Focusing on the global conflict between the heroic Joes and the dangerous forces of Cobra, G.I. Joe is one of the most popular action cartoons of a certain era of western animation -- and has inspired plenty of other pieces of film over the years, including this year's Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. It's been mocked and parodied numerous times over the years as well, with two of the most creative animated shows of the 21st century creating two very dark parodies of the military-themed animated series.
But which parody of G.I. Joe was darker -- Futurama's G.I. Zapp, or The Venture Bros.' S.P.H.I.N.X.?
Futurama's G.I. Zapp
Futurama's Season 7 episode, "Saturday Morning Fun Pit," is an anthology episode, centering on three cartoons that seemingly play on television within the universe of Futurama's 31st century. One of the shorts is revealed to be a G.I. Joe-riff, titled G.I. Zapp. Recasting the show's buffoonish military commander as the leader of an elite team of commandos (each of whom are parodies of the core-Futurama cast), President Richard Nixon is pressured by parents groups to censor the show, and ends up watching -- and being increasingly horrified -- by the episode.
In the show-within-a-show, Zapp is the leader of his platoon, going up against the forces of A.C.R.O.N.Y.M., a parody of Cobra that's commanded by versions of Professor Farnsworth and Doctor Zoidberg. Their battles are quickly shown to be incredibly violent, with the forces of G.I. Zapp resorting to brutal methods to wipe out their enemies. In the single battle portrayed in the episode, the G.I. Zapp versions of Kif and Fry are both killed in combat. It's a grisly take on the concept, culminating with Bender outright slaughtering a soldier so gruesomely that the typically dark-minded Nixon is forced to avert his eyes.
The Venture Bros.' SPHINX
Introduced in The Venture Bros.' Season 3 episode "The Invisible Hand of Fate," S.P.H.I.N.X. was a clear pastiche of the forces of Cobra. Their enemies, the OSI -- the same secret organization that Brock Samson belongs to -- are dedicated to bringing them down once and for all. The OSI waged war against S.P.H.I.N.X., with a casual attitude to lethality in the battle. Many of the OSI members even had distinct and impractical personas, such as Shoreleave and Sky Pilot, similar to the unique identities of the G.I. Joe soldiers like Snow Job and Roadblock.
The original commanders of S.P.H.I.N.X. were forced into retirement following their loss in the largely off-screen Pyramid Wars. In Season 5's "SPHINX Rising," Gary -- the former 24 -- attempted to use the remains of the S.P.H.I.N.X. armory for good. The SPHINX Commander usurped his attempts and tried to reengage the OSI in conflict. But Brock and Shoreleave quickly arrived on the scene, killing SPHINX Commander. While S.P.H.I.N.X. hasn't returned since then, they have been revealed to have played an important role in the history of the series.
Which G.I. Joe Parody Was Darker?
G.I. Zapp is a very dark parody of G.I. Joe, showcasing the sheer gory violence that such battles entailed. Even Nixon's attempts to cover up the more questionable elements of the cartoon fail, as he tries to convince the viewer that Hermes drowning an enemy is just helping them bob for apples, or that a soldier taking an ax to the chest actually "caught" it. But the forces of G.I. Zapp are still seemingly successful in their mission and are still nominally the heroes of their story.
However, the OSI and S.P.H.I.N.X. were manipulated, with the Venture Bros.' version of Cobra only being pawns in the grand scheme of things. In Season 7's "Arrears in Science," it's revealed that the Pyramid Wars were fought over a lie. A rogue band of villains from the Guild of Calamitous Intent had attacked Jonas Venture and his allies on the space station Gargantuan-1, resulting in the wholesale slaughter of them all. Covering up their involvement, the Guild framed S.P.H.I.N.X. for the attack, setting off the Pyramid Wars and costing countless lives while secretly amassing their own power as the OSI wiped out their villainous competition.
G.I. Zapp might be a violent subversion of the classic action cartoon, but S.P.H.I.N.X. plays with the actual ramifications a G.I. Joe/Cobra conflict could actually have on the world. It paints the villainous organization as unwitting fools in the long run, all used as a tool by the true forces of nefarious power in that world. The wars that have defined so many lives were just the desperate actions of the show's real villains, and all that pain was just a by-product of one fateful night. It's a far more tragic and frightening take on the concept of Cobra and G.I. Joe, and what their conflict really amounts to.