Spirit (G.I. Joe)

Spirit
G.I. Joe character
Illustration of Spirit and his pet bald eagle Freedom from G.I. Joe: Order of Battle. Art by Herb Trimpe.
First appearance	1984
Voiced by	Gregg Berger (Sunbow) Maurice LaMarche (DiC) Darren Dunstan (Sigma 6)
Affiliation	G.I. Joe
Specialty	Tracker
File name	Iron-Knife, Charlie
Birth place	Taos, NM
SN	RA146231009
Rank	E-4
Primary MOS	Infantry
Secondary MOS	Social Services
Subgroups	Slaughter's Marauders

Spirit (sometimes called Spirit Iron-Knife), 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 tracker and debuted in 1984.

His real name is Charlie Iron-Knife, and he was born to a poor Native American family in the Taos Pueblo Reservation in Taos, New Mexico.

His primary military specialty is infantry and his secondary military specialty is social services. He was a hunting guide through high school and then served in Southeast Asia after joining the military. Spirit returned to civilian life to complete his education and then inexplicably returned to the service. His primary specialty is as a tracker, and he is a qualified expert with the M-16, M1911A1 Auto Pistol, and the Remington sniper rifle.

Spirit's costume and specialty highlight his identity as a Native American medicine man and shaman. He sports long braided hair, a headband, a knife being a prominent weapon, and pants with designs typical of some Native American tribes. A new version of his costume designed by the Devil's Due comic book company ditched most of the obvious aspects of his heritage, and emphasized a more military aspect.

Spirit was introduced as an action figure in 1984. In the Slaughter's Marauders toy line released in 1989, his birthplace is written as Grand Canyon, Arizona. It is corrected back to Taos, New Mexico in the new toy released in 2005. He has a companion pet bald eagle named Freedom.

A new version of Spirit was released as part of the Air Commandos line in 1992.

Spirit's first comic book appearance is in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #31 (January 1985) from Marvel Comics. His first mission was guarding Snake Eyes, who is staying at his cabin at the time. That issue showed some of his capabilities as a hunter and tracker. He was the only one who spotted a Cobra tracking device inside the C-130 plane they were flying on. He and Airborne, a fellow Joe (and coincidentally a fellow Southwest Native American) during that mission kept moving around and trying to deceive Snake Eyes from their presence. After injuries from that mission, he was seen in a shopping mall in G.I. Joe #33 looking for medicinal herbs. In the same issue, he is recognized by a Crimson Guardsman, which results in several others Joes battling Cobra forces. Spirit later participates in the invasion of Springfield, and Cobra Island.