I dont read the comics, but can someone detail the history of Arashikage?

like how & why did Snake Eyes become involved?
who are Hard & Soft master?
I also read somewhere of a Blind master?

Why does Firefly ALSO have ties to Arashikage?.
Who is Sean or is it Shawn & how did he come into the picture?
Is Chad Johnson also Arashikage?

ANY help would be fantastic, thanks!! :D

I just read Master and apprentice and it answered some of those questions. Sean Collins is Kamakura (the golden age of the ninja) Sean's father was a crimson guard who helped the cia when he turned a new leaf and his son joined a team similar to the joe team until they all were killed except sean. I dont know if you read the series or not, but if not you should I thought it was great. cant wait to get master and apprentice 2.

Firefly infaltrated the arashikage clan at one point and in some of the comic books he is considered a ninja

I'll try to answer.


(1) The Arashikage ninja clan has survived since ancient times. Arashikage is the formal family name of the heads of the clan. The word translates into English as "Storm Shadow." The Hard and Soft Masters were brothers (older and younger respectively) who were first and second-in command of the Arashikage ninja clan in the recent past. The Hard Master was "lifetime president and chairman of the board." The Soft Master was "vice president in charge of finance." The ninja currently known as Storm Shadow (who bore the title Young Master) was the nephew of these two men.

The Blind Master was a black Vietnam veteran who was indeed blind. He was taken in by the Arashikage clan and given shelter. He trained Jinx. He later has the clan hexagram tatoo removed from his wrist. He had a fierce loyalty to the Hard Master and spent a great deal of time hunting for Zartan afterwards--eventually catching him. He defeats Zartan in physical combat but is murdered by Zartan moments later.

Storm Shadow was the star pupil of the Arashikage clan and volunteered to serve in Vietnam as an LRRP (as a sort of graduation thesis in hunting and killing). He served with Snake-Eyes, befriended him, and offered him a slot in the family business.

Snake-Eyes joined the clan and surpassed Storm Shadow in skill, becoming the new star pupil of the clan.

Cobra Commander learned of Snake-Eyes's whereabouts and hired the famed assassin Firefly to murder him.

Firefly infiltrated the Arashikage clan (adopting the title of Faceless Master) by his credentials as a full-fledged master of the Koga ninja clan. He trained in the Arashikage dojos and learned all of the secret Arashikage techniques. The "unmasked faceless trick" Firefly utilized to gain his alias is a product of hypnotism. This is an interesting and possibly unintentional parallel to the obsession the cartoon Firefly had with hiding his face and identity from others.

Firefly later realizes that he is no match for Snake-Eyes and convinces Cobra Commander to hire Zartan to help him with the hit.

Zartan murders the Hard Master accidentally, and the rest is history...

(2) Sean Collins is the biological son of the original Crimson Guardsman Fred I. He is later adopted by "Fred II," a man who served in the same LRRP unit with Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow and whose real name is Wade Collins. Wade Collins was a Siegie who underwent plastic surgery to appear identical to Fred I and the other "Fred series" Crimson Guardsmen. He leaves Cobra, and adopts Sean (and the rest of Fred I's family) to answer a higher calling in his life.

In addition to what Danielmd06 had to say...

the Soft Master tracked down the killer of the Hard Master (Zartan) by infiltrating the Cobra run town of Springfield and accessing the computer records. He told SS and SE about Zartan but was then killed by Scrap Iron. Right after that Scrap Iron fired the missile that killed Ripcord's girlfriend Candy and put CC's son Billy in a coma and took his leg and eye.

The Red Ninjas are rogue members of the Arashikage who blame Storm Shadow for the death of the Hard Master and the ruin of the clan. They were being led by Zartan for a while, and then by Firefly, and after that a couple of others in the new series. I'm amazed that they all haven't been killed yet because every time we see them about twenty buy the farm.

As of the end of M & A 2, there are only 6 loyal Red Ninjas left. Storm Shadow has left Tj'Bang in charge of them. It appears that for now they are on the side of good.

like how & why did Snake Eyes become involved?


I suppose that it is worth adding that Snake-Eyes returns home from Vietnam to find his entire family (father, mother and twin sister named Terri) have been killed in a motor vehicle accident by a drunken Vietnam veteran named Dan. A young Clayton Abernathy (Hawk) is the Army officer who delivers the news to the returning hero. Dan happens to be the older brother of Cobra Commander. Hence, Cobra Commander bears a grudge against Snake-Eyes forevermore and later contracts Firefly and Zartan to murder him.

Having nothing left in the United States, Snake-Eyes journeys to Japan to find his old friend Thomas S. Arashikage (Storm Shadow) and join in on the "family business" that had been previously offered. The family business, of course, is revealed to be a ninja clan.

At the death of the Hard Master, Storm Shadow flees to seek out the unknown assassin (later revealed to be Zartan) and is subsequently blamed by the surviving Arashikage ninjas (including Snake-Eyes and the Soft Master) for the murder of his senior uncle. Why do they suspect Storm Shadow? The Arashikage ninjas surmise (correctly) that Snake-Eyes was the actual target of the hit--not the Hard Master. Remember that the Hard Master favored Snake-Eyes over Storm Shadow at this time (even to the point of naming Snake-Eyes his successor as formal head of the Arashikage clan in lieu of his nephew), so Storm Shadow actually had ample motive to wish Snake-Eyes dead.

Following these events, Snake-Eyes returns to the United States. He journeys to the High Sierras to seek out a solitary existence and contemplate the events of his life. He "adopts" a timber wolf (Timber) as a pet at this time.

