• Air date: 12 Sep '83 65 episodes
      G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a half-hour American animated television series based on the successful toyline from Hasbro and the comic book series from Marvel Comics. The cartoon had its beginnings with two five-part mini-series in 1983 and 1984, then became a regular series that ran in syndication from 1985 to 1986. Ron Friedman created the G.I. Joe animated series for television, and wrote all four miniseries. The fourth mini-series was intended to be a feature film, but due to production difficulties was released as a television mini-series.
  • List of Episodes (65)
    • 1. A Real American Hero (1): The Cobra Strikes

      12 Sep '83
      Cobra seizes control of a new satellite for use with a new transportation device, and Duke is captured in the attempt. The G.I. Joe team learns that they must build their own device to defeat Cobra.
    • 2. A Real American Hero (2): Slave of the Cobra Master

      13 Sep '83
      The Joes travel to the arctic to retrieve rare minerals to fuel their MASS device, but Cobra ambushes them, and Snake Eyes is presumed dead. Duke manages to escape the Cobra base with the help of a slave girl, but he is injured and cannot remember the base's location.
    • 3. A Real American Hero (3): The Worms of Death

      14 Sep '83
      Snake Eyes returns home with the help of a wolf and a blind man. The Joes and Cobras battling for undersea elements must join forces to escape giant tubeworms on the ocean floor.
    • 4. A Real American Hero (4): Duel in the Devil's Cauldron

      15 Sep '83
      G.I. Joe tries to throw off Cobra with a false surrender while mounting a mission to the Ring of Fire for the third element. Destro sabotages the operation but is pursued by Scarlett.
    • 5. A Real American Hero (5): A Stake in the Serpent's Heart

      16 Sep '83
      Destro returns to Cobra base and seizes control of the operation from the Commander. The now-captured Scarlett and the slave girl organize a slave revolt. Duke's memories under sensory deprivation lead the Joes to the Cobra base where a final battle takes place. Cobra Commander is captured and taken to prison, but Destro escapes. The battle is over but not the war!
    • 6. The Revenge of Cobra (1): In the Cobra's Pit

      10 Sep '84
      A Cobra attack on a Joe convoy results in the capture of Duke and Snake Eyes and the theft of a laser core which Destro uses to power his new weapon, the Weather Dominator. Meanwhile, Cobra Commander is briefly captured but rescued by Zartan.
    • 7. The Revenge of Cobra (2): The Vines of Evil

      11 Sep '84
      Flint and Mutt, stranded by the weather dominator, hire Shipwreck to ferry them out of Cobra territory. Meanwhile, the Joes develop an energy mirror to fight the dominator's attacks, but Destro smashes them with a hailstorm. During the battle, Destro's weapon breaks, and the three pieces scatter over the globe.
    • 8. The Revenge of Cobra (3): The Palace of Doom

      12 Sep '84
      As Flint, Mutt, and Shipwreck return to Joe Headquarters, the Joes and Cobras head to the Island of No Return and the jungle Palace of Doom to retrieve parts of the weather dominator.
    • 9. The Revenge of Cobra (4): Battle on the Roof of the World

      13 Sep '84
      As G.I. Joe and Cobra race to retrieve the three parts, Zartan ensures that each side acquires one piece, and then steals the laser core at the Roof of the World.
    • 10. The Revenge of Cobra (5): Amusement Park of Terror

      14 Sep '84
      Cobra steals the Joes' piece of the dominator and assaults Zartan's base. Now in possession of all three pieces, Destro seeks to rebuild the weather dominator. The Joes locate the Cobra Temple and attack it.
    • 11. The Pyramid of Darkness (1): The Further Adventures of G.I. Joe

      16 Sep '85
      Cobra briefly attacks a Joe shuttle launch long enough to load it with its own forces. Shipwreck and Snake Eyes are lost in Cobra territory, and Zartan uses the shuttle to commandeer a space station and destroy Joe Headquarters from space. Meanwhile, Cobra Commander reveals a plan to deprive most of the world of electricity.
    • 12. The Pyramid of Darkness (2): Rendezvous in the City of the Dead

