William Lawton (ME-1)

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. No hero marches into battle merely to destroy for the sake of destroying. He marches into battle for the sake of conserving."

Early Life (Birth - 22)
"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 a skeptic, 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... into his late twenties he had 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.

Checkmate (22-23)
'"He's smart, intuitive, brutal, and he lacks any semblance of a personal life. He'd be a fantastic Black Knight, but he questions things, especially authority. He cares more about the details than the bigger picture [saving people/preventing collateral damage]. He cares, and that will prevent him from ever making a difference here at Checkmate." - Adeline Waller '

While attending the University of North Florida, he encountered a Checkmate scout, and impressed him. Will was recruited into Checkmate, and selected the Black designation. He excelled at combat, and displayed a gift of tactical analysis, but he was not a fan of authority, especially the faceless authorities of Checkmate, with the exception of Lucius Holt. In the elder Holt, Will found a kindred spirit; a man equally committed to helping the world in ways the powers the be were either ill-equipped or disinterested in doing.

Project Forsight (aka The Brother Eye Incident)
"I'd rather fail trying to do something good, than succeed at doing something bad."

Before he left Checkmate, the organization suffered an internal coup thrown by the White King, Alexander Luthor. Luthor's understanding of Checkmate's mission statement led him to believe the best way to ensure secruity for the world at large is to use Checkmate's resources to preemptively eliminate threats to society and his absolutist Checkmate, by creating the Brother Eye satelite network. Despite the dubious nature of her ethics, Black Queen Adeline Waller could not tolerate such a bold violation of due process and civil liberties, dispatching the Black Knights still loyal to her: Will and Sasha Bordeaux. Against all odds, Lawton and Bordeaux were able to overtake the other Black Knights. However, Luthor was never apprehended, and he went on to spearhead Spyral. Bordeaux and Waller reminded with Checkmate to rebuild it and purge it of any Spyral remnants. Will's time with Checkmate left a bad taste in his mouth: he realized: While Checkate may be better equipped to handle the worlds the problems than the many nations governments and people: they lacked the firm moral core they needed to be truly good, and were disinterested in getting it.

The Bird of Prey Season .5: The Heroic Pilgrimage (23 - 25) (To be condensed into series long flashbacks)
'"Every legend starts as an urban myth; every myth starts as a man." - Working tagline'

The Wildcat
Will met his first mentor the same day he left Checkmate, the retired boxer Thomas "the Wildcat" Grant. Will remembered stories of the legendary boxer turned mixed martial artist. Grant was renowned for his training method of mastering the very form of fighting his opponents were skilled in and defeating them in that very fashion. On the occasions that did not work, the Wildcat relied on his peerless skill at the sweet science of boxing. In the historic match-up of his life, the very one that earned him his nickname, Thomas was set to lose the match, having lost most of the rounds, but in the very last round, Thomas got a second wind and unleashed a flurry of devestating body punches, followed by a knockout uppercut: this ferocious display earned him the moniker, "The Wildcat."

The Luchador
Thomas gave Will the idea to visit Mexico and learn the high flying art of the luchador. Will spent about a month training with the luchador, learning how to trust in his body and perform high-risk-high-reward moves. He wrestled under the name "The Whitemare."

Episode 2: The Manhunter
Will's journey brought him to France. He learned about Henri "Manhunter" Ducard, an international bounty hunter who found high value targets for multiple countries. Will sought Ducard out in order to learn in techniques. Ducard was getting older, and considered retirement, but he had heard of this globe trotting sometime vigilante, and decided to impart his wisdom on the the young man. The cynical Ducard couldn't help but question Will's idealism, but through their interactions, Henri realized that Will's idealism lurked beneath an extensive shell of cynicism; he too, did not believe most people were open to change; Henri was surprised to find he shared much in common with Will, both in aptitude and in personality. As Will entered France, but before he met up with Henri, Will came across news reports of young women getting kidnapped and being programmed into the human trafficking; Will realized that he was in over his head if he was to hunt them before learning from Ducard. As Will studied under Ducard, he continued to refine his search, until one day he had found all he needed; he found one of the trafficking compounds and killed all the trafficers present; Will set all the girls he found alive free, but he found he was too late to save the majority. He went back to Ducard feeling defeated.

"I could have done so much better, if only I was smarter; So many of them were dead; tortured and dead; who knows how many of them were moved on to be sold; I didn't save them; I failed."

"There are more people alive and free, because of what you did. Those people will tell their children, and their children's children about how a someone cared to save them; that's a lot better than what anyone else could say; Every life you save is a victory."

