Shepherd

"The more things change the more they stay the same. Boundaries shift, new players step in, but power always finds a place to rest its head. We fought and bled along side the Russians, we shoulda' known they’d hate us for it. History is written by the victor, and here I am thinking we won. But you bring down one enemy and they find someone even worse to replace him. Locations change, the rationale, the objective. Yesterdays enemies are today’s recruits, train them to fight along side you and pray they don’t eventually decide to hate you for it too."

Lieutenant General Shepherd was an officer in the United States Army in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that commanded Task Force 141 and the U.S. Army. He is voiced by Lance Henriksen.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
General Shepherd served as the supreme commander of the US and coalition military forces in the Middle East during the course of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, including the Marine Force Recon forces killed when Al-Asad detonated a nuclear weapon in the capital city. . It was possible he was callsign "Overlord", the voice heard in Shock and Awe. After losing 30,000 troops as a result Shepherd became disenchanted with the world, seeking a way to fully unleash the military might of the United States, as well as spark a restoration of American power and influence around the world, something he felt had waned in recent years.

To accomplish this, Shepherd needed an enemy, something to rally the entire nation behind him. To that end, he began to work with Russian Ultranationalist Vladimir Makarov to sow the seeds of war. Shepherd becomes the commanding officer of Task Force 141 with the intent of "stopping" Makarov and handpicks Joseph Allen to be an undercover agent. It is later implied that Shepherd revealed Allen's undercover status to Makarov to facilitate a war between Russia and the United States. As a result, the United States is invaded, and in response, Shepherd is named supreme commander of all US military forces around the globe, just as he had planned. With the full power of the 2.5 million soldiers of the US armed forces at his fingertips, Shepherd was in a perfect position to realize his ultimate goals: to make the United States the mightiest power on the planet, and style himself as the hero who made it so. While doing so he procures another team of elite US Military soldiers to be part of his Shadow Company, their goal is to do General Shepherd's bidding no matter what.

Shepherd later deploys Task Force 141 to recover intelligence pertaining to his scapegoat, Vladimir Makarov. Shepherd eventually reveals his true colors when he executes Ghost and Roach in the Caucasus mountains after the latter raid an Ultranationalist safehouse and retrieve intelligence that could implicate him, and attempts to have his Shadow Company men assassinate Captain Price and Captain "Soap" MacTavish in Afghanistan. With his status as a war hero secured, the ruthless officer betrays his Ultranationalist partners and his task force, both in an attempt to remove any last link to his treacherous actions and the deaths that resulted from them, and to gain further glory as the man who brought down Makarov. Makarov survives his betrayal, however, and prepares to go into hiding, while Price and MacTavish figure out Shepherd's agenda and attack his base in the Afghan cave system known as Site Hotel Bravo.

Shepherd escapes Site Hotel Bravo with Soap and Price in hot pursuit. After having his helicopter shot down, MacTavish and Price's speed boat plunges into the water falls below. An injured and dazed MacTavish attempts to kill Shepherd with a knife, only for Shepherd to take down MacTavish and stab him in the chest. Shepherd later attempts to execute MacTavish, only for Price to intervene in a hand-to-hand fight. Just as Shepherd gains the upper hand due to Price being weakened from plunging off the waterfalls, MacTavish removes the knife from his chest and throws it into Shepherd's left eye socket.

Quotes
"We are the most powerful military force in the history of man. Every fight is our fight. Because what happens over here matters over there. We don't get to sit one out. Learning to use the tools of modern warfare is the difference between the prospering of your people, and utter destruction. We can't give you freedom. But we can give you the know-how to acquire it. And that, my friends, is worth more than a whole army base of steel. Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it. This is a time for heroes. A time for legends. History is written by the victors. Let's get to work."

"Get up, Private Allen! Rangers lead the way!"

- Shepherd telling Joseph Allen to go with the rest of the Rangers

"Five years ago, I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye. And the world just fuckin' watched. Tomorrow there will be no shortage of volunteers, no shortage of patriots. I know you understand."

"We're gonna re-write history, gentlemen."

"Since when does Shepherd care about danger close?"

Trivia

 * Shepherd seems to be a big fan of .44 Magnums as he may have two of them on him at any time.
 * General Shepherd wears JFKSWCS (John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School), the Joint Special Operations School located at Ft. Bragg, patches which would normally mean he is the head of the school, though why he has one as a deployment patch is a mystery, since it is a school, as it hardly ever deploys personnel.
 * It is possible to shoot Shepherd at the end of Team Player without penalty. However, he glitches and when he recovers, takes the animation of a regular soldier holding a rifle (though he has no weapon equipped).
 * It is unknown why Shepherd is selected as the US supreme commander, as he isn't the highest ranking military general being a Lieutenant General. Normally a high rank general is given that honor, but, as stated when the DoD promotes him to Supreme Commander, his warnings of the Ultranationalists went unnoticed until the they instigated a war. Only then, did they listen and in order to make it up to him for his insight, they gave him the position and the blank check. Given that the senior Cabinet's whereabouts are unknown or if they even made it out of Washington DC alive may also have spurred the decision.
 * Shepherd is a man known by his men (Cpl. Dunn and Captain Price pronounced the exact same sentence at different moments) for not caring about the safety of his soldiers, especially during artillery fires. As seen in the picture, he doesn't concern himself much with his own safety either.
 * After you chase down Shepherd, you can see the multiplayer map "Rust" in the background.
 * No matter where you aim the throwing knife in Endgame, it will always land in his left eye.
 * When you approach Shepherd, hide behind cover with the barrel and wait a moment, he opens a conversation with you, as long as you don't get too close to him. He says: "You know what they say about revenge... you better be ready to dig two graves... Go ahead and end it. It won't change anything. Hmph... I knew you couldn't do it. You're a good warrior... but you could never take that extra step... to do what was absolutely necessary."
 * Despite being a high-ranking officer who is rarely in battle and approching old age, Shepherd seemed to have great skill in hand-to-hand combat, which is shown when he countered Soap's attack on him, and when he engaged Price in a fist fight. Although both Price and MacTavish were already injured from plunging downwards off a waterfall.
 * He is also the first main villain to be American as he is secretly manipulating the storyline from behind the scenes, until he executes Ghost and Roach where he reveals his true motives.
 * His name is ironic. A shepherd is a sheep caretaker, similar to what a general does to his troops. It is shown many times that he does not care for the safety of his troops.
 * Another officer with the surname "Shepherd" is mentioned in Call of Duty Classic, when the player must ride through Enemy lines in a civilian vehicle with Sergeant Moody and Private Elder, although this Shepherd is a Major.
 * If you walk around the car and place yourself behind the barrel with Shepherd on the other side, it is possible to attack and hurt him. Strangely enough you hear the sound of him being hurt and even see blood coming out but he does not die or even flinch no matter how many times you do it.
 * Shepherd is the last name of one of Infinity Ward's staff.
 * While battling through the school in Team Player, Shepherd can be seen pinned down with Hunter 2-3, and will leave with them in their Humvees. He is actually wielding an M4A1 Carbine, rather than his usual .44 Magnum.
 * You can assume that Shepherd is a ranger. Rangers wear tan berets, but Shepherd wears a black one.
 * He could also be a Marine, due to his line "Five Years Ago, I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye", possibly meaning the Nuclear weapon detonated by Al-Asad that killed Sgt. Jackson.
 * There is a popular fake 20 second speedrun video of Modern Warfare 2 where the player shoots Shepherd in the first training level