Zartan

Zartan is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is a mercenary who often worked directly for Cobra Commander, and is one of the main villains in the Marvel Comics series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. His character was voiced by Zack Hoffman in the 1985 TV series, and he was portrayed by Arnold Vosloo in the live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its 2013 sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Profile
Zartan is a master of make-up and disguise. Very little is known of his background, but he is suspected to have received European military academy training at St. Cyr. Zartan can alter his skin color at will to blend in with his environment, and is a practitioner of several mystic martial arts. He is also a ventriloquist, a linguist in over 20 languages and dialects, and an acrobatic-contortionist. Zartan and the Dreadnoks have also been known to use holographic technology and other means to disguise themselves. He has a younger brother and sister, twins named Zandar and Zarana, as well as a daughter named Zanya.

Hasbro action figures
When Zartan was originally released in the toy line, it stated on his file card that he suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder. After a complaint from a mental health organization, Hasbro removed this information from the file for later print runs, and was not referenced on file cards for future releases of the character. In early development, he was called Captain Chameleon. He was later named Zartan, an anagram of Tarzan, by writer Larry Hama.

Vintage
The 1984 Zartan action figure featured UV reactive plastic. In its natural state, Zartan appeared Caucasian, but when exposed to sunlight, Zartan's skin changed to a dark blue. The action figure also came with thermal sensitive stickers that were applied to Zartan's chest- and thigh-armor. These stickers changed from maroon when cold, to aqua at room temperature, and blue when hot. Zartan was sold with an accompanying "swamp skier" called the Chameleon, which also contained thermal reactive plastic. The Chameleon could be disassembled into several parts and loaded into a small cart that was included with the action figure; the cart, loaded with the vehicle's parts, would act as part of a disguise, making Zartan appear to be a parts or junk dealer. A small face mask, included in a detachable backpack, completed the disguise. The action figures for Zartan's brother Zandar and sister Zarana were also constructed of the same UV reactive plastic.

Zartan was updated in 1993, as part of the Ninja Force line. A complete departure from his classic uniform, Zartan wore a leather jacket and neon green pants. Instead of a cowl, he wears a short orange mohawk on his otherwise bald head.

After the line was canceled in 1994, Hasbro made several attempts to resurrect A Real American Hero through repaint series. Zartan was released only once in this four year period (1997–2001) at the tail-end. Because of difficulty obtaining the original mold, Hasbro compromised, and repainted the 1990 SAW-Viper body with a modified Zartan head. Although true to the classic look, both this figure and the Ninja Force release are unpopular reinterpretations of the character.

Modern
When Hasbro revamped the Real American Hero toyline in 2002, Zartan made an appearance as a figure again. Zartan sports his trademark hood and an open vested shirt. This figure was offered with a variety of paint schemes including with disguises in the Spy Troops line.

In 2004, Zartan was redesigned again for Valor vs Venom. Trading his hood for a ski cap, Zartan is the furthest from his biker roots here, retaining only the recognizable face markings to make him stand out.

Sigma 6 figures
In a new 8" scale, Sigma 6 figures were heavily stylized and inspired by Japanese anime. Zartan released in the "Commando" collection in 2006, featuring his Sigma 6 outfit. A repaint of this figure was released in 2007, featuring a new version of Zartan called "Toxic Zartan" featuring a new purple uniform, and green highlights.

25th Anniversary
2007 was the anniversary of the launch of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, the third major reinvention of the G.I. Joe brand since 1964. To celebrate, Hasbro created new figures based on the A Real American Hero line, featuring modern sculpting with updated and increased articulation (including the replacement of G.I. Joe's trademark O-Ring construction). Zartan was unveiled at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, and the figure, based on designs from the Devil's Due comic series, included a removable mask and also changes color like its 1980s counterpart. A second 25th Anniversary-era figure, more closely hewing to the original figure from 1984, was released in 2008 that does not change color, but came with a scaled down version of the Chameleon swamp skier and two removable masks. Zartan was also released on the G.I. Joe Hall of Heroes Line to commemorate the 25th anniversary figures. He came with three face masks, his trademark pistol and a tactical assault sniper rifle.

Pursuit of Cobra
Zartan was released in the second wave of figures for the Pursuit of Cobra line in 2010. In a review of the action figure, MTV said that Zartan "one of the few JOE-verse characters that weren’t stripped of all their coolness in the recent film", though still prasied the action figure for not referencing the film, calling the figure "all-around amazing".

