Sgt. Slaughter

Sgt. Slaughter is a hard-as-nails drill instructor and elite soldier who joined the G.I. Joe team, bringing his legendary toughness and no-nonsense military discipline to bear against the Cobra organization. He was based on the real-life WWE wrestler of the same name.

Sgt. Slaughter is one of the most recognizable drill-sergeant figures to ever march through the pages of Marvel Comics, debuting in 1986's G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #48 — right in the thick of that franchise's Copper Age heyday — courtesy of the legendary Larry Hama and artist Rod Whigham. Over a remarkable publishing run stretching nearly four decades, he's kept fierce company with heavyweights like Cobra Commander, Hawk, and Roadblock, appearing across cornerstone titles including G.I. Joe and the Transformers and the sweeping G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Compendium. Few characters embody the bold, larger-than-life energy of '80s comics quite like this one, and his enduring presence on the page — right through 2025 — is a testament to how thoroughly he captured the imagination of a generation of fans.