Episode 4: A Creator and Destroyer
Will's final stop on his heroic pilgrimage led him to master martial artist Shiva. Will had learned of Shiva from Henri. Will concluded from their discussions he should learn from her. Henri warned Will of her allegiance to a shadowy organization called Leviathan. Will's journey to find Shiva took him to the Himalayas. Exhausted and near the breaking point, Will finally reached the Leviathan stronghold. He was surrounded by Leviathan warriors, and their master, Al Mualim. Will was commended for his resolve to reach them, and asked who sent him, a question he refused to answer. Al Mualim admired his loyalty, and asked him why he was here, and Will replied he was there to learn the tools necessary to fight injustice. In order to find Shiva and recieve her training, Will knew he would have to accept membership into Leviathan. As he was initiated, he was attacked by the surrounding group once they entered the compound. Knowing he was in too weak a state to engage them all and come out victorious, he used the enviroment to his advantage and destroyed all light sources, and found a beam to hide on on the ceiling. Once they were able to reestablish the lighting they could not find him, and assumed he ran off. He waited until nightfall of the next day to strike again, earning the nickname, the Owl.

Episode ?: You Can't Save Everyone
"You are a soldier, not a warrior"

"What's the difference?"

"A warrior fights for glory, fortune, or for violences own sake. A soldier fights for a cause; a soldier fights so others don't have to."

Bird of Prey Season 1: Birdman Begins (25, December 15, 2019 - January 1, 2020)
'“Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” - Oscar Wilde'

*Flashbacks featuring Thaddeus Tucker, Henri Ducard, Rodrigo Corazón, and Egon Kruger 

Episode ?: It's Not Who You Know
Story inspiration

"I don't care who you know...I don't care how good you are at wrestling people to the ground...I. Don't. Care what the courts said. What you did was egregious, abhorrent, atrocious, odius ... it was evil. You may have gotten slapped on the wrists by the law, but I'm going to do a lot worse to slapping to a lot more than your wrists."

Blaine Brock was a promising wrestler at a university, but he made a grave mistake...

Episode ?: World's First Superhero
This is the episode Will first dons the Knight Owl armor

Bird of Prey Season 2: Escalation (25-26, October 2020/2021?)
'"Your enemies will define you." Working tagline'

*Flashbacks featuring Egon Kruger, Henri Ducard, and Will's early life

Episode 3?: Masks
"I don't need a life outside the cowl, nor do I want one. Outside the suit, I'm just another random human that no one really knows or cares about; let alone one that will be truly loved. I'm only ever me when I wear that suit, and save people in this way; my way; the only way I truly can."

Episode ?: The Vigilante, the Villlain, and the Hero
"I'm so sorry Charlie. I'm sorry you paid for being the only hero, and that the people you looked up to were nothing by empty symbols."

Heat
"Tell me... Does it disappoint you, that the people you protect with such vehemence, do not even remotely understand you; Does it disappoint you, that they will never know, and that you will soldier on alone; does it anger you, that even if they did know, that they still wouldn't care?"

"Yes"

"Wonderful!!. You're one tough nut to crack, but after this whole escapade you're that much closer to my team... One day...you'll learn that the only sensible way to live is without rules. Nothing we do truly matters, why bog yourself down in following social conventions, laws, moral intuitions you didn't create?"

"You're wrong. We impose meaning on the chaos of our lives. We create form, morality, order. It's a choice we have to make every second of every minute of every day. I may not have made the world's social conventions or it's morals, but I can help change them. I can make them better."

"You're alone, and you always will be."

"I made peace with that a long time ago."

The Bird of Prey Season 3: The Fires of Dumas (28 or 29; November 31 - December 26, 2022/23?)
“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” - Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

'"Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them." - Ezekiel 38:7'

'"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Edward Gibbon'

*Flashbacks featuring Henri Ducard and Al Mualim 

Episode ?: The War on Christmas
A new group was starting to emerge on the organized crime market, an extremist religous order called the Order or Purity / The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas. This groups goal was to purge the society of undesirables (e.g. intellectuals, Muslims, atheists, Jews, Buddhists, etc). Will began to notice most people were coming out against them, except for two organizations: Fox News, and the televangelist ministries of one Frederick Rollo.

Episode ?: Anarchy
"I know you want to change the world, but it's not always about changing the world. We need to respect the wills of others as we would our own. Most especially when it's a will we disagree with."

While working on his hunch on what explained the spike in religious terrorism, Knight Owl had to contend with a somewhat reactionary figure self-dubbed "Anarchy." He was using his knowledge as a hacker to disrupt what he felt was fundamentally immoral methods of getting money, including but not limited to the Church and Wallstreet. He would also leave untraceable messages of his personal philosophy and mission to save the world from it's own self-destruction. To "shake them out of apathy" he and his followers led several raids, and sabotage missions, typically to counter one that happened previously (e.g. after a follower of Dumas blew up an women's health clinic or mosque, a follower of Anarchy would attack a southern militia, the KKK, or Fox News). As Knight Owl busted a couple operations, Anarchy himself began to address him directly. Initially he claimed he admired the Bird of Prey and tried to argue they were cut from the same cloth: acting for the people when the law was not enough.

Episode ?: The Fires Will Consume You
Knight Owl was on the verge of a breakthrough with the case, and was then attacked by one of the Order's soldiers, Azrael.

