Home FAQs Why does Snake Eyes always hide his face?
"I got to the end of ARAH #21 and got the idea to use the matching hexagrams bit. I didn't even really know what the connection was between the two characters at the time. But that was the first link. Hexagram 65 of the I Ching (chi chi,) is called "After Completion." It connotes the instability of perfection because the trigram K'an (water) strives to move downwards, while the trigram Li (fire) pushes upwards. I actually chose that hexagram because the symmetry made it easier to remember, but the meaning turned out to be synchronistically apt. Jung would have been amused." - Larry Hama
Why does Snake Eyes always hide his face?
Snake Eye's face was badly damaged during a rescue mission early in his G.I. Joe career. It was literally caught on fire while he carried an unconscious Scarlett from a fiery helicopter. This was the same incident from which he damaged his vocal cords. Snake Eyes decided to continue on with the mission, rather then go to a hospital for treatment, thus giving up any chance at the time to save his vocal cords or face. It was often implied that a single look at the damaged face of Snake Eyes could make one sick in an instant.

 

Several years into the Marvel run, modern science was ready to try and repair his scarred and damaged face, so he went in for surgery. The result was a classic iconic Prince Adam-ish face, but it only lasted for two issues. Snake Eyes was captured while still in sedation and tortured by the Baronesses and her minions the "Paine Brothers". During his escape, his face was again damaged and he returned to wearing a mask.

 

During the very end of the Marvel run, Snake Eyes started appearing without his iconic mask; a sign that he had the lesser damage done to his face resolved.

 

Why do we still see him appearing in his mask in toys, comics, and cartoons? The mysterious, silent, almost super-human ability, and unwavering self-sacrafice of the man is what made him so powerful a character in the classic marvel series, and every form of media since has been trying to recapture that popularity.
 

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