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The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nintendo DS). The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 The subject of this article appears in Blackout The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Mobile The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone The subject of this article appeared in Zombies mode This article was previously featured
Guardian Angel WaW
It's up to you, User. It's all up to you.
This article contains multiple options that are determined by player choice.
For other uses, see Alex and Mason.

"Hey Woods, you look like hammered shit."
— Mason to Woods.


Captain Alex Mason is a CIA operative and retired Marine Force Recon Captain.[2] He is the main protagonist and the main playable character in Call of Duty: Black Ops. He returns as a deuteragonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops II as the main playable character for the 1980s missions (excluding Suffer With Me). He also appears as an NPC in Black Ops DS and as a playable character in Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified. In Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, he's one of the four Archetypes brought back to life, possibly because of the efforts of Project Blackout. He later returns as a supporting protagonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

Mason was also released as a playable Operator of the NATO faction in Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Warzone on October 7th, 2021 with Season Six as part of the Battle Pass.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Alex was born on June 3, 1933, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The geographical proximity of his home state to Communist Russia brought the threat of the Cold War much closer to his doorstep than most Americans. This was a key contributor to his fervent anti-Communist ideals and eventually led to him joining the Marines. He spent his youth by hunting the elk and grizzlies in the Alaskan wilderness with his father, a WWII veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds received during action at the Makin Atoll. As such, he is adept in cold weather environments and is an excellent sniper. In 1953, he became the youngest Wimbledon Cup winner in the history of the marksmanship competition at just 20 years of age.

Military career[]

In the early 1950s, Mason served as an infantryman and later Force Recon Marine in South Korea.[2]

In 1958, he was recruited to SAD/SOG after an exemplary term of service with the Marines. Having served with distinction since joining the Agency, Mason has a long-standing friendship with many of his fellow Agency colleagues and shows a particular kinship with an operative named Frank Woods. Always itching for action, Mason's tendency towards impulsiveness is the one trait that may not have been completely "trained out of him." However, Woods was well aware about this and knows exactly when and how to rein him in.[3]

The Bay of Pigs Invasion[]

"You ready to make history?"
— Woods to Mason before killing Castro's double.

In 1961, Mason was a member of a CIA assassination squad known as Operation 40. Mason and fellow Operation 40 members Joseph Bowman and Frank Woods infiltrated Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs Invasion to carry Operation Zapata out which was the assassination of Fidel Castro. Using the distraction that was caused by the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Mason, Bowman and Woods raided a compound where Castro was reportedly living. Mason and Woods encountered Castro's body double (unknown to Mason and Woods at the time) with a mistress in his bedroom. Mason killed Castro's double.

During their escape, the Cuban military forces rapidly turned the tables on the U.S. supported Cuban rebels and swarmed the airfield where Op 40's escape plane is located. While Mason, Bowman and Woods made it to the plane, Mason bailed out just before takeoff to clear the runway of the Cuban military vehicles. Mason was subdued and captured by the Cuban troops. Regaining consciousness, he watched as Fidel Castro, alive and well, turned Mason over to former Soviet General Nikita Dragovich as a "gift of their new alliance".

Imprisonment at Vorkuta[]

Russian programming attempt[]

Steiner operating Mason in Vorkuta

Dragovich and Steiner discuss Mason.

"It was their attempt at MK-Ultra. Dragovich programmed you to kill Kennedy, but Reznov sabotaged you."
— Jason Hudson describing the Russian's programming to Alex Mason


Mason was transported to a Soviet labor camp at Vorkuta, Russia. There, Dragovich had Friedrich Steiner and Lev Kravchenko brainwash Mason. Mason was implanted with the knowledge to interpret the outgoing broadcasts from Dragovich's numbers station and was also programmed to become a Soviet sleeper agent with the primary purpose of assassinating then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy. While Mason's willpower resisted the programming, they eventually succeeded. However, Viktor Reznov, a former hero of the Red Army who was betrayed by Dragovich and his underling Colonel Lev Kravchenko successfully sabotaged Mason's brainwash, programming him to kill Steiner, Kravchenko and Dragovich in order to avenge the death of Dimitri Petrenko.

Vorkuta uprising and escape[]

"I'd given up hope of ever gettin' out. But Viktor Reznov found a way."
— Mason to his interrogators.

