For a list of the other versions, see Shipwreck.
- Shipwreck is a G.I. Joe character from the A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series.
Shipwreck has earned a reputation as being one of the more rambunctious members of the G.I. Joe Team. It's not that he is in any way disobedient or disrespectful of higher up officers. His arrogant, brash personality and stereotypical sailor attitude has gotten him in trouble so many times. He prefers to take up his own actions and fight the enemy in his own way. He also has a reputation for telling tall tales and for his poor culinary skills. It seems he is the only one who can stomach his own cooking. His superiors had enough and shipped him to Navy S.E.A.L. School in the hopes the training there would make him a better man. It made him better alright... a better fighter only.
Shipwreck grew up next to the sprawling San Diego Navy Yards. He enlisted at the youngest possible age with his parents' permission and then served with distinction in the Mekong Delta where he contended with river pirates, smugglers, and insurgents. He also spent time at several naval bases and on carrier-initiated operations in the Middle East.
Fiction[]
Comics[]
A Real American Hero Continuity[]
Marvel Comics Continuity[]
Shipwreck led a team of Joes assigned to erect the new transportable Air-Sea Base in the Gulf of Mexico when they were attacked by Cobra, who were seeking to trigger the geological faultine.[1] The result was the creation of Cobra Island. He was subsequently part of the team that sought to drive Cobra off the island before sovereignty could be claimed, but the lawyers were too fast.[2] Shipwreck then participated in a mission to steal a Soviet laser from Afghanistan, preparing an ambush in neighboring Pakistan.[3] He later returned to the Gulf as part of a Joe team seeking to rescue Ripcord and Snake Eyes from the island.[4] Soon after he took part in the assault on Springfield.[5] Back at the Pit he was part of a team unsuccessfully sent to recapture the escaping Zartan.[6] Not long afterwards Hawk announced the grim news that the G.I. Joe team was being shut down and Shipwreck was temporarily quartered up in Fort Wadsworth.[7]
Much later at the new Pit Shipwreck was one of the Joes tasked with cleaning the base for a snap inspection.[8]
Devil's Due Comics Continuity[]
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G.I. Joe Reloaded[]
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G.I. Joe vs. Transformers[]
After watching Snake Eyes take out Quick Kick and Roadblock during a sparring session, Shipwreck and several other Joes dogpiled the ninja to show him that he wasn't all that. Shortly afterwards, he was skeptic to the idea of Cobra's transforming vehicles supposedly being aliens. [9] He attended a video-conference where Dial-Tone explained that they had figured out Cobra's next target: the SPS Satellite system. [10] During G.I. Joe's attack on Cobra Island, Shipwreck was part of Mainframe's squad, and helped defend the SPS Satellite controls from Cobra troops. [11]
Two years later, Shipwreck was part of a G.I. Joe team that attacked a Cobra facility in Boston, a mission which ended with everyone suddenly getting teleported to Cybertron and Shipwreck feeling seasick. After learning that Earth was on the brink of destruction due to issues with time travel, Shipwreck formed a team with Gung-Ho, Dusty and a Cobra Viper and was sent to retrieve a number of Transformers that had been lost in some point in Earth's timeline. [12] The team ended up in Earth's distant past, where they found the Dinobots, although Shockwave's meddling briefly prevented them from returning to the present. They eventually came through, allowing the Dinobots to save the day by defeating Shockwave. [13]
Action Force (British) Comics Continuity[]
Shipwreck was part of the Action Force team based in Europe. He participated in several missions including the sabotaging of an arms transaction between Military Armaments Research Systems and Cobra[14] and a direct assault on Cobra's London base.[15] He was part of a team that was tricked into attacking an oil rig belonging to Destro,[16] but was subsequently freed by Quick Kick.[17]
Shipwreck bore a remarkable resemblance to Ahmed Hassan, the ambassador for Ishmali to the United Kingdom, whom Cobra sought to kidnap. Shipwreck disguised himself as Hassan and took his place while the real Hassan was taken to the embassy. Shipwreck was accordingly captured by Cobra but escaped with the help of Flint.[18] Shipwreck then participated in the mission to steal a Soviet laser from Afghanistan.[19] He was later briefly assigned to the Gulf of Mexico to install the new Air-Sea Base and got caught up in the creation of Cobra Island.[20] Shipwreck later took part in a major operation in Venice where the team joined forces with Destro to prevent Cobra from taking over from the Mafia in Venice. Unbeknownst to any of Action Force the whole situation was a sham to allow Cobra and the Mafia to form an alliance.[21] He then undertook further missions in the Americas.[22]
Shipwreck was later sent to observe the raising of a crashed Second World War German plane, as the recovery team were using new flotation balloons and pumps used for raising sunken vessels that Action Force were interested in. During the operation the son of the plane's pilot and another Cobra Lamprey sought to steal gold aboard the plane, killing the other crew members. Shipwreck survived and sabotaged their attempts, sending them to a watery grave.[23] He was later part of a team who stopped Cobra obtaining a powerful laser driven by diamonds.[24] Shipwreck was then part of a W.H.A.L.E. crew captured by a squad of Cobras seeking a Tactical Analysis Computer System (T.A.C.S.) unit to discover Ministry of Defence secrets. The team escaped and destroyed the device before it could be use.[25]
Blackthorne Comics Continuity[]
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Dreamwave Comics Continuity[]
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Hasbro Comics Continuity[]
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Animated Continuity[]
Sunbow Animated Series[]
Voiced by: Neil Ross
Shipwreck from the A Real American Hero animated continuity.
