The Hood

The Hood
Species:	Human
Place of origin:	Kota Bharu
Father:	The Hood's father
First mentioned in:	The Menace of the Monstrons
First appearance:	The Vanishing Ray
Appearances:	PROSE: Disaster! PROSE: Steve Zodiac Alive! PROSE: Rogues Gallery COMIC: Interplanetary Rescue

The Hood was a criminal who, by November 2066, had been named as public enemy number one by both international and interplanetary security forces. (PROSE: Disaster!)

Biography

Early activities

In an account dating the activities of International Rescue to the late 2080s, the Hood was born in 2031 to the Kyrano family of Kota Bharu, Malaysia, and an unknown father. Already possessing uncanny skill for hypnotism and ESP, he joined SOFRAM where he learnt the arts of disguise, espionage and murder.

Following the breakdown of SOFRAM in 2069, the Hood worked solo until Piil and Truen formed the Guild in 2079. He stayed with them for two years until he escaped with their funds and used the money to establish a voodoo cult in the Malaysian jungle. From this point onwards, he worked freelance.

The Hood was thought to have started the nuclear explosion in Australia in 2087 at the urging of the United Asiatic Republic. (PROSE: Rogues Gallery)

Menacing the security organisations of the world

In 2065, the Hood, along with world scientists, was said to be excited by TV 21's discovery that Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward had received an invisible ray torch. (COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons) Aiming to obtain the device for his own dastardly plans, he forged a passport and travelled from his temple in the Malayan jungle to England by Fireflash and hired a car once there. Firstly, he attempted to impersonate a salesman for the new Universal Cook Book but when he came away from Creighton-Ward Manor with only an ordinary flashlight he recruited the services of Big George to try and break-in to take the torch forcibly. This also failed. Later, after Lady Penelope and Parker were exiting the British Secret Service building, the Hood fired at them both and subsequently involved them in a car chase but the oil slip function of Lady Penelope's car FAB 1 caused him to crash. (COMIC: The Vanishing Ray) It was found by county police investigating reports of gunfire at Creighton Mansion that "a man" was seen running from a wrecked car into the surrounding woods. Tracker dogs combed the area. (COMIC: Eve of War) Finally, he disguised himself as a police officer, intending to take the torch and kill Penelope, but after he was admitted to her home she was able to knock him unconscious with a falling chandelier. Parker then drove back to London to annoymously hand him over to the Secret Service. He was interrogated but the only crime they could charge him with was illegal entry into the country and so the Secret Service Chief arranged for him to be deported back to Malaya. (COMIC: The Vanishing Ray)

In November 2066, he was discovered as the cause of the misadventures plaguing Stingray, which was on its way to the Battle of Hastings millennium celebration, as part of an immense sabotage attempt. The Hood eventually revealed his true colours but thanks to prompt action by Phones Sheridan his bid to destroy the leading envoys of the world's navies failed. (PROSE: Disaster!)

In June 2067, the Hood "triumphed" when he finally obtained the location of Tracy Island, International Rescue's South Pacific base. His "cunning plan" brought him photographs of Thunderbird 2 after he crashed a massive passenger plane into the island. Soon afterwards, newspapers across the world bore headlines which exposed the secrets he had uncovered. Jeff Tracy appealed to TV 21 to combat the Hood's blow. It did so by bringing its readers the undercover story of Operation Cover-Up, a move being implemented to disguise the IR headquarters. (PROSE: Steve Zodiac Alive!)

Nothing was heard or seen of the Hood since his attempt to sabotage the second Zero X mission to Mars. (PROSE: Rogues Gallery)

However, he re-emerged in September 2069 when he was sponsored by Bereznik in a plot to destroy Tracy Island, but was ultimately defeated by Lady Penelope. (PROSE: Fireflash Mk II Bound for New York)

Soon afterwards, he masterminded the hijacking of the Fireflash Mk II on her maiden flight. Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2 were able to force the craft down just inside the Bereznik border though it was believed the hijacker had arranged a rendezvous at the border, resulting in the Fireflash itself soon becoming "a fortress heavily defended by machine gun fire". The hijackers demanded all four operational Thunderbirds plus their designer and fifty billion dollars. If these specifications were not met, it was thought that they planned to deliberately explode the atomic reactor of the aircraft. (PROSE: Stalemate!)

Behind the scenes

The Hood originates from the television series Thunderbirds, in which he was voiced by Ray Barrett in six episodes and the film Thunderbirds Are Go.

External links

• The Hood at the International Rescue Database