The Hood

The Hood is a character and the main Antagonist from the Thunderbirds Are Go! television series. He is a notorious and powerful criminal mastermind, looking to take over the world and rebuild it in his image. His primary method towards achieving this goal is to steal cutting-edge technology, leading to many run-ins with International Rescue with his attempts to claim the Thunderbirds. He has his own aircraft called The Hubship, which he uses to travel the world in and to make escapes. He also has a large number of henchmen, and a flawless ability to disguise as others.

Personality
With a head as smooth as his demeanour, this classy and manipulative, and sometimes quite hammy, suit-clad felon is so cunning and clever, that he has become a worldwide threat. His existence was only ever a rumor during his earliest days, and his real name and origin are still a mystery. His crimes include theft, terrorism, mass destruction, and possibly murder. International Rescue and the Global Defence Force named him 'The Hood' because of his ability to change himself so totally and hide in plain sight. He has many alter egos, including the corrupt CEO of Hydrexla Hector Ambro, each providing him with the power and resources he needs to act out his evil plans. His masquerades are so complete that there are seemingly no limits to what identity he can steal and create. To achieve these complete transformations, he uses a futuristic holographic array and nanoscopic light emitters in his clothing along with a voice synthisizer, which together allow him to change his appearance in the blink of an eye.

Season 1
Prior to the start of the series, Jeff Tracy disappeared in a final confrontation with The Hood. He also acquired footage of all five Thunderbird crafts and their pilots, so he was able to decipher their identities. With this knowledge at hand, he gloated that the organisation could never defeat his plans.

In Ring Of Fire: Part 1, The Hood planted an Earthquake Generator nearby the SeaLab, which would have caused it to topple over a cliff, had Gordon in Thunderbird 4 not been there. After Gordon picked up this Generator, Lady Penelope finds the building where most of the components for it were shipped, and The Hood was prepared for this. He left a button for her, and a note saying "Press me, and all your questions will be answered". Parker pressed the button, and The Hood took over all global airwaves and broadcasted a message across the world, revealing that the earthquake was only one of many waiting to happen along the Ring of Fire.

In Ring Of Fire: Part 2, The Tracys are certain that the man who broadcasted this horrific threat was The Hood, and they contact Colonel Casey of the Global Defence Force, but she and the rest of her organisation are still skeptical of his existence due to lack of solid evidence. The Hood later broadcasts another message, announcing his demands in turn for stopping the earthquakes, which included the entire Thunderbird fleet. Meanwhile, however, Brains was able to use the collected Earthquake Generator to find out that a satellite was controlling the rest of the Generators. After Alan sabotages the satellite in Thunderbird 3, Brains is granted the ability to shut down the Generators, and John was able to pinpoint The Hood's location. Kayo is sent to The Hood's lair, where she turns off her communicator during her encounter with her uncle to stop the Tracy brothers from finding out about their family connection. The Hood offers her niece to join him in his plan for world domination, but she refuses, and the G.D.F. soon show up to his lair also, whereupon he escapes in the Hubship, right after telling Kayo that they will meet again.

In Crosscut, he persuaded Marion Van Arkel, who was in desperate need of money and a job, to sell him uranium from her abandoned South African mine. Scott Tracy, assuming only The Hood would buy such a thing, talked Marion into refusing the offer. Marion, eventually, complied with Scott's advice, and instead of receiving a casket of the prized element, The Hood was left with nothing but an empty Fireburger XL box, much to the villain's dismay.

In Fireflash, he used a holographic disguise to impersonate Captain Hanson, whom he left tied up in a closet, with the intent of hijacking the Fireflash Aircraft. Despite having the advantage of a radar jamming device on his side, The Hood didn't take into account that his niece Kayo was also on board. She subsequently halted his plan, but could not apprehend him in time, resulting in his escaping via an emergency pod.

In Unplugged, The Hood joined the Luddites to take part in their plan to steal the Universal Grid Codex, which he would then take for himself. Penny and Parker, who were also disguised as Luddites as a means of finding out their plans, recognized The Hood's voice and attempted to stop him. Using a flash grenade, The Hood escaped in the Hubship with what he believed was the Codex, but Parker stopped him by switching it with a torch.