Shipwreck also appeared in G.I. Joe animated series from Sunbow and Marvel voiced by Neil Ross while Polly's vocal effects are provided by Ross or by Frank Welker, depending on the episode. The show's voice director Wally Burr wanted Neil to make Shipwreck sound like a cross between Jack Nicholson (like the actor's character in The Last Detail) and Popeye the Sailor man. He is one of the more fleshed out characters in the series.
Shipwreck first appeared in the 1984 miniseries, "The Revenge of Cobra", as offering Flint and Mutt a way back to Joe headquarters on his land sail. The Joe Team offered Shipwreck a spot on the membership roster which he gladly accepted. His first assignment is on Flint's team to find the Ion Correlator, one of three components for the Weather Dominator, which landed inside the Palace of Doom in South America, alongside Gung-Ho (RAH), Lady Jaye (RAH), Recondo (RAH), and a trio of P.A.C./R.A.T.s. Under Flint's orders, Shipwreck later goes along with the first two, and Spirit (RAH) to the Roof of the World to find the Laser Core, only for them and Cobra to be robbed of it by the Dreadnoks.
Shipwreck then played a major role in a subplot in the "Pyramid of Darkness" mini-series. He and Snake Eyes infiltrate a Cobra underwater factory and steal a laser disc containing information on the cubes to the pyramid of darkness. They fight their way out of the stronghold, and are later rescued through the efforts of a popular lounge singer named Satin, whom Shipwreck falls in love with. In the climax of the story arc, during the battle at Cobra Temple, Shipwreck activates a mechanism that causes the cubes to self-destruct. When Cobra Commander and Tomax and Xamot make a final attempt to flee via rocket ship, Shipwreck, Snake Eyes and Satin try to stop them, before escaping so that the Joes could destroy the rocket.
Shipwreck continued to be a recurring character through the regular series and often served as comic relief. He has a pet parrot named Polly that he pretends to despise. The bird is capable of dozens of phrases; they often relate to the action. On missions, Shipwreck was often paired off with Cover Girl. Occasionally, Shipwreck would bend rules or engage in mischief. For example, in "Twenty Questions", while serving as an escort for Hector Ramirez and his news crew, he takes them to a Cobra operation in the Rockies in secret, in order to prove that Cobra exists; in "Lights! Camera! Cobra!", he is one of the Joes hired as technical advisors on a movie about G.I. Joe, but tricks the film crew into letting him go sightseeing in Hollywood instead, resulting in him getting into a fight at a pool hall and arrested. Shipwreck also tends to flirt with the female Joe members, especially Cover Girl.
Shipwreck was among the number of Joes whose relatives were captured and brainwashed by Cobra in "Captives of Cobra". In the same episode, Shipwreck tells his adopted nephew that he himself was also adopted and they are both lucky to have such loving families. "Memories of Mara" found Shipwreck in love with an escaped Cobra agent named Mara, who was part of an experimental procedure to create amphibious soldiers who could breathe on land and in water. However, the experiment was only partially successful with Mara, who could no longer breathe out of water for more than a few minutes.
