Not so much the series as maybe just the first three mini-series.

I'm just curious where these stories might take place.

Series one: A Real American Hero.

I thinks it's safe to assume the Joe base is located somewhere in the US, although "where?" is the question. After leaving the Fort Wadsworth in the North East, wasn't the Pit located in Utah? This makes a bit of sense for the 'toons as the area surrounding the airfield seems to be desert-like terrain and when Maj. Bludd calls retreat, they fly over a desert area similar to that of South Eastern Utah and the Four Corners area, but how would an enemy fighter squadron make it to Utah? Guys at NORAD must have been dozing off.


Cobra Temple: I'm thinking Eastern Europe. Ramor and Selena seem maybe Romanian? Czech? Turkish? They are slaves, and they don't specify they are locals, but that might be a safe assumption.

This brings up when Duke escapes, how did he return to the Joe base? Let's say he caught an unbelievable updraft and could sail the Viper Glider a good ways before crashing into the forest. Ok, the northern part of Europe is known to have a tree or two. Maybe he made it to West Germany (remember, this was the 80s) and made it to an American military base that got him home. Plausable, I guess.

MASS Device targets: not really an issue, Paris, London, New York, Moscow, all real places.

MASS Element locations: the radioactive crystal cave could be anywhere in Northern Canada or Russia. Polar bears, timber wolves, blind hermits, they're all indigenous to those locations.

The heavy water pool: Heavy Water is a real thing. It's one of those kinda unexplainable things too. These pools do exist in various parts of the world, but Doc Vanderemere explains that this heavy water comes from the deepest trench, which might be the Mariana Trench. (Where Megatron and the Decepticons were dumped.) That trench is located in the western Pacific, closer to Japan (south thereof) than North America. Heavy Water has been found in the trench.

Now here's the tricky part, tube worms are real. Not as advanced as those depicted, but real. They live near places where volcanic activity is present under water, so while the whole of the trench might be very cold, if there is volcanic activity nearby, there might be tube worms. But very little in the way of life has been found in the Mariana Trench.

The meteor/volcano: this is the best explained location in the story, along the "ring of fire" (real) in South America (also real). Doc V doesn't specify which country, but that doesn't matter since there are many volcanoes in S. America. The ring of fire is simply a connection of volcanoes that occupied the western coats of North, Central and South America, and the eastern coast of Asia, do w towards New Zealand, forming more of a horseshoe shape around the Pacific Ocean.

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Series two: The Revenge Of Cobra (aka: The Weather Dominator)
My favorite of all the mini-series, but the opening has some confusing locales.

The convoy attack: Again, assuming the Pit is in Utah, the surrounding scenery gives you the idea of Arizona, Southern Utah, Nevada, even southern/eastern California. So for the Joes to be on convoy in a region that looks like the desert isn't out of the question. Keep in mind that "desert" doesn't actually refer to a type of terrain, but actually is a description of a region that gets less than a specific amount of precipitation, but for this post, when I say "desert," I'm referring to what most people think of when they think of a desert; a dirty/sandy, dry area with little vegetation.

Cobra Temple: there are very few places in the US that are the sandy type of desert, and those places are in the southwest, though, it might not be out of the possibility that the temple could be located in northern Mexico, close enough that staging the convoy attack, if in the south west, would be possible and getting the laser core back to base would be possible without the cobra headed plane having to refuel. But even in northern Mexico, there are still few sandy deserts. By "sandy" I'm talking what most people envision the Sahara to be like; dune after dune of sand, with palm trees (for some reason) and little else in the way of vegetation. The sandy type desert would be ideal for at least two reasons. First, the temple rises and lowers out of the ground. Sand flows like water and would get out of the of the Temple as it rose up and would fall back into place as the Temple descends. Another reason sand is good is because dirt and vegetation would be harder for the Temple to move through and once the Temple was back under ground, it would be very obvious where the Temple was with the freshly churned up dirt in the area.

I bring up the Cobra Temple being in the US because of the time frames in which events occur. Maj. Bludd hot foots it back in the cobra headed plane with Flint, Mutt and Roadblock following (all three of whom had to leave their Skyhawks and hop in their Sky Strikers, Scarlett having to leave her VAMP behind). Granted a fighter plane would catch up to a loaded cargo plane fairly easy, but this would be made easier if Cobra Temple was in North America.

Pit of Chaos: Well, ok, this is SOMEWHERE between where the convoy attack and the Temple are located and crevasse are found all over the southwest . Not hard to figure that out. But where do Mutt and Flint end up meeting Shipwreck? Some craptacular little dive bar in what appears to be a Cobra controlled town. Before their, uh, "helicopter" crashed, two Cobra troopers are seen guarding an oil pump. This leads me to think part of Texas almost (those pumps are EVERYWHERE). And I'll get to another theory on Texas in a moment. Another possibility is that none of this takes place in the US at all. It could take place in the middle east where those sandy deserts exist. Oil pumps are a plenty. And Cobra might have more freedoms to do what they do. But that kinda doesn't work when you consider...


