Hood (comics)

"The Hood" redirects here. For the Thunderbirds villain, see The Hood (Thunderbirds).
The Hood

The Hood.
Art by Leinil Francis Yu.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance The Hood #1 (July 2002)
Created by Brian K. Vaughan
Kyle Hotz
Eric Powell
In-story information
Alter ego Parker Robbins
Team affiliations The Cabal
The Initiative
Illuminati
Abilities

Infinity Gems, criminal mastermind, marksman

Formerly: reality manipulation using the Norn Stones, magical cloak and boots for invisibility and air walking, demon transformation

The Hood (real name Parker Robbins) is a fictional character, a supervillain, and a crime boss appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, The Hood first appeared in his own self-titled MAX limited series in 2002, which featured his origin, as a character who possesses a cloak and boots stolen from a Nisanti demon, which grant him invisibility and limited levitation ability, respectively.

The Hood next appeared in the 2006 miniseries Beyond!, a miniseries set in outer space, which had the character shift towards a slightly more anti-heroic position, as opposed to a villainous one.

Brian Michael Bendis stated in a 2007 Newsarama interview that within the pages of New Avengers, Parker Robbins would be getting similar treatment to Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II. Bendis says that "...like the Sentry and Echo—the Hood is one of these excellent brand new creations that no one else was touching, and that's how they fall by the wayside."[1]

Confirming the statement and having Parker return to his villainous roots, a 2007 New Avengers storyline had Parker rise to becoming "the 'Godfather' of all supervillains", mostly due to the fact that Marvel's Civil War event prevented any heroes from stopping him. Although the New Avengers defeated the Hood's new gang of supercriminals, he broke them out, only to be defeated once more.

Following 2008's Secret Invasion, The Hood has a more prominent role, as part of the Cabal,[2] and features in his own tie-in limited series, Dark Reign: The Hood, written by Jeff Parker.[3][4]

Since Bendis gained control of the character, he has not appeared with his boots, and the Nisanti demon; a tie-in to Vaughn's Runaways series, was revealed to be a disguise for the Doctor Strange nemesis, Dormammu.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Robbins' father works closely with the Kingpin and is around while Parker is growing up. As a child, he witnesses a battle between Daredevil and Electro, which has a profound effect on Robbins' young adulthood.

Parker's father dies, and his mother eventually enters a near-vegetative state and is hospitalized. Parker visits his mother, telling her stories of jobs he's acquired and how he's making himself into a better person, while actually carrying out the life of a criminal. Parker's well-meaning nature is juxtaposed with his philandering and thieving ways, such as taking care of his pregnant girlfriend Sara, while visiting a prostitute on the side.

Parker's cousin and best friend John King is a recovering alcoholic and thief who approaches Robbins over a job in a warehouse said to be housing valuable goods. Robbins takes the job. Inside the abandoned warehouse, the two encounter an abandoned mystic ritual which results in an encounter with a Nisanti demon.

Robbins shoots and apparently kills the demon, and steals its hood and boots rather than leave empty-handed. Disposing of the gun in a dumpster, Robbins encounters a gang who wants the boots he had stolen off a HYDRA agent before going to the warehouse. Throwing the boots at the gang, he flees and puts on the demon's boots, learning of their levitation powers.

Escaping, he shares his discovery with King and tries on the cloak, which grants him the ability to become invisible while holding his breath. He uses his new powers to commit petty robberies, and then John asks him for help in stealing a shipment of blood diamonds.

The diamonds are the responsibility of Dennis Golembuski (AKA Golem) who hires Constrictor, Jack O'Lantern, Shocker, and Madame Rapier to ensure the delivery. However, Robbins confronts the group and steals half the shipment. Meeting up with King, the two are confronted by two police officers. Robbins shoots one officer and King knocks the other out with a blow to the back of the head. The officer shot by Robbins ends up in a coma, and later dies. King stays behind to take the blame while Robbins flees. As a result of this incident, Robbins is dubbed "the Hood" by the authorities and a bounty is placed upon his head for his arrest.

Pursued by the Golem, the cops, and two FBI agents, the Hood hatches a plan to get King out of prison. He tries to pawn the diamonds for King's lawyer fee, but runs into the Shocker. After defeating him, he finds out about Golem and Rapier, and says he will give the diamonds back in exchange for a returner's fee.

Golem agrees and sends Rapier with the Hood under instructions to kill Parker after the deal is made. Knowing it is a setup, the Hood purchases a similar cloak, and goes to the rendezvous point. Robbins sets up events so Rapier confronts the FBI, wearing the fake cloak, and she is killed. He tells the living enforcers to tell Golem to leave him alone after he returns the diamonds. They do not want to get in trouble for shooting the woman, so convince King to just say that the Hood was a female, and then releases him.

