G.I. Joe #10
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G.I. Joe #10
Never saw it coming.
GI Joe: Remixed, Vipers
OK, so..let's talk Vipers.
To begin with, here's Wikipedia's list of Cobra Trooper variations, for reference:
Air Devil - Acrobatic Aerial Assault Trooper
B.A.T.s - Cobra Battle Android Troopers
Cobra Blackstar - Cobra Elite Space Pilot
Cobra C.L.A.W.S. - Combat Light Armored Weapons Specialist; Heavy Weapons Trooper
Cobra Coils - High Speed Pursuit Vehicle Drivers; Cobra Tread Fire Driver
Cobra Eels - Cobra Frogman
Cobra H.I.S.S. Driver - Cobra H.I.S.S. Driver
Cobra Moray - Underwater Elite Trooper
Cobra Officer - Cobra Squad Leader
Cobra Stinger Driver - Cobra Stinger Driver
Cobra Soldier - Cobra Basic Infantry
Desert Scorpion - Cobra Desert Trooper
Incinerators - Cobra Flamethrowers
Lampreys - Cobra Moray Hydrofoil Pilot
Night Creepers - Cobra Mercenary Ninjas
Night Vulture - Cobra Air Recon Trooper
Sea Slugs - Cobra Sea Ray Pilot
Snow Serpent - Cobra Polar Assault
W.O.R.M.S. - Weapons Ordnance Rugged Machine Specialists; Cobra Maggot Driver
List of Viper variations
Aero-Viper - Condor Z25 pilot
Air-Viper - Cobra Air Force trainee
Alley Viper - Cobra urban assault trooper
Astro-Viper - Cobranaut
A.V.A.C. - Air-Viper, Advanced Class; Firebat pilot
Bio-Viper - amphibious Mega-Monster
Cyber-Viper - cybernetic officer
Desert-Viper - Cobra desert trooper
Elite-Viper - elite regiment officer
Fast Blast Viper - field combat
Flak-Viper - Cobra anti-aircraft trooper
Frag-Viper - Cobra grenade thrower
Gyro-Viper - Mamba pilot
Hazard-Viper - toxin specialist
H.E.A.T. Viper - High-Explosive, Anti-Tank; Cobra bazooka trooper
Heli-Viper - Cobra Battle Copter trooper
Hydro-Vipera - Cobra underwater elite trooper. Also known as the "demons of the deep"
Ice-Vipera - Cobra WOLF driver
Jungle-Viper - jungle assault trooper
Kitchen Viper - mentioned in the comics only; never actually seen
Laser-Viper - Cobra laser trooper
Medi-Viper - medical trooper [7]
Mega-Viper - Mega-Monster trainer
Monstro-Viper - savage Mega-Monster
Motor-Viper - Cobra Stun pilot
Nano-Viper - Cobra commando
Neo-Viper - officer/infantryman
Night-Viper - Cobra night fighter
Ninja-Viper - martial arts
Nitro-Viper - Detonator driver
Para-Viper - Cobra paratrooper
Pit-Viper - infiltration trooper
Range-Viper - Cobra wilderness trooper
Raptor-Viper [8] -
Red Ninja-Viper - ninja warrior
Rock-Viper - Cobra mountain trooper
Sand-Viper - desert infiltrator
S.A.W. Viper - Semi-Automatic Weapons; Cobra heavy machine gunner
Secto-Viper - Cobra Bugg driver
Shadow-Viper - counter intelligence
Shock-Viper - fire assault trooper
Sludge-Viper - Cobra hazardous waste Viper
Star-Viper - Cobra Stellar Stiletto pilot
Strato-Viper - Cobra Night Raven S³P pilot [9]
Street-Viper - urban combat trooper
Sub-Viper - underwater demolitions
Swamp-Viper - amphibious assault trooper
Techno-Viper - Cobra battlefield technician
Tele-Viper - Cobra communications
Terra-Viper - Cobra Mole Pod pilot
Toxo-Viper - Cobra hostile environment trooper
Track-Viper - H.I.S.S. II driver
Viper - Cobra infantry
Viper Guard - Cobra infantry
Viper Pilot - attack glider pilot
Now, it's important to note, contrary to their depiction in most media, in our take, Vipers are actually quite competent, being on par with the standard troops of most First World militaries. OTOH, Blueshirts get just enough combat training that they aren't completely useless on the battlefield; Blueshirts can, say, round-up civilians for slave labor, deal with anti-Cobra militias or vigilantes, or serve as security guards or the equivalent of uniformed police in Cobra-controlled areas, but are not expected to fight real soldiers. Rather, Blueshirts do all the other tasks a military needs to operate, although some specialized work is done by Vipers. Cobra recruits are first trained as Blueshirts, and can then apply for Viper training, but military vets are fast-tracked to the point that they can sometimes go straight to Viper training; said training program was designed by Big Boa and Major Bludd, the latter of whom is considered the father of the Viper program, and is idolized by most Vipers. Big Boa is less beloved mostly because he's actively involved in their training and he has no qualms about injuring, maiming, or even killing his trainees.
