their veins. Spread to foster homes throughout the country, the foster parents had no idea who or what they were raising. As they aged, they all followed a path back to their genetic mother who has welcomed them all as family and swears to protect her children from the world, although it may be the world that needs protecting from them.

The Night Creepers are allies of Cobra Commander III and act as his silent attack.

The Estrela family was group of importers from South America. Headman and his Headhunters became familia and eventually the plantations grew to house Cobra refugees. They have since allied with The Red Shadows.

Darkwing is a vigilante known to take the law in his own hands with his trusty sidekick Launchpad. Sometimes ally, sometimes enemy the robotic Gizmo is often found nearby.

The McDuck family, Scrooge and nephew Navy seaman Donald constantly search the world for riches.

The Rescue Rangers, Chip, Dale, Monty, and Gadget are explorers and adventurers. They've been together since childhood and are constant companions.

Higher for Hire, Pilot Baloo, sidekick Kit, mechanic Wildkat, and owner Rebecca and her daughter took flight in the company airplane to escape their city being ransacked by Zanzibar and his pirates. They travel the world now searching for travel and taking odd jobs as necessary to survive. They can be found at King Louie's bar and grill, a former associate of Joe Colton.

The Samuel Family, Elliot Samuels and his children travel the world trying to stay out of site since the murder of his wife and torching of his ranch by former enemies. A former associate of Colton and Louie, his focus now is the protection of his adult children Doreen and Diego.

Eagle Eye Joe took to the life of a lone nomad after leaving the original Adventurers. Colton, Louie, and Elliot Samuels lost all contact with him as he disappeared to the northern territories. The Arctic Assault force have reported assistance provided by a strange gunman and associate at times but unable to rendezvous.

The 100 Acre Menagerie or what is left of it. A research facility that was invaded by Cobra when they began the Venomization program. The husband and wife team of scientists were murdered leaving their son alone. He was protected by a large yellow bear and bright orange sabertooth tiger. The three escaped further harm and now young Christopher Robin searches the world for his parent's research animals.

Chuck, raised in a town neighboring Springfield. His friends were killed by Cobra operatives who fell under hypnotic trances. The psychologically scarred young man now wanders the world with his dog, talking to his friends who are no longer there. He tells of his dog Snoopy, a famous pilot responsible for the grounding of numerous enemy aircraft. He hugs a blue blanket and cries into it as he describes his closest confidant Linus. Multiple detainments in psyche wards have done little to help and he constantly calls the doctors Lucy. The tales of Patty and Marcie, younger sister Sally, savant Schroeder, and a strange kid by the name of Pig Pen all live in his mind along with stories of giant pumpkins, losing ballgames, faulty kites, and the best Christmas ever. He really is a good man even if psychologically he quit aging around 10 years old and is usually described as peaNUTS.

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Been working a lil more on this in preparation for getting a copy of the RPG (even a digital version if anyone wants to share ). So what I've come up with is that in my universe the Steel Brigade works similar to the original version with the exception that every new member of the Joes after '87 was at one point a member of the Steel Brigade (except for specially recruited members like Jinx, Helix, or the Renegades). That means every trainee we see in the great Issue 82 of the comic was a member of the Steel Brigade (which explains why they already had code names) and just went back to the program when they washed out.
Now how does this tie in to the RPG, well every lvl 1 player is still going to be in the Steel Brigade until they hit next lvl. But they're Steel Brigade like Red Zone, Checkpoint, & Rook where their uniforms are a lil more customized to their character.

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