List of Watchmen Characters - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

5/13/2014 List of Watchmen characters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_of_Watchmen#Nite_Owl 1/12
The six main characters of the 1986 comic
book limited series Watchmen (from left to
right): Ozymandias, the second Silk
Spectre, Doctor Manhattan, the Comedian
(kneeling), the second Nite Owl and
Rorschach.
List of Watchmen characters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Characters of Watchmen)
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by
Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins, published by DC
Comics in 1986 and 1987. Watchmen focuses on six main
characters: the Comedian, Doctor Manhattan, the Nite Owl,
Ozymandias, Rorschach, and the Silk Spectre. These characters
were originally based on the Mighty Crusaders
[1]
and then
reworked in an unsolicited proposal to fit superhero properties DC
had acquired from Charlton Comics in the early 1980s. Series
writer Alan Moore created the main characters to present six
"radically opposing ways" to perceive the world, and to give readers
of the story the privilege of determining which one was most morally
comprehensible.
[2]
Contents
1 Main characters
1.1 The Comedian
1.2 Doctor Manhattan
1.3 Nite Owl
1.4 Ozymandias
1.5 Rorschach
1.6 Silk Spectre
2 Minor characters
2.1 Minutemen
2.2 Adversaries
2.3 Other characters
3 References
4 Notes
Main characters
The Comedian
The Comedian is Edward Morgan Blake. The Comedian was initially based on the Shield and then on the
Charlton Comics character Peacemaker, with elements of the Marvel Comics spy character Nick Fury added.
Moore and Gibbons saw The Comedian as "a kind of Gordon Liddy character, only a much bigger, tougher
guy".
[3]
Gibbons went with a Groucho Marx-style appearance (mustache and cigar) for the Comedian in his design,
deciding that the "clown" look had already been appropriated by the DC Comics supervillain the Joker.
[4]
His
costume itself was noted by Gibbons as being particularly problematic; he was initially designed with a more
militaristic costume which was later dropped for a black leather outfit with a "rapist mask".
[4]
He believes that
humans are savage in nature, and that civilization can never be more than an idea. He therefore chooses to become
a mockery of society, fighting and killing without reservation.
Blake's murder, which takes place shortly before the story begins in 1985, sets the plot of Watchmen in motion.
The character appears throughout the story in flashbacks and aspects of his personality are revealed by other
characters.
[5]
Richard Reynolds described The Comedian as "ruthless, cynical, and nihilistic, and yet capable of
deeper insights than the others into the role of the costumed hero".
[5]
Nicholas Michael Grant said the Comedian is
"the only character in the Watchmen universe who is almost totally unlikeable."
[6]
If Before Watchmen is accepted as canon, then in "Before Watchmen: The Minutemen #1", additional details are
revealed about Comedian. It is revealed that the Comedian got his start as a costumed adventurer at the young age
of 16 and had a prior criminal record for assault. Unlike the rest of the costumed heroes of the Minutemen, he is
shown to be driven by greed and a love for violence. In particular, he assaults a bartender after breaking up a bar
fight and steals liquor and money from the cash register. The issue also implies Blake may have been a victim of
severe child abuse as he claims that a "caseworker" told him that the abuse he suffered was the cause of his violent
outbursts.
[7]
"Before Watchmen: Comedian #1" rewrites the character's back-story further. It is revealed that Blake was close
personal friends with Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy as well as Jackie Kennedy. This contradicts the main
Watchmen series, which cast Edward Blake as a close personal friend of Richard Nixon (for whom he had worked
as an assassin). The mini-series reveals that Blake was responsible for the murder of Marilyn Monroe (ordered by
Jackie Kennedy, behind her husband's back) as well as revealing that, despite strong innuendo from both Blake and
Ozymandias,
[8]
that he did not kill John Kennedy and was attempting to confront Moloch when he found the villain
watching the live coverage of the assassination, including Kennedy's death.