By Mason's account, it was six to seven weeks after his arrival at Vorkuta that he was thrown into the labor force. There, it did not take long for him to clash with the prisoners that are loyal to Reznov. The fights got both Mason and Reznov each one month of solitary confinement which they both became fast friends. Sometime later, Mason and Reznov began plotting their escape from Vorkuta. On October 6, 1963, the Vorkuta prisoners initiated a riot and charged out of the mines and the breakout began. Mason escaped back to the U.S. while Reznov died helping him escape. Mason was unaware that he was ever brainwashed.

Return to the United States[]

"Your reputation precedes you, sir. We’re lucky to have you back, Mason."
— Robert McNamara upon meeting Mason.

Upon his return to the States, Mason was escorted by his new handler named Jason Hudson and U.S. Secretary of

Mason, U.S.S.D.

Mason, in "U.S.D.D.".

Defense Robert McNamara to the Pentagon where he was given direct orders from President Kennedy to begin Operation Flashpoint: Mason and his team must locate and kill Dragovich and sabotage the Soviet space program. Throughout the meeting, Mason heard the numbers inside his head, causing him to experience everything as though it was a dream. When speaking with Kennedy, Mason hallucinated taking a pistol and pointing it at Kennedy, meaning that he was at least partially under Dragovich's control, although resisting it.

Operation Flashpoint[]

"It's Weaver. He's burnt."
— Mason informing Woods of Weaver's compromise.

On November 17, 1963, Mason and the CIA infiltrated a Soviet Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan during Operation Flashpoint. The Soviets were already aware about this attack by the capturing of Grigori Weaver, a CIA double agent who was compromised by Kravchenko. Mason and his team are able to rescue Weaver (Though his left eye was gouged out by Kravchenko) and fought their way to the control bunker for the Soyuz 2 rocket, but were unable to abort the launch.

Mason used a prototype Valkyrie Rocket to destroy Soyuz 2 in mid-air. After that, the Operation 40 squad began a sweep of the facility to eliminate the surviving members of the Ascension group, a group of former Nazi scientists who are collaborating with the Soviets and hunt Dragovich down. They cornered Dragovich in his limousine and destroyed it, but rather than verify Dragovich's death, Mason decided to move on after being told by Woods that the explosion would not have left anything recognizable. Dragovich was assumed to be dead, but this was proven to be far from the truth.

Afghanistan[]

Scout Leader MW3
Perhaps our intel was off!
The following text contains information that only appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nintendo DS).
Therefore, the canon status of this information is unknown.

On November 21, 1963, Mason took part in an unknown mission in Afghanistan where the Afghan soldiers misunderstood him for an assassin and attacked him. He met with a Soviet defector named Yuri Raslov and escaped.

Kennedy Assassination[]

"There are gaps in your memory. Periods where you went MIA and we couldn’t account for you."
— Jason Hudson to Mason after his interrogation.
Mason dallas 1963

Alex Mason in Dallas on the day of the JFK Assassination.

Five days after Operation Flashpoint, on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. After Mason escaped from his interrogation in 1968, he has flashbacks suggesting that he was the one who shot the President or he was simply involved in the assassination. At one point, he says "Proceed...to...target! Oswald...compromised!" This is probably referring to the man who was believed to have shot President Kennedy: Lee Harvey Oswald who was an alleged Soviet defector. When Mason has Dragovich pinned down on board the numbers station, Mason yells at Dragovich "You tried to make me kill my own President!" which Dragovich smiles and replies in a mocking tone, "TRIED?!" suggesting that the Russian programming worked. Also, the footage of Kennedy's arrival in Dallas, Texas prior to the assassination showed that Mason was in the crowd of onlookers who watched Kennedy disembark from Air Force One in Lovefield suggesting he may have been theorized second shooter on JFK's assassination. Mason narrates over this footage saying things related to the assassination such as "11-22" (November 22, the date of the shooting), "Texas", the state that the assassination took place in and "6.5 millimeter"(Referring to the caliber of the bullets that are allegedly fired by Lee Harvey Oswald to kill Kennedy).

However, in 1989, when Mason is talking to Mark McKnight, McKnight asks about his brainwashing and Mason mentions that the Soviets "gave it their best shot" so it is possible that he was not involved in the Kennedy assassination and his programming failed or it suggests that he doesn't remember what happened due to his programming so Dragovich could have Mason carry more missions out.

