By Destro Designs – Viper Den Studios

In 1985, G.I. Joe went to war against one of Cobra’s most devious weapons: election manipulation!

Forget the MASS Device. Forget Cobra’s weather-controlling machines, giant robots, and elaborate plans to conquer the world with military force. On October 11, 1985, children watching the Sunbow animated series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero encountered something considerably more grounded in reality.

Cobra was attempting to take control of a city through a mayoral election.

In the episode Cobra’s Candidate, written by Gordon Kent, Cobra Commander and Extensive Enterprises devise a political conspiracy involving paid street gangs, voter intimidation, manufactured public outrage, and a candidate secretly working for the terrorist organization.

What makes the scheme particularly clever is that the Joes initially find themselves defending the very politician Cobra wants elected!

More than four decades later, this 1985 adventure remains a fascinating example of the Sunbow cartoon exploring serious themes beneath its familiar mixture of laser battles, colorful characters, and over-the-top villainy.

And the ending? It features one of the funniest political defeats in animated television history!

A CITY AT WAR WITH ITSELF

The story begins with a contentious mayoral election between two candidates: Whittier Greenway and Robert Harper.

Harper has built his campaign around a familiar message: law and order. He promises voters that he will make their city safe again by standing up to crime and restoring control of the streets.

Unfortunately for Harper, a street gang known as the Rogues has begun terrorizing his campaign.

The group, led by a young woman named Pilar Vasquez, tears down Harper’s campaign posters, intimidates potential voters, and threatens citizens who refuse to support Greenway.

At campaign rallies, the Rogues show up to disrupt Harper’s speeches, hurling food and other garbage toward the podium while loudly denouncing him.

As the violence escalates, the Joes receive orders to protect Harper and prevent further disruptions to the election.

Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes, Spirit, Zap, Timber, and Freedom arrive to investigate, only to find themselves drawn into a series of confrontations involving the gang and Cobra’s hired muscle.

But here’s the twist.

The Rogues aren’t working for Greenway at all!

Although the gang believes it is being paid to support Greenway, its real employers are Cobra’s operatives.

And the actual purpose of the disturbances is to make Robert Harper appear like the only candidate capable of restoring order.

COBRA’S PLAN: MANUFACTURE A CRISIS

It’s one of Cobra Commander’s most interesting ideas.

Instead of attacking the city with tanks and aircraft, Cobra intends to exploit its citizens’ fear of crime and disorder.

Every broken campaign sign makes Greenway look worse. Every disrupted speech makes Harper look like a victim. Every frightened voter becomes another potential supporter of the candidate promising to crack down on criminal activity.

The scheme is a carefully constructed public-relations operation disguised as a political conflict.

The gang members believe their actions will benefit Greenway. Cobra knows those same actions will make voters more sympathetic to Harper.

Even worse, Cobra plans to have Harper arrest the Rogues after his victory, making good on his campaign promise to restore order and eliminating the criminals who helped manufacture the crisis.

It’s a scheme built around deception at every level.

The candidates aren’t fighting on equal terms. The public is being manipulated. The street gang is being exploited. And the G.I. Joe team is unknowingly helping protect Cobra’s chosen candidate.

In fact, Cobra Commander finds that final development downright amusing.

When he discovers the Joes are defending Harper, he gleefully observes:

“G.I. Joe on the side of Cobra? How delicious.”

For once, the terrorist organization has managed to place its greatest enemies on the wrong side of a conflict without ever revealing its hand.

G.I. JOE WALKS INTO THE TRAP

When the Joes first confront the Rogues, they quickly discover that these aren’t ordinary campaign demonstrators.

The youngsters receive assistance from Buzzer, Ripper, and Torch, the Dreadnoks who have been overseeing the street gang on Cobra’s behalf.

A rooftop chase leads to a wild encounter involving Cobra Ferret ATVs, collapsing fire escapes, and the capture of several Joes.

Meanwhile, Scarlett and Lady Jaye continue their efforts to protect Harper and determine who is directing the violence.

One of the entertaining elements of this episode is how the writers balance the conspiracy with traditional Sunbow action.

There are motorcycle chases, collapsing structures, villains using elaborate weapons, and enough close calls to remind viewers that this is still the G.I. Joe cartoon.

But underneath the explosions, something far more important is happening.

The Joes must determine whether the candidate they have been assigned to protect is truly the innocent victim he appears to be.

EXTENSIVE ENTERPRISES: FOLLOW THE MONEY!

Anyone familiar with G.I. Joe’s universe knows that when a major financial conspiracy is unfolding, Tomax and Xamot are rarely far away.

Sure enough, Harper’s campaign has connections to Extensive Enterprises, the powerful corporation operated by Cobra’s Crimson Twins.

When Harper arrives for a private meeting, he is congratulated on his rapidly improving poll numbers.

