History Main / TheCowl

* Franchise/{{Batman}} has [[TropeCodifier practically built this trope, or at least the way it is seen now.]] All of his "Bat-Family" are typically portrayed as examples, too. In fact, the only family member who is ''not'' a classic Cowl is the original ComicBook/{{Robin}}, Dick Grayson, who would become ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} after emerging from the shadow of the Bat and setting up shop in Bludhaven.

* Shouta Aizawa, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', is also known as "Eraserhead", an underground hero that operates at night and generally avoids the press. Unfortunately, the Cowl method means he ends up not being as well-known as most professional heroes.

* One of the best non-Batman film examples ever is ''Film/{{Blade}}''. The rave sequence in the nightclub, merely ominous at the beginning, becomes absolutely terrifying when blood rains down from the ceiling and it's revealed that ''everyone'' except the poor innocent human lured to the dance is a bestial vampire. The lone human flees in panic - and runs smack into the film's titular silent, stoic, hate-filled, murderous vigilante. [[GladHesOnOurSide You never were so relieved to see a]] ''[[GoodIsNotNice good]]'' [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]].

* From the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'': Achilles, leader of the Global Guardians. Battlecat and his daughter, Lynx, in New Orleans. The Nightwatchman in Boston. El Buho in Mexico City.
%% * [[spoiler:[[RunningGag Batman]]]] in WebVideo/TheJokerBlogs.

* VideoGame/ChampionsOnline has the Night Avenger archetype, which is based largely on Nighthawk, the Champions-verse's resident Batman expy.

Basically, TheCape protects the innocent, while TheCowl punishes the wicked.

** Part of the plot of ''Film/{{Glass}}'', the [[SequelGap distant sequel]], is that Dunn's mentor Elijah is unhappy that Dunn chose to be TheCowl instead of TheCape. Elijah wants to prove to the world that superheroes are real, so he [[spoiler:puts his DiabolicalMastermind skills to use and [[VillainTeamUp teams up]] with [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Horde]] to force Dunn into a very public superpowered showdown.]]

** ''Literature/TheAvenger'': Richard Benson, the 30's and 40's pulp hero brought to you by the same folks who published ''Radio/TheShadow'' and ''Franchise/DocSavage''. The latter were, respectively, TheCowl and TheCape of their label. Mr. Benson was somewhere between the two; in terms of cynicism and aversion to killing, much closer to Doc, but in terms of method very much closer to the Shadow.

* Franchise/{{Zorro}}'s [[OlderThanTheyThink first appearance in 1919]] makes him [[ProtoSuperhero one of the longest-running examples of this trope]]. He is thought of as much more of a swashbuckler, especially in the Disney series, but in the original novels he was much more TheCowl, especially to his opponents. A black-clad night-prowling outlaw with the boldness (and skill) to carve his initial into the property and, occasionally, persons of his opponents tended to inspire a certain amount of uneasiness.

* Multiple editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' have offered TheCowl-flavored character kits, prestige classes, and other PC-builds, most often for the thief/rogue or ranger classes.

** Later protagonists Connor and Edward Kenway have some of the same elements (both are cowl-clad heroes who use stealthy tactics), but don't really match the trope completely due to their adventures generally not taking place in the sort of shadowy urban setting typical of TheCowl.

* The Opera Ghost in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', while mostly a parody of, well, [[Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera exactly who you'd expect]], has a brief scene where he takes down a gang of muggers in a very Cowl-esque way.

* An episode of ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' centered on Tigger calling himself the "Masked Offender", a ScrewySquirrel parody (though he initially fails to recognize it) of an adventure novel featuring a straight example called the "Masked Avenger". When he's outed as the "Masked Offender" thanks to a BatmanGambit concocted by Rabbit, he retires out of shame, but when real danger looms over the others, he comes back into action and genuinely saves the day.

[[folder:Video Games]]

** Going meta, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' had the tv show character "The Gray Ghost", voiced by {{Adam West|ing}}. Since he was a major inspiration for Batman himself, he probably counts.

%% * Series/{{Batman}}

* The Opera Ghost in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', while mostly a parody of, well, [[ThePhantomOfTheOpera exactly who you'd expect]], has a brief scene where he takes down a gang of muggers in a very Cowl-esque way.

