Viper/infantry

[hamsterboy]

Uhhh.....Hasbro didn't have the final say on ranks. At least I don't think so. Since Larry Hama did most of the file cards back in the day,wouldn't he be the one? Maybe I'm making too much out of nothing.

[MEGATRON291]

I used the Movie as an example because Hasbro used them in that order.  So who gives the final answers on gi joe?  Some fools on a message board that are talking about gi joe on a saturday night?  or the company that has spent Millions bringing us GI JOE for over 40 years? @smilepunch@

 

you're absolutely right, the company that has brought us G.I. Joe has the final say so. and if you want to go back to 1986 when the movie came out and the Viper's were released, Hasbro clearly states on the Viper filecard that "If you want to get anywhere in Cobra, you have to start out as a Viper. That's the bottome of the pyramid..."

 

so according to your own argument which defends the word of Hasbro, which backs up my stance that Vipers rank below the Cobra Trooper (who are now called Infantryman), I win. as I always do. @smilepunch@

AH HA but Hasbro didn't write the file cards and I doubt they even looked at them. If that was true they would of launched the vipers and just wasted them.

t

 

The GI JOE MOVIE, the height of any toy series... Blue shirts then Viper jump... besides doesn't CC call them his "Elite Vipers" during the fight with Slaughter in Arise Serpentor Arise? (I know they mixed in the Strato Viper but.... it was suppose to be the Viper) SO COBRA COMMANDER CALLS THEM ELITE!!!

 

 

HA SO I WIN..... @smilepunch@ @smilepunch@

 

Now what do you have to say about that..

[Darque-Angel]

I hate to say this, but if you look at the file cards, Hasbro has no concept of rank at all. For example, if GI Joe is such an elite force, how is it they have characters like Grunt who have been E-5's for 22 years?? Also, there are a lot of inconsistancies, like with Gung-Ho. The 83 and 87 cards has him as an E-7, but the Battle Corp cards have him as an E-9 Sgt Major. Then later on he's back to being an E-7 again. So what happened? did he get demoted?? The 85 Flint's card says he's a Warrant officer, but they give him a rank of E-6.

 

My thoughts on the ranking? Think of how much money it would cost to equip a single Viper compared to a single "blueshirt". Obviously if you consider them seperate fighting units, the Viper must have higher training (and rank) than a blueshirt. In my GI Joe world, I use the blueshirts as basic technicians and support staff to the Cobra Military. The idea of using them as Vipers wearing their dress uniforms is an interesting one as well.

[eleavitt2000]

In my mind and in my diorama's prior to this year (2004) with the release of the Cobra Trooper 6-pack, I did it this way:

 

Cobra Officers (1983) lead in squads of Vipers (1986). Viper are in teams of 6, each supported by a Tele-Viper (1986). I could field 3 squads in this fashion.

 

I then had my few remaining Soldiers or Officers (1982/1983) in my Terror Drome with a few Tele-Vipers. I had many more Vipers (1986) than I did original troops. Therefore, I assumed that the less armored troops were for garrisons, and equipment such as the ASP.

 

I always assumed the 1986 Viper was a "blueshirt" in body armor. This just made sense. Plus, the pain schemes of the Vipers and Televipers matched the 1982 Cobra Soldier or Officer.

 

Now, its 2004. I've bought a few more Vipers (1986) to bring my compliment up to 25 from 18. I bought 15 of the Spy-Troops Viper/Alley Viper 2-packs. I like these because their Cobra blue and red matches the previous A Real American Hero color schemes. I have also purchased 5 Cobra Trooper 6-packs. I am still waiting on a certain store to open so I can purchase repo-weapons for these troops.

 

My point is that now, my scheme is messed up. I will probably still go with my squad concept on the battle field, but use the "blueshirts" only on Cobra Island.

[Guest gunslingercbr]

AH HA but Hasbro didn't write the file cards and I doubt they even looked at them.  If that was true they would of launched the vipers and just wasted them. 

t

 

The GI JOE MOVIE, the height of any toy series... Blue shirts then Viper jump... besides doesn't CC call them his  "Elite Vipers" during the fight with Slaughter in Arise Serpentor Arise?  (I know they mixed in the Strato Viper but.... it was suppose to be the Viper)  SO COBRA COMMANDER CALLS THEM ELITE!!!