Blackwater Prison: Interesting place for a prison. Nothing but who-knows-what infested swampy water for an escapee to trudged thru. Zartan's domain. First, a few reasons why Texas (or at least the southwest region) makes sense for the convoy attack. The deserty, western side of Texas. But the eastern side of Texas is lush and green and, you guessed it, swampy. What else is in eastern Texas? Louisiana, land of swamps and guys who sell G.I.*JOE related wares. I think the whole southern part of the state is built on stilts to keep it above the water line.

So, Blackwater Prison could very well be in this area. Also for consideration, think about how quickly Gung Ho got CC to Blackwater. I-10 thru Texas is only 879 miles, and it's not straight across, so as the crow flies, it's even shorter, so the attack on the convoy takes place, CC is captured and if a transport was available right away, it wouldn't take that long to get CC to the prison.
Also, consider this; Maj. Bludd lands the cobra headed plane, Duke and SE get into a little scuffle, the laser core is unloaded and Destro and Maj. Bludd are chatting as the rescue chopper with CC, Z and the Noks is landing. So maybe Maj. Bludd took a round about way to get home to lead Flint et al over the Pit of Chaos, but still, CC got back pretty quick.

Mutt and Flint meet Shipwreck in the dive bar, where the locals speak English. This might also lead one to think they are in the US, but if in the middle east, it could be a town sorta like those found around American owned drilling company sites, where there are enough people that speak English.
The sand storm that hits Flint, Mutt and Shipwreck is very real, regardless of the desert type, but again, it would require the sandy desert, for them to skim across (without somehow sanding away their skies).

Roadblock escapes the Pit of Chaos, finds a road, and boards a truck "full of the finest viddles you ever did see!". Honda Lu West is as about as southern as you can get, so my theory on Texas or the southwest has a bit more footing there. This road takes them to Cobra Temple, so from the convoy attack location, to the Pit of Chaos to the Cobra Temple, they'd all need to be fairly close by. If Cobra hijacked Honda Lu's trucks with full fuel tanks, that would give them a range close to 1200 miles, providing they aren't too heavy, and that covers a lot of the southwest region.

Before boarding Honda Lu's truck, Roadblock tangles with a couple of mountain lions, though this doesn't really give much of indication of location as mountain lions are found from the northern Canadian provinces to the southern tip of South America.


The Weather Dominator components:

None of the location are specifically mentioned by name and even the shot of the three pieces falling to Earth doesn't give the best indication, so I'm just going off the areas in the scenes depicting the recovery of the pieces.

The laser core: like the radioactive crystals, probably more likely northern Canada, or Asia, maybe Europe. The polar ice shelf doesn't really have "mountains," more like large drifts that keep it from being truly flat. (so boo on you Rise of Cobra's Destro base) The northern Scandinavian countries have topography similar to that shown.

The hydro-master: (I think, the blocky looking one) There are several atolls in the south pacific that would work here, so this on is plausible. Atolls are also found in the Indian Ocean and a few are near Central America. Cutter mentions that the reef surrounding the island is made of sharp coral, so these would be atolls/islands in a tropical region.


The ion-corrolator (the pointy one): lands in a temple surrounded by dense jungle. Good bet it might be in South/Central America. Also plausible, but given the temple design and the statue it might be someplace in eastern Asia as well.


Zartan's Amusement Park of Terror: when tracking Zartan's signal, it looks like he's most likely somewhere in Florida.

The Weather Dominator Targets: like those of the MASS Device, all real places.

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Series three: The Pyramid of Darkness
Ok, the locales in this series are truly mind boggling.

The launch facility and Enterprise City: Really, this could be almost anywhere in the States. Cape Canaveral is located in Florida because it is the most ideal place to launch spacecraft, but not the only place. But once the battle begins and CC and the Twins get away, we see Enterprise city. I would almost guess Enterprise city could be in the northern Midwest where there's lots of open space, yet very large cities. Large cities are usually located near large rivers, so that's plausible. Enterprise City might be a Cobra front town like Springfield or Broca Beach, so having the control cube factory and second subway system are possible. The city would provide workers a place to live and be a good cover for getting cube building supplies in and out.

Space Station Delta: Space isn't real, it's a set on a sound stage at Area 51.

The Cube locations:
The cubes are supposed to be located at the four corners of the globe. This post is about the locations, not the science of the show, but the pyramid itself when formed would not work as the cubes are placed. If Space Station Delta was directly above the north pole and shot it's beams down to the cubes, the base of the pyramid wouldn't cover more than really the polar ice cap, maybe cutting in the northern part of Europe, N. America and Asia.
Take a look at CC display of the Pyramid. The cubes are out in the space around the globe. Put them on the surface of the globe and the cube loses its line of site to Space Station Delta. It would be possible to place the cubes then send the beam from the Space Station via a satellite network. But this is not shown. Even more implausible is after the Joes regain control of Space Station Delta, Destro and Baroness set up a temporary station on top of a mountain, making the peak of the pyramid even lower and making it even more useless.