Marvel Comics
Zartan first appeared in issue #24 of the Marvel Comics series. He was fully introduced in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #25 (July 1984). Zartan can imitate anyone he wishes to an exact physical and vocal likeness. This is done through a mix of holograms, illusions and hypnosis. Zartan is also fluent in twenty languages and dialects, a ventriloquist, an expert martial artist, master archer, and the leader of the biker gang known as the Dreadnoks.

His first encounter with Cobra, was when the man who would become Cobra Commander hired him to kill Snake Eyes on Firefly's recommendation. Zartan entered the Arashikage dojo as the student of the clan's swordsmith Onihashi. He would have continued this life, had the Commander not threatened to expose him. Using one of Storm Shadow's arrows, Zartan accidentally killed Storm Shadow's uncle the Hard Master, who was impersonating Snake Eyes at the time. This event destroyed the clan, and caused Storm Shadow to join Cobra in an attempt to find the real killer.

Sometime after, Zartan became the leader of the Dreadnoks, and moved them from Australia to the Florida Everglades. The exact details of how he became their leader is unclear. Zartan and the Dreadnoks (at the time only Buzzer, Ripper and Torch) were used by Cobra as hired muscle for jobs that required his unique skills, or jobs that required absolutely no finesse at all. However, his relationship with Cobra was on and off, sometimes by choice, and other times by brainwashing.

He began to expand the Dreadnoks, first adding his sister Zarana (who served as his second-in-command), brother Zandar, and the Thunder Machine driver Thrasher. Later, Monkeywrench and Zanzibar were recruited, and Road Pig joined in an attempt to win the love of Zarana.

Zartan was featured in issue #48, where he had been brought into The Pit, the Joe's Headquarters, disguised as an injured Joe, Ripcord. He almost escapes, by impersonating various Joes, such as Doc, Tripwire, Hawk and Gung-Ho. Zartan is confronted by Sgt. Slaughter while impersonating Gung-Ho, as the real Gung-Ho is standing next to him. Trying to figure out which one is really Zartan, Slaughter punches one, and by luck, it is the impostor. Zartan eventually does escape, with the help of the Dreadnoks. This leads to Cobra Commander's assault, which destroys the Pit.

Zartan is famous for delivering the killing blow to Serpentor during the Cobra Civil War, by shooting the Cobra emperor in the eye, with the same longbow that he used to kill the Hard Master years ago. After the war, Zartan leaves Cobra and the Dreadnoks, while his sister continues to work with Cobra. Zartan disguises himself as the Arashikage Blind Master, in order to mentor a boy named Tyrone. He eventually returns to Cobra Island, along with Billy, Captain Minh, and Tyrone, to expose Fred VII as an impostor pretending to be Cobra Commander. The mission is interrupted by the return of the real Cobra Commander, who traps Billy, Zartan, Fred VII, Tyrone, Captain Minh, Raptor, and several others in a landlocked freighter, which he then buries under a volcano. After several months of digging, Billy and Zartan manage to escape, while most of the others die from tainted food.

He briefly aides the Joes, and suggests to them that Doctor Mindbender might have survived the end of the war somehow (this was essentially true, as Cobra Commander had Mindbender cloned). He went on to work with Destro, and retook the Silent Castle. At this time, Mindbender revealed to Cobra Commander that he had previously implanted brain implants in both Destro and Zartan, the trigger being the Commander's unmasked face. Upon revealing his face to them, they both return as loyal Cobra agents. It was also around this time that Zartan sported a new look, including an orange mohawk and black jacket.

Action Force
Zartan also faced off against Shipwreck in the UK Action Force series.

Devil's Due
After the Marvel series, Zartan began to expand the Dreadnoks beyond anything previously seen, taking his crew across the United States. He started learning many fighting forms, such as Northern Praying Mantis, and close combat. The Dreadnoks went from a simple gang of three to a national biker gang, with a chapter in every major U.S. city, and several in Europe. It was also around this time that Zartan's daughter Zanya found him and Zartan took her in. He was eventually overcome by a problem with his genetic experimentation, which left him unable to go out into sunlight. This caused him to lead the Dreadnoks through Zanya, who became his new second-in-command (much to the annoyance of Zarana, who left to lead the Chicago chapter).

Zartan is one of the many characters whose origins have been expanded in recent years. Zartan and his siblings, Zack and Zoe, grew up sometime during the early 1970s (1970s based on print date of comic; stating that it was 30 years ago when Zartan was a child). As a child, he was diagnosed with an unknown mental health condition requiring medication. They were raised by their French actress mother and movie-mask sculptor father. They grew up in a broken home with a temperamental father.

