General Philip Rey first came to prominence while fighting the forces of the Cobra splinter group, The Coil, in Europe. When he came face-to-face with Major Bludd they fought with knives, and the fight ended with Rey cutting off Bludd's hand. Shortly after, he was recalled to Washington, DC to meet with the cabal of generals known as the Jugglers. The G.I. Joe team's commander, Hawk, had recently been shot and paralyzed during a battle with Cobra. The Jugglers decided to crack down on the team after having several Joes arrested and cutting the team down to a twelve-member roster. They then gave Rey command of the team. Some Joes were suspicious of Rey when he took command, and wondered why they had heard so little about Rey's career until recently, and why much of the information about his past was classified. Over a year later, their suspicions proved well founded when the truth about General Rey was finally revealed.

    General Rey's true origins began many years earlier, when the Cobra scientist Dr. Mindbender used advanced cloning technology to combine the DNA of history's greatest military leaders and conquerors to create a super-soldier to fight for Cobra. The result was Serpentor, the Cobra Emperor. During his work to create Serpentor, the Doctor created eleven other clones who had not been artificially aged as Serpentor was. Cobra Commander ordered them destroyed, but in reality Mindbender kept the clones hidden away in a secret laboratory on Cobra Island that was unknown even to the Commander. Mindbender secretly experimented with one of these clones, aging it and altering its appearance. With the help of the hypnotist, Crystal Ball, the clone was programmed to be suggestive to commands and controllable through various post-hypnotic code-word triggers. Mindbender hoped to use the clone as a secret weapon against both G.I. Joe and Cobra, should the need arise. Mindbender recruited Zandar to use a false identity to set up a sale of the clone to at least one of the Jugglers. They were unaware of the post-hypnotic suggestions, allowing Mindbender to have a sleeper agent hidden amongst his enemies. Serpentor was killed during the war between his forces, allied with G.I. Joe, and the army of the Cobra Commander imposter, Crimson Guardsman Fred VII. Some time later, Dr. Mindbender, too was killed upon the return of the true Cobra Commander and was unable to continue his plans. After an international military force defeated Cobra and scattering its members, the United States Army seized Cobra Island and took the remaining clones into custody.

    During the years without G.I. Joe and Cobra, a group loyal to Serpentor known as The Coil had carried on Mindbender's work and created a thirteenth clone, based upon their late, beloved leader. They and Mindbender unleashed this new Serpentor on the world, his army headquartered on Cobra Island. They battled Cobra and the reinstated G.I. Joe team until Serpentor was beaten and nearly killed by Cobra Commander. Most believed his body was lost, but the Jugglers managed to recover Serpentor's body, hoping to alter it and have another soldier to control. At the same time, the Jugglers activated their original altered clone in the guise of General Philip Rey and sent him to fight Cobra agents around the world. Even Rey himself was kept in the dark about his true identity, and mental blocks put in place kept him from learning the truth. After he proved himself in battle, Rey was finally placed in command of G.I. Joe, giving the Jugglers a commander they could control. Under Rey's command, the Joes stopped a plot by Cobra to unleash the weapon known as the Tempest, while facing a new threat in the organization known as the Red Shadows. The mysterious group assassinated the corrupt Jugglers and destroyed the body of Serpentor that was in their possession. Once General Rey led the Joes to victory over the Red Shadows, the team was disbanded.

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