The BEST episodes of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

Every episode of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!

G.I. Joe is the code name for America's daring highly trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. G.I. Joe was a successful cartoon based on the popular toy line created by Hasbro. The show ended in the 1980s, but the toy line continued until much later.

Last Updated: 4/10/2024Network: SyndicationStatus: Ended
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The M.A.S.S. Device (4): Duel in the Devil's Cauldron
star
8.00
30 votes

#1 - The M.A.S.S. Device (4): Duel in the Devil's Cauldron

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/15/1983

G.I. Joe tries to throw off Cobra with a false surrender while mounting a mission to the Ring of Fire for the third element. Destro sabotages the operation but is pursued by Scarlett.

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The M.A.S.S. Device (5): A Stake in the Serpent's Heart
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8.00
30 votes

#2 - The M.A.S.S. Device (5): A Stake in the Serpent's Heart

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/16/1983

Destro returns to Cobra base and seizes control of the operation from the Commander. The now-captured Scarlett and the slave girl organize a slave revolt. Duke's memories under sensory deprivation lead the Joes to the Cobra base where a final battle takes place. Cobra Commander is captured and taken to prison, but Destro escapes. The battle is over but not the war!

An Officer and a Viperman
star
8.00
30 votes

#3 - An Officer and a Viperman

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 10/24/1990

Pathfinder, Ambush and Topside infiltrate a Cobra training camp when Cobra suddenly seems to know their every move...

The M.A.S.S. Device (3): The Worms of Death
star
8.00
30 votes

#4 - The M.A.S.S. Device (3): The Worms of Death

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/14/1983

Snake Eyes returns home with the help of a wolf and a blind man. The Joes and Cobras battling for undersea elements must join forces to escape giant tubeworms on the ocean floor.

In the Presence of Mine Enemies
star
7.00
30 votes

#5 - In the Presence of Mine Enemies

Season 2 - Episode 29 - Aired 11/19/1986

Slipstream in his Conquest intercepts a Cobra message, which contains an important command code. A squadron of Night Raven are sent after him. He and one of the Night Ravens crash land on an remote island Cobra base. The Stratoviper, a lady named Raven, is injured and not very friendly towards Slipstream. But when BATs land on the island and start firing on both of them, the are forced to team up and enter the abandoned Cobra base, with Doctor Mindbender watching...

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Into Your Tent I Will Silently Creep
star
7.00
30 votes

#6 - Into Your Tent I Will Silently Creep

Season 2 - Episode 30 - Aired 11/20/1986

The Joes are highly annoyed by Cross Country's country music are glad when his tape deck is destroyed during a Cobra battle. When his new tape deck is stolen back at HQ, he intends to find out what's going on and sets a trap. He spots a robotic rat stealing the tape deck and he follows it to a Cobra meeting of the Coil, a group against Serpentor lead by Cobra Commander...

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Not a Ghost of a Chance
star
7.00
30 votes

#7 - Not a Ghost of a Chance

Season 2 - Episode 27 - Aired 11/13/1986

Lady Jaye and Hawk are on the tv show Twenty Questions (hosted by Hector Remerez(voice- Neil Ross)) debating with Cobra Comm, Serpentor and Dr. Mindbender whether or not Cobra shot down a prototype jet, the Ghost. Meanwhile, both Joe and Cobra forces search for the two pilots who ejected...

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Nightmare Assault
star
7.00
30 votes

#8 - Nightmare Assault

Season 2 - Episode 24 - Aired 10/30/1986

All of the Joes are having nightmare involving a huge snake attacking them. At first they feel that it is due to the stress of the situation. As the nightmares continue, it begins to affect the Joes performance fighting Cobra. In fact, Cobra is controlling the Joes' dreams in an effort to disable them...

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My Brother's Keeper
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7.00
30 votes

#9 - My Brother's Keeper

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 10/15/1986

Sergeant Slaughter accompanies Sci-Fi to a science fiction convention, where Dr. Mindbender recruits a handicapped scientist to repair his latest weapon. Mindbender's false promises to enable the scientist to walk again lead him to walk all over his brother.

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The Spy Who Rooked Me
star
7.00
30 votes

#10 - The Spy Who Rooked Me

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 10/13/1986

International superspy Matthew Burke volunteers his services in helping the Joes transport nerve gas to a safe facility.

Iceberg Goes South
star
7.00
30 votes

#11 - Iceberg Goes South

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 10/9/1986

The Joes visit an arctic region where Icebergs Girlfriend is collecting samples of animals tissue for her Uncles research at the Tropadome. Icebergs goes to the Trapadome only to be captured by Doctor Mindbenders new mutant animal army...

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The Rotten Egg
star
7.00
30 votes

#12 - The Rotten Egg

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/7/1986

Leatherneck attends graduation ceremonies at a new academy and discovers it run by former enemy Buck McCann, who is loyal to Cobra. Leatherneck must foil McCann's plan to destroy Parris Island Marine Academy.

