Beneath the Mask

Cobra Commander's face remained a mystery throughout the Sunbow series; from what little the audience could see, he was a Caucasian male with dark brown eyes, but otherwise, very little was known about his true face, or why he wore a mask. 

The first glimpse of the Commander's true face is seen in "The Revenge of Cobra: In the Cobra's Pit" when the Commander changes from his battle helmet into his hood. The back of the Commander's head is colored the same as the front of his silver face plate here - which could hint that he wears some extra protection, even beneath his hood. Or it could be that this is simply an animation error. 

The next time we are given an incling as to what lies behind the Commander's mask is in the episode "Lights, Camera, Cobra!" in which Destro walks in on an unmasked Cobra Commander, who is eating dinner (and making some strange, slurping noises). Destro sees the Commander's face and turns away in disgust, demanding that the Cobra leader put his mask back on. Cobra Commander is amused by this, and jokingly remarks, "it takes a strong stomach to watch me eat, doesn't it Destro?". Destro's horrified reaction appears to indicate that the Commander had some sort of unsightly deformity. 

An unmasked Cobra Commander is seen eating once again in "The Traitor: Part II", before being interrupted by Tomax and Xamot. He quickly puts his mask back on, revealing a very brief glimpse of what lies beneath. 









The Commander's face was finally revealed in "G.I. Joe: The Movie" which revealed him as a Nobleman of the ancient, reptilian civilization; Cobra-La. This stands at odds with all previous depictions of Cobra Commander in the series; which had, at the very least, established him to be human, with brown eyes. The movie shows the Commander to clearly have pale blue/green skin. In addition, it reveals that a laboratory accident with mutagen spores left him with a dozen extra eyes, necessitating the use of his silver face plate. 

This is, of course, an obvious retcon of the previously established canon of the series - as the Commander's skin tone, eyeballs and origins bare little resemblance to what had been previously established in the show. Indeed, his hood would be hugely uncomfortable to wear with all those extra eyes, and it is hard to believe that Destro would not have been more surprised when he saw a multi-eyed, blue skinned Commander.