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Living up to the "A Real American Hero" moniker, members of the G.I. Joe team hail from all 50 states and some territories[1]. Not all of the "Real American Heroes" were born in the United States. Some of the figures released by Hasbro in the United States were given birthplaces in other countries. Sometimes this was done in the 2000s as a reference to an '80s character manufactured in another country by another company. In some cases it is specified that they retain their birth-country's citizenship and serve in their country's armed forces or intelligence service--like the Oktober Guard. For most other characters, it is less clear if they have retained their citizenship or have immigrated to the United States and serve in its armed forces.

Note: For changes made to character birthplaces in the international market, see List of Action Force character birthplaces.

The United States[]

No characters were born in the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, or the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The listed population figures are from the 2010 census.

Four Cobra operatives (the Snow Serpent Commander, an Ice Viper, a Frag Viper and a Night Viper) from Operation: Flaming MOTH received individual names, but their birthplaces are simply "United States" (308,745,538).

Alabama[]

  • Beachhead's hometown of Auburn (53,780) is in east-central Alabama, near the border with Georgia. It is also the birthplace of the Dreadheads: Billy-Bob, Cletus, Joe-Bob, Otis, Roscoe, and Vance.

Alaska[]

  • Frostbite's town of Galena (470) really is in the middle of nowhere. Specifically, it is 270 miles west of Fairbanks on the Yukon River, just south of the Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge.
  • Occasional ally Kwinn was born in Kotzebue (3,201), 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska's western coast

American Samoa[]

  • As a territory of the United States, American Samoans have the freedom to serve in the US military. One who chose to do so is Red Dog, one of Slaughter's Renegades/Marauders, who was born in the territorial capital of Pago Pago (3,656).

Arizona[]

Arkansas[]

  • Arkansas' capital of Little Rock (193,524), on the Arkansas River in the center of the state, is the hometown of Chuckles.
  • Built-to-Rule original character Hollow Point is from Quitman (762), a small town on the outskirts of the Little Rock metro area.
  • Tracker's birthplace, Helena (6,323) is on the Mississippi River, almost due west of Little Rock.

California[]

Colorado[]

  • Both Hawk and Mace are from Denver (600,158), the capital city on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains.
  • In 2009, the Argentinian Comandos Heroicos line character Red Mack was released as part of the Real American Hero line. His birthplace was given as Devil's Thumb, Colorado. There is no town named Devil's Thumb, but there is a geographic feature with that name just east of South Boulder Peak between Boulder (97,385) and Eldorado Springs (585).
  • South of Denver lies Pueblo, the hometown of Cobra Air Commando Leader Sky Creeper.

Connecticut[]

  • Airtight is from New Haven (129,779), 35 miles to the south of Hartford.
  • Hartford (124,775) itself, the capital and hometown of Stretcher, is near the center of the state.
  • Whiteout is from Bridgeport (144,229), 15 miles farther west from New Haven on the Atlantic coast.

Delaware[]

Florida[]

  • Blowtorch hails from Tampa (335,709), on the north side of Tampa Bay on the Gulf coast.
  • On the panhandle, Panama City (36,484) is the home of Blaster.
  • Pathfinder was born on Key West (24,649), at the western extreme of the Florida Keys at the state's southern tip.
  • Cape Canaveral (9,912) is the birthplace of Payload. It is also home to the Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic coast.
  • Fifteen miles east of the border with Alabama, is Pensacola (51,923), where Skydive was born.
  • Most of Copperhead's file cards presume he is a native of the Everglades, although one says "An Island in the Mediterranean"[4] and his Python Patrol file card presumes he is a native of the Amazon basin.
  • Just south of Orlando lies Kissimmee (59,682), the home of Dreadnok Crusher.
  • Zartan's brother Zandar is believed to have been born somewhere in Florida.

Georgia[]

Hawaii[]

Idaho[]

Illinois[]

Indiana[]

  • Dodger's home of South Bend (101,168) is about six miles south of the IN-MI state line.
  • Footloose is from Gary (80,294), which is on Lake Michigan about 25 miles southeast of downtown Chicago.
  • Topside grew up in Fort Wayne (253,691), in the northeast part of the state.