In Under Pressure, CEO of Hydrexla Hector Ambro hires Ned Tedford to collect toxic waste from the oceans using a Heavy Metal Extraction Platform, which spontaneously combusts before the controls deactivate. John Tracy gives Hector a call, but becomes suspicious of him due to his dis-concern for Ned's safety and for his vague answer to the question of what his company does with the toxic waste. This, combined with the fact that the message used a processing algorithm that is only associated with The Hood, made John believe that Hector and Hood were one and the same. Lady Penelope warns Hector that she is about to inspect his company without question. Once The Hood's goons are summoned to destroy FAB 1, John's suspicions are confirmed to be true. The Hood's goons are defeated by Penny and Parker, and Ned Tedford was saved by Virgil and Gordon, along with the toxic waste. It turned out that the toxic waste had been collected in a warehouse for a separate company, Clear Water 3000, with The Hood's plan seemingly being to contaminate the drinking water supply local to the warehouse.

In Falling Skies, he disguised himself as a scientist in order to warn people about the dangers of Nanotechnology and an engineer in order to sabotage the Space Hotel. He then revealed himself to Kayo and then escaped in a pod but the controls were reset and he drifted off into Space and went mad when he noticed it. In Heist Society, he sabotaged the underground tunnel and disguised himself as Professor Moffat, in order to steal her Centurium 21. However, Sherbet started growling and when the real Moffat showed up he escaped in his Hubship. Thunderbird 4 and FAB 1 later blew it up but he escaped in his escape capsule.

In Chain Of Command, he appeared briefly at the end of the episode as a Global Defence Force Officer talking to the imprisoned Colonel Martin Janus, and threatens him when he says how he failed to steal Thunderbird 2.

In Touch And Go, The Hood disables the global air-traffic control system C.A.T.C.H. to cover up a theft of Alsterene, the greatest fuel source in the world. When Kayo escapes his ship with the fuel, The Hood decides to save Kayo after an electrical fault powers down Thunderbird Shadow, rather than saving the Alsterene.

In Legacy, he finally tells the Tracy Brothers Kayo's secret about him being her Uncle and plans to maroon them by hacking into the Thunderbirds craft control panel. He was unsuccessful and instead planted explosives, believing to be under Tracy Island, only to find himself in the backup control room under Mateo Island.

He tried to escape but Thunderbird 1, Thunderbird 2 and Thunderbird 5 destroy his Hubship and at last, he was finally captured and imprisoned by Colonel Casey. However before being transferred he warns her of an even bigger and more dangerous mysterious threat to the Global Defence Force and International Rescue.

His Henchmen
The Hood is feared, yet respected and obeyed, by his henchmen and hired allies. He is very strict with his henchmen, and is liable to call them 'fools' should they blunder. When Martin Janus failed to deliver Thunderbird 2 to him, he infiltrated the prison the G.D.F. placed Janus in, just to tell him that he would have nowhere to run from his vengeful wrath upon release.

The Tracy brothers
The Boys have a notable grudge for The Hood because of what he did to their father, Jeff Tracy. Whenever a disaster seems to have someone to blame, the brothers are quick to assume it is The Hood, especially Alan. His existence may be part of the reason Brains created Thunderbird Shadow. Despite the run-ins International Rescue have had with The Hood, and despite being his primary targets, the brothers fully intend to remain a rescue organisation only, and they will choose to save a life over stopping The Hood whenever confronted with the choice, such as in Unplugged.

Kayo Kyrano
Kayo may well have the biggest hatred for The Hood out of all the others. Kayo is The Hood's niece, a fact she wanted to keep a secret from the Tracy brothers, although was known by Jeff and Grandma Tracy. Kayo knew him ever since she was a child, and she seemingly got along with him judging from a photo of them both together, smiling at the camera. However, Kayo abandoned The Hood at some point after seeing him for the monster he is, and she joined his prime target, the residents of Tracy Island, as their chief of security, finding a new family in the Tracy brothers and a new job in International Rescue. Although Kayo is malicious to her uncle, and once claimed to his face that "Ruining your plans is the best part of my job!", The Hood does not seem to have completely given up on Kayo and sees potential in her as a valuable ally, as much as he taunts her.