 

 

HA SO I WIN..... @smilepunch@  @smilepunch@

 

Now what do you have to say about that..

This is so weak I probably shouldn't even respond, but I will, because I like to win. @smilepunch@

 

Hasbro did write the filecards. an indiviudal person may have written them, but companies are comprised of individual people who are responsible for certain tasks. thus, one individual designed the characters, a few more sculpted the toy, and another wrote the bios. all of these people are employed by Hasbro to create properties for Hasbro which are in turn are owned by hasbro. all of these have to be approved by Hasbro. so, if hasbro allowed Larry Hama to write that the Vipers were the bottom of the barrel of Cobra troops and allowed that entire paragraph to make it onto the filecard, it is safe to say Hasbro accepted the idea of Vipers being the grunts of the Cobra Legion. and it probably isn't too far fetched to say Hasbro commissioned the artist to create the viper as the Cobra grunt and Hama to write the filecard as such.

 

besides, the person who wrote the filecards had nothing to do with the cartoons. larry wrote the comics. that is why there are such differences in them.

 

that being said, we're talking about the toys, not the different mediums such as the comics or cartoons or coloring books or how we play with them. we are searching for a definitive answer as they relate to the toys themself, because that is where this all leads back to. and the toy, which is the basis for all other cartoon or comic interpretations, clearly states Vipers are the bottom of the barrel. Buzz Dixon may have changed it for the movie, but that is a change that was made to the original purpose, not the original purpose, which is what we are talking about.

 

Cobra Commander is described as the most dangerous man alive on his filecard, which is what he is meant to be so he is a competent adversary for G.I. Joe, but in the cartoon he is an idiot so G.I. Joe always wins and kids aren't traumatized.

 

when making a product to be viewed by children of course Hasbro had to dumb it down so it is acceptable. but the toy was the main product, and with the toys Hasbro (at least early on) created rich characters out of only short bios full of rich descriptions and character traits, that outlined basic rank and function while allowing freedom of imagination to play with them any way we like.

 

we can say we like the idea of vipers being higher because they seem more elite, but that was not what they were meant to be. I could make my Tele-Viper the head of Cobra for no other reason than because I like the way he looks, and say Cobra Commander is actually the commanding officer of G.I. Joe, but if I came on these boards and said that is actually how it is and Cobra Commander really is in charge of G.I. Joe because that is the way I like it, it would probably violate all of your ideas as to what G.I. Joe and Cobra is. why? because while we can play with them any way we want, the idea of each character comes from somewhere.

 

that somewhere is the filecard. Destro is the enemy weapons supplier because that is what the toy was made to be and the filecard says so. the cartoon and comic used that as the basis of thecharacter in each. Cobra Commander is the head of Cobra because that is what the packaging says and that is what he is meant to be. Roadblock is not a Dreadnock, although you could play with him as one, because the filecard says he is part of G.I. Joe. If I said Roadblock is a Dreadnock because he looks like one and it doesn't matter what the filecard says, you would think I was crazy because Roadblock IS PART of G.I. JOE because Hasbro told us so. so you can't just dismiss what Hasbro says. they are the reason you use your Joes in certain ways, whether you are aware of it or not.

 

of course, Hasbro changes ideas and characters all the time. Cobra Commander was originally meant to be a ruthless terrorist leader. then they said, no wait! we want a Cobra Emperor who is actually in charge of Cobra. then they said wait! Cobra isn't a terrorist organization at all. they are a race of mutant creatues called Cobra la who are trying to take over the world. and cobra Commander isn't a man after all, he really is a snake person. the point is Hasbro may change the idea in mid-stream to attempt to make the product more interesting, but we recognize these changes and for the most part most of us don't acknowledge them because the basis of these characters and how we use them come from how they were initially portrayed and what they were initially said to be.

 

If Hasbro made the next Sanke Eyes figure in black with a black hood and he came with a sword and uzi, but instead of being a Ninja Commando they said he was a nurse, how many of you would use him as such? I'm willing to say none of you. we have the idea of these characters because of how they were initially described and portrayed because that is what Hasbro told us they were, whether we are aware of it or not. we play with these characters in certain roles with certain charactere traits because that is how we were told to play with them and think of these characters. so when Hasbro violates those ideas with new ones, we know and refuse them. Hasbro can change it now, but they can't change how it was initially portrayed.

