David "Section" Mason

"This is what Menendez planned all along. Taking out the G20 leaders will cripple capitalist governments across the world."

- David Mason

Commander David Mason (codenamed Section) is a playable character and the main protagonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. He is the son of CIA Agent Alex Mason, and also a member of SEAL Team Six and the JSOC counter-terrorism force. He is also the Commander of all Strike Force missions from the U.S.S. Barack Obama.

Early Life
David Mason was born in 1979 to CIA Agent Alex Mason and his unnamed mother. Raised in his father's hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska, David's relationship with his father soured after the death of his mother. Due to his father's past experiences, harsh upbringing, and his commitment to serve the U.S., David held a deep resentment towards his dad but did not want to lose him, which was why he had his dad promise to not go on any more missions for the military.

In 1986, the retired Alex Mason returned to active duty with the CIA to rescue Frank Woods, after being informed by Lt.Col North, leaving the young David in the care of Jason Hudson's wife, Jenny. In 1989, Raul Menendez kidnaps a 10 year old David, drugs him unconscious, and brings him to Panama prior to Mason's mission to capture then-dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega. Menendez's moles within the CIA helped facilitate Noriega's capture and fool both Mason and Woods into believing that they would be trading the captured dictator for Menendez. After Woods is tricked into shooting and possibly killing Mason, believing it was Menendez, the narco-terrorist kills Jason Hudson after shooting out his kneecaps with a SPAS-12 and slitting Hudson's throat with Josefina's heart-shaped pendant and leaves both the young David and crippled Woods alive. David later comes out of his trance only to see his father unresponsive. Believing his father to be dead depending on the player's actions, David starts to cry while Woods attempts to comfort him only to lose consciousness from his wounds.

With no family to turn to, and guilt ridden about shooting his best friend, Woods took the young David Mason in and raised him.

Early Military Career
When David became of age he either enlisted in the U.S. Navy or graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy as a Naval Officer and eventually made it into the Navy's elite U.S. Navy SEALs. After a few years in the regular SEAL Teams, David was accepted to try out and accepted into the ultra-elite SEAL Team Six. David Mason would also rise to the rank of Commander before the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops II occurred.

Events of Black Ops II
Thirty years since his last encounter with David, Raul Menendez rises to power and plans to launch a cyberattack in an attempt to start the Second Cold War. On April 19, 2025, David, now a Navy SEAL Commander codenamed Section, with his ally and close friend Mike Harper, and a team, goes to Woods' retirement house and asks him about his knowledge on Raul Menendez. Woods recounted his adventures with Mason from his rescue at Angola, up to Nicaragua, when he assumed Raul Menendez was dead. When Section questioned why Woods was still alive even though Raul Menendez paid him a visit, Woods ignored the question and told him to "go find that maniac".

The day after, Section, along with Harper, Javier Salazar and Crosby went to investigate the presence of Raul Menendez's soldiers at Myanmar. Here, they discovered that Raul Menendez was planning to use Celerium as a basis for a cyber attack that could cripple the entire cyberworld. They also learned that Raul Menendez was using all his cartel money to hire Militias, SDCs, and Mercenaries. He was using the facility in Myanmar to build his own army of CLAWs, quadrotors(MQ-27 Dragonfires), A.S.D.s, and MQ Drones. With the help of a scientist named Erik Breighner, Section and his team retrieved a Celerium core, which he later gave to Admiral Tommy Briggs who brought in an extraction team.

About one month later, Section and his team went to investigate Raul Menendez's second-in-command, DeFalco, who was spotted in Pakistan. They were able to infiltrate Anthem, and managed to record Raul Menendez's conversation with the leader of the Pakistani ISI, revealing that General Tian Zhao of the SDC was secretly in alliance with Raul Menendez and that they would have a meeting on June 17th. They managed to escape after almost being compromised, but ran into Zhao's forces. However, Zhao let them live since he assumed they were only after Raul Menendez and didn't know his secret.

The intel recorded from the conversation also revealed that "Karma", which was then assumed as the cyberweapon Menendez planned to use, was on Colossus. Section, Harper and Salazar went to Colossus and after fighting through several PMCs found out that Raul Menendez planned to bomb the entire floating island. They also discovered that "Karma" was not a weapon, but a woman named Chloe Lynch. They located Chloe at Club Solar, but at the same time DeFalco also appeared and took several bystanders hostage. After Chloe decided to give herself in, Section and his team gave chase. They either managed to save Chloe and kill DeFalco, or let DeFalco escape with Chloe.

Knowing that Woods still had some information, Section went to The Vault and asked about what happened at Panama. As the story was told, Section was shocked to find out that his father did not die by the hands of Raul Menendez, but rather Woods himself. Knowing that it was not his fault, Section reassured Woods that Raul Menendez would be defeated.

