Black Hood

"This is the Black Hood. I am the man who shot the adulterer at Pop's. I killed the child predator in Greendale. I shot the drug and sex addicted teenagers at Lovers' Lane. Riverdale is not innocent. It's a town of hypocrites, degenerates, and criminals. My wrath is the price of your lies, your secrets, your sins. I will not stop. I cannot be stopped. I am the wolf. You are the flock. This is the bloodletting. You will hear from me again."

- The Black Hood's letter to the town.

The Black Hood is an anonymous character and one of the main antagonists of the second season who carried out the shooting of Fred Andrews in Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, the murder of Geraldine Grundy in Greendale, the gun attack on Moose Mason and Midge Klump at Lover's Lane and the shooting of Robert Phillips at the Sheriff Station, among other heinous acts.

All of the Black Hood's victims are or at one point were residents on the north side of Riverdale, and/or have committed some sin, such as being a child predator, committed by Geraldine Grundy, sex and drugs, committed by Midge Klump and Moose Mason, adultery, committed by Fred Andrews, and drug dealing, committed by Robert Phillips. This has caused Polly Cooper to leave town out of fear of being that Black Hood could target her, due being an unwed mother, and being pregnant with her own cousin's children.

In a letter he sent to Betty Cooper, he admitted to her that he attended the 75th Anniversary Jubilee, and that Betty's speech inspired him to commit crimes.

In "Chapter Twenty-Two: Silent Night, Deadly Night", it was revealed that the face lying underneath the hood is Joseph Svenson, formerly known as Joe Conway before he was adopted by another family in Riverdale after the massacre of his parents and two siblings. He was Riverdale High's janitor before being shot and killed by Sheriff Keller.

In "Chapter Twenty-Three: The Blackboard Jungle", Archie confides that he is unsure that they had caught the right man, suggesting that there could be multiple "Black Hoods".

In "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember", during "Carrie the Musical", it was revealed that the Black Hood may still be alive after several threatening messages were sent to Kevin Keller. These letters were signed by the Black Hood and demanded the role of Carrie White (played by Cheryl Blossom) be recasted. When it came time to perform the musical, the body of Midge Klump, who replaced Cheryl as the role of Carrie, was discovered on stage, stabbed and crucified, announcing the Black Hood's return.

Throughout Riverdale

 * -|Season 1=

The "Angel of Death" had come to Riverdale
The morning following the 75th Anniversary Jubilee, an event that was supposed to unite Riverdale, a masked gunman entered Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. He stood on top of the counter with a gun pointed to Pop Tate, making demands. While doing so, Fred Andrews looked over at his son, Archie, and told his son to stay back. The gunman then turned his attention to Fred and demanded his wallet at gunpoint. Archie panicked and ran out in between the gunman and his father. Despite Archie's frantic decision, Fred was shot in the stomach. After firing that single shot, the gunman ran out of the shop, leaving a critically injured Fred for dead.


 * -|Season 2=

Season 2
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Purge of Sinners
Late one night, he broke into Geraldine Grundy's house after she sent Ben, a music student, home from piano lessons. After she bid him goodbye, she realized her living room was in disarray. With her back turned to the Black Hood creeping upon her, he strangled her to death with a cello bow.

At night, in the woods of Riverdale, he found Midge Klump and Moose Mason using the new Jingle Jangle drug given to them by Reggie Mantle, and making out in their car, about to initiate sex. He walked up to their car window and quickly fired three shots at them with the intention of killing the two teenagers, before walking away from the scene.

Acknowledging Fred Andrews's recovering, and Moose and Midge surviving the shooting (Moose ended up in the hospital, due to him being Midge's human shield), the Black Hood wrote an open letter to the town, and sent it to Alice Cooper as a message to be published on The Register as a warning article about his intentions, affirming his presence in town as a vigilante hunting for what he deems to be sinners. He also promised to send more letters.

