G.I. Joe is one of the greatest cartoons from the 80's. This toy series turned iconic television show is held in the pantheon of amazing toylines and cartoons from that era along with others such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, The Real Ghostbusters, and more!
However while many are fans of the old cartoon and toys, there is a lot about G.I. Joe that is only known to diehard fans. One character that fans may not know much about is Duke. This list will reveal classified info on the leader of the G.I. Joe that many missed.
10 DUKE HAS MULTIPLE AWARDS ON HIS SERVICE RECORD
It has been revealed that Duke has a multitude of awards on his service record. If anyone thought there'd only be a few awards they'd be mistaken. Duke's list of awards go far and beyond what anyone could even imagine. Which is only fitting for the man chosen to be fit enough to lead G.I. Joe.
These awards include the Medal of Honor, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal with two bronze stars, Combat Army Parachutist Badge, and more.
9 HIS RANK WASN'T ALWAYS SET
Being a television show made for kids didn't mean that the creators behind G.I. Joe wouldn't think hard on the lore. In fact, back in the 80s the lore was the most important part of the puzzle when it came to commercializing a new children's franchise. This meant that there were some hard and weird decisions to be made at the conceptualization table.
One of the decisions that needed to be made had to do with Duke's rank. That decision came about before the release of Duke's figure and was whether Duke would be an officer or a high-ranking enlisted man.
8 HE ENLISTED IN 1960
While Duke was finalized as a true character in the 80s for the G.I. Joe Real American Hero line he apparently was born much earlier. It is believed that he was born in 1948 at the absolute latest. This is believed because in his preliminary dossier it is said that he enlisted into the United States army in the year of 1960.
During this time it is believed that he trained the Montagnard to fight against the Viet Cong. After this, it is said that he received a battle promotion in 1967, was captured, and escaped Vietnam six months later.
7 HE ISN'T A FAN OF TECH
One thing that doesn't really make sense about Duke is the fact that he leads one of the most high tech suits in United States history, yet he isn't the biggest fan of technology. This may be something that was changed since his original appearance and after the cartoon show was made. but it definitely shows up on his dossier.
On the dossier, he states, "I don't believe in gadgets. I believe in the infantry. They can throw all that high-tech hardware 'til the sun don't shine no more, but the battle isn't won until a walking, breathing, rifle-toting infantryman plants his size-ten combat boots on the other side's turf and claims it with his blood, sweat and all the ammo he can carry."
6 HE TECHNICALLY SHOWED UP IN MARVEL'S SECRET WAR II
Many may not know but G.I. Joe was not only a toyline and cartoon series. The series was also a comic book published by Marvel Comics in 1982. This comic series was of course based on the television series and took the lore to new places. It was also the first comic book series to be advertised on television, which was historically crucial for the medium.
In 1985 Marvel's Secret War II comic crossover event began and apparently Duke was there for it as well. Well, not necessarily Duke, but a soldier that looked exactly like him called Sergeant.
5 THE MOVIE PAYS A HOMAGE TO DUKE ONLY HARDCORE FANS WOULD NOTICE
The G.I. Joe film Rise of Cobra released in 2009 to a lackluster response from both film critics and Joe fans alike. The film was full of dull action scenes, boring characters, a relatively bad plot, and just mediocrity all around. Among those sins were sins of character designs being tampered with such as Snake Eyes's and Cobra Commander's masks/helmets.
However, the film does attempt to please fans with certain design choices. One of those deep cut design choices was to give Duke a scar under his right eye. This scar was a homage to the original line of G.I. Joe toys, G.I. Joe: America's Movable Fighting Man.
4 THE FILM VERSION OF DUKE HAS A DIFFERENT ROLE THAN THE ORIGINAL
Another complaint among hardcore Joe fans about the films was the fact that the Rise of Cobra's version of Duke went against a lot of morals that the original stood for. In fact, the film version was actually a huge contradiction on the character.
While the original Duke was often noted for refusing a commission to remain a non-commissioned officer due to the morals he followed, the cinema version was stated to be an army officer.
3 DUKE WENT SOLO AFTER G.I. JOE DISBANDED
G.I. Joe disbanded after years of missions which left Duke to disappear. During this time it was shown that he was in fact, running covert Black Ops missions for a secret government agency. Each of these missions was highly classified but one led to a huge development in the world of G.I. Joe.
The development was of course that Cobra Commander had returned after his disappearance which of course meant that the whole Cobra organization wasn't too far behind.
2 HE LET GO OF HIS LEADING POSITION
After finding out that Cobra Commander returned, G.I. Joe got back together because they're, of course, the only team suited well enough to deal with him and his organization. Duke joined back on the team but this time in a different position.
Duke's undercover and sneaky actions led to him letting go of his position of leadership. He then adopted a behind-the-scenes role of a G.I. Joe advisor.
1 DUKE'S 3 3/4 FIGURE WAS RE-RELEASED MULTIPLE TIMES
Once the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy series began, Duke was released as one of the original mail-away figures in the line. Much like other toylines of this era, many revisions of this figure would follow this original.
After the mail away version Duke was re-released as a carded figure. This same figure was recolored and released again as the leader of the "Tiger Force" line. Many other versions of Duke would follow behind this one each with different titles, recolors, and accessories.