Jason Hudson

Special Agent Jason Hudson is one of the main characters of the franchise's Black Ops sub-series and a minor character in the comics.
He is a CIA agent who participated in numerous operations during the Cold War, and was also Alex Mason's handler following his escape from Vorkuta. During Nikita Dragovich's campaign, Hudson managed to find the Soviet's numbers broadcast station by interrogating Mason on his previous encounters with the general. During the 1980s, Hudson assisted the CIA in stopping Perseus and his spy network and the Menendez Cartel. Hudson would meet his end by Menendez during the invasion of Panama, sacrificing himself to save both Frank Woods and David Mason.
He was voiced by (who also portrayed Alan Pangborn in Needful Things and General Hummel in The Rock) in Black Ops, (who also portrayed Batman in his titular films and The Flash and Jack Frost in the 1998 film) in Black Ops II, Edward Bosco (who also voiced Chipp Zanuff in Guilty Gear, Machias Regnitz in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, Ultra Magnus in Transformers: War for Cybertron trilogy, Haohmaru in Soulcailbur VI, Luke in Fire Emblem and Alastor in the Hazbin Hotel pilot) in Black Ops 4, and Piotr Michael (who voiced Viktor Reznov in Black Ops 4 and Albert Reynolds in The Loud House) in Black Ops Cold War.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Jason Hudson was born on March 26th, 1932 in Washington, D.C. to unnamed parents and was their second child, as he had an older brother who fought in World War II. At some point he served in the United States Army, joining the 101st Airborne Division during the Korean War. He was honorably discharged in 1955 and attended Georgetown University, double majoring in psychology and political science.
Hudson was then recruited and recommended into the Central Intelligence Agency by his academic adviser, Marshall Bryant. During his time there, he showed himself to be a master tactician and mission coordinator, bringing his intelligence onto the field. He gained the trust of many in Langley, with one associate stating that Hudson "has a way with words", and "when he speaks, you can't help but listen."
Hudson gained the trust of Langley for his ability to command a room and deal with crisis with calm and excellence. Despite not seeing the front lines due to his work, he showed himself to be a capable soldier, and will get the job done with finesse.
===Black Ops===
In 1963, Captain Alex Mason escaped from Vorkuta with help from Viktor Reznov, and Hudson became his new handler within the CIA. On November 10th, 1963, Hudson and Mason flew to the Pentagon, where they were greeted by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Hudson couldn't meet with President John F. Kennedy, as he didn't have clearance, and left with McNamara.
By 1968, Hudson joined the Studies and Observations Group, being a black op member alongside Mason and his best friend, Frank Woods. Hudson was sent there due to the Soviet presence in the area, and participated in defending Khe Sanh from the North Vietnamese Army. Hudson attempted to talk about Russian presence and a defector to Woods and Joseph Bowman, but the two ignored him at the end of the mission. Hudson presumably returned back to Langley, and met and befriend Grigori Weaver, a Russian CIA agent that was previously saved by Mason's team during their attempt to assassinate Nikita Dragovich.
Hudson and Weaver later went to Kowloon, Hong Kong to capture and extract Dr. Daniel Clarke, an engineer who stabilized Nova 6 with Friedrich Steiner. Amidst torturing and interrogating Clarke, the group were ambushed by Spetsnaz and were forced to fight their way to extraction. Though close to escaping Hong Kong, a Spetsnaz sniper killed Clarke before Hudson could get info on the numbers and the key to it.
Despite his death, Clarke revealed that Steiner was hiding in a Russian doomsday bunker on Mount Yamantau. Hudson, Weaver, Terrence Brooks and Bruce Harris participated in the operation as part of a CIA group named Kilo One, and were successful at infiltrating the facility. Steiner however, wasn't there, but informs them of Dragovich's plans as Weaver takes photo of potential targets for the nerve agent at the United States. The scientist continues that he is on Rebirth Island and will give them intel on how to stop the broadcast in exchange for safety, and Hudson and the team escape from the mountain as an avalanche arrives.
On Rebirth Island, Hudson leads Alpha Squad to extract Steiner before Dragovich could tie up loose ends, but the CIA team are slowed when nova six is released in the area. Reaching the facility, Hudson and Weaver see photos of Mason fighting his way to Steiner and attempt to stop him. Despite making it to Steiner's location, they failed to stop Mason from killing the doctor. Hudson was forced to incapacitate Mason, and revealed to Weaver that Reznov was never with Alex in any of his operations. Seeing Mason as the only person who can tell them the location of the numbers broadcast, Hudson and Weaver took Alex in for interrogation.