Iowa[]

Kansas[]

  • Barricade's home of Pittsburg (20,233) is in the southern part of the state on the border with Missouri. The town was named after the Pennsylvanian city, but is spelled differently.
  • Crankcase is from Lawrence (87,643), on the Kansas River 35 miles west of downtown Kansas City.
  • Cutter's hometown, Kinsley (1,457), is famous for being 1,561 miles from both Los Angeles and New York. It's on the Arkansas River, about 30 miles ENE of the wild west town Dodge City.
  • The state's largest city is Wichita (382,368) on the Arkansas River in the south-central part of the state, and is home to Flint and Lightfoot.

Kentucky[]

  • Airwave and Thunder share the birthplace of Louisville (597,337), on the Ohio River in the north-central part of the state.
  • Twenty five miles south of downtown Louisville is Fort Knox (10,124), Cold Front's place of birth and most famous for the US Treasury's bullion depository.

Louisiana[]

  • Gung-Ho's birthplace of Fer-de-Lance cannot be located on any map or census.[5] It may be that Fer-de-Lance is simply the name Gung-Ho's 137-member family gives to its residence, which lies outside any local jurisdiction. One issue of The Command Post, the "Official Newsletter of G.I. Joe," featured a map of the US indicating the birthplaces of various Joes, including Gung-Ho. According to this map, Fer-de-Lance lies in North/Central Louisiana. Since some Joes' birthplaces (notably Blowtorch and Torpedo, but also Recondo and Tripwire) are geographically inaccurate, this should be taken with a grain of salt. However, assuming this is reasonably accurate and allowing for Gung-Ho's francophone heritage, it is most probable that Fer-de-Lance is in one of three parishes: Natchitoches (39,566), Rapides (131,613) or Avoyelles (42,073).
    • It's possible "fer-de-lance" was mistakenly used in place of "fleur-de-lis", which is also not a city in Louisiana, but is the state's symbol.
  • Muskrat hails from Thibodaux (14,567), which is about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans.
  • New Orleans (343,829) is the birthplace of Cobra agent(s?) Vypra.

Maine[]

  • Avalanche is from Madawaska (4,035),[6] a small town just across the St. John River from the Canadian town of Edmunston.
  • Sneak Peek's hometown is Bangor (33,039), which is about 30 miles north of Penobscot Bay.

Maryland[]

Massachusetts[]

Michigan[]

  • Dearborn (98,153) is the hometown of Shockwave.
  • Stalker's hometown of Detroit (681,090) is on the border with Canada. The Cobra Shock Viper commander Lt. Clay Moore is also from Detroit.
  • While Dreadnok Road Pig's hometown, Goblu, can be found on some maps, it is usually found in the heart of every true blue Michigan fan. Perhaps he was born in the dorms?
  • Sgt. Slaughter (the wrestler) was born in Detroit, as stated below.

Minnesota[]

Mississippi[]

  • Roadblock's hometown of Biloxi (44,054) is on Mississippi's short stretch of the Gulf coast.

Missouri[]

  • Blast-Off is from the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood(27,540), about 12 miles southwest of downtown.
  • St. Louis (319,294) itself is on the Missouri/Illinois state line, where I-70 crosses the Mississippi River. It is the home of Duke and Spearhead.

Montana[]

  • Sci-Fi is from one of the smallest Joe birthplaces, Geraldine (261) in north-central Montana.

Nebraska[]

  • Nebraska's only Joe to date is Leatherneck, from Stromsburg (1,171) in the east-central part of the state.

Nevada[]

New Hampshire[]

  • The correct spelling of Blizzard's hometown is Wolfeboro (6,269), in east-central NH about 12 miles west of the border with Maine.