Episode ?: Vindication
"I cannot and will not abstain from action when people like you exist, to go against my conscience is neither just nor honorable. Here I stand: I cannot do otherwise"

The Bird of Prey Season 4: Shadow War (To be Rebooted) (29 or 30)
'"Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated." - Ernest Hemingway'

Episode 1: Knightfall
"You tried to play hero, and now it's going to blow up in your face, and destory everything you care about."

After defeating and dissolving the Order of St. Dumas, Will returned to his Nest to recuperate. However, he was interrupted as soon as he got up to the Nest by an agent of a far more destructive organization. the mysterious agent preyed on Will's exhaustion, and nearly killed him, and destroyed his Nest. During the fight, Will recognized the voice as Harvey Dent, now a member of Leviathan as he felt he was about to deliver the final blow on Knight Owl. Will narrowly escaped with is life, crashing into a building below. Dent could not confirm his death, as the Police and Fire Department were on the scene. They did not find Knight Owl's body either, but the media reported Knight Owl was dead.

Episode ?:
"They'll follow you. They believe ..."

"No. I'll do this on my own...No one else is paying for my mistakes."

"You fool! He is faster than you; stronger than you; he has centuries more experience than you; and he has an army. When will you accept that you're only human."

"I refuse to accept anyone is only human."

Episode ?: Undefeatable
"You're nothing Dent; you had to download everything my teachers and myself learned in our lifes just so you could go toe-to-toe with me; you cheated, and for what?...You took my family from me. You became the very thing you hated most, the thing Cecily (maybe someone else) hated most, to avenge her, and. you. failed... live with that."

(Re)Assume Your Totem
'"Don't add me to the weight you carry." - Roxy '

...

"I know you only wanted to help me, and you're one of the few who ever did, but you don't understand. Every person I've lost, every person I still have, every memory I carry with me, no matter how painful, all this pain and rage I have inside: it's why I can fight longer and harder than anyone else... No matter how much it hurts, and it always hurts, no matter how much I pretend otherwise, they're the reason I win...You're the reason I won."

Episode ?:
"The world is so different now. Metahumans, alien-gods, all that fun stuff. I don't think the world needs my kind anymore: random crazy people cosplaying and beating up thugs...I took out two immortal would-be world cleansers...I think that's enough to retire on don't you?"

Extinction of the Owls
"For the record, I agreed with damn near everything you've said: People suck. I've spent more than enough time on Facebook to know that, but that's not a good reason to kill everyone. That's what a bigot does; that's what they'd do. Everyone's interconnected; they love other people; they mean something to someone else, who would be deeply saddened by their deaths. To kill them all because you don't like them, no matter how well formed an opinion, is the height of cruelty and naiveté."

Aftermath
"I can't...I can't do this anymore. He wasn't wrong about us. We fight, we kill, we betray one another, and every time we can rebuild we get in our own way; slow it down and force countless people to suffer because we hate progress. We can do better, and we do, but we're still so horrible. I'm tired; I'm angry, and I can't do anything about it. "

The Bird of Prey Returns (Part 1) (Age 36 or 39)
"I used to be a man in a suit, and the suit did most of the work, as well as the AI, a scientist that made all that stuff and patched me up when I took one too many risks, funded by a dude I saved...Look a lot of things went into making Knight Owl, but somehow I kept telling myself it I was the one out there, so that meant more, when in reality the suit and a whole other person had the power, but everything has changed: the world is different: I'm different. The power of the suit is inside me now. It's unsettling...alien to me. I wear a costume now because it's the only way I can feel normal."

"I wanted to prove that the heroes I believed in were real...and that I was one of them."

Never Again
For the years in between his last bout against evil with the Doom Patrol, Will primarily stayed in France, in the home Henri left for him, but Will frequently traveled, usually back-and-forth from places in the United States, to South Korea, to Tokyo, and on occassion the Leviathan Stronghold to visit Sandra. In his travels, Will constantly encountered everyday injustices (e.g. muggings, store robberies, etc). He reported to Sanda the immense rage and self-disgust he felt after each inaction,  and recorded in a diary each moment he could have done something about. During his retirement, Will partook in video games, archery, bingewatching shows and movies, and writing to help pass the time and to keep his mind off the outside world. Again/Never Say Never/A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Here/Reawakened While out and about in [Insert a city here] Will witnessed the beginning of a bank robbery. The robbers had just locked the exits and fired warning shots to corral the hostages. Without thinking Will charged in, crashing through the window. With his superhuman speed, and skills in stealth, he was able to take out almost every assailant in the bank's lobby, the last one was the first to seem and was able to get a shot off on Will's abdomen. Everyone stared astonished that not only did he not flinch, but he only appeared moderately annoyed, and the wound closed within seconds. In the time everyone spent in confusion, the few robbers not dispatched by Will took the money they could get their hands on and made their way to the escape van. Will chased it down with his superhuman speed, very publicly. Luckily, he moved quickly enough to were few could discern how he looked, and the few in the bank who got a good look at him were too stunned at his healing ability to remember the finer features of his face, describing a relatively generic white male in his thirties.