His supposed political advisors are actually Cobra’s wealthy financiers.

The meeting reveals how deeply Cobra has infiltrated the campaign.

Harper isn’t simply receiving sympathetic donations from questionable businessmen. He is participating in an operation designed to place him under Cobra’s influence once he occupies the mayor’s office.

Money is a central part of the conspiracy.

Harper is rewarded for playing his part, while the Crimson Twins demonstrate how organized financial power can be used to advance Cobra’s objectives without involving conventional military operations.

Then Cobra Commander appears on a video monitor and explains the ultimate goal.

With Harper in office, Cobra believes it can accomplish some of its goals through the political system itself.

Instead of trying to defeat city authorities with military force, the organization hopes to influence them by controlling the politician holding office.

Think about how different this scheme is from the average Cobra operation.

There is no need for a gigantic weapon. No need for an invading army. No need to announce Cobra’s intentions to the world.

If the voters can be persuaded to elect the right person, Cobra can potentially influence government from the inside.

It’s one of the reasons Cobra’s Candidate stands apart from so many other episodes.

SCARLETT AND LADY JAYE UNCOVER THE CONSPIRACY

Fortunately, Scarlett and Lady Jaye aren’t easily fooled.

The two Joes investigate Harper’s secret meeting and overhear the truth about Cobra’s involvement.

They learn that the Rogues have been paid to harass Harper specifically because their actions make him more attractive to voters.

They also discover that the gang members have no idea what their employers actually intend.

When Tomax and Xamot realize someone has been listening, the Crimson Twins attempt to eliminate the witnesses.

What follows is an exciting confrontation outside the Extensive Enterprises building, with Scarlett and Lady Jaye facing the twins while suspended high above the city.

After escaping, the Joes race to find Pilar Vasquez and explain the truth.

But Pilar isn’t ready to listen. From her perspective, Cobra has provided money and assistance. Why should she believe the people who have been chasing her gang?

Her distrust gives the story a layer of complexity that might surprise modern viewers discovering the episode for the first time.

Not everyone working for Cobra fully understands who they are working for, and not every person making the wrong decision is beyond redemption.

THE DREADNOKS, THE ROGUES, AND A DEADLY BETRAYAL

Elsewhere, the captured Joes face another problem.

Several members of the team are being held inside an underground prison, with Cobra personnel and their hired criminals attempting to keep the heroes out of the way until Harper’s campaign reaches its climax.

Storm Shadow and Cobra’s Crimson Guards become involved in the operation, while Firefly prepares a more destructive finale for Harper’s campaign.

The planned confrontation takes place near the waterfront, where Firefly has rigged abandoned buildings with explosives.

The intention is to create another violent incident surrounding Harper’s political campaign.

But Cobra’s plans take a disastrous turn when Pilar’s younger brother, Tito Vasquez, wanders into one of the buildings.

Tito wants to prove himself to the older gang members. Unfortunately, he has no idea that Cobra has prepared explosives nearby.

When the bombs detonate, Tito becomes trapped inside a burning structure.

For Pilar, the danger suddenly becomes personal.

She attempts to save her brother, but Ripper stops her and demands that she continue doing the job for which she has been paid.

That moment exposes Cobra’s true priorities.

The terrorist organization is perfectly willing to let a child die if saving him interferes with its plans.

Fortunately, Scarlett enters the burning building and helps rescue Tito.

The gang finally recognizes that Cobra has been exploiting its members all along, and they turn against the Dreadnoks.

The episode’s message becomes clear: intimidation and manipulation may work for a while, but revealing the truth can completely transform the people caught in the middle.

COBRA’S CANDIDATE IS EXPOSED!

With the truth coming out and Cobra’s operation collapsing, Harper attempts to make his escape aboard a Cobra Hydrofoil.

But the very criminals who helped build his political career have little interest in protecting him now.

Zartan and Firefly abandon their failed candidate, sending him into the water before escaping.

Harper is eventually apprehended, and the public learns of his relationship with Cobra.

His carefully constructed image as the candidate who would restore law and order is destroyed.

Which brings us to the episode’s unforgettable conclusion.

ELECTION NIGHT: COBRA GETS HUMILIATED!

At the end of the episode, the Joes and their newfound allies watch the mayoral election results on television.

With approximately 95 percent of the vote counted, the numbers are astonishing.

That’s not a typo.

Robert Harper receives TWO votes!

Despite Cobra’s enormous financial investment, its elaborate political conspiracy, and all the violence committed to create support for Harper, the voters overwhelmingly reject him.

Of course, this immediately raises the obvious question.

Who were the two people who actually voted for Harper?

The answer is delivered through one final joke.

Inside the offices of Extensive Enterprises, Tomax and Xamot tear up their voting stubs, revealing that each brother cast a ballot for Cobra’s candidate.

They are the two voters!

