The Knot Tops were a New York City gang, or perhaps a youth subculture replacing the skinheads of our world in the 1980s, characterized by wearing their hair in knots resting on the tops of their heads Japanese style. They were quite violent and vicious; while walking to Hollis Mason's home, Dan Dreiberg and Laurie Juspeczyk are attacked by a small group of them in an alley. Dreiberg and Juspeczyk fight them off, severely injuring them. This instance has later repercussions for Hollis Mason, as the Knot Tops later credit one of these gang member's paralysis to Hollis Mason.