Back in The Saddle
"I stopped going out at night because I realized I was getting angrier, and I'd do something really wrong. I really don't like hurting people, and I never enjoyed the notion or act of killing, but I'm human, and my species has evolved for millions of generations to kill each other, and I'll always have that in me no matter how hard I try to pretend otherwise and now it's all too easy for me, so I stopped...and I miss it."

'"Do you ever think about why dad helped you? Why he gave you the suit and all the toys? He didn't do it because he owed you. He did because he knew who you were: not the perfect soldier Checkmate wanted you to be; not the lunatic the world thinks you are; but a good man. He gave you all of this because they needed you, and they still do." - Michael Holt'

Hello Sweetie, I'm Only One Call Away
'TBD: We can use her to our advantage. Where's Knight Owl?'

Roxy: I have no clue.

'TBD: YOU'RE LYING. We know you two have been love birds for years.'

'Roxy: I love him. Not that he ever noticed, but whoever said he loved me back? He's the Bird of Prey. He doesn't go around falling in love with people. And if you think he's anything that small or that ordinary, then you haven't the first idea of what kind of man he is.'

'TBD: I assure you, she is the perfect bait. When this woman is in danger, Knight Owl will always come.'

'Roxy: Oh, you are a moron. No, he won't.'

TBD: He's probably already here.

Roxy: No, he isn't. Of course he isn't!

TBD: Possibly in this room.

'Roxy: Well, go on, scan it then. Go on, why don't you? Pointy ears, cape, you can't miss him. Go on, scan the whole building! He's not here. No one knows where he is right now, but I promise you, he's doing whatever the hell he wants and not giving a damn about me! And I'm just fine with that. When you love a superhero, it's like loving the stars themselves. You don't expect a sunset to admire you back. And if I happen to find myself in danger, let me tell you, Knight Owl is not stupid enough, or sentimental enough, and he is certainly not in love enough to find himself standing in it with me...'

...Knight Owl: I'm one call away...always.

Have You Ever Dreamed You Can Fly?
===

The Legend of the Knight Owl Will Mean Nothing. At. All. ===

"You understand the influence Joker has. Something that affects people, on an almost subconscious primal level. For most people--regular people--he inspires fear. For the less stable people--he simply inspires. But in your astute comprehension of your nemesis, you somehow failed to understand your own influence. Conversely: In your gaudy get-up you simultaneously inspire fear in even the least stable of individuals... and hope in regular people. I have long pondered how to counteract this, so I can finally force to world to know fear as I have so desperately yearned since before you were born. How can the world know fear – true dread – when there is you? A stalwart knight, ever ready to slay monsters. Fear isn’t simple biology, Knight Owl. It’s more than instinct. True fear is the absence of hope. And hope is the spread wings of a Owl, shining in the darkness."

Choices
"Everyone thinks it's so easy to tell right from wrong, because they think they do it so well. Not true. Over my lifetime I've longed for one moment to have the right choice be obvious. Just one moment where I don't regret it immediately or later; just one moment where I don't wonder if I could made better use of my life; just one moment where I don't feel like I'm a kid who refused to grow up. It doesn't take much to be a hero though: make a sacrifice, conquer a flaw, save a friend—spare an enemy. I've been told in that moment everything else falls away. How the world sees us; how we see ourselves; all that's left is are choices: one right, the others a varying flavor of wrong. Thank you... I've found my moment."

The Second Apokopliptian Invasion of Earth
"A man with a cause can be stronger than a god."

Art & War
"You should have stayed retired, Vigilante."

"And what, miss my chance to beat the mother of all Feminazis and he lapdog?"

"Watch your tongue, I am a God."

"A somehow highly powerful and advanced civilization with bronze-age ethics and predictable tactics, I'm not impressed, much less intimidated."

...

"Did I ever tell you how I could still be an atheist after meeting the gods of two different pantheons? It's the whole perfect thing; infinite, inerrant beings that always do the correct thing; all the omnis and stuff. Anyway. I still call myself an atheist, to your face, because if you were a god, you would have known to not fuck with me or my planet."

We Stand Guard Here
'"This is mercy. Leave." - Knight Owl'

'"Tell everyone and everything like you, that this world is protected." - Barda'

'"Whatever comes here will face us." - Vykin'

'"Consider youself warned." - Flash'

'"We stand guard here." - Guardian'

'"We're the Doom Patrol..." Everyone'

'"...Run." - Knight Owl'

No Gods, No Masters
"You're welcome to stay, make a home here. You've always been welcome to."

"I know, but I'm not a god: I'm a soldier, and it's about time I reenlisted."

τέλος
"I will take everything from you. I will meet your best efforts with complete and utter failure; I will render the value of any remote success you find nebulous; I will crush your luck, your hope, and finally, your will. Only when you have paid witness to such despair will you truly understand the nature of the Anti-Life Equation, and only then will I permit you to die."

'“Look into my eyes Telos. See every moment of pain and misery as I have, through my eyes. Experience my failures as I have, as they did [The people he could not save]. Endure my failures as I have. You're right: Death is inevitable, ruthless, and unyielding. Death is with me always, but I found something else. Something just like Death itself: something equally unavoidable, relentless, and resolute... Me!"'

