Here we go again. Lone Wolves have been discussed before, but how do you make a Lone Wolf that’s a vital part of the group without losing his coolness? Well, we look back again to the 80′s and dredge up another artifact from my misspent youth:
Snake Eyes:
Can't shout "Yo Joe!" though...
Never really alone
If there’s one thing about Snake Eyes, it’st he fact that he is considered to be a trusted and loyal teammate despite the fact that his specialization has him out on the field without backup most of the time. His closest thing to a partner is Timber, his pet wolf. That being said, the entire G.I. Joe team holds him in high regard, possibly due to the sheer amount of success he’s had against Cobra’s activities even when running solo.
This doesn’t mean that he’d reject backup though. Multiple instances have proven that Snake Eyes works well with regular soldiers and his own “team” of ninjas.
The One Guy You Can Trust
Snake Eyes is considered to be a lynchpin in many of the more covert activities of G.I. Joe. And while that makes him important, he doesn’t take that opportunity to lord over the other members of his team, and on occasion put himself at personal risk just to rescue a compatriot. My memory is fuzzy, but I do recall that he risked a strange case of radiation poisoning in the animated series just so his teamates could escape unscathed.
The Best at What He Does
Snake Eyes was initially a commando, but his animated version (and other versions that followed) had him more prominently shown as a Ninja. What does that mean? He’s a specialist’s specialist apparently. And while it does kind of stretch my suspension of disbelief, I’m willing to concede that as a Lone Wolf, one does have to at least have something that they can be unmatched in, leaving them to truly outclass a majority of normal people in their field. Of course, as a GM, this also means I get to up the ante by pitting him against someone who is just as good… kind of like Stormshadow was to Snake Eyes.
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I’ve played only a handful of Lone Wolves, but they all seem to stick to the military credo “Leave No Man Behind.” I’ve had ninja-esque characters before (jokingly referred to as “Nin-Jays” by my gaming group) but they’re all characters that will be the last to exit a dangerous situation and the first to come to the aid of their team. Being badass is one thing, but being badass enough to insure that the entire team comes back alive and well while leaving the opponents as nothing left but a stain is the mark of a true Lone Wolf.
i remember him doing his kata’s on a mountain peak after a rescue,
and yeah he does signify a lone wolf.