Nite Owl's History
Born in 1916, Hollis Mason spent his early years on a farm in Montana.�??His grandfather, whom he was named after, was a highly religious and moral individual.�??Although young Hollis disliked the man, growing up with him left an indelible stamp upon the boy�??s morality.
Upon moving to New York with his mother and father in 1928, Hollis was confronted by the sheer darkness and horror present in the city.�??The things the young boy saw raised an ethical revulsion within him that he was never able to shake off.
Whenever it became too much to handle, his main escape lay within the black-and-white world of pulp novels, where the purity of the hero was never in doubt and evildoers were always punished.
Hollis�?? sense of justice eventually led him to attend the police academy, and he joined the New York Police Department in 1938.
Later that year, inspired by Superman comics and the real-life exploits of the Hooded Justice, Mason decided to become a costumed hero himself.�??After he devoted all of his free time to physical training, one of his fellow officers took to sarcastically calling him �??Nite-Owl�?�.�??Mason decided that it had a nice ring to it.
Mason made his debut as Nite-Owl in 1939.�??After a few successful months as a costumed adventurer, he answered an ad in the Gazette asking other heroes to come forth, and subsequently became a member of the Minutemen.�??Nite-Owl would prove to be one of the most effective members of the team, with his police training and hand-to-hand combat skills proving indispensable to the group.
During World War II, Mason�??s occupation as a police officer exempted him from the draft.�??He and the other remaining Minutemen stayed in America, where they fought domestic threats.
In 1949, the Minutemen broke up for good.�??Nite-Owl continued working as a solo costumed hero.
In 1954, during the HUAC hearings, the former Minutemen were called upon to reveal their secret identities to a representative.�??Mason complied and passed.
Around this point villains became less flashy in spite of their strange names.�??They took to such underground crimes as drugs and vice �?? which often left Mason feeling rather ridiculous as the only costumed person in the room.
Crimes also began taking on a rather sordid and depressing edge.�??Mason would later attribute this to all the optimism which America had felt post-WWII wearing thin and leaving an ominous feeling in the air.
At some point just prior to 1962, Mason obtained his dog sidekick Phantom.�??However, at 46 years old and feeling it, he saw himself as superfluous in a world with Doctor Manhattan.�??He publically retired as a superhero and a cop and wrote a memoir, entitled Under the Hood, wherein he made numerous controversial comments and revelations concerning his former career.
Mason became a mechanic and opened his own garage post-retirement.�??Unfortunately, Doctor Manhattan�??s ability to synthesize lithium made electric cars viable and cheap, rendering Mason�??s skills nearly useless and causing his retirement to be considerably less pleasant than he�??d hoped.
Shortly after he retired, Mason was approached by Daniel Dreiberg, a young man who had eagerly followed his exploits and who sought to follow in his footsteps as the second Nite-Owl.�??Impressed by Dreiberg�??s zeal, as well as the technology he intended to bring to bear in the war against crime, Mason was more than glad to acquiesce.
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Nite Owl of the Minutemen (Watchmen DC Comics)
Nite-Owl
(Hollis Mason)
Comics DC Universe Other DC Universe corners Watchmen continuity
Power Level: Street-level
Game system: DC Heroes Role-Playing Game
Role: Character (Heroic)
Jump to the game stats
Context
Nite-Owl was a core member of the Minutemen, the team of 1940s super-heroes that preceded the Watchmen in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons�?? landmark Watchmen graphic novel.
He likely was the most successful and least messed-up of the lot, and is still alive (albeit middle-aged) when Watchmen starts.
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Background
Real Name: Hollis Mason.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: Hollis Wordsworth Mason (Grandfather), Unnamed Parents, Liantha (Mason?) (Sister).
Group Affiliation: The Minutemen.
Base Of Operations: New York City.
Height: 6�?? Weight: 180lbs.