Epilogue "A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example. " - Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (One of the inscriptions on the statue of Knight Owl)

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

The Ritual
In the original Owl's Nest, Will had a ritual in which he'd play a fun song (e.g. Queen's Don't Stop Me Now or Stevie Wonder's Superstition) and dance (very poorly) while he suited up, or just did his detective work. He did this to remind himself that part of the reason he chose to be Knight Owl instead of a blandly clad vigilante or a legally employed law enforcement official is because he wanted to actually have fun doing it, considering he planned to be a vigilante as long as he could sustain it. And once they coupled, Roxy joined him during these rituals.

From Vigilante to Hero
"He's not big on the popular term "superhero" or even "hero", but if someone claims to be a finer hero on this planet than Knight Owl: They're wrong."

Al Mualim
"Cut it loose. Set yourself free."

Cassandra Beaumont
"You won't let me in, you've got your mask back on."

"I have no mask when I'm with you. If I did you'd see right through it. You see me as I am... You know me. We don't really need each other, and we're not the most expressive of people, but I want a partner, you want a partner. I think we can help each other out."

Will and Roxy (More accurately Knight Owl and The Cat) have a complicated relationship. On one hand, they're both vigilantes, but on the other, they have entirely different motivations (e.g. Will wants to protect the innocent from predatory criminals, and Roxy wants to enrich herself of the ill-gotten gains of said predatory criminals), however they both cross into the other motivations as well on occasion (e.g. Roxy often shares the wealth she steals with others, and Will often claims to enjoy beating criminals on occasion, and fought Harvey Dent to prove his dominance as much as his responsibility to others). They cross paths with each other often, and initially did so with playful hostility, but they fairly quickly grew on each other and they began to flirt with one another. Over time they came rely on each other, valuing each other's company. However, both guarded their truest feelings from the other for years.

Jim Gordon
"I've been there since the beginning, and I've thought I was there for the end so many times; I've always feared that you would become that which you fought against. You walk the edge of that abyss every night, and after everything the Joker did...after everything you've lost... but you haven't fallen in and I never thanked you for that."

"And you'll never have to."

Will and Jim's relationship started off rocky to say the least, as one would expect a Vigilante/Police Officer relationship to begin. Will was highly crtitical of the law and its enforcers ability to protect and serve people due in large part to the rampant and unacknowledged corruption it suffered from. Gordon was a good cop, one of the few, and as such was staunchly against a viglante taking the law into their own hands, but Gordon was not blind to the corruption within the system, and he could not deny the results Knight Owl delivered. After substantive soul-searching Gordon decided the desparate times he lived in called for measures like Knight Owl, so they grudgingly began to collaborate, each closing monitoring the other as they would an enemy. It did not take long for both men to realize they were more alike than they were different, and began to view each other more as allies in a combined effort to give the world true justice. As crime escalated, creating people like Manhunter and Joker, Knight Owl was the first person Gordon went to. They trusted each other, but that changed after Joker kidnapped and publicly violated Gordon's daughter, Gail. Will failed to find her in time to prevent Joker from having his fun. Gordon was furious that with all the laws Knight Owl can just ignore, all the procedure he does not have to follow, he could not even save his daughter. Meanwhile Joker's mindgames with Will were bringing out years of repressed rage and only further complicated and fractured the partnership they formed. By the time Joker was apprehended, they no longer convened together. Knight Owl dealt with both Anarchy and his followers, as well as the Sacred Order of Saint Dumas on his own: almost losing his life several times in the process. Meanwhile Jim was trying to help his daughter pick up the pieces of his psyche and live a "normal" life again. When Harvey Dent resurfaced after Will ended the Order of Dumas, and nearly killed him: Will disappreared with no notice to anyone, leaving some to believe he was dead, and all afraid that Knight Owl was not coming back. Dent's televised beating of Knight Owl caused Gordon to fear for his former partner, so much so he blamed himself, feeling that if he had not cut off communication he could have done something to change the outcome of that fight, or at least known where Knight Owl had gone.

The Doom Patrol
"At first glance he would appear the weakest of us: a speedster, a super soldier who can fly and fire energy blasts, and two gods, Why on Earth would a human, who is not even at the peak of his species be one of us? Because in his weakness, he is strong; he is cunning, deceptively strong in body and will, and above all...kind and heroic in nature. It may be hard to believe, but he is the strongest of us."

Will is a founding member, and (along with Barda) the de facto leader of the Justice League.

"Just before I joined Checkmate, and this whole crazy Odyssey of mine began. I had just turned twenty-two months prior, and I had finally quit my first and only job. My whole life I lived around snakes that were only out for themselves and would fuck me over the second if became beneficial. I wanted to find just one person that would be as loyal to me, as I had been to so many. Now I look around, and I have so much more than I could have asked for. I have made a family out of heroes and gods."

None (formerly, 1994 - 2025)
Will was unaltered Homo sapiens sapien, and as such, he lacked any superhuman powers for the beginning of his career.