Both parents were killed in a car explosion, when his father was unable to pay back a considerable loan. He and his siblings lived in an orphanage for some time, before Zartan killed a bully who was picking on Zandar in a fight. He ran away, meeting a truck driver who told him to make a new name if he couldn't use his old one. Eventually, he went to work for an expert in forging identification, swiping credit cards in exchange for room and board. However, the juvenile Zartan, had been watching his "mentor" very carefully and learning the tricks of the trade. Zartan also displayed a knack for role-playing and creating extensive character backgrounds, which manifested itself through his fascination with the game Dungeons & Dragons.

Sometime after he began working as an assassin and mercenary, using his disguise abilities. Zartan also worked for a government agency under the name Amauri Sanderson. He underwent a top-secret French genetic experiment, which infused him with chameleon DNA, giving him the ability to blend into his background. During an arms deal with Destro, Amauri Sanderson met the leader of a motorcycle gang who was the original Zartan. Amauri joined the Dreadnoks and reunited with Zandar and Zarana. He was later approached by several Dreadnoks for the purpose of overthrowing the leader, who considered all the members expendable. When the insurrection was exposed, the leader planned to have Amauri executed by dismemberment. Zandar and Zarana incited a rival gang to attack, which gave them the opportunity to free their brother. The traitorous Dreadnoks teamed up with the rival gang, and Amauri fought and overpowered the leader and his rivals. With no one left to back him up, the leader was killed by Buzzer, Torch, and Ripper, and Amauri assumed the identity of Zartan.

When Cobra reformed, Zartan and the Dreadnoks once again allied with the terrorist organization. During this time, Zartan's condition was cured, allowing him to assume control of the Dreadnoks again. This alliance lasted until Cobra's defeat at the Monolith Base. After that incident and the U.S. crack down on Cobra, Zartan and the Dreadnoks abandoned their Florida base, and moved the operation to Toronto, Ontario.

America's Elite
Zartan was featured in the relaunched America's Elite G.I. Joe series, with his schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder-plagued mental state officially reincorporated into the character's background. Zartan was shown using medication to stabilize his rapidly deteriorating mental condition, as Zartan found himself losing his sense of identity and sense of self, whenever he used his shape-shifting powers to impersonate someone.

Towards the end of the G.I. Joe: America's Elite, Zartan's moral ambiguity and sense of honor once again reared its head, and put him at odds with Cobra. Cobra Commander had ordered the execution of all injured Cobra operatives held prisoner by G.I. Joe, during a massive prison break of captured Cobra agents. This included the Dreadnok Monkeywrench, who had been injured while being arrested by G.I. Joe forces. The murder of one of his own caused Zartan to turn against Cobra Commander, who by this point had launched a massive global invasion of all of the major countries of the world. Zartan made a deal with Major Bludd, who also was growing disturbed by Cobra Commander's growing ruthlessness, which culminated with the Commander murdering his own son Billy. In the end, Zartan helped MIA G.I. Joe Recondo, who had survived an attempt on his life by Bludd, and had secretly infiltrated the ranks of Cobra as an infantry trooper, in order to keep an eye on Cobra. They contact the Joes with Cobra Commander's location, and arranged for the entire rank and file of the Dreadnoks (led by Zarana) to join the Joes in final battle with Cobra.

During the battle, in the midst of all of the fighting, Zartan escapes into the night. However, before he leaves, he confronts Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, and tells them that he is tired of fighting, and that he wants to find some sense of peace, having betrayed Cobra Commander for the good of humanity. While Storm Shadow is skeptical of Zartan's proclamation of wanting to truly reform, he allows him to leave.

IDW
Zartan is introduced in G.I. Joe Origins. He was orphaned as a young boy, and made his way by pickpockets on the street. When he was confronted by the local police, he gave them the name "Zartan" that he saw on a movie poster behind them, eventually adopting it at the beginning of his named career. Years later, Zartan is a Cobra agent answering directly to Baroness. He was tasked with infiltrating a presidential airliner, to ensure the continued cooperation of President Rumanapar. His mission is a success, and he contacts Baroness for extraction. Displeased with Zartan, Baroness sends him to be a test subject for Destro's teleportation device. Destro sends him to assassinated Nico Mandirobilis; however, the teleportation process was not finalized, and Zartan's body quickly disintegrated.