[9]
In the Watchmen film, he is played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The film also places him as John F. Kennedy's
assassin, as shown in the opening montage.
Doctor Manhattan
Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman is a physicist who was transformed into a blue-skinned, radiated powerful being
after he was disintegrated in an Intrinsic Field Subtractor in 1959. He had returned to the chamber to retrieve his
girlfriend's watch (which he had repaired), and was accidentally locked inside when the Subtractor started
automatically. Jon was blown into atoms, with nothing left of his body. Within a few months, his disembodied
consciousness managed to reconstruct a physical body for itself. Following his reanimation, he is immediately
pressed into service by the United States government, which gives him the name Doctor Manhattan, after the
Manhattan Project. He is the only character in the story that possesses actual superpowers.
[10]
Though he dabbles
briefly in crime-fighting, his greatest influence is to grant the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union during
the Cold War, with his most significant action taking place after he is personally asked by President Richard Nixon
to intervene in the Vietnam War, leading to an unqualified victory for the U.S. with the defeat of North Vietnam and
the Vietcong, preventing the collapse of the Saigon government. Since he works for the U.S. government, he is
exempt from the provisions of the Keene Act, but spends much of his time doing advanced technology research
and development, and physics research. He is single-handedly responsible for the shift to electric-powered vehicles
(by synthesizing the needed elements and chemicals himself) and Veidt credits him with causing a huge leap forward
in myriad areas of science and technology. As a result, the technology of the alternative 1985 of the Watchmen
universe is far more advanced. After the death of his father in 1969, he does not conceal his birth name and is
referenced as "Jon" or "Dr. Osterman".
Doctor Manhattan was partly based on DC Comic's Captain Atom, who in Moore's original proposal was
surrounded by the shadow of nuclear threat. However, the writer found he could do more with Manhattan as a
"kind of a quantum super-hero" than he ever could have with Captain Atom.
[3]
Moore sought to delve into nuclear
physics and quantum physics in constructing the character of Dr. Manhattan. The writer believed that a character
living in a quantum universe would not perceive time with a linear perspective, which would influence the character's
perception of human affairs. Moore also wanted to avoid creating an emotionless character like Spock from Star
Trek, so he sought for Dr. Manhattan to retain "human habits" and to grow away from them and humanity in
general.
[2]
Gibbons had created the blue character Rogue Trooper, and explained he reused the blue skin motif for
Doctor Manhattan as it resembles skin tonally, but has a different hue. Moore incorporated the color into the story,
and Gibbons noted the rest of the comic's color scheme made Manhattan unique.
[11]
The blue skin color is
explained as being a result of Cherenkov radiation. Moore recalled that he was unsure if DC would allow the
creators to depict the character as fully nude, which partially influenced how they portrayed the character.
[12]
Gibbons wanted to tastefully depict Manhattan's nudity, selecting carefully when full frontal shots would occur and
giving him "understated" genitals like a classical sculpture so the reader would not initially notice it.
[13]
Dr.
Manhattan's forehead is marked with the atomic structure of hydrogen, which he put on himself, declining a helmet
with the atom symbol.
His powers include superhuman strength, telekinesis, teleportation, control over matter at a subatomic level, and
near-total clairvoyance (though limited to events that he will directly experience in the future; Manhattan notes in a
television interview that he is not omniscient). He can change the size of his body and duplicate himself at will. He
perceives the past, present and future as happening simultaneously, but states that he cannot act on that knowledge
since his own actions and reactions to events (as is reality itself) are predetermined; even as a human, his major
actions were always influenced by others, such as him training in quantum physics because his father insisted he
search for a job that would be more relevant in the future than his own role as a watchmaker. His ability to see the
future can be blocked by a surge of tachyons, such as that released when Ozymandias puts the final step of his plan
into action. He also admits to withholding his powers to their full potential because he knows it is not his right to
abuse them.
In the Watchmen film, Doctor Manhattan is a CGI character whose body is modeled after fitness model Greg Plitt,
with voice, motion capture, and facial performance provided by Billy Crudup (who also plays Osterman prior to his
transformation).