Failing to break Mason's programming by playing the broadcast, Hudson decided to interrogate the former by having him recall past operations. During the interrogation, he realized that Reznov re-programmed Mason to kill Dragovich, Kravchenko and Steiner to avenge his fallen comrade Dimitri Petrenko. Out of options since they are at DEFCON Two, Hudson set Mason free, but was knocked unconscious by the latter. He eventually caught up to Alex, punching him, and holding him at gunpoint to tell him the truth. Hudson revealed that Dragovich programmed him to assassinate Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Robert McNamara, but Reznov re-programmed him to kill Dragovich, Lev Kravchenko, and Steiner for revenge. After subduing Mason, Hudson played the numbers for the last time, and the former revealed that he knew where the numbers station was, being on the Rusulka in Cuba.
Hudson, Mason, and Weaver infiltrated the Rusulka with Yankee Team to stop the numbers broadcast. The group succeeded in stopping the broadcast, with Mason killing Dragovich and the two escaping from the underwater base. Though Weaver declares victory, Mason is left unsure as the U.S. Navy destroyed the Rusulka and the underwater base is destroyed.
===Operation Charybdis===
The CIA became suspicious of Mason, due to him not fully recovering from the brainwashing, and Hudson and Weaver being associates of him. The trio became targets by the CIA in 1978, with them escaping from South Africa, and hiding from the government. The government decided to do a joint task force with MI6 to eliminate them, with Ryan Jackson leading the operation. It's assumed that the mission was a failure or was dissolved, as Hudson and Mason were still alive by the 1980s, with Weaver's whereabouts unknown. In Black Ops Cold War, intel in the map "Firebase Z" speaks that the operation was rescinded, implying that Charybdis was resolved before Grigori could be eliminated.
===Declassified===
Hudson continued his CIA duty alongside Mason and Woods, who had escaped from Da Nang prison in 1972. He provided communication and support for Mason from 1975 to 1979, and would lead a CIA team to assassinate Menendez Cartel leader Jose Luiz Menendez. The mission was a success, but Jose's son, Raul, escaped, and later lead the cartel himself.
===Pre-Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops II===
Around an unknown time, Hudson would meet and marry a woman named Jenny, and have two children with her. In addition, Hudson's friendship with Mason have become strained, presumably due to his profession with the CIA, and possibly due to him still working with them despite Operation Charybdis. Despite the strain, Hudson mentions in Black Ops II that he and his wife watched Alex's son, David previously. He also states that "she loves having him", and "that he will be fine" when speaking to Alex in 1986. By the 1980s, Hudson was leading Operation: Greenlight, a CIA project where they installed nukes across Europe in case if the Soviet Union ever invaded the America. This gained the attention of Soviet spy "Perseus", who was a leader of a spy network named "Perseus" who wanted to destroy the west and restart Russia. 
===Black Ops: Cold War===
After Russell Adler, Mason and Woods learned of "Perseus'" resurface from Iranian terrorist Arash Kadivar, Hudson was tasked as overseeing Adler's team. Hudson also knew that Adler and Helen Park had programmed "Perseus'" associate to help them stop the Soviet spy, whom is code-named "Bell", but is concerned that they'll eventually break the programming and return to their old ally, causing friction between him and the team. 
The friction is further exacerbated when Hudson was later confronted by Adler and his team after they learned about Operation: Greenlight with Perseus stealing an American nuke from Berlin, forcing Hudson i to admit that t's a scorned earth policy in the event they were unable to stop the Soviets from invading Europe, forcing Adler to task Mason and Woods to go to Mount Yamantau to gather the list of Dragovich's sleeper agents despite Hudson's reservations that Mason's history with that site might impede the mission. Despite gaining the mainframe, Hudson' superior Emerson Black reveals that "Perseus" had already erased the intel. Seeing that the only choice they have is to infiltrate the KGB headquarters to receive the sleeper agents' names, Adler decides to bring him and "Bell" for the mission despite Hudson's chagrin. 
After the operation, the team determine "Perseus" will possibly store the nuke in Havana, and will possibly get help from Fidel Castro. Adler and the team succeed in finding the sleeper agent Theodore Hastings, but learn that "Perseus" re-programmed him to have access to all of the American nukes in Europe. Hudson informs Black of the situation, and reluctantly allows Adler receive information from "Bell" about "Perseus'" location. Depending on the player's choice, "Bell" can either reveal the location or lie to the CIA to get revenge.