In the highly rated two-part season finale "There's No Place Like Springfield", Shipwreck and Lady Jaye rescue Professor Mullaney from Cobra. The scientist informs them of a formula he has been working on and a missing ingredient that will complete it. As a backup plan, Mullaney implants the formula into Shipwreck's brain via a neural transceiver and reveals he is only able to remember it by hearing a code word, which he tells Lady Jaye. A following battle leaves Shipwreck unconscious from sinking in water. Upon waking up (purportedly) six years later, his emotions and mental state would be toyed with when he is trapped in a town filled with synthoid copies of his friends and loved ones, including Mara and another synthoid called Althea, who was posing as his daughter from his false marriage to Mara. During the two-parter, Shipwreck is tormented by a recurring nightmare of Cobra interrogating him for Mullaney's formula, as well as visions of many of his long-term Joe friends. He would perceive them as normal, then they would melt away in front of him. In Part 2 of the episode, Shipwreck's origins are revealed when a female Crimson Guard named Cadet Deming interrogates him, by using a hazardous psychedelic mind control program, a reference to the 1975 film Inside Out. After discovering he has not aged, Shipwreck realizes his surroundings are not what they seem. He additionally learns about the synthoids and discovers he is a secret Cobra base. In a laboratory, he finds Mullaney's work. Polly helps him recall the formula and he creates it with the secret ingredient. Shipwreck pours the formula down the drain before Cobra can obtain it. Gunfire from the Dreadnoks ignites the formula, causing explosions that signal the USS Flagg and lead the Joes to rescue Shipwreck. Shipwreck goes to save his wife and child and is devastated upon the revelation that they are synthoids.
The second season finds Shipwreck appearing less but still managing to participate in major roles in episodes he does appear in. Shipwreck is featured in the episode "Once Upon a Joe", as he entertains orphans with a fairy tale of his own while their home is being rebuilt. This season portrays Shipwreck as apparently less serious and capable than he was in the previous. In the aforementioned episode, he tries to ignore his order to report for duty, shoots down a Cobra jet that crashes into an orphanage, and manages to avoid rebuilding the home with the Joes by purposely acting clumsily and prompting the others to kick him out, though he later saves the Joes in battle using the MacGuffin device. In "The Most Dangerous Thing in the World", Cobra sends false orders through the Department of Defense computers promoting Shipwreck, Dial Tone and Lifeline to Colonel. Shipwreck arrogantly assumes his position and even deploys live ammunition for an armor drill, leading to an accident that almost kills Leatherneck and Wet-Suit. His aggressiveness and ineptitude, combined with disagreement on battle tactics and poor leadership among the "Colonels", throws the Joe team into chaos. When Cobra attacks Joe headquarters, Shipwreck misuses the base's particle beam gun, which causes it to crash into the base, burying him in the wreckage. General Hawk later comments that Shipwreck has neither the desire nor the ability to be an officer.
Shipwreck also appears in two of the series' Public Service Announcements. In the first, he talks a couple of kids out of stealing a bike by showing them how wrong it is. In the second, he talks a boy out of running away from home following an argument with his parents, suggesting that he solve his problems by talking to his parents.
DiC Animated Series[]
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Direct-to-Video Series[]
By the time Spy Troops: The Movie begins, Shipwreck has been kidnapped and impersonated by Zartan for a few days. The Joes notice that "Shipwreck" has worsened his aim, and isn't accompanied by Polly. After a Cobra attack that ends with Zartan stealing the MIRC vehicle-controlling headset, Snake Eyes finds and unties the real Shipwreck and Polly. Snake Eyes and Shipwreck are sent to Cobra Mountain, where Snake Eyes must destroy the MIRC and the Crimson Command Copter while Shipwreck must get the access codes to allow the other Joes to come in. Shipwreck enters disguised as a Raptor-Viper and then stumbles upon Cobra Commander's clothes room, so he disguises as the Commander and entres the throne room, from where he calls the Crimson Guards and gesticulates while Polly imitates Cobra Commander's voice asking for the access codes (and crackers), but the real Commander finds him out and has him taken by a guard. Luckily the Crimson Guard who takes Shipwreck is Agent Faces in disguise, who asks for the access codes and then he and Shipwreck allow the Joes to get inside Cobra Mountain. Shipwreck, Polly and Agent Faces fight their way out and are briefly separated by a cloud of smoke, but the Shipwreck who emerges from the smoke is Zartan disguised again, who punches Agent Faces and then is knocked out by the real Shipwreck. They reunite with the rest of the G.I. Joe team before Cobra Mountain collapses. [26]
Shipwreck later appears as part of a G.I. Joe unit in South America. They are ambushed by Electric E.E.L.s and find out that metal can make their electric attacks backfire. When an Electric E.E.L. takes Wet-Suit, Shipwreck saves him while Flint has Polly throw a cable to help them defeat the Electric E.E.L. [27]
G.I. Joe Renegades Animated Series[]
Toys[]
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A Real American Hero (1985)
Shipwreck was part of the 1985 series of A Real American Hero toys. Appearance: brown hair and beard; white sailor's hat; open-collared, short-sleeved blue shirt with red stripes on right arm; blue bell-bottom pants with black gloves, belt, holster, and shoes; hook on waist to hold accessories. Accessories: old-fashioned silver revolver with short strap; silver hooks with string; green and yellow parrot named Polly. |
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- Battle Corps (1994)
- The all-encompassing Battle Corps line of 1994 included Shipwreck. This time, his function is redesignated as a Navy S.E.A.L.
