The last butchered member of Duke‘s team seen in G.I. Joe: Retaliation is another well known name to the fans… and even quite a distinctive one to say the least: Tunnel Rat. Portrayed by Eddie Hargitay, he appears briefly as the others, just the time to know he’s there and he’s killed when Zartan orders the aerial attack on the G.I. Joe‘s camp. In the movie he lacks his trademark bandanna and his mimetic paint, so it’s not easy to tell it’s him… not that it matters much, considering his role. Better to take a look at the original.
Nicky Lee‘s heritage was quite an explosive mix of cultures and ethnicity: his blood was a map to Trinidad, China, Ireland, Spain, and even a bit of India. He grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, New York, and he often got himself in troubles: no matter how small he was, he always picked up a fight with the biggest guy. Eventually he realized that the path he was on didn’t lead him anywhere, so he decided to join the US Army to try and find some purpose. It turned out that he had quite some hidden talents the military were able to value: he was sent to Fort Benning, where he graduated in the Army Ranger School. After that, he was sent to 
the Caribbean Sea, on Grenada, where he served some time. Although specialized in explosives, Nicky became famous for something else entirely: he always volunteered for tunnel missions. While most soldiers found the subterranean environment too dark, too small and claustrophobic to put up a decent fight in it, Lee was quite comfortable with the surroundings, and always got the upper hand on anyone there since his size made it easy for him to move freely where others were impeded. It was for this reason that he earnt the nickname Tunnel Rat, one that he actually wore with pride: it remarked how good he was in doing something that almost nobody could do. This peculiar talent didn’t go unnoticed, and Tunnel Rat was eventually invited to move to the G.I. Joe, a covert special operations unit that recruited only the elite of every military corps: this was a recognition that he was the best in what he did, and of course he accepted the invitation.
Clearly, also the G.I. Joe mostly employed him as pointman in missions involving tunnels or sewer channels, leading the others through mazes only he could orient himself in. From time to time, luckily, he got to see the light of day, such as when he was sent to act as security to Grand Slam, Thunder and Clutch, returning with some experimental equipment they had been testing. Grand 
Slam told Tunnel Rat he had some troubles in receiving his pay, so Nicky told him about a new G.I. Joe credit card he was using, and showed him how to use it… but by doing so, he attracted some unwanted attention. By the time the team met with Hawk, Cross-Country, Dusty, Crank-Case and Outback, who would have brought them and the experimental tech to Fort Carson, also Cobra had located them, intercepting Tunnel Rat’s credit records. Cobra Commander personally led an attack team, and had Raptor locate the Joes with his birds. While on the mountains, the group was attacked by a small legion of Crimson Guards, and the environment made it hard for both factions to move freely, so that the battle soon reached a stalemate. What unblocked the situation were Clutch’s driving skills, as the Joe driver managed to bring everyone and everything to safety, but Tunnel Rat had nevertheless allowed Cobra Commander to leave with some precious information on the Joe Team, and all because of some financial advice. Tunnel Rat, however, would have had his occasion to make it up to the rest of the team: during the Cobra civil war, he was sent to Cobra Island to guide Lt. Falcon‘s recon team through the subterranean tunnels of the island, and to lead them out when a storm flooded them, making it impossible to move through… well, impossible if it wasn’t for Tunnel Rat, of course.
Nicky Lee is a fearless young man, whose bravery often borders with bravado. As Tunnel Rat, he’s a trained ranger expert in the use of any explosive device and of small firearms, but his most valuable skill is his unborn talent in tunnel missions, as he’s able to navigate them with ease, and even to fight in them without the usual physical and psychological impediments. A soldier who punches way above his weight, Tunnel Rat bravely goes where nobody usually wants to, and it’s in total darkness that he manages to shine.
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