Robbins then visits his mother and tells her that he will begin helping people and making her proud. Meanwhile, the Golem weeps over a photograph of his family, including his mutant daughter, knowing the price of failure and vowing that he is not done with the Hood. The wife of the cop shot by King, who has died in a coma, vows to avenge him as White Fang, as she does not believe the Hood is dead. The Nisanti is also shown to have revived with Parker's name on its lips, thanks to King shouting out his name during the robbery attempt.

Beyond!

Alongside Spider-Man, Venom, Gravity, Medusa, Hank Pym, the Wasp, Kraven the Hunter, and Firebird, the Hood finds himself transported to the reconstructed Battleworld. While in transit, they are told that one victor will have a wish granted by the Beyonder, should the other combatants die. The Hood attempts to capitalize on this by using his invisibility to launch a sneak attack on the gathered heroes and villains, but is battered by Kraven, using his enhanced sense of smell. During the confusion of the Hood's attack, Venom manages to impale Spider-Man through the chest.

Crashlanding on Battleworld and losing Spider-Man's body, the group encounters Deathlok, who assists them in battle against Dragon Man. After the battle, the Hood follows Kraven as the latter encounters Spider-Man, who has a gaping chest wound but is still alive. After Kraven leaves, the Hood then reveals himself and shoots Spider-Man in the knees.

The Hood takes Spider-Man to the camp and forces him to reveal himself as the original Space Phantom. After battling the Space Phantom, the Hood accompanies the group into Limbo to wait for the Space Phantom to appear when he chooses his next target for impersonation. In Limbo, Venom destroys the portal on Battleworld, claiming victory, and the Hood and Gravity bond.

Using the Space Phantom to return to Battleworld, the group confronts Venom and realizes that Uatu the Watcher is there. Pym shoots the group, seemingly killing them all, in order to draw out the Beyonder. In truth, this is the Stranger, who is fooled by Pym shrinking the entire group down. The Hood then attacks the Stranger alongside the other combatants, before the Stranger leaves.

With Battleworld crumbling since the Stranger's will is no longer holding it together, the Hood and the others escape, but not before Gravity sacrifices his life to save the group. While on Earth, he attends Gravity's funeral with Sara. Some time after this, Sara gives birth to his child. Gravity is returned to life a short time later.

Hood's criminal empire

The Hood's crime syndicate.
Art by Carlo Pagulayan.

The Hood begins his quest to become the Kingpin of all supervillains in New York by inviting a large contingent of villains to a meeting where he gives each of them $25,000 of seed money, partly to gain their confidence, and partly to buy their loyalty. He promises them much more where that came from if they join him in creating a new criminal empire with Robbins at the head and John King as his lieutenant. Parker uses the cloak, but his boots are not used in the arc.

The Hood's gang includes Jigsaw, who had been attacked and beaten by Tigra in an earlier robbery. To prove himself to the gathered supervillains, the Hood seeks out and viciously beats Tigra, threatening her mother's life as a warning, while Jigsaw films the attack.

At the after party, Chemistro informs the Hood of a plot by the Owl to sell Deathlok, which he stole from S.H.I.E.L.D., to the highest bidder. As the Owl has not gained permission from his new crime syndicate, The Hood decides to gatecrash the auction. He effortlessly ambushes and dispatches the Owl by sending Madame Masque, the Crimson Cowl, the Wizard, and Doctor Jonas Harrow as proxies.

John King and the Hood reconvene in the back room of a rundown bar, where they are confronted by a curious Wolverine, who overhears their plans to run Deathlok through the lobby of Avengers Tower. Covering King's retreat, the Hood manages to shoot Wolverine in the crotch before assuming the form of the Nisanti demon who originally owned his gear, enabling him to overpower the mutant and escape.

Chemistro suggests that they change their plan and instead use Deathlok to rob a federal reserve bank in New Jersey, seeing it as a more profitable venture than a suicidal attack on Avengers Tower. The robbery is successful, netting them over $12.7 million (US), although Deathlok is destroyed in the process. As the group celebrates their victory, Luke Cage smashes through the wall of their base closely followed by nearly the entire population of the New York superhero community including the New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers, the Fantastic Four (including Storm and the Black Panther), Howard the Duck, Punisher, the Defenders, Silver Surfer, and Thor. These superheroes turn out to be illusions, however, as only the New Avengers are actually present. In the ensuing battle, Doctor Strange appears to banish Robbins using an anti-demon spell, while the rest of the syndicate is taken down.[5]

The Hood appears alongside Turk Barrett. He surveys a fight between Daredevil and a gang of street thugs, after Turk double crosses Mister Fear to show his allegiance to the Hood's new crime empire.[6] The Hood is then mentioned by name when the Enforcers, who are working for Mister Fear, are ambushed by Wrecker and Razor Fist who are working for the Hood.[7]