Nite Owl
Main article: Nite Owl
Nite Owl II (Daniel Dreiberg) is a superhero who uses owl-themed gadgets, in a manner which led Dave
Gibbons to consider him "an obsessive hobbyist... a comics fan, a fanboy."
[14]
Nite Owl was partly based on the
Ted Kord version of the DC Comics superhero Blue Beetle. Just as Ted Kord had a predecessor, Moore also
incorporated an earlier adventurer who used the name "Nite Owl" (the retired crime fighter Hollis Mason) into
Watchmen.
[3]
While Moore devised character notes for Gibbons to work from, the artist provided a name and a
costume design for Hollis Mason he had created when he was twelve.
[13]
Richard Reynolds noted in Super
Heroes: A Modern Mythology that despite the character's Charlton roots, Nite Owl's modus operandi has more in
common with the DC Comics character Batman.
[15]
According to Geoff Klock, his civilian form "visually suggests
an impotent, middle-aged Clark Kent."
[16]
The second Nite Owl is another Crimebusters vigilante who has not
revealed his identity in the post-Keene Act era throughout the novel.
"Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1" establishes that Dan Dreiberg was an abused child whose obsession with the
original Nite Owl led him to plant a tracking device on Hollis' vehicle in order to track him down.
[17]
It also
establishes the events of how he was taken in as his apprentice: after Hollis threatened violence if Dan attempted to
contact him again (due to him not wanting a sidekick), Dan returned home to find all of his prized Nite Owl
memorabilia having been destroyed by his father, who was assaulting his mother (who tried to stop him) while
demanding that Dan watch him beat his mother. Dan retreated to his now emptied room while his dad died under
mysterious circumstances (his mom claims that he suffered a heart attack while beating her and mother and son
decided to withhold medical treatment out of anger for what he did). At the funeral, Hollis (having since discovered
Dan's abusive childhood via police reports) confronts Dan and agrees to take him on as his sidekick. However,
after training him, Hollis announces his retirement and informs Dan that he is giving him the Nite Owl identity rather
than creating a sidekick persona for him. It is also revealed that Rorschach met Nite Owl on Dan's very first patrol
and offered his assistance as a partner to the young rookie hero.
[17]
In the Watchmen film, he is played by Patrick Wilson, who put on 25 pounds (11 kg)
[18]
in between the filming of
his flashback scenes and the 1985 scenes, showing the physical decline of his character.
Ozymandias
Main article: Ozymandias (comics)
Ozymandias (Adrian Veidt) was a former superhero who draws inspiration from his hero Alexander the Great
and the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, for whom he is named. A child prodigy, he graduated from high school and
college before he was 18 and learned the art of lying as he hid the full scope of his brilliance for most of his
childhood after being accused of cheating. When he inherited his family's fortune upon his parents' death in a car
accident, Adrian gave it away to see if he could be a success by himself. Veidt traced Alexander the Great's path
himself across the globe and ultimately returned to the United States, where he became a successful businessman.
However, when his business partner and would-be love interest overdosed on drugs (purchased with funds given to
her by Adrian as a gift to allow her to have fun in New York City one night), Veidt decided to avenge her death as
a superhero. His costume was conceived as a Halloween costume but he quickly developed a name for himself as a
hero.
[19]
Two years before the Keene Act passed, Veidt went public with his secret identity and began
merchandising his alter ego as he became one of the most important businessmen in America. However, his fear of
a nuclear war between Russia and America, plus a rivalry with Comedian (who unknowingly planted the idea of
stopping the inevitable nuclear holocaust into Veidt's head), led to him engaging in the vast conspiracy at the heart
of the Watchmen series.
Ozymandias was directly based on Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, whom Moore had admired for using his full brain
capacity as well as possessing full physical and mental control.
