Sure, it's been hashed and rehashed multiple times before, but it's the day before a 4-day weekend, so lets go with it one more time. Do Rise of Cobra figures fit in your Joe-verse? If so, how?
For me, the Joes fit, with some changes to characters, such as Breaker having a different name and serving as a comms officer on the Flagg. The accelerator suits are just better versions of the suits the military is currently researching, not requiring the big, bulky battery packs, so I accept them, too. They just aren't as gee-whiz awesome as they were in the movie.
The Cobra figures are a bit trickier, though. The CC figure, I don't really use, even though I do like the figure. I just don't like it as CC. The new Eel, I use as an updated Undertow and elite Vipers and desert Vipers are the grunts for Destro, serving as fodder while the Grenadiers are his more elite troops. Ice Vipers are just Cobra Vipers in arctic gear to support Snow Serpents. The Doctor is just that... He's known only as The Doctor and is Cobra's resident biotech expert.
Neo- and Nano- Vipers are where I initially had an issue. They just don't fit in with Cobra or the IGs. That's when I decided to expand on how I included Serpentor in my Joe-verse. I never, even as a kid, liked the "spliced together from history's greatest..." origin. It was just too far-fetched for me. Plus, Mindbender was never the 'mad scientist' for me, inventing all these crazy things. He only did psychological experiments, building some equipment and creating a few drugs, but nothing as complex as the BATs. (BATs in my Joe-verse are a construct of a character I call Dr. Terrence Orr.)
One of Mindbender's psychological experiments was to create a better combat leader through psychological implantation and drugs. He picked a 'volunteer' from the rank and file and began to experiment on him. The experiment failed, as instead of creating a man with the prowess of some of history's greatest leaders, it created a man who thought he was all of history's greatest leaders. Another side-effect of the failure was his ardent belief that there was a place called "Cobra-La" inhabited by humanoids who relied on organic tech for everything and were the true founders of Cobra. He was written off as a failure and was to be 'cleansed'.
However, he managed to gain support from some of his guards while locked up. He told them the mythology of Cobra-La he had created, and they bought it. They then spread it to some of the more disgruntled members of the Cobra organization. Soon, he was a messiah figure for them, sent by Cobra-La to bring Cobra to its former glory. A glory that never was, but they do not know that. They bust him out and he declares himself Serpentor, the Cobra Emperor. Those who join him in the Cult of Cobra-La don uniforms with a more organic look, in keeping with their Cobra-La heritage. The discard their standard blues and Viper uniforms and become the Neo-Vipers. Cobra Commander, understandably threatened by this new group, bans the worship of Cobra-La and orders the execution of any who speak of it. The Neo-Vipers and their leader, Serpentor, set up a secret society on the remote side of Cobra Island to worship covertly. There are murmurings of the cult throughout Cobra, but nothing provable.
The Doctor, always ready to advance his experiments, sees an opportunity to use these unwitting patsies as Guinea pigs. He lies to them about visions he's received from Golobulus, ruler of Cobra-La, giving him guidance in creating a new melding of organics and technology. In reality, he wants to test his new nanotechnology on humans and Cobra Commander would not give him permission to do so. He selects some of Serpentor's more ardent acolytes and injects them with a nanotech cocktail, creating the Nano-Vipers.
Destro fills his coffers by supplying weapons and vehicles to both sides. The Joes hope to use this building conflict to bring Cobra to its knees once and for all, with agents Faces and Chuckles working both sides from within.
|