The Black Hood sent a second letter to Betty Cooper, revealing that her speech at the 75th Anniversary Jubilee had inspired him in targeting sinners. Attached to the letter was an encrypted message about the location of his next crime, which Betty later deduced to be at the town hall during a meeting. Fortunately, she had the meeting evacuated before the Black Hood could launch an attack.

Close and Closer
The same night, while Betty was on her bed, he anonymously called Betty on her smartphone to have a talk with her, informing her that this was the Black Hood speaking.

Speaking at the phone, the Black Hood revealed to Betty that he was at the Town Hall and had not attacked anyone because that night was all about Betty. He claimed he had the same goal of Betty: setting Riverdale on the righteous path again and cleanse it of sinners. He then informed Betty that knows that Polly is staying at a barn two miles out of town, and threatened to end Polly's life if Betty spoke with someone about their secret conversation to anyone, or warned the police.

The Black Hood called again later, while Betty was with Archie in her bedroom. The Black Hood asked Betty to publish a defamatory article on her mom, with the promise to reveal information about him to Betty in exchange. Since Betty lived up to her part of the deal, the Black Hood replied to her question, stating that Betty would recognize the face beneath the hood. Shortly after, the Black Hood ordered Betty to break her relationships with Veronica and Jughead, threatening her if she had not obeyed.

After Betty had done what he requested, the Black Hood lured Betty into an abandoned home where she found a gift box in an empty room; Once opened, Betty discovered a hood that the Black Hood ordered her to wear through a conversation on the phone. He then asked her to look herself in a mirror to see how similar they were.

Later that night, the Black Hood called again, saying there was an unfinished business to clarify. He revealed that he had watched Betty very carefully and knows that she shared their secret with Archie, which he is not happy about. The killer threatened to kill Polly and the rest of Betty's family unless she named another sinner for the killer to unleash his anger on. After an initial reticence, Betty said to kill Nick St. Clair, who had earlier attempted to rape Cheryl Blossom, and gave Black Hood his location at the Five Seasons. Impressed, Black Hood told Betty that they were the same, before hanging up.

The next morning, feeling guilty over choosing Nick to die, Betty rushed to the Five Seasons, hoping to save Nick. However, when she arrived, Nick was alive and well, but beat up, and Nick says if she's here to finish off what the Pussycats started. Betty was confused and went outside to call the Black Hood, asking him why he didn't kill Nick. He explained that he didn't kill Nick due to him not being a son of Riverdale, meaning he wasn't a resident, and also he just wanted to see Betty's true nature, and the real work can begin.

The Black Hood called Betty again to get her help to find her next victim, The Sugarman, who has been supplying the Jingle Jangle drugs in Riverdale. He assigned her to find out who the Sugerman was, and eventually, Betty did so with help from Cheryl. However, when the Black Hood asked for the name, Betty informed him that she already told the Sheriff about the true identity of the Sugarman. She had published that on the Blue and Gold, where she exposed Robert Phillips as the Sugarman. Unhappy with Betty choosing justice instead of execution, the Black Hood informed her she was playing a risky game. Betty agreed but countered that it was her game. Since she found out who killed Jason Blossom, and who the Sugerman was, Betty vowed to catch the Black Hood next. Later, the Black Hood snuck into the jail where Phillips was being kept, confronting him at his jail cell at gunpoint with the intention of killing the drug dealer.

The Black Hood appeared in Josie's stress-induced nightmare. In the music room of Riverdale High School, he slowly approached her from behind as she rehearsed one of her original songs, slashing her throat open with a knife.

The Man Behind the Hood
In Betty's dream, the Black Hood appeared in the Cooper house, disguised in a Santa Claus costume as he placed gifts around the Christmas tree. After killing, Alice, Hal and Polly, he slowly inched towards Betty, crawling over the living room couch with a knife in hand. With fear in her eyes, Betty stood there without response until waking from her sleep.

After kidnapping Joseph Svenson, the Black Hood cut off his finger and sent it to the Cooper residences under the pretense that it was a Secret Santa gift for Betty. After she had opened his gift, the Black Hood called Betty, telling her that Svenson had lost a lot of blood, though it was nothing compared to the blood that was on the hands of Riverdale. He instructed her to exhume the past in order to discover the origin of the primal sin. Should she do so in a timely fashion, she might find Svenson alive. Just as he was to inform her not to tell Sheriff Keller, Archie grabbed the phone to talk to him directly, forcing the killer to end the call.