 

how many of you watch Star Wars and just accpet that Greedo shot first. not me. Han shot first, I saw him shoot first, despite what George Lucas has changed it to.

 

same with Vipers. Vipers are the bottom of the barrel because Hasbro said they are the bottom of the barrel, just as Cobra Commander is the leader of Cobra, Scarlett was born in Georgia, and Wild Bill is a cowboy, no matter how Hasbro tries to change it.

 

I win. and it feels so good.

[Pit Viper]

You got to figure that COBRA is not going to turn down anybody who wants to join them. It matters not what shape you are in or if you can't operate a weapon to save your life (litterally), they will take you. I figure all such people become Cobra's basic infantry troopers (Blue Shirts). HOWEVER if you actually have some kind of millitary background you are placed in the Viper Corps which are sort of like the Marines. There are less Vipers than Blue Shirts as the Blue Shirts make up the vast majority of COBRA's army. Of course some Vipers specialize in one thing and these Viper's have the distiction of H.E.A.T.-Viper, Night-Viper, Flak-Viper, yadda yadda yadda.

[Guest gunslingercbr]

You got to figure that COBRA is not going to turn down anybody who wants to join them. It matters not what shape you are in or if you can't operate a weapon to save your life (litterally), they will take you. I figure all such people become Cobra's basic infantry troopers (Blue Shirts). HOWEVER if you actually have some kind of millitary background you are placed in the Viper Corps which are sort of like the Marines. There are less Vipers than Blue Shirts as the Blue Shirts make up the vast majority of COBRA's army. Of course some Vipers specialize in one thing and these Viper's have the distiction of H.E.A.T.-Viper, Night-Viper, Flak-Viper, yadda yadda yadda.

these are all cool ideas, but they are just that. your ideas, not what Cobra actually is.

 

everyone keeps trying to make the distiction between Vipers and Infantry troopers by comparing them to the Army and Marines, as if the Marines are more advanced than the Army. this isn't so. the main distinction is that Marines are essentially Sailors with guns. the Marine Corp is actually part of the Navy.

 

the infantry trooper is called the basic fighting group of Cobra, and Vipers are called the lowest ranking soldiers of Cobra.

 

since we are talking about rank here, Vipers win out as the lowest ranking soldiers, and Cobra Infantryman are the most basic soldier. but these are two seperate things.

 

it is evident that when Vipers were created they were intended to be the lowest ranking Cobras. and it is possible that they are attempting to change that by making the new Infantry Trooper the lowest ranking. but this is also the same Hasbro that says Stalker isn't a Ranger anymore he is EOD. how many of you say Stalker isn't a Ranger anymore because Hasbro is re-writing the character. probably not many.

 

that is what Hasbro is doing with the Vipers. rewriting them. Vipers are the lowest ranking because Hasbro said so first, just as Stalker is a Ranger because that was what he was said to be first.

 

If Vipers are now higher ranking, than Stalker is EOD.

 

so I'll compromise on my defense of Vipers being bottom of the barrel if everyone will agree that Stalker is no longer an Army Ranger, Beach Head is a surfer, Heavy Duty is Roadblock's nephew, Duke is actually in charge of G.I. Joe and not Hawk, and Wild Bill is a Tank Commander, not a pilot.

[metaphorge]

This thread is beginning to resemble the old "which would win, the USS Enterprise or a Star Destroyer" debate. @smilepunch@

 

The answer to "who ranks higher" is, ultimately, whomever the writer of whatever thing you're reading at a given time says is.

 

Originally, the Vipers et al replaced the simple blueshirts because Hasbro wanted kids to buy new product. The blue-shirts were recently re-introduced because there was fan demand for them; it doesn't appear the two thing were ever originally intended to co-exist.

[Guest gunslingercbr]

This thread is beginning to resemble the old "which would win, the USS Enterprise or a Star Destroyer" debate.  @smilepunch@

 

The answer to "who ranks higher" is, ultimately, whomever the writer of whatever thing you're reading at a given time says is.

 

Originally, the Vipers et al replaced the simple blueshirts because Hasbro wanted kids to buy new product. The blue-shirts were recently re-introduced because there was fan demand for them; it doesn't appear the two thing were ever originally intended to co-exist.

