Terrence Hood

"We will take our city back. And drive our enemy into the grave they've been so happily digging."

- Lord Terrence Hood, to UNSC Marines just before the Battle of Voi.

Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood is the de facto leader of the UNSC, flag officer of the UNSC Navy and the Commanding Officer of the UNSC Home Fleet.

General Information
Admiral Hood (or Lord Hood) is the chairman of the HIGHCOM Security Committee and is the commanding officer of all UNSC Defense Forces in 2552. He commands the planet's defenses, from orbit in ODA-142 Cairo Station.

Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood first appears in the novel, Halo: First Strike. He is a member of the UNSC Security Committee and is the Chief of Naval Operations. He is said to generally have a commanding and powerful voice. He greatly respects the SPARTANS, not only because of their record, but also because they saved his life on two occasions. When Halo 2 begins, Admiral Hood presents John-117, Sergeant Johnson, and Miranda Keyes with medals aboard the Cairo Station. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Hood receives an urgent message by Dr. Halsey requesting for him to send Spartans to assist her, and obliges by ordering Fred-104, Will-043, and Linda-058 to Onyx. In Halo 3, Hood is in overall command of Earth's defense, with Commander Miranda Keyes reporting directly to him. He accepts the need for Humanity to ally with the Elites, but is not entirely happy about it. He leads the remaining human naval forces in an attack on the Prophet of Truth's dreadnought, but the attack fails when the Forerunner artifact under New Mombasa activates, creating a portal to the Ark. When the Master Chief, Keyes, and several Elite and human forces choose to follow the Prophet of Truth through the portal, he decides to stay behind to make a final stand on Earth.

Before the First Battle of Earth
Hood joined the UNSCDF at an unknown age, and through his career, earned several decorations, including the UNSC Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the Navy "E" Ribbon, and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal along with a number of other service ribbons and citations. During his service, his life was saved twice by the SPARTAN-II supersoldiers. His service and life before that is currently unknown, but it is probable that he engaged in dozens of actions against the Covenant before-hand to earn his position as Commander-in-Chief of UNSC forces by 2552. He rose to the rank of Fleet Admiral, and served on the UNSC Security Committee and was present when Lieutenant Wagner presented his report on the destruction and fall of Reach.

First Battle of Earth
In October 2552 Admiral Hood presented MCPON John-117, Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, and Commander Miranda Keyes (for her father Captain Jacob Keyes) with medals aboard Cairo Station for their actions on Installation 04. Lord Hood was in overall command during the First Battle of Earth, when Prophet of Regret's fleet attacked Earth.

During November 2, 2552, Hood recieved a transmission from Catherine Halsey, piggy-backed by Cortana's update to command and was requested to send Spartans to Onyx. Hood obliged by ordering Spartans -104, -058, and -043 to the planet.

Second Battle of Earth
"Master Chief, you mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?"

- Lord Hood discovers the Chief's return to Earth

"Sir...finishing this fight."

- John-117

Later, during The Second Battle of Earth he is seen commanding the defense of Earth aboard a damaged Cairo Station as he finds out that Master Chief is aboard the High Prophet of Truth's Forerunner flagship. He asks the Chief what he was doing aboard the (Forerunner) ship. The Chief replies, "Sir, finishing this fight." During the Battle of Voi, the UNSC forces on Earth have been stretched to their limits during John-117's absence. Hood only has a few units fighting the Covenant. In addition, Hood kept several units in reserve including UNSC Frigates, single-ship fighters and several elements of ground forces.

After John-117 and a selection of Marines are able to shut down Covenant AA defenses, Hood launched an attack on the Ark Portal with all his available assets. He fails, however, and the Prophet of Truth is able to activate the spatial rift to Installation 00, far outside the Milky Way galaxy. It is important to note that if the the Human ships had succeeded in destroying the Forerunner ship it is likely that only the Flood would have made it to the Ark, thus the Flood would have won.

Battle of the Ark
At the end of the Battle of Voi, Hood appears to have little faith in Cortana's "solution", and believes that following Truth through the portal could possibly turn out to be a Flood or one of the Gravemind's traps. However, this could be due to the fact that he has never fought the Flood before, and reluctantly authorizes Miranda Keyes to enter the Portal once Thel 'Vadam comments that if Cortana is wrong, then the battle would already be lost. Hood then departs the Sangheili carrier, Shadow of Intent in a Pelican before it, along with all other Covenant Separatists ships, make for the portal. His decision to remain at Earth was a sign that he would fight for it until the end, and he was just as sure that he would die protecting it.

His last appearance in the series to date is in the final cut-scene of Halo 3, where he conducts the memorial service near the city of Voi, Kenya and the Portal. He states that he cannot forgive the Sangheili for what he and the rest of the Covenant had done at the beginning of the war, but thanks Thel 'Vadam for standing by the Master Chief and the UNSC until the end. The allies then depart, ready to rebuild their home planets. But unknown to both of them, the Master Chief and Cortana had survived.

Trivia

 * His Command Neural Interface port is clearly visible at the back of his head.
 * Hood was voiced by Hollywood actor Ron Perlman in Halo 2 and in Halo 3. His appearance is closely based on Perlman's.
 * Hood is said to be both a Lord and a Knight. This is unusual as under the British system of peerages, when one is made a peer, the title of Lord supersedes that of Knight in a formal address.
 * Lord Hood's flagship is said to be the Forward Unto Dawn, which he bestowed to Commander Miranda Keyes prior to the Covenant Separatists and UNSC forces going through the Ark's portal.
 * Lord Hood's name is most likely based upon Admiral Hood who fought Napoleon at the Battle of Toulouse.
 * Lord Hood is the highest ranking UNSC officer shown in the entire Halo Trilogy.
 * Lord Hood's military decorations are (from top left) the Combat Action Ribbon, the Joint Service Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy "E" Ribbon, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy Rifle Marksman Ribbon, the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. It is odd that he wears his high-ranking medals below the lesser non-medal ribbons, although UNSC uniform regulations in 2552 are probably different from those in the present-day military.
 * because lord hood is in command of the entire UNSCDF he may actually be a 6-star admiral

Internal

 * HIGHCOM
 * UNSC Security Committee
 * Admiral Whitcomb