Life after Vorkuta[]

"You should have stayed in Vorkuta."
— Mr. Mason to Alex

A few years after Alex came back from Vorkuta to join the SOG, his mother fell ill and his father called him and his siblings to her deathbed. Mason failed to arrive, leaving a bad impression on his father and his sisters, Marion and Dot. The two sent a few more letters to Alex, but he failed to reply to any of those. From then, his father considered that his son should have died in Vorkuta, but Marion informed Mason that he could stay with her at Renier if he needed to and her children still loved their "hero," uncle Alex.[4]

Vietnam War[]

Tet Offensive[]

"Woods! You look like hammered shit!"
— Mason to Woods, joking about his appearance.
MasonMIA

Files showing Mason's status.

Almost five years after the events of Baikonur, in 1968, Mason joined the SOG unit led by Frank Woods and was sent to Vietnam for the purpose of searching for covert Soviet operations in Vietnam and Laos. After landing at Khe Sanh to meet up with Woods and the rest of his old unit, the hill of Khe Sanh came under attack by the NVA forces. Mason, Woods and Special Agent Hudson repelled the beginning of the attack before the SOG unit left for it's mission.

In Huế City, they attempted to pick a Soviet defector up with vital information of Soviet involvement in the war. Inside a safe room, Mason believed that he is reunited with Reznov, "the defector", although "Reznov" was a figment of his imagination and the real one died after Mason got on the train from Vorkuta. After collecting the intel, the team left Huế City.

While heading north into Communist territory, Mason's helicopter was shot down, but spurred on by a hallucinated image of Reznov, he escaped from the wreckage. Mason and the rest of the team silently entered a village where they sabotaged Viet Cong equipment. Afterward, Mason went down a rat tunnel to clear it out along with Swift before hallucinating Reznov in the tunnels. Swift comments on this by saying "What the fuck's wrong with you" before getting stabbed in the chest by a vietcong soldier and dying, leaving Mason alone in the tunnel by himself with only hallucinations of Reznov. Mason and "Reznov" then retrieved a Soviet operations book from Kravchenko's office. The tunnel collapsed as a result of the booby traps that are triggered by Kravchenko and Mason barely escaped with his life.

Nova 6 discovery in Laos[]

The intel led them to a Soviet cargo plane downed in Laos which was believed to be carrying some sort of chemical weapon. Mason remembered the stories that Reznov told him about a nerve gas called Nova 6, originally developed by a Nazi scientist named Friedrich Steiner, but commandeered by General Dragovich and reproduced by Daniel Clarke. After combating their way up the river to the crash site, the SOG team was set upon by both the VC and Spetsnaz before making their way into the plane. There, they found out that the Soviets already retrieved the cargo and were waiting for them to arrive in the valley below. After an explosive fight, the plane wreckage tumbled down a cliff and the team was taken prisoner by the Spetsnaz for the second time.

Capture by Kravchenko and escape[]

At a VC compound, Mason, Woods and Bowman were forced to play Russian Roulette.

Mason, Payback Intro

Woods and Mason being forced to play Russian Roulette.

Bowman defiantly insulted his captors, prompting their Soviet contact to club him to death with a pipe. Woods played, choosing an empty chamber, whispering to Mason that the next one was loaded. Mason shot the VC leader in the chest and took his pistol, fighting out of the compound and killing the Soviet. Woods and Mason commandeered a Hind and flew it to Kravchenko's compound where they battled to his office along with "Reznov" and attacked him. Mason was overpowered and Kravchenko began to repeatedly kick him before being stabbed by Woods. Kravchenko pulled the pins on his grenades, prompting Woods to throw both of them out of the office window. Mason watched the ensuing explosion and believes himself and "Reznov" to be the only survivors. In reality, the two survived due to Kravchenko's grenade belt falling off and landing away from them while they were knocked unconscious, Kravchenko woke up before Woods and brought him to a Viet Cong prison camp which he escaped from in 1972.

Hunting Steiner[]

"How many times?! Steiner was at Rebirth Island! We had to kill Steiner!"
— Mason to his interrogators.

A letter in Kravchenko's office showed that Steiner was overseeing Nova 6 operations on Rebirth Island in the Aral Sea. Mason infiltrated the island with an imaginary Reznov at his side, flying into a port in Mo'ynoq using a requisitioned light aircraft[5] and stowing away in an empty crate being handled into the island. When the crane that was carrying the crate settled it down, they exited the crate and proceeded to make their way to the labs. They attempted to access the labs through the rooftops when an explosion in the distance occurred with the base going to full-alert. Mason told Reznov that it was the CIA assaulting the island to take Steiner alive. The two picked their pace up to get to Steiner first, going down an elevator shaft and breach the laboratories from there, carving through the troops and scientists alike to get to Steiner with Hudson trying to contact Mason half-way through without success. They eventually cleared the facility out and entered Steiner's lab.