Anyhoo...

The Devil's Playground. A sweet little vacation spot apparently not suitable for ladies. Destro's first cube. This one is kinda tough. There are places on the Pacific rim that have volcanic activity where islands are created and destroyed all the time. This is a possibility. There are also places around Africa's Atlantic coast that have lots of geothermal activity. The mud in which Flint and Lady Jaye end up seems like some the mud pots you might see in Yellowstone. There is an area of the Mojave Desert in California called the Devil's Playground, but the location shown is an island.

The Mountain of Glass: Maj. Bludd's cube. You might thing Himalayas because of the height needed for the cube to "see" the space station. But then there's the leopard seas and the sea that Alpine and Bazooka get tangled up with. Neither are in the Himalayas. Not to mention, Leopard Seals are found in the southern hemisphere around Antarctica and the southern parts of S. America, Australia and other countries who's southern ends are close to Antarctica. Also, it conflicts with a couple other locations. The Pyramid of Darkness covers only the Northern Hemisphere. The Himalayas are in eastern Asia, so might be...

The City of the Dead. Tomax and Xamots's cube. The architecture and statues are very Chinese looking, if not Chinese, then Oriental. (Pardon the old school term there.) Essentially Eastern Asia. Having two cubes in such close proximity would not a pyramid base make. I'm more into thinking this cube is the one in Eastern Asia. So Maj. Bludd's might be in the Alps in Europe, but conflicts with...

The Sea of Lost Souls. Destro's second cube. Dunno why, but I've always thought this was in the Mediterranean Sea. Why? Lots of old ships meet their end there. It's where man first began using large boats. That whole thing with Jason and the Argonaughts on the Argosy with the rocks that closed up together and crushed ships. They were Greek. And Greek Mythology is real. I've seen the documentary Clash of the Titans. Plus if Roadblock, Footloose and Airtight were in China, they could have gotten the captured Tomax back to the Flagg fairly quickly if they skirted around all those Middle Eastern countries. Plus, when Xamot points out where the final cube is be placed, it looks like the Mediterranean.

Still makes me wonder about the mountain of Glass. I almost thought the Rockies, but being from Colorado, if there was a sea and leopard seals in the area, I'm sure I'd have seen it. (and Chief would swim it, fighting of the vicious leopard seals with one hand tied behind his back) .

The Cobra Temple. Another logistical problem is this: Alpine, Bazooka and QK hitch a ride on Maj. Bludd's convoy. Going from an extremely cold, snowy, mountainous region, to a jungle where Cobra temple is located. How long were they under that HISS with the the two turrets that needs to have a toy of it made? So then they take one of those cobra headed planes, lose control over a mountain range, bail out using flight pods, hijack in mid-air(!) a Cobra helicopter which they fly and then proceed to crash into Joe HQ. Whew! They covered a lot of ground with these aircraft.

So now the Joes know where Cobra temple is. And it is someplace just out of reach of the Pyramid of Darkness, yet close enough that when CC and the Twins flee they can hop into a Rattler (that seems to have flight deck bigger than a 747), and fly to Enterprise City and the Joes are able to pursue them...

Ok, as far as POD is concerned, I love the story, but the locations are just not plausible given the time frames in which people move and where the cubes would really need to be located, even with satellite assistance, for the thing to work.

I know many of you might just say "Cartoon Logic" or "Alternate Reality" or "pssshhh...I'm not reading that whole thing" or "those are some pretty good cheese fries" but the first two had some potentially real places.

Arise Serpentor, Arise...well, the locations where they collected DNA were real or based on reality. No one knows where Sun Tzu is buried, but that's a factual error. There were plenty of animation errors and plot holes but the locations weren't as questionable as the first three.

As for The Movie...Cobra La is real, nothing else is...

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Actually I believe this was proven untrue recently.

I think you're giving this WAAAAAY too much thought!

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That's what I like about JoeCustoms.

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Untrue! Heretic. Burn him!



Edit: A thought occurred to me that all of these places are right outside of Springfield.

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Well, I am an over the road truck driver. I have nothing but time to think while I'm chasing my steering wheel. Gotta keep the boredom at bay somehow

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Cobra Temple in the MASS Device felt like somewhere in central Asia, somewhere Cobra could be ignored or bully or pay off the locals. Eastern Europe puts it under the Iron Curtain, which doesn't work.

IIRC, the series bible says the Joe HQ is somewhere in the American southwest.

The forthcoming book on the Sunbow series may shed more light on that...

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Cool, got a link or anything to where I can find out about this book?

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I pre-ordered it on Amazon, comes out next month. They've already got enough to make a second book which is forthcoming.

http://www.amazon.com/G-I-JOE-Manual-Vo ... +Joe+guide

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Awesome. I might have to invest in that book myself. I'm a fan of American animation and I love stuff like this. Character models, what they could have looked like, the sets, the ideas that were there that were never used, all that good stuff

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It's cool.
"Food, rugs and furniture" can still be Oriental.

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