Archie and Betty first visited the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, where Svenson lived temporarily, following the murder of his family. There, they discovered that Svenson's primal sin was sentencing the wrong man to death. The preacher who he had identified as the Riverdale Reaper, was not his family's killer. Their trip to the group home then led them to Rose Blossom, who was involved with the group of men that executed the innocent preacher. From her, Archie and Betty learned that Betty's grandfather not only participated in the execution, but that they buried the preacher alive at Pickens park. The Black Hood presumably watched from afar as the teens dug up the shallow grave labeled "Here Lies Joseph Conway – Sinner". Upon opening the casket, they discovered that it was empty. Their concern to wonder why the Black Hood would take the time to bury an empty coffin wouldn't go unanswered for long. He showed up soon thereafter, holding the teens at gunpoint as he ordered Archie into the empty coffin and told Betty to bury him with dirt. As she did so, police sirens began to ring throughout the woods. The Black Hood became distracted, allowing Betty to take advantage of the opportunity by hitting him in the face with a shovel. Wounded and disarmed, the Black Hood took off into the night, leaving his gun behind.

He ran onto the bridge which stood over Sweetwater River. The Black Hood came to a stop as the teens managed to catch up to him. In a reversal of roles, Archie had him at gunpoint, with his own gun nonetheless. As he attempted to jump over the edge and into the water below, Archie shouted at him to get down or else he would be shot. Archie took the time to confront the Black Hood on his previous attacks (i.e. shooting Fred Andrews, Moose Mason and Midge Klump). He would indeed pay for his crime. As far as Archie was concerned, there was no other option. Despite being warned, the Black Hood attempted to jump, though unsuccessful as he was shot down and killed by Sheriff Keller. After instructing Archie to put the gun down, the Sheriff removed the hood to discover that the killer was none other than Joseph Svenson, who had gone as far as removing his own finger in an effort to further the ruse that he was merely a victim in the Black Hood's twisted games. As for why Svenson chose to murder the residents of Riverdale, Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica concluded that targeting sinners was Svenson's way of balancing the scales for his primal sin and that he was getting revenge on the town he blamed for the death of his family. }}

Physical Appearance
This masked assailant is seen to be a tall man who appears to be 5'10" tall per Archie's testimony to the Sheriff. He has green eyes as Archie described to the cops, and as was seen. He wears a black hood, hence his nickname.

Suspects

 * Hiram Lodge / Hermione Lodge (by Veronica; Disproven in Hermione's case since Black Hood is male)
 * Southside Serpents (by Alice Cooper and Jughead Jones)
 * Geraldine Grundy's ex-husband (by Archie Andrews; Disproven due to an alibi)
 * Southsider (by Southside Serpents)
 * Sheriff Keller (by Betty Cooper; Somewhat disproven by him)
 * Riverdale Reaper (by Farmer McGinty, Jughead Jones and Betty; Disproven as the Reaper was killed years ago)
 * Joseph Svenson (by Veronica; Supposedly disproven by Archie as the Black Hood allegedly has green eyes but proven to be true after his death)

Victims

 * Pop Tate - Threatened at gunpoint. (survived)
 * Archie Andrews - Threatened at gunpoint twice and attempted to have him buried alive. (survived)
 * Fred Andrews - Shot in the stomach. (survived)
 * Geraldine Grundy - Strangled with cello bow. (deceased)
 * Moose Mason - Multiple shots in the chest and stomach. (survived)
 * Midge Klump - Shot at but was missed; later was impaled with several sharp objects against a wall. (deceased)
 * Robert Phillips - Shot. (deceased)
 * Betty Cooper - Threatened at gunpoint. (survived)

Gallery

 * -|Season 1 Screencaps=

Season 1 Screencaps

 * -|Season 2 Screencaps=