Steiner was contacting Hudson, desperately asking them to hurry up and extract him from the island as Dragovich's men were executing the personnel on the island. Mason confronted Steiner who was shocked that Mason managed to reach him; he recognized Mason from Vorkuta, and told him that he didn't know what they had done to him. "Reznov", who was actually Mason, began beating Steiner who claimed that killing him would not stop the Nova 6 attacks. Reznov paid no mind and instead reclaimed revenge in his name. Hudson and Weaver managed to make it to the lab and tried entering the lab from a window by shooting it, but it was bulletproof, forcing the pair to break it with a crate. But, by the time that they managed to break the window, they were too late as Mason witnessed Reznov shoot Steiner.

Mason shooting Steiner

Mason shooting Steiner.

However, as the same story was told through Hudson's perspective, it was finally revealed that Reznov was a figment of Mason's imagination and Mason was the one actually executing Steiner. As it was stated above, they broke the bulletproof glass and entered the room too late as Mason shot Steiner in the head. He shot Weaver in the arm when he tried to apprehend him. Hudson tackled and disarmed Mason, knocking him out with a pistol-whip. With Steiner dead, they left the island with Mason as their only link to the numbers, leading to his interrogation.

Interrogation and Redemption[]

"I remember...Ahhhh! Vorkuta..."
— Alex Mason

Following his apprehension by Hudson and Weaver at Rebirth Island, Mason was interrogated ruthlessly. With Steiner's death, Mason was their only link to the numbers station and the impending Nova 6 attack by the Soviet sleeper agents in the state capitals of every state in the U.S. In addition, the President was prepared to launch an all-out nuclear strike against the Soviet Union in retaliation. If the numbers station could not be located and neutralized before Dragovich sent the signal to attack, World War III would break out.

Masoninter

Mason during his interrogation. (Note his arms are not strapped to the chair)

After forcing Mason to relive his experiences leading up to the present date, Hudson had yet to learn anything from Mason. With DEFCON 2 declared, Hudson revealed himself to Mason out of desperation and removed his restraints. Mason took advantage of having a fist free and knocked Hudson out and made his way through the interrogation facility, remembering his brainwashing at Vorkuta, realizing that all of his encounters with Reznov after Vorkuta were imagined as Reznov actually died during the breakout. Mason also remembered how to translate the numbers broadcasts. After being subdued by Hudson, Mason translated the number sequences and explained that the numbers station is on the Soviet cargo ship called the Rusalka which Mason originally saw during his first meeting with Nikita Dragovich in 1961.

Mason, Hudson and Weaver raided the Rusalka, located in the waters southwest of Cuba. In the cargo ship's hold, they discovered an antenna with a tether leading into the depths of the ocean. While a U.S. Navy fleet is en route to destroy the Rusalka, Mason insisted on entering the submerged numbers station to kill Dragovich once and for all. After fighting through the numbers station as it comes under fire, Mason found the console controlling the numbers broadcasts and attempts to deactivate it, but was knocked away by Dragovich. Hudson came to Mason's aid, distracting Dragovich before being shot and allowing Mason to pull him down. Mason strangled Dragovich, choking him to death in the waters. He escaped from the imploding numbers station with Hudson. With the station destroyed and Dragovich dead, the crisis was averted.

CIA Duty[]

Mason never fully recovered from his brainwashing as he still heard Reznov's voice after killing Dragovich, making the CIA suspicious about Mason's actions (and presumably his connection to the JFK assassination). Weaver and Hudson became targets of suspicion as well for their association with Mason and their supposed complicity in gathering top secret information for Mason. However, Mason still continued to carry out several CIA missions with Hudson still acting as his handler.

Berlin[]

"Operation Active Measures - a simple asset recovery gone sideways...."
— Ryan Jackson

In 1976, Mason was sent to East Berlin to acquire intel. Mason successfully recovered the intel which was a microfiche detailing information on a KGB spy ring running out of a front company right in West Berlin. A KGB Colonel named Mikhail Belov was charged with coordinating it and Mason was sent to capture Belov alive for interrogation. However, when Mason went in to capture Belov, he escaped through a window. Mason recovered any intel that he could and gave chase. He eventually found Belov in a room full of Spetsnaz, but is attacked and forced to kill Belov. Mason told Hudson that Belov was not needed as he got "the damn NOC list".

