The Nite Owls were an elite group of Mandalorian soldiers, a specialized unit commanded by Bo-Katan Kryze within the larger Death Watch organization. Following Maul's slaying of Pre Vizsla, the leader of Death Watch, and his subsequent declaration as the new leader, the Nite Owls, like the rest of Death Watch, fractured. Members aligned themselves with either Maul or Bo-Katan. Those who sided with Bo-Katan formed the Mandalore resistance and fought against Maul's Shadow Collective and his Mandalorian super commandos. They even attempted to liberate Bo-Katan's sister, the former Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore, despite their prior opposition to her pacifistic ideals. The Nite Owls survived the Clone Wars and remained active throughout the Imperial and New Republic Eras.
As a component of the extremist Death Watch group, the Nite Owls were an elite squad of Mandalorian warriors. Bo-Katan Kryze led them, serving as second-in-command to Death Watch's leader, Pre Vizsla. The Nite Owls were among the former governor's forces at his camp on Carlac during the Clone Wars, after they abandoned their hideout on Concordia. In 20 BBY, the Nite Owls attacked a Ming Po settlement, kidnapping women and setting fire to buildings. Shortly after, they drove away the Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who had been their prisoner before escaping with Lux Bonteri.
After the renegade Sith Lord Maul and his brother Savage Opress forged an alliance with Death Watch, creating the Shadow Collective, the Nite Owls were among the forces ready to take back Mandalore from the pacifistic New Mandalorians. The New Mandalorians governed the planet through Bo-Katan's sister, Duchess Satine Kryze. However, following the successful takeover, Maul killed Pre Vizsla in a duel and seized control of Death Watch. While many Death Watch members felt obligated to serve Maul, as he had legitimately defeated their previous leader, some Nite Owls and other Death Watch members disagreed. Bo-Katan, declaring that "no outsider will ever rule Mandalore," fled after Maul's murder of Vizsla, accompanied by some of the Nite Owls.
Subsequently, Bo-Katan aided Duchess Satine and later Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in escaping Mandalore and informing the Republic about the events, using her newly established Mandalore resistance. The two sisters and their forces united to oppose Maul's new reign during a civil war. However, their efforts failed, culminating in Satine's execution by Maul. Although Darth Sidious later imprisoned Maul, his puppet leader, Almec, continued to publicly rule Mandalore, and some Nite Owls eventually left the planet to find a way to remove Almec from power.
Bo-Katan and fellow Nite Owl Ursa Wren eventually located the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano and asked for her help in ending Maul's rule on Mandalore, since he had escaped from prison and returned to the Mandalorian homeworld. Tano agreed and, despite no longer being connected to the Galactic Republic or its military, assembled the newly formed 332nd Division to reinforce the Nite Owls. Together, they besieged Mandalore and eventually captured Maul. While Tano and a portion of her clone troopers transported Maul back to Coruscant, Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls stayed on Mandalore. Bo-Katan was also appointed regent of the planet. However, the implementation of Order 66 and the subsequent Great Jedi Purge, the collapse of the Republic, and the formation of the Galactic Empire meant that the violent unrest on Mandalore was far from over.
The Empire occupied Mandalore with the remaining Republic forces stationed on the planet. When the Nite Owls resisted Imperial rule, Clan Saxon betrayed Bo-Katan, forcibly removing her from power, and the Nite Owls lost control of Mandalore once more.
In 2 BBY, the Nite Owls, along with Clan Wren, Clan Vizsla, Clan Rook, Clan Eldar, and Protector Fenn Rau, assisted the Spectres cell of the Alliance to Restore the Republic in destroying the Arc Pulse Generator. With the Darksaber in her possession, Bo-Katan unified them in another attempt to reclaim Mandalore. However, the planet was lost again when the Empire retaliated with the bombing of Mandalore, known as the Great Purge. A small group of Nite Owls remained active on the ruined surface, beginning the work of re-cultivating the planet's plant life.
In 9 ABY, Bo-Katan and fellow Nite Owl Koska Reeves worked as a unit alongside Mandalorian warrior Axe Woves. They teamed up with bounty hunter Din Djarin to steal and loot a Gozanti-class cruiser on the moon of Trask. Kryze's other Mandalorian followers, including the Nite Owls, abandoned her after she failed to reclaim the Darksaber from Gideon's light cruiser, becoming mercenaries under Woves. After Kryze inadvertently regained the right to the darksaber during a mission to the Living Waters with Djarin, she regained control of her forces on the planet Plazir-15.
Setting aside their differences with the Children of the Watch-aligned Mandalorian tribe, Kryze's forces, including her Nite Owls, traveled with the Children to reclaim Mandalore, where they also joined forces with the Nite Owl crew surviving on Mandalore. Faced with Gideon's Imperial remnant, which had established a base on Mandalore, Kryze and the Armorer led their combined supporters, including Nite Owls like Reeves, into battle. During the battle Gideon destroyed the Darksaber, however a victory over the Imperial forces was still gained. Mandalore was reclaimed by its people.
The Nite Owls wore their distinct [Mandalorian armor](/article/mandalorian_armor]. Before Maul's takeover, they were armed with GALAAR-15 blaster carbines. They continued to use WESTAR-35 blaster pistols with Mandalorian vambraces in combat.