After the death of the future Cobra Commanders brother, Dan, Cobra Commander sought out the only surviving son of the family that was killed by Dan in a drunken driving incident. He finds this person at a bar and the two of them became friends after the future Commander saves him from being killed by a truck. This man will eventually become the G.I. Joe team member known as Snake-eyes.

The two became vigilantes and traveled the United States. The Cobra Commander takes Snake-eyes to the home of a judge that he believed was corrupt, the same judge that ruled years earlier that a fire at a Veterans Hospital was not caused by a patience but by Cobra Commanders brother Dan in an insurance fraud attempt. Dan lost everything and turned to drinking which lead to the drunken driving incident that killed him and Snake-eye’s family.

Snake-eyes realized that he had become consumed by his emotions and refused to kill the judge. Cobra Commander killed the judge himself and vowed revenge on Snake-eyes for his betrayal.

Cobra Commander has lead and been overthrown as leader of Cobra on several occasions. He has also been captured by and escaped G.I. Joe. Cobra Commander has not only been Cobras leader but a competent operative. He can be ruthless and extremely violent. At one point he used Destro and Baroness’s infant child as a bargaining chip to take control of Destro’s arms dealing empire.