Nicaragua[]

In 1979, Mason was sent to Nicaragua to cover the extraction of a CIA operative abducted by the KGB.

Afghanistan[]

" Alex Mason, on his first mission in Afghanistan, was sent in to locate and rescue the asset..."
— Ryan Jackson

In December 1979, Mason was sent to Afghanistan to extract a high value asset, lynchpin between the CIA and the Mujahideen who was taken into custody by a KGB Spetsnaz unit outside of Kabul.

Operation Charybdis[]

Scout Leader MW3
Perhaps our intel was off!
The following text contains information that only appears in Intel from Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Therefore, the canon status of this information is unknown.

Sometime in 1978, Mason's decision to chase an unknown lead led the CIA to deem him "burnt" and a threat to national security along with Hudson and Weaver who escaped to South Africa with him. As of October 28, 1978, the CIA was making plans to form a joint task force with MI-6 in order to find and eliminate Mason, Hudson and Weaver in what they dubbed Operation Charybdis. The operation, however, was rescinded, and the trio's lives were spared, thus they continue to work for the CIA.

Retirement and family life[]

At some point, Mason got married to an unknown woman and (from 1978 to 1979) had a child whom he named David.

Mason's wife died from unknown reasons which young David blamed on him going "back to the army", suggesting that Alex retired from his duty at one point and went back.

Intel from Call of Duty: Black Ops information ends here.

Hunting down Perseus[]

On January 8, 1981, Mason, who seemingly had retired from active duty, received an unexpected phone call from Jason Hudson who informed him that if he wanted to return as a CIA operative, he should report to Frank Woods and Russell Adler in Amsterdam. His mission was to eliminate Qasim Javadi and Arash Kadivar, two targets who were connected to the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. On January 12, After receiving intel on Javadi's location from Police Chief Hans Timmerman, Mason, Woods and Adler assaulted Javadi's hideout, taking out his men until they confront him on the rooftops. Mason began interrogating Javadi until he revealed Kadivar having a meeting at the Trabzon Airfield in Turkey the next day.

Mason lets Javadi go but Adler will execute Javadi if Mason doesn't kill him.

Mason throws Javadi off the roof, killing him.

Mason knocks Javadi out and the team takes him into CIA custody.

18 hours later, Mason, Adler and Woods arrived at Trabzon Airport where Kadivar's hired men are, moving supplies into a cargo plane. Shortly, a car arrived and Kadivar got out before shooting the occupants inside. After confirming his identity, the team attacked the airfield, resulting in Kadivar attempting to escape in the cargo plane and an intense firefight. The team took one of the vehicles and chase after the plane while taking out Kadivar's men chasing them. Mason then used an RC-XD provided by Adler to detonate under the plane, which crashed and took out Kadivar's remaining men. Afterwards, the team found Kadivar and dragged him out. He then taunted the team, telling them about Perseus, a Soviet spy long believed to be dead and his plan to destabilize the West. Kadivar is executed by Adler after this revelation.

Following a meeting with President Ronald Reagan, Mason became part of a new task force lead by Adler, with the primary goal being to track down Perseus and stop the new threat. While Adler and his colleagues attempted to recall their first encounter with Perseus in Vietnam, Mason and Woods were busy with another mission in Kiev, and did not join the team until later. After Woods and Bell learned about Operation Greenlight from their infiltration mission, the former went with Mason and Adler to confront Hudson on the truth.

With the intel recovered from the Russian base, the team learns about an excavation happening on Mount Yamantau, where Perseus intends to recover Dragovich's old mainframe for data. Mason and Woods are deployed to the base, where they successfully retrieve the mainframe, only to learn that the data has been completely wiped, leading Adler to consider infiltrating the KGB's headquarters at Lubyanka. In between these missions, Mason also undertook two other operations, where he and Woods hunted down two of Perseus' men: Robert Aldrich and Vadim Rudnik.

Mason later joined Adler's squad in Cuba when they attempted to track down Theodore Hastings, a former sleeper agent of Dragovich. However, they were not able to retrieve the Greenlight nuke, while at the same time learned that the codes have been reverse-engineered to allow Perseus to detonate all of the bombs in Europe. The team managed to exfil from the site, though they suffered the loss of one team member (Helen Park or Eleazar "Lazar" Azoulay; though only the latter is the canonical outcome).