With Zartan's complete genetic map stored in the M.A.S.S.' Relay Star Satellites, Cobra geneticist Doctor Taggac was able to brew a plasmid medium, which injected into a blank clone body, reformatted the slug into a copy of Zartan. The body was corrupt, with unstable skin lividity, numerous cancers, renal failure and more. Taggac used bio-magnetic pads to stabilize the body, and began teaching Zartan how to live again. This instruction included both physical elements and basic language and math skills. Zartan's unique biology gave him the ability to change his appearance and skin tone, a skill which Taggac attempted to keep secret from Cobra. Eventually the magnetic pads were surgically implanted beneath the skin, giving him a normal appearance. He expressed a desire to leave the lab and go to the outside world, and days later he kills a guard and poses as wait staff, to escape before anyone notices he was gone.

Cobra agents track him using a subcutaneous transmitter, but he evades them, fakes his own death, and sneaks back into the lab. He pulls a gun on Taggac, and forces him to contact Cobra Commander. Zartan negotiates his services as an assassin, and when the terms are agreed upon, he kills Taggac.

Sunbow/Marvel
Zartan first appeared in the G.I. Joe mini-series "The Revenge of Cobra", along with Dreadnoks Buzzer, Ripper and Torch. He and the Dreadnoks abduct Colonel Sharp, so that Zartan can impersonate him and free Cobra Commander from prison. In the cartoon, his disguise techniques are all masks, make-up and vocal impersonating techniques. In "The Revenge of Cobra", Zartan and the Dreadnoks recover a piece of Destro's Weather Dominator, offering to sell it to the highest bidder, Cobra or G.I. Joe.

Zartan is also initially able to change the color of his skin to perfectly blend in with his background. Zartan's camouflage abilities are negated by the sun, causing his skin to turn blue (much like his action figure), and weakening him significantly. However, both aspects were dropped almost immediately after the first season began. "Countdown For Zartan" was the last episode to showcase this particular ability.

Zartan appeared throughout season one of the cartoon, and was one of the few Cobra characters to carry over to season two, along with Cobra Commander, Baroness and Destro. In the second season of G.I. Joe, he expanded the Dreadnoks to include his younger siblings, Zarana and Zandar, as well as Monkeywrench and Thrasher. The Zartan of the cartoon had a rivalry with Destro, who considered Zartan a petty criminal. He was also a more cowardly character, often fleeing battle when things turned against him. His loyalty usually lay with Cobra Commander, even after Serpentor took control of Cobra. Zartan also helped Cobra replace people with Synthoids in one episode.

G.I. Joe: The Movie
In G.I. Joe: The Movie, Zartan is seen being angry with Cobra Commander, for blaming his lacking courage on the troops. Zartan is given a valuable gem by Pythona of Cobra-La, so that he and his Dreadnoks will aid them in freeing Serpentor. They accomplish their task, but Zartan himself is curiously absent from then on, and is not seen during the final battle at the film's climax.

Spy Troops
Zartan appeared in the direct-to-video CGI animated movie G.I. Joe: Spy Troops, voiced by Colin Murdock.

G.I. Joe: Sigma 6
Zartan appeared in G.I. Joe: Sigma 6. His disguise techniques are due to hologram generators in his suit. He possesses an exaggerated Australian accent.

Resolute
Zartan makes two appearances in the G.I. Joe: Resolute series. He first appears in a flashback at the beginning of the series, where he injures Snake Eyes, and assassinates the Hard Master. He later appears near the end of the series, where he is leading a security force guarding a Cobra base. He manages to corner Duke and Scarlett, when Scarlett gives him the option to just leave, as Zartan is only a mercenary and not part of Cobra. Zartan refuses, saying that he enjoys killing people, as he aims to kill Scarlett, but Duke shoots him in the back of the head. Again, Zartan is portrayed with what is supposed to be an Australian accent.

Renegades
Zartan first appears in the G.I. Joe: Renegades episode "Dreadnoks Rising." He is the leader of the Dreadnoks, and has a talent of impersonating one's voice. Zartan and his Dreadnoks have been terrorizing a local town, even capturing a local waitress named Wendy, causing Snake-Eyes to go after her. The other G.I. Joe members teach the town to stand up to Zartan and the Dreadnoks. When the Dreadnoks present the captured Snake-Eyes bound in chains, Zartan fights the Joes. Zartan is taken down a notch when Snake-Eyes easily escapes at the right moment, and uses the chains as a weapon. Zartan is tackled by Sheriff Terry, who manages to defeat Zartan and arrest him. When Flint and Lady Jaye arrive in town to arrest Duke's team, they end up capturing Zartan and his Dreadnoks.

