Name:
- William Cobb
Age:
- 27 (Physically)
Alias:
- The Talon
- The Last Owl
Appearance:
William as a Civilian
Skills/Abilities:
- Knife Throwing
- Acrobatics
- Hand to Hand Combat
- Escapology
Weaknesses:
- Emotional Instability: William is emotionally unstable and despite his usual calm and collected demeanour, when things don’t go his way, he is prone to losing control and making decisions on a whim.
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Will suffers from the debilitating heart condition known as HCM. He could literally drop dead at any second. This is a side effect of Batman’s tampering with his body.
History
On a Knife Edge
William Cobb was born on October 10th 1901 to middle class family. Tragedy struck early on when his father died in an industrial accident when building a bridge for Cameron Kane. Unable to make ends meet, William and his mother fell into adversity. Resorting to petty theft, the young boy by chance crossed paths with a thief known as Miro Volkov. Taking pity on the little man, Miro brought him under his wing and into Haly’s Circus. His mother sadly passed a short time after, murdered by an unknown assailant. Miro taught William how to juggle and eventually this graduated from balls to knives and the boy became the circus’s post popular knife thrower; all the while aiding Miro in his more and more spectacular heists. The two worked seamlessly together, everything running like clockwork. Everything was timed and precise, with jobs being planned out months in advance. They were living on a knife edge and life couldn’t have been better.
The Gray Son of Gotham
When he returned to Gotham City at the age of twenty, a large crowd applauded their hometown celebrity. One woman caught William’s eye though. Her name was Amelia. She was the daughter of one of Gotham's elite and an original child of Gotham. The two fell in love at first sight. The two began dating and they were happy together. They were two children in love. Little did they know, it was the beginning of the end. One day when walking into her house, Amelia's father Burton Crowne asked to speak with Cobb. He told William that there are only two people in life (the rich and the poor), no room for grey. Burton had banned him from ever seeing Amelia again, but not before making her pregnant beforehand. Despondent, William told Miro whom in turn revealed a secret, he was an assassin and all the time they had been together, he had been training William to take his place. With that, Miro finally revealed his true colours. He offered the man a choice, get revenge on Burton and become the next Talon or Miro would kill Amelia and the unborn child. Taking option A – William and Miro broke into the Crowne estate and murdered Burton in his sleep. He then was ushered away in secret and began his training to become the Talon.
12 months later, William returned to Gotham and he broke back into Amelia's house. Aware of the legacy of the Talons, he resided himself to steal his then born son into the night. Outside of the house, he met Nathaniel, his boss at Haly’s Circus and handed him the baby, "Raise him in secret, Nathaniel...prepare him for my legacy. My son. The Gray Son of Gotham". This baby would become John Grayson's father, and his son, Dick Grayson's grandfather.