Mason would later participate in the final effort to stop Perseus, dependent on the choices Bell made:

Bell chose to reveal where Perseus was and told Adler about Solovetsky Islands and the monastery, the site where Perseus planned to detonate the nukes. On March 15, Bell, Adler, Woods and Mason as well as several squads of soldiers stormed the monastery and fought off waves of Soviet soldiers while trying to disable the anti-air guns so that their air support could destroy the radar array and prevented the nukes from being set off.

Bell chose to not reveal where Perseus truly was, telling Adler he was at Duga. Bell didn't radio Soviet troops to ambush Adler's group. On March 15, at Duga, Bell revealed to Adler they lied and remained loyal to Perseus. Angry, Adler executed Bell leaving their body for Perseus to find as the team left the facility with disappointment. With no one stopping him, Perseus detonated the Greenlight arsenal. With Europe in chaos, President Reagan learned that documents related to Operation Greenlight were leaked anonymously, but seemingly by Perseus, showing the nukes were made by the United States and destroying their reputation around the world. Reagan ordered that anything related to the operation should be erased forever as the Berlin safehouse was burned down by Hudson and the CIA.

During planning, Bell radios the Soviet Base to plan for an ambush. On March 15, at Duga, the team berated Bell for lying to them. Adler was disappointed in Bell due to how much faith he had in them. Bell then signaled the ambush, in which they were briefly knocked out by an RPG but later regained consciousness and is helped up by a Soviet officer wearing a gas mask. Bell then proceeded to execute Mason, Woods and possibly either Park or Lazar.

After most of the team was killed, Bell followed the officer into a building while the other Soviets wipe out the remaining American troops. The Soviet told Bell that Adler fled into the building. They managed to find Adler who was fatally wounded. Adler asked Bell to hand him his lighter so he can light a cigarette one last time. Whether Bell chose to or not, Adler was killed by them and the officer revealed his identity as Perseus. Bell, now reunited with Perseus, was allowed to personally order the Greenlight nuclear arsenal's detonation. The two discussed their plans for the future of a Greater Russia and left Duga together.

With Europe in chaos, President Reagan learned that documents related to Operation Greenlight were leaked anonymously, but seemingly by Perseus, showing the nukes were made by the United States and destroying their reputation around the world. Reagan ordered that anything related to the operation should be erased forever as the Berlin safehouse was burned down by Hudson and the CIA.

Helping Adler[]

In 1984, after suffering torture by Perseus operative Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin, Adler secretly went rogue and placed several explosives across Verdansk. Realizing that he was compromised, Hudson ordered Woods to call Mason for help. Having had firsthand experience with Dragovich's numbers program, Mason was chosen to help break Adler's programming. He succeeded in doing so, and then accompanied Adler, alongside Woods and Hudson, to Verdansk to apprehend Stitch. They finally located Stitch in the woods, where Adler confronted him and learned the truth about Perseus' demise, before killing Stitch and finally getting his vengeance.

Meeting Butcher[]

Five days after Stitch's death, Mason, Adler, Woods and Hudson investigated a hidden WWII-era bunker underneath Verdansk, which was unearthed by Adler's explosives. They encountered Carver Butcher, a retired Special Operations Executive agent, who then told the CIA operatives of his efforts in hunting down remnants of the Nazi empire after the war ended, starting at Caldera.

Returning to the CIA[]

By 1986, Mason retired once again and lived in Alaska with his son, David. He was approached by Jason Hudson and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver L. North who informed him about Woods' disappearance in Angola. While hesitant at first, Mason decided to go in and save his old friend. David tried to talk him out of it, but Alex reminded him that it was "Uncle Woods" and he would do the same for him.

Alex Mason In Alaska BOII

Alex Mason in Alaska.

Rescuing Woods in Angola[]

On July 2, 1986, Mason and Hudson participated in the Angolan Civil War, joining forces with the UNITA. Mason received intel on Woods' location from Jonas Savimbi who warned him about the dangers that he could face. Later, they arrived on a transport barge on the Cubango River and after fighting the MPLA forces off, they found Woods barely alive in a container full of dead decaying bodies. A Hind attacked the barge and was destroyed by Mason by using a Valkyrie Rocket launcher. The barge sank, but Mason and Hudson managed to get into shore along with Woods. After sneaking through a base full of Cuban soldiers, Mason attempted to reach the radio station in order to call Savimbi for extraction. Instead, he encountered Raul Menendez who smashed the radio before Mason could give his orders. Mason tried to take Menendez hostage against the Cubans, but Menendez pulled the pin on a grenade and almost stabbed Mason in a struggle. Mason managed to shoot Menendez in his face and escape, but was chased by the Cuban soldiers. After holding the enemy forces off, Mason and Hudson managed to carry Woods to the beach where they are rescued by Savimbi.