I don't think that they aren't meant to co-exist so much as that they serve the same purpose: Infantrymen.

 

so, with that being said, Cobra has two different types of infantry soldiers: the Blue Shirts and Vipers. so which of the two infantry types ranks higher? since Blue Shirts existed when Vipers were created and Vipers were still labeled as the lowest rank in the Cobra Army, the answer is quite clear. it is the confusion about this rather clearly defined matter that is dumbfounding.

 

as you can tell I am rather adament about this topic. @peace@

[metaphorge]

as you can tell I am rather adament about this topic. @peace@

Just 'cos someone is really stubborn doesn't always make 'em right, especially when there is no "right" or "wrong" answer.

 

Related question: in the US, does the Army outrank the Air Force? The Army was, after all, created first....

[Guest gunslingercbr]

as you can tell I am rather adament about this topic. @peace@

Just 'cos someone is really stubborn doesn't always make 'em right, especially when there is no "right" or "wrong" answer.

 

Related question: in the US, does the Army outrank the Air Force? The Army was, after all, created first....

no, the army does not out rank the air force because it was created first. and that is not an anology to the topic at hand. The Cobra Officer was created before Cobra Commander and they don't outrank Cobra Commander. that is a very specious correlation you attempted to make and it defies logic. @grumpy@

 

and yes, there is a right and wrong answer to this, because the Viper filecard clearly says they are the bottom of the pyramid and that is where one has to start in Cobra. this isn't my opinion, this is my stance based on what was written. just like I believe George Washington was the first president of the United States. that isn't my opinion, that is a historical fact.

 

you don't have to use the Viper's as the lowest ranking soldiers. do with them as you like. but we are talking about what they are, not what we use them as. When you play with your Gung-Ho you can say he is part of the Coast Guard and has never been a Marine. would that make you wrong? no. but if you try to say his filecard, which says he is a Marine, is wrong and he is actually in the Coast Guard and Hasbro doesn't know what they are talking about, then you would be wrong.

 

that is exactly the stance I am taking. and it isn't "not right" because I am merely adament, it is very correct because it has evidene to back it up.

 

with that, I rest your honor. I'm done. my point has been made. @peace@

[Sand_Viper]

I usually thought of it this way:

Blue Shirts=main force

vipers=assault troops

Neo-Vipers=senior troops, one 4 person team per Viper/blueshirt platoon

specialty vipers(Sand Vipers, HEAT Vipers, pilots etc.)=a step up from a viper, they specialize in one form of weapon or tactic.

Elite Specialties(Snow Serpents, Alley Vipers, Sand Scorpions, etc.)=more elite units formed from the different specialty squads.

 

Most of the input on the elite vs. non-elite specialties is based on what the the organisation thing in the back of the Cobra Battlefiles from Image at the begining of its GI Joe run says. Some of this has changed for me since the newer figs have been released, most of the time I count Venom Troops (yes I use them regularly @eyerise@) as a more elite unit formed from different specialty viper units.

But this is all my opinion and doesn't mean anything definitively.

[T.A.P.]

This thread is beginning to resemble the old "which would win, the USS Enterprise or a Star Destroyer" debate. 

 

Nerd1: Captain Kirk would kick Picard's @$$!!!!

Nerd2: But at least Picard was willing to admit he was bald!!!!

 

I'm honestly surprised this thread is still going.

 

Anyway, gunslingercbr, you keep saying that the Viper is the lowest ranking cobra trooper because of the file card, but weren't some other troopers ranked lower, according to their filecards, like the Toxo-Viper and Desert Scorpion? That would kind of put a couple holes in your debate, that the regular Viper is at the bottom of the barrel.

 

Also, has anyone thought to just write to Hasbro, to get an official answer from them?

 

  I usually thought of it this way:

Blue Shirts=main force

vipers=assault troops

Neo-Vipers=senior troops, one 4 person team per Viper/blueshirt platoon

specialty vipers(Sand Vipers, HEAT Vipers, pilots etc.)=a step up from a viper, they specialize in one form of weapon or tactic.

Elite Specialties(Snow Serpents, Alley Vipers, Sand Scorpions, etc.)=more elite units formed from the different specialty squads.

 

Tha sounds like a pretty good way of doing it. I may do that with mine.