New Jersey[]

New Mexico[]

  • The city of Taos (5,716) takes its name from the Taos Pueblo. Most of Spirit's filecards list this as his birthplace. Additionally, his 1992 Air Commandos filecard (which gives his birthplace as Taos) states he wears "authentic Navajo warrior boots." However, his 1989 filecard gives his birthplace as the Grand Canyon in northwest Arizona, and the 1993 International Action Force filecard doesn't list a specific place of birth, but does mention Spirit comes from his tribal home in Arizona. His 2010 filecard doesn't say either way. As the Navajo reservation borders the Grand Canyon, it is not unreasonable to presume Spirit is a mix of both the Navajo and Pueblan peoples.
  • Marissa Faireborn, daughter of Flint and Lady Jaye and ally of the Autobots, was given an action figure in 2015. Her birthplace was listed as Albuquerque (545,852).
  • Low-Light's 1989 filecard gave New Mexico as his home state, although it should be North Dakota. This error was repeated on his 1993 filecard.

New York[]

  • It should come as no surprise that many Joes come from the New York City area (8,175,133). While the city actually encompasses a large collection of towns, the city is listed with no further specification for Backblast, Big Brawler, Rampart, and Zap. In 2009, the Action Force character Jammer was released as part of the Real American Hero line. His birthplace was also listed as New York, New York.
    • Crossfire was born somewhere on Long Island (7,568,304), although that does not necessarily mean he is from New York City. According to the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook, Matt "Spectrum" Trakker is also from Long Island. Considering the racial change, it is unknown what else about the IDW/Hasbro-verse version of the character is different from other versions.
    • The west part of Long Island includes the New York borough of Queens (2,230,722) neighborhood of Hollis - home of Bushido - and Brooklyn (2,504,700) - home of Heavy Metal, Nunchuk, and Tunnel Rat. Brooklyn is also the birthplace of Dr. Venom.
    • Also from Long Island, the Screaming Eagle D-Day was born in a small town on the southern coast called Bay Shore (26,337).[7]
    • The borough of the Bronx (1,385,108) is home to Joe member Freestyle.
  • Banzai's home of Hartsdale (5,293) lies about 25 miles to the northeast of the city.
  • Hardball was born in Cooperstown (1,936), the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in upstate New York.
  • About 17 miles north of downtown NYC lies Yonkers (195,976), home of Hard Drive.
  • Spring Valley (31,347), in the northern part of the New York area, is home to Lifeline, not to be confused with the more seasoned Lifeline from Seattle.
  • Albany (97,856), the upstate capital, is the home of WWII veteran Sgt. Savage.
  • Somers (20,434), about 30 miles north of Yonkers, is home to another ninja on the Joe team, T'Gin-Zu.
  • Dreadnok Burn Out hails from Catskill. Whether this means the town (11,775) or the village (4,081) within that town is unclear. And confusing.

North Carolina[]

North Dakota[]

  • Low-Light's hometown is Crosby (1,070), 35 miles east of Montana and six miles south of the border with Canada. His 1989 and 1993 filecards list his hometown as Crosby, New Mexico, however there is no such town and these are generally assumed to be errors.
  • Updraft is from North Dakota's capital of Bismarck (61,272),[8] near the center of the state on the Missouri River.

Ohio[]

Oklahoma[]

Oregon[]

  • Dial-Tone's hometown of Eugene (156,185) is in the west-central part of the state.
    • It is possible that his sister, Jill (who also uses the Dialtone codename), is from Eugene, but her file card does not specify a place of birth.
  • In central-central Oregon lies Bend, the home of Night Fox.

Pennsylvania[]

Rhode Island[]

South Carolina[]

South Dakota[]

Tennessee[]

Texas[]

  • Fort Worth (741,206), home to Effects, is near Dallas in the northeast part of the state.
  • Iceberg is from Brownsville (175,023) on the border with Mexico, about 20 miles up the Rio Grande from the Gulf Coast.
  • Houston (2,195,914) is home to Law, and lies near the eastern end of Texas' gulf coast.
  • Near the middle of Texas' gulf coast is Victoria (86,793), the hometown of Major Barrage.
  • Wild Bill was born in Brady (5,528), the self-proclaimed "Heart of Texas," as it lies near the geographic center of the state.

