Hollis Mason (Watchmen TV Series)

Hollis Mason was the original Nite Owl, one of the first superheroes and a member of the Minutemen. In his time as a vigilante, he inspired Dan Dreiberg to succeed him, and eventually wrote a tell-all memoir about being a hero, Under the Hood.

History

In 1963, Mason wrote a tell-all memoir about his time as a superhero called Under the Hood. In it, he made some bold and sometimes unfounded claims about his other teammates - at one point claiming that Hooded Justice, who he didn't realize was a Black man with a specific vendetta against racism, had "openly [expressed] approval for the activities of Hitler's Third Reich.” Mason's book also popularized the theory that Hooded Justice was actually the communist spy Rolf Muller, whose body surfaced in Boston Harbor around the time of Reeves' sudden retirement.

At some point, Mason died, unmarried. ^[1]

Mason's book would be used as one of the primary sources for the 2019 television docu-series American Hero Story: Minutemen. ^[1]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Creative Writing: Mason wrote a successful memoir entitled Under the Hood. ^[1]

Other Characteristics

Homophobia: Mason was publicly homophobic when discussing the alleged relationship between Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, describing their relationship as "deviant". ^[1]

Notes

This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series Watchmen and is an adaptation of Nite-Owl. The original character was created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and first appeared in Watchmen #1.
Though an actor portraying Nite Owl in a television series first appeared in It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice, Hollis Mason himself wouldn't appear until This Extraordinary Being.

Both real-life actors went uncredited in their roles.

Trivia

Mason was a political conservative, frequently reading the conservative news magazine New Frontiersman. ^[1]
Agent Dale Petey, in a memo to the FBI, speculated that Mason could have been homosexual himself and covered it up with homophobia based on the fact that Mason was never publicly known to be with a woman and died a bachelor. ^[1]