Cobra-La
From Transformers Wiki
Cobra-La is a bizarre, ancient civilization hidden away in the Himalayas. They use organic technology and despise humanity for not doing the same.
Members include the half-serpent, crab-armored ruler, Golobulus, the silent powerhouse Nemesis Enforcer, the deadly and not-so-beautiful Pythona, many axe-wielding soldiers, and a vast array of big, ugly critters.
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Fiction
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
The Cobra-La civilization existed on Earth as far back as 160,000 years in the past, and nobody really knew where they came from. Some humans at the time believed them to be from another world, "the children of a horrible, long dead, Old God."
When Unicron arrived to devour Earth, only Cobra-La could stop him. They had developed a metal-eating fungus that threatened to destroy Unicron, while Unicron could simply have buried them alive. Forced into stalemate, the Chaos Bringer made a deal: Unicron would leave Earth alone for a few thousand years, and Cobra-La would go into exile. When mankind had grown sufficiently numerous and advanced, they would contact Unicron, and he would return and devour them. After the apocalypse, Cobra-La would be allowed to keep the planet for themselves. Unicron departed and Cobra-La exiled themselves into the Himalayas. Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2 They still kept the spores just in case Unicron changed his mind, and created the Yeti to farm them. Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2
At some point during the 20th century, a Decepticon ship crashed in the Himalayas. The damaged occupants struck a deal with Cobra-La, who gave them organic Pretender shells in exchange for their servitude. Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2 Meanwhile, the memory of Cobra-La stuck in some Tibetan humans, who had a legend about "Kohbrala, the men beneath the mountain". In 1978, the Adventure Team strolled too close to Cobra-La's territory, and they responded by killing a few of the intruders and capturing the rest. Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2 Some 25 years later, they deemed that humanity was ripe for the picking, and recruited Doctor Mindbender to contact Unicron for them. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II issue 4
Cobra-La knew that there were Autobots on Earth, and that this might affect Unicron's return for the worse. Due to an alliance with Destro, they tracked the Autobots to their headquarters and sent the Pretender Monsters to get rid if them. However, Optimus Prime and Hawk knew that something was up, and made their way to the Himalayas to investigate. Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2 Despite sending Bludgeon, Yeti and a bunch of troops their way, Cobra-La failed to stop the heroes, who found and stole their spare metal-eating fungus. Golobulus was unaware, though, and was holding a victory ceremony/sacrifice at the heart of Cobra-La when G.I. Joe suddenly broke in and assaulted them. After an extended battle, Cobra-La's warriors were defeated, and their spores were used to kill Unicron. Golobulus and the other higher-ups were captured and put on trial for crimes against humanity, but what happened to the rest of the civilization afterwards is unknown. Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2
Energon Universe
Cobra-La was a secretive, mysterious civilization of humanoids who deliberately eschewed the usage of inorganic technology in favour of a culture of cultured biotechnology. While generally insular and distrustful of anything beyond their subterranean domain, their regent Golobulus once brought in an outsider and inducted him into their way of life; eventually, this man rose to occupy a position in the city's bio-sciences division. At some point, the people of Cobra-La discovered Megatron's deactivated body and brought it to their secret city for study and dissection. However, the decision to bring a piece of outside technology into their society provoked civil unrest, which culminated in a riot as a crowd of protesters attempted to batter down the door to the city's laboratory. Ultimately, using several weapons reverse-engineered from Cybertronian technology, the outsider was able to convince his leader to give him the leeway to expand their reach into the world above, and left Cobra-La behind, Cobra Commander #1 though he was assigned the Nemesis Enforcer as a guard and escort. Cobra Commander #2
Not as disabled as he appeared, Megatron eventually managed to shatter his bonds and reclaim his left arm. Though the Decepticon leader slew the Royal Guard, Golobulus managed to claim Megatron's remaining optic. Deciding to cut his losses, Megatron promptly flew out of Cobra-La. Transformers Energon Universe Special story
Following Megatron's escape, Cobra-La examined the chamber he was held in and discovered the outsider's data on him, including Megatron's nature as an extraterrestrial. Offended at the idea of a machine world, Cobra-La launched an organic probe at Cybertron. Cobra Commander #5
Notes
- Cobra-La first appeared in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon continuity, where Cobra Commander was a citizen of Cobra-La who had been sent out into the world to undermine human society by founding a terrorist organization. Also, Cobra-La subliminally guided Dr. Mindbender's creation of Serpentor. The only element of this that has been reflected in Transformers continuity is Mindbender's unexplained alliance with Cobra-La.
- The name "Cobra-La" is a play on "Shangri-La", a fictional hidden Himalayan society. This is further reinforced by the title of the crossover story that features them, "Black Horizon", which is itself a play on "Lost Horizon", the novel that originated Shangri-La. Buzz Dixon, the writer who created Cobra-La, said that he had considered putting them in Antarctica, the Sahara, or the Himalayas: all locations that wouldn't immediately associate Cobra's founders with any given country.[1] After Hasbro chose the Himalayas, Dixon used "Cobra-La" as a placeholder name that, to his regret, Hasbro loved and insisted on keeping. He apologizes sincerely.[2]
- Koh-Buru-Lah is named in honor of Cobra-La.