Artificially Enhanced Biology (2025 - )
After getting physically destroyed by Brainiac, Will's biology was transformed by using the serum Miraclo and Holt's healing pod: Chrysalis, into a superhuman.

Muscular Efficiency
Will's musculature was modified into being almost perfectly efficient, similar to the greater efficiency of other primates. Despite only gaining six pounds (all from the weight of the serum itself), He was capable of lifting a ton with ease, and it was calculated he could possibly lift five tons under pressure. He can punch through concrete walls, and engage Demigods with ease. Holt later experimented on him years after the initial injection, years into his semi-retirement, and he observed that Will's metabolism was in a constant state of flux, and that his body was constantly getting stronger. By the time of the second Apokoliptian Invasion, Will was officially classified as superhuman, with the ability to lift several tons, run in excess of eighty miles per hour, and even possessed the ability to heal from serious stabbings and gun shots within minutes.

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.

Peerless Close-Quarter Combatant
Will is a master close-quarter fighter. He is a black belt in Taekwondo, self taught in Boxing, and scored the highest marks among Checkmate recruits in their combat system. In addition to Checkmate combatives (Checkmate combatives utilizes a Systema base, with Taekwondo, Sambo, and Wing Chun Kung Fu), Will learned combat systems from Rodrigo Corazón, Henri Ducard, and Shiva; he learned acrobatic tactics and unorthodox environment use from Rodrigo Corazón; he learned a idiosyncratic admixture of Systema, Sambo, and Savate from Ducard; as well as Shiva's admixture (Shotokan Karate, Hapkido, Pencak Silat, Krabi Krabong, and Arnis/Eskrima/Kali). He also learned Thomas "The Wildcat" Grant's mix of traditional boxing and Muay Thai. After learning from all these masters of combat, lead to Will's highly individualistic fighting style that even Slade Wilson noted it is too complex to replicate. Will's sheer skill has enable him to best experienced Checkmate agents and super soldiers. He has a gift for utilizing his cunning intellect, talent for improvising unlikely weapons, and his gift of analyzing his opponents on the fly. Will crafted distinct styles he used as Knight Owl, and another when unmasked:

Prédateur Masqué
In order to avoid the possibility of someone recognizing Will was Knight Owl due to the identical fighting style, Will formed a barebones style of fighting meant to look foriegn from Knight Owl. He mostly just used his rudimentary understanding of Taekwondo, but also used some Penkak Silat and Hapkido. He actively avodied using Checkmate combatives, Systema, Savate, etc. He also tried to incorporate some clumsiness to make himself appear inexperienced.

Rapace Solitaire
Will's "standard," most used, and favored style. It's one of the least showy of the three options, and most efficient by his own admission. It incorporates Checkmate Combatives, Systema,  Hapkido, Pencak Silat, Wing Chun Kung Fu, and Taekwondo).

Rapace  Furieux
' "Have you ever seen a gorilla throw a temper tanrum? Picture that level of unmitigated rage and power, but from a human a fraction of the size. All that repressed rage you think you see and then some come to the forefront, and in that moment: you'll think he hates everything." '

The less efficient "but sometimes more effective, and almost always more gratifying" method, it incorporates  Checkmate Combatives, Wing Chun Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Boxing, Muay Thai,  Corazón acrobatics, and even some professional wrestling style body slams and suplexes).  Despite actually incorporating techniques, and the fact that Will does not literally enter a berserk rage devoid of reason or tact, he has admitted he doesn't imploy the same level of care and consideration into his movement, rather utilizing increasingly fast and powerful strikes and throws.

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."

Will is a trained tactician and strategist; first trained by the Checkmate, and later Henri Ducard, and later still by Shiva; Will is trained to take on multiple enemies, even a small army with incredible precision, efficiency, and is noted to do so with "remarkable showmanship." He is trained to utilized unorthodox positions to take down enemies lethally or non-lethally; as a martial artist, Will is a very intimate and effective close-quarters strategist as well, to the point of preferring it. This sets him apart from other dubbed "Super Soldiers," and peak humans, as his sheer skill and intellect afford him advantages in fights.

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."

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 Checkmate noted of him, that he never gives up, he would have been killed if he became a liability. His unstoppable determination has allowed him resisting all forms of temptation, telepathy, pushing past his bodies physical limits, and defeat adversaries far above him in virtually every other capacity.

Telepathic Resistance
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
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 [TBD], despite having been absent for several years, he easily rendered trained Checkmate operatives incapacitated with fear.

Multilingual
Will can fluently speak and write French, in addition to his native English; He is fluent and Chinese, but cannot write, and he is conversationally adept in Japanese. He uses in-cowl technology to translate languages as he hears them. He is known to attempt to speak the native language of a place he is at as a sign of respect.

Emotional Consistency
Years into Holt's 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
"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
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
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
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
Years into Holt's 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.

