8 Superheroes Who Revealed Their Identities (And Paid The Ultimate Price)
2. Hollis Mason - Watchmen
The death of Hollis Mason - the original Nite Owl, who belonged to the Minutemen - is both one of the saddest individual deaths we see in the series, and one of the most overlooked.
Mason revealed his secret identity after retiring as a superhero through his autobiography, titled 'Under the Hood'. Due to the second Nite Owl, Dan Dreiberg, having not revealed his identity, many believed the two were one and the same - which meant that when Dan took up the cowl again despite superheroes being outlawed, many thought it was Hollis who was responsible.
After Dan broke Rorschach out of prison, this case of mistaken identity would lead to Mason's death, as a gang would beat the old man to death in revenge for freeing the unstable vigilante. Although it pales in comparison to countless people being murdered by a manufactured alien squid, knowing that an innocent old man was killed for being honest about his superhero past is still undeniably tragic.