Joepedia
Register
Advertisement
The name Dr. Mindbender refers to several versions of the same character.
For a list of the other versions, see Dr. Mindbender.
Dr. Mindbender is a Cobra character from the A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series.
Cobra banner


Dr. Mindbender is first and foremost a master of mind control and interrogation, but his expertise does not stop there. This evil genius has also dabbled in genetics, cloning, and cybernetics. He is extremely meticulous and fussy, preferring to oversee every nuance of his projects, even projects that belong to others. That is why he has felt a need to master every science that involves some sort of manipulation or modification.

Mindbender was once a kind-hearted orthodontist. He tinkered with electric brainwave stimulation as a means of relieving dental pain. Using himself as a test subject, the experiment turned the good doctor into forever a hateful, deceitful and vain man. To other people, the experiment backfired, but don't tell him that. To him, it has opened his eyes to the world and made him believe it his mission to change it. If you don't agree with him, he'll make you.

Fiction[]

Comics[]

A Real American Hero Continuity[]

Marvel Comics Continuity[]

Mindbender became Cobra's primary science officer after his predecessor, Dr. Venom, was killed in action. He created the Battle Android Troopers and also made several modifications to Venom's prized creation, the Brainwave Scanner. He creates the composite-clone Serpentor in an attempt to engineer the ultimate soldier. Dr. Mindbender and other Cobra agents raid the tombs of noted military leaders, such as Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. Dr. Mindbender also takes the opportunity to add in the DNA of the ninja Storm Shadow.

Mindbender loyally serves Serpentor until a Cobra Civil war between Serpentor and Fred VII, a Crimson Guardsman posing as Cobra Commander. This takes place on Cobra Island. When Serpentor is killed by Zartan, Mindbender switches sides, becoming an advisor to Fred VII. Even then he was not loyal, listening to a plan that would seemingly allow Cobra Commander to be cloned.

Eventually the original, non-clone Cobra Commander returns and threw all perceived traitors, including Mindbender, into a landlocked freighter on Cobra Island. Mindbender manages to preserve Serpentor's body, which was thought by many to be destroyed. The freighter itself is then buried inside a mountain. Though an escape plan was devised, Mindbender, along with some of the other traitors, dies of botulism before it could be enacted. However, he himself was later cloned, and loyally serves Cobra Commander for a time, helping him to brainwash Destro, the Baroness and Zartan.

Devil's Due Comics Continuity[]

Mindbender plays a major role in the first story-arc of the series G.I.Joe Frontlines. This takes place in the last few weeks of the original incarnation of the G.I. Joe team. Cobra forces have consolidated at Destro's castle. Mindbender involves himself heavily in the trickery and deceit that results when Cobra forces battle G.I.Joe throughout the castle for control of a space-based weapon.

Mindbenderdevilsdue

Mindbender plots the return of Serpentor.

Several years after Frontlines, Cobra re-organizes. One of Mindbender's new projects is a new, more powerful Battle Android Trooper. This is stolen by the ninja-mercenary Firefly.

When Serpentor returns, leading a renegade faction called the Coil, Mindbender returns to the side of his creation. When Serpentor was defeated again, Mindbender is captured, but managed to convince Cobra Commander to spare his life by offering him control of his latest creation, a weapon of mass destruction called the Tempest. However, after Cobra Commander gained control of the Tempest, he shoots Mindbender in the back, killing him. Before dying, Minbender helped the Joes to deactivate the Tempest, not for altruism, but as a vengeance against the Commander. This time, Mindbender's death appears to be permanent.

G.I. Joe vs. Transformers[]

Action Force (British) Comics Continuity[]

Dr. Mindbender was in charge of an operation in Vietnam whereby a group of soldiers from the Vietnam War were manipulated into operating as a special operations group carrying out piracy operations, but to the outside world appeared to be a terrorist organization. Mindbender used hypnosis and auto-suggestion to make them believe they were still fighting the war. The group, known as "Hades" operated from Grave Island in the Mekong Delta. When the Action Force member Gung-Ho heard about Hades he realized they were his old comrades from the war and travelled to Vietnam in search of them, followed by an Action Force team. Hades were rescued and the Cobra base on the island destroyed by an air strike. Mindbender disappeared in the explosions, but Gung-Ho doubted he was dead.[2]

Animated Continuity[]

Sunbow Animated Series[]

Voiced by: Brian Cummings
1 mindbender

Dr. Mindbender from the A Real American Hero animated Continuity.

