Crimson Guard (RAH)

The name Crimson Guard refers to several versions of the same character.
For a list of the other versions, see Crimson Guard.

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Crimson Guards are Cobra characters from the A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series.

Crimson Guard
Personal information
Alias	Siegie; Python Crimson Guard; Crimson Guard Immortal
Military information
Service branch	Cobra Army
Grade / Rank	E-4 or equivalent
Specialty	Elite trooper; Espionage; Accounting
Organizational information
Faction(s)	Cobra
Subteam(s)	Python Patrol
Media information
First comic appearance	G.I. Joe #29
First cartoon appearance	In the Cobra's Pit

The Crimson Guard represent several steps forward in the evolution of the Cobra Trooper. They are considered the most elite troopers of Cobra's army and possess a fearsome oath of loyalty to Cobra Commander that only few non-Siegie (phonetic for the Crimson Guard initials, C.G.) troopers can match. Aside from the standard infantry training they receive, each Crimson Guardsman is expected to specialize in a civilian profession that may be considered as mundane by most. Specifically, most of them hold degrees in law or accountancy. Upon graduating, many are sent out to the world at large, posing as doctors, lawyers, executives and even infiltrating the higher echelons of politics. More than just undercover agents, the Crimson Guard goes deeper, earning the trust of the gullible public who don't know their true loyalty...

Types of Crimson Guards

By Rank

Crimson Vipers: They are the initiates within the Guard. They resemble normal Vipers, but with red uniforms and silver trimmings.

Regulars: (also called "Troopers") These are the standard red-coat troopers. They constitute the majority of the Guard.

Leaders: They serve as squad leaders in the Guard, and cell leaders when undercover. They can be recognized by their silver double-breasted coats. (see: Crimson Guard Commander)

Commanders: They serve as commanders for larger groups of Guardsmen. They can be recognized by their gold double-breasted coats and face-mask, or black chest-plate and helmet, with yellow Viper-like face-plate. (see: Crimson Guard Commander)

By Sub-Group

Python Patrol: Easily identifiable with their yellow and light-gray uniforms, with red trimmings, they serve as "Political Officers" to the mercenary-led Python Patrol Division. (see: Python Patrol)

Desert Assault: They are like regular Siegies, but dressed in desert colors.

Shadow Guard: They are a secret known only among the high-ranking members of the Crimson Guard, these black-suited ninja-commandos act as damage-control teams when C.G. operations are threaten with exposure.

Immortals: They serve as the Armored Division within the Guard. (see below for the different types of Immortals)

Immortals

Gunners: They are serve as heavy-weapons troopers and armored crewmen. They are recognized by their red uniforms, with silver chest-plates.

Drivers: These gray-suited Immortals serve as tank and artillery commanders, and are made-up of former HISS Drivers and Track-Vipers.

Commanders: They serve as commanders for larger groups of Immortals. They resemble regular Immortals, but with gold chest-plates.

Fiction

Comics

A Real American Hero continuity

Marvel Comics continuity

The Crimson Guard included the "Fred" series who underwent plastic surgery to look identical. They were charged with infiltrating American industry, politics and society to undermine them from within. If one Fred died, another could easily take his place. Known "Freds" included Fred Broca, Fred II and Fred VII.

Devil's Due Comics continuity

Write up

G.I. Joe Reloaded

Write up

G.I. Joe vs. Transformers

Write up

Action Force (British) Comics continuity

Crimson Guards were deployed on many Cobra operations including:

• An attempt to blow up the Eiffel Tower.
• The attempted planting of a bomb in London's Wardour Street.
• An attack on Action Force on the Salisbury Plain testing range
• The attempted kidnap of Ahmed Hassan, the first Ishmali ambassador to the United Kingdom. They actually captured a disguised Shipwreck. They fought off a rearguard Action Force rescue mission but Shipreck eventually escaped.
• A supposed conflict between Cobra and the Mafia in Venice, though the whole thing was a smokescreen to cover an alliance between the two.
• The attempted kidnapping of an ambassador in London.

• The stealing of a huge diamond in Amsterdam to power a laser.
• The capturing of an oil terminal in the Gulf of Arabia, which was liberated by Action Force.
• The attempt to secure a Phantom X-19 stealth plane that was shot down in the Jordanian desert, however there was competition from local warlords, Destro & his Iron Grenadiers, and the G.I. Joe the Action Force unit Tiger Force.

Crimson Guards were stationed at a number of outposts including:

• Cobra's London base
• Cobra's supply base in the Amazonian jungle
• Cobra Island

Notable individual Crimson Guards included:

• Mr Perkins, a teacher at Churchfields Comprehensive school. When a pupil called Gary Turner discovered his uniform, Perkins took the school hostage, shooting dead the headmaster. Action Force laid siege to the school but inside Turner faced him down and made him realise he couldn't kill children so he surrendered.
• Julia Kreig, an Action Force member. Dusty fell in love with her but on an operation in the Middle East they were attacked by Cobra and Kreig disappeared. Dusty subsequently tracked down the Cobra camp and killed all the guards, only to discover that Kreig was one of them.
• Commander Brone, head of a Cobra rocket launch base hidden in the Australian outback. He was a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. The operation was destroyed by an Action Force team and in anger the Baroness executed him.
• Simon Weller, a bank branch manager in the village of Little Meldon. He received orders to steal the bank's money but the chance arrival of Action Force turned the situation into a siege, to the disgust of Tomax & Xamot. Weller's brother Roger talked him into surrendering, but the twins knocked out Beach Head and used his sniper position to assassinate Weller. They subsequently recruited a distraut Roger to take his place.