Later, after some of Robbins' syndicates are captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., Robbins reappears and frees them. He leads Wrecker and others on a rampage through the Raft, swearing to take revenge on the New Avengers. After interrogating Tigra to learn their location, the Hood leads his syndicate against the New Avengers, using the magical powers of his hood and cloak to see through the illusions defending the Sanctum Sanctorum. In the ensuing battle, the Hood fatally injures Doctor Strange before being pushed aside by Wong, and nearly blows Iron Fist's head off before being intercepted by a vengeful Tigra. The Hood, alongside both the New Avengers and his syndicate, is taken down by Doctor Strange's paralyzing spell, but manages to escape from the arriving S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. In the aftermath, Robbins is seen talking to an unseen figure, exclaiming, "Now I know how to beat 'em."[8]

Secret Invasion

During several flashbacks in the Secret Invasion storyline, it is revealed that Skrulls have been trying to infiltrate the Hood's organization. Skrulls disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents try to replace Madame Masque, but the Hood rescues her. During the interrogation of the surviving Skrull, Doctor Demonicus convinces the Hood to use his power to scan the surrounding villains. It is discovered that the Slug is a Skrull in disguise. The Hood shoots and kills him with the other villains, wondering how long that Skrull was impersonating Slug. Later by himself, the Hood discovers that his power comes from the mystical entity Dormammu.[9]

The Hood is seen watching live coverage of the Skrull Invasion on television in Brooklyn with Wizard, Madame Masque, the Blood Brothers, John King, and Bulldozer. He decides to gather everyone to fight the Skrulls, despite Chemistro's objections that they should, "let the heroes and aliens kill each other". Despite protests, the Hood reasons that if the Skrulls were to destroy the world as they know it, that it would be bad for business. He then instructs Wizard, Madame Masque, the Blood Brothers, John King, and Bulldozer to gather everyone for the attack.[10] The Hood's group joins with a loose collection of super-powered heroes in the middle of Central Park with the assistance of Electro, Lightmaster, Masked Marauder, and Scorcher. As one, they attack a Skrull force.[11] When the battle is over, the villains all return to hiding. The Hood is later seen meeting with Namor, Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Loki, and Norman Osborn.[12]

Dark Reign

Following the events of the Secret Invasion, the group's first meeting is shown at the start of the Dark Reign storyline. Norman Osborn talks to Namor, Emma Frost, Doctor Doom, Loki, and the Hood about his plans for the new world order. When the Hood enters, Emma reads his mind only to make him angry. He threatens her with a gun telling her to stay out of his head, and that she does not know who she is messing with. In response, Emma telepathically forces him to put his own gun in his mouth, much to the amusement of Namor. Osborn offers the cabal solidarity and the resources to accomplish their own agendas. In return, Osborn asks for their public support/registration, as well as cooperation fulfilling any request he may have of them.[13]

To prevent the New Avengers from ambushing the Dark Avengers, Norman Osborn gives orders to the Hood to have his crime syndicate keep the New Avengers away. While Scarecrow is shown taking a hit from the second Captain America's shield, Ms. Marvel channels Spider-Woman's powers to stun the villains, allowing the New Avengers to escape.[14]

After Punisher tries to assassinate Osborn (failing due to the intervention of Sentry), Osborn asks the Hood to hunt him down.[15] The Hood sends Grizzly to take down Punisher. After Grizzly is defeated, the Hood forces a somehow-revived Microchip to help kill Punisher.[16] The Hood uses the powers of Dormammu to resurrect the villains that were killed by Scourge of the Underworld (Basilisk, Bird-Man, Black Abbot, Blue Streak, Cheetah, Cyclone, Death Adder, Firebrand, Hijacker, Human Fly, Letha, Megatak, Mind-Wave, Miracle Man, Mirage, Titania, Turner D. Century, and Wraith) to form a squad that will help him take down the Punisher.[17] The Hood then explains to the resurrected villains how much has happened since their deaths at the hands of Scourge of the Underworld. He tells them that the Punisher acted as the Scourge and that they must take the opportunity to kill the Punisher as the Deadly Dozen before the spell that has revived them wears off. Hood then has Death Adder and Basilisk capture G.W. Bridge's family and hold them hostage so that G.W. can tell them where Punisher is.[18] When on a scouting mission on behalf of the Hood, Wraith is shot with an arrow launched by the Punisher. Upon encountering illusions of his dead family, Punisher encounters the Hood, who says that he will revive his family in exchange for his surrender. Punisher declines and escapes from the Hood.[19] During Punisher's fight with Human Fly, Avengers from out of place and out of time appear and prevent Punisher from killing Human Fly, who is retrieved by Bird-Man. After evading the Avengers, Punisher fights them again and discovers that Captain America is actually Mirage in disguise, while Mind-Wave is revealed to have been impersonating Iron Man. Cheetah (when posing as Beast) is killed in the fight. Mind-Wave dies when a nearby grenade explodes. Norman Osborn later scolds the Hood for having the revived villains pose as the Avengers in their fight against Punisher. Hood tells Norman not to call him up screaming again. Upon learning that Cyclone and Miracle Man bailed, Letha has Microchip warn them that if they do not return, their living loved ones will be killed by her. While Lascivious and Letha accompany Human Fly to attack the Punisher, Microchip sends Megatak to attack Punisher's hacker ally Henry.[20] While Hood has the caskets of Punisher's family dug up, Hijacker chases the Punisher in his tank. Punisher then uses Pym particles to shrink down and get into the tank. After taking control of the tank, Punisher crashes it into the building where Basilisk is holding G.W. Bridge, and uses the gases on Basilisk.[21] The Hood manages to orchestrate Punisher's capture and brings him to where he is reviving his family. To begin the ritual, Hood has Microchip shoot G.W. Bridge in the head. The Punisher refuses to accept this, and forces Firebrand to burn them alive. Punisher then shoots Firebrand in the back of the head.[22]