<tabber>
Truth (Solovetsky) = If "Bell" reveals that "Perseus" has the signal facility at the Solovetsky Islands, Hudson gave radio support for Adler, Woods, Mason and "Bell". Adler and the team succeed in destroying the AA-guns on the islands and Hudson calls in a bombing run to destroy the monastery, destroying the signal. Hudson later debriefed Black over the phone on the situation, noting that Perseus and his network are crippled for the time being.
|-|
Lie (Duga-2) = If "Bell" betrays the CIA, they will either be killed by Adler or kill Adler, Woods, Mason, and Park/Lazar with the aid of their Soviet allies. "Perseus" will then give "Bell" the signal to detonate the American nukes, which destroys Europe and the world questions the United States on the evidence that they were American nukes. Hudson can be seen leading a CIA team in destroying Adler's safehouse, and presumably helping Black calm the situation across the world.
</tabber>
===Searching for Adler===
After Adler was captured by Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin for Perseus, Hudson sent Woods and a rescue team to find him. Weeks past and Woods and his team returned without Adler, informing Hudson that Adler wasn't in Laos, and Perseus tricked the team into thinking the spy network cared for the Nova gas. Despite this, Woods also told Hudson that they managed to get intel that Adler had been tortured and taken to Verdansk, and Hudson ordered the rescue team to rescue him from Stitch. Woods and his team managed to rescue Adler on June 10th, but Stitch had brainwashed him with Dragovich's brainwashing program alongside the Verdansk test subjects.
===Fighting Perseus' Spy Network===
After the events at Echelon, Hudson contacts Woods to meet him, and discusses how forensics found that the data recorder should have survived the crash in Algeria. Though Woods assures that the Perseus soldiers were clean, Hudson comes to the conclusion that Adler has been compromised after learning of what happened at Echelon with Perseus operative Kaori "Kitsune" Tanaka. Seeing that Adler has been off the grid working on a secret project in Verdansk, Hudson tells Woods to find Mason so he could bring Adler in.
Mason would succeed in bringing Adler in, and Hudson participated in interrogating Russell alongside Alex to try to break his brainwashing. Seeing that he wouldn't break, Mason went into the interrogation room and managed to break Adler's programming by speaking the numbers. Once Adler's brainwashing was broken, Hudson gave Russell a weapon and participated in the operation to stop Stitch in Verdansk since Adler had set explosives around the city. The group would locate Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin, and Hudson was presumably informed by Adler of how "Perseus" died a year prior. After the death of Stitch, Hudson and the team returned to Verdansk and located an abandoned Nazi bunker where they encountered Captain Carver Butcher. The captain explained how he founded Task Force Vanguard to stop the remnants of the Nazis following the death of Adolf Hitler, explaining how they started their search in Caldera.
===Black Ops II===
In 1986, Hudson learned that Woods had been captured in Angola, and recruited a retired Mason alongside Oliver North to rescue him. Mason reluctantly accepted, with Hudson telling him that David could be watched by Jenny. The duo met with Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the UNITA, and fought in the Angolan Civil War against the MPLA. Hudson flew a helicopter while Mason fought on the battlefield, eventually repelling the MPLA with air support. After Savimbi gave them information on Woods' location, Hudson flew them to a barge on a river. Defeating several soldiers and gun boats, the duo rescued a tortured Woods, and nearly survived an attack by a enemy helicopter.
The trio succeeded in escaping from Angola, with Mason having an interaction with Raul Menendez, and were rescued by Savimbi. The Menendez Cartel continued to flourish, with the CIA being sent to Afghanistan to get intelligence from the Mujahedeen resistance. Hudson stayed in the cave with Mullah Rahman, while Mason, Woods, and Tian Zhao fought off the Soviets. In the end, Mason and Woods discovered Lev Kravchenko was leading the charge, and captured him for information. If Mason succeeds in stopping the numbers from killing Kravchenko, the latter will state that Menendez has people in the CIA. Hudson immediately responded that he was lying, and Woods executed Kravchenko on the spot. The Mujahedeen revealed that they were working with Menendez, and left Hudson, Mason, Woods, and Zhao in the desert to die. The group were saved by a stranger, but Mason believed that it was Reznov who rescued them, something Woods would tell David in 2025.
