William Lawton (Earth-31916)



Early Life (Birth - 20)
"I am a lot of things; an agnostic, an atheist, which most people stopped listening there back in my hometown, but I'm more; I am an ignostic, a verificationist, an empiricist, sometimes an absurdist, and most importantly a humanist, but no one cared what I was; they cared about what I wasn't. I learned a long time ago, that I'll never be a normal person. I'll never be the person people think about and say 'I wonder how he's doing. I'll give him a call... 'I miss him' I'm the person who sat in the corner, listening to all the stupid around him; I'm the person you like when you need, but after you no longer need me: I no longer exist. I'm a specter, I know my place, and it's not around people."

William Byron "Will" Lawton, Junior was born in America in a time (though the place had the most to do with it) where philosophical bigotry, political staticism, and general hypocrisy ostracized any who wasn't a staunch Pro-Government, Pro-God, and Pro-Gun ideology, and Will was one of those who disagreed; he grew to believe that he was born out of his time, and that he lacked that something that made him a member of his generation. Will grew to be an incredibly intelligent and wise man, but at the cost of his social development; he became a blunt and pragmatic introvert who often used sarcasm to add humor to his life. He made efforts to become more personable, but every attempt was met with failure, especially with the opposite sex... to this day he has never been on an official date (i.e. the girl wouldn't say it was one). He went to college, double majoring in history and philosophy. Will's first (and only normal) job was working at a movie theater, where he constantly cleaned the messes left by grown adults who either never learned to clean up after themselves or simply had no manners, he stayed with the theater for five years for three reasons: by the second year the job became second nature to him; free movies for a lover of cinema; and free movie posters. Will would summarize his life as "Two short decades where I learned most of what I know now, because I had the perception to learn from nearly every crappy thing that happened to me on a daily basis." He never disclosed details of the first twenty years of his life to people he met afterward, simply putting (and leaving) it that he did not enjoy the people that surrounded him, nor they him, and that fundamentally shaped him to idealize minimal interaction with other people (nonexistent if possible). This would carry into his adulthood. He would remember approximately ten people from his early adulthood fondly.

Personality
See Also: Inspector (role variant) & Mastermind (role variant)

"More than anyone in the world, when you scratch everything else away from Knight Owl, you're left with someone who wanted to be a good man, and wanted to be loved by a good woman."

Growing up to enjoy being an outsider, Will developed an overt sense of humor in order to hide who he truly was from people, while getting his kicks with obscure sarcasm; he was known for his self-deprecation, observational and trivial jokes, and deadpan delivery, which was generally off putting to most people in his hometown He is a cynical man armed with a dry, acerbic, and above all, laconic wit, a brutal honesty and a lot of internalized rage. Sense of humor aside, Will is study of contrasts; he has moments in which he is utterly cynical, but has often expressed blatant optimism in moments others would have succumbed to despair. He is analytical and detail oriented, yet he also had an appreciation for the bigger picture as well. Will was an avid student of history, science, and philosophy. In his youth he was incredibly argumentative and passionate, but years of people viewing him as nothing more than an intolerant atheist (they preferred the words "lost one", infidel, “militant atheist,” etc) would lead to Will abandoning conversation for years, due to rarely finding people he could considered intellectual peers. In fact, he spent most of his adult personal life pursuing relationships where he could argue with people without worrying about hurting their feelings. The rarity of finding his peers left him fiercely protective of his mentors, and allies. Will is often seen as arrogant due to his largely dismissive nature towards people who disagree with him however; he is almost always correct, and rejects people who offer opinion to counteract fact, a trait he once took the time to explain when he was younger, but no longer cares to. Generally he's thought more about everything he thinks than the people around him. Will is a very angry person, as he always had an intuitive sense of fairness, and realizes that many people in the world would prefer to life in an unfair world so long that it benefits themselves; he often self-describes himself as a misanthrope, but beyond his critical nature of humanity, he harbors a deep love and admiration for what he knows humanity can be. He was known for his strict sense of honor in fighting, for which all of his mentors were all critical of, but undeterred, Will fights fair, and he still wins all the same. Despite coming across as uncaring, with a complete disregard for social niceties, he would fight to protect those in his care, and he would react with devastation if harm befell them. He was known for a strong compassionate streak, assisting Black Panther even after he had fought him and revealed his identity to the world. When he queried why he would help, he replied by asking whether he thought "that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" He had a conflicted sense of morality and struggled with his inner darkness. While he sometimes voiced preconceptions about human nature, he often questioned his own judgement afterwards. Indeed, behind his cold exterior was a man who was extremely self-reflective, to the point where he questioned whether he was in fact a good man; this self-reflection prevented him from ever referring to himself as a hero for years. Will was not an expressively affectionate man, failing to return most peoples’ hugs, or protesting against them, believing they are meant for people one truly cares for, and also disliked holding hands with others. In general killing is against his moral code However, the he has expressed his willingness in the metaphor of Confucian philosophy: meaning he prefers to avoid it, as it is ideal, but he will not commit to a “no kill rule,” as his spiritual predecessor had, as that is limiting if a situation presents itself, where killing is the optimal option. Unlike many of his contemporaries who relied on allies to keep them grounded, Will had to rely on his own introspection and self-control from succumbing to his darker nature most of the time. By his own testament, he did not suffer fools gladly, and as such, he rarely repeated statements he recently spoke, and he abhorred explaining things he found to be so simple that they were nearly self-evident. Despite his grumpy nature, he got along well with children. They were even drawn to him, an odd fact he and his friends were stunned by.

