Today, I got to thinking about good ol' Snake Eyes, after reading the movie review on this very site.

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In the review, the point that in RoC, SE has taken a vow of silence and isn't mute like in the popularly accepted Joe canon derived, for the most part, from the old Marvel comics, was a major point of dissatifaction. I initially held that point of view myself.

Then, I started to research the Joe commando/ninja. While the facial disfigurement and muteness is the story in the comics, I don't think the reasons for his quiet and mask are ever discussed in the cartoons. (Please feel free to correct me on that point, as I am well versed in the filecards and comics, but not the cartoons so much.) Anyway, thinking about the reinterpretations of G.I. Joe and it's various characters led me to start re-examining SE. I looked through all of his filecards, since the Joe toyline is the basis for all other mediums in which Joes are portrayed. So, SE was introduced in 1982 as part of the original figures. No mention of why he wore a mask or that he was mute. Fast forward to 1997. The Stars'n'Stripes Forever TRU set has the first SE figure (V7) in which injuries are addressed as the reason for his mask and silence. That leaves 15 years, if you just went by the toys, that SE, while a mystery, was also a blank canvas. YoJoe forum member Currahee Chris posted a thread along this line of thought fairly recently: http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?t=68868.

This all leads me to think that the RoC version of SE is still true to the initial intent of the character. He's still quiet, mysterious, powerful, and deadly. He still wears his trademark black, to include a mask. Why he is quiet and wears a mask are open to a different perspective, but the fundamental character holds true.

I like all the different versions of G.I. Joe. Granted, I like some more than others, but I try to fit them all into my Joe-verse. And SE lends himself to the imagination. Heck, when I got him in 1982 (my second figure after Rock'n'roll), without reading any comics, I pretended he was a silent, sneaky bad-*****. The character's essence screams that. And that's never been in dispute in toys, comics, cartoons or movies. So, he either has to hide his face and can't talk or he chooses to mask himself and remain silent. Both are still Snake Eyes.

Remember, even in the Marvel run, he did talk, when driven to do so, at the thought of Scarlett dying.

Remember, even in the Marvel run, he did talk, when driven to do so, at the thought of Scarlett dying. Indeed, which means he was not, in fact, mute. I always interpreted this to mean that it was very difficult, and probably quite painful, for Snake-Eyes to speak, but not something of which he was physically incapable. He wasn't exactly Mr. Chatterbox in the Marvel title prior to his accident, anyway.

Good points, CC. That's how I've looked at him since it was shown that he could possibly speak. He seems, to me, like a man who believes that actions speak louder than words, and coupled with his injuries, this makes the occaisions when he is heard extremly rare. Maybe Scarlett, Storm Shadow and Stalker are the only ones to whom he even makes a peep, and then only in private. Who would have thought that a mask and the lack of paint apps on the original figure would lead to such a mysterious and iconic character?

Who would have thought that a mask and the lack of paint apps on the original figure would lead to such a mysterious and iconic character? Hey, it worked for me even before Larry Hama started to really explore Snake-Eyes' origins. My first two G.I. JOE figures were gifts. I opened Breaker first, and I thought, "Okay. This is an army guy. Not too bad." When I opened the second one, though, and saw this masked man in black, I had a completely different reaction. It was that experience that compelled me to read the comics. If I had waited around for the cartoon, I'd have certainly lost interest in the characters.

ALso a quick point, the 1997 file cards were written by Thomas Wheeler who had a ton of experience with the comic information and tried to keep true to that story line. To which he did a great job.

John M>

Remember, even in the Marvel run, he did talk, when driven to do so, at the thought of Scarlett dying.Which was apparently extremely painful for him to do.

I just don't understand why they'd change that. They want him to be a silet ninja? Okay, he's a silent ninja. Why give him a vow of silence instead of making it difficult for him to speak under all but the most pressing circumstances? I can't see a military unit putting up with him being voluntarily silent at all times, and this rather arbitrary change seems typical of the script in general ("Ooh! Let's set up Scarlett with some random Marlon Wayans clone no one's ever heard of before!").

Maybe they're setting it up so that Snake Eyes will save Scarlett in a helicopter/Howler crash in the second film, losing his face and voice in the process and sparking the proper Snake Eyes/Scarlett romantic relationship, but that seems rather doubtful. After all, it would make too much sense.

I still crack up at the Robot Chicken skit when he's using the Etch-a-Sketch board to talk.

pfunk

I just don't understand why they'd change that. They want him to be a silet ninja? Okay, he's a silent ninja. Why give him a vow of silence instead of making it difficult for him to speak under all but the most pressing circumstances? I can't see a military unit putting up with him being voluntarily silent at all times, and this rather arbitrary change seems typical of the script in general ("Ooh! Let's set up Scarlett with some random Marlon Wayans clone no one's ever heard of before!").
The military putting up with a guy that can speak but chooses not to makes a lot more sense than them putting up with a disabled person that can hardly speak even if he realy wanted to.

A person can break a vow of silence. They can't suddenly be not disabled.

The military putting up with a guy that can speak but chooses not to makes a lot more sense than them putting up with a disabled person that can hardly speak even if he realy wanted to.Not really.

Actually, the military hanging on to either one, a who can speak, but chooses not to, or one who can't at all because of physical damage is unlikely in either case.

The most sense would be made of this if Snake-Eyes was actually a private military contractor brought in for plausible deniability.

pfunk

as a cartoon guy... I don't have any problem with the movie reasons for why Snake-Eyes doesn't speak. The cartoon was silent on that issue all the way until Resolute gave a back story.

I suppose SE's unique skills may have allowed some rule bending. We have a lot of guys that are great at combatives but so many forms, the whole stealth thing...