[3]
Veidt is believed to be the smartest man on the
planet, even capable of outsmarting Dr. Manhattan. His combination of intelligence and highly advanced fighting
skills makes him perhaps the most feared and dangerous of the mortal vigilantes. He was even able to catch a bullet
fired at him. He is often accompanied by his genetically-engineered lynx, Bubastis. Richard Reynolds noted that by
taking initiative to "help the world", Veidt displays a trait normally attributed to villains in superhero stories, and in a
sense he is the "villain" of the series; however, he purposely acts for an objective greater good, thus avoiding the
traditional "villain" classification, which is typically self-serving, delusional or evil.
[20]
Gibbons noted "One of the
worst of his sins [is] kind of looking down on the rest of humanity, scorning the rest of humanity."
[21]
In 2008, he
was ranked number 10 on the Forbes Fictional 15.
[22]
Wizard magazine also ranked Ozymandias as 25th Greatest
Villain of All Time and IGN ranked him as 21st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
[23]
In the Watchmen film, Veidt is played by Matthew Goode. His costume was designed to parody the rubber suits
featuring nipples in the film Batman & Robin. This incarnation of Veidt uses a German accent when speaking with
friends and an American accent when speaking publicly. Instead of breeding a giant monster and placing it in New
York to massacre half the city as in the comics, Veidt destroys New York with an energy blast designed to look as
though Doctor Manhattan caused it, bringing the world to peace.
Rorschach
Main article: Rorschach (comics)
Rorschach is a noir private detective-themed vigilante who wears a white mask with constantly shifting ink blots.
Rorschach continues to fight crime in spite of his outlaw status, eventually making the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.
He was born Walter Joseph Kovacs, the son of a prostitute by a man whose last name his mother never
bothered to learn, and spent much of his childhood in a home for troubled youth, after which he began working in a
garment factory. After reading about the murder of Kitty Genovese and the reported complete indifference of the
witnesses of the crime, he modified a special fabric that she had ordered, according to him, to create a mask and
became a vigilante, eventually forming a productive partnership with Nite Owl II. In 1975, after failing to rescue a
young girl, he lost all faith in humanity and began to embrace extremist right-wing ideology.
When the story begins, a man is seen walking around New York carrying a sign that reads "The End Is Nigh," but it
is not until several chapters later that the reader learns that this man is Kovacs/Rorschach.
Moore based Rorschach on the Steve Ditko creations The Question and Mr. A. Moore said he was trying to
"come up with this quintessential Steve Ditko character someone who's got a funny name, whose surname
begins with a 'K,' who's got an oddly designed mask".
[24]
As a result, Rorschach's real name is given as Walter
Kovacs. Ditko's Charlton character The Question also served as a template for creating Rorschach.
[3]
Comics
historian Bradford W. Wright described the character's world view as "a set of black-and-white values that take
many shapes but never mix into shades of gray, similar to the ink blot tests of his namesake". Rorschach sees
existence as random and, according to Wright, this viewpoint leaves the character "free to 'scrawl [his] own design'
on a 'morally blank world'".
[25]
Moore said he did not foresee the death of Rorschach until the fourth issue when he
realized that his refusal to compromise would result in him not surviving the story.
[2]
Rorschach is close friends with the second Nite Owl. He is the first hero Rorschach meets with when Comedian is
killed
[26]
and Nite Owl organizes a rescue mission to free Rorschach from jail when he is arrested.
[27]
If you accept
it as canon, then Before Watchmen reveals that Rorschach was active as a hero before Nite Owl made his debut
and on the latter's first night out as a hero, Rorschach sneaks into his owl ship and offers his services to Nite Owl as
a partner.
[17]
In the Watchmen film, he is played by Jackie Earle Haley.
Silk Spectre
Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre II) is the daughter of Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre. Laurie's mother
apparently wanted her to follow in her footsteps and so she fought crime for ten years before the Keene Act
banned vigilantes. Unlike the other protagonists, Silk Spectre was not based on a particular Charlton character,
although her relationship with Dr. Manhattan is similar to that between Captain Atom and the heroine Nightshade.