[Guest gunslingercbr]

Anyway, gunslingercbr, you keep saying that the Viper is the lowest ranking cobra trooper because of the file card, but weren't some other troopers ranked lower, according to their filecards, like the Toxo-Viper and Desert Scorpion? That would kind of put a couple holes in your debate, that the regular Viper is at the bottom of the barrel.

 

I must answer the question that is posed.

 

the answer is: NO, they aren't ranked lower. Desert Scorpions and Toxo-Vipers are described as punishment duties, no where are they described as a lower rank than Vipers. they could be the equivalent of latrine duty or peeling potatoes. an E-5, hypothetically, could be punished and made to clean toilets, but that wouldn't mean he was a lower rank than the E-2 who remains in the field. he is just being punished with a worse duty, but not being stripped of rank, and when that punishment is through he can be returned to his regular duty, as the Desert Scorpion filecards states.

 

besides, the Desert Scorpion filecards clearly states it is punishment duty for Vipers. so one would have to start as a Viper just to be eligible to be a Desert Scorpion. so Desert Scorpion is punishment duty for E-1 Vipers, so to speak, who aren't going any lower on the Cobra totem pole, merely getting a worse duty. just as some 18 year old out of high school would have to enlist as an E-1 in the military just to be eligible to be punished, but that doesn't mean the punishment is a lower rank. his E-1 rank can't get any lower, his duty can just be made harder or worse.

 

Desert Scorpions are only punished Vipers. Vipers can't be ranked lower than Vipers. any Viper who is ranked higher isn't a Viper any longer, he has been promoted, obviously, to a more specialized duty.

 

so, no, you haven't poked any holes in my argument. in fact you have made it stronger. I AM STRONGER!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!

 

Thank you.

 

#US1#

 

Next!

[8speed]

With the Cobra Infantry 6-pack out, the Vipers could be Privates (E-1, no stripe), and the Cobra Troopers could be Private 2 (E-2, one stripe), if it followed the US Army's ranks.

 

So it all works out.

 

 

But my Vipers will still outrank my Troops.

[T.A.P.]

Hasbro has cleared up the confusion on which is ranked higher. According to the Cobra Trooper's filecard in the Comic 3-Pack, The Infantry are ranked lower. It says that they have to work hard just to become a Viper.

[sakuraba]

I only collect cobra figures so I just made vipers and blue shirts two seperate armies. I arm the vipers w/ bbi vehicles and equipment and give cobra vehicles and weapons to the blue shirts.

[Blackjack]

That's pretty much how I have always seen them.

 

Vipers-Marines

Cobra Troops/Officers-Army

Strato-Vipers-Airforce

Crimson Guard-Secret Service

Alley Vipers-Police Force

Eels-Navy Seals

and so on.

[Crimson Twins]

does anyone here have any military experience? i look at it like this. similar to the idea of two seperate branches, however i look at it like two seperate corporate ladders. the blue shirts become squad leaders, then cobra officers, then move on to the ranks of the crimson guard where they top out, having never dove into the viper ranks at all. then on the viper side, you start as a viper. if you show skills, or develop them along the way, you move on to a seperate type of viper. if you're a screw up, you get sent down to the toxo-vipers of the desert scorpions (as it says on the filecards). i don't see one level of viper out ranking another once you leave the initial viper rank. that is where the cobra officers come in. they do the coordinating, they call the shots, and then they task the vipers to make it happen. the blue shirts work beneath these guys and can deliver the orders, but don't outrank any vipers as they are from a different rank structure entirely. like with the coalition forces over here. just because i'm an E-5 doesn't mean i can tell the equivalent of an E-4 from the aussie army what to do. we work together, and let the top brass work the issues out. i go up my ladder, he goes up his. that's how i look at it. because if you try to give rank to vipers, how will you determine which is higher than the other. does a techno viper outrank a televiper? what about the strato or alley vipers? we know cobra says that some of their vipers came from other branches. i.e. astro vipers are former strato vipers. i don't think that means they outrank stratovipers, just that they moved into a whole different field.

 

bottom line, it's confusing, and whatever floats your boat will unltimately win out in your own joe universe, so take everyones ideas, take your own, use what you want, and discard the rest. just have fun, and keep gi joe going for years to come.