Having received intel from Kravchenko, the CIA set a capture order on Menendez, learning that he was hiding in Nicaragua. They cut a deal with Manuel Noriega, the dictator of Panama to eliminate the Menendez Cartel. During the operation, Hudson realized that Noriega betrayed them, setting Raul free, who went on a rampage to rescue his sister, Josefina. Amidst the operation, Hudson became to worry of Woods' behavior, who wanted revenge for torturing him and his men back in Angola. After clearing some enemies, Hudson sent Mason and Woods down to the basement to get valuable info, but he ordered Alex to keep an eye on Frank. A few moments afterward, Hudson saw Menendez in the compound, holding him against a wall to stop him. Woods threw a grenade into Josefina's room, causing Menendez to run into the woods before it exploded. Surviving the explosion, Hudson told Woods and Mason that the mission never happened while the PDF walked off with Menendez's "corpse".
When the U.S. government learned that Menendez survived with the help of Noriega, they decided to carry out an invasion in Panama. Hudson didn't participate in the fight, only giving communication to Mason and Woods. During the invasion, Menendez captured David and forced Hudson to relay false information to his friends, saying that Noriega would be exchanged for Nexus Target. After escorting Noriega to the checkpoint, Mason and Woods parted ways as Woods was assigned to assassinate Nexus Target on the building. Hudson revealed to Woods that Nexus Target was Raul Menendez, and ordered him to kill him with a headshot. In reality, it was Mason who was target, and the player can either kill or incapacitate him. Woods would attempt to kill Noriega after the reveal, but his kneecaps were shot off by Menendez.
Woods and Mason (or Mason's corpse) was taken to Hudson and David, with Menendez telling the former that killed his friend by his "own hand". He then informed the two that one of them must die: Woods, Hudson, or David, or they would all die if they didn't make a decision. Though hesitant due to having children, Hudson sacrificed himself so that Woods and David could live. Menendez shot both of Hudson's kneecaps, slit his throat with the pendant, and kicked his corpse over. Menendez then proceeded to inform Woods that Mason and Hudson's deaths will be the first "absolute loss" of his life, and left the scene.
===Legacy===
Hudson's actions would be his redemption, as Woods became the surrogate father of David, and the child later join the U.S. Navy and the Navy SEALs. Despite this, Woods still held Hudson in contempt despite being saved by him, believing he should have 'smoked' him in Vietnam. In 2025, Hudson's death was canonically avenged by David, who killed Menendez in Haiti, or was non-canonically captured.
Eventually, Coalescence Corporation leader Sebastian Krueger did research on Hudson and the MK operations. In 2045, Hudson alongside Mason, Woods, Reznov, and Menendez were reborn/revived by Alex's granddaughter, Savannah Mason-Meyer. Hudson is the only one to not appear in the Specialist HQ story, but instead appearing as a playable skin in the Blackout mode.
==Call of Duty: Mobile==
Hudson appears as a minor character in the Mobile comics, being the one who funded Russell Adler's operations with the United Anti-Terrorism Coalition and the Five Knights. At some point, Hudson apparently committed suicide with cyanide pills when someone started to come after him, writing the name of "Stansfield" on a piece of paper. His corpse was found by Simon "Ghost" Riley, who was sent to the house by Captain Price for intel.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Hudson was number five on Game Informer's list of Top 10 video game Heroes of 2010.
*Hudson's character model bears some resemblance to famous actor Bruce Willis.
**His character model is also drawn from Gordon from Call of Duty: World at War.
**Additionally, Sandman somewhat resemblances him from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
*According to his profile, he was preferred to as "Rock" by his squad mates, referencing the 1996 The Rock in which Ed Harris starred in.
**He is also nicknamed "Ice Cube" by Mason, which is a reference to Joseph Bowman's actor and Hudson's cold personality.
*He and C. Miller are the only characters who can wield wonder weapons in a campaign (the Ray Gun in "Little Resistance" and the Thundergun in "Numbers").
*Woods has a strong hatred for Hudson, presumably due to him being part of the CIA, torturing Mason, and for the events of Panama.
*There is a theory that Hudson wasn't the mole in the CIA, with the possibilities being Oliver L. North or another sleeper agent.
**This is further proved and hinted in 2025 by Woods, telling David that he should "have smoked him in Nam".
**However, as mentioned above, it could have been Oliver L. North due to his minor appearance and the real person's controversial actions.
*In Treyarch's Black Ops timeline video for Black Ops III, the character is mistakenly referred to as "David Hudson".
*He is the multiplayer announcer for the CIA faction in Black Ops Cold War.
*In the zombies mode of Black Ops Cold War, Hudson mentions that he was involve in the cover up of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
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