Follow

    Lt. Falcon

    Character » Lt. Falcon appears in 70 issues.

    Falcon is a Green Beret and Special Forces officer, and a member of the G.I. Joe team. He has been a member of their Night Force, Sonic Fighters, Slaughter's Marauders, and Wolf Squad sub-teams.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Lt. Falcon last edited by gravenraven on 07/06/23 06:58PM View full history

    Falcon is the code name used by U.S. Army Captain Vincent R. Falcone. Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Falcon is the son of a Green Beret, his father having served with the 10th SFGA (Special Forces Group Airborne). He soon followed in his father's footsteps and served as an executive officer in the 6th SFGA "Blue Light" counter-terrorist unit. Falcon can speak Spanish, French, Arabic, and Swahili.

    Marvel Comics History

    When then-Lt. Falcon first believed he had joined the G.I. Joe team, he was assigned to guard a top secret missile silo hidden on the Jersey shore, along with two other soldiers (military policeman Law and mobile missile specialist Fast Draw). A short time later, a man code-named Chuckles arrived and told them that they were not really a part of the Joe team. An intelligence agent, Chuckles was covering up the existence of the missile silo. To protect the missile, he reassigned Falcon and the others and told them they were part of the G.I. Joe team. To clear their names, the men "kidnapped" Hawk from the Newark airport and showed him the missile. Meanwhile, a group of Dreadnoks learned of the missile and found out it was aimed at Cobra Island. A brief battle followed, ending when a Cobra helicopter arrived and destroyed the missile just as it launched. Hawk offered Falcon and the others a spot on the Joe team then and there. Not long after, Falcon and two other Joes posed as Soviet soldiers and headed into Afghanistan to trick three Russian POWs into freeing a CIA agent being held prisoner. The Russians proved to be too smart to fall for the Joe's charade, and turned tables on the Joes, escaping the nation. Falcon and his team did manage to free the agent, Toler, along with an unwelcome group of refugees seeking political asylum in the US.

    Months later, Falcon led a team of Joes onto Cobra Island on a reconnaissance mission. They stumbled upon Cobra's civil war and when the Joes entered the war on the side of Serpentor, Falcon's team became advance scouts for the Joes' invasion force and had to forcibly take control of Cobra Island's airfield control tower to allow their teammates access to the airfield. As Destro's army arrived, Falcon and his team made their escape through the storm drains and sluice tunnels underground. By the time they joined up with the rest of the Joe team, the battle was over. In the developing nation of Sierra Gordo, Falcon again ran across Soviet agents while undercover; Falcon and his team had been sent to the nation undercover in order to rescue revolutionary leader, El Jefe. Unfortunately, the Soviets' Oktober Guard freed El Jefe first. The Joes ended up fighting Destro's Iron Grenadiers and the counter-revolutionaries before witnessing the deaths of all but two members of the Soviet team. The Joes and surviving Oktober Guard members were held prisoner by the counter-revolutionaries before being released by a G.I. Joe rescue team.

    Falcon's most difficult mission started as a routine raid on Cobra Terror Dromes in the desert nation of Trucial Abysmia. The mission soon turned disastrous when the team, led by Falcon and Duke, discovered that Cobra was involved more in the Middle East than was first believed. Trying to retreat into friendly territory, the group was overrun by Cobra soldiers led by Crimson Guard commanders Tomax and Xamot. Surrounded on all sides, Duke and Falcon knew it was suicidal to fight on and they surrendered to save their troops. When Tomax and Xamot reported to Cobra Commander, they misunderstood his orders and sent a SAW-Viper to kill the prisoners. Four Joes (Doc, Crankcase, Thunder, and Heavy Metal) were shot in cold blood before the rest of the group could escape in a captured Cobra Rage tank. The escaping Joes were followed and the tank exploded, killing three of the Joes (Crazylegs, Quick Kick, and Breaker), while Falcon, Duke and Cross-Country were the only ones left alive. When a Joe rescue team arrived, Falcon and the others went after the SAW-Viper, but Duke couldn't bring himself to shoot the now-unarmed man. The discoveries made on that mission led to the Joes' biggest operation, fighting against Cobra in the nearby nation of Benzheen. Falcon only served on a few more missions before taking some time off from the military back home in Fayetteville.

    Devil's Due Publishing History

    When Hawk called for Falcon to return to the reinstated team in 2001, he learned that Falcon had been serving as a military consultant for various Hollywood action movies, and even made a cameo appearance in one or two of them alongside former teammate Ace. Falcon promised to return to the team if and when he was needed, and eventually joined the team in its invasion of Cobra Island to battle the forces of a revived Serpentor. Falcon later led a small team of Joes on a recon mission to observe Coil activity in Badhikstan. After a brief battle, his team was captured by Tomax and Xamot, but were eventually released. After the Joes stopped a plot by Cobra to unleash the super-weapon known as the Tempest, and defeated a new threat, the Red Shadows, the military again disbanded the team. One year later, the Joe team was reformed with a smaller roster of active members. Falcon, like most former Joes, is a reserve member of the new team.

