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Friday, May 17, 2024

Dusan - Batman & Robin

Known also as the White Ghost, Dusan al Ghul served his father Ra's as an advisor and enforcer for centuries. 

In 1285, when crusade knights led by Prince Gerhardt - under Pope Martin IV's command - investigated "The Dark Tower," he greeted the soldiers. Telling the man about his master as they descended into the base of the stronghold, Dusan brought him to the Lazarus Chamber, before locking them inside to face the Demon's Head. 

Over the centuries he would continue to aid his father, whether on the battlefield, setting fire to parts of London, or else spreading cholera in the New York water supply in 1832. 

After Talia had taken over the League of Assassins, renaming them Leviathan, Dusan remained loyal to Ra's, remaining at his side whilst Talia went to war with Batman and his allies. He chose to abstain from any action that would help his sister, watching as all her efforts crumble and fall before their eyes. 

The First Talon - Batman & Robin

Known as The First - Talon, - he is considered to be the Court’s ultimate weapon, used only in dire times when the future of their order is jeopardised and on the verge of extinction. So deadly that even the Court feared the consequences of his release, he was bound in their stronghold beneath the Orchard Hotel, held in suspended animation within a golden owl sarcophagus. 

Despite violent opposition that saw at least three Owls slain by their own sect, The First was resurrected by two members of the Court in the aftermath of the Justice League’s defeat by the Crime Syndicates.

The Mayor of Gotham - 1914 - Batman & Robin

Born to immigrant parents in the Narrows, the man who would one day become the Mayor of Gotham City was self-made and proud of his humble beginnings. A populist champion of the people, he fearlessly voiced his opposition against Gotham's elite and their wasteful, opulent ways.

By 1914, he had been elected into office and organised a meeting with the five largest union heads to bring them to Gotham and help make the city a fairer place to live. This decision threatened to damage the Court of Owl's hold over the city, angering them enough to meet with the mayor and strongarm him into their service as a loyal puppet. 

Turning the unionist leaders out onto the streets, he destroyed his public image and the goodwill and faith he had garnered from his voters. 

Returning to Orchard as a broken man, he had hoped to end his partnership with the Court. However, the grandmaster of the Court had other plans, imprisoning the mayor in their Labyrinth. There, he endured mental and physical torture for the Court's amusement. 

Pleading with Orchard to spare him, as he had fulfilled all their demands, the grandmaster replied that he had outlived his usefulness. He was executed by a Talon as the Court watched on. 

R.H Orchard - Batman & Robin

The owner of Gotham City’s The Orchard Hotel, R.H Orchard was the grandmaster of the Court of Owls during the late 19th/early 20th Century, using his power and influence to further their goals. For those he could not bribe, he would extort and coerce, threatening the lives of their friends and loved ones to achieve the desired outcome. 

Meeting with the mayor of Gotham, Orchard forced him to break his pledge to bring trade unionists to the city. 

With the mayor’s principled and populist reputation in tatters, Orchard threw the broken man into the Labyrinth, ordering the Talon to execute him. 

Upon his death, his descendants would continue to serve as members of the Court. 

Titan Production Plant Thugs - Batman: Arkham Asylum

Tasked with helping the Joker transport crates of Titan Formula out of the Production Plant in the Botanical Gardens, their work was interrupted by the arrival of Batman. 

Preparing to fight the Dark Knight, Joker surprised everyone by shooting them with Titan-laced darts, transforming them into hulking monstrosities and setting them loose upon Batman.

Abel’s House of Secrets - Young Justice

A magic store operating in New York City, Abel’s House of Secrets was located opposite the residence of Billy and Greta Hayes. They could see the storefront through the broken fence of their back garden. 

The word “Secret” on the faulty neon sign was the last thing to be seen by Greta before Billy killed her.

When Greta's soul rose from the dead on October 31st, 2010, it was the only word she could say, leading Artemis and Zatanna to dub her "Secret." Once her ghost was laid to rest, the heroes realised, to their horror and disgust, the significance of the word. 

The Spirits of Butterflies - The Sandman

Once butterflies created by Delirium of the Endless, they were burned to death by a candleflame. Their spirits were taken by Death.

Delirium's Butterflies - The Sandman

Conjured into existence for fun by Delirium of the Endless during their impromptu family meeting, these two butterflies kept the youngest sibling entertained as the others discussed Destiny's encounter with The Kindly One's earlier that day in the Garden of Forking Ways. However, they did not last long, falling victim to Desire, who, in a cruel display of their power manipulated them to fly into a candle and burn themselves to death. 

This move enraged their creator, who screamed that Desire neither had the right nor the need to kill them, watching sadly as the pair returned as ghosts for Death to transport to the afterlife.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge - The Sandman

A famed mortal poet hailing from the planet Earth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) boasted that he was an intimate acquaintance of Delirium of the Endless. 

However, since he was considered a notorious and habitual liar by those who knew him, few believed this to be anything more than a piece of fiction.

"This Guy in this Club" - The Sandman

Encountering Delirium while she was in a club one night, the man took a liking to the personification of euphoria & incoherence, expressing a wish to kiss her. 

However, due to the Endless's dislike of physical contact, she lashed out and used her powers on him, cursing the man to see nothing but a swirling mass of pretty colours. 

Scag - Gotham: Season Five

Trapped in Gotham after Jeremiah Valeska blew up the city's bridges, Scag joined The Scarecrow's Gang, helping Crane take over the western Otisburg District. 

On Day 87 of the cataclysm, he took part in Scarecrow's raid on the Gotham City Police Department Precinct Building and the nearby clinic, killing numerous officers in the process.

Although he was knocked out by Bruce Wayne, his distraction allowed the majority of the gang members to escape with vastly depleted food and medical supplies. 

The Unforgiven - The Sandman: Act II

Created many years ago in the region now known as Afghanistan, The Unforgiven were a sect dedicated to the worship of Despair of the Endless. They treated her as their deity, proclaiming all empty rooms as sacred places, as part of their belief system. 

The Unforgiven were a short-lived order, lasting approximately two years, before their ultimate collapse into obscurity and distant memory, when their sole surviving adherent committed suicide, just seven months after his fellow celebrants died.