Moore felt he needed a female hero in the cast and drew inspiration from comic book heroines such as Black
Canary and Phantom Lady.
[3]
If Before Watchmen is accepted as canon, then "Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1" revealed that Laurie got her
start as a super-hero being trained by her mother to continue the family legacy, before running away from home at
the age of 16
[28]
and relocating to San Francisco with her boyfriend.
[29]
Laurie is kept on retainer by the government because of her relationship with Doctor Manhattan and lives on a
government base at the beginning of the comic. When Doctor Manhattan leaves Earth, the government has her
removed from the base and suspends her expense account, forcing her to move in with Dan, with whom she starts a
romantic relationship. At the end of the eighth issue, Doctor Manhattan appears and takes her to Mars because he
knows she wants to convince him to save the world. On Mars, she realizes that The Comedian was her biological
father. After the final encounter with Veidt at the end of the series, she assumes the identity of Sandra Hollis and
continues her relationship with Dan. An offhand comment to Dan, in which she claims to want a better costume,
with leather and a sidearm, implies she's thinking about taking over her late father's identity, thus becoming the
second Comedian.
In the Watchmen film, she is played by Malin kerman. In a 2003 draft script by David Hayter, which was
reviewed by IGN, Laurie uses the name, Jupiter, and the alter ego name "Slingshot".
[30]
The former detail seems to
have been retained in the final version of the film (though the Nite Owl's goggles gave her last name as her mother's
maiden name, Juspeczyk). The film gives her date of birth as December 2, 1949. Silk Spectre was ranked 24th in
Comics Buyer's Guide's 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list.
[31]
Though only Doctor Manhattan had true 'super powers' in the traditional sense, all the characters had strength that
bordered on superhuman in the film.
Minor characters
Key to the success of Watchmen is the wide range of characters it features beyond the 'main' stars. Moore stated
in 1988 that, in Watchmen, "we spend a good deal of time with the people on the street. We wanted to spend as
much time detailing these characters and making them believable as we did the main characters."
[32]
Moore and
Gibbons deliberately wanted all their characters "to have a place in this vast organic mechanism that we call the
world."
[32]
The fleshing-out of the world was, in Moore's words, to demonstrate that "all the way through the entire
series human life is going on with all of its petty entanglements and minor difficulties and all the rest of it."
[33]
Moore
adds that it is possible to see the story as being as much about the supporting as the main characters:
What Nixon does and what Dr. Manhattan does and what Veidt does it affects the people on the
street corner but only peripherally, indirectly... And yet, in some ways, those people on the street
corner, it's their story. They're the people we're concerned about.
[33]
Minutemen
Hollis Mason - The first Nite Owl who is retired in 1962 and author of the autobiography "Under The
Hood" which appears in excerpts throughout the story. Hollis was the only member of the Minutemen who
did not have any social problems and mainly enjoyed being a costumed adventurer. On Halloween, The
Knot-Tops led by Derf assault Hollis in retaliation for the release of Rorschach, which was caused by The
Nite Owl II (Daniel Dreiberg) and The Silk Spectre II (Laurie Juspeczyk). Derf hits Hollis on the head with
Hollis' Nite Owl trophy killing the former superhero (this event is only depicted in the director's cut version of
the film). In the film, he is played by Stephen McHattie, while his younger self is played by Clint Carleton.
Sally Jupiter (real name Sally Juspeczyk) - The first Silk Spectre and founding member of the
Minutemen who is now retired. She is later the domineering "stage mom" of Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre
II). Sally married her manager, Laurence Schexnayder, shortly after retiring. She narrowly avoided being
raped by the Comedian, although she later forgave him, and ultimately bore his child. Sally adores the
attention she receives from fans of "The Silk Spectre", though Laurie is repulsed at her mother's sexually
explicit exploits in promoting herself. In the film, she is played by Carla Gugino.
