Serpentor

"THIS I COMMAND!!!"

- Serpentor

Serpentor is one of the major antagonists of the G.I. Joe series. He serves as the Cobra Emperor of the Cobra organization, and is proven to be very pretentious, egocentric, vindictive, murderous, arrogant, sadistic, merciless, barbaric, and insane.

He was created by Dr. Mindbender, Destro, and the Crimson Twins merely because they grew tired of Cobra Commander's failures to take over the world. Serpentor was created using DNA of some of history's greatest villains and conquerors, such as Napoleon, Ivan the Terrible, and Alexander the Great. Sun Tzu's DNA was almost acquired, but foiled by G.I. Joe, so the DNA of Joe trainer named Sgt. Slaughter was substituted.

Once created, Serpentor overthrew Cobra Commander, and proved to be a more effective leader, but was ultimately more of a monster than a man. Extremely arrogant and sociopathic beyond words, Serpentor viewed everyone, specifically Cobra Commander, as beneath him, and would often berate his henchmen with cruel words. Not even his "father", Dr. Mindbender, was above his harshness. Eventually, Serpentor was betrayed when Cobra Commander regained control of Cobra by using science to transform him into an iguana, at least temporarily.

Sunbow
Serpentor first appeared in a five-part G.I. Joe episode "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!", voiced by the late Dick Gautier. He was created through a breakthrough in cloning research by Doctor Mindbender from the DNA extracted from the unearthed remains of Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Attila the Hun, Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler, Hannibal, Genghis Khan, Grigori Rasputin, Montezuma, Geronimo, and Egyptian general Xanuth Amon-Toth. In the animated continuity, Sun Tzu's DNA was also intended to be part of Serpentor's creation, but the attempt to obtain his DNA was thwarted by Sgt. Slaughter, whose DNA was then intended for use as a substitute. The first attempt was sabotaged by Cobra Commander, who secretly dumped a mutant virus into the Sgt. Slaughter DNA chamber causing a monster that rampaged throughout Cobra Island until it dissolved. During Doctor Mindbender's second attempt upon the recapture of Sgt. Slaughter, Cobra Commander is betrayed by Scrap-Iron (who told Doctor Mindbender about what happened). This time, the creation was a success as Serpentor is born.

As a result of Sun Tzu's DNA being missing, Serpentor is very intolerant and overbearing. He issues most of his orders with the phrase, "This I command!" However, without the methodical Sun Tzu's influence, Serpentor was also prone to impulsiveness, as shown in his first major act—leading Cobra in an attack upon Washington, DC. He succeeded in capturing the city and demanded the surrender of the President (who was out of town with the Vice-President at the time), Congress and G.I. Joe. The G.I. Joe members managed to do a sneak attack on Cobra, turning the operation into a complete fiasco. Just as the Joes are about to capture Serpentor, a sudden burst of fire drives them back. It turns out it came from Cobra Commander, who convinced Mindbender to free him because he knew how to use a weapon. Cobra Commander convinced Serpentor to let him be his scapegoat since there would be no one to do the punishing for him.

A later episode "My Favorite Things" reveals that Serpentor can assume the facial features of those whose DNA are included in his genetic composition. In addition, a few more donors to Serpentor's creation are revealed: a Viking warrior known as "Ulrik The Batterer", and the reptilian king "Takshaka" from Indian mythology.

G.I. Joe: The Movie
In G.I. Joe the Movie, Serpentor is contacted by Pythona, an emissary of the ancient culture "Cobra-La". She informs him of the need to steal the Broadcast Energy Transmitter (B.E.T.). During the attack to obtain the B.E.T., Serpentor is wounded and left to be captured by G.I. Joe. Aided by Cobra-La, Cobra forces are later dispatched to rescue Serpentor and bring him to the hidden kingdom of Cobra-La. After Serpentor's arrival at the ancient kingdom, Cobra-La's supreme ruler Golobulus informs the Cobra leadership present that it was he who implanted the idea of creating Serpentor in Doctor Mindbender's brain with a biological organism called a "psychic motivator".

Along with the other Cobra hierarchy, Serpentor accepts Golobulus's authority and vows to fulfill his goal of destroying human civilization. During an attack to acquire the B.E.T. from G.I. Joe headquarters, Serpentor severely injures Duke causing Duke to slip into a coma. During the climatic attack on Cobra-La, Serpentor is defeated by Duke's half-brother Lt. Falcon when the Cobra emperor's cape gets caught in his air chariot's engine turbine. Serpentor is last seen flying out of control on his air chariot, struggling to get himself free of his cape.

Personality
Serpentor is a true sociopath, showing no remorse for his actions and no concern for his minions, who he views as expendable in the fight against G.I. Joe. His arrogance knows no limit, as he believes that everyone is beneath him (including his own creator Mindbender). He views himself as a true emperor. as he able to access the memories of his various DNA donors, who were nothing more than the infamous tyrants and dictators that history has ever written, such as Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible, Alexander the Great, and many others.

Powers and Abilities
Incredibly strong and intelligent in both versions. In the comics, Serpentor is able to access the memories of his various DNA donors, which makes him a brilliant stragiest, but also drives him insane.