Section assisted in the ambush on a Cordis Die rally on Socotra Island, Yemen, and appeared in person after either Harper or Farid was killed. Harper or Farid was evacuated and Section advanced on a crashed VTOL Warship where Raul Menendez is. Section managed to capture Raul Menendez and brought him back to the U.S.S. Barack Obama.

Section interrogated Raul Menendez, but then the Obama was attacked by the PMCs. Menendez then took Salazar hostage and incapacitated Section. When Section came back to his senses, he and Salazar fought through the U.S.S. Barack Obama, and attempted to contact Briggs but to no avail. Over the security cameras, he witnessed Raul Menendez taking Briggs hostage and Salazar betraying them, as well as the killing or wounding of Briggs. Raul Menendez used the Celerium WORM in his fake eye to hack the world's defense systems. Section came down, and either Chloe Lynch attempted to reboot the system or Section himself did. After confronting Salazar, Section escaped the U.S.S. Obama (possibly with Harper, if he survived the previous mission).

Section, along with several Secret Service agents (and Harper, if he survived Achilles Veil), escorted U.S. President Bosworth through the streets of Los Angeles amidst the worldwide chaos of Raul Menendez's hacking. He also assisted a few other convoys (including the French President's convoy), and piloted an FA-38 to cover the convoy from above until the reach the Prom Night shelter underneth the Bonaverte Hotel in Downtown LA.

Finally, Section led an international team of special forces in a massive raid on Raul Menendez's Cordis Die facility in Haiti, where the systems were being controlled. Section fought through the facility, but then witnessed a live broadcast of Menendez showing the self-destruction of the drones. Section (and Harper) continued fighting through the facility. After reaching a room, the floor beneath Section crumbled, and he fell through the floor. After regaining balance, he noticed Menendez about to make his escape, along with two Mercs (one Merc and DeFalco, if he survived). Section grabbed a KAP-40 from a dead soldier's holster, and shot the Mercs (and DeFalco). He then stabbed Raul Menendez twice and either executed or captured him.

If Section captures him, Menendez is escorted to a VTOL Warship and flies away in the distance. Depending on the survival of Chloe Lynch, Menendez either stays in prison, with Cordis Die gone in the 'best' ending, or escapes from prison, murders Woods with his sister's pendant, and commits suicide, possibly triggering his death video in the 'worst' ending.

If Section kills him, either way a death video is triggered on YouTube      , causing massive public outrage, and causing worldwide riots and chaos, with military and police forces weakened by Raul Menendez's attack. The White House is shown burning up, hinting at the end of the U.S. government.

If Woods shoots 'Raul Menendez' who is actually Alex Mason, anywhere that isn't the head or torso, Mason reappears as an old man and greets Woods, his old best friend. When Section arrives to greet Woods, a security guard tells him that there is another Mason, causing him to get suspicious. Once he arrives, he is relieved that Woods is okay, and Woods introduces him to his Dad, leaving Section in shock. They then reunite and start talking. Mason would give David a breif compliment saying "Still got that scar? you made me proud that day", to which David replies, "I fell..."' and Mason replies "Yeah, but you got back up".

If Mason is killed by a headshot, Section and Woods are seen visiting Mason's grave. After a brief conversation, Section decides to retire from the army. Woods comments that his father would approve of his decision.

Trivia

 * He is the fourth playable character known to see their reflection in-game, the first being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's John Price in "Dust to Dust", the second being Raul Menendez in "Time and Fate" and the third being Frank Woods in "Suffer with Me".
 * Liam O'Brien        was David Mason's voice actor during the E3 2012 LA demo. In the finished version of the game Rich McDonald portrays David.
 * In the Mission "Cordis Die", during the E3 2012 gameplay, David Mason's reflection has many differences to the finished in-game cutscene, the largest being he doesn't have any glasses on and he bears a resemblance more to Harper than his finished self.
 * David Mason also appears in Black Ops II's outro dancing and is seen holding a Cordis Die sign.
 * David Mason is the only playable character in Call of Duty: Black Ops II that stands over 6 feet tall.
 * David is the only main character in Black Ops II who cannot die regardless of the player's actions.
 * David is currently one of three characters in the Call of Duty series who is seen as a child, as well as an adult; the others being Raul Menendez and his sister Josefina.
 * Also, David is the first playable character in Call of Duty series to be the son of another playable character, Alex Mason, making this the first father-son relationship on-screen in the series.
 * David is the first protagonist in the Call of Duty series to have the game go into his personal life, including his childhood, relationships with Woods and his father Alex, past with Raul Menendez, as well as his personal life in between missions.
 * David's age in 2025 was revealed in a teaser picture, released long before the game. However, during the intro cutscene, Alex states that David is 7 years old in 1986, so it is likely that the information has been changed, and he was born in 1979 instead. However, if David was born sometime in July then the information is still likely to be correct.
 * David and Alex, along with Jason Hudson, are the only playable characters in the Call of Duty' series that physically meet a U.S President in their respective games.

Дэвид Мэйсон 

David Mason 