ZAP. The code name used by U.S. Army Corporal Rafael J. Melendez, from New York City. He studied to become an engineer and trained in the Army' Ordnance School after enlisting. It was there that Zap became familiar with anti-tank and armor-piercing weapons. He also became a demolitions expert. He later was recruited by the G.I. Joe team. Zap is known for being laid-back and staying cool even when working with things that can blow up in his face at any time. He's infamous for his strange and sometimes dark sense of humor. Zap was one of the original 13 members of the G.I. Joe team. He was part of many of the Joes' major missions including the rescue of Dr. Adele Burkhart. Grunt quite possibly saved the country from annihilation when he helped Zap disarm a nuclear bomb set to detonate by Commander Wingfield, the leader of a local para-military group funded by Cobra. Zap also defended the U.S. space shuttle when Cobra attacked Cape Canaveral, Florida. Zap was part of many other major operations as well. Zap, along with Scarlett and Snake-Eyes were the first Joes to learn that Cobra was hedaquartered in the United States in the town of Springfield. The group was kidnapped and left in a jail cell until they escaped with the help of a young boy, who they would later learn was Billy, the son of Cobra Commander. The Joes never learned the town's exact location, but they brought back valuable information about Cobra's operations.

After the re-dedication of G.I. Joe headquarters, aka "The Pit", Zap and many of the other original Joes were taken off active duty. He still occasionally participated on missions with the team. He was part of the G.I. Joe security team during the invasion of the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield. On that mission, Zap dicovered an underground tunnel system that had been lined with explosives set to go off when Cobra forces evacuated the town. He was unable to disarm the hundreds of bombs lining the town but his warning saved many lives. Later, Zap helped to establish the new G.I. Joe headquarters in Utah. After that Zap became involved in recruiting and training potential members of the team. Many of his subsequent missions remain classified, but Zap stayed on the Joe team until it was disbanded in 1994. Some time after the team was reinstated in 2001, Short-Fuze and many other former Joes joined the team on another invasion of Cobra Island, this time to fight the forces of a revived Serpentor.

(GI 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 22, 25, 33, 49, 50, 64, 82; SM 24; YB 2; GIv2 24, 29, 36; GI:D 1-3; Figures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)