Utah[]

  • Slip-Stream's home is Provo (112,488), the third largest metro area along the Wasatch Front.

Vermont[]

  • Manchester (4,391), where Claymore is from, is in the southern part of the state.
  • Snow Job's home of Rutland could either be the decent-sized city (16,495) or the smaller town (5,954) that completely surrounds it. It's a confusing situation.
  • Cobra ECO Warrior Repulsor hails from Wallingford (2,079), about halfway between Manchester and Rutland.
  • Also, since the birthplace of Serpentor depends on the medium, he is listed both here in Springfield (9,373) in the southern part of the state and in the “International” entry for Cobra Island.

Virgin Islands[]

  • The second character to use the code name Rampage was born on St. Thomas (51,634) in the small U.S. territory to the east of Puerto Rico.

Virginia[]

Washington[]

  • Mirage's filecards list his hometown as Molsen, but the correct spelling is Molson. It's a ghost town; a small knot of streets two miles south of the US-Canada border on the Okanogan River.
  • Seattle (608,660), on the coast of Puget Sound in the northwest, is home to Lifeline (Edwin Steen, not Greg Scott) and Rapid Fire.
    • Ace's 1992 filecard changes his first name and lists Seattle as his birthplace, although every other source places him in Providence.
  • Recoil's Fashion Island does not appear on the maps, but may be one of the hundreds of islands in Puget Sound. It's possible it should be Vashon Island (10,624), which lies just southwest of Seattle.

West Virginia[]

  • The only Joe who is indisputably from West Virginia is Sidetrack, whose home is in the tiny town of New Manchester in the northern tip of the state.
  • Mercer's original filecard lists his birthplace as Spencer (2,322), which is north west of the center of the state.[13]

Wisconsin[]

Wyoming[]

  • Casper (55,316), on the North Platte River, is home to Robo JOE.
  • In the west-central part of the state, Outback's home of Big Piney (552) is about 50 miles east of the border with Idaho.

International[]

One character, Chameleon, is never given a defined birthplace - just Europe. Based on back story information from her or the Baroness, her birthplace could be half a dozen places - mostly behind the Iron Curtain.

Would you count extraterrestrials like Carcass, Iguanus, Lobotomaxx, Predacon, Slythor and Warwolf here? They're definitely not American, but "International" doesn't quite seem to describe it....

Argentina[]

  • Dynamite is the Screaming Eagles' lone foreign-born soldier, hailing from one of Latin America's largest, most stable powers. His mustache is thicker than his accent, but his U.S. citizenship status is currently unknown.
  • At the 2009 International Collector's Club Convention, some international characters were given Real American Hero releases. A few referenced Plastirama's Comandos Heroicos line. These included Shimik from San Luis, Topson from San Juan, as well as Manleh and TNT both coming from the capital, Buenos Aires.
  • The 2006 convention release of Cobra Mortal listed his birthplace as Buenos Aires as well, however a 2013 convention filecard said "Unknown (Presumed Venezuela)".

Australia[]

Belgium[]

Brazil[]

  • At the 2011 International Collector's Club Convention, a box set revisiting the 1986 Brazil mission set was released. The box set included Sparta, a reference to Estrela's Comandos em Ação line. She was fittingly given the birthplace of São Paulo - not the capital of Brazil, but it's largest city. Also, Black Vulture, a 2016 convention exclusive figure, was from the city as well.
  • 2017 convention exclusive figure Corrosao, was born in Bento Rodrigues, a subdistrict of the city Mariana.
  • 2015 convention figure Felino was born in Altamira in the north.
  • Flying Scorpion, a 2016 convention figure, was born in Rio de Janiero on the southern coast.
  • The 2013 convention file card for Cobra Letal says he is presumed to have been born in Brazil. This may be a nod to the fact he is an homage to a Brazilian Comandos em Ação figure.

Canada[]

  • Back-Stop was born in Montréal, but it is unknown if he is Québécois. As far as we know, he is not part of any special exchange program and so must have become a U.S. citizen at some point before his 18th birthday.
  • Dreadnok Demolishor was born in Pikangikum, a First Nation reserve in western Ontario.