The Hood also learns from Black Talon of the zombie virus, and tries to gain it for himself. Dormammu appears, through their link, to acknowledge this. Dormammu, though knowing of its lethal nature consuming entire universes and the near-certainty that it would be "bad for business", insists that Parker use it to ravage the planet for him to ascend there, apparently not concerned about the infection for himself (possibly due to his form being composed of pure Faltinian energy and his considerable magical prowess). Despite his advisor's complaints that the virus is far too dangerous, the Hood and his underlings, the Night Shift, meet with Black Talon on the Caribbean island Taino to obtain the zombie Deadpool's head, only to see the situation quickly spiral out of control as the zombie virus becomes airborne and infects the entire island. Seemingly abandoned by Dormammu and now fearful of the zombies, the Hood is captured by and soon allies himself with the Midnight Sons (who have been sent by A.R.M.O.R. to contain the virus) to escape the island. After watching Man-Thing seemingly die by zombie Deadpool and the Midnight Sons member Werewolf by Night's zombification, the Hood, Morbius, and Daimon Hellstrom are confronted by a zombified and hungry Night Shift. As Morbius is about to call in a nuclear strike, Jennifer Kale reappears, empowered by Dormammu, though his power is soon exorcised from her. Kale and Black Talon then confine the zombie virus inside the Zombie. His powers returned, the Hood teleports away with the cured, but still undead-esque, Night Shift.[23]

Norman Osborn later hires the Hood to help Taskmaster in running Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. so that Norman Osborn can train the Dark Avengers of tomorrow.[24] The Hood later kills Vampiro, who has failed to be subtle in a double murder upon some prostitutes he picked up at a truck stop.[25] The Hood assists Norman Osborn in capturing Night Thrasher, and makes him a deal which involves resurrecting his brother Dwayne Taylor.[26] When Nightmare takes over Trauma's body, the Hood gets affected by Trauma's powers, seeing himself killing Sara and his daughter Bree. After Nightmare is driven from Trauma's body, the Hood ends up dismissing Penance and Trauma from the Initiative.[27]

Hood later had his encounter with Enforcer II who triggered an amulet that disguised a creature that fed off of demonic energies which then clasps onto Hood's face. Enforcer II managed to escape as Hood swears revenge.[28]

Hood later marks Babu Marzouk with the help of Madame Masque. He materialized to save his criminal allies by shooting the armed guards dead. Dormammu then taunted Hood by speaking through the corpses. Hood later told his supervillain group what he wanted and then went to bed with Madame Masque. Following his visit to his girlfriend Sara's house, Hood was then attacked by White Fang.[29] White Fang nearly pounded Hood to death until Dormammu took over and nearly killed White Fang. Hood retreated back to his hideout and told John King what had happened. Hood later went with his mother to see Sara where he meets Satana.[30] While the Hood is meeting with Satana to learn more about Dormammu and the Nisanti, he learned that Dormammu had targeted him from the start. John King, Griffin, Piledriver, and Scorcher are caught at the bar by Force and the NYPD. The Hood uses his connections with Norman Osborn to get the villains "transferred" from prison. Controller secretly gives White Fang a new suit to use in her next fight with the Hood.[31] Hood later took Sara and Bree to a safehouse that he bought before heading off to talk to Satana some more. Hood later gave Controller some technology before going to meet up with his gang. When his Crime Syndicate prepares to rob a ship, Squid and Man-Fish head into the water to secure it for them. While his Crime Syndicate is fighting Force and the NYPD, Hood is then attacked by White Fang.[32] Following a fight with White Fang, John King told Hood that Controller was sowing discord amongst his Crime Syndicate. Dormammu later possesses Hood's baby daughter and taunts Hood. During the fight against Force and White Fang, Controller sets Hood's cloak on fire to keep him from calling Dormammu. Dormammu's powers then flooded Hood who then pushes Controller aside, defeats Force, and makes White Fang renounce her vendetta against him. Satana later speaks with Hood and informs him that Dormammu is already bound to him and that the cloak is now a token.[33]