Knight Owl Armor/Suit
"A knight in shining armor has never had his mettle truly tested, for your armor after battle tells the story of who you truly are." \

Will utilized several forms of clothing and body armor in the beginning of his career as a vigilante, but when Will returned to the states and "inherited" some shares in HoltTech, and became the main field tester for HoltTech inventions in Applied Sciences, Will made use of the prototype armor called DARPA Avian series Tactical Predator Modular Armor; the Avian series armor is a specially designed jumpsuit made from a modified version of the Pinnacle Armor designed Dragon Skin bodysuit (Will later nicknamed them "Owl feathers"); The fabric of the suit is interwoven with Kevlar (outer layer), Dragon Skin(core material), allowing it to reduce damage caused by bullets with relatively low velocity, such as pistol rounds and assault rifle rounds fired from long range, though it is relatively weak against bullets from closer ranges, as they maintain a faster velocity, and more power, and shrapnel from 12 feet. It has a weight of 4 pounds (unloaded) and a thickness of 8 millimeters (1/4 inches). Due to it's light weight, and the special materials it is made from, the wearer's movements are nearly silent. The armor was tested to maintain core body temperatures down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit with the hood up, and as high as 110 degrees. the wearer could go ”from Rothera to the Sahara” and stay relatively comfortable. The outer layer of the Kevlar was treated with a polymer fiber similar to the coating on stealth aircraft: matte-black, slightly rough to the touch for maximum light absorption. The micro-roughened exterior partially defuses light. About 30% of whatever photons strike the surface gets trapped, if only for a split second, but enough to diffuse them. Bottom line: The suit allows the wearer to blend in with the shadows and darkness very well. The synthetic, glossy material and most of Will's equipment are often a very dark color, almost black when viewed from a shadowy place, though upon closer inspection, the suit itself is actually a dark gray. The Avian series is the most modular system of all the DARPA Tactical Predator Armors and is modifiable to the way the operator would feel comfortable. It can also be worn in conjunction with different tactical equipment and clothes. It was later equipped with modified repulsar boots for actual flight capabilities.

The Cowl
"Give a man a mask and he'll become his true self."

Knight Owl's cowl was designed from a prototype flight helmet for both pilots and paratroopers; the display would be tailored to display the information relevant to either the jumper or pilot; as a former paratrooper himself, Will chose to modify the paratrooper version. Will and Lucius Fox modified the helmet to add advanced audio receptors, affectionately called "Great Owl Horns." The on helmet goggles were heavily modified with enhanced zooming faculties, night vision, thermal vision, and sonar vision; the sonar vision capability is used in a similar fashion as night vision; as night vision amplifies any available light, the sonar vision utilizes any sounds made to provide the location of anyone or anything even if it's behind a wall. The cowl was also modified with a mouthpiece, that functioned as a gas mask, and was also used to disguise Will's voice; it gave his voice a "cyber-demon" sound, or as Will once dubbed it "Satanis roboto." The cowl was also outfitted with taser countermeasures to prevent any unwanted removal of the cowl.

Collapsible Bladed Gauntlets
Will and Holt co-engineered a modified version of the bladed gauntlets he wore in his time with Leviathan; in order to avoid undue injuries to himself, or the criminal he may be fighting, both men decided to make the blades collapsible; it was later modified to be fired as well. These blades are strong enough to break Katanas, lead pipes, and even some gun barrels with the proper amount of force. Will had both gauntlets outfitted with grapple launchers. The gauntlets also contain hidden blades that pivot and become daggers when need be.

"Memory Fabric" Gliding Cape
Memory Cloth was one of Lucuis' brainchildren, designed as a cheaper and more effective alternative to Raptor flight armor; with no current running through it, the memory cloth funtions as a cape made of a flexible fabric, with a nylon outer layer, it also had "velvety" quality of the outermost layer; the material is also water and fire resistant When a current is run through the memory cloth from electrical triggers within either gloves; the loose molecules realign and the cloth tenses up and becomes a rigid shape and the shape can be altered to whatever use as long as it has a skeletal frame to mimic; Will and Michael made a winged frame that was similar to owl feathers.

"The Heavy"
"The Heavy" is a specialized Knight Owl armor designed for extended flight, and enduring the vacuum of space. It utilizes Michael Holt's state-of-the-art nuclear powered propulsion technology. Initially it was designed as a suit of armor, to protect the nuclear power source and the person wearing it from most conventional methods of assualt, but Will had Holt make a Wingpack form that required a light nuclear generator to use in general, using the Heavy only when he felt outmanned and outgunned.

Multi-Purpose Rife (M.P.R.)
Before Will became Knight Owl, Holt invented a collapsible rifle designed to have multiple settings for the military. It was then named the Multi-Response Rifle, but the military had no interest in an exclusivly non-lethal weapon that costed more than any other rife on the market to make and maintain. When Knight Owl got it, he added an two additional features the rife and redubbed it the Multi-Purpose Rife. The Rife has a  stun setting that fires slow traveling bullets that latch unto the victim and deliver a jolt of electricity to stun the victim; a sticky explosive setting that fires tiny balls of explosive gel with a modifiable timer, a sleeper dart setting, a sleeping gas setting, and an EMP setting that fires a ball of adhesive gel similar to the explosive gel that contain a tiny EMP device.