The Philosopher
For most of his life, the one thing Will wanted to be was a philosopher. Even into his early years as a vigilante, he hoped to be the kind of person the likes of Aristotle, Sextus Empircus, and Denis Diderot would call a philosopher. By his own admission he was dedicated to two things in life: Knight Owl, and ethics. In fact, he believed it was his philosophy that lead him to being a vigilante. For Will, while metaphysics posed interesting and worthwhile questions, ethics were by far more important, since in his view, no metaphysical claim could make ethics irrelevant, and it even appeared that metaphysics was irrelevant to ethics, which he felt led him to accepting other labels. He tried to hold to a modfied form of virtue ethics:


 * Wisdom: the quality of having and seeking experience, knowledge both in general and on ethical matters. From this virtue all others follow.
 * This conception includes general introspection, but also skeptical inquiry into both non-moral and moral fields.
 * Justice: the ability to act with fairness and wisdom.
 * Courage: the ability to act with wisdom despite physical pain and/or fear.
 * Compassion: sympathetic understanding of and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
 * Humor: The ability to perceive things as amusing. This does not mean in any situation a joke should be made, but rather the ability to see humor even in negative circumstances.
 * Pride/Humility: The quality of being proportionately satisfied of one’s achievements, and to recognize one’s flaws.
 * Honor: The quality of being worthy of another agents trust and respect

He also tried to keep Hawking's criticism of modern philosophers in mind when he thought about philosophy, which was that they do not seem to take what science shows us in mind when they consider the big questions of life. For will, the seven virtues listed led him to accepting other labels:


 * Humanism: Follows from Wisdom, Justice, Compassion, and Pride/Humility. Regardless of metaphyscial claims of supernatural beings, Humans are clearly social animals and are interdependent, thus they must form alliances based on some common grounds.
 * Egalitarianism: Follows from Wisdom, Justice, and Compassion. One of the common grounds for a healty society. the wise understand that history is filled with numerous examples of tragic loss of life, limb, and liberty in societies based on non-equal citizenship. Additionally the biological fact that we are social animals and care about our fellow species members illustrates the benefit of making people's worth independent of skin color, age, sex, sexuality, etc.
 * Meritocracy: Follows from Wisdom, Justice, Pride, Honor, and Egalitarianism.
 * Skepticism

None (formerly, 1994 - ????)
Will was unaltered Homo sapiens sapien, and as such, he lacked any superhuman powers for the beginning of his career.

Artificially Enhanced Biology (2025 - )
Will was on a constant journey to find either the Super Soldier Serum, or some kind of equilvalent in the hopes that he could permantely enhance his body to content with the growing threats the world faced. When he finally found one and was able to use it, he dramatically increased his musculature to superhuman levels.