The Hood later starts a gang war with Mister Negative after he corrupts White Dragon (who has been sent to gather information about Mister Negative's group) causing the Hood to kill White Dragon II. A flashback has led to Mister Negative corrupting White Dragon II and leading the attack upon the Hood's headquarters.[34] The Hood's Crime Syndicate ends up fighting Spider-Man (who has been corrupted by Mister Negative) and Mister Negative's henchmen. After Spider-Man's attack on his headquarters, the Hood confronts Mister Negative in his Chinatown headquarters.[35] Mister Negative tries to corrupt the Hood to his side, but fails. Though he gains the upper hand, Negative escapes and the Hood is forced to fall back when Osborn drops H.A.M.M.E.R.'s seal of Chinatown and threatens to send in his Avengers. The Hood is currently unaware that Spot is a mole in his syndicate for Mister Negative.[36]

Dormammu empowers the Hood with enough magic to find and kill Doctor Strange, so that Parker can become the new Sorcerer Supreme. The Hood approaches Strange, while he is talking to Wiccan of the Young Avengers. As they fight, Strange tells the Hood that Dormammu's promises are empty, as are all other demons, but Parker ignores him and attacks them both. After Wiccan intervenes, Strange and Billy get away and Parker goes home. While there, he has a breakdown and tries to rip off his cloak but finds he cannot. Madame Masque appears, wanting to know what is going on. Madame Masque promises to help him, removes her mask, and they kiss. Unknown to them, Dormammu watches from a mirror. Later on, Parker goes and attacks Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan. He later fights Doctor Strange and the New Avengers until Brother Voodoo (who has become the new Sorcerer Supreme) arrives. Dormammu then manifests through Parker, but is exorcised. Parker is left badly burned and stripped of his hood.[37] In a hospital, Loki approaches him offering him a second chance, which he accepts.[38] Loki then takes him and Madame Masque to Cuba and presents the Norn Stones to him, which brings back his powers.[39] The Hood and Madame Masque return and learn from John King that Doctor Jonas Harrow and the rest of the gang have found about his deal with Norman Osborn and made their own. Already, the Hood finds out that his gang has surrendered themselves to Osborn.[40] Hood and Madame Masque make a call to Norman Osborn, who asks why Hood did not keep his gang in line. Hood responds by telling Norman Osborn that Loki is helping him regain his powers, and asks what to do about Jonas Harrow. Some minutes later on the Helicarrier, the Hood's gang is waiting for Harrow to arrive. The reason why is for the Hood to blast off his head. He then berates his gang for spurning his generosity. The Wrecker snaps back by telling the Hood that he did not tell them that they were working for Osborn. The Hood corrects him that he did not want his gang to be under Norman Osborn's thumb, so they are in fact his freelance agents. Now, they have to work with Norman Osborn and do what he says. They have to kill everyone who was involved in Luke Cage's escape including the New Avengers. However, Norman Osborn wants Spider-Man alive.[41]

Siege

The Hood is present at the Cabal when Norman Osborn assembles them to discuss Asgard. Upon Doctor Doom's demanding that Norman brings Namor to him, Norman Osborn has Doctor Doom attacked by an unknown assailant. After the attack, Osborn examines the body to see that it is not Doom, but a small swarm of robotic insects inside a Doombot. The insects attack the Cabal. Under the suggestion of Loki, the Hood flees from the attack.[42][43]

The Hood reveals the Norn Stones to his Crime Syndicate and states that it can empower them with the ability to find the New Avengers and those responsible for helping Luke Cage escape. In Brooklyn, Steve Rogers and Bucky see the wreckage of their comprised safe house. Then, suddenly, they are attacked by an Asgardian magic-enhanced Living Laser. This is noticed by the H.A.M.M.E.R. ground forces nearby. Steve Rogers quickly moves to take down the soldiers, leaving Bucky to deal with the Laser. He uses the shield to slice off his head, only to be caught by the Corruptor, who uses his chemicals to take Bucky under his control. Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman are hanging on the side of a building, seeing Avengers Tower on high alert. They discuss Spider-Man's past history with Osborn. In truth, Spider-Man confesses that he is more mad that Osborn has weaseled his way into power. He swears that when Osborn screws up and everyone sees the maniac that he is, he will web his face to the floor. Their conversation is interrupted when Spider-Man notices Spider-Woman's alien detector watch, given to her by S.W.O.R.D., to detect if he is a Skrull. Back at the ruined safe house, Rogers infiltrates his former home, in order to find his energy shield. He uses it just in time, as mind-controlled Bucky attempts to shoot him. Perched on another building are the Griffin and Mandrill. The former confesses that he does not want to go bounty hunting for Avengers but fears getting a bounty on his head. Just then, Mandrill sees both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. Their attack sets off the former's spider-sense. Living Laser finds Corruptor and demands that they finish off the heroes but the latter refuses to do so, until his puppet kills Rogers. Rogers himself urges his own friend to fight the chemicals. Unfortunately, Bucky cannot do it. Luckily, the bullet bounces off their shield before ricocheting off a bulkhead right into Corruptor's device, freeing Bucky from his control. Angry, Living Laser prepares for his attack. Back in Manhattan, Spider-Man is being thrown around by Griffin, before being blasted right into the traffic below. Spider-Woman is affected by Mandrill's pheromones, who plans on extracting the New Avengers' location out of her before forcing her to kill herself.[44]

