Short-Fuze

Short-Fuze is a G.I. Joe character from the A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series.

Short-Fuze
Personal information
Real name	Eric W. Freistadt
Gender	Male
Birthplace	Chicago, Illinois
Alias	Short-Fuse
Military information
Service branch	US Army
Grade / Rank	Staff Sergeant (E-6)
Specialty	Mortar; Artillery; Infantry engineering
Training	Artillery School; Engineer School; Advanced Infantry
Weapon / Vehicle expertise	M-14; M-16; M1911A1; M-79 grenade launcher; M-2 light mortar; M-1 medium mortar
Organizational information
Faction(s)	G.I. Joe Team
Media information
First comic appearance	G.I. Joe #1
First cartoon appearance	The Cobra Strikes

Short-Fuze comes from a military family. His father and grandfather both became career top sergeants. He followed in their footsteps and joined the Army. However, he does have a short temper and very sensitive on things said about him. This earned him the codename he sports now. The one thing that calms his temper is his love for abstract mathematics. He can mentally calculate artillery azimuths and plot trajectories. This amazing ability has helped the Joe Team win many battles.

Fiction

Comics

A Real American Hero continuity

Marvel Comics continuity

The rescue of Dr. Adele Burkhart was one of Short-Fuze's early missions. He was part of Stalker's landing team whose job it was to take out the airfield and Cobra's air capability. That part of the mission was a success though it turned out to be a ruse. Still, the Joes managed to defeat Cobra and complete the mission. Short-Fuze was part of the Joe team led by Stalker to assault Vance Wingfield's compound after it was infiltrated by Hawk and Grunt.

Short-Fuze was deployed as part of the inner ring defenses assigned to protect a space shuttle launch from Cobra. During the battle against S.E.A. Legs and Amphibious Assault Guns, Short-Fuze and Zap used their anti-armor weapons to great effect. When the Joe team assaulted Cobra's Undersea Base, Short-Fuze, Zap, and Rock 'n Roll provided cover fire with the heavy weapons. Short-Fuze was part of an assault team led by Hawk to neutralize a suspected Cobra stronghold in midtown Manhattan. When Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Zap missed a check-in, Hawk ordered the assault teams to storm the building. However, the three Joes had been captured and spirited away by Cobra.

Devil's Due Comics continuity

Write up

G.I. Joe Reloaded

Write up

Dreamwave Comics continuity

Write up

Animated continuity

Sunbow animated series

Voice Actor: Frank Welker

Short-Fuze from the A Real American Hero animated continuity.

Throughout the early stages of the M.A.S.S. Device crisis, Short-Fuze remained on reserve. Along with Steeler, he spent the time devising a way to bring down the relay satellite that allows the M.A.S.S. to aim its beam around the world. They built the Satellite Killer which was quickly launched only to be shot down by Cobra. The time came to obtain the final element for the Joes' own MASS, Short-Fuze is the first one to spot the meteor located in the middle of a volcano's crater. Cobra intervenes and takes the meteor and Short-Fuze becomes a member of the boarding party, taking the fight to Cobra. When the location of Cobra's base is finally learned, Short-Fuze joins the fight to take down Cobra and the M.A.S.S.

Toys

Generation 1
	A Real American Hero (1982) Short-Fuze was a part of the 1982 launch of A Real American Hero toys. Like all the action figures in that series, he had two versions. The first one had straight arms. The following year, Hasbro perfected the Swivel Arm Battle Grip design and applied it to all the original figures. Appearance: yellow hair; dark green shirt with black straps (one horizontal) and silver pockets; dark green belt and pants with brown pockets and boots Accessories: dark green "Breaker" helmet; clear visor; dark green backpack (with engraved mortar shells); small, black mortar and mortar stand. (Prototype visor was black). YoJoe.com page/Filecard
	Stars and Stripes Forever (1997) For the first time in a long time, Short-Fuse comes back to toy stores with Toys "Я" Us's Stars and Stripes Forever, a special pack meant to commemorate the 15th anniversary of A Real American Hero. The Short-Fuse action figure in the pack utilized the same 1982 mold. 1997 filecard from YoJoe.com
Generation 2
	Night Force (2004) Toys R Us released a new Night Force set for 2004's Valor vs. Venom series. The Short-Fuze included in this set utilized the same mold as another Joe member who also specializes in mortar artillery, Downtown. 2004 Night Force filecard from YoJoe.com
	Comic Pack (2005) One of the Comic Packs for 2005 included a set that has Short-Fuze, Craig "Rock 'n Roll" McConnel, Flash and a copy of G.I. Joe #8. The design for Short-Fuze's action figure is meant to be reminiscent of his appearance in that comic. 2005 Comic Pack filecard
	Winter Operations (2005) The Winter Operations set was another Toys R Us exclusive. It included Short-Fuze in its pack, as well as Backblast, Frostbite, Snake Eyes, Sgt. Stalker and Mirage. The action figure itself is a complete recolor of Blizzard. 2005 Winter Operations filecard from YoJoe.com

Trivia

• Short-Fuze's 1982 filecard came in three different versions, all differing in what his real name is supposed to be. Some cards say it is Mark W. Brenstan or Mark W. Freistadt but the most accepted version is Eric W. Freistadt which was used in all other Joe fiction.
• A "restricted-level psychological profile" on the preliminary filecard said he "has a tendency to explode into verbal abuse involving very imaginative vitriolic [caustic, scathing] content... however, vituperative [harshly abusive] outbursts are merely a smokescreen masking a vulnerable ego."

See Also

• Appearances of Short-Fuze
• Image Gallery: Short-Fuze

External links

• My Useless Knowledge biography

Footnotes

Is this all there is? This character article is a stub and is missing information. You can help Joepedia by expanding it.