T-Spheres
Michael's greatest claim to fame is the seemingly infinitely multi-tasking balls called Terrific Spheres, shortened with the intent to market as T-Spheres. They are electrically powered, and programmable to perform numerous actions. Will programmed three T-Spheres to aide him in the areas of crime fighting that he was weakest, for instance, forensics, hacking, etc. They are capable of levitation by using Holt's Nimbus generators and scan the environment around Knight Owl as he investigates crime scenes.

The Silver Bullet
It did not take long for Michael and Will to see the eventually of Knight Owl needing a ground vehicle to chase escaping criminals with. This led to what would become the Owlmobile. In the mean time, Michael gave Will the Interceptor, a police interceptor prototype. The Interceptor is a plain (by animal themed tank-car standards) vehicle designed with many gadgets the Knight Owl suit has, even coming with a proto-Battle Mode. Will opted to use it exclusively in his "civilian" adventures, painted it silver, and named it "The Silver Bullet" opting instead to use the Athene noctua while the Owlmobile was constructed.

Trivia

 * Knight Owl design created by Phil Cho, see more of his amazing work here.
 * 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."
 * His name in Leviathan, Ajay, also transliterated as Ajai (अजय), originates in Sanskrit ajaya "undefeatable," "unconquerable", "unsurpassable", "invincible."
 * Milton Kahn is the combination of the first and last names of the creators of Batman: Milton "Bill" Finger, and Robert Kahn aka Bob Kane.
 * 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.
 * Of his four aliases, three of them are official fake identities: Charles-Wolmar Diderot, Milton Kahn, and Maximilian Kruger. He made the other one up on the spot (using the name Jason Peter Todd whenever someone asks him his name).
 * The alias Jason Peter Todd is a reference to the second Robin and Red Hood.
 * In universe, it is the name of the Robin in Richard Barrison's Batman show. Like the mainstream Jason Todd, he is killed by one of Batman's nemeses. However he is never resurrected, and it's what the writers of the show used to end the series when the show was canceled.
 * His first presdential vote went to Bernie Sanders.
 * Kai'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 once while wearing sunglasses.
 * The subtitle "My Ithaca, My Penelope," references the completion of Knight Owl's own Odyssey from a soldier without a cause, to a hardened vigilante, to legendary hero. In addition it also solidifies Roxy's official status as Will's Penelope.
 * Humorously (and coincidentally I swear it), the name Penelope has a avian etymological origin: The origin of her name is believed by Robert S. P. Beekes to be Pre-Greek and related to pēnelops (πηνέλοψ)[3] or pēnelōps (πηνέλωψ), glossed by Hesychius as "some kind of bird" (today arbitrarily identified with the Eurasian Wigeon, to which Linnaeus gave the binomial Anas penelope), where -elōps (-έλωψ) is a common Pre-Greek suffix for predatory animals; however, the semantic relation between the proper name and the gloss is not clear. In folk etymology, Pēnelopē (Πηνελόπη) is usually understood to combine the Greek word pēnē (πήνη), "weft", and ōps (ὤψ), "face", which is considered the most appropriate for a cunning weaver whose motivation is hard to decipher, so either Dawn is "Catbird," an incredibly hilarious and unintential reference to Catwoman's "Catbird" identity in Gothtopia, or she's clever and hard to discern her motivation, as Catwoman always is.
 * He has only ever been defintively beaten in hand to hand combat twice, once by his mentor Shiva, and the other by Harvey Dent.
 * He tends to discount Dent's victory for three reasons:
 * He already beat over thirty people less than an hour prior, and was exhausted.
 * Dent's victory lied in copying every move Will had learned.
 * He won the rematch.
 * 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."
 * Unlike Batman, who's default transportation is the famous Batmobile, Knight Owl almost exclusively used his VTOL: the Athene noctua. He preferred to make use of his "Batmobile" when he needed to engage beings far more powerful than himself, or multiple enemy vehicles. However when he engaged in plainclothes reconnaissance, he made frequent use of the Silver Bullet.
 * The nicknames Don and Búho Quixote are references to the novel The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, and it's titular character.
 * The story follows the adventures of a hidalgo named Mr. Alonso Quixano who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha.
 * This in no way resembles Knight Owl: a man named Will Lawton who reads so many comic books and watches so many superhero movies that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to bring fictional superheroics to life, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Knight Owl: the Bird of Prey.
 * He also has one personality trait which is common with many Japanese action heroes. Once Will's mind is focused in any particular direction, it is immensely difficult to get him to change or even notice the events and people around him.
 * this personality trait is mostly evident when he utilizes Rapace Furieux, but is known to generally tune people out when he focuses on things.
 * He has a well know talent for differentiating the many types of "Asian."
 * Most say it's because of his "Asian fetish."
 * He denies that he possess said fetish.

Links

 * /Gallery/
 * /Quotations/
 * Audio Tapes or Journal Entries
 * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3627896/The-real-life-BATSUIT-Superflex-suit-includes-hidden-exoskeleton-wearer-superhuman-strength.html