Did anyone ever die on the cartoon G.I. Joe? If so, who and how did they die?

In the original Sunbow series, the writers were directed to see to it
that no one died on-screen (although there were some situations that
didn't look very survivable). An evil drug dealer called the Headman
died in the later DIC cartoons (which some purists exclude from the
canon entirely, since they are considered very inferior to the Sunbow
episodes). But even he did not die on-screen.

Here is the best discussion of the subject that I have seen:

"Did anyone ever die in the cartoon?

The Sunbow writers were not allowed to kill characters on-screen and
had to keep the violence down to an acceptable level. This is why guns
shot lasers instead of bullets and why wounded characters simply
dropped unconscious and almost never bled. There were usually
parachutes popping out of exploding planes and soldiers barely
escaping their burning cannons and vehicles. Even the coyote in
'Lights! Camera! Cobra!' landed in a river. (Wile E. was rarely so
lucky.) There were a few off-screen or presumed deaths, as in the
alternate-world in 'Worlds Without End,' and when vehicles exploded
without any visible escape for the operator. This may also include the
Cobra-La citizens who failed to escape the Ice Dome when it was
destroyed at the end of the Movie. In the DIC cartoons, the character
Headman died at the end of the 2-part story 'The Greatest Evil,' which
had a strong anti-drug theme."

GUIDE TO G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO
http://joes.propadeutic.com/faq.html

Here's a description of the demise of the Headman:

"The Headman rants and raves and threatens to spray the combined
forces of the Joes and Cobras with his drug Spark.

The Headman is in really bad shape. Falcon tackles him and the Headman
is the one who gets bathed in his own drugs... The Headman dies,
though not on screen (which in toonland means he?s not necessarily
dead)."

The What Manifesto: The Greatest Evil - Part Two
http://www.geocities.com/kepulver/mushes/dicguide/greatestevil2.html

You'll find many online references to the lack of deaths in "G.I. Joe":

Google Web Search: "cartoon" + "gi joe" + "no one ever died"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=cartoon+%22gi+joe%22+%22no+one+ever+died

Google Groups Search: "cartoon" + "gi joe" + "no one ever died"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=cartoon+%22gi+joe%22+%22no+one+ever+died

I hope this helps! 

Best regards,
pinkfreud

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Request for Answer Clarification by sammyocox-ga on 01 Jun 2004 13:05 PDT

Your answer was quite strong. I am curious though if there was a
different set of expectations governing the G.I. Joe movies. For
instance Duke took a spear to the chest from Serpentor, but apparently
went into a coma. However, there was blood involved. Any follow up?

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 01 Jun 2004 14:07 PDT

I am at a disadvantage, not having seen the movie. Apparently the
original script of the movie did kill Duke, but at the last minute,
changes were made so that he was comatose rather than dead:

"But didn't Duke die?

Originally the Movie was slated for a theatrical release, and Duke was
supposed to die after being struck by Serpentor. Early storyboards are
written this way. What changed this was the release in 1986 of
Transformers: The Movie. It did poorly at the US box office and
angered fans by killing off many of the older characters to make room
for the new ones. The death of Optimus Prime hit especially hard,
partly because of the younger audience - many of whom were not yet old
enough to understand death. (Remember, this was before The Lion King,
and the scene is very moving, thanks to Vince DiCola's musical score.)
Sunbow decided to play it safe and redubbed the relevant lines so that
Duke merely went into a coma and was restored at the end of the film."

GUIDE TO G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO
http://joes.propadeutic.com/faq.html

"The movie was being produced by the same company, and at the same
time, as Transformers: The Movie, The (1986). It had been agreed that
both movies would suffer the loss of the lead heroes, Optimus Prime
and Duke. Production had begun on G.I. Joe first, and was thus
expected to be released first. During the production of the two films,
G.I. Joe got held up while Transformers finished production. Release
dates were changed and Transformers got a theatrical release in 1986.
Optimus Prime's death sparked some controversy and caused the writers
to change Duke's death to a coma. G.I. Joe never got to the theaters,
and was released to video instead. Had G.I. Joe been released first,
Optimus Prime might have survived the movie."

Internet Movie Database
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093066/trivia

~pinkfreud

Well done. Really.

Thanks for the five stars and the tip!

~pinkfreud