Dr. Mindbender was Cobra's chief interrogator and science officer. Mindbender was the creator of Cobra's new Battle Android Troopers, and believed they would have wiped out G.I Joe once and for all if Cobra Commander had deployed them correctly. Around this time, Mindbender also found himself experiencing a strange, reoccurring dream regarding a mysterious new leader for Cobra, and came to believe that Cobra Commander needed to be replaced if Cobra were ever to achieve a lasting victory[3].

Conspiring with Destro, Tomax and Xamot; Mindbender proposed to steal the DNA of history's greatest military leaders and create the perfect leader; the Cobra Emperor. Unfortunately, Mindbender lost the vital DNA of Sun Tzu, which was to give his new Emperor the key trait of patience. Acting quickly, Mindbender replaced Sun Tzu's DNA with that of Sgt. Slaughter. Unfortunately, Slaughter himself destroyed his DNA sample during the awakening of the Emperor, damaging the genetic matrix of Mindbender's creation, who soon awoke and called christened himself "Serpentor." Without Sun Tzu's DNA, Serpentor lacked patience and was prone to fits of rage and aggression.

Mindbendersunbow

Mindbender reporting to Serpentor.

Serpentor quickly took command of Cobra and placed Cobra Commander in chains, with Mindbender cheering him on. When Serpentor launched a full scale invasion of Washington D.C, Mindbender fought in the battle, reluctantly freeing Cobra Commander from his shackles as the battle turned against them[4].

After escaping the battle, Mindbender positioned himself as Serpentor's right-hand man, quickly becoming the Emperor's most trusted follower, though there were times when he considered the monarch to be a spoiled brat[5]. Mindbender took a leading role in Cobra's activities, often taking personal charge of Cobra projects in the field, using the Dreadnoks as his henchmen. He developed a number of devices to cripple the Joes, such as a machine which allowed him to invade their nightmares[6], an organ which could cause emotional instability[7] and gene splicing Cobra officers with animals[8].

Mindbendergijoethemovie

Mindbender discovers the truth about Serpentor's creation.

Later, following a failed attempt by Serpentor to steal the Broadcast Energy Transmitter, Mindbender was led into the Himalayan Mountains by Cobra Commander, where they discovered the ancient society of Cobra-La. There, Mindbender discovered that the idea to create Serpentor had been implanted within his mind by Golobulus, ruler of Cobra-La. Mindbender was outraged, claiming that Serpentor was the project of his genetic engineering. Destro quickly advised him to be silent, suggesting that such an idea was beyond even Mindbender's abilities. Mindbender quickly accepted the truth and pledged his loyalty to Golobulus.

During the battle of Cobra-La, Mindbender fought alongside the other members of Cobra as the Joes launched an attack. At the conclusion of the battle, the Broadcast Energy Transmitter overloaded, causing a massive explosion which completely destroyed Cobra-La, and Mindbender was never heard from again[9].

Direct-to-Video Series[]

Dr. Mindbender served as Cobra's chief scientist. He created a new and improved Battle Android Trooper, and used stolen G.I. Joe technology to create headsets which allowed Destro and Storm Shadow to control the BATs in battle. Mindbender was also working on Venom Troopers, but ultimately lost all of his research when the Cobra base he was operating from was destroyed during a battle with the Joes. When Mindbender lamented this loss to Cobra Commander , the Commander flippantly told him to "just start over", leaving Mindbender shocked and appalled at such a suggestion.

Mindbenderreelfx

Mindbender explains the Venom project.