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Let's Play Soldier
star
7.00
30 votes

#13 - Let's Play Soldier

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/30/1986

Cobra discovers an Asian tree sap that brainwashes people, and uses it to enslave the native population. Leatherneck must care for four orphans while the other Joes try to prevent Cobra from marketing the sap as chewing gum.

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Sink the Montana
star
7.00
30 votes

#14 - Sink the Montana

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/29/1986

An aging admiral learns that his ship is to be scrapped, and he turns to Cobra for help. Cobra renders his ship impervious to electronic vessels, so G.I. Joe must use the two-hundred-year-old USS Constitution to defeat him.

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Computer Complications
star
7.00
30 votes

#15 - Computer Complications

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/26/1986

When the Joes seek to recover a sample of anti-matter from a sunken ship, Zarana is sent to their headquarters to sabotage the operation. She and Mainframe discover they have feelings for each other. In the aftermath of a battle, the USS Flagg is sunk.

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Operation Mind Menace
star
7.00
30 votes

#16 - Operation Mind Menace

Season 1 - Episode 32 - Aired 10/15/1985

Flash, Airborne, and several other Joes discover that Cobra has amplified the psionic powers of some civilians for use as living weapons; one of the captives is Airborne's telekinetic brother.

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Jungle Trap
star
7.00
30 votes

#17 - Jungle Trap

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 9/27/1985

Cobra kidnaps scientist Dr. Shakur in order to harness the energy of Earth's core and cause volcanic eruptions, but the Joes work through a number of traps to raid Cobra's jungle base and destroy Cobra's newest weapon.

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Cobrathon
star
7.00
30 votes

#18 - Cobrathon

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/6/1986

Cobra stages a telethon to raise money for a computer virus that will bring down all the computer systems in the world, as the Joes try to rescue Sci Fi and Lifeline...

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The Revenge of Cobra (3): The Palace of Doom
star
7.00
30 votes

#19 - The Revenge of Cobra (3): The Palace of Doom

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/12/1984

As Flint, Mutt, and Shipwreck return to Joe Headquarters, the Joes and Cobras head to the Island of No Return and the jungle Palace of Doom to retrieve parts of the weather dominator.

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The M.A.S.S. Device (2): Slave of the Cobra Master
star
7.00
30 votes

#20 - The M.A.S.S. Device (2): Slave of the Cobra Master

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/13/1983

The Joes travel to the arctic to retrieve rare minerals to fuel their MASS device, but Cobra ambushes them, and Snake Eyes is presumed dead. Duke manages to escape the Cobra base with the help of a slave girl, but he is injured and cannot remember the base's location.

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The Pyramid of Darkness (3): Three Cubes to Darkness
star
6.00
29 votes

#21 - The Pyramid of Darkness (3): Three Cubes to Darkness

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/18/1985

The Joes rush to prevent Cobra from planting its huge cubes as Shipwreck and Snake Eyes try to evade detection.

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Sins of Our Fathers
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0.00
0 votes

#22 - Sins of Our Fathers

Season 2 - Episode 28 - Aired 11/18/1986

Cobra Commander tries to communicate with the creature in the pit at Destro's ancestral home in Scotland and fails. Meanwhile, Dial Tone is discharged from the Joes and is hired to work on a communications project that turns out to be communicating with the creature. Flint is sent to spy on Dial Tone in disguise. Dial Tone gets the machine to work and Cobra Commander tells it to destroy Serpentor... (Destro's "ancient chant" is reversed speech, revealing a humorous message poking fun at the then-relevant backmasking concern when played in reverse.)

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Operation Dragonfire: Day 1
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0.00
0 votes

#23 - Operation Dragonfire: Day 1

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/1989

G.I. Joe is acting as the Peace Corps helping a poor village, when they met journalist/cameraman Leonard Michaels aka Scoop who joins the Joes. Cobra attacks a monastery to get the secret to the Dragonfire, a mysterious energy in the earth. Destro dumps the Baroness for Zarana, so Baroness plots with Gnawgahyde to return Cobra Commander to human form to get revenge. Scoop turns out to be a Crimson Guard commander spying on GI Joe...

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Operation Dragonfire: Day 2
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0.00
0 votes

#24 - Operation Dragonfire: Day 2

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1989

Cobra has a map showing the locations of Dragonfire around the world, and the Joes and Cobra battle over one of the locations in a mountain. Baroness and Gnawgahyde use the Dragonfire to DNA convert Cobra Commander back into human form. The Joes manage to get inside the mountain base, but are flooded out...

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Operation Dragonfire: Day 3
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0.00
0 votes

#25 - Operation Dragonfire: Day 3

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/18/1989

Next location is a jungle temple in South America, and there's three factions: Serpentor, the Joes, and Cobra Commander. Scoop finds out he was tricked into joining Cobra and turns against them. But the Joes discover he's a Cobra. Cobra Commander uses the Dragonfire to turn monkeys in Ape Warriors that attack the Joes...

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