Grunt (G.I. Joe)
Encyclopedia
Grunt is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is an infantry
man with the G.I. Joe Team
and debuted in 1982.
.
He graduated from Advanced Infantry Training in the top ten of his class. Grunt has had advanced infantry training, and finished in the top ten of his class. He is familiar with all NATO and Warsaw Pact small arms, as well as domestic civilian arms, and is a qualified expert with the M-14
, M-16
, and the M-1911A1 auto pistol. The file card that came with the 1991 figure followed the comics’ storyline, where he left the G.I. Joe Team to get his engineering degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology
, but differed in continuity by having him come back to the team.
. His action figure
featured him in a gray combat body suit. A tan re-colored version was released in 1983 and bundled with the Falcon attack glider. It would not be until 1991 that he would receive another action figure edition with an all-new mold and head sculpt.
. For 100 issues, he appears on the front cover, in a logo-section in the upper left corner.
As with most of the other original Joes, his body suit is a full green rather than the gray of the toy. He was featured regularly in the early issues of the series. One of his first missions was working with General Hawk
and Snake-Eyes to bring down a murderous militia commander named Wingfield. At the conclusion of this mission, he works with Zap
to disable Wingfield's nuclear bomb.
Later, he is part of a Joe team keeping Cobra Commander
prisoner in the Rockies. A flashback in a later issue reveals Grunt was a soldier on the mission that led to Snake-Eyes' unintentional scarring.
. He encourages Clutch
, who had come to see him off, to keep in touch via his mother's address. He later meets and befriends a female ex-soldier, Lola. When Stalker’s
team was captured in Borovia by the local militia, Grunt contacts Breaker
and gets the number for the current Joe headquarters. He talks to Roadblock
and offers to go on the rescue operation, reasoning that being out of service will help with 'plausible deniability'. Roadblock tells Grunt there will be no rescue operation, 'official, covert or otherwise'. An 'otherwise' op later rescues the imprisoned officers.
When most of the Joe Team is suspended and imprisoned after the disastrous events of the Cobra Civil War, Grunt and his girlfriend, Lola, follow Roadblock's call to help save their friends. They join with several Joe members who had escaped the government and gone underground. They meet at the house of Adele Burkhardt, the peace activist Grunt helped to rescue in issue #1. General Hawk
and Joe supporter General Hollingsworth are being held in a hospital filled with a murderous American military faction. Unexpected interference by Destro
helps save the generals and clear the Joe team of all charges.
Grunt appears in issue #145 and explains he has gained an engineering degree. His former teammates expresses their wish he come back to join them. Duke
encourages him to stick with his current life, as society needs more people building things instead of destroying them.
The comics never had Grunt rejoin the Joe Team, going in a different direction from the toy’s storyline.
, with a uniform very similar to the one Grunt wore.
Grunt was not among the first to heed the call to duty. Readers would not know the Devil’s Due comics had followed the toy’s storyline of Grunt returning to the Joe Team until issue #24 where he is listed as among the Joes tasked with invading Cobra Island
. His last appearance, thus far, is in issue #36 where the original Joe Team is assembled before being disbanded once more.
He is not seen in the G.I. Joe: America’s Elite series as he is not one of the active members. He is a member of the reserves as indicated in the Data Desk Handbook special.
Grunt is featured in the series G.I. Joe Declassified, which focuses on early missions of the Joe team. He and several other Joes get into trouble far behind enemy lines.
Grunt has since appeared in his own issue explaining why he joined the army, and later the G.I. Joe team. It covers events both passed and present including his marriage and his return. Throughout the issue, the story of another young man who joins Cobra is told which shows how much character Grunt truly has. While Grunt serves for patriotism the other man only wants wealth and personal glory.
.
-produced G.I. Joe animated series. However, much of the series’ focus was on the newer characters and Grunt was quickly shunted to the background. His final appearance in that series was in two-part Worlds Without End where the Joe Team find themselves in an alternate universe where Cobra is victorious in ruling the world. After finding out the fate of that universe’s Grunt, the series’ Grunt, along with Steeler
and Clutch
, elected to stay behind and win the world back from Cobra.
