Spirit (G.I. Joe)
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Spirit, sometimes called Spirit Iron-Knife, is a character from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a line of military-themed toys. He appears in the animated series, comic books published by Marvel Comics and Devil's Due Productions, toy line and movie.
Introduced in 1984, Spirit's real name is Charlie Iron-Knife. He is born to a poor Native American family. His primary specialty is as a tracker. Spirit's action figure comes with a file card detailing some history. His birthplace in the toy's original file cards indicate he was born in Taos, New Mexico. Then, in the Slaughter's Marauders line, it's written as Grand Canyon, Arizona, possibly by mistake from the file card's writers. It is corrected back to Taos, New Mexico in the new toy released in 2005. He has a companion pet eagle named Freedom.
Spirit's costume and specialty highlight his identity as a Native American such as the fact his specialty is tracking. He sports long hair with pigtails on the side, a headband, a knife being a prominent weapon and pants with designs typical of some Native American tribes. A new version of his costume designed by Devil's Due ditched most of the obvious aspects of his heritage and emphasized a more military aspect.
Spirit's first comic book appearance is in G.I. Joe #31 from Marvel Comics. His first mission was guarding Snake-Eyes, who is staying at his cabin at the time. That issue showed some of his capabilities as a hunter and tracker. He was the only one who spotted a Cobra tracking device inside the C-130 plane they were flying on. He and Airborne, a fellow Joe (and coincidentally a fellow Southwest Native American) during that mission kept moving around and trying to deceive Snake-Eyes from their presence. After injuries from that mission, he was seen in a shopping mall in G.I. Joe #33 looking for herbs. His later appearances became rare, though he did participate in the invasion of Springfield and Cobra Island. In his last few appearances, he can be seen guarding the entrance to the Joe's headquarters, the Pit. Spirit's pet eagle, Freedom, does not appear until #130 of the Marvel comics series and recently appeared in the Devil's Due series. In the Devil's Due series, he was found imprisoned at an old Cobra base by Duke who was doing a Solo investigation of Cobra Commander's whereabouts. He has recently rejoined the team.
In the animated series, Spirit first appeared in the mini-series The Revenge of Cobra. In that mini-series, he was used as a foil to Storm Shadow, fighting one another in a stalemate. Afterwards, in the regular series, he was usually a background character or foil to Storm Shadow. He was voiced by Gregg Berger.
In the G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 series, Spirit, or Spirit Iron-Knife, is the team's resident tracker. This version of Spirit seems to have more of a mystical and shaman persona. His personality is reflected in his ability to mix his hi-tech suit and weapons with his abilities as a tracker. His pet is a falcon named "Billy", with whom he seems to have a kind of spiritual bond.
