Hood

Summary

Hood is the Jaghut God of Death, the ruler of High House Death and one of the most powerful and ancient deities in the Malazan world. Unlike most gods who ascended from mortal origins, Hood is a Jaghut — one of the ancient, solitary, ice-wielding race that the T'lan Imass waged their three-hundred-thousand-year war against. Hood assumed dominion over death itself in an age long past, creating the warren known as Hood's Path and establishing the rules by which mortal souls pass from life.

Hood is a figure of immense complexity. He is feared and hated by mortals, who see death as their enemy, but Hood's realm serves a necessary function — without it, the dead would have no destination, and the boundary between life and death would collapse. He is not evil; he is inevitable. His personality, when it emerges, is dry, sardonic, and weary — the humor of a being who has spent eons dealing with death in all its forms.

Hood's greatest act comes in Toll the Hounds, when he abandons his throne and marches on Darujhistan at the head of an army of the dead. This unprecedented act — the God of Death leaving his realm — is part of the grand design orchestrated with Anomander Rake and Cotillion. Hood's willingness to sacrifice his own godhood for a greater purpose reveals that even the God of Death can be moved by something beyond his domain.

Arc by Book

Book 3: Memories of Ice

Hood's influence permeates the book through the massive death toll of the war against the Pannion Domin. His relationship with Fener — the Boar of Summer, who is torn from his realm — creates shifts in the divine order that affect characters like Heboric. Hood's path is invoked repeatedly as characters deal with death on a massive scale. His agents and servants operate in the background of the conflict.

Book 6: The Bonehunters

Hood's influence grows as the series' death toll mounts. His relationship with Dassem Ultor — the former Knight of Death who renounced him — is referenced, foreshadowing their eventual confrontation. Hood's realm is touched upon by characters who venture near death or interact with his servants.

Book 8: Toll the Hounds

Hood takes direct, unprecedented action. He abandons his throne in the realm of death and marches on Darujhistan at the head of a vast army of the dead. This march is part of the convergence orchestrated by Anomander Rake — Hood's role is to be present when Rake enters Dragnipur, so that death itself can be reshaped in the aftermath. Hood's sacrifice of his own position as God of Death is a pivotal moment in the series' metaphysical restructuring. He is killed — the God of Death himself dying — which is both paradox and necessity.

Book 10: The Crippled God

The consequences of Hood's sacrifice in Toll the Hounds continue to ripple through the final book. The restructuring of death's domain affects the final convergence, and Hood's legacy — both as God of Death and as a Jaghut who chose sacrifice — informs the series' conclusion. Hood's story is ultimately one of a being who ruled death for eons and then chose to die himself for a greater cause.

Key Relationships

• Anomander Rake — co-conspirator in the Toll the Hounds convergence; Hood's march is part of Rake's design
• Cotillion — fellow participant in the grand plan; helped orchestrate Hood's role
• Dassem Ultor — Hood's former Knight/Champion; Dassem's vendetta against Hood drives Dassem's arc
• Whiskeyjack — claimed by Hood's realm after death; later emerges during the march of the dead
• Draconus — ancient relationship between two primordial powers
• Itkovian — the Redeemer whose domain of compassion intersects with Hood's domain of death
• Kallor — the immortal whom death cannot claim; an affront to Hood's domain

Notable Quotes

"I am Hood. Lord of Death. And I am tired." — TtH

"Even the God of Death can die. Remember that." — TtH

"Death is not the enemy. It is the gift that gives meaning to life." — MoI (attributed)

Appearances

See Also

• High House Death
• Hood's Path
• Jaghut
• Darujhistan
• Dragnipur