When visiting his brother's grave, Donyell is conflicted if he should go with the deal Norman Osborn and the Hood gave him. Counter Force takes the fight to Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. and ends up fighting the Hood's gang. They are knocked down by the Hood's new Asgardian weaponry. When Donyell arrives, the Hood gives him an opportunity to prove himself by killing Tigra.[45] The Hood demands that Donyell kill Tigra if he wants his brother revived. Instead, Donyell attacks the Hood and is joined by Tigra as the Hood uses the Norn Stones to empower some of the cadets on his side. Robbie Baldwin evades the guards and manages to get Batwing, Bengal, and Butterball to help the Avengers Resistance as he also reveals his identity. The Hood receives a call from Norman Osborn requesting his assistance in Asgard, so he leaves in a portal while the other villains continue fighting. As the Hood arrives in Asgard, Taskmaster fights Captain America and is taken down.[46]

Spider-Man manages to free Spider-Woman from Mandrill's control, and they defeat Mandrill and Griffin. Meanwhile, Luke Cage assists Steve Rogers and Captain America in fighting off Living Laser. Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors arrive and fend off the H.A.M.M.E.R. Agents. Upon seeing Norman Osborn's attack on Asgard, Steve Rogers has the Avengers assemble to fight the Dark Avengers and those that are on Norman Osborn's side.[47]

The Hood and his gang catch up with the New Avengers at Asgard and try to stop them.[48][49] The Hood later tries to attack Balder thinking him to be an easy target, only for Balder to deflect it with his sword.[50] Loki ends up taking back the Norn Stones from the Hood in order to empower the New Avengers, Young Avengers, and Secret Warriors with the power to defeat the Sentry (who is fully possessed by the Void).[51][52] While the Dark Avengers and those that assisted them are being arrested, the Hood manages to get away with Madame Masque's help. The Hood is pessimistic, knowing that his gang would simply sell him out. However, Madame Masque refuses to let him go down.[53] This causes Madame Masque to seek out her father Count Nefaria to help the Hood. The New Avengers capture John King, and use him to track the Hood and Madame Masque, and after a battle with Nefaria they capture the villains and bring all four of them to Maria Hill to place them under arrest.[54]

The Hood is later seen being held in a classified superhuman holding facility being attacked by Tigra. Tigra leaves Robbins, stating that she has changed her mind about how to punish him when she sees something in the hallway. Tigra exits the room and allows Robbins' wife and baby to enter.[55]

Heroic Age

At some point in time, Robbins escapes jail, and at the same time, has someone replace him in his cell, who has had plastic surgery to resemble him. Staying with his cousin, he is attacked by Striker, Hazmat and Veil from Avengers Academy, in response to the tape of Hood's assault on Tigra being leaked online. This, along with other personal factors, gives him the desire to regain his power, and kill every one of the Avengers, no matter what team they are on.[56] While in Ryker's Island, Hood befriended an Inhuman named Ertzia and learns the location of one of the Infinity Gems. Once out Parker Robbins hires several people to take him to the former location of the Inhuman secret city, Attilan. After eliminating them, he locates the Reality Gem. Some time before, the six Illuminati locate the Gems and each member takes possession of one to make sure they would never again fall into the wrong hands. But Black Bolt is dead, and the royal family did not know about the gem he had hidden when they moved the Inhumans off of Earth, thus it was left unguarded. Using the Reality Gem, the Hood swiftly uses it to steal the Power Gem from Reed Richards. His quest next takes him into conflict with the Red Hulk and the Avengers.[57] Hood later targets the other Illuminati members for the other Infinity Gems.[58] At a later point in time, Robbins uses the Reality Gem to heal Madame Masque's face.[59]

The Hood uses the red (Power) and yellow (Reality) gems to steal the purple (Space) gem from Iron Man, using it to teleport the Avengers away to an unknown location, where upon entry, he is faced with Thor and Red Hulk, Thor having the Orange (Time) Gem.[60] During the conflict, Red Hulk manages to steal the Power Gem from Hood. As Uatu watches on, Thor implores Hood to surrender, lest he kill himself. Hood declines the offer, and teleports to the ruins of Xavier Mansion, where Xavier is leading a team of Avengers against the Danger Room to try to secure the Mind Gem. Effortlessly, Hood gets the Gem and engages in a mental battle with Xavier, emerging triumphant. He then warps to the Astral Plane to get the Soul Gem, but is confronted by its wielder Thanos.[61] In reality, Thanos was one of Strange's illusions. When that did not work, Red Hulk, in possession of the Power Gem, punched Hood, and Hood wished Iron Man out of existence. Whilst this happened, Iron Man later reappeared with the Infinity Gauntlet, calling the Reality Gem to come to the Gauntlet. While the Hood protested that he had done nothing that the other superhumans present would not do if they had lost their powers, Iron Man and the other heroes simply rejected his words, using the Infinity Gauntlet to send Hood back to jail.[62]

