Serpentor
From Transformers Wiki
- Serpentor is alternately the leader of Cobra or the Decepticons from the G.I. Joe portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Serpentor is a genetic amalgam of history's greatest warriors, bred into one mighty emperor who wears a hilarious snake-themed costume.
Don't laugh.
He'll throw a live snake through your heart.
Sometimes he is known as Serpent O.R. or Serpentor Prime.
Contents |
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
G.I. Joe and the Transformers
Serpentor was a man created by Cobra from the combined DNA of past military geniuses, clothed in a snake-themed costume. He looked for weaknesses in Cobra's leader at the time, Cobra Commander, in order to usurp him. Cobra Commander began to seriously worry about his position when the Dreadnoks failed to take Power Station Alpha. Indeed, he was not seen thereafter. Blood on the Tracks Serpentor's plan to take Power Station Alpha met with greater success. As Serpentor complimented the Baroness on her high-society tastes, Doctor Mindbender had managed to wrest control of Power Station Alpha from the Decepticons using an electronic helmet. With G.I. Joe trailing Power Station Alpha to Cobra Island, Serpentor ordered his troops to fire on a nearby cruise ship to keep them occupied. Unfortunately for Serpentor, the cruise ship belonged to industrialist G.B. Blackrock, friend of the Autobots.
Serpentor's actions also caught the attention of the Decepticons, and Cobra was soon greeted by Dirge and Bombshell, and an alliance was forged. Power Struggle Both sides had ulterior motives; Serpentor in particular planned to eventually wrest control of these intelligent machines and use them to Cobra's ends. (Meanwhile, Decepticon leader Shockwave mused at Serpentor's stupid-looking costume.) Serpentor agreed to send Cobra forces to battle the Decepticons' enemies, the Autobots, at the Ark. Ashes, Ashes...
It was quickly discovered that the Decepticons had doublecrossed them all with intentions to use Power Station Alpha to destroy Earth, and Serpentor was forced to team his Cobra troops with both G.I. Joe and the Autobots. However, the Autobots were concerned that Power Station Alpha may have been an intelligent being, an idea that Serpentor laughed at. It was just a machine, and it must be destroyed! Cobra took to the air in their various battlecraft, including Serpentor. When Power Station Alpha's destruction was assured, he ordered Cobra to fall back. ...All Fall Down!
Marvel Generation 2 comic
Zartan mentioned Serpentor as one of the results of Doctor Mindbender's cloning vat. Realignments
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
The Serpent Organic Robot, or Serpent O.R. for short, was created in secret by a rogue group in the U.S. military using captured Decepticon technology, including the remains of Megatron. With the strategic knowledge of humanity's greatest warriors, bulletproof hide and the ability to use metallic "tentacles" either to fight or take control of machinery, he was to be the United States' ultimate weapon. After word of Serpent O.R.'s existence was leaked to Cobra, Cobra Commander infiltrated Area 52 and activated the android to use it for himself. However, Serpent O.R. accessed memories of when Megatron was kept as a slave by Cobra Commander, and tried to kill the commander and his cronies. He had a control mechanism placed on his neck by Zartan, but it failed to affect the hunger for power given to Serpent O.R. by Megatron's programming. After knocking out the Cobras, Serpent O.R. entitled himself the "son of Megatron", donned his armor, and used Soundwave's deactivated head to learn about the history of Cybertron. The Art of War #1
Serpent O.R. subsequently aimed to conquer Cybertron, and attacked a team of G.I. Joes and Autobots in his way. While he managed to take control of the humans' mechs, his powers had no effect on Grimlock due to the Autobot's spark. He settled for using the mechs to distract the Autobots while he made his way to Area 52's warp gate, easily brushing aside opposition from Scarlett, Mainframe, and Firewall. After warping to Cybertron's Gladiator Zone, rendering the warp gate unusable in the process, Serpent O.R. found Predaking and Piranacon fighting over territories. Using his tentacles to calm the giants, he told them about his relation to Megatron and recruited them into his new Decepticon army. The Art of War #2 After his army had grown to include the Stunticons, Serpent O.R. was chased down by the Autobots and Joes from Area 52, but calmly explained to them that his troops outnumbered, outgunned and surrounded them. He then crushed Bumblebee with his tentacles, and was confused that he felt like something left the Autobot as he died.
After imprisoning the Joes and Autobots in the Decepticon headquarters, Serpent O.R. continued to recruit warriors for his cause and organized an attack on an Autobot peace ceremony. The Art of War #3 During the assault, he contacted Optimus Prime via a hologram of Reflector's, and explained his viewpoints that Autobots were meant to be the Decepticons' slaves during their conquest of the galaxy. Prime naturally didn't agree, but he still gave himself up to Serpent O.R. in exchange for the release of the captured Autobots and humans. While waiting for the Autobot leader to be brought in, Serpent O.R. visited Hawk in his cell, seeking answers to why he didn't feel anything about Bumblebee's death when all the Autobot's friends had been devastated. After enduring a series of ineffectual punches from Roadblock, the android was told that he had no emotions since he had nothing to fight for — he was merely a "glorified gun" built only for conquest. Serpent O.R. was enraged by Hawk's claims, but calmed down almost immediately and left to converse with Optimus Prime instead.