Captain Metropolis (real name Nelson "Nelly" Gardner) - A former Marine Lieutenant. He was one of
the more active members of the Minutemen, having organized its formation. Metropolis was involved in a
sexual relationship with Hooded Justice, which in various supplemental material was abusive, with Hooded
Justice abusing and cheating on Metropolis until H. J.'s death in the early 1950s, when the Comedian framed
Hooded Justice as a child murderer. In the 1960s, he also unsuccessfully attempted to recruit the second
generation of superheroes into a new group called the Crimebusters. He ultimately dies in a car wreck in
1974 that left him decapitated and the accident considered a form of suicide. He was played by Darryl
Scheelar.
Hooded Justice - The first masked vigilante, often initialled "H. J." by his teammates. His real identity is
never conclusively revealed but in Hollis' book it he is suggested to be circus strongman Rolf Mller. If
Before Watchmen is accepted as canon, then in Before Watchmen: Minutemen #6, we learn that he is not
Rolf Muller (a character that sexually abused and killed children), but it is strongly implied that in fact he is
Muller's son or ward. Assuming he, himself, was abused and tortured by Muller, it explains a great deal his
violent persona, costume, and mask. A violent vigilante, Hooded Justice shared a romantic relationship with
Captain Metropolis and a deep-seated rivalry with Comedian, after he prevented Blake from sexually
assaulting Silk Spectre. Hooded Justice's relationship with Metropolis was a fractured one; Justice
repeatedly cheated on his boyfriend with male prostitutes, physically abusing them in sadomasochist sexual
encounters. This resulted in bribery of his lovers and the usage of Silk Spectre as his public girlfriend. This is
only in the "Before Watchmen" line of books, not what Moore and Gibbons intended for the character and
as such it is not considered canon by many longtime Watchmen fans.
He ultimately disappeared in the 1950s. In Minutemen #6 we learn that Hollis, mistakingly believing that
Hooded Justice killed and tortured the children (that were killed and tortured by his apparent father),
attacked Hooded Justice and snapped his neck, killing him. He was never actually unmasked, and
Metropolis burned down the headquarters with his former lover's body inside; Ozymandias (who
investigated his disappearance) assumes Comedian murdered him as payback for him voting him out of the
Minutemen, while in fact Comedian orchestrated the events that led Hollis to mistake Hooded Justice for the
actual child killer (thereby helping set up the circumstances leading to H.J.'s death). In the film he was played
by Glenn Ennis.
Dollar Bill (real name William Benjamin "Bill" Brady) - A bank-sponsored member of the Minutemen
who was created for publicity purposes. Socially conservative, he is portrayed as homophobic in Before
Watchmen and close friends with Comedian, ultimately siding with him when the group vote him out. He
died during a bank robbery in 1947 when his cloak was caught in the bank's revolving doors, allowing the
robbers to shoot him at point-blank range. In the film, he is portrayed by Dan Payne.
Mothman (real name Byron Lewis) - A former member of the Minutemen who suffered from alcoholism
and mental illness later in life. Lewis had a privileged upbringing and sought to help the less fortunate and fight
oppression and corruption as a crimefighter. To this end Lewis created a costume with special wings that
helped him glide, dubbing himself "Mothman". However, a series of near death experiences in perfecting his
wings left Lewis in constant pain and a drug addict and an alcoholic, with him requiring a drink each time
before he flew for "courage". Lewis's mental stability ultimately deteriorated after he was called before
HUAC, leading to him being forcibly brought to a mental asylum in Maine, but was briefly released for the
Minutemen's reunion. In the film, he is portrayed by Niall Matter.
