The new multiplayer title Gotham Knights is about to make its appearance on all platforms and from the trailer published it immediately became clear that our heroes will have to face a serious threat: The Court of Owls. For those who know the paper stories of the bat man and the Bat-family, this name is not new and in itself, generates an awe not to be taken lightly. We sneaked into the Batcave and stole Bruce Wayne's personal files so that we could tell you about the deeds (or misdeeds, to put it better!) Of the Court; make yourself comfortable, the journey begins.
Gotham's criminal underworld is huge: thieves, murderers and rapists are the order of the day in the gothic city of our Hooded Knights. Don't think for a moment, however, that the rot stops there, at the bottom. Indeed, characters like Oswald Cobbelpot, aka Il Pinguino, have always dominated the scenario of organized crime coming from families of high social class (rich beyond words). Well, you should know that The Court of Owls is nothing more than a secret society which for hundreds of years has influenced politics, criminal groups and the evolution of the city of Gotham (and beyond, in some cases), acting in the shadows, covertly and hiding its identity, to the point of being considered even by Batman, an urban legend.
"Beware of the Court of Owls, which frowns upon you,
night and day between granite and lime, from its shady hiding place.
She looks at you inside the house, she looks at you inside the bed,
never talk about her, or the Claw will come and get you. "
With this rhyme many of Gotham's children went to bed, unaware of how much truth was hidden behind those rhyming words. The Court is everywhere in Gotham, infiltrated at all levels of politics, state bodies and the police: for missions where a heavy hand is needed, this secret society makes use of its killers par excellence, the Claws that we have seen appearing at the end of title trailer Gotham Knights.
Sleeping agent
Beware, however, as these professional killers are not entirely normal: the Court uses a very complicated system of secret liquids and technologies that it injects directly into the body of the Claw, and this consequently becomes an undead subjugated in the mind by the will. of the secret society. The Talons "live" as it were in a constant state of hibernation, until the Court decides to call them back to service, awakens them and sends them to fulfill their mission. Often, in the past, the Owls used circus boys as the basis for their Claws, strong with record-breaking athletic abilities, and once trained properly it killed them and made them undead in their service; in fact the Artiglio we meet today is none other than William cobb, an ancestor of Dick Grayson, Nightwing. In the comic saga "Night of the Owls", the Claw William Cobb was sent to kill Bruce Wayne that in the meantime he had launched an initiative for the restructuring of the city of Gotham, an act that went against the plans of the Court and for this reason the businessman had to be eliminated. The Claw had bread for his teeth and Batman after several encounters managed to defeat him, also freeing him from the mental yoke of the Court itself. Free, Cobb sought revenge on Dick Grayson who, according to the sick thought of the revived, had betrayed his family by abandoning the circus art to devote himself to this crusade against the underworld.
Over time, more Claws were released and although these killers are a threat that Batman faced, in actual fact whoever defeated two was one of the protagonists of Gotham Knights, or Nightwing. After the adoption of Dick Grayson by the Wayne family (well yes, you may not know that in actuality both Dick and Tim Drake were adopted by Bruce Wayne, which makes them Wayne in all respects), the Court released from hibernation Raymond McCreary who took Saiko's name as the Claw. The killer has a troubled history behind him, he was orphaned and was captured by the Owls and subjected to unspeakable torture to make him immune to physical pain; he was trained in all martial arts techniques and became an expert in brutal murder. Despite everything, the master par excellence, Batman had trained his pupil very well and Dick defeated the second Claw, not very easily, mind you, but nevertheless he came out triumphant.
The Court of Owls remains a constant in the fictional Batman universe and although in the course of the stories that have gone on this one was defeated several times, it is known that it will never end because in the same way that when a criminal is arrested, another takes his place, the Court itself has different incarnations, different seats around the world and several rich and powerful people who are part of it. It will be extremely interesting to see how it will have to be addressed in the course of Gotham Knights.
