Women of G.I. Joe and Cobra

Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, The Baroness, and Zarana. Remember these names? These are the names of several women who stood behind Cobra and G.I. Joe men. The following article explores why these names are as important as the men's names. It was nice to see women intertwined into the Cobra and G.I. Joe forces. In the very early 80s you very rarely saw women as leaders of the pack that is until G.I. Joe came along. Scarlett, Cover Girl, and Lady Jaye work for the Joes and the Baroness, and Zarana work for Cobra so it's easy to see where their loyalities lie.

Let's just face it with out women like these behind them the Joe and Cobra forces wouldn't be much fun. So I introduce to those who weren't around back then the G.I. Joe and Cobra women who make each other's lives well, interesting.

Scarlett (Shana O'Hara)



Scarlett is a stunning red head. She was the first female G.I. Joe introduced in the Real American Hero series.

She was born in Atlanta, Georgia the youngest of four children and has trained in the marshall arts. She earned a black belt in every type of marshall art there is. Her speciality is intelligence with a secondary speciality that is classified. Scarlett has the rank of Masters Sargent next in line after General Hawk, Duke, Flint, and Beach Head. She is a skilled marksman like the other Joe team members but chooses to use a crossbow with arrows that fire flares, grappling hooks, and other sorts of offensive and defensive weapons. Masters Sargent O'Hara can often be seen fighting by the side of Sargent Conrad S Hauser better known to the G.I. Joe forces as Duke.



Lady Jaye (Allison R Hart-Burnett)



Lady Jaye is a feisty co vert operative who relies on subtle movements and easy disguises to help hide her identity.

Born in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusesttes Lady Jaye is a covert operative and a master of disguise. She doesn't use chintzy rubber masks or wigs when she's undercover but rather relies on observing people's movements and body language to disguise herself. She's highly educated having attended Bryn Mawr. After graduation she attended Trinty College in Dublin, Ireland and then traveled through most of the mid-east to perfect her linguistics.
Lady Jaye joined G.I. Joe soon after and developed a platonic relationship with fellow G.I. Joe Warrant Officer Flint aka Dashiel R Fairborn. Despite her obvious romantic intentions she works with Flint in a professional manner. Lady Jaye uses javelins as her weapon of choice.

Quote: "Lady Jaye doesn't go in for that phony wig and rubber mask brand of disguise like those jokers on Mission Improbable."


Cover Girl (Courtney A Krieger)



Cover Girl is a successful model from Peoria, Illinois but found the model's lifestyle to be unfulfilling so she joined G.I. Joe to see if she could find more challenges.

Cover Girl is a tank jockey from Peoria, Illinois. She was a sucessful model in Chicago but she left the world of modeling behind her so she could join the army and seek out new challenges in her life. Her first appearance is in G.I. Joe M.A.S.S. device. She pilots the Wolverine tank and she wears mostly beige outfits. Cover Girl hints that she's interested in Sargent Hauser too but knows that she's got a rival in Scarlett for his affection.

Baroness



The Baroness and Destro inside the shelter of Cobra-La in G.I. Joe: The Movie.

The Baroness is one of the more cunning and deceitful members of the Cobra team she specializes in intelligence and is known for wearing tight leather catsuits. She develops a relationship with fellow Cobra team mate Destro but when he rejects her in favour of Zarana she revives Cobra Commander so that she can get back the respect that she feels she deserves.



Zarana



Zarana could have had a successful career in theatre but chose the same life that her brother and twin chose and decided to join the Dreadnoks.

Zarana is a professional assasain and infilltrator. She is also the younger sister of Zartan and the fraternal twin of Zandar. Zartan is very protective Zarana and will mow down anybody who tries to harm her. Unlike her brother Zartan, who can change his skin colour acordingly, Zarana relies on wigs and masks to disguise herself and sheild herself from the enemy. She can fool any G.I. Joe officer into thinking that she is who she says she is.

My take on women and G.I. Joe and Cobra is this if the Joe and Cobra men could do half of what these women can do I think it's a safe bet that the world would be better. Nowadays women can do just about anything that men can do but now they're doing the things that men can do with just as much class. G.I. Joe was truly a step ahead of its time with women doing the jobs of men and, not to sound sexist, but most times it takes a woman's touch to get the job done.
Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, The Baroness, and Zarana have proven this time and time again. Women belong in the army, and no matter where they come from, they can do anything that men can do. They have important roles to play in their separate organizations but their objectives are the same. Infiltrate the enemy and wipe them out. That's really the bottom line in the battlefield.