The Silhouette (real name Ursula Zandt) - A former member of the Minutemen. A gun-toting vigilante,
Ursula was motivated by the murder of her parents at the hands of the Nazis and her sister's death as the two
fled Nazi occupied Europe. According to the first Nite Owl, Silhouette was the first member of the
Minutemen who went public with her career as a super-hero, when she busted a child pornography ring in
New York. She had a close working relationship with Nite Owl and after being forced out of the Minutemen
(upon being publicly outed as a lesbian) she continued to work with Nite Owl investigating a string of child
murders until she and her lover were killed by a former super-villain she had fought years earlier. She is
portrayed by Apollonia Vanova in the film.
Adversaries
Moloch The Mystic (real name Edgar William Jacobi, also known as Edgar William Vaughn, and
William Edgar Bright ) - A former supervillain. Moloch was jailed for a time during the 1970s. He is dying
of cancer which he received from Adrian Veidt. Moloch was later murdered by Adrian who frames
Rorschach. In the film, he is played by Matt Frewer.
Big Figure - A jailed dwarfish crime boss and former adversary of Nite Owl and Rorschach. He tries to get
revenge when Rorschach is imprisoned in the same jail as he is. In the film, he is played by Danny
Woodburn.
Detective Steven Fine - The police officer that investigates Edward Blake's murder, and captures
Rorschach. He deduces that Dan Dreiberg is Nite Owl II, and hints at this to Dreiberg in an effort to warn
him away from further activity. Fine dies when Veidt's monster appears in New York. He is portrayed by
Jerry Wasserman in the film.
Detective Joe Bourquin - The partner to Detective Steven Fine. Bourquin dies when Veidt's monster
appears in New York. In the film, he is Detective Gallagher and is portrayed by Don Thompson.
Other characters
Doug Roth - A reporter for Nova Express. He is present at Dr. Manhattan's interview with Ted Koppel
and reveals that several of his coworkers died of cancer, presumably from Manhattan. This leads to
Manhattan's self-imposed exile on Mars. Roth was played by John Shaw in the film.
Janey Slater - The first girlfriend of Dr. Jon Osterman. She leaves him in 1966 after she perceives a
relationship building between Osterman and Laurie. Veidt gives Janey cancer as part of his scheme to exile
Dr. Manhattan; Janey erroneously believes that Jon Osterman gave it to her. In the film, she is played by
Laura Mennell.
Bernard - A newsdealer who appears periodically on the central New York street corner. Bernard is
amongst the many characters who dies when Veidt's monster appears in New York, and he dies trying to
protect his young namesake. Moore has stated that he "is in some ways every man, because he's a complete
prat and doesn't know what's going on... [h]e is like a lot of people, he is a function of the news...
[regurgitating news headlines] think[ing] that's an opinion."
[34]
Dr. Malcolm Long - The psychiatrist who is assigned to evaluate Rorschach after he is apprehended. He is
initially very hopeful of curing Rorschach, even though his utter lack of emotion makes Long's psychiatric
evaluation techniques useless. Rorschach's unveiling of events that shaped his uncompromising mindset
greatly affects Dr. Long's own outlook and marriage. Malcolm and his wife die when Veidt's monster
appears in New York. In the film, he's played by William S. Taylor.
Seymour - A junior worker at the New Frontiersman magazine offices, designed by Moore to be "the
ordinary common slob".
[32]
He is the final character in Watchmen, playing a pivotal role in the final pages,
whom Moore describes as "the most low-life, worthless, nerdy sort of character in the entire book who
finally has the fate of the world resting in his pudging fingers".
[32]
In the film, Seymour is played by Chris
Gauthier.
References
Klock, Geoff. How to Read Superhero Comics and Why. Continuum, 2002. ISBN 0-8264-1419-2
Reynolds, Richard. Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology. B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1992. ISBN 0-7134-6560-
3
Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Johns
Hopkins, 2001. ISBN 0-8018-7450-5
Gibbons, Dave. "Watching the Watchmen: The Definitive Companion to the Graphic Novel". Titan Books,
2008. ISBN 978-1-84856-041-3
Notes
1. ^ Khoury, George (December 2008). The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore (Indispensable ed.). TwoMorrows.
p. 109.
