Sgt. Slaughter ruined the show.
His voice was so annoying.
Not to mention in real life he was an old, fat slob. Nothing at all like the animated version.
It could've been worse. They could've used William "The Refrigerator" Perry instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ShZiSRktUg
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I don't know. He struck me as an ideal fit. He was a professional wrestler, a former drill sergeant, and a Vietnam veteran with three tours of duty to his credit. For my money, you couldn't find a more ideal celebrity to be one of the Joes. It may have been a bit overplayed, but it is a cartoon after all. And yeah, it certainly makes more sense to have a former drill sergeant than William "The Refrigerator" Perry, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, or Rocky Balboa.
shareI'm with Forgotten Hero on this one. I'm not crazy about the idea of including someone from the "Real World" (Even if that person is actually character too) into the Joe universe because it kind of kills the illusion. But if you're going to do it, what better fit circa the mid 80s than Sgt. Slaughter? Not only does his wrestling persona fit, as Forgotten Hero said, he was an actual veteran.
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Hell I'm surprised they didn't add the Iron Sheik to join Cobra, or they could've turned him face (good guy) to aid the Joes. All in all Slaughter was ok.
"Hello old friend it's either me, or you. The way I see it it might as well be you" - John Marston
Yeah that would've been good synergy; he or Nikolai Volkoff. But in spite of its "jingoistic", flag-waving reputation, for the most part the cartoon avoided real world geopolitics. Soviets and Arabs were the default bad guys in 80s American action movies, but save for Cobra Commander and the rank and file soldiers, Cobra was mostly made up of Western Europeans and a disproportionate number of Australians . Heck, there was even a Soviet counterpart to the Joes called The Oktober Guard and they were shown in a rather sympathetic light. And this was long before the fall of the Berlin Wall!
Slightly less PC was "Rambo: The Force of freedom", an animated series that reinvents the character made famous by Sylvester Stallone as the leader of a G.I. Joe-like unit that battles S.A.V.A.G.E., a terrorist organization similar to Cobra. While the vast majority of the bad guys were Caucasian (And again, European) there was an outcry of racism by some groups because one of the members of S.A.V.A.G.E. was Arab.
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He was annoying, but I wouldn't say he ruined the show, it was already dropping in quality. Serpentor is the official shark jumping moment for me.
And if you watch the seasons before that, you have to think "How in the hell could this show ever become unbelievable." and then it did.
I didn't know him as a wrestler, just as a cartoon and seeing the actor do the slots in between commercials. He always had on a big camo jacket and you couldn't see how fat he was.
Then I did see him as a wrestler in the WWF and I was just blown away by the difference in body.
We're talking Sgt. Slaughter here, the guy that takes electronic doors apart by using his thumb as a friggin' screwdriver.
Hell I'm surprised they didn't add the Iron Sheik to join Cobra, or they could've turned him face (good guy) to aid the Joes. All in all Slaughter was ok.
Heh. That would have been awesome.
"Cobra, Number One! G.I. Joe, Hack-Put!"
"Don't say Yo Joe!"
But in spite of its "jingoistic", flag-waving reputation, for the most part the cartoon avoided real world geopolitics.
Transformer's Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya was worse than anything G.I. Joe ever featured.
While the vast majority of the bad guys were Caucasian (And again, European) there was an outcry of racism by some groups because one of the members of S.A.V.A.G.E. was Arab.
I'm unfamiliar with this character, though it's possible that it may be a matter of how he or she is depicted that is the problem. If they're just like the other villains, and not given to any stereotypical traits or mannerisms, then I really don't see how there's much room for complaint. One Arab villain and no Arab heroes, perhaps?
We're talking Sgt. Slaughter here, the guy that takes electronic doors apart by using his thumb as a friggin' screwdriver.
Yeah, G.I. Joe isn't going to win any points for accuracy.
share
He was annoying, but I wouldn't say he ruined the show, it was already dropping in quality. Serpentor is the official shark jumping moment for me.
The third season, itself was not that bad, only thing that they should've DONE was DROP SERPENTOR into a lava pit, and say good riddance. "THIS I COMMAND." share
I'm unfamiliar with this character, though it's possible that it may be a matter of how he or she is depicted that is the problem. If they're just like the other villains, and not given to any stereotypical traits or mannerisms, then I really don't see how there's much room for complaint.
I haven't seen RAMBO: THE FORCE OF FREEDOM in years so I can't say for certain how they portrayed his character in the cartoon, but here's a copy of his character profile. Be warned! It's for "Authorized Personnel ONLY!"
http://www.blueharvestcds.com/raretoys/rambo/Nomad.jpg
One Arab villain and no Arab heroes, perhaps?
No Arab heroes, but a commendably multi-ethnic roster not unlike G.I. JOE.
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The reason Sgt. Slaughter was not that bad to me. He was a decent character, and could be fun at times. Didn't appear on the show that much in the first place. I thought Beach Head was slightly more annoying. Serpentor was almost in every episode of the 3rd season and walked around as unbearable as ever. I couldn't stand him as young child, while as an adult can someone, just put this guy in grinder and make Cobra smoothie for the needy or something.
shareHe wasn't that bad, and he was only in like 7 episodes (plus the movie).
All New Season:
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/3063383/1/Omega-Guardians-Season-2
Having watched a good portion of Season 2 recently the one thing I will say I didn't care for with Sgt. Slaughter is that he's portrayed as being darn near invincible. I know the Joes never lose in the end, but Slaughter is shown doing Hurculean things like it's child's play. And in the Serpentor mini-series Dr. Mindbender talks about Slaughter like he's a demi-god .
Algebraic!
Sgt. Slaughter was pretty damn powerful, but he wasn't quite invincible. He lost twice to Serpentor and was defeated by two ninjas in the episode where he was forced into a fighting tournament. There were a couple of other losses, but those are the ones that stand out the most to me.
I think it worked well in a way. They built him as a guy who could defeat half a dozen men at once, then used him to get Serpentor over as a genuinely tough villain. I would have liked to have seen him avenge those losses at some point, but it never happened.