EWWW! That looks like crap! oh well....here's the way it goes;

Cobra Commander is at the top.

one chain is Col Vargas and his shadow gaurd. (on the left)

the second chain is the Crimson Twins and the CG's in rank order (Commanders, Immortals and CG's) (on the right)

Center is the Army Corps starting with a Cobra General,

neo Vipers,

Specialist vipers (Frag/Flak/eels/Snow Serpents) and Ninja Vipers

the Viper Corps with the CLAWS as an adjacent Command (CLAWS are Heavy Vipers in my verse!

Nightwatch/Blueshirts and V-troopers

Toxovipers

BATS


I have this in a Word document I can post in the "FILES" section if anyone wants it. It shows the adjacencies better!

lol, yeah, i couldnt make heads or tails of that.


i have the joe rank, as done by all their filecards(i went through each and everyone) in word document as well if anyone wants it. i dont know if it helps, youll have to ask rambo.

Based on Cobra-only forces (not Dreadnoks, not MARs, mercs are so-so)

Cobra Commander
Commander Vlasko (custom)
Interrogator

Crimson Guards (CC's personal body guard, also used for Tomax & Xamot; not battlefield troops

NeoVipers (when the best are needed)

Vipers (When you need guys that are on a more sensitive mission or battle)

BlueShirts (Used for everything)

Speciality troops of a certain base class get slight priority over the average version. ie; IF a squad of Vipers are hanging out with the Snow Serpents in the Snow Serpents hood, then the SSs are of higher rank simply cuz it's their turf. HOWEVER, if the Snow Serpents are chilling with the Vipers in a steamin', bloody swamp in a TerrorDrome, then the Vipers get rank.

Kinda like, who is the better Joe in the snow? Snow Job or Bazooka?

BATs are an entirely different organization. They are often used as fodder and tend to be more loyal to Overkill.

Overkill. The mad scientist of Cobra. His stroke only goes so far.

Baroness. The intelligence officer, she has no real powers of leadership but like Major Bludd or Ghost Bear, she will lead troops into battle if she must. She is NOT a fighter. She's better hanging out in the background and barking orders, like Cobra Commander.

This is, of course, part of my 'verse. ;)

Hershel work is very interesting. Here it is:

Colton 0-10 (Army Chief of Staff, General)
Keel-Haul 0-9 (Vice Admiral)
Hawk 0-6, 0-7, 0-8 (Major General)
Flagg 0-7 (Brigadier General)
Courage 0-6 (Colonel)
Payload 0-6
Sure Fire 0-5 (Lieutenant Colonel)
Sky Striker 0-5
Ghost Rider 0-4 (Major)
Bullet Proof 0-4
Major Storm 0-4
Major Barrage 0-4
Ace 0-3, 0-4, 0-3, 0-4, 0-3 (Captain)
Doc 0-3
Countdown 0-3
Grid Iron 0-3
Psyche-Out 0-2, 0-3
Updraft 0-3
Maverick 0-3
Rapid Fire 0-3
Windmill 0-3
Cutter 0-2 (Lieutenant, Junior Grade)
Slipstream 0-2 (1st Lieutenant, same as cutter, different service)
Falcon 0-2
Super Trooper 0-2
Dog Fight 0-2
Sub-Zero 0-2
Steeler 0-1 (2nd Lieutenant)
Thunder Wing 0-1
Wet Down W0-5 (Master Warrant Officer)
Torpedo W0-4, W0-5, W0-4 (Warrant Officer 4)
Wild Bill CW-4 (Chief Warrant Officer, same as Torpedo, different service)
Flint E-6, W-3, W0-2 (Warrant Officer 2)
Lift-Ticket W0-2
Altitude E-9, W0-2
Mercer E-5, E-9 (Sergeant Major, not counting 06 con figure where he was E-5)
Duke E-8, E-9, E-8 (First Sergeant or Master Sergeant)
Storm Shadow E-8 (only one file card had him with a rank)
Blizzard E-7, E-8
Airwave E-8
Drop Zone E-8
Sky Dive E-8
Mace E-8
Brawler E-8, E-6, E-8
Double Blast E-8
Gung-Ho E-7, E-9 (Sergeant Major), E-7, E-9, E-7 (Gunnery Sergeant, Marines)
Rock-N-Roll E-5, E-6, E-9, E-7 (Sergeant First Class)
Stalker E-5, E-7, E-8, E-7
Snake Eyes E-5, E-7, E-8, E-7, E-5, E-7
Snow Job E-6, E-7
Deep Six E-7 (Chief Petty Officer, Navy)
Airborn E-7 (Master Sergeant, Air Force)
Lady Jaye E-4, E-7 (all other females are E-4 or E-5 except Volga)
Shipwreck E-7, E-8 (Senior Chief Petty Officer), E-7 (CPO, Chief Petty Officer, Navy)
Sgt. Slaughter E-7
Beach Head E-6, E-7
Letherneck E-7 (Gunnery Sergeant, Marines)
Dodger E-7 87
Armadillo E-7 88
Hot-Seat E-7 89
Long Range E-7 89
Salvo E-7 90
Cold Front E-7 90
Static Line E-7 90
Tracker E-7 91
T'Jbang E-7 92
Side Track E-7 00
Crossfire E-7 01

I've decided that Cobra Commander just creates new troop types on a whim. Or his underlings do, and he approves.

I used to follow the file cards. But early on they made Cobra Officers, Stinger and Hiss drivers O-4's! What the heck? A jeep driver is a Major? A 2-man tank operator is, too?

The blue shirt and Viper thing isn't hard for me.

Now, CLAWS, HEAT Viper and Fast Blast Vipers get odd. Now there's a Bazooka Trooper coming...meaning blue shirts have weps "specialists", too.

Frogmen: Eels, Hydro Vipers, Morays and Undertows...too many divers

Flamethrowers: Incinerators, Shock Vipers, and there's a desert Cobra trooper flamethrower coming. A lot for a limited use weapon.

Ninjas...so many, I chalk most up to being mercs, except Ninja Troopers/Vipers who are trained Cobras.

I used to follow the file cards. But early on they made Cobra Officers, Stinger and Hiss drivers O-4's! What the heck? A jeep driver is a Major? A 2-man tank operator is, too?

BAM!!! My biggest problem! How does this work? A HISS drivers an 05? That makes a HISS commander higher?

Does a Blue Shirt Officer outrank a Viper?

So rank these in order for me:
Blue Shirt OFC
Hiss Cmdr
Hiss Driver (red)
Hiss Driver (urban camo)
Stinger Driver


This started quite a discussion huh?
Thanks all.

Slightly off-topic, but... Keel-Haul outranks Hawk? That's kind of funny...

(yes, I realize they're in different branches of the service and one would rarely, if ever, be "pulling rank" on the other anyway, but still...)

yeah, when i went through every year and looked at all the ranks, i came across a lot of surprises. gung-ho outranked duke for a year or 2, and hawk outranks the new flagg.

That makes sense. As Flagg Jr. would be pretty young to even make it to general. I mean, his dad didn't look that old.

Some one pointed out once that there's an old Hasbro fan club newsletter that introduces Duke, and says he calls the shots, even to officers like Ace.

GI JOE Fan club 1983 newsletter

His arrogance matches up with the comic book version. ;)

You're right! Duke doesnt know the IMHO cliché.