2. ^
a

b

c
Eno, Vincent; El Csawza. "Vincent Eno and El Csawza meet comics megastar Alan Moore
(http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/?p=53)". Strange Things Are Happening. May/June 1988.
3. ^
a

b

c

d

e

f
Cooke, Jon B. "Alan Moore discusses the Charlton-Watchmen Connection
(http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/09moore.html)". Comic Book Artist. August 2000.
Retrieved on October 8, 2008.
4. ^
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b
Gibbons, Dave; John Higgons (2008). Watching the Watchmen. United States of America: DC Comics. p. 26.
ISBN 978-1-84856-041-3.
5. ^
a

b
Reynolds, p. 106
6. ^ Paige MacGregor (August 14, 2008). "Fatal Attraction: Hating to Love Watchmens Comedian"
(http://fandomania.com/fatal-attraction-hating-to-love-watchmens-comedian/). Hating to Love Watchmen's
Comedian. Fandomania. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
7. ^ Before Watchmen: The Minutemen #1
8. ^ Watchmen #10, 12
9. ^ Before Watchmen: The Comedian #1
10. ^ Wright, p. 272
11. ^ "Watchmen Secrets Revealed (http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/110308-watchmen-movie-dave-
gibbons.php)". WatchmenComicMovie.com. November 3, 2008. Retrieved on November 5, 2008.
12. ^ "A Portal to Another Dimension". The Comics Journal. July 1987.
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b
Kallies, Christy. "Under the Hood: Dave Gibbons
(http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/july99/gibbons.shtml)". SequentialTart.com. July 1999. Retrieved on
October 12, 2008
14. ^ Gibbons, "Watchmen Round Table: Moore & Gibbons" in David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview (1988), p. 47
15. ^ Reynolds, p. 32
16. ^ Klock, p. 66
17. ^
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b

c
Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1
18. ^ Amsden, David (1 March 2009). "Patrick Wilson, Superstar"
(http://nymag.com/movies/profiles/54999/index1.html). New Yorker. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
19. ^ Watchmen #11 and Before Watchmen: Ozymodias #1
20. ^ Reynolds, p. 110
21. ^ "Talking With Dave Gibbons (http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/101608-watchmen-comic-dave-gibbons-
interview.php)". WatchmenComicMovie.com. October 16, 2008. Retrieved on October 28, 2008.
22. ^ Ewalt, David M. "The Forbes Fictional 15 No. 10 Veidt, Adrian (http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/18/adrian-
veidt-money-oped-fictional1508-cx_de_1218ozymandias.html)". Forbes.com. December 18, 2008. Retrieved on
January 17, 2009.
23. ^ Ozymandias is number 21 (http://comics.ign.com/top-100-villains/21.html), IGN.
24. ^ Stewart, Bhob. "Synchronicity and Symmetry". The Comics Journal. July 1987.
25. ^ Wright, p. 27273
26. ^ Watchmen #1
27. ^ Watchmen #10
28. ^ Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. "Chapter 9: The Darkness of Mere Being." Watchmen. New York: DC Comics,
1987. 14. Print.
29. ^ Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1
30. ^ Stax. "The Stax Report: Script Review of Watchmen (http://movies.ign.com/articles/545/545644p1.html)." IGN.
September 9, 2004. Retrieved on March 5, 2009.
31. ^ Frankenhoff, Brent (2011). Comics Buyer's Guide Presents: 100 Sexiest Women in Comics. Krause Publications.
p. 23. ISBN 1-4402-2988-0.
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c

d
Christopher Sharrett, "(Interview with) Alan Moore," in David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #65
(1988), p. 7
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Watchmen_characters&oldid=608159578"
Categories: Watchmen characters Lists of DC Comics characters Characters created by Alan Moore
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33. ^
a

b
Moore, "Watchmen Round Table: Moore & Gibbons," in David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #65
(1988), p. 37
34. ^ Moore in Comics Interview #65 (1988), p. 41

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