Cobra Island[]

Cobra-La[]

Colombia[]

Cuba[]

  • High-tech snow trooper Snow Storm was born in the capital, Havana. Considering the state of US/Cuban relations, Snow Storm must have been a refugee and become a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Czechoslovakia[]

  • When Daina/Volga/Vorona was born in Ostrava, it was still in Czechoslovakia. Now it is in the Czech Republic near the border with Slovakia. Although one file card included with an action figure lists her birthplace as the Czech capital, Prague, this is probably wrong.

Darklonia[]

  • Destro's cousin Darklon was born in this small European country, possibly situated next to Trans-Carpathia.

France[]

  • The mercenary Wraith comes from Lyon in the south east.
  • Despite all the mystery surrounding his personal details, at least one file card lists Zartan's birthplace as Nice, on the border with Italy.
  • While all versions of Tomax and Xamot's filecards agree they were born on an island in the Mediterranean, only one specifically says its Sollacaro[15] on the south side of Corsica. The issue is that this comes from a specifically identified alternate universe version of Xamot, who has a different file name than was previously established.

French Indochina[]

  • Firefly has complicated ancestry. It is strongly implied his father was French and it's possible that Firefly himself was born in French Indochina (now Vietnam).

Georgia[]

  • Despite Gung-Ho's assertion that he is a "dumb Russian bear," Oktober Guardsman Horrorshow was actually born in Tbilisi, the capital of the small country (at the time a part of the USSR) in the Caucasus Mountains.

Germany[]

East Germany[]

  • When he was born, the yet-to-be-identified city where Schrage came into this world was located in the German Democratic Republic (as if putting "Democratic" and "Republic" in your name is fooling anyone...).

Ireland[]

  • The 2013 convention original character Crimson Asp was born in the capital, Dublin.

Italy[]

  • Sparks was born in Carcare, near the Mediterranean coast and not-quite-so-near the French border.

Jamaica[]

Japan[]

  • While no specific birthplace is listed, the 1993 International Action Force mail-in collection implies Budo is a Japanese citizen, despite other file cards listing his birthplace in California.

Mexico[]

  • Hailing from the Distrito Federal, Z Force mechanic Gaucho was also released as part of the Real American Hero line at a convention.
  • The second character to use the code name Long Range, was from Monterrey in north eastern Mexico.
  • Even though he didn't come with a file card, one can assume that as a historical person, the action figure that is Montezuma's skeleton would have started life in what is now southern Mexico. Probably in Tenochtitlan, in the Aztec Empire.

Russia[]

  • Two Oktober Guardsmen were born in the Russian capital of Moscow, Dragonsky and Stormavik.
  • The Oktober Guard General Iron Bear was born in Leningrad, although today we know it as St. Petersburg.
  • Two Oktober Guardsmen were born in Arkhangelsk on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, Big Bear and Lt. Gorky. And they even look alike.
  • Another Guardsman, Sgt. Misha Zubenkov, was born in Smolensk.
  • The comics-only character Malyenkiy is possibly Russian as well, considering his name means "small" or "little." Although that could have just been a nickname given him by his Russian-speaking comrades.
  • Cobra agent Ghost Bear (and son of Kwinn the Eskimo) was "born in a remote Inuit village on the Russian side of the Bering Strait."[16]
  • The Cobra Laser Viper Officer was born in Sarov, meaning he was born after 1995 when the town's name changed from Kremlyov to Sarov.

South Africa[]

Switzerland[]

  • Quarrel, an original AF character, was born in Interlaken as the daughter to a diplomat. So it's possible that she isn't actually Swiss and that she was just born there. She does have the Union Jack on her shoulder, meaning she may be British.

Thailand[]

  • Stiletto, an action figure originating from an Amazon Kindle Worlds story, was born in Hua Hin, a resort town on the thin Malay peninsula.