Anyways, in general, a Viper outranks a Blueshirt, but a Blueshirt Officer outranks a Viper, and is in turn outranked by a Viper Officer; this isn't really a hard and fast rule though, as Cobra's command structure is deliberately fluid. Somewhat similarly, Specialist-Vipers don't technically outrank regular Vipers, but their skills are more valuable to Cobra, so...Each cadre of Specialist-Vipers has it's own leader (or sometimes leader) who get their own name, but generally still wear their cadre's uniform, and are therefore subordinate to those who have names and custom uniforms. Generally. Sometimes several cadres will also answer to another, higher named/uniformed officer specifically (EG all the pilots report to Wild Weasel; Toxo-, Hazard-, and Sludge-Vipers are under Cesspool; Tele-, Techno-, and Medi-Vipers report to Dr. Mindbender, all naval personnel report to She-Wolf, a pseudo-OC who will be discussed later) Beyond this, there's no strict rank structure involved; if you can get people to follow your orders, you're in charge, and if you kill a superior you're just as apt to be given his job as punished. (note that @Night_stalker has created many Specialist-Viper Leaders for us, though some already existed, but I’m not sure how to post ‘em here)
Many Specialist-Vipers not only receive specialized training, but also are given drugs or some form of surgical modification (such as those given to Strato-Vipers to enhance their reflexes and resistance to G-forces) or enhancements (such as the Hydro-Vipers' implanted gills) or both to make them better at their jobs; these often have long-term negative side effects (which is why, despite grumbling from the Jugglers, Gens. Austin and Hawk refuse to reverse-engineer for American use some of Mindbender's Feel-No-Pain Juice or Not-Get-Tired Pills or whatever), but Cobra doesn't care. They also get a hefty dose of extra indoctrination, which of course, includes brainwashing.
Given Cobra Commander's divide-and-conquer approach to management, and the general backstab-happy nature of Cobra, it should not be surprising that inter-service rivalry between Specialist-Viper cadres is encouraged. In addition, many cadres have developed their own unique subcultures, a sampling of which follows:
-You will note that several of the above categories appear redundant. Sometimes they are (EG Sand-Vipers and Desert Scorpions), because see above vis a vis CC's management style, other times not For example, Hazard-Vipers are trained professionals in dealing with hazardous materials, Toxo-Vipers are grunts who handle the manual labor portion of dealing with hazmat stuff under the direction of the Hazard-Vipers (thus decreasing the odds of something untoward happening to a valuable specialist). Being a Toxo-Viper is (usually) a temporary assignment which regular troops will be given as a punishment detail, while Sludge-Vipers are an elite cadre of Hazard-Vipers who work directly under Cesspool, and deal with the creation and use of Plasmatox. Additionally, Incinerators are specifically flamethrower guys while the Shock-Vipers deal with incendiary ordinance in general. There are also examples where it's a bit of both, for instance while Alley-Vipers are heavy shocktroopers trained/equipped specifically for urban combat, the Street-Vipers are a sub-division of the Elite-Vipers for same.
-At some point, the Medi-Vipers became a cult devoted to Asclepius, the Ancient Greek God of medicine and notable snake enthusiast, though obviously they diverge quite heavily from the historical Cult of Asclepius. They are quite feared by other Cobras, because (thanks to @Night_stalker) “on the field, while they'll patch you up, it's more like a ‘Stop bleeding to death and get back to work! FOR COBRA!’, instead of the nice calming normal medic you get, and off the field, they're the guys who implant mods, and pick Dr. Mindbender's experimental subjects.” Note that they are not fond of Dr. Mindbender, because they're the ones who have to clean up the mess when his experiments go awry.
-It is commonly believed by other Vipers that the Range-Vipers are cannibals. This is somewhat unfair; while yes, they're less squeamish about the idea of eating human flesh than normal people, it's still something they'd only do as a last resort.
-Hydro-Vipers are not actually fish-people, and they get really pissed off when you call them that.
-The Pilot-Vipers have picked up Wild Weasel's belief that pilots are a superior breed, and this attitude is only heightened in the Aero-, Heli-, Strato-, and Star-Vipers, who all consider themselves superior to the other Pilot-Vipers; they still basically worship the ground Wild Weasel walks on, though.
-The Tele-Vipers basically live on meth, adderall, and caffeinated energy drinks.
-Every Viper Pilot wants to be an AVAC. The AVACs think their erstwhile comrades are saps, because it actually sucks.
-Since most Hydro-Vipers used to be Morays, and the Morays used to be Eels, they get along pretty well. Ditto the Sub-Vipers. They have nothing but contempt for the Sea Slugs, Lampreys, and other aquatic vehicle pilots.
-Snow Serpents consider Ice-Vipers traitors for cross-training with the Eels.
-Techno- and Tele-Vipers have a notably bitter feud, but also have a sort of "y'all are pitiful scrubs inferior to the Glorious Software/Hardware (remove whichever inappropriate) Master Race, but at least you're better than the rest of these knuckle-dragging ignorami" thing going on towards the other Vipers
"Don't worry guys, I'm not here to stop you, they are."
Don't mess with Krakoa.
"Outta my way, you fanged freaks!"
MORE INFO
06.16.2011 -“Slithering Quest.“
NOTE: Toy Photography Theme: 118 Action Adventures