[Doc Evil]

I was thinking of Vipers/Blueshirts being basically the same thing. They only put on the armor when they go into battle or on manuvers, with the blueshirts being guards and personnel at Cobra Bases, away from the combat.

[SECTO-VIPER]

AH HA but Hasbro didn't write the file cards and I doubt they even looked at them.  If that was true they would of launched the vipers and just wasted them. 

t

 

The GI JOE MOVIE, the height of any toy series... Blue shirts then Viper jump... besides doesn't CC call them his  "Elite Vipers" during the fight with Slaughter in Arise Serpentor Arise?  (I know they mixed in the Strato Viper but.... it was suppose to be the Viper)  SO COBRA COMMANDER CALLS THEM ELITE!!!

 

 

HA SO I WIN..... @smilepunch@  @smilepunch@

 

Now what do you have to say about that..

This is so weak I probably shouldn't even respond, but I will, because I like to win. @smilepunch@

 

Hasbro did write the filecards. an indiviudal person may have written them, but companies are comprised of individual people who are responsible for certain tasks. thus, one individual designed the characters, a few more sculpted the toy, and another wrote the bios. all of these people are employed by Hasbro to create properties for Hasbro which are in turn are owned by hasbro. all of these have to be approved by Hasbro. so, if hasbro allowed Larry Hama to write that the Vipers were the bottom of the barrel of Cobra troops and allowed that entire paragraph to make it onto the filecard, it is safe to say Hasbro accepted the idea of Vipers being the grunts of the Cobra Legion. and it probably isn't too far fetched to say Hasbro commissioned the artist to create the viper as the Cobra grunt and Hama to write the filecard as such.

 

besides, the person who wrote the filecards had nothing to do with the cartoons. larry wrote the comics. that is why there are such differences in them.

 

that being said, we're talking about the toys, not the different mediums such as the comics or cartoons or coloring books or how we play with them. we are searching for a definitive answer as they relate to the toys themself, because that is where this all leads back to. and the toy, which is the basis for all other cartoon or comic interpretations, clearly states Vipers are the bottom of the barrel. Buzz Dixon may have changed it for the movie, but that is a change that was made to the original purpose, not the original purpose, which is what we are talking about.

 

Cobra Commander is described as the most dangerous man alive on his filecard, which is what he is meant to be so he is a competent adversary for G.I. Joe, but in the cartoon he is an idiot so G.I. Joe always wins and kids aren't traumatized.

 

when making a product to be viewed by children of course Hasbro had to dumb it down so it is acceptable. but the toy was the main product, and with the toys Hasbro (at least early on) created rich characters out of only short bios full of rich descriptions and character traits, that outlined basic rank and function while allowing freedom of imagination to play with them any way we like.

 

we can say we like the idea of vipers being higher because they seem more elite, but that was not what they were meant to be. I could make my Tele-Viper the head of Cobra for no other reason than because I like the way he looks, and say Cobra Commander is actually the commanding officer of G.I. Joe, but if I came on these boards and said that is actually how it is and Cobra Commander really is in charge of G.I. Joe because that is the way I like it, it would probably violate all of your ideas as to what G.I. Joe and Cobra is. why? because while we can play with them any way we want, the idea of each character comes from somewhere.

 

that somewhere is the filecard. Destro is the enemy weapons supplier because that is what the toy was made to be and the filecard says so. the cartoon and comic used that as the basis of thecharacter in each. Cobra Commander is the head of Cobra because that is what the packaging says and that is what he is meant to be. Roadblock is not a Dreadnock, although you could play with him as one, because the filecard says he is part of G.I. Joe. If I said Roadblock is a Dreadnock because he looks like one and it doesn't matter what the filecard says, you would think I was crazy because Roadblock IS PART of G.I. JOE because Hasbro told us so. so you can't just dismiss what Hasbro says. they are the reason you use your Joes in certain ways, whether you are aware of it or not.

 

of course, Hasbro changes ideas and characters all the time. Cobra Commander was originally meant to be a ruthless terrorist leader. then they said, no wait! we want a Cobra Emperor who is actually in charge of Cobra. then they said wait! Cobra isn't a terrorist organization at all. they are a race of mutant creatues called Cobra la who are trying to take over the world. and cobra Commander isn't a man after all, he really is a snake person. the point is Hasbro may change the idea in mid-stream to attempt to make the product more interesting, but we recognize these changes and for the most part most of us don't acknowledge them because the basis of these characters and how we use them come from how they were initially portrayed and what they were initially said to be.