Super Senses ("Vastly Expanded Situational Awareness")
In addition to his enhanced musculature, will's body was sensually enhanced as well. While it was initially assumed that he had "Near-Perfect situational awareness," he corrected to say  "Vastly Expanded Situational Awareness," as there are way too many variables in any given natural situation for even perfectly functioning human senses to detect them all and process them correctly in the mind. He did go on to claim no human would likely take him by surprise, but nature would always have the upper hand on him. He sees in the visible light spectrum with virtual perfection, etc.

Master Close-Quarter Combatant


Master Tactician and Strategist
"I beat you before I saw you."

"Strategy lies in knowing your opponent or opponents better they know themselves: know their weaknesses, their strengths, but most importantly know your own. For me it often boils down to hitting first, and hitting hard."



Indomitable Willpower
"I'd rather always fail, than never try, because no matter how bad things get: where there's a Will there's a way. Yeah I said it, and it's true."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">The closest he gets to a "power" to speak of. Lawton is a very strong-willed person. No matter what he must overcome, he finds a way. He has struggled to balance his life as an ordinary member of society, and as a vigilante in a world of super powered beings. He is documented with overcoming great physical pain, damaged limbs, and even mental trauma. His superiors at S.H.I.E.L.D. noted of him, that he never gives up, he must be killed if he ever becomes a liability. His unstoppable determination has aided him in resisting all forms of temptation, telepathy, and engaging metahumans far beyond his physical capacity.

Telepathic Resistance
<p style="font-weight:normal;"> Will demonstrated the ability to repel telepaths; not only did he repel them, but he did with ease simply stating the words "get out of my head."

Intimidation
<p style="font-weight:normal;">Despite the seemingly ludicrous idea of dress like an owl and beating thugs up, Will is highly adept at the art of intimidation; Will prefers to intimidate the same way he leads: by example; Will uses his training and natural instincts as a predator in tandem with his unstoppable determination to create an environment of psychological warfare that few can overcome. He also uses reputation as an unbeatable combatant to weed out the weakest minded. By the time he retired and returned to the cowl at the age of 36, despite having been absent for several years, he easily rendered trained Checkmate operatives incapacitated with fear.

Multilingual
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Emotional Consistency
<p style="font-weight:normal;">Research into Will's new biology yielded data that strongly suggested Will's total strength was influenced by his chemical states of his brain. Meaning, that Will could be slightly stronger/weaker depending on the state of his emotions. This can serve as an advantage; if he were in a state of mental conviction he would think, feel, and act in harmony with his enhanced body, taking in excess stimuli with ease and enjoying a slight boost in strength and stamina. Intense rage vastly increases his strength, durability, and stamina, but with some costs of its own.

Analysis Paralysis
<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Analysis paralysis or paralysis of analysis is the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or "perfect" solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution." This is Will's greatest weakness, both as Knight Owl and as a person in general. Adeline Waller noted that, of the four, Will's tendency to over-analyze is his only weakness that affects his ability to work optimally.

Rage
<p style="font-weight:normal;">Partially due to his youth, and partially due to his passion, Will is sometimes prone to feeling intense rage. While it is relatively rare, sometimes Will's rage prevents him from using his skills properly, opens himself up to mistakes, and leads to violent outbursts. In addition to possible mistakes, Will's rage has also been demonstrated to lead Will to seriously harming an adversary, even possibly killing them; he stated that he hung up his cape and cowl because he realized his rage was growing, and he might seriously hurt or kill someone who didn't deserve it.

Math
<p style="font-weight:normal;">While Will is a polymath in many subjects such as history, philosophy, political science, and strategy; he is notably weak in the comprehension of Mathematics. He comprehends basic algebra and geometry, and he is particularly gifted in logic, but cannot go much further than that.

Females
<p style="font-weight:normal;">Perhaps on par with Analysis Paralysis, Females rank as a tremendous chink in Knight Owl's pseudo-feather armor. Covered best on the Romantic Life sub-section of the Personality section, females almost effortlessly cause Will great mental anguish. He finds the social stereotypes of males as perpetuated by females is offensive, and he finds it unfair that they can be as cruel as they like without a single repercussion.

