Zandar

Zandar is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is affiliated with Cobra as a member of the Dreadnoks.

Profile
Zandar is the brother of Zartan and Zarana. Zandar excels at his specialty as a master of camouflage and covert movement. Like his brother Zartan, Zandar can disguise himself as anyone. Zandar is also a master of silent weapons, including harpoons, crossbows, bowie knives and silenced handguns, and is capable of remaining motionless for long periods of time.

Action figure
Zandar and his twin sister Zarana were introduced in 1986, along with the second wave of Dreadnok action figures. Zandar and Zarana were made of the same UV reactive plastic as Zartan, and when exposed to direct sunlight. their skin would turn dark blue.

The Zandar figure had a punk appearance with orange hair, a blue bandana, earrings, red facial markings, a shirtless torso with jagged tattoos, and a pink neck kerchief. The torn neck kerchief resembles Zarana's torn pink shirt. For accessories he carried a speargun and had a pack of spears on his back.

Marvel Comics
Zandar and Zarana operated several scams and schemes for Cobra, using their advanced skills as con artists. Later Zarana spent a lot of time with Cobra Commander and Zandar was nowhere to be seen.

In the Marvel Comics G.I. Joe series, he first appeared in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #51 (September 1986) as part of a successful rescue attempt of Zartan. Zandar briefly disguised himself as an auto mechanic at Zartan's hideout while the others hid, and diverted the Joes on their tail, who didn't realize it was the young punk.

During the first Cobra civil war (which takes place on Cobra Island) Zandar and his siblings commanded troops on the side of Cobra Commander. A few issues later, Zandar is seen helping a squad of Dreadnoks oversee the new Cobra stronghold of Broca Beach, New Jersey.

Zandar helps successfully create a new call center for Cobra marketing schemes; this despite interference from a G.I. Joe squad.

Devil's Due comics
Zandar fights against invading Joe forces when Zartan's expanded Everglades headquarters comes under attack. He and Road Pig capture Scarlett and Snake-Eyes.

Zandar turned up alongside the Baroness when Cobra made a deal with radical terrorist Tyler Wingfield in Devil's Due's G.I. Joe: Frontline. He and the Baroness kill four Joe agents.

Later it was revealed that years in Zartan's shadow as the "unseen, unremembered brother" have left him resentful enough, that it was possible for Serpentor to manipulate his emotions and enlist him as one of the Coil's top agents. Zandar single-handedly captured Cobra Commander.

Civil war took over Cobra Island once again. As a masked member of the Coil, Zandar fought Zartan, but the younger brother lost, taking a knife in the gut. Zandar removed his mask, revealing himself to Zartan, who hadn't realized until that moment it was Zandar fighting him. Before falling unconscious, Zandar speaks some "last words" for his twin, an apology for having left her side. Zartan pulls all his forces, which would have lost the battle for Cobra if Cobra Commander hadn't personally seen to Serpentor himself being taken down. Without a leader, the Coil fell to Cobra's newest troopers, the Neo-Vipers.

Zandar later resurfaced alongside Cobra Commander (posing as Zartan) at the Dreadnok compound in Florida. He personally derailed the accusations of their hostage, Mindbender, of Zandar's treason, which was already well known to Cobra Commander. Cobra Commander defended Zandar from Mindbender's insults, accusing the backstabbing doctor of knowing nothing of loyalty and the strains it can put on a man's emotions.

Zandar's actions come back to affect him when Duke and former Joe commander, Phillip Rey, arrive at a Dreadnoks HQ to confront him for information. Zartan literally throws Zandar at the pair, saying that apart from killing him, the two can do what they wish; this is Zandar's punishment for betraying Cobra.

When the Dreadnoks went on a suicide run into a top secret government prison facility where Zartan (disguised as Cobra Commander), was located, Zandar hopped into action with the other Dreadnoks. In an attempt to prove himself he recklessly went after Stalker and Lifeline. While Stalker managed to knock him unconscious, the Dreadnoks were successful in freeing Zartan.

Cobra Commander shocked all the Dreadnoks when he revealed that now Zandar must pay for his treason, and he used it to buy Zartan's loyalty. However, when Cobra was doomed to failure in the Tempest crisis in Badhikstan, Zartan and Zandar took their leave of Cobra, and went back into their underground anarchist biker scene in Montreal.

One year later, rumor leaked of Zartan's return to Florida for an unknown object. Fearing it was a WMD or something dangerous, General Joe Colton sent Stalker and Storm Shadow to investigate. Zandar was there, although it took the Joes a long time to realize it, and by that time he had the jump on them. Poisoning Stalker with a dart and stunning Storm Shadow with a grenade, he managed to distract and evade them long enough to trap them in a pitfall.

When Zartan, Zarana and Zanya arrived, Zandar surprised them all, with G.I. Joe hostages. However, he was not the only person scouting the Dreadnok compound, and with Gung-Ho's help in escaping the pitfall (and later ambushing Buzzer, Ripper, Torch, Zarana and lastly Zandar), Storm Shadow managed to discover Zartan's intentions (simply searching for a photograph - the only memory left from Zartan's past), and let the Dreadnoks go. Afterward, Zandar and Zarana lectured Zartan's daughter Zanya about Zartan's schizophrenia.

His betrayal in the past, Zandar again serves as Zartan's "Behind-the-Scenes" man.

Background
In a flashback, it was revealed that Zartan, Zarana and Zandar were once in a Catholic orphanage, but after murdering another boy in defense of 10 year old Zandar, the 14 year old Zartan fled. He had locked Zandar in a box to keep him from interfering..

Growing up, Zandar and Zarana were so inseparable they chose to live on the streets rather than be separated to different foster homes. They sometimes dressed alike, even as young adults. The twins never stopped searching for their brother, finally locating him in Australia and helping him take control of the Dreadnoks.

Sunbow/Marvel
Zandar appeared in the second season of the Sunbow/Marvel G.I. Joe cartoon voiced by Peter Cullen. In the five-part episode "Arise Serpentor, Arise," Zandar and Zarana join Zartan in finding new recruits for the Dreadnoks.

G.I. Joe: The Movie
Zandar also appeared briefly in the 1987 animated film G.I. Joe: The Movie.

Other works
Zandar's figure is briefly featured in the fiction novel 6 Sick Hipsters. In the story, the character Paul Achting spent four years collecting G.I. Joe figures to set up a battle scene between the Joes and Cobra. As he imagined the characters in his head, he described the Dreadnoks as "an elite team of maniacal mercenaries allied with Cobra for this battle", with the figures lying in the thick of the shag carpet, and sitting next to Monkeywrench was Zandar, "the leader of the Dreadnoks and master of disguise though he looked more like a member of Duran Duran circa Arena than a crazed killer".