 

If Hasbro made the next Sanke Eyes figure in black with a black hood and he came with a sword and uzi, but instead of being a Ninja Commando they said he was a nurse, how many of you would use him as such? I'm willing to say none of you. we have the idea of these characters because of how they were initially described and portrayed because that is what Hasbro told us they were, whether we are aware of it or not. we play with these characters in certain roles with certain charactere traits because that is how we were told to play with them and think of these characters. so when Hasbro violates those ideas with new ones, we know and refuse them. Hasbro can change it now, but they can't change how it was initially portrayed.

 

how many of you watch Star Wars and just accpet that Greedo shot first. not me. Han shot first, I saw him shoot first, despite what George Lucas has changed it to.

 

same with Vipers. Vipers are the bottom of the barrel because Hasbro said they are the bottom of the barrel, just as Cobra Commander is the leader of Cobra, Scarlett was born in Georgia, and Wild Bill is a cowboy, no matter how Hasbro tries to change it.

 

I win. and it feels so good.

Too long didn't read

[useless]

Personally I don't see the destinction as rank or specailism, more possition

 

As I see it Cobra's rank and file has three organisations (not including Dreadnoks), the "Regular Army" Branch: the vipers and thier myriad variants: these guys specailise absoultely in combat and work full time for Cobra.

 

Then there's the elite Deep cover branch, the CG's and thier vairants, these are the guys who get sent on infiltration missions and do the actaul spying.

 

finally theres the cell-structucre branch, people who are not really infiltrators like the segies, but for whom cobra isn't their entire life either, most of them know only their squadmates in the same cell; their leader and his deputy know their contact in the command.

 

They only occasionally get a mission that involves putting on the Cobra blue and its almost always because they are the nearest, rather than the best unit, they're not infilrators like the Segies, when not on a combat mission their role is just to maintian their gear and keep quiet.

 

Origionally only the third branch existed, and for some time the Regular army branch didn't have its own destinctive uniforms but now they do.

 

but of course this is just the way I see it, theres nothing offical to back it up

[thecamyth]

this actually goes along with a custom 6-pack i've been working on. it consists of an army, marine, navy, air force representatives, kind of like the 1994 gijoe 5-pack.

anyway, i've always considered the vipers like marines. look at how our military operates...they send the best in first, meaning the marines. then once they have secured the area, they send in the army.

 

thecamyth

[Blackjack]

because if you try to give rank to vipers, how will you determine which is higher than the other. does a techno viper outrank a televiper? what about the strato or alley vipers? we know cobra says that some of their vipers came from other branches. i.e. astro vipers are former strato vipers. i don't think that means they outrank stratovipers, just that they moved into a whole different field.

 

I look at the Stratovipers becoming Astrovipers just like how US Navy aviators and Air Force Pilots can get into the space program and become an astronaut.

 

As for the different types of Vipers, no one version would outrank another, each individual person would have their own rank. Perhaps you could have the purple Technovipers be the enlisted ranks, and the Gold Technovipers be the officers. Astrovipers have a few different paint schemes you could use for different ranks. And we have alot of different colors for the Vipers and Alley Vipers that could be used to distingush ranks.

[useless]

look at how our military operates...they send the best in first, meaning the marines.  then once they have secured the area, they send in the army. 

This has been said a number of times, but historically I'mnot sure its at all true:

 

The US Army and Marines generally performed their own completely separeate Amphib operations in WWII (in both Theaters), the major exception being the Philipines, and that seems to have been primarily political.

 

In Korea and Veitnam the army was un combat before the Marines, In Greneda it was more or less symultainios, as it was in ODS and the Recent Gulf war.

 

off the top of my head in the last 100 years only Somalia followed this pattern.

 

Personally I think its just a USMC catchphrase.

 

 

Perhaps you could have the purple Technovipers be the enlisted ranks, and the Gold Technovipers be the officers. Astrovipers have a few different paint schemes you could use for different ranks. And we have alot of different colors for the Vipers and Alley Vipers that could be used to distingush ranks.

 

The British Army found outthe hard way in WW1 that having your officers obvious from a distance like that is a very, very, bad idea it tends to get them shot quickly.