Baroness (RAH)

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The Baroness is a Cobra character from the A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series.

Baroness
Personal information
File Name	Anastasia Cisarovna
Birthplace	Unknown (believed to be East Europe, possibly East Germany).
Aliases	Anastasia DeCobray
Military information
Service branch	Cobra Command
Specialties	Intelligence; Fixed-wing pilot; Sabotage
Weapon / vehicle expertise	M-16; AK-47; RPG7; Uzi; H.I.S.S. tank
Organizational information
Factions	Cobra

The Baroness serves as the Cobra's intelligence officer and lieutenant to Cobra Commander. She is a dark, sensual femme fatale whose beauty is matched only by her ruthlessness. She is the child of a pair of wealthy European aristocrats who made sure their daughter got what she wanted. Somehow along the way as she grew up, she joined a group of student radicals then moving on to extremists and, finally, into the ranks of Cobra.

Along with the Commander and Destro, she is part of the ruling Cobra Triumvirate. She is privy to the secrets of both men, especially Destro with whom she shows a special interest. Her loyalty is divided to both men and would not hesitate to play them against each other.

[edit] Fiction

[edit] Comics

[edit] A Real American Hero continuity

[edit] Marvel Comics continuity

When Cobra finally revealed itself to the world at large, it was the Baroness who committed the act of attention by kidnapping Dr. Adele Burkhart. The Joe Team managed to rescue the scientist and the Baroness aids Cobra Commander in escaping.^[1]

[edit] Devil's Due Comics continuity

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[edit] G.I. Joe Reloaded

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[edit] G.I. Joe vs. Transformers

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[edit] Action Force (British) Comics continuity

[edit] Battle Action Force

The Baroness' real name was Anna Von Stromberg who was born into a wealthy family but was disenchanted with her aristocratic family's capitalistic lifestyle. She joined a small terrorist group and led several attacks, including some on her family's own holdings, but this was just to gain enough of a reputation to join Cobra.

[edit] Marvel

The Baroness was a close confident of Destro who divulged his views on Cobra Commander with her.^[2] She was later sent by the Commander to the Australian desert to investigate the progress of operation "Tinman" to launch an orbital weapons platform to rival any nation, after reports were heard of an intruder in the base. The base commander Brone was dismissive, but the intruder was the Action Force member Outback and he summoned a team who attacked. The base was destroyed and the Baroness executed Brone for his failure.^[3] The Baroness was present when Destro faced an abortive trial for disloyalty after a failure to capture a Broadcast Energy Transmitter.^[4] Later when Cobra launched an attack on London she commanded a squad who took hostages at the Albert Hall.^[5]

Some time later a Phantom X-19 stealth plane was shot down in the Jordanian desert. A local warlord sought to auction the plane and other nomad warlords, Destro and a Cobra team led by the Baroness all converged on the auction. But they were preventing from capturing its secrets by the G.I. Joe the Action Force team Tiger Force, who destroyed the stealth plane. The Baroness was forced to unite with Destro against the nomads to escape.^[6] The Baroness then led a team to the Latin American country of Sao Cristobel where Destro had sold a nuclear warhead to one side in a civil war but the carrying helicopter had been shot down. The Baroness's team secured the warhead but a G.I. Joe team started the timer by remote control, forcing the Cobras to abandon the warhead. The Joes later deactivated the timer.^[7]

[edit] Blackthorne Comics continuity

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[edit] Dreamwave Comics continuity

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[edit] Hasbro Comics continuity

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[edit] Animated continuity

[edit] Sunbow animated series

Voice Actor: Morgan Lofting

The Baroness originally a comics-only character. Her initial design is based on the one created for the comic by Herb Trimpe.

The relationship between the animated counterparts of Baroness and Destro is one of the few points of connection with the comicbooks.

The Baroness infiltrated the military base housing a new hi-tech satellite by masquerading as Major Juanita Hoover, an officer from the budget department. So effective was the persona of a stickler to detail she put on that no one ever suspected her true identity. She planted the homing device that allowed Cobra to focus the MASS machine on and make successful the theft of the satellite. She was almost captured by Duke had he not been accidentally teleported to the Cobra Temple along with her.^[8] For another demonstration of the MASS Device, the Baroness travels to Russia where she planted a homing device by the Kremlin which allowed Cobra to teleport the Soviet army and make them seem disintegrated by the ray.^[9] Her next mission was to obtain the heavy water element necessary to replenish the dwindling supply of catalytic elements for the MASS. Her arrival at the trench's site is matched with the Joes and she orders her force to engage in combat. When giant tubeworms attack both Joes and Cobra, she is forced into agreeing to a truce to defeat the more immediate threat. After the tubeworms are dispatched, she gets her share of the heavy water but attempted into reneging on a deal for a peaceful extraction. The Joes are quick and got away with their share. She can only satisfy herself that she accomplished her more immediate mission.^[10] While the Baroness shares Destro's concern for the dwindling supply of the MASS elements, she has the confidence that Cobra would stand triumphant at the end. A transmission from the Joes' declare of a surrender has her suspecting deceit which caused Cobra Commander to use the MASS against her advise.^[11] Upon Destro's return, she tells him what the Commander has done which causes Destro to take matters into his own hands. Eventually, the Joes storm the Cobra Temple and defeat Cobra. She is among the number to be taken into custody at the end of the battle.^[12]

[edit] DiC animated series

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[edit] Direct-to-video series

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[edit] Toys

Generation 1
	A Real American Hero (1984) While Baroness appeared in fiction as early as 1982, it was only in the third series of A Real American Hero toys that she received her first action figure. Appearance: long black hair; glasses; black plated armor suit, gloves, and thigh-high boots; red Cobra insignia on chest Accessories: small, angular, black backpack with large engraved Cobra emblem; black high-density laser rifle. Original 1984 filecard
	Cobra Command Team (1997) The original Baroness mold is used for her action figure in the Cobra Command Pack of the Real American Hero Collection. She is packaged together with Destro and Cobra Commander. 1997 filecard
Generation 2
	Crimson Strike Team 2002 The same mold is used again for her action figure in the Crimson Strike Team package that was available in the 2002 G.I. Joe Convention. Crimson Strike Team filecard
	G.I. Joe vs. Cobra 2002 A new Baroness action figure is created for the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series. G.I. Joe vs. Cobra filecard

[edit] Merchandise

• Baroness mini-bust

The Baroness is the third mini-bust in the G.I. Joe line from Palisades Toys, and she's the first woman of the line. The sculpt is designed by Jon Matthews while the box art is provided by Dave Dorman. It is only available in 2,880 units.^[13]

[edit] Trivia

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[edit] External links

• JMM's G.I. Joe Character Guide
• Cobra Baroness Fansite

[edit] Footnotes