The inception of the October Guard cannot be dated accurately, but Cold War era American intelligence places it roughly around the same time the G.I. Joe team was founded. Though most call the October Guard the Russian equivalent of the G.I. Joe team, it is more accurately the Warsaw Pact equivalent of the Joe team, including members from other countries like Czechoslovakia and East Germany. The October Guard takes it's name from Russia's famed October revolution when the Soviet Union was first founded. Under the command of Colonel Brekhov, the Guard's original team consisted of five members: Brekhov, Daina, Horrorshow, Schrage and Stormavik.

    The October Guard first came up against the G.I. Joe team in the Hindu Kush mountains. The two teams were battling for the wreckage of a crashed spy plane. During the fighting the two teams were surprised by a large force of Cobra troops led by Cobra Commander. Cobra had played the teams against each other in order to steal the spy plane. In order to track down Cobra, the Joe team and the October Guard joined forces. Once the teams tracked down the cargo, Brekhov quickly took advantage of the Joes and attempted to take the spy plane. In a tense moment, one of the Joes held Cobra Commander at gunpoint, thinking he was their way out. Not willing to let the Joes have the advantage, Brekhov simply shot the prisoner, only to discover it wasn't even the real Cobra Commander. The Joes escaped Cobra's lair, leaving the Guard to fend for themselves. The Soviets somehow escaped, as they have encountered the Joes numerous times since.

Dragonsky

    Dragonsky was added to the team as both a master mechanic and the team's new flame-thrower. An old veteran, Dragonsky can drive any vehicle and was indispensable when the team ran afoul of the Joes and Cobra in Afghanistan. The team was transporting an experimental laser cannon across the desert when they were ambushed by a team of Cobras led by Destro. The laser was stolen and Daina and Schrage were captured. The rest of the team retrieved their armored vehicles, took back the laser and rescued their captured comrades. On the way through the desert to meet up with a train driven by Dragonsky, the team was again attacked by Cobra. The two groups fought to a standstill until the train reached a seaport, where a freighter filled with Joes promptly took the laser. They had been assisted by a group of Joes disguised as local tribesman who had followed the October Guard since they arrived in Afghanistan. According to the Joes, the laser had been originally designed by American scientists and stolen by Russian spies. A furious Brekhov was forced to let the Joes take the laser.

    The October Guard next met the G.I. Joe team somewhere in the Baltic Sea. The Joes, disguised as Swedish fishermen, where spotted by Brekhov and Daina in a Russian helicopter. The Guard suspected the Joes were trying to recover a sunken American submarine rumored to be in the area. Cobra then arrived to take the submarine and fought the Russians, not willing to let them recover the sub. In the end, it was revealed that there was no sub after all. The Joes let the two groups fight until they reached their goal: recovering the defecting Captain Bulgakov from the Russians' ship, the Udaloy. The Joes had once again played Cobra and the October Guard against each other to reach their objective.

    Over the next few years, the October Guard faced off against the Joes and Cobra, again and again. They fought the Joes and river pirates in an Asian jungle, only to have both teams lose their objective to the pirates. The Guard ran into the Joes on Cobra Island while attempting to kidnap Cobra Commander. The Joes were investigating the Guard and captured Stormavik and Schrage. The October Guard lost the Commander, but stole a Cobra Mamba helicopter. Unfortunately, Brekhov was forced to give up the helicopter, trading it for the Joes' prisoners. The Russian team fought a small group of Joes while assisting a communist dictator in Southeast Asia, known as General Lom. They joined forces with the Joe team on an ice flow bordering American and Russian territories, discovering and destroying Cobra's secret TerrorDrome, hidden beneath the ice.

    The final mission of the original October Guard began when the Russians arrived in Sierra Gordo to assist the revolutionary leader, El Jefe, in his fight to overthrow the local government. The Soviet government hoped to make Sierra Gordo communist territory. The nation's current government was being supported by Cobra and Destro's Iron Grenadiers. All during the mission, a small group of Joes spied on both sides. During the fighting, Colonel Brekhov was moved by the small nation's revolution, having long become cynical over the "communist revolution" of his Soviet superiors. He and the rest of his team fought valiantly, and in the end Brekhov, Horrorshow, Stormavik and Schrage were all killed in action. Despite the help of the Joe spies, they lost. Both teams were betrayed when El Jefe decided to accept the support of the North American Banana Monopoly, a third party group of investors only interested in exploiting the country. The Joes (Recondo, Shockwave and Falcon) were captured along with Daina and Dragonsky, the October Guard's only surviving members. They were all eventually rescued from the South American nation by a team of Joes.

Lt. Gorky

Sgt. Misha

    A short time later, the Joes discovered that the October had not been disbanded as they originally believed. New members were added to the team. In addition to Daina and Dragonsky, the team now included Lieutenant Gorky and Sergeant Misha. The new team joined the Joes in a joint US-Soviet mission to help the rebel coalition of Sierra Gordo push Cobra and Destro out of their country. After a disastrous beginning to the mission, the two teams fought their way through the jungles of Sierra Gordo and were assisted by Tucaro tribesman in their fight to get to the extraction site where they would be rescued. The mission showed that over the past several years the relationship between the October Guard and the G.I. Joe team had grown from bitter rivals to reluctant allies.

    The fall of the Soviet Union brought an end to the October Guard as it once was, but the former members occasionally participate in missions together. Led by Russian colonel, Red Star (who for some undisclosed reason looks exactly like the late Colonel Brekhov), the former October Guard joined forces with the Joe team's Star Brigade in a space mission that took them to an asteroid headed towards Earth. The asteroid was modified by an out-of-control Soviet scientist who used robots to take control of the asteroid and use it as a weapon. The two teams again fought well together, defeating the robots and stopping the asteroid.

Red Star

    Today, with the instability of Russia, the October Guard's future is uncertain. It is likely, however, that the former members of the team will continue to be the best operatives the Russian military has to offer, on their own or as a team.