The Illuminati

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Hood forms another group to help him achieve his goals for power. He set up numerous villains in order to make him join his Illumati with the purpose to be in the "big leagues" of super villains and ultimately control the world order. For the Illumiati, he gathered a rebuilt Black Ant (a Life Model Decoy of Eric O'Grady created by Father), Enchantress, Mad Thinker, Thunderball, and Titania.[63]

During the Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Hood and Titania infiltrate Pleasant Hill at the time when Baron Helmut Zemo and Fixer had restored the memories of the inmates at Pleasant Hill. Absorbing Man and Whirlwind side with Hood's Illuminati so that they can help in the revenge against S.H.I.E.L.D.[64]

Powers and abilities

Current technology

He is talented with firearms and various methods of criminal enterprise. He has access to dual HYDRA/A.I.M. technologies.[65]

Previous Infinity Gem powers

The Hood had demonstrated various abilities through use of the Infinity Gems.

While observing the Hood's actions, Uatu the Watcher noted that the Hood's ability to use the Gems, while impressive, was still limited because he simply thought about using the Gems to enhance his own power rather than really thinking about what he could do with them, to the point of engaging his enemies in direct combat when he could simply will them out of existence.

Previous Dormammu-related powers

The mystical boots and cloak Parker wears give him superhuman abilities. When wearing the boots, the Hood can walk on air. While wearing the cloak and holding his breath, he becomes invisible.

Robbins also finds that he can use the cloak to see past the illusion protecting Doctor Strange's headquarters. During the Skrull Invasion, it is revealed that Parker can detect Skrulls using an enhanced disguise that fools even the likes of Doctor Strange and Professor X.

Robbins also has the ability to transform demonically when under duress, gaining physical strength and speed to match Wolverine in one-on-one combat. In this demon form, his voice changes and he can sprout spikes from his hands. At least once, this allows Robbins to fire electrical energy from his hands. According to Doctor Strange, Robbins' powers will eventually kill him as the Nisanti consumes his mind, body, and soul. It was revealed that the Hood's mystical powers come from Dormammu which even enables him to resurrect the dead.

A recent exorcism appears to have removed the Hood from Robbins along with its mystical abilities.

Previous use of the Norn Stones

With Loki's help, the Hood acquired the Stones of Norn.[66] According to Loki, they have the power to make him anything he wants to be. Parker has used them to power up his weapons and gain powers to replicate those given by his possession by Dormammu. They have also been shown to power up anyone he desires.[67] The removal of these powers appears to cause harm to those who have been empowered.[68]

The Norn Stones also show the ability, similar to Thor's Hammer, impossible to lift by anyone other than the chosen bearer.[69]

The Hood lost the powers of the Norn Stones when Loki retook possession of them to empower the heroes in their attack on the Sentry.[70]

Members of The Hood's Crime Syndicate

The Hood himself has answered to either the mystical entity Dormammu or the Asgardian Loki. Among the members of Hood's Crime Syndicate (sorted into parts of the Crime Syndicate) are:[71]

Scientists:

Criminal Masterminds:

Elementals:

Energy manipulators:

Magicians:

Mind manipulators:

Strongmen:

Speedsters:

Spies or Assassins:

Other:

Notably, some of the members of this syndicate later become members of MODOK's 11, including Mentallo and Living Laser, who are both thought to be killed in action while on that team. Within that series, a small amount of the Hood's influence is displayed in the Purple Man using the money he has been given, along with his powers, to take over a large casino, where he attempts to subdue Mentallo, possibly on the Hood's behalf. Since the end of the series, Living Laser has developed himself into a more complex being of energy (though he later joins the Initiative, which is now mostly just an extension of Hood's Gang posing as heroes). Armadillo departs from supervillainy to aid Deadly Nightshade in clearing the name of their friend, the Puma.

