Love it or hate him - Serpentor was an interesting concept though he was portrayed differently in the cartoon. The comics version of Serpentor had a more strategic, calm mindset and knew how to slowly convince people that he was better as COBRA's leader than his predecessor, the Cobra Commander. The cartoon Serpentor was nearly as deranged as Galvatron. If one could think of the DNA samples mentioned - General Hawk did say, "Dozens more!" Julius Caesar, Geronimo, Erik the Red, Grigori Rasputin, and Henry V were mentioned. I have a feeling Hasbro wanted to put Adolf Hitler into the list but it could've been way too sensitive to mention it outright. Instead, it seemed to be hinted that Hitler's DNA did, after all, make the mix.
A research on Adolf Hitler's personality and noticing the signs may show Dr. Mindbender DID add Hitler's DNA after all. The PennState Leadership Blog has this to state about Hitler's madness:
Despite Hitler’s childhood and his rejections in life, he was a persuasive leader. He had complete power and influence over the people of Germany. How could someone who was unattractive, unsocial, somewhat of a failure, and extremely narcissist become such an effective leader? The answer is through power and influence. “Power is the capacity to produce effects on others”. (PUS, WC, 2015). Hitler was a failure in the beginning of his political career. It was from this failure that he learned to use his referent power to grow in the political world. With this growth, he began to influence those around him by strengthening relationships with his followers. (PSU, WC, 2015.) People became mesmerized by what Hitler was selling to them. Hitler continued to use his referent power to satisfy his incessant need to gain personalized power because ultimately he was selfish, impulsive and lacking in self-control (PSU, WC, 2015.). Hitler used his inspirational appeal to convince the Germans to annihilate an entire race of people. Hitler gave his speeches and arouse “enthusiasm and emotions” thereby convincing people that his decisions were based on the good of Germany (PSU, WC, 2015.). As a leader, his power came from what Hitler had around him and what he wanted to achieve as a country. He used his inspirational speeches to explain that Germany needed to be cleansed from all the people that diseased the pure race. This was not a novel idea. He took it from the Egyptian culture. He sold himself with great art and befriended incredible movie directors, who showed him as amazing and powerful. This became social proof to the German people and as a result they were influenced by his leadership despite his drug addiction (PSU, WC, 2015.). The German world only saw the great propaganda that Hitler advertised. The strength of Germany is what he wanted to show the world to try to gain further influence over people. After gaining a vast amount of followers, he used his coercive power to keep people in line whenever his motives or actions were questioned. Anyone who questioned him or disobeyed his orders were punished (PSU, WC, 2015.). He used the many different facets of power and influence to first gain control of an entire country, to maintain that power through coercion and fulfill his maniacal goals. He could not be a more perfect example of how power and influence creates a leader.
Serpentor himself had shown signs of being selfish, impulsive, and lacking self-control. Dr. Mindbender wasn't all too smart with his DNA choices either. Losing Sun Tzu's DNA while he was in China meant he could've pursued Mao Zedong's DNA. It seems Dr. Mindbender was aware that Hitler, while charismatic, was a completely berserk guy. Having Hitler's DNA meant Serpentor could draw the crowds of COBRA such as the Night Vipers and the Crimson Guard to his control - even wrest control from his predecessor Cobra Commander.
The subtle hint that Serpentor may have had Hitler's DNA was moments when he was born. It doesn't make too much sense how he knows what he has to do. G.I. Joe The Movie however does explain it (in part) when Golobulus mentions he was the one who created Serpentor's memory. Destro, Dr. Mindbender, Scrap-Irion, Tomax, and Xamot all do a Nazi-style salute to Serpentor. Serpentor's next decision is to invade Washington D.C. What Serpentor does next is to say, "The dawn of a thousand-year rule." all before his invasion was countered by G.I. Joe. Hitler had Germany's Thousand Year Reich. Serpentor mentioned COBRA's thousand year-rule which barely lasted a day.
Serpentor's attitude as the Cobra Emperor is worse than Cobra Commander's. Cobra Commander and Destro frequently bickered like Starscream and Megatron. Cobra Commander felt like Megatron running into his future self in the second season. Serpentor's approach was that he used COERCIVE POWER to keep people in line whenever his motives or actions were questioned. Serpentor's first act against Cobra Commander was to hit his predecessor really hard. Serpentor even threw Dr. Mindbender and Destro aside since he wanted to finish Sgt. Slaughter himself. Many episodes feature Serpentor to be always wanting everything done at once, his patience wears thin too easily, and he would hurt people whenever his motives were questioned. Why the COBRA hierarchy stood up to such B.S. worse than Cobra Commander is illogical. Cobra Commander was right to call Serpentor's leadership "pathetic" since, like Hitler, he wasn't the type who wanted to be criticized. Serpentor always wanted to have his way or none. Serpentor would get angry over the slightest offense. Hitler's behavior seemed common to how Hitler was often portrayed during the wartime Looney Tunes episodes.
The one mistake that Dr. Mindbender made was really adding Sgt. Slaughter's DNA into the mix. Sure, Serpentor had inherited Sgt. Slaughter's strength and willingness to lead the frontlines. However, Sgt. Slaughter's hyperactive constitution of a vending machine may have worsened Hitler's already impulsive behavior. Using Mao's DNA would've probably made his invasion of Washington D.C. a success. After all, Mao did overthrow Chiang Kai Sheks' regime and established China. It was only years later when Mao started to become insane with power. Yet, Mao managed to rule for life compared to Hitler. I guess Dr. Mindbender really is a deranged idiot with a high IQ after all.
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