Acquiring intel on Menendez in Afghanistan[]

Two months later, in September 5, Mason re-enlisted with the CIA and went on a mission in Afghanistan to retrieve intel on Menendez' location. He along with Woods, Hudson and the Chinese soldiers led by Tian Zhao helped the Mujahideen and their leader, Mullah Rahmaan fend the Soviet forces off. After several Soviet tanks and helicopters were destroyed, Mason was called back to the base. He witnessed the final Soviet attack that was led by a colossal tank. As they charged head-on to meet the Soviets, Mason's horse was hit and he barely avoided being crushed by the giant tank. Woods pulled him up and helped him jump on the tank. As Mason was about to throw a mortar in the tank, his old nemesis named Lev Kravchenko jumped out and punched him. The numbers inside his head were re-triggered and Mason heard the voice of Reznov inside his head telling him: "Kravchenko must die". After a brief struggle, Mason quickly defeated him before attempting to choke and kill him following his programming, before being stopped by Woods. Kravchenko was then brought back to the Mujahideen base for further interrogation though Mason continued to hear Reznov's voice despite his own mental resistance.

As Woods continued to interrogate him, the numbers continued to appear, forcing Mason to kill Kravchenko. Due to this, the interrogation is invalid.

Mason manages to resist Reznov's programming and learns that Menendez had people working as CIA moles. Woods then executes Kravchenko with a bullet to the head.

The Mujahideen would betray them and Mason, Woods, Hudson and Zhao would be left to die in the desert. After a period of time passed, Mason saw what appeared to be Viktor Reznov riding on a horse approaching him. "Reznov" dismounted and gave him a drink. After the events of that day, Mason was convinced that it was the real Reznov who saved him and his teammates, but Woods expressed disbelief, thinking that if it was Reznov, he would have stayed and explained his presence if he wasn't another one of Mason's hallucinations.

Attack on Menendez compound[]

Having received intel from Kravchenko, the CIA agents headed off to Nicaragua to find Menendez. They cut a deal with the then-dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega and enlisted his help in capturing Menendez. However, Noriega secretly betrayed them and freed Menendez after he was captured. Menendez gave Noriega a beating and went after his sister, Josefina Menendez. At the same time, Mason, Woods and Hudson fought through the Menendez Cartel's base. While taking Raul's men out in the basement, Mason may or may not find a CIA memo which was the proof that Menendez had a mole inside the CIA. Mason and Woods arrived at Josefina's room at the same time as Raul. An enraged Woods attempted to kill Raul, but Mason tried to stop him. In the end, Woods threw a grenade which bounced into the room and killed Josefina. Raul was reported to have been killed also, but in reality, he escaped with Noriega's help.

Operation Just Cause[]

Mason and McKnight BOII

Mason with McKnight before the invasion.

On December 19, 1989, Mason and Woods met up at Mark McKnight's house to discuss the plans for the invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause) on the day after. The plan was to capture Noriega, aka Objective False Profit and destroy his reputation. The day after, the three of them participated in the invasion with McKnight providing sniper support for Mason and Woods. Throughout the fight, Mason tried to contact Hudson through the communications though he failed. After having destroyed Noriega's jet, Mason finally received intel from Hudson who revealed Noriega's location. He and Woods reached the hotel where Noriega was located and captured him. However, Hudson told them that Noriega was to be escorted to a US Army checkpoint where he would provide intel on a Nexus target. They succeeded, but they did not know that it was all part of Menendez' plan. After splitting up with Woods, Mason was captured by Noriega's men who put a bag over his head. Woods, having received intel from Hudson that the Nexus target was Raul Menendez proceeded to shoot the bagged target. After that, he realized that the man that he shot was none other than Mason. Woods was shot in both legs by the real Menendez who proceeded to knock him out. Both Mason and Woods were taken to Hudson who was tied up along with David and was revealed to have given Alex up so David wouldn't be killed. Hudson was violently killed in front of Woods who was allowed to live along with David. After telling David that he would suffer with him, Menendez left which David woke up out of his trance and noticed his father's body lying next to him.