In his control room, Serpent O.R. told Prime that he knew all about the Matrix of Leadership and that he felt he was a great enough leader to deserve its power. When the Autobot countered that nobody who snuffs out sparks like they mean nothing deserves the Matrix, Serpent O.R. admitted that he didn't understand sparks or souls, but that he would understand when the Matrix gave him a spark of his own. However, Optimus Prime was still unwilling to hand the artifact over, instead breaking out of his chains and attacking Serpent O.R. The Art of War #4 While he was saved from Prime's assault by his loyal Decepticons, the damage done to Serpent O.R. somehow activated the device placed on him by Zartan much earlier. While he felt something was wrong, Serpent O.R. ignored it and stole the Matrix from the defeated Optimus Prime. The power of the Matrix changed him, enlarging and transforming his body into Serpentor Prime, but also provided him with a soul and exposed his mind to the wonder of life and the error of his ways. Almost immediately, he put Motormaster's gun to his head, seeking to end the fighting and let someone more worthy have the Matrix by taking his own life. Unfortunately, that's when Cobra Commander made his move, using the device planted on Serpentor Prime to take control of his body from a control chair on Earth. What happened to Serpent O.R.'s consciousness when the commander took over is unknown, but his body was destroyed a while later when Hawk absorbed the power of the Matrix out of it. The Art of War #5
The United States government refused to acknowledge that they had authorized the creation of Serpent O.R., leading to Hawk leaving G.I. Joe. The Autobots also felt that they could no longer trust humans after they used Megatron's technology like that, and stopped working alongside them. Black Horizon, Part 1
The AllSpark Almanac
Serpent O.R. was one of ten figures that made up the Cybertronian zodiac. His associated aspect was "combination" and assigned orbital cycle was Zetca. His constellation forms a serpent. The AllSpark Almanac II
Wings Universe
After an encounter with four Autobots reignited his lust for domination, washed-out terrorist Old Snake reactivated an old Cobra project to combine the greatest military minds of Earth into the ultimate warrior, using the discarded body of a Sweep. Unfortunately, the Earth Defense Command disrupted the process, and EDC general Hawk's brain was accidentally scanned, resulting in a Decepticon with EDC sympathies. While the Decepticons acknowledged Serpent O.R.'s leadership prowess, they did not yet trust him, placing him in charge of a motley group of Decepticons. Serpent O.R.'s Wings Universe profile
During Jhiaxus’s invasion of Cybertron, Serpentor stood by at the ready on Earth as part of a joint team of Autobots and Decepticons, awaiting Obsidian's signal for their time to fight back. Once the signal came, they space bridged to Cybertron and started beating on some drones. He asked Krok to question the Soundwave clone, only to be disappointed in finding that Krok's itchy trigger finger meant he blasted the clone in the head several times before he got a chance to answer anything. Eagle Eye thankfully spotted Jhiaxus shortly thereafter, and Serpentor and his team attempted to converge on the enemy's coordinates, only to be blocked off by Jhiaxus's clone army. Nacelle led Serpentor and Krok to an old sealed-off passage to circumvent the enemy forces. Though the tunnel turned out to be much too small for their use as it was, thanks to Gatoraider, it proved useful nonetheless. They managed to get in position directly behind Jhiaxus, and Serpentor ambushed the Cybertronian leader, only to be beaten back by Jhiaxus's superior strength. Serpentor defeated Jhiaxus nonetheless when he impaled him with his Serpent Scepter, rendering him too weak to fight back. Jhiaxus shortly thereafter surrendered, realizing that his dream of a united Cybertron had already come true, as Autobots and Decepticons were fighting together against a common enemy. Serpentor was about to accept Jhiaxus's surrender and take him into custody when Megaplex showed up and murdered the Cybertronian leader. After Megaplex and Jhiaxus's armies had been subdued, Serpentor was present at the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. A Common Foe
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
Serpentor was the half-human, half-serpent child of Cobra Commander and the Baroness, predicted by Crystal Ball to become the one true Cobra emperor. Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #12 The Baroness was still pregnant with him by the time Billy took control of Cobra, but patiently awaited her son's birth and fated rise to power. The War Never Ends
Toys
Timelines
- Serpent O.R. (TFSS 3.0, 2015)
- Accessories: "Strike" attack gun, heat ray
- The third figure in the Figure Subscription Service 3.0, Timelines "Serpent O.R." is a redeco of TakaraTomy Generations Ratbat, himself a pretool of Deluxe Class Scourge. He transforms into a jet loosely based on the Boeing X-48 blended wing body concept aircraft, and comes with two weapons that are both held via 5 mm post, and can combine via C joint. These weapons can store inside each of his cape halves/aircraft wings. Like many, many aircraft-based Transformers, Serpent O. R. possesses landing gear in his alternate mode. There is a pair of flaps near the middle of his underside that can unfold to display six wheels, and underneath his robot mode head is a seventh landing gear wheel that can be flipped out.
- This toy was also retooled with yet another head as Timelines BotCon 2014 Devcon. The Ratbat tooling also served as the model for the non-toy 2005 IDW continuity incarnation of Deathcobra while the original tooling served as the model for the Ex-Jet.
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Notes
- Serpentor's original 1986 G.I. Joe toy (see link below) was notorious for Gold Plastic Syndrome. To this end, there were reports of brand new figures taken out of the package and disintegrating almost immediately. Yo Joe?
- Serpentor has been voiced by Transformers alumni Dick Gautier and Maurice LaMarche.
- Concept art of an unproduced Action Master seems to be based on Serpentor
External links
- Serpentor at YoJoe.com
- Serpentor at the IDW Hasbro Wiki