, Grunt is seen again in the episode Keyboard Warriors. While the second series purports itself as a continuation of the first animated series, no explanation is made how Grunt escaped from the alternate universe or whether this is supposed to be the same character.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
man with the G.I. Joe Team
G.I. Joe Team
G.I. Joe is the code name of an elite covert special forces unit operating under the control of the United States Military in the fictional G.I. Joe universe....
and debuted in 1982.
Profile
His real name is Robert W. Graves, and his rank is that of corporal E-4. Grunt was born in Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
.
He graduated from Advanced Infantry Training in the top ten of his class. Grunt has had advanced infantry training, and finished in the top ten of his class. He is familiar with all NATO and Warsaw Pact small arms, as well as domestic civilian arms, and is a qualified expert with the M-14
M14 rifle
The M14 rifle, formally the United States Rifle, 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire automatic rifle firing 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. It was the standard issue U.S. rifle from 1959 to 1970. The M14 was used for U.S...
, M-16
M16 rifle
The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
, and the M-1911A1 auto pistol. The file card that came with the 1991 figure followed the comics’ storyline, where he left the G.I. Joe Team to get his engineering degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
, but differed in continuity by having him come back to the team.
Toys
The character was part of the original 1982 line of G.I. Joe: A Real American HeroG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
. His action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
featured him in a gray combat body suit. A tan re-colored version was released in 1983 and bundled with the Falcon attack glider. It would not be until 1991 that he would receive another action figure edition with an all-new mold and head sculpt.
Marvel Comics
Grunt first appeared in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 (June 1982) by Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. For 100 issues, he appears on the front cover, in a logo-section in the upper left corner.
As with most of the other original Joes, his body suit is a full green rather than the gray of the toy. He was featured regularly in the early issues of the series. One of his first missions was working with General Hawk
Hawk (G.I. Joe)
Hawk is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys. He appears in the animated series, comic books, toyline, and movie.-Profile:...
and Snake-Eyes to bring down a murderous militia commander named Wingfield. At the conclusion of this mission, he works with Zap
Zap (G.I. Joe)
Zap is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s. He is the G.I. Joe team's original bazooka soldier and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
to disable Wingfield's nuclear bomb.
Later, he is part of a Joe team keeping Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe franchise. He appears in the toyline, animated series , comic books, video games, and movie as the usual principal antagonist. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, and archnemesis of the Joes...
prisoner in the Rockies. A flashback in a later issue reveals Grunt was a soldier on the mission that led to Snake-Eyes' unintentional scarring.
College days
As more new characters were introduced, Grunt was shunted into the background. In issue #55, Grunt leaves the Joe Team to go to Georgia TechGeorgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
. He encourages Clutch
Clutch (G.I. Joe)
Clutch is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is one of the G.I. Joe Team's motor vehicle drivers and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
, who had come to see him off, to keep in touch via his mother's address. He later meets and befriends a female ex-soldier, Lola. When Stalker’s
Stalker (G.I. Joe)
Stalker is the code name of Army Sergeant Lonzo R. Wilkinson, a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. He is one of very few characters from the first line of the toys to have a distinct appearance from the other action figures, as he is African-American. Stalker was a major...
team was captured in Borovia by the local militia, Grunt contacts Breaker
Breaker (G.I. Joe)
Breaker is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original communications officer and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
and gets the number for the current Joe headquarters. He talks to Roadblock
Roadblock (G.I. Joe)
Roadblock is a character from Hasbro's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of toys, comics and cartoons. He is one of the most prominent African-Americans in the series. His primary function in G.I. Joe is as a heavy machine gunner and a secondary function as a cook.-Fictional character...
and offers to go on the rescue operation, reasoning that being out of service will help with 'plausible deniability'. Roadblock tells Grunt there will be no rescue operation, 'official, covert or otherwise'. An 'otherwise' op later rescues the imprisoned officers.