Turkey[]

  • One of Slaughter's Renegades/Marauders, the circus strongman and INTERPOL agent Taurus was born in Istanbul (not Constantinople).

Ukraine[]

Note: Ukraine was part of the USSR until 1991.

United Kingdom[]

  • Lt. Stone is the only foreigner from the Sigma 6 series. Although we know he's British, we don't actually know where in the United Kingdom he comes from.
  • The Operation: Flaming MOTH Desert Theater Flak Viper is listed as coming from the UK with no further details.

England[]

  • The Night Force Action Man can safely be assumed to be British. According to the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook, a later Action Man was born in Cambridge, England. This is also the birthplace of Dreadnok Buzzer.
  • Big Ben, a sergeant on loan from the SAS, was born in Burford, England. That could be a few different places, but probably the one in Oxfordshire.
  • The only Special Weapons Force character to be released as a figure, Bombardier, was born in Coalville, England.
  • MI6/Action Force agent Natalie Poole comes from London.

Scotland[]

  • Destro and Sgt. Major Duncan were born in Callander, just as one enters the highlands.
  • The action figure of Rowdy Roddy Piper lists his place of birth as Glasgow, even though the real Roderick Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Canada.
  • Z-Force Captain Skip was released as a Collector's Club figure in 2017 and given the birthplace of Edinburgh.
  • Windchill's second file card changes his birthplace from Iowa to Loch Lomond, Scotland, as well as changing his filename. Since there is no real town called Loch Lomond, he must have either been born on the lake, near the lake but not near any towns, or in a fictional town near the lake.

Wales[]

  • The Q Force commander, Dolphin, hails from Cardiff, Wales - the capital of the only constituent country of the UK not represented in the Union Jack.
  • Dreadnok Monkeywrench comes from Rhyl on Wales' north coast.
  • The Cobra ninja Slice hails from Johnstown, in the north of Wales near the English border.[17]

British Overseas Territories[]

Classified, Unknown, or unlisted[]

Some characters' birthplaces are classified (meaning it is known, but undisclosed), while others' file cards simply don't have that information listed. Most individual Cobra agents (not the various army builders)'s birthplaces fall into one of these three categories.

Classified[]

Unknown[]

Unlisted[]

Footnotes[]

  1. With the possible inclusion of those Joes whose POBs are classified or are otherwise unlisted.
  2. http://azcia.gov/Documents/Links/DemoProfiles/Navajo%20Nation.pdf Last retrieved: Feb. 3, 2015
  3. While Budo's filecard lists his place of birth as California, 1993's International Action Force mail order implies he is not a U.S. citizen.
  4. It can be assumed the designers were simply working on Tomax or Xamot's file card and just forgot to update it with Copperhead's information
  5. Since a fer-de-lance is a large, venomous snake native to South America and the Caribbean, this is probably just a fictional town - making it the only non-existent birthplace given for a member of the Joe Team.
  6. His filecard spells the town "Madawask."
  7. D-Day's filecard states his birthplace is Bayshore, New York. However, the actual name of the town is two words; Bay Shore.
  8. Updraft's filecard, however, spells Bismarck without a "c."
  9. There are no residential homes on the island, which is technically part of Londonderry Township.
  10. Rocky was later retracted from G.I. Joe continuity.
  11. There is actually a second Arlington in Virginia, a small unincorporated community, but it's across the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula.
  12. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is actually to the west, in Portsmouth.
  13. Mercer's 1991 filecard - which also changes his filename - says he's from Virginia. And his 2011 filecard also changes his birthplace (for some reason) to Taos, New Mexico. Perhaps they were working on Spirit's filecard just prior to this and just forgot to change it.
  14. Early file cards would misspell it as Sidney.
  15. Incorrectly spelled Sullacaro on the file card
  16. His filecard says "Chuchki Penninsula, Eastern Siberia", but considering it's from a different alphabet, it could be spelled Chukchi, Chukotka or Chukotski.
  17. Slice's filecard spells it Jonestown, however that cannot be found on a map. Johnstown, Wrexham, Wales is the closest real-world place in terms of spelling/pronunciation.
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