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"Huh? I mean, huh, General Mam?"
―Stryker correcting himself, The River of Wind, page 87

Stryker (born Junior) was a male Barn Owl, or Tyto alba, who served in the Pure Ones army as a commander. While Stryker held many high positions in the Pure One army, he's described as not being very bright. In The Golden Tree, he is described as having a nick in his beak. Unlike his cohort Uglemore, Stryker remained loyal to the Pure Ones until his death.

Along with being a good warrior and an officer, Stryker was also the Pure Ones' best tracker and led the search party for Nyroc and Dustytuft when they deserted.

History[]



Before the Books[]

When Stryker joined the Pure Ones, he was originally named Junior.

The Shattering[]

Stryker was one of the guards present with Nyra when Eglantine and Primrose were captured in the Beaks. He is described as a Pure Guard Lieutenant when he reported to Nyra. He probably took part in the short skirmish, but it has not been backed up that he did for sure.

The Burning[]

Stryker first makes an appearance when the Pure Ones are on high alert waiting for the Guardians to launch their invasion. He and Uglamore began to bicker about the Guardians' impending attack and bout moving units of soldiers around the canyonland to make sure all areas of penetration were blocked. Uglamore suggested waking up the High Tyto Kludd and Her Pureness Nyra. Stryker decided against it and thought to himself how Uglamore was trying to nudge his way into the good graces of Kludd and Nyra. When the battle began, Stryker joined the action. He fought Otulissa against the wall of a cliff and thought he pinned her back against it. She then dodged and sliced his belly, wounding him. He was chased by Ruby and Otulissa but escaped them and survived the battle, one of the few Pure Ones who did.

The Hatchling[]

A survivor of the War of the Pure Ones, despite their catastrophic lose, the surviving remnants of Kludd's army of followers, Stryker among them, continued to hold out under Nyra, to whom Stryker became the right-wing owl to. Despite his demise, rumors were abound that the scroom of Metal Beak continued to haunt the owl world and Uglamore and Stryker were once to be heard by Dustytuft speaking of such gossip one night.

Amongst the collection of senior officers of Nyra's troops perched upon the Great Horns, Stryker bore witness Nyroc's performance of the 'Hail Kludd' maneuver, praising loudly the skills of the hatchling and expressing to Nyra his expectations that the son of Kludd would soon be able to fly among the Pure Ones' elite units, praising the young Tyto's maneuverability. On the night of Nyroc's intended Tupsi ceremony, Stryker flew past the hollow belonging to Nyra, noting how tonight was the night of ceremony. As Nyra replies that she believed her son to have gone hunting for her, Stryker commented how the young owl was a "plummel off his old man", instantly angering the General Mam, who snapped back that Nyroc's "old lady" had certainly contributed to it. Instantly babbling a stream of apologies as he turned back to his leader, Stryker was swiftly shut down by Nyra and dismissed.

Stryker led the posse when Nyroc and Dustytuft deserted the Pure Ones, helped with this by Doc Finebeak, the famed tracker who was on good terms with crows.

Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole[]

After Nyroc fled again, he and Vaygar went to track him down. They met Uglamore at Silverveil. Unknown to them, Uglamore already found the hatchling and was determined to protect him. Stryker left to find the hatchling somewhere else, leaving a hungry Vaygar, who got killed later by Uglamore.

The Outcast[]

When Coryn, as Nyroc was now known as, encounters Slynella and Stingyll, he at first suspects them of being emissaries of his mother, who he had once overheard speaking to Stryker about her desire to recruit flying snakes of Ambala to a special regiment of the Pure Ones, though the two serpents deny any allegiance to the Pure Ones. Later on, while spying on a trio of young Barn Owl recruits set to guard a clutch of snatched eggs, Coryn overhears one of the aspiring soldiers, Flint, mention that they simply had to watch over the stolen eggs until Stryker and another lieutenant of Nyra's, Wortmore, returned, no doubt to transfer the eggs to former St. Aegolius Eggorium in the Canyonlands. Although not mentioned, it is very likely that Stryker was also tasked with preparing the remaining Pure Ones and hireclaws and rogue smiths who had recently joined for battle upon Nyra's order.

The Golden Tree[]

Stryker was sent by Nyra to retrieve the Book of Kreeth from Trader Mags. When Trader Mags recounted the event, Coryn realized it was Stryker who was sent because of the notch on his beak Trader Mags described him with. He was present at the Battle of the Book of Kreeth and survived. This battle could be considered the origins of the War of the Ember because its events were very important in the timeline of the presence of the Ember of Hoole.

The River of Wind[]

Stryker was disappointed to hear that Tarn, a Burrowing Owl hireclaw, had been promoted above him to the rank of Captain. This insult on Stryker's behalf made him third-in-command and ultimately led to his death as he was distracted when Tengshu attacked and killed him, since he wanted to kill Tengshu badly to reclaim favor of Nyra but underestimated Tengshu's abilities.

Personality[]

Stryker was a fierce warrior who had been part of the Pure Ones force trying to dominate the world during the War of the Pure Ones and the origins of the War of the Ember. He always held high ranking positions and favor with the leaders of the Pure Ones until his last days as a soldier when he lost his command.

Stryker was shown to express extreme jealousy of the owls that outrank him or were promoted ahead of him, as he was jealous of Uglamore, another Commander of the Pure Ones, thinking he was always trying to impress Her Pureness, Nyra and the High Tyto, Kludd. Later, he also was insulted by being outranked by a hireclaw that wasn't even any type of Barn Owl.

Stryker was a good fighter with battle claws and fire claws and even tried to fight with fire. He was also the Pure Ones' best tracker. He may have been the leader of the elite unit, the Fire Talons. This was mentioned during the rebuilding of the Pure Ones Empire when he suggested Nyroc be recruited into the officers' corp, Fire Talons, or the scouts, elite units of soldiers.

Description[]

In The Burning, Stryker was scarred across his stomach by Otulissa, and is shown to have a notch in his beak in The River of Wind.

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