Stalker and Hawk are later formally charged by the United States Army to form an elite counterterrorist team GI Joe. The first name on their list is Snake-Eyes's, and the pair seek out the former LRRP ranger/ninja and recruit him for the Joe team. They leave Timber behind, though we see him again when Snake-Eyes returns to that cabin in the High Sierras...

...Cobra Commander bears a grudge against Snake-Eyes forevermore...
Am a bit confused about this part... Cobra Commander's older brother Dan
kills Snake Eyes entire immediate family due to drunk driving, yet it is
Cobra Commander who bears a grudge on SE?? :confused:

Also, do the comics specify WHEN SE got disfigured?
Did SS & SE have a names too? cuz FF was Faceless Master, there was a
Blind Master etc?

sorry about all the questions, but everything is becoming much clearer now!!

and wait, Storm Shadow is on the side of good now? Has he just been
pretending to side with Cobra JUST SO THAT he can find his uncle's assassin?
or is TJbang & the Red Ninjas evil now?

Why do they suspect Storm Shadow?.......so Storm Shadow actually had ample motive to wish Snake-Eyes dead.

Another bit that probably played an important part in them suspecting Storm Shadow was the fact that Zartan killed the Hard Master with an arrow stolen from Storm Shadow.


Am a bit confused about this part... Cobra Commander's older brother Dan
kills Snake Eyes entire immediate family due to drunk driving, yet it is
Cobra Commander who bears a grudge on SE??

Well, see, CC's a little screwed up....

EDITED: This too...


Did SS & SE have a names too? cuz FF was Faceless Master, there was a Blind Master etc?

Kamakura refers to Snake Eyes as "Silent Master."

Am a bit confused about this part... Cobra Commander's older brother Dan
kills Snake Eyes entire immediate family due to drunk driving, yet it is
Cobra Commander who bears a grudge on SE?? :confused:

(1) Precisely. Dan served two tours in Vietnam to prevent Cobra Commander from having to go. Cobra Commander worships his older brother and blames Snake-Eyes for his death--unfairly. We later learn that the Baroness also bears a personal grudge against Snake-Eyes which leads her into a career in international terrorism. The background provides interesting insight into unifying links between Cobra's original command structure.

Also, do the comics specify WHEN SE got disfigured?

(2) Yes. It was on a very early Joe mission in the Middle East to rescue an American agent named George Strawhacker. George happened to be Terri's fiance. The disfiguring accident involves a helicopter crash. Two helicopters are flying across the desert--each carrying Joes for the mission. The helicopter that Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, Grunt, and Rock n' Roll are flying in develops technical trouble and begins to gyrate. Grunt and Rock n' Roll jump clear. Scarlett is accidentally trapped when a side door slams shut on her gear. She tells Snake-Eyes to save himself but he refuses to abandon her. A plume of aviation gas ignites and burns Snake-Eyes in the face as he is attempting to rescue Scarlett from the helicopter. The helicopter crashes. The resulting burns horribly disfigure Snake-Eyes's face and also cost him his vocal cords.

Did SS & SE have a names too? cuz FF was Faceless Master, there was a
Blind Master etc?

(3) Yes. Recall that Storm Shadow was known as the "Young Master" as mentioned above. Snake-Eyes is now known as the "Silent Master" according to Devil's Due.

sorry about all the questions, but everything is becoming much clearer now!!

(4) No problem at all. I recommend reading Marvel GI Joe #'s 26, 27, 86, 94, 95, 96, 126, and 144. Not the complete story--but a healthy understanding of many of the major Joe characters and how their respective stories intertwine.

and wait, Storm Shadow is on the side of good now? Has he just been
pretending to side with Cobra JUST SO THAT he can find his uncle's assassin?
or is TJbang & the Red Ninjas evil now?

(5) Storm Shadow is now on the side of good. Again. He originally joined Cobra to uncover the identity of the Hard Master's killer. Storm Shadow actually catches the perpetrator (Zartan) in the outer areas of the Arashikage family compound immediately after the murder of the Hard Master and gives chase. The assassin escapes in a Cobra helicopter. Firefly is the one actually piloting the helicopter. Storm Shadow watches the killer escape and correctly realizes that Cobra is responsible for the hit. He realizes that he can "join" the terrorist organization and by earning subsequent promotions can ultimately be of sufficient rank to be trusted with the identity of the murderer. He "lives with a lie to find the truth" as the Hard Master states with his dying words. He later leaves Cobra prior to uncovering the truth. The reason he leaves is to rescue Billy (the Commander's son) from imprisonment and torture after a foiled assassination attempt (ordered by the Baroness and Major Bludd) against Cobra Commander himself. Storm Shadow is so impressed by the boys strength of character and resolution in the face of abandonment that he decides to train him as a ninja. And he does.

Storm Shadow briefly joins the Joe team after this. He later is coerced via brainwashing to again serve Cobra Commander. Then he breaks free of his own inner demons and internal programming to become his own man and pursue his own destiny. He is a very interesting character whose complexity and moral confusion have endeared him to many GI Joe comic fans.

T'bang and the surviving Red Ninjas apparently serve Storm Shadow now. They are not evil, but it is fair to point out that since their origin in medieval Japanese history the practicioners of ninjutsu have traditionally been viewed as existing outside established law and order. They were assassins, spies and thieves--among other talents.

Thanks for the helpful info!!

I actually forgot about this thread :rolleyes:

No problem. Happy to help.

Wow, it's nice to know that people obsess about this as much as myself. Always been a Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow/Arashikage fan.