Legacy[]

After Alex's death/disappearance, David was raised by a now crippled Woods who lied about the circumstances of Alex's death and told David that it was some "drifter" who did it to spare him more pain that he had to endure. About 36 years later, Woods told the stories of his adventures with Alex in Angola, Afghanistan and Nicaragua to David and Mike Harper while asking about Menendez's whereabouts. Later in a private session with David, Woods finally revealed the true circumstances of Alex's death to David. Though horrified to learn that it was Woods who killed his father and not Menendez, David knew that it wasn't his fault and didn't hold it against him, knowing that it was Menendez' manipulations that caused Alex's death. This also made him more determined to stop Menendez.

After Menendez' plan was averted, Woods and Section visited Mason's grave. Section decided to retire from his duty, which prompted Woods to say that his father would approve of the decision.

Mason visits Woods at The Vault. Soon David comes to visit Woods and is re-introduced to Alex, who tells him that the day that David fell from the tree was the one that made Alex proud as he got back up.

Black Ops III[]

Decades later, the Coalescence Corporation's CEO Sebastian Krueger would unearth the top secret intel of Mason from the CIA by learning about his involvement in hunting the masterminds of Project Nova as well as those that are associated with him down. This was used by Krueger as foundation for the early testing of the Direct Neural Interface experiment.

Black Ops 4[]

In the storyline and intel files from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Alex Mason returns alongside Frank Woods, Raul Menendez and Viktor Reznov who are all participants in Project Blackout, a program run by Savannah Mason. He is supposedly undergoing brainwashing to kill Jessica Mason, his other granddaughter while also having his memories changed significantly. Woods refers to this mental state as being "in the box" while trying to demonstrate and reverse the effects. Furthermore, Mason is reintroduced to Viktor Reznov who apparently survived his escape from Vorkuta.

Personalization[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War[]

Skins[]

Name Rarity Image How to obtain
Alaska Legendary Mason Alaska Skin Battle Pass Season Six Tier 0
Barren Legendary Mason Barren Skin Part of "Alaska" Skin
Operator Mission:
Get 25 Eliminations.
Canopy Legendary Mason Canopy Skin Part of "Alaska" Skin
Operator Mission
Maritime Legendary Mason Maritime Skin BOCW Part of "Alaska" Skin
Operator Mission
Polar Legendary Mason Polar Skin Part of "Alaska" Skin
Operator Mission:
In Zombies, earn 5 Round Milestones in Forsaken.
Tempest Legendary Tempest Mason Skin BOCW Broken Skies Bundle
Ascension Ultra Mason Acension Skin Part of "Aurora Borealis" Skin
Operator Mission:
Get 25 Eliminations with LMGs
Aurora Borealis Ultra Mason Auroa Borealis Skin Battle Pass Season Six Tier 100
Toxicity Ultra Mason Toxicity Skin Part of "Aurora Borealis" Skin
Operator Mission

Quotes[]

"Where am I? Where's Reznov?"
— Mason in the interrogation room.
"My name is Viktor Reznov, and I will have my revenge!"
— Mason as he's about to kill Friedrich Steiner.
"Your evil has claimed the lives of many good men! No longer!"
— Mason to Friedrich Steiner, moments before his death.
"That young kid didn't make it....I swear to God that Woods was crying but he never let us see no tears."
— Mason talking about Woods.
"I keep hearing the fucking numbers!"
— Mason during Revelations.
"You will move without boundries. You will act above the law. You will use any means necessary to stop the wars that are hidden from the world. And if you succeed, you will do so, without any recognition. Because you do not exist."
— Mason discussing his involvment with the CIA.
"You tried to make me KILL MY OWN PRESIDENT!"
— Mason to Nikita Dragovich.
"It's Uncle Woods, son. He'd do it for me."
— Mason to David Mason.
"Hey Woods, you look like hammered shit."
— Mason to Woods at the Vault.
"Turns out you're a lousy shot."
— Mason to Woods about Woods shooting him.
"Woods! You look like hammered shit."
— Mason to Woods during S.O.G.
"I made the mistake of not confirming the kill five years ago at Baikonur."
— Mason to Hudson about not killing Dragovich since Executive Order.
"It's all in your mind, Woods."
— Mason speaking to Woods in From Vorkuta With WTF.
"That's what you do best isn't it, Hudson? Manipulate people... tell them your own version of the truth."
— Mason to Hudson after Redlight, Greenlight.
"Yeah - you’re the expert in quiet."
— Mason to Woods as he says they'll do it quietly.
"This one’s all yours Brother."
— Mason to Adler as he prepares to confront Stitch.


Gallery[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops II[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War[]

Trivia[]

Main article: Alex Mason/Trivia

References[]

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