The above was what Storm Shadow told Anibal in Storm Shadow Issue 6, which leads me to ask: When was Storm Shadow truly an assassin?

It is obvious that it was not during the time when he was in the Arashikage Clan as they had a code of honor much like the Samurai.

It is obvious that it was not during the time when Storm Shadow joined Cobra as it would have betrayed everything Storm Shadow and his family believed in.

Could it have been during the time when he was brainwashed by Cobra? Would that not be a good story where Storm Shadow killed someone innocent for Cobra and their relative(s) vowed to kill Storm Shadow?

I am curious also if Storm Shadow had to kill anyone that tried to attack Cobra Commander while he first worked as Cobra Commander's bodyguard(starting in Marvel Issue 21)

I guess it is possible that the word "assassin" could simply mean "someone who kills for money" This could apply to soldiers and it is clear that Storm Shadow did indeed kill some Vietnamese back in the Vietnam...er, I mean, Southest Asia.

I just thought it would be interesting if Larry Hama could do a story in the Storm Shadow series where Storm Shadow remembers killing someone innocent during his brainwashed years. What? Storm Shadow is ending after Issue 7? Grrr, I dont like Hasbro. Smile.

Ninjas have always been assassins. It goes hand in hand with their training in stealth and infiltration. Now does that mean ninjas are evil?
When you sneak into the enemy's castle and kill the local governor, it an assassination whether the governor was kind or wicked.

When you say assassin, it conjurs the image of a lone killer penetrating defenses and killing one target who was otherwise thought to be secure.
While those on the left may not agree, the word is usually is reserved for targets not involved in conflict at the time(thus, a sniper on the battlefield is not an assassin, merely a good shot).

This is certainly in Tommy's skill set and as we have not seen every moment of his life we cannot say he has never assassinated anyone. And because we don't know WHO he may have assassinated, we can't say it was against his code of honor. In fact his code of honor may very well dictate that he assassinate a particular target in certain circumstances for the greater good.

Also, in the world of black bag work, the word assassin connotes someone who has been paid.

I think all SS was saying to Anibal was that he is his own man, with his own agenda (cue Frank Sinatra!)

I don't really think he was telling Anibal 'I no longer sneak into places and kill folks what done need killin'.

Cause, duh, thats the WHOLE POINT of being a ninja.

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--
The core of the GI Joe fantasy is loyalty. The fantasy isn't about shooting at Cobra,
the fantasy is about 'If I get left behind, Snake Eyes will come and get me.'
-Larry Hama, CHUD Interview

I always wondered about and kind of figured that he was doing of panel missions for Cobra Commander. Or he was in charge of sending out his Red ninjas to accomplish the missions.

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I imagine almost all of his time as a Cobra wasn't just to stand there and look pretty. Guy had to earn a paycheck, and that meant killing people, for money.

The same is kind of true in Southeast Asia, although he was doing that for training, he was still killing people ... for a paycheck.

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2013, NEW SPRITES!

Wow.
So are all soldiers just hired killers?
By that logic every Joe(except maybe Sparks) is an assassin...

_________________
Sic vis pacem, para bellum
--
The core of the GI Joe fantasy is loyalty. The fantasy isn't about shooting at Cobra,
the fantasy is about 'If I get left behind, Snake Eyes will come and get me.'
-Larry Hama, CHUD Interview

All soldiers in the employ of Cobra, definately.

But Storm Shadow's service in Southeast Asia has a * next to it. Because he was sent there as further training in his family business.

In no way are all soldiers hired killers.

The definition of an assassin is someone who MURDERS for money.

Soldiers kill, no denying it. But barring any shady orders from the top or severe miscommunications with bad results (bound to happen in a world with umpteen-billion people in it), the vast majority of soldiers in our Armed Forces, and our allies, and even many of our enemies' Armed Forces, fight honorably and in defense of their country and best interest. They kill in self-defense, offensively and defensively.

The difference, is honor. While codes of honor vary from culture to culture, I think most ethically minded people would say that killing a target for a paycheck is dishonorable, whereas making a living keeping people safe no matter the cost, is honorable.

Of course, somewhere, Storm Shadow did indeed decide to start fighting for his country against threats like Cobra, and to defend the innocent, the scared, the helpless in the most noble of ways. He very likely even first started feeling that way in Southeast Asia, when his close friendships to Snake Eyes, Stalker, Wade, Dickie and Ramon started. Indeed, one could argue that the whole point of sending him to fight in Asia that the Hard Master and Soft Master had in mind, was to have him form the "bond of brothers" with other soldiers, and to gain a sense of honor and respect.

Nowadays, even when he takes a covert job, he doesn't kill unless it's self-defense. Of course, with his luck, he still ends up killing a lot of people. Just in Storm Shadow 1-6 so far we've got;

Somewhere around 20 dead, in under a month. Off duty! Not to mention all the low-level gangbangers he's maimed, or the entire squad of Night Creepers he takes out in America's Elite # 30!

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2013, NEW SPRITES!

AHHHHHHHHH!

Dude!

Spoliers!



Nah, it's ok, I could've guessed.


As to Tommy's time in SE Asia, I can't count it as 'assassin time'.
Yes, we was encouraged to join as his 'final exam', but he was a soldier doing soldier's work. He wasn't sneaking into enemy territory to kill civilian leaders or industrial figures. He was humping into the bush with his team to fight regular soldiers.
If we look at ulterior motivations like that, then we might have to classify any who joined up on December 8th 1941(or September 12th 2001) as psychopathic revenge freaks.

If Tommy was doing 'side quests' so to speak, like 'Hey I'm gonna sneak a peek over that next ridge, wait here' then puts an arrow into the head man of a village for helping the enemy, that would be assassin time.

_________________
Sic vis pacem, para bellum
--
The core of the GI Joe fantasy is loyalty. The fantasy isn't about shooting at Cobra,
the fantasy is about 'If I get left behind, Snake Eyes will come and get me.'
-Larry Hama, CHUD Interview

Sorry about the spoilers!

It's been a while since I've had to worry about that in these forums, because usually I don't have the book the day it came out, but I lucked out this week.

(In regards to that though, it's barely scratching the surface of Stormy's appearance in AE ...).

As for Storm Shadow doing side jobs ... it's possible, you know? There's no love lost between the Japanese and the Vietnamese. In fact, post-WWII, they've historically despised each other. We have some example of this, in that Firefly was an orphan raised by a Vietnamese farmer, but the Koga ninjas assassinated that farmer, and took in the young Firefly.

Enlisting and ranking up to be a LRRP could've all been a means to an end for Storm Shadow - getting to some target in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle.

Getting close friends could've been a side-effect of this most ninja-esque of tasks. His love of America could have nothing to do with his entrance in Southeast Asia, it might be purely from growing up in San Francisco.

There's really no way of knowing what points in time he was fighting for his beliefs, or doing secret ninja jobs.

EDIT: Although I have to say, I don't think Snake Eyes would be his friend if this was the case ... Snake Eyes might be all sorts of dark, but he's all about right and wrong, and I think he'd have picked up on it if Stormy wasn't forthright and honest with them.

So it's not the likeliest of scenarios, but still, Stormy might have had ulterior motives for his combat tour.

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2013, NEW SPRITES!