Shepherd

"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 bigger stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it. This is the time for heroes. A time for legends. History is written by the victors. Let's get to work."

- Shepherd describing the might of the United States military in the intro to "Team Player".

"Captain Price: Ghost! Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap, hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!--"

- Price after knowing about Shepherd's betrayal.

"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."

- General Shepherd's last words.

"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 alongside the Russians. We shoulda known they'd hate us for it. History is written by the victor. And here I am, thinking we'd won. But you bring down one enemy and they find someone even worse to replace him. Locations change, the rationale, the objective. Yesterday's enemies are today's recruits. Train them to fight alongside you, and pray they don't eventually decide to hate you for it too."

- Shepherd's opening speech in the first cutscene of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Lieutenant General Shepherd was an officer in the United States Army in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 who commanded the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Army Rangers, Task Force 141 and his own elite army known as Shadow Company. He starts out as a supporting character for the player in Modern Warfare 2, only to reveal himself as the main antagonist of the game. He wields a .44 Magnum as his signature weapon, though the player can only acquire it in the level "Museum".

Second Russian Civil War
General Shepherd served as the supreme commander of the U.S. military forces in the Middle East during the course of the Second Russian Civil War (see Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare), including the Marine Force Recon units killed when Khaled Al-Asad gave Vladimir Makarov the order to detonate a nuclear bomb in the capital city of the unnamed Middle Eastern country. The detonation wiped out virtually the entire US invasion force, 30,000 Marines in total, including Captain "Deadly" Pelayo, Lt. Vasquez and Sergeant Paul Jackson. There was also an unconfirmed amount of OpFor casualties.

Inter-War Period
Losing 30,000 troops under his command affected the General greatly, causing Shepherd to develop a negative view of the world and international politics. In the time following his invasion of the Persian Gulf, he sought new ways of restoring the United States' reputation as a global power as well as its military might. Unbeknownst to others, he also secretly attempted to restore his own reputation as a military commander.

Sometime between 2011 and 2013, Shepherd with the help of John "Soap" MacTavish created Task Force 141. They evaluated recruits from the special forces units of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Shepherd also traveled to Mexico to recruit former S.A.S. member Simon "Ghost" Riley.

Operation Kingfish
In 2013, Shepherd commanded the 141 in a mission codenamed "Operation Kingfish", in which he sent 141 operatives Captain John Price, Captain John "Soap" MacTavish, Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, and Delta Force operatives Sandman and Derek "Frost" Westbrook to an Ultranationalist compound in Ukraine on a capture/kill mission to apprehend an individual codenamed "Kingfish", who is later revealed to be Vladimir Makarov. The mission ends in a failure, as a large force of Ultranationalist troops attack the task force. Most of them survive, with the apparent exception of Price, who stays behind to allow the others to escape.

Pre-War
"Makarov's no prize. He's a whore. A mad-dog killer for the highest bidder."

- Shepherd to PFC Joseph Allen about Makarov.

In 2016, General Shepherd served as the commander of the United States Army Rangers in Afghanistan and focused his efforts on the OpFor's occupation of the country and, seemingly, the manhunt for international terrorist Vladimir Makarov. Shepherd felt that no justice had been sought for the men and women he had lost five years prior and that the U.S. military's power had waned over the years. These feelings would eventually drive him to carry out his goal of escalating a war between the new Ultranationalist Russia and the United States of America. To increase the power and standing of the military, Shepherd needed an enemy, something to rally the entire nation behind him. After hearing of Makarov's increased terrorist attacks throughout Europe in the three years since Operation Kingfish, Shepherd believed that Makarov's presence as a mark could indirectly help bring about his desired changes. Shepherd hand-picked Private First Class Joseph Allen, a United States Army Ranger, to go undercover within Makarov's terrorist group during their attack on Zakhaev International Airport. However, Makarov was aware of Allen's real identity. He murdered the American and left his body behind in order to place the blame solely on the United States.

World War III
Russian authorities discovered Allen's body on the scene and confirmed his real identity. This incident prompted an infuriated response from the Russian people, demanding their government to take drastic measures against the United States. Despite Makarov and his assault team being responsible for the massacre, it was still believed the United States sponsored and supported his assault, as Makarov and his men appeared to be Americans due to their use of standard issue NATO weaponry and U.S. military terminology. After receiving tremendous pressure from Russian populace, Vorshevsky reluctantly announced a full-scale invasion of the United States, much to Shepherd's delight. Caught off-guard due to the suddenness of the attack (as the Russians had used a duplicate of an ACS module to disable NORAD's early warning systems) and as a result, the United States government appointed him to lead U.S. defense against the invading Russian forces. He was also provided with vast amount of resources to continue his hunt on Makarov. With 3.5 million soldiers at his fingertips, his plan to restore the United States as the mightiest force on the planet was now in motion, setting the stage for his revenge against the Ultranationalists.