    Falcon was called back to duty when the Joes were immersed in the global conflict known as World War III, Cobra's final gambit of world domination. He accompanied Daina "Vorona" Janack to Chechnya where they met with the most recent incarnation of Vorona's old team, the Oktober Guard (now made up of Red Star, Big Bear, Dragonsky, Sgt. Zubinkov, and new member Ruslan). The Joes tracked down the Russians and explained that Cobra was behind attacks that were attributed to the United States. The group then fought local rebels who had been armed with hi-tech M.A.R.S. weapons by Cobra. Eventually, they made their way into St. Petersburg where they fought Cobra and the Iron Grenadiers until the war finally ended and Cobra Commander was arrested. Following the conflict, Falcon returned to his previous assignment but remains a reserve member of G.I. Joe.

    IDW Publishing History (Continuation of Marvel Comics history)

    IDW Publishing History

    Animated History

    G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)

    Sunbow animated appearance
    Sunbow animated appearance

    Falcon is a central character in the movie, and is voiced by Don Johnson (of 'Miami Vice' fame). Originally, he was penned as the son of General Hawk, but here he is shown as the irresponsible half-brother of Duke, and is one of the new recruits called in after a contingent of Joes go after Cobra in the Himalayas, after the snakes had tried to steal the Broadcast Energy Transmitter the Joes were testing. He skips out on his training session with Beachhead to take a woman named Heather out on a date (despite trying to romance fellow new recruit Jinx, a ninja and the cousin of Storm Shadow), and breaks protocol by showing her around the part of G.I. Joe HQ where the captured Cobra Emperor, Serpentor, is being held. This earns him a reprimand from Hawk, Beachhead, and Duke, and escalates into a full court-martial after the Dreadnoks compromise security and free Serpentor--thanks to intel gathered by Heather, who turns out to be Zarana in disguise. As punishment, Falcon is shipped off to a special reform training center called "The Slaughterhouse" to be taught discipline by the Joe team's drill instructor, Sgt. Slaughter. He trains alongside three other rogues (Mercer, Red Dog, and Taurus), known collectively as 'the Renegades'. While taking a break from the training, Sgt. Slaughter receives a request from Hawk to infiltrate the Terror Drome on Cobra Island in order to find out more about the new allies of Cobra--the secret society known as Cobra La. Falcon ends up offering a challenge to the mission: they go in, but without weapons, much to the chagrin of the Renegades. They manage to get in undetected thanks to the expertise of Mercer, who was a former Cobra Viper before defecting, and learn of Cobra's plan to steal the BET in a massive assault on G.I. Joe HQ. Falcon, Slaughter, and the Renegades arrive in time to help turn the tide of the battle, but in the end, Cobra (with the help of their new Cobra-La allies and biotech) manages to retreat with the BET in their possession. Just as they leave, Serpentor throws a snake spear at Falcon, but Duke takes the hit, being mortally wounded in the process and falling into a coma, but not before telling Falcon to try and make him proud. Falcon and the new recruits are then sent to join up with Flint's search party in an assault on Cobra-La, where he ends up fighting both Serpentor (who escapes) and Cobra-La's ruler, Golobulus. Falcon ends up setting the BET to overload the pods Cobra-La had sent into space with more energy than they could handle, causing them to burn up in the atmosphere. It also causes the caverns they were in to collapse, but fortunately the Joes and Cobras escape, leaving Cobra-La buried under the ice. Falcon and Jinx admit that they do love each other, and kiss just as the news of Duke's recovery comes on the Joes' radios.

    Originally, Duke was meant to die in the movie, with Falcon becoming the field leader in a proposed third season of the G.I. Joe animated series. Due to the outcry over the death of Optimus Prime in the previous year's box-office bomb The Transformers: The Movie, these plans were scrapped and G.I. Joe: The Movie ended up being edited and released on home video, as well as being aired on television in syndication, first in feature length format and later split into a five-part miniseries format as part of the show's syndication package.

    DIC Animated Series (1989-92)