- Battle Corps filecard
- The Real American Hero Collection (1998)
- Shipwreck was carded in a three-pack with Torpedo and Wet-Suit in The Real American Hero Collection's Naval Assault Unit pack.
- Naval Assault Unit filecard
- The Real American Hero Collection (2002)
- In the last of The Real American Hero Collection toys, Shipwreck is carded in a two-pack with Sidetrack.
- Real American Hero Collection filecard
- G.I. Joe vs. Cobra (2002)
- As part of the theme of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra, Shipwreck is carded with a Cobra counterpart, B.A.T..
- G.I. Joe vs. Cobra filecard
- Spy Troops (2003)
- Shipwreck is carded in a two-pack with Over Kill.
- Spy Troops filecard
- Conquest of Cobra Mountain (2003)
- Another Shipwreck action figure is bundled with the Conquest of Cobra Mountain playset.
- Conquest of Cobra Mountain filecard
- Valor vs. Venom (2004)
- A new design is given for Shipwreck in the Valor vs. Venom line. He is included with the Piranha assault boat. The same design, albeit recolored, is available in a two-pack with Electric EEL.
- Valor vs. Venom filecard
- Operation Flaming M.O.T.H. (2007)
- A Real American Hero 25th Anniversary (2007)
- Shipwreck's original design is given a gloss-over for the Real American Hero 25th Anniversary.
Trivia[]
- Shipwreck was based on Jack Nicholson's character Billy Buddusky in the 1973 film The Last Detail.
- When Stephen Sommers was the Director of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, a live-action version was going to be played John Hannah, but after after Stephen Sommers left the project in favor of directing Odd Thomas, the character was dropped entirely.
- A competition was held in the pages of the Marvel UK comic Action Force to name Shipwreck's parrot. The winning entry was announced in issue #27 as "Seasick".
- The 1994 Shipwreck toy was used in the Nickelodeon animated cartoon series Kablam! to create the character "Stinky Diver."
- Although Shipwreck's original filecard lists his rank as an (E-7) Chief Petty Officer, his uniform is that of an E-6 or below.
- On IMDB, Shipwreck and Lady-Jaye's names and voice actors are mentioned in the credits of the Disney Cartoon "Quack Pack, episode Ducky Dearest."
- According to a line from "There's No Place Like Springfield", he has an uncle named Al.
- In an interview, Buzz Dixon claimed that his initial "punch-up" of the script for My Little Ponies: The Movie would have featured the ponies encountering characters from The Transformers, among other Hasbro franchises.
- At one point one of the Little Ponies had to go looking for...something or someone, I forget. I suggested she encounter some of the Transformers and Joes in her search, specifically, a scene where she flies up to Shipwreck who is drinking some amber fluid from a bottle.
- Shipwreck would just stare at her in bug-eyed disbelief and she’d fly on, then Shipwreck would smash the bottle, take his cap off his head, put his left hand over his heart and raise his right hand in an oath, muttering frantically under his breath. Hasbro said, "Very funny. No."
See Also[]
External Links[]
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Hydrofoil
- ↑ Strategic Diplomacy
- ↑ Triple Play
- ↑ Who's Who On Cobra Island & Sea Duel
- ↑ Serpentor & The Battle of Springfield
- ↑ Thunder Machine
- ↑ Snap Decisions & Pit-Fall
- ↑ Mexican Holiday
- ↑ G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #2
- ↑ G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #3
- ↑ G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #6
- ↑ G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #1
- ↑ G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #4
- ↑ Gun Boat!
- ↑ Fast Feud!
- ↑ Rigged! Part One
- ↑ Rigged! Part Two
- ↑ Doppelganger Part One, Part Two, Part Three & Part Four.
- ↑ Triple Play
- ↑ Hydrofoil & Strategic Diplomacy
- ↑ Venetian Blind Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four
- ↑ Comprising the UK printings of Who's Who On Cobra Island,Sea Duel, Serpentor, The Battle of Springfield, Thunder Machine, Snap Decisions & Pit-Fall. From this point onwards the Action Force continuity follows the same track as that of the US comics with some additions.
- ↑ Double Cross
- ↑ Diamond Lies!
- ↑ War beneath the Waves
- ↑ Spy Troops: The Movie
- ↑ Valor vs. Venom (movie)
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