When most of the Joe Team is suspended and imprisoned after the disastrous events of the Cobra Civil War, Grunt and his girlfriend, Lola, follow Roadblock's call to help save their friends. They join with several Joe members who had escaped the government and gone underground. They meet at the house of Adele Burkhardt, the peace activist Grunt helped to rescue in issue #1. General Hawk
Hawk (G.I. Joe)
Hawk is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys. He appears in the animated series, comic books, toyline, and movie.-Profile:...
and Joe supporter General Hollingsworth are being held in a hospital filled with a murderous American military faction. Unexpected interference by Destro
Destro
Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional villain from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys from Hasbro. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston in the 2009 live-action film, G.I...
helps save the generals and clear the Joe team of all charges.
Grunt appears in issue #145 and explains he has gained an engineering degree. His former teammates expresses their wish he come back to join them. Duke
Duke (G.I. Joe)
Duke is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines of military-themed toys. The character is featured in both the animated series and comic books. Duke is portrayed by actor Channing Tatum in the 2009 live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of...
encourages him to stick with his current life, as society needs more people building things instead of destroying them.
The comics never had Grunt rejoin the Joe Team, going in a different direction from the toy’s storyline.
Devil’s Due comics
With the renewed threat of Cobra, former Joe team members are called back in to action. The rank-filling GreenshirtsGreenshirts (G.I. Joe)
Greenshirts is a term applied to the generic-looking soldiers from the cartoon G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The Greenshirts are the equivalent of "extras" in that they are in the story to serve merely as background characters and have little to no speaking parts. Due to the unique look of each...
, with a uniform very similar to the one Grunt wore.
Grunt was not among the first to heed the call to duty. Readers would not know the Devil’s Due comics had followed the toy’s storyline of Grunt returning to the Joe Team until issue #24 where he is listed as among the Joes tasked with invading Cobra Island
Cobra Island
Cobra Island is a fictional country located in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the main base of operations for the fictional Cobra Organization featured in the G.I. Joe toyline from the 1980s. It is featured in the G.I. Joe cartoon and the comic book series created by Marvel Comics and Devil's Due...
. His last appearance, thus far, is in issue #36 where the original Joe Team is assembled before being disbanded once more.
He is not seen in the G.I. Joe: America’s Elite series as he is not one of the active members. He is a member of the reserves as indicated in the Data Desk Handbook special.
Grunt is featured in the series G.I. Joe Declassified, which focuses on early missions of the Joe team. He and several other Joes get into trouble far behind enemy lines.
Grunt has since appeared in his own issue explaining why he joined the army, and later the G.I. Joe team. It covers events both passed and present including his marriage and his return. Throughout the issue, the story of another young man who joins Cobra is told which shows how much character Grunt truly has. While Grunt serves for patriotism the other man only wants wealth and personal glory.
Dreamwave
Grunt is one of the background soldiers in the 2003 limited series 'G.I.Joe Vs. Transformers'. In this alternate history, the conflict is played out during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Sunbow
Grunt appeared in the original G.I. Joe animated series. Grunt is first seen in the A Real American Hero mini-series of the SunbowSunbow Productions
Sunbow Entertainment was an animation studio, founded in 1980 and owned up until 1998 by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York. The first animation efforts by Griffin-Bacal were producing the animated commercials for Hasbro's G.I...
-produced G.I. Joe animated series. However, much of the series’ focus was on the newer characters and Grunt was quickly shunted to the background. His final appearance in that series was in two-part Worlds Without End where the Joe Team find themselves in an alternate universe where Cobra is victorious in ruling the world. After finding out the fate of that universe’s Grunt, the series’ Grunt, along with Steeler
Steeler (G.I. Joe)
Steeler is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s. He is the G.I. Joe team's original tank commander and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
and Clutch
Clutch (G.I. Joe)
Clutch is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is one of the G.I. Joe Team's motor vehicle drivers and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
, elected to stay behind and win the world back from Cobra.
DiC
In the second season of the DiC-produced animated seriesG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1989 TV series)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a half-hour American animated television series based on the successful toyline from Hasbro and the comic book series from Marvel Comics. The series was produced by DIC Entertainment and ran from 1989 to 1991....
, Grunt is seen again in the episode Keyboard Warriors. While the second series purports itself as a continuation of the first animated series, no explanation is made how Grunt escaped from the alternate universe or whether this is supposed to be the same character.