Snake-Eyes (Movie)

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Snake-Eyes is a G.I. Joe character from the G.I. Joe film.

Contents 1 Rise of Cobra (Movie 2009) 2 History 3 Toys 4 Trivia 5 External links 6 References

Rise of Cobra (Movie 2009)

Portrayed by Ray Park, and Leo Howard (young Snake Eyes).

Snake Eyes was the call-sign of a man who was an expert of Martial Arts. He shared a rivalry with a man from his past, call-sign Storm Shadow. Snake Eyes is man of few words, if any, as he has no lines in the movie. In the film it is revealed as a child he took a vow of silence after his martial arts master was killed by his rival. This makes his entire appearance in the movie completely silent and leaves him as mostly an action character. The only word he says in the whole movie is "Master"

He also shows a sibling-like relationship with Scarlett.

History

In his youth, Snake Eyes, along with Storm Shadow, was trained by the Arashikage Clan. A homeless Caucasian child, Snake Eyes entered the clan's home seeking food, only to be caught by a young Storm Shadow who intended to "punish" the stranger for stealing. They both fought around the kitchen with Snake showing remarkable skill at such a young age; being able to hold his own against a well-trained Storm Shadow. Their fight was eventually stopped by the clan Master who was impressed with Snake's skill, and despite Storm's protests, presumably allowed the youngster into the clan. While Storm Shadow proceeded to claim Snake to be weak, the Master cheerfully corrected him, saying: "He didn't fight like a weakling." then asked the initiate what he wanted to be known as, thus the origin of his current moniker.

Snake's time between his childhood and the time frame of the film is largely unknown, but he's had several run-ins with Storm Shadow over the years.

Snake trained with the clan with Storm Shadow as his sparring partner. Storm constantly beat him brutally in their training, much to the Master's disapproval who was sickened by Storm's dishonorable behavior. Eventually, Snake was able to beat Storm in a training session; something that pleased him and the Master profoundly. This was not to last though. Though it was never shown, it appears that Storm Shadow (angered by the Master favoring an outsider over a true Clan member) attacked the old man and ran him through the back with his sword before fleeing the temple. This act had a profound effect on Snake who considering the Master the closest thing he had to a father. He took a vow of silence and to this day has never spoken a word to anyone, friend or foe alike. He will, however, use hand gestures to talk with the Joe's and many of them have been around long enough to understand him. His voice has only been heard once, after defeating Storm Shadow at Destro's undersea base, he is heard to be breathing heavily, extensively exhausted from the frenetic battle between the two.

In the film, Snake is shown to be a highly skilled and valued member of the Joes and is able to take on Cobra's nanotech enhanced soldiers with relative ease. It also seams he has a close kinship with Scarlet, depicted during the debriefing of Duke and Ripcord at The Pitt where she is seen leaning on him affectionately. Whether their relationship is on friendly or intimate terms is not disclosed, though considering Snake's deeply held code, it is possible to be the former rather than the latter. He was known in the Joe's training scenarios as having never taken a hit in combat until Duke took a unorthodox method and just tackled him instead of using the given baton, whereas he offered a cheerful hand to Duke at the end of the fight, signifying his accepting Duke as a brother in arms.

He played a major part in the Paris chase in which he leapt onto the roof of the vehicle that Baroness and Storm Shadow were traveling in, allowing the team to track the vehicle through Paris using his tracking device. The Cobra operatives tried almost everything to shake him off the vehicle but Snake refused to let go much to their annoyance. He eventually let go when he shot the bottom of the car a few times seemingly doing nothing. While the Baroness smugly declared Snake had given up, Storm Shadow knew better from his history with Snake declaring "He never gives up" right after that the vehicle exploded has a result of the rounds Snake had fired. Though Cobra was able to fire the missile and escape Snake still managed to help his team by avoiding being caught by the French Police who assumed the Joes where responsible for the attack. He was able to contact General Hawk who sorted the whole thing out even though there was a possibility Alpha team would be decomissioned. He later took part in the Attack in the Arctic by disabling the security system so Scarlett, Ripcord and Breaker could enter. Later he took control of Cobra's weapon system only to lose control of the station when Storm Shadow appeared. In his supposed final battle with Storm Shadow he defeated him using tonfas and the same move he performed during his 1st victory over him during their childhood.

Toys

Generation 3
	Rise of Cobra (2009) "Ninja Commando" Snake Eyes was released in 2009 as part of the first series of Rise of Cobra toys. Appearance: Accessories: YoJoe.com page/Filecard
	Paris Pursuit (2009) "Paris Pursuit" Snake Eyes was released in 2009 as part of the fourth series of Rise of Cobra toys. Appearance: Accessories: YoJoe.com page/Filecard
	Rise of Cobra (2009) "City Strike" Snake-Eyes was released in 2009 as part of Series 7 of the movie toys. Appearance: dark grey torso with light gray pads on the shoulders; black gloves; black pants; gray kneepads; grey shinguards; gray boots; dark grey mask with gray goggles; red Arashikage symbol on right arm; dark grey webgear Accessories: black XN-2 Ascension Pack with two grappling hooks on a string; black crampons; silver sword w/ black handle and grey scabbard; silver knife with black handle; black pistol; black G36 assault rifle; black submachine gun; small grey backpack. YoJoe.com page/Filecard

Merchandise
	12" action figure line 12" Snake-Eyes action figure
	Combat Heroes (2009) Super deformed Snake-Eyes from the Combat Heroes toy line. Snake-Eyes was also available in a two-pack with Neo-Viper.
	Action Battlers (2009) Action Battlers Snake-Eyes.

Trivia

• During production of the movie, one of the studio executives kept pressuring Stephen Sommers to remove Snake-Eyes' mask from the character. Eventually, Hasbro had to step in and side with Sommers, pointing out that was how Snake-Eyes was meant to look.
  • Because of this, there are a few scenes in the film where Snake-Eyes wears a different, simplified mask. In general, he's hidden so the differences aren't apparent.

• During test-screenings, audiences were given cards on which they were to rate their favorite characters in the film. Despite the fact that Snake-Eyes was not listed on the cards (since he didn't have a speaking role), he consistently won as a write-in vote.^[1]

External links

• OAFE - "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra": Snake-Eyes (City Strike) review

References