Members of The Court of Owls are rich and powerful families with economic and political ties throughout Gotham City. Though they have chosen to hide their identities with owl masks on their faces, some members seem to have mutated into a macabre form of human and owl hybrids.
THE COURT OF OWLS STORY
Created by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, The Court of Owls made their first appearance in Batman Nº1 New 52.
They’re like the Illuminati of Gotham City. This organization focuses on ruling the city from the shadows, and not only in economical and political matters because they also control mafia bosses.
It is said that they watch all the time and are present even in nursery rhymes. Although their cruel and evil methods define very well the dark morality of the Court. They are violent and use methods such as murder to enforce their power.
To carry out these crimes they have elite assassins called the Talons, trained to kill anyone who stands in the way of their goals.
At one point they turn their attention to billionaire Bruce Wayne as he announces his plans to rebuild and remodel Gotham City in the future.
As these acts interfere with his plans, they send their best Talon named Willian Cobb to finish him off. Cobb attempts to assassinate him, but fails. Seeing the threat they pose to him and to Gotham City, Batman begins to investigate the Court of Owls, and he discovers something that terrifies him. Apparently they had been closer to him than he thought at first as he discovers that the Court has various secret headquarters throughout the hidden rooms in each building created by Alan Wayne.
Bruce investigated his ancestor further for more clues and discovered that Alan Wayne was killed by the Owls. Knowing this he became obsessed with them, leading him to think that they had also killed his parents, but he dismisses the idea due to lack of evidence.
This does not prevent the Court of Owls from keeping him among their targets though, as they try to kill him several more times.
While Batman investigates them, Cobb manages to capture him and keeps him prisoner in an underground labyrinth that they use to lock up all of their victims. Inside, Batman loses his strength. He goes a week without eating so he ends up at the limit of his strength. It is at that point that Talon asks to end his life. Knowing the threat posed by the Court, they agree, so they order him to brutally put him to death. With this idea in mind, he approaches Batman from behind and taking advantage of his weakness, stabs him knowing that he has everything in his favor to win that battle.
What he didn’t know about Talon was that his victory wasn’t so easy. Batman gathers his forces after remembering his ancestors and a great rage emerges from him that helps him defeat the Talon. After this turn of events, the Court flees, listening as Batman threatens to hunt them all down.
When Batman escaped, the Court of Owls decided that the Bat-family should be eliminated. The Talon that fought with Batman was discarded for not having fulfilled his mission. Instead, the Court decides that it is time to dispose of the army of similar warriors waiting to be revived.
After Batman returns to Wayne Manor, The Court is enraged so they unleash its full power to take back Gotham City and kill Batman and his allies.
THE NIGHT OF THE OWLS
This attempt to control the city was dubbed the Night of the Owls, which begins when the Court sends several resurrected Talons to take down the most prominent citizens of Gotham City. They also send a Talon to attack Wayne Manor. Batman prepares to stop him in a spectacular fight where he uses his battle armor, while Alfred warns the Bat-family to save all the citizens they can.
Batman is still weak after his imprisonment, so he knows that it will be very difficult for him to win that fight, but he knows that he still has a chance because at all times he had information that could give him victory.
After spending so much time with them, he has discovered the weak point of the Talons: The cold, and he is going to use it in his favor. In this way, he manages to defeat the Talon and go out to the city to end the Court and thus stop all this madness.
Some time after this horrible night, Batman manages to find the true hiding place of The Court of Owls, but when he arrives he finds several of their members poisoned and others on the run. In the end, the entire Court of Owls is defeated and their members are discovered by Batman, who swears to remain vigilant in case they return to Gotham City.
WHO IS THE LEADER OF THE COURT OF OWLS?
The leader of the court of owls is a mysterious man wearing a black hoodie around his head. Although the identity of him is unknown, we can distinguish him from the rest by his mask. The leader’s mask is the only one that is coloured. The rest of the group has a white mask.
The leader was absent for a long time because he had left Gotham City, but seeing the changes he was bringing to the city, he decided to return to lead the Court of Owls again.
INTERESTING FACTS
- Unlike many Batman villains the members of The Court of Owls are not mentally unstable.
- Talons are often orphans or street children who are purchased by The Court for use for their purposes. They usually have flexibility, accelerated regeneration, intelligence, speed and strength. Some of these skills are given because they are child acrobats trained for fairs and circuses.
This has been the comic story of the Court of Owls. If you want to learn how to play this crew in Batman Miniature Game, we invite you to read this article to become the power in the shadows of Gotham City.
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