| “ | There's always been a god-shaped hole in man's head. Trees were the first to fill it. Mr. Wood was the trees. Mr. Wood was the forest. Well, he was a very old god who saw something very new: he saw a god-fearing society turn towards complete industrialization. So what did he do? He sacrificed his trees. He sacrificed his forest. And he became something else. | ” |
–Mr. Wednesday to Shadow, "A Murder of Gods" | ||
Mr. Wood is an ancient god of trees and forest that aligned himself with the New Gods.
Background
Mr. Wood was once an old god of trees and forest, very old even to Mr. Wednesday's standard. He saw industrialization threatening his worship and chose to sacrifice his trees and forests and at some point, he joined the New Gods.
Significance in narrative
Chapter Six
Shadow shuttles Old Gods from the House on the Rock to a restaurant where Wednesday will be wining and dining them. When they get to the restaurant, Shadow is stopped by someone asking for a match before he is hit over the head, restrained, and driven away in a truck.
Shadow labels his captors as the "Spooks" and they take Shadow to a tiny, sparsely furnished room where they hold him prisoner. They remove his belongings except for two quarters, which Shadow uses to entertain himself before putting them away and taking out the silver Liberty dollar to hold onto while he waited. At three in the morning, the Spooks return, asking how long Shadow has been working for Wednesday. They introduce themselves as Mr. Wood (the "bad cop") and Mr. Stone (the "good cop" with the glasses). They feed him and continue questioning him with Wood beating Shadow when Shadow only tells them what they already know. They leave him alone for a couple of hours and Shadow lays down to sleep, dreaming of his mother and Zorya Polunochnaya.
Shadow wakes up to Laura covered in blood. She killed the Spooks and helps Shadow escape from the abandoned freight train car he had been housed in. She tells him to lay low for a while and head South.
Significance in series
"Lemon Scented You"
Mr. Wood disguises himself in the police station as a chair before he opens his eye. He consumes the deceased police officers in the station by transforming into a tree-like form with branches that chase Shadow Moon and Mr. Wednesday around the police station and stabs Shadow in the side with one of his branches. It is implied that he also attacked and killed two police officers that apprehend Mad Sweeney.
"A Murder of Gods"
Mr. Wood gives a parting gift to Shadow Moon by way of a splinter inside Shadow's wound. It grows inside him but Mr. Wednesday shares the origins of Mr. Wood with Shadow as he removes the root from Shadow's side.
"The Beguiling Man"
Electrodes are placed on Shadow's temples while he is restrained by his forearms in a tentacled metal device. Mr. Stone and Mr. Wood (in human form) send jolts of electricity through Shadow as Mr. Town introduces himself and asks Shadow why he is in a traveling boxcar.
Laura and Sweeney climb into a train car. They kill several Spooks as they make their way through the train. Laura kicks in the door to Shadow's boxcar, knocking Mr. Town over. She is tackled by another Spook and squashes his head beneath her boot with Shadow watching.
Physical appearance
Powers & Abilities
- Tree Embodiment: As a tree God and a God of the forests Mr. Wood possesses every plant based-aspect of them, and which also gives him unparalleled powers over them. So far showing the following;
- Chlorokinesis: Mr. Wood is able to manipulate trees, wood and other plant life.
- Transfiguration: Mr. Wood can disguise himself as a wooden object and can transform into a tree as shown in "Lemon Scented You." He also appears in human form in "The Beguiling Man".
- Parasitism: Mr. Wood is capable of infecting others with pieces of himself as shown in "Lemon Scented You" when he stabs Shadow with one of his branches. Mr. Wednesday later has to remove the parasite from Shadow in "A Murder of Gods."
Gallery
Notes and trivia
- Mr. Wood's series appearance has been expanded from his minor role as a member of the Spooks.
- Based on Mr. Wednesday's tale of men and gods, trees were one of the first to fill men's idea of deities. This implied that Mr. Wood arose from animistic beliefs since it was one of the first form of worship.