While Task Force 141 was still out of the country hunting for Makarov, they learned from Alejandro Rojas (a Brazilian arms dealer who supplied Makarov and his men during the Airport massacre) that Makarov's worst enemy was an individual known as Prisoner #627, currently incarcerated in a Russian Gulag. Shepherd sends Captain MacTavish, Ghost, Roach and other members of the 141, along with a team of U.S. Navy SEALs on a mission to rescue the mysterious prisoner, who is revealed to be Captain Price. Upon his rescue, Shepherd reinstates Price as a field commander for Task Force 141.

Betrayal of Task Force 141


When the fighting in America is halted - temporarily, at least - the Department of Defense gives Shepherd a "blank check" to use any resources available to the U.S. military to hunt down Makarov. Shepherd has pinpointed Makarov's possible location to two places: an aircraft boneyard in Afghanistan and a safehouse on the Georgian-Russian border. He sends Price and Soap to the boneyard, while Roach and Ghost are sent to the safehouse. Upon arriving at the safehouse, Roach and Ghost locate Makarov's entire operations playbook and download it onto the DSM.

Having now obtained what he needed to cement his status as a war hero, the ruthless officer betrays Task Force 141 in an attempt to destroy any link to his treacherous actions, including his connection to Allen's death, so that he could bring down Vladimir Makarov himself, his endgame being to take all the glory and become a national hero. Shepherd arrives with Shadow Company at Makarov's safehouse just as Roach and Ghost arrived. Once ascertaining that they had the DSM, Shepherd remarks about "one less loose end" and shoots Roach point-blank in the chest with his .44 Magnum before turning it on Ghost and shooting him through the neck, killing the latter instantly. He then recovers the DSM from Roach and lights both his and Ghost's petrol-soaked bodies on fire with a cigar.

Simultaneously, Shepherd sends Shadow Company to eliminate Price and Soap as well as Makarov's Ultranationalists. Contrary to his expectations, the two learned of the traitorous general's agenda and resolve to infiltrate Shepherd's secret base in the Afghan cave system, Site Hotel Bravo. Learning the base's location from Makarov, the two kill all Shadow Company troops in their path and escape in Nikolai's C-130 Hercules.

Death
"You know what they say about revenge....you better be ready to dig two graves."

- Shepherd taunting Soap to try and kill him.

Shepherd eventually learns of Price and Soap's presence in the base and orders all Shadow Company personnel to evacuate. In an attempt to kill them, Shepherd self-destructs the base with C4s and orders a Danger Close artillery strike on it, but both fail to kill the two surviving Task Force members. Shepherd commandeers a Zodiac speedboat and attempts to escape via the river, with Soap and Price in hot pursuit.

After a lengthy chase up the river, a Pave Low (Warhorse 5-1) arrives to pick up Shepherd, but Price disables it by shooting its rotors, causing it to crash land. After they do this, Soap and Price's Zodiac plunges into the waterfalls below. Shepherd flees the scene of the crash with some injuries, followed by a dazed Soap who attempts to kill Shepherd with his only remaining weapon, a combat knife. Shepherd incapacitates him by slamming his head into a rusted car and proceeds to stab him in the chest. Just as Shepherd is about to execute Soap with his .44 Magnum, Price tackles Shepherd, causing him to miss his shot. Price then proceeds to kick his revolver away. Soap tries to grab it but Shepherd kicks it away and stomps on Soap's face. When Soap awakes, the two are engaged in brutal close-quarters combat. Both men fight while enduring the impact of their fall and Shepherd eventually gains the upper hand by fully mounting Price to brutally beat (or choke) him to death. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Soap manages to wake up and uses his last bit of strength to pull the knife out of his chest and throw it at Shepherd just as the treacherous general looked up. The knife pierces Shepherd's left eye, killing him instantly. Soap and Price then proceed to flee the scene with Nikolai, leaving Shepherd's body behind in the desert.

Legacy
Shepherd was later laid to rest in and was declared a war hero. John "Soap" MacTavish and John Price were declared war criminals after his death and the Task Force 141 was disavowed. However, they would later clear their names by rescuing the Russian President Boris Vorshevsky and his daughter, Alena (although Soap was killed by that point by Makarov), and helped to bring peace between the United States, Russia and NATO, ending World War III.

Call of Duty Online
General Shepherd appears as an NPC that must be rescued in the Cyborg Evacuation game mode.

Trivia

 * Robert Bowling gave his full name on Twitter as Hershel von Sheperd III, though it is not clear if this was intended as a serious statement. In addition, the Tweet misspelled "Shepherd" as "Sheperd."
 * In Team Player, Shepherd's name will appear as "General Shepherd," but in S.S.D.D. and Loose Ends his name will appear as "Gen. Shepherd."
 * In Hunter Killer, there is a magazine on one of the beds in the submarine mentioning Shepherd.
 * In Vortex, the scarecrows dotted around the map wear Shepherd's uniform.
 * In Soap's Journal, Soap refers to Shepherd's mustache as a "Caterpillar".
 * The game files spell his name as "Shepard."
 * On the map Fog in Call of Duty: Ghosts, there is a scarecrow between the Ghosts' spawn and the camper that has Shepherd's uniform on, similar to Vortex.