Other versions

House of M: Masters of Evil

In the House of M reality, Hood assembles a group of villains to form the Masters of Evil in defiance to Magneto. It consists of Absorbing Man, Batroc the Leaper, Blizzard, Chemistro, Cobra, Constrictor, Crossbones, Madame Masque, Mister Hyde, Nitro, Sandman, Titania, Wizard, and the Wrecking Crew (Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball, and Wrecker).[72] The Hood and his Masters of Evil later fight the Red Guard.[73] Hood tells the rest of the Masters of Evil that they will be going to the Central American country of Santo Rico to "liberate it." After putting El Toro (the former dictator) out of his misery, the Hood manages to kill the current dictators Madison Jeffries and Lionel Jeffries (who managed to kill Bulldozer and Piledriver) before taking over Santo Rico.[74] The Hood's (and the teams') villainous past are revealed by Magneto and Sebastian Shaw, causing half of the team (consisting of Cobra, Crossbones, Mister Hyde, Chemistro, Wizard, and Thunderball) to leave Santo Rico, while the remaining members join the Hood to stand against the House of M's action. The Red Guard are sent there and massacre the Hood and the remaining villains in his group (except Titania who is thrown to safety by Absorbing Man). In this reality, the demon that the Hood's powers derived from has no resemblance to Dormammu.[75]

Collected editions

Title Material Collected ISBN Publication Date
Hood Hood vol. 1, #1–6 HC 0785128182 August 1, 2007
Dark Reign: The Hood Dark Reign: The Hood, #1–5 SC 0785141634 January 6, 2010

In other media

Video games

References

  1. ↑ Meet The (new) New Avengers: Epilogue, Newsarama, January 19, 2007
  2. ↑ Brian Bendis – Wrapping It All Up & Starting Dark Reign, Newsarama, December 5, 2008
  3. ↑ NYCC: Parker Talks "Dark Reign: The Hood", Comic Book Resources, February 7, 2009
  4. ↑ Good at Being Bad: Jeff Parker on Dark Reign: The Hood, Newsarama, April 16, 2009
  5. ↑ New Avengers #35
  6. ↑ Daredevil vol. 2 #101
  7. ↑ Daredevil vol. 2 #102
  8. ↑ New Avengers Annual #2
  9. ↑ New Avengers #46
  10. ↑ Secret Invasion #4
  11. ↑ Secret Invasion #6
  12. ↑ Secret Invasion #8
  13. ↑ Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1
  14. ↑ New Avengers #50
  15. ↑ Punisher Vol. 7 #1
  16. ↑ Punisher Vol. 7 #4
  17. ↑ Punisher Vol. 7 #5
  18. ↑ Punisher Vol. 7 #6
  19. ↑ Punisher Vol. 7 #7
  20. ↑ Punisher Vol. 7 #8
  21. ↑ Punisher Vol 7 #9
  22. ↑ Punisher Vol 7 #10
  23. ↑ Marvel Zombies 4 #1–4
  24. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #25
  25. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #26
  26. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #28
  27. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #30
  28. ↑ Dark Reign: Made Men #1
  29. ↑ Dark Reign: The Hood #1
  30. ↑ Dark Reign: The Hood #2
  31. ↑ Dark Reign: The Hood #3
  32. ↑ Dark Reign: The Hood #4
  33. ↑ Dark Reign: The Hood #5
  34. ↑ Dark Reign: Mister Negative #1
  35. ↑ Dark Reign: Mister Negative #2
  36. ↑ Dark Reign: Mister Negative #3
  37. ↑ New Avengers #51–53
  38. ↑ New Avengers #54
  39. ↑ New Avengers #56–57
  40. ↑ New Avengers #58
  41. ↑ New Avengers #60
  42. ↑ Brian Michael Bendis (w), Michael Lark (p), Stefano Gaudiano (i), Siege: The Cabal #1 (December 3, 2009), New York, NY: Marvel Comics
  43. ↑ Richards, Dave (December 4, 2009). "STORMING HEAVEN: "Siege: The Cabal"". Comic Book Resources News. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  44. ↑ New Avengers #61
  45. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #33
  46. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #34
  47. ↑ New Avengers #62
  48. ↑ Siege #3
  49. ↑ Richards, Dave (March 29, 2010). "STORMING HEAVEN: "Siege" #3". Comic Book Resources News. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  50. ↑ Thor #609
  51. ↑ Siege #4
  52. ↑ Richards, Dave (May 18, 2010). "STORMING HEAVEN: "Siege" #4". Comic Book Resources News. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  53. ↑ New Avengers #64
  54. ↑ New Avengers Finale one-shot
  55. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #35
  56. ↑ Avengers Academy #8
  57. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #7
  58. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #8
  59. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #9
  60. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #10
  61. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #11
  62. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #12
  63. ↑ Illuminati #1
  64. ↑ Illuminati #6
  65. ↑ Avengers Vol. 4 #8
  66. ↑ New Avengers #64
  67. ↑ New Avengers #61
  68. ↑ New Avengers #64
  69. ↑ New Avengers #64
  70. ↑ New Avengers #64
  71. ↑ New Avengers #35
  72. ↑ House of M: Masters of Evil #1
  73. ↑ House of M: Masters of Evil #2
  74. ↑ House of M: Masters of Evil #3
  75. ↑ House of M: Masters of Evil #4

External links

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