In "Knockoffs," Flint and Lady Jaye use Zartan to help them track down the Joes. He has Flint lend him a GPS, since he had a tracer on the motorcycle that Snake-Eyes stole from him. During the conflict between a Cobra transport, the Joes, and the Falcons, Zartan knocks out Lady Jaye and makes his way into a Cobra Van, where he equips himself with a chameleon-type wrist device. This outfits him in a suit (resembling the one used in the other cartoons), which will enable him to mask his appearance, by taking the form of anyone it scans. Zartan uses it to take the Cobra van to get away from Flint. During the conflict, he tried to dispose of Scarlett by disguising himself as Duke. When the real Duke arrives, Snake-Eyes takes down Zartan, as his heartbeat is different from Duke's. Scarlett touches the suit, which results in a surge that leaves black burns around Zartan's eyes as she removes it. Zartan is taken back to prison while Baroness takes the chameleon mold to Cobra Commander. Due to the device acquiring the DNA of the first wearer, as part of the chameleon mold's "fail safe imprinting feature", Baroness ends up visiting Zartan in jail, where she makes a "get out of jail" offer that Zartan accepts.

In "Cutting Edge," Zartan posed as Cobra Commander in order to fool Jinx when she was hired to assassinate Cobra Commander.

Live action movies
Zartan is played by Arnold Vosloo in Stephen Sommers's film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, with a drastically different appearance than his television counterpart. He is a master of disguise, able to mimic other peoples' mannerisms and characteristics. Sent by McCullen with the Baroness and Storm Shadow, Zartan breaks into the Pit and disguises himself as a G.I. Joe Pit member. He murders Cover Girl with a knife as she reports to General Hawk, taking them by surprise. When the two Cobra agents fight their way out soon after, Zartan takes an alternate route and kills off a nearby wanderer, donning his clothing to escape detection by Pit members.

Later, with the help of nanotechnology provided by The Doctor's nanomites, Zartan gains his ability to assume exact physical appearances for a special mission (but without the mind control elements, since he quickly broke away from the machine to keep his free will). During the final battle, Zartan is sent to America using the missile crisis as a cover, where he infiltrates the White House as part of Cobra's plans for world domination, and assumes the identity of the President of the United States. Several times in the film, he whistles the tune "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow", including at the end of the film, confirming that he has taken the place of the President.

Vosloo will reprise his role again as Zartan in the 2012 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and is expected to have a much bigger role. According to Vosloo, Zartan is still in disguise as the U.S. president and he's got the world leaders all under his thumb, war heads headed towards innocent populaces, and some new heavies on the payroll, to keep G.I. Joe at bay. The trailer reveals that he has framed the Joes as traitors and successfully eliminated all but a few of them, forcing the survivors to go "off-the-grid" to try and stop his plans, before he completes his ambitions of world conquest.

Video games
Zartan is one of the featured villains in the 1985 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero computer game.

In other media

 * Zartan has been featured in episodes of Robot Chicken. His first appearance is in the episode "Joint Point" in the segment "Welcome to the Terror Dome" (a parody of The Office), Zartan is seen in a non-speaking role as a new Cobra recruit (along with several Cobra Troopers), being taught by Doctor Mindbender on Cobra tactics. Zartan appears again in a speaking role in the episode "More Blood, More Chocolate" voiced by Seth Green. In the "Inside the Battlefield: The Weather Dominator" segment, Zartan is interviewed about how the "Palace of Doom" (one of Cobra's bases in the "Weather Dominator" mini-series) was in truth his mother-in-law's home. After making the joke, Zartan's off-screen wife yells at Zartan that they have to leave for Seder causing Zartan to bemoan to the camera about marrying into a Jewish family. The segment ends with Duke referencing Zartan's true first appearance within the G.I. Joe cartoon (in the follow-up mini-series "Revenge of Cobra"), talking about how Zartan broke Cobra Commander out of jail, after G.I. Joe captured Cobra Commander at the end of the Weather Dominator mini-series. Zartan later made a non-speaking cameo in the episode "P.S. Yes, In That Way", where he was among the Cobra members seeing Calvin sniping the G.I. Joe members.
 * Zartan is mentioned in the Jamie Madrox song "Hey Phatty".