    DIC Cartoon appearance
    DIC Cartoon appearance

    Falcon appears in DIC's continuation of the Sunbow continuity, and is shown in his Sonic Fighters uniform. He is voiced by Fred Henderson. He first appears in the episode "Long Live Rock and Roll" (1991), and is central in the 2-part episode "The Greatest Evil" (1991). Here, his portrayal is less flattering than in the movie, where it is shown that he became a junkie, hooked on a drug sold by the notorious Headman called "Spark", which causes a rift to form between himself and Duke. He ends up getting help in kicking the habit from Bullet-Proof (the Joes' new anti-drug agent and head of their new Drug Elimination Force), who empathizes with Falcon's situation, and convinces him to enter rehab, where he shares a room with the recovering addict sister of a Cobra Crimson Guard Immortal who also fell victim to Spark, and is now comatose. A group of Headman's Headhunter troopers later abduct Falcon and Cindy (the Crimson Guard Immortal's sister) to use as hostages. Headman offers Falcon a position in his organization, citing that there's nothing for him to go back to, especially with Duke nearly disowning him. Falcon, finally realizing the weight of his past mistakes, flat-out refuses, and he and Cindy flee. They find a communications hub within Headman's mountain fortress, and Falcon radios Duke to give the Joes the coordinates to Headman's Red Rock Desert base, and begs Duke to come so that Cindy can get some help. Duke states that they'll be coming for them, regardless of Falcon's mistakes. Headhunters try to break in to the communications room, but while Falcon tries to barricade the door, Cindy collapses, indicating she's in worse shape than previously thought. Falcon ends up carrying her after tackling a guard, and both end up in Headman's vault, complete with an escape hatch, which gives Cindy an idea. When the Joes and Cobra forces storm the base, Falcon and Cindy lead them to the escape tunnel Headman (who tried to calm himself earlier by taking his own drug) went down. The raving Headman is tackled by Falcon, and ends up being tossed into a huge pile of Spark, which causes Headman to overdose. When the Crimson Guard Immortal offers Cindy a place in Cobra, she turns him down, stating that she's realized that she needs help, not a life of crime and terrorism. The CGI understands her feelings, and accepts her decision, leaving with the rest of the Cobras to try and take Headman's secret stash of untraceable money. Falcon tells Cindy to at least be grateful her brother still loves her. Headman, even in his OD'd state, manages to use the last seconds of his life to press the base's self-destruct button, before collapsing. Everyone manages to get out, and the base ends up burying Headman.The rest of his crew is taken into custody, and Duke and Falcon reconcile. Falcon and Cindy decide to return to the hospital to complete their rehab and get fully clean. They also decide to make a sizable donation to the fight against drugs--in the form of Headman's secret stash, which they had managed to get out before the Joes and Cobras arrived. The money Cobra stole, it turns out, was all a bunch of cut up newspaper.

    G.I. Joe: Renegades

    G.I. Joe: Renegades appearance
    G.I. Joe: Renegades appearance

    In the two-part episode "Homecoming", Falcon is given homage in the form of Duke's younger brother Vince (voiced by Scott Menville). When Duke returns fearful for his family due to threats from Cobra, Vincent warns Duke to stay away from him and their parents. Unlike his mother and eventually his father, Vincent doesn't believe Duke is innocent and turns him and the Joes over to Flint when they come over to Duke's house for a rare home-cooked meal. Despite this, Duke defends his actions due to his concern for the family.

    Toy History

    Falcon's first figure was released in 1987, the year G.I. Joe: The Movie was released straight to video. He is considered by many G.I. Joe fans to be one of the most realistically-designed figures in the entire line. His figure would be repainted the next year as part of the 1988 Night Force sub-team, which was exclusive to Toys 'R' Us. He came in a two-pack with the Joes' advanced recon trooper Sneak Peek. His figure would be repainted again in 1991 as part of the sub-team the Sonic Fighters (under the new "Super-Sonic Fighters" moniker), in urban camo. In 1994 his head mold would be used for a version of the Tiger Force version of Flint that was exclusive to China. In 2003, for the GI Joe Collector's Convention exclusive box set "Operation Anaconda", Falcon was one of three Joe characters (the other two being Lady Jaye and Major Storm) in the set. The figure used the upper half of the original figure, but used the lower half of most of the 13 GI Joe figures originally released in 1982/83. Falcon would not receive another figure until 2008, when he was part of the 25th Anniversary line's Comic Packs. He was released in a comic pack with Nemesis Enforcer, which came with a comic loosely tying in to the story of G.I. Joe: The Movie. That same year, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club released an exclusive 'new-sculpt era' Falcon figure, which was originally going to be part of Hasbro's fourth wave of their Direct-To-Consumer series before it was cancelled to launch the 25th Anniversary line. Before the release of toys based on the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra movie, a repainted version of the Comic Pack Falcon (with new arms) was to be part of the 15th wave of single-carded figures for the 25th Anniversary line in 2009, but so far only prototypes have shown up on eBay. Falcon's next figure came in the Big Bad Toy Store exclusive Slaughter's Marauders 7-pack in 2012, where he was the first Falcon figure with a removable beret. In 2014 that same figure was repainted in the 1988 Night Force color scheme as part of the second wave of the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Figure Subscription Service series. In 2016, the figure (with the legs changed) was released in a 3-pack (along with a new version of fellow 1987 Joe Outback and the first figure of the comics-only character Shooter) as part of the second wave of the 50th Anniversary series, exclusive to Toys R' Us. This Falcon was done up in a color scheme tying him in to the new G.I. Joe sub-team the Wolf Squad.

    sizepositionchange
    sizepositionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    bordersheaderpositiontable
    positionchange

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.