Editing Cobra Commander (section)

===IDW Publishing (2008–2018)===
In IDW's series, "The Commander" is a title and rank, not an individual, and there have been numerous Commanders in the past: they have been elected and placed in power by a ruling body called the Cobra Council.<ref name="comicbookresources.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=30420 |title=G.I. Joe enters the Cobra Civil War |work=Comic Book Resources |date=20 January 2011 |access-date=2011-07-19}}</ref>

The first Cobra Commander was a well-known, famous businessman, operating as the Commander in secret.<ref>''G.I. Joe: Cobra Civil War'' #1</ref> His uniform was a suit and tie, with gloves and variation of the silver face mask. Rather than having an army helmet over the blank face plate mask, the lower portion of the mask has fangs engraved around the jaw line. Unlike other incarnations of the character, this version of Cobra Commander – usually just called "the Commander" – is extremely reclusive, and his existence is only known to only select high-profile Cobra subordinates (such as the twins Tomax and Xamot and the Baroness). Cobra Commander's personality is also much more passive-aggressive and introspective; having captured the G.I. Joe spy [[Chuckles (G.I. Joe)|Chuckles]], Cobra Commander refuses to allow Tomax and Xamot to kill the spy, opting instead to personally recruit Chuckles, by taking him into his confidence and promising him revenge against Xamot.

In issue #12 of "G.I. Joe: Cobra", Xamot attempts to set up Cobra Commander to be killed and Chuckles to be blamed, only to learn the Commander has outmaneuvered him. Chuckles doesn't manage to kill the Commander, shooting him and missing. This is the first time a Commander has been killed in action, and a competition erupts in Cobra to find who will be the replacement, directed by the Cobra Council.<ref name="comicbookresources.com"/> The competition becomes a contest of who can kill the most Joes: competing Cobra agents include Baroness, Dr. Vargas, Major Bludd, Oda Satori, Tomax, Krake, and Raja Khallikhan.<ref>''G.I. Joe: Cobra Civil War'' #0</ref> Baroness does not believe the Council would make her the Commander as she's a woman – not that this stops her from killing Joes.<ref>''Cobra: Civil War'' #1</ref>

Krake wins the competition, largely by revealing that he had killed and replaced one of his rivals with Zartan, doubling his kill score and showing the initiative to break the rules to win. Krake's origin would be given in ''Cobra Annual 2012'': born in Southeast Asia's [[Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)|Golden Triangle]] during a battle and named Tiger Eyes, he grew up as a child laborer and later child soldier for drug gangs. He was named Krake by Major Bludd, who was impressed when he told Krake he had a spy in his gang and the man responded by killing every other member. Krake was invited to join Cobra, initially resisting but later providing the means to take over several [[Triad (organized crime)|Chinese triads]].<ref>''Cobra Annual 2012: The Origin of Cobra Commander''</ref>

The first action Krake takes as Commander is to openly invade the Southeast Asian nation of Nanzhao and steal its gold reserves. During the invasion, he destroys heroin poppy fields, so it initially looks to the world like Cobra is overthrowing a brutal regime and fighting the drug trade; it also drives up the price of heroin, a drug Cobra deals in.<ref>''G.I. Joe vol. 2'' #9: "Cobra Command Part 1"</ref> The Cobra Council are then slaughtered by Krake's agents, giving him full command of Cobra.<ref>''Cobra vol. 2'' #10: "Cobra Command Part 6"</ref> Writers Chuck Dixon and Mike Costa have said that while the previous Commander allowed his subordinates to "pursue their own goals so long as they kick back to him" and was content to "profit invisibly", Krake "wants to be known and wants to be powerful, and wants to rule the world in the most supervillainy sense... With his leadership, Cobra shifts from a sneaky, shadowy cabal to an actual military presence."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35833 |title=Dixon and Costa Reveal G.I. Joe's New Cobra Commander |work=Comic Book Resources |date=9 December 2011 |access-date=2012-11-10}}</ref>

''G.I. Joe: Origins'' involves a psychotic ex-stock broker, who murders his family and several law enforcement officers when his crimes are discovered. Calling himself "the Chimera" and gathering a militia around him, he is one of the first villains that G.I. Joe faces. It is also noted that he started the sub-prime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s. [[Larry Hama]] had intended him to be Cobra Commander, but this idea was dropped with the introduction of the Cobra Council, and has not been seen since ''Origins'' #5. It has not been specified if he was indeed the Cobra Commander that Chuckles murdered.<ref>''G.I. Joe: Origins'' #1–5</ref>