Some time later, Mindbender had rebuilt all of his research, and the Venom project was fully up and running. Thanks to Mindbender's genius, Cobra began kidnapping people from around the world and turning them into animal/human hybrids who then served as loyal Cobra soldiers. When Cobra captured General Hawk, Cobra Commander subjected him to an overdose of venom and transformed him into Cobra's new General, Venomous Maximus, a being so powerful that quickly seized power of Cobra with the help of Overkill (who had previously served as Mindbender's grumbling lab assistant).

Cobra Commander and Dr. Mindbender were overthrown and captured by Maximus and Overkill. Mindbender was subsequently forced to join forces with his G.I. Joe rival, Hi-Tech, and work against Maximus. Together, Mindbender and Hi-Tech reversed the polarity of the Venom missiles and changed Maximum back into Hawk. In the confusion following the battle, Mindbender quickly made his escape, leaving Cobra Commander to be captured by the Joes.

Toys[]

Generation 1
Dr A Real American Hero (1986)

Dr. Mindbender first appeared in the 1986 release of A Real American Hero toys.


Appearance: bald with black mustache; silver monocle and chest straps; bare chest and arms; purple wristbands and black gloves; purple legs with black belt, holster

Accessories: black cloth cape with silver Cobra emblem; silver pistol with circle in front of trigger guard; silver mind control wand with peg for hose; black stand-alone power box; standard long, black hose.

Variations: Mindbender's cape varied in material and whether the Cobra insignia was a patch or iron-on.


YoJoe.com page/Filecard

Dr A Real American Hero (1993)

The all-encompassing Battle Corps line of 1993 included a new Dr. Mindbender action figure, #15 in the series.


Appearance: bald with black mustache; black headset; purple short-sleeved shirt with yellow straps and wristbands; yellow pants with black belt and boots; purple stripes on legs

Accessories: yellow "Iron Grenadier" laser pistol; yellow "'89 Snake Eyes" submachine gun; yellow "Voltar" submachine gun; yellow "'91 Sci-Fi" laser rifle; yellow "Dee-Jay" laser rifle; yellow "Hydro-Viper" knife; purple "Alley Viper" spring-loaded missile launcher with yellow trigger.


Filecard/Filecard

  • G.I. Joe vs. Cobra (2002)
Like many of the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra carded action figures, Dr. Mindbender is packaged with a G.I. Joe rival, Beach Head. A second two-pack featuring the same design for Mindbender but with a different color scheme is packaged with another Joe rival, Dart.
G.I. Joe vs. Cobra filecard
Second G.I. Joe vs. Cobra filecard
  • Valor vs. Venom (2004)
The filecard included with the Valor vs. Venom action figure credits Mindbender with the creation of Cobra's V-Troops forces. Mindbender is carded in a two-pack with his G.I. Joe rival, Hi-Tech.
Valor vs. Venom filecard

Trivia[]

  • "A Day in the Life of Springfield" revealed the orthodontist's name was "Dr. Binder," but there is a possibility that was just an alias adopted when he set up shop in Springfield.
  • In addition to "Interrogator" and "Dr. Brainwave," other working names included "Dr. ?," "Professor Paine," "Count Vlad the Cruel" and "The Inquisitor."
  • According to The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe, Dr. ?'s original filecard read:
One source claims the mysterious Dr. ? is really a renegade IRS investigator who was dismissed for practicing dentistry without a license. Some believe he was a bill collector for a mail-order record club, another source swears that Dr. ? was a professional wrestler known in the ring as 'Vlad the Cruel.' It is quite possible that he could have been all three. In any case, he is a formidable interrogator: persistent, methodical and utterly merciless.[10]


See Also[]

External Links[]

Footnotes[]

  1. G.I. Joe vs. Cobra The Essential Guide 1982 - 2008
  2. Rogue Delta!
  3. Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (Part 1)
  4. Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (Part 5)
  5. Into Your Tent I Will Silently Creep
  6. Nightmare Assault
  7. Second Hand Emotions
  8. Iceberg Goes South
  9. G.I. Joe: The Movie
  10. Larry Hama pointed out the trouble Hasbro had with Zartan's 1984 filecard, and that the suggestion this new character was a torturer might upset people.



Is this all there is?

This character article is a stub and is missing information. You can help Joepedia by expanding it.

Advertisement