%% * ''Kaiketsu {{Franchise/Zorro}}''

* Maidman from ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' , an expy/ loving parody of Batman, epitomises this trope perfectly except for one thing: he [[WholesomeCrossdresser fights crime while wearing a skimpy French maid's outfit, complete with frilly panties]]. As a consequence, he is [[TheDreaded particularly feared by bad guys, both for his sheer badassery and because he is often believed to be a sexual deviant]]. He comments that dressing in frilly women's clothes is a lot less perverse than going around dressed as a giant bat.

%% * {{Franchise/Zorro}}

%% * {{Franchise/Zorro}}

%% * There was a {{Franchise/Zorro}} game as well.

* {{Franchise/Zorro}}. He's had at least four {{animated adaptation}}s, five if you count the RecycledInSpace version.
* WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck, as the page quote shows, though, unlike most examples of this trope, despite being shadowy and mysterious he is also a teensy bit of a {{glory hound}}. Though he's a AffectionateParody of this concept anyway.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=375ENQbru8s "Opening Theme"]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck, as the page quote shows, though, unlike most examples of this trope, despite being shadowy and mysterious he is also a teensy bit of a glory hound. Though he's a AffectionateParody of this concept anyway.

* In ''ComicBook/XMen'', {{Wolverine}} sort of serves as this to Cyclops' TheCape.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} has [[TropeCodifier practically built this trope, or at least the way it is seen now.]] All of his "Bat-Family" are typically portrayed as examples, too. In fact, the only family member who is ''not'' a classic Cowl is the original {{Robin}}, Dick Grayson, who would become ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} after emerging from the shadow of the Bat and setting up shop in Bludhaven.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', where Lelouch (who is [[MagnificentBastard definitely]] [[TheChessmaster not]] [[SquishyWizard this]]) tries to play himself up as a combination of The Cowl and The Cape in his persona of Zero in order to gain public support.

--> -- ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=375ENQbru8s "Opening Theme"]]

** Also [[spoiler: Malaika Shah, in her role as colonial avenger.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'' the newspaper artist's depiction of the Yatagarasu is a shadowy cowled figure. The real Yatagarasu looks nothing like this. [[spoiler: For one, there's [[CollectiveIdentity three of them.]]]]

-->'''Miss Lavender''': He's the ''phantom of the Society''. Our very own ''caped vigilante''!

* Franchise/TheGreenHornet, prowling the night of his home city, was even believed by all but a trusted few to be a member of the underworld himself.

[[folder:Video Games]]

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', where Lelouch (who is [[MagnificentBastard definitely]] [[TheChessmaster not]] [[SquishyWizard this]]) tries to play himself up as a combination of The Cowl and The Cape in order to gain public support.

* David Dunn from ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' is an example of this trope applied to a somewhat realistic setting - he wears a cowl-like poncho as part of his [[CivvieSpandex "costume"]], uses violence to save innocents, and has difficult family issues to boot.

Nobody knows for sure, and bad guys are out of luck."''
--> -- ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=375ENQbru8s Opening Theme]]"

* John Reese of PersonOfInterest fulfills this role, at least from the perspective of those he rescues. In actuality, he receives the social security number of a person about to be involved in a violent crime, and so it is a bit more premeditated than it appears.

Compare and contrast with TheCape. Sub trope of TerrorHero. Compare BatmanParody, which is a more direct parody of the TropeCodifier, Batman, and thus uses many elements of this trope.

* The Silver Shroud from the Franchise/{{Fallout}} universe. In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', the Sole Survivor can take on the role of the Shroud and mete out deadly justice to several of Goodneighbor's scumbags, ultimately culminating in taking down a vicious raider leader in an abandoned hospital.

* Even more surprisingly, Franchise/{{Superman}} himself started out like this back in the Golden Age before his later evolution into the Cape to inspire Capes after him: he was a feared urban legend and a vigilante who mercilessly beat thugs, crooks and wife abusers and cowed corrupt politicians and businessmen. He was pragmatic and harsh, he caught criminals by surprise and left as soon as he solved the situation.