Gawks in Owlboy: Enemy Guide
How to handle Owlboy's Gawk enemies, including Hive Gawks and Environmental Gawks, and what each type does.
How do you deal with Gawks in Owlboy?
Gawks are described by the community wiki as the most common enemy in Owlboy, and they hunt in packs, so the main thing to prepare for is company — they can hide, leap and swarm targets in coordinated fashion. They are green, lumpy, spherical creatures with bat wings, one eye and four legs, and they are highly territorial. According to the community wiki, Gawks usually travel in packs, and you are considered very lucky to survive a Gawk ambush if you ever find yourself in one.
The game itself is a story-driven platform adventure where Otus flies, carries friends as gunners and fights through monster-infested ruins, as described on the official Steam page.
What are Gawks and how do they attack?
Gawks are an ancient species that hunts in packs and is highly territorial, according to the community wiki page on the Gawk. In the air they can hide, leap and swarm a target, and a single Gawk is rarely the whole story: you will sometimes see them together with their young, called Peeks.
Their numbers are high because they have no natural predators, so they stay common even in the most hostile corners of the skies. One wiki detail that matters in combat: an armored Gawk resists blaster shots, but its armor can be knocked off with a spin attack.
What is a Hive Gawk?
A Hive Gawk is what a pack becomes when one of its members is accepted as a leader. According to the community wiki, if a pack of Gawks finds a leader among themselves they form a hive, and the rest of the pack bands together to protect that leader, allowing it to grow to full size.
That means the pack's behavior changes around a hive: the others are there to shield the leader. The wiki does not spell out a dedicated Hive Gawk strategy, so treat thinning the escort first as an obvious approach rather than a documented one.
Are there different kinds of Gawks?
Yes. Gawks are highly adaptive and there are several kinds across the world, the community wiki notes. Some kinds are resistant to heat or cold, and some brandish different kinds of facial protection to better survive encounters.
Beyond those resistances and the armored version that shrugs off blaster shots until its armor is knocked off with a spin attack, there is no formally documented list of every environmental variant and where each one appears. The guide pages describe the adaptations, not a full map of spawns.
Tips for fighting Gawks
- Expect packs. Gawks travel in packs and are described as swarming their targets in coordinated fashion.
- Use the spin attack on armored ones. The wiki notes that armored Gawks resist blaster shots but their armor can be knocked off with a spin attack.
- Watch for Peeks. Gawks are sometimes seen with their young, so a small group can be larger than it looks.
- Be careful of ambushes. The wiki notes you are lucky to survive a Gawk ambush.
- Their numbers are high. With no natural predators, Gawks stay common even in the most hostile corners of the skies.
For the wider setting and story, the Wikipedia entry covers Otus, Vellie and the pirate attack that starts the adventure; the official site has the developer's own overview of the game.
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