Blackthorne Comics continuity

Write up

Dreamwave Comics continuity

Write up

Hasbro Comics continuity

Write up

Animated continuity

Sunbow animated series

Crimson Guard from the A Real American Hero animated continuity.

DiC animated series

Write up

Toys

Generation 1
	A Real American Hero (1985) The Crimson Guard was part of the 1985 series of A Real American Hero action figures. Appearance: red helmet with black face mask and silver visor and head ornament; red double-breasted jacket with silver braids and Cobra emblem on chest; red pants with silver stripes on sides of legs; black gloves, belt, and boots. Accessories: red V-shaped backpack with small Cobra emblem on back; black assault rifle with bayonet. Variations: The sides of the backpack may be solid or hollow on the inside. The hollow version is rarer. YoJoe.com page/Filecard
	A Real American Hero (1989) The Python Patrol subset featured several re-released Cobra characters as re-colored versions of their original action figure. Crimson Guard was included in this set and renamed as Python Crimson Guard. Appearance: black helmet with light grey face mask; yellow double-breasted jacket with red braid and dark grey chest panel with light grey crisscross pattern; light grey gloves and pants; black wristbands, belt with silver stripes on sides of legs; black gloves, belt, and boots Accessories: black "Crimson Guard" backpack; black "Crimson Guard" bayonet rifle. YoJoe.com page/Filecard
	A Real American Hero (1991) For an unexplained reason, the 1991 Crimson Guard figure was renamed as Crimson Guard Immortal. The filecard makes no mention of any reason for the name change. Appearance: red helmet with silver goggles and black face mask; red shirt with silver segmented armor on chest, shoulders, and wrists; black gloves; red pants with black belt and boots Accessories: simple flat, black backpack with three holes for missiles; black machine pistol with missile tube; black handheld double-missile launcher; three black missiles with long pins; two smooth, black ammo belts. YoJoe.com page/Filecard

• Spy Troops (2003)

Crimson Guard Immortal is packaged with the Cobra C.A.T. II vehicle as part of the Spy Troops toy series.

Spy Troops filecard

• Operation Crimson Sabotage (2004)

Renamed back to Crimson Guard, a trio of characters are released in a three-pack as a KB Toys exclusive. They all shared the same body mold except for the head.

• Crimson Guard Force (2005)

The Crimson Guard Force was three-pack exclusive only to Toys "Я" Us stores. Crimson Guard was part of this package that came in two versions, one that included Tomax and Firefly or one that included Xamot and Firefly.

Crimson Guard Force filecard

• Direct-to-Consumer (2005)

A different Crimson Guard from the 2005 year was available as an online exclusive from Hasbro.

2005 filecard

• Crimson Shadow Guard Pack (2005)

For the Crimson Shadow Guard set, Crimson Guard gets another name change as Crimson Shadow Guard. A Toys R Us exclusive, the Crimson Shadow Guard pack included six action figures, all of them Crimson Shadow Guards. The file card described them as a subgroup within the Crimson Guard ranks.

Crimson Shadow Guard filecard

• A Real American Hero Generation 3 (2008)

The original Crimson Guard design is revisited with a new twist for Generation 3. The figure utilizes an all-new sculpt.

A Real American Hero G3 filecard

• Cobra Senior Ranking Officers Pack (2008)

The new Crimson Guard mold was redecoed slightly for this 3-pack. The pack also included a red uniformed Cobra Commander and a Crimson Guard Officer.

Figure at YoJoe.com

Trivia

• The 1991 "Crimson Guard Immortal," though unexplained, is a reference to the similarly named Immortals of the ancient Persian army. Like the Seigies, the Immortals were an elite force that served as both imperial guards and a standing army. There were always 10,000 Immortals - when one died or was injured in battle, he was immediately replaced. This is similar to the Crimson Guard's practice of replacing fallen soldiers with identical stand-ins.
• An entire paragraph was removed from the Crimson Guard Immortal's filecard:

“	All Crimson Guard Immortals must have degrees in either law or accounting. They are equally proficient in advanced weapons systems marksmanship, classical martial arts and liability torts. Even if you dodge their bullets, and wriggle out of their "Mystic-Death-Touch" strangle-holds, you can't avoid getting sued!	”
—The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe, page 238.

See Also

• Appearances of Crimson Guard (RAH)
• Image Gallery: Crimson Guard (RAH)

External links

• My Useless Knowledge biography

Footnotes

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