      17 Sep '85
      With G.I. Joe headquarters nearly destroyed, the Joes establish a temporary base on the USS Flagg. Joes on the space station try to warn the team of Cobra's plan to plant cubes at strategic locations to create an electricity-inhibiting pyramid over the northern hemisphere.
    • 13. The Pyramid of Darkness (3): Three Cubes to Darkness

      18 Sep '85
      The Joes rush to prevent Cobra from planting its huge cubes as Shipwreck and Snake Eyes try to evade detection.
    • 14. The Pyramid of Darkness (4): Chaos in the Sea of Lost Souls

      19 Sep '85
      Quick Kick joins Alpine and Bazooka, and the Crimson Twins turn the tables on Cobra Commander by taking control of the space station and the Pyramid of Darkness.
    • 15. The Pyramid of Darkness (5): Knotting Cobra's Coils

      20 Sep '85
      As the Cobra leaders struggle for control of their organization, Quick Kick and Shipwreck lead the Joes in an assault on Cobra forces to destroy their pyramid-creating abilities.
    • 16. Countdown for Zartan

      23 Sep '85
      Cobra kidnaps a French scientist named Dr. Emil Mettier, and Zartan replaces him before he arrives at the World Wide Defense Center to complete their database on terrorism. Spirit is suspicious of the doctor, and when he investigates, he is confronted, then captured by Storm Shadow. Freedom escapes, and leads Lady Jaye, Recondo, Doc, Gung-Ho and Stalker back to the Defense Center, only to discover that Zartan has replaced the doctor and has set up a bomb. While the Joes search for the bomb, Gung
    • 17. Red Rocket's Glare

      24 Sep '85
      Extensive Enterprises uses biker gangs to terrorize Red Rocket diners, then buys them back at a lower price and replaces the diners' rocket props with real rockets. But Roadblock's family, unaware of EE's connections to Cobra, refuses to sell their restaurant.
    • 18. Satellite Down

      25 Sep '85
      When Cobra uses a tractor beam to steal a spy satellite recently placed in space by the Joes, Breaker forces the satellite to crash in the jungles of Africa, but a tribe of hominid Primords complicates Joe and Cobra's efforts to recover the technology.
    • 19. Cobra Stops the World

      26 Sep '85
      Cobra attacks crucial oil derricks, pipelines, and tankers, seeking to control the world's fuel supplies. But G.I. Joe use Cobra Commander's remote-control attacks to pinpoint his location.
    • 20. Jungle Trap

      27 Sep '85
      Cobra kidnaps scientist Dr. Shakur in order to harness the energy of Earth's core and cause volcanic eruptions, but the Joes work through a number of traps to raid Cobra's jungle base and destroy Cobra's newest weapon.
    • 21. Cobra's Creatures

      30 Sep '85
      Mutt, Junkyard, & Ripcord are kidnapped by Cobra, so that the evil scientist, Dr. Lucifer, can test his new invention, High Freq, a device which controls the minds of animals and insects, on Junkyard. Cobra use it to gain control of an army of animals to take over the world, and send Junkyard hunting after Mutt. In exchange for High Freq, Cobra agrees to break Dr. Lucifer's love, Dr. Attilla, out of jail. GI Joe learns of this, and has Scarlett pose as Attilla, but it's obvious to Lucifer she is
    • 22. The Funhouse

      01 Oct '85
      Flint, Dusty, Bazooka, Alpine, and others have to break into a temple to stop Cobra from its next plan to take over the world. When the temple turns out to be a fun house with obstacles of death, the Joes have to find their way to Cobra Commander and save the day!
    • 23. Twenty Questions

      02 Oct '85
      Investigative reporter Hector Ramirez believes that Cobra is not a real threat and that G.I. Joe is a drain on taxpayers' money. But Shipwreck takes him on an unauthorized mission into Cobra territory to prove their danger.
    • 24. The Greenhouse Effect

      03 Oct '85
      A Crimson Guard steals a container filled with experimental rocket fuel, causing plants to grow to gargantuan sizes. Destro convinces Cobra Commander that the plants could be used in combat. Harvey 15 Bullock 6
    • 25. Haul Down the Heavens

      04 Oct '85
      The Joes travel to the arctic regions at the top of the world in order to stop Cobra from using the Aurora Borealis to melt the ice and flood coastal cities around the world.