After destroying their own evidence of political embarrassment, the Crimson Twins complain about the experience of backing a loser.

For the brothers who built their reputation around power, money, and financial manipulation, the ending couldn’t be more appropriate.

COBRA SPENT A FORTUNE BUYING INFLUENCE… AND GOT TWO VOTES!

WAS THIS REALLY VOTER FRAUD?

This is the element of Cobra’s Candidate that makes the episode especially fascinating when revisited today.

Although the story deals directly with election corruption, there is an important distinction between voter fraud and election interference.

The cartoon doesn’t depict Cobra secretly changing the vote totals, stuffing ballot boxes, or counting fraudulent ballots.

Instead, the organization is interfering with the political process before voters reach the ballot box.

Its methods include voter intimidation, harassment of a political candidate, staged public disorder, covert financial backing, and the deliberate manipulation of public perception.

Those actions are more accurately described as election interference and political corruption rather than proven ballot fraud.

And in some ways, that makes the storyline more interesting.

Cobra isn’t trying to manufacture votes out of thin air. It is trying to manufacture the conditions that will influence how real people vote.

The organization wants the public to become so concerned about crime and disorder that voters will support a politician who secretly serves Cobra’s interests.

Think about that for a moment.

In a cartoon best remembered for fantastic machines and outrageous science-fiction concepts, one of Cobra’s most dangerous schemes involves manipulating ordinary human behavior.

Fear becomes the weapon. Public perception becomes the battlefield. The election becomes the prize.

And only when the deception is exposed can the public make its choice without the same manufactured illusion.

THE FIVE CHARACTERS WHO NEVER GOT ACTION FIGURES

Another reason collectors should revisit Cobra’s Candidate is its memorable cast of characters created specifically for the animated storyline.

Several important personalities from the episode never received dedicated figures in the original 1980s G.I. Joe action figure line.

For longtime collectors, these characters offer an intriguing glimpse into the enormous world Sunbow created beyond the toy line itself.

And just imagine a G.I. Joe Classified Series display featuring Robert Harper at his campaign podium with Tomax and Xamot standing beside him, while the Rogues prepare to disrupt another campaign rally!

It might be a rather unusual action figure set, but it would make for a terrific conversation piece.

WHY COBRA’S CANDIDATE STILL MATTERS

When fans talk about the best episodes of the Sunbow series, the conversation usually turns toward the MASS Device, The Pyramid of Darkness, the introduction of Serpentor, or spectacular adventures involving Cobra’s most dangerous weapons.

But episodes like Cobra’s Candidate deserve recognition because they demonstrate how versatile the original cartoon could be.

The writers weren’t limited to traditional military confrontations. They could explore international intrigue, corporate corruption, espionage, science fiction, and even local politics.

What makes this particular episode work is the combination of an intelligent villainous scheme and the exaggerated action that defined the series.

Scarlett and Lady Jaye conduct a genuine investigation. The Dreadnoks provide the chaos and comic relief. Tomax and Xamot demonstrate the financial side of Cobra’s operation. Pilar Vasquez provides a character whose loyalties change as the truth emerges.

And Cobra Commander gets to pursue an objective that, at least in theory, could accomplish something without mobilizing an entire army.

For a brief moment, it looks like Cobra might actually succeed.

Then everything falls apart.

Perhaps that’s the most satisfying element of the story. The same citizens Cobra attempted to manipulate ultimately deliver an overwhelming rejection of its candidate.

THE SERPENTORSLAIR VERDICT

Cobra’s Candidate is one of those episodes that becomes more interesting when revisited as an adult.

When we were kids, we probably remembered the Dreadnoks riding their ATVs, Scarlett and Lady Jaye battling Cobra agents, or the ridiculous final election results.

But looking back, Gordon Kent’s story offered a surprisingly sophisticated lesson about political manipulation, financial influence, and the dangers of allowing fear to determine public decisions.

The central idea is simple but effective: Cobra doesn’t always need to conquer people by force. Sometimes it can attempt to manipulate the choices people make themselves.

The Joes’ ultimate victory comes not from destroying a giant machine, but from exposing the truth about the organization behind the political chaos.

And the finale reminds viewers that even Cobra’s most elaborate plans can come crashing down when its deception is discovered.

Is Cobra’s Candidate the greatest Sunbow adventure ever produced? Probably not.

But is it one of the more creative and memorable examples of Cobra trying something completely different?

Absolutely.

And somewhere inside Extensive Enterprises, Tomax and Xamot probably still wish they could get those two votes back!

About the Author

Adam Jared is the founder of SerpentorsLair.com. A longtime G.I. Joe collector and pop culture enthusiast, Adam holds a Master of Science in Social Media Management and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Strategic Communication. Through SerpentorsLair.com, he explores the history, characters, collectibles, and cultural impact of the television, movies, comics, and action figures that shaped generations of fans.