Some major drawbacks if you have this handicap, no matter how good you are at martial arts.
1) Not being able to acknowledge orders
2) Not being able to give orders
3) Not being about to communicate via secure comms
4) Not being able to give/reply challenge passwords
Really ... it's kind of a deal breaker for the armed forces.
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Veni, Vidi, Oh Just Facit!
Well, in the comics, he didn't get the ninja training until after he had joined the army. He was in the same unit as Storm Shadow and Stalker, and then returned home to find his family had been killed by a drunk driver. So he joined up with Storm Shadow and got the training there.
He wasn't unable to speak until he was scarred in a helicopter crash after joining up with the Joes. In the comics. Snake Eyes can do at least 1, 2 and 4, as he is shown writing detailed reports and using sign language to communicate.
I mean, if you're as good as Snake Eyes, I think the armed forces is going to make an exception, and if not, well, there's always the CIA, right?
"All we ever see of stars are their old photographs." Dr. Manhattan, Watchmen
www.blueyondercomic.net
Just watched the latest episode. Here's my 2 cents on Snakes Eyes.
The character of Snake Eyes would be campy cool for a 1970s Shaw Brothers movie (the ones w/ subtitles). I can also see it sorta working in the 1980s cartoon, as part of a larger ensemble cast where the obvious handicap can be overlooked.
As a modern A-Team cartoon, the limitations of a ninja Marcel Marceau are glaring. Communicating w/ him is like a never ending game of charades. It doesn't work.
The show is still interesting, despite it's many flaws. The writing is much better than the movie, but that may not be high praise.
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Veni, Vidi, Oh Just Facit!
I'm sure you guys must have noticed that Snake Eyes isn't actually in the military, right? The reason he's hanging out with Scarlett is... well, it will be revealed later in the season.
"Tip the world on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles." - Frank Lloyd Wright
...She wants his Cobra, or wants more of it.
"More human than human here!"
Whether or not this current show considers him a Joe or not, up to this point he has *always been* a member of G.I. Joe. By the way, if a soldier is seriously wounded he might normally be discharged with medical benefits, unless:
1. He wishes to remain in the military AND...
2. His injury does not diminish his specific area of expertise AND...
3. He is in possession of a very rare (and useful) skill set...
...In which case the powers that be can choose to keep him on in whatever capacity they deem necessary (especially if it's a semi-autonomous, special forces unit like the Joes).
"Whether or not this current show considers him a Joe or not, up to this point he has *always been* a member of G.I. Joe."
This show is a prequel. It comes chronologically before any other Joe shows, comics, movies, etc... And we do realize this is a cartoon show aimed at 7 year olds, right? Spider-man style ninjas, laser guns, holographically camouflaged trucks, rampaging gelatin homonculi... Realism about whether someone who can't speak should be in the military isn't a real big consideration, I think...
And anyway, he is a mercenary of sorts who hangs out with and looks after Scarlett. He's not in the Army, US or otherwise.
"Tip the world on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles." - Frank Lloyd Wright
This show is a prequel. It comes chronologically before any other Joe shows, comics, movies, etc
@ChuckMunson
The first post. in this cartoon hes not in the military. In the Comics. Yes he is.
The first post. in this cartoon hes not in the military. In the Comics. Yes he is
New origin story, then. Remember that GI Joe isn't like "Star Trek", where there's a continuity "canon" that the writers are encouraged to follow. If so, then I'd be upset about why my Adventure Team Talking Commander wasn't in the show...
"Tip the world on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles." - Frank Lloyd Wright
I don't think it'd be bad to establish a Star Trek-like canon based on it's most popular incarnation (A Real American Hero from the 1980's) - the incarnation that was so popular it allowed a live-action movie to be an eventually viable option.
look how many have facial hair
I watch too many movies.....
I agree with others in that he is just too good to pass up on just cause he doesn't speak. Plus he can show his acknowledgement of the orders before they split up or whatever, and with his particular skills he would be better suited at doing like solo covert missions (like he does in the show) so he won't have a need to give orders, communicate on a secure comms, or give/reply challenge passwords.
A boat that floats on water can also sink in it.share