Lt. Falcon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lt. Falcon (or just Falcon) is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of toys, cartoon series and comics.
His real name is Vincent Falcone and he was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. As a Green Beret, his primary function is special operations. His father was also a Green Beret who served with the 10th Special Forces Group Airborne (SFGA), making Falcon a second generation Green Beret. Falcon briefly served with the 6th SFGA's counter-terrorist unit and is fluent in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Swahili.
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[edit] Hasbro Toys
The original Lt. Falcon action figure released in 1987 is one of the more realistically designed figures from the G.I. Joe toyline. It sports the familiar green beret headgear, and olive green fatigues with tiger stripes and is armed with shotgun, knife, backpack and antenna. Two more versions came out, both made from repaints of the same original mold. The second is a Toys 'R' Us exclusive Night Force pack released in 1988. It sports a black beret, black top fatigue with grey sleeves, brown pants and black boots. The third version is from the Super Sonic Fighters subset of the toyline. It sports a green beret again and the fatigues have an urban design. The action carries a portable helicopter backpack that can emit four different sounds.
[edit] Comics
[edit] Marvel
Lt. Falcon's first comic book appearance is in G.I. Joe #60 published by Marvel Comics, guarding a missile aimed at COBRA Island, an island nation controlled by COBRA. Later on, he is involved in several major events in the comics: the Cobra Civil War as leader of a recon team for the Joes (G.I. Joe #73-77); witnessing the destruction of the October Guard (G.I. Joe Special Missions #26); and a deadly mission in the fictional country of Trucial Abysmia in which seven Joes died just prior to COBRA's invasion of another fictional country, Benzheen. Lt. Falcon left G.I. Joe after it was disbanded (G.I. Joe #155).
[edit] Reinstatment - DDP
Before G.I. Joe was reinstated, Lt. Falcon has become a military consultant for various Hollywood productions. He would take part in missions if he was needed. He later got involved in the second major invasion of COBRA Island in G.I. Joe #25 (Devil's Due Productions). His last mission prior to a second disbandment of G.I. Joe was a recon mission in fictional Badhikstan.
[edit] Cartoon
[edit] Sunbow
In animation, Lt. Falcon first appeared in G.I. Joe: The Movie as a new hotshot Joe in training. In the movie, he is a half-brother of G.I. Joe's second-in-command leader, Duke (Falcon was originally intended to be the son of General Hawk). He was portrayed as cocky and irresponsible which led to COBRA compromising the security of G.I. Joe's headquarters which nearly killed Gung Ho, Alpine and Bazooka. He later came to his senses and later led the final attack against Cobra and Cobra-La. He is also romantically involved with fellow G.I. Joe member, Jinx. He was voiced in the movie by Don Johnson.
[edit] DiC
He appeared again in another G.I. Joe animated series produced by DiC in the 2-part episode "The Greatest Evil." His portrayal is less flattering as he succumbs to drugs provided by the drugdealer, Headman. Led by Duke and a vengeful Crimson Guard who has a drug-addicted sister, it took the combined forces of G.I. Joe and COBRA to defeat Headman's private army, the Headhunters.
[edit] Controversy
Falcon is one of the few characters in G.I. Joe that is not done proper justice in his animated appearances. In the movie, he is shown to have disregard for Military Security and does not follow proper protocol. In the DiC episodes, he is a drug addict, conduct unbecoming of an officer in the military. These elements work for the point of the movie or episode in question, both about the rivalry with Duke and how that relationship evolves. However, it leaves Falcon to be portrayed as one of the worst Joes in history, which is very unbelievable considering he trained to become a Green Beret in the US Military before joining G.I. Joe.