Emotional Consistency
<p style="font-weight:normal;">Research into Will's new biology yielded data that strongly suggested Will's total strength was influenced by his chemical states of his brain. Meaning, that Will could be slightly stronger/weaker depending on the state of his emotions. While this can be a advantage in many ways, some emotions obscure some of his other abilities; now if he were to feel intense rage he would be much stronger and durable, but less information makes its way into his mind and he can be made oblivious to even the most obvious of visual/audible/tactile stimuli.

Paraphernalia
Almost all of Knight Owl's arsenal was scavanged from S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra stockpiles.

Knight Owl Armor/Suit
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The Cowl
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Collapsible Bladed Gauntlets
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Utility Belt
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<h3 style="font-weight:normal;">I.C.E.R. (Night-Night Guns)

The Incapacitating Cartridge Emitting Railguns or I.C.E.R.s are a tranquilizer weapons family, including rifle and handgun designs. They were engineered by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. Basically a miracle born of engineering and bio-chemistry, these custom tranquilizer weapons—or as Agent Fitz likes to call them “The Night-Night Gun"—is the perfect tool for stopping someone without killing them. The rifle fires non-lethal bullets with heavy stopping power that break up under the subcutaneous tissue (or skin). From there, the bullets deliver a tiny amount of dendrotoxin, incapacitating the target long enough for them to be secured and without any harmful side effects in the process.

Rifle Model
The Night-Night Rifle is based on standard assault rifles, able to take out targets over a moderate strategic distance using a small caliber cartridge. A top mounted sight helps acquire and track targets over a distance. It is also capable of being attached with a grenade launcher, allowing the user to fire multiple types of grenades, including but not limited to: incendiary, fragmentation, and smoke.

Pistol Model
The Night-Night Pistol utilizes eight .45 caliber cartridges in a semi-automatic firing mode with a therapeutic dose of the dendrotoxin.

Smoke Pellets
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Trivia

 * William is the anglicized form of the Saxon name Wilhelm; "Wil" meaning "of the will or desire" and "helm" meaning protection, typically understood as "Vehement Protector"
 * He actively suppresses any attempt to call him "Bill" or "Billy."
 * Charles-Wolmar Diderot is a triple reference:
 * Charles is French name meaning "free man";
 * Wolmar is the name of a character in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse, the character is thought to be a reference to fellow philosophe Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, an Enlightenment philosophe who wrote on atheism and materialism.
 * Diderot is the surname of Denis Diderot, who, like Baron d'Holbach, wrote on atheism and materialism.
 * His first presdential vote went to Bernie Sanders.
 * Shiva's nickname for him is Fukurō (ふくろう), which means Owl.
 * He was given the nickname Themistocles because of their similarly large ambitions (Themistocles' for status, Will's for global justice), their pragmagtic genius, tactical brilliance, as well as the fact that Will believes in making a lawful system worthy of the people, and the name Themistocles literally means "glory of the law." Will admitted that he loved the nickname, as he admired Themistocles.
 * He hates the word "Caucasian," and refuses to refer to himself as one.
 * His voice is often described as "mechanical," "blunt," "smug," "harsh," "eerily calculative / level-headed," and "above all laconic" both as Knight Owl and in his natural tone of voice, though it has also been described "imposing," "authoritative," and even "charismatic" by people he intends to lead. As he got older it would be describe as "tired."
 * He earned his nom de gurre in two different ways:
 * The first was the nickname "Night Owl", which he gained throughout his life for rarely sleeping, and doing so mostly during the day.
 * He also was called "The Owl" due to his excellent peripheral vision.
 * When asked who he'd like to play him in a biopic of his life, Will claimed he wanted Tom Hardy or Charlie Cox to play him, although he thinks Tom Hardy and Charlie Cox look far better.
 * After saying that, he was immediately told that he looked more like Edward Norton, particularly as he looked in American History X; he doesn't see it.
 * He has also been told he looked like Tom Cruise with Down Syndrome one while wearing sunglasses.
 * He was known in his personal life for monologuing.
 * This quirk is inspired by Peter Capaldi's Doctor, and my own possession of said quirk.
 * He also frequently emphasizes his sarcasm by employing "the Movie Trailer Voice."