Eyes: Brown Hair: Dark Brown, later Gray
Powers and Abilities
Hollis Mason was an experienced police officer who trained constantly in order to keep himself in peak physical shape.
He�??s also a good mechanic.�??However, his expertise with cars lies with models long obsolete within the Watchmen-verse.
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History
Born in 1916, Hollis Mason spent his early years on a farm in Montana.�??His grandfather, whom he was named after, was a highly religious and moral individual.�??Although young Hollis disliked the man, growing up with him left an indelible stamp upon the boy�??s morality.
Upon moving to New York with his mother and father in 1928, Hollis was confronted by the sheer darkness and horror present in the city.�??The things the young boy saw raised an ethical revulsion within him that he was never able to shake off.
Whenever it became too much to handle, his main escape lay within the black-and-white world of pulp novels, where the purity of the hero was never in doubt and evildoers were always punished.
Hollis�?? sense of justice eventually led him to attend the police academy, and he joined the New York Police Department in 1938.
Later that year, inspired by Superman comics and the real-life exploits of the Hooded Justice, Mason decided to become a costumed hero himself.�??After he devoted all of his free time to physical training, one of his fellow officers took to sarcastically calling him �??Nite-Owl�?�.�??Mason decided that it had a nice ring to it.
Nite Owl and the Minutemen
Mason made his debut as Nite-Owl in 1939.�??After a few successful months as a costumed adventurer, he answered an ad in the Gazette asking other heroes to come forth, and subsequently became a member of the Minutemen.�??Nite-Owl would prove to be one of the most effective members of the team, with his police training and hand-to-hand combat skills proving indispensable to the group.
The Minutemen having a social event
During World War II, Mason�??s occupation as a police officer exempted him from the draft.�??He and the other remaining Minutemen stayed in America, where they fought domestic threats.
In 1949, the Minutemen broke up for good.�??Nite-Owl continued working as a solo costumed hero.
In 1954, during the HUAC hearings, the former Minutemen were called upon to reveal their secret identities to a representative.�??Mason complied and passed.
Time moves on
Around this point villains became less flashy in spite of their strange names.�??They took to such underground crimes as drugs and vice �?? which often left Mason feeling rather ridiculous as the only costumed person in the room.
Crimes also began taking on a rather sordid and depressing edge.�??Mason would later attribute this to all the optimism which America had felt post-WWII wearing thin and leaving an ominous feeling in the air.
Nite-Owl arrests a Nazi super-villain during the 1940s
At some point just prior to 1962, Mason obtained his dog sidekick Phantom.�??However, at 46 years old and feeling it, he saw himself as superfluous in a world with Doctor Manhattan.�??He publically retired as a superhero and a cop and wrote a memoir, entitled Under the Hood, wherein he made numerous controversial comments and revelations concerning his former career.
Retirement
Mason became a mechanic and opened his own garage post-retirement.�??Unfortunately, Doctor Manhattan�??s ability to synthesize lithium made electric cars viable and cheap, rendering Mason�??s skills nearly useless and causing his retirement to be considerably less pleasant than he�??d hoped.
Shortly after he retired, Mason was approached by Daniel Dreiberg, a young man who had eagerly followed his exploits and who sought to follow in his footsteps as the second Nite-Owl.�??Impressed by Dreiberg�??s zeal, as well as the technology he intended to bring to bear in the war against crime, Mason was more than glad to acquiesce.
The Minutemen's group photo from the Who's Who
This marked the beginning of a close friendship, and Dreiberg would frequently visit Mason, looking up to him as a mentor.
During the events of Watchmen, Mason kept up his cordial relations with Dan Dreiberg and Sally Jupiter.�??However, he was regarded by Rorschach as a possible suspect in the murder of Edward Blake.
Tragically, after Nite-Owl II and Silk Spectre II sprang Rorschach from prison, a group of Knot-Top Gang members heard that �??Nite-Owl�?� was responsible for the breakout.�??They broke into Hollis Mason�??s apartment and beat the old man to death.
