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Josue Garcia
Prof. Jackie
English 113B
October 6, 2015
True Heroes of Watchmen
Heroes are defined as individuals who try to make the world a better place and take the
evil out of society. They risk their own lives to save other lives, and to serve justice for those
who cannot. Although many of these masked vigilantes in the graphic novel, Watchmen by Alan
Moore, done terrible things causing them to look less of a hero, most of them had good
intentions and did it for a greater cause. That is why Rorschach, Nite Owl, and Adrian are
considered the ultimate heroes of Watchmen and not Laurie, Dr. Manhattan, and The Comedian
because of their beliefs, actions, and attitudes they had throughout the novel.
The Comedian also known as Edward Blake is not a true hero because of his actions he
did when he was alive. Edward had a history of doing such horrible actions, that it is impossible
to picture him as a hero. From attempting to rape the Silk Spectre to shooting a pregnant girl
point-blank, his actions illustrate just how careless he thinks of human life. Edward seems to
only care for himself and his own interests, he would not think twice of using violence or killing
someone in order to accomplish his goals. He demonstrated that, when he used unnecessary force
on Americans protesters after Nite Owl failed to disperse the protest peacefully during the police
strike. He has an attitude towards favoring unnecessary violence, making Edward look less of a
hero, the attitude of a true hero would not be like Edwards and shouldnt be like Lauries
attitude either.

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Laurie attitude towards being a hero is the main reason why she didnt have that ultimate
hero image in Watchmen. A true hero chooses to be hero, wants to be a hero, and they are not
forced to become one like Laurie was by her mother. Laurie did not like following her mothers
footsteps of being a masked vigilante, as she stated in Watchmen, The kneen act was the best
thing that ever happened to [her].(Moore 33) Lauries statement proves that she had a negative
view towards being a masked vigilante and helping stop crimes. Furthermore, Laurie had a
selfish image in the novel, when she wanted Dr. Manhattan to pay more attention to her and less
to the world he is trying to save from a nuclear disaster. That made Laurie look as if she thought
she was more important than others, which is not a characteristics of a hero. Her behavior and
attitude didnt make her a bad hero, but more like it didnt help her look like an ultimate hero of
Watchmen, just like Dr. Manhattan.
Dr. Manhattan also known as Jon is a physicist with awesome superpowers and good
intentions of making earth a peaceful and better place. Even though Jon ended the war in
Vietnam for the Americans and is the main reason why earth has not been destroyed by nuclear
bombs. He is not considered a true hero of Watchmen because of the actions he could have done
with his powers, but chose not to instead. He has superpowers that have people classify him like
a god, if he has the power to see into the future and knows whats going to happen, he could have
prevented a lot of bad things that occurred. Dr. Manhattan could've prevented the J.F.K
assassination but chose not to, he did the same when The Comedian shot the pregnant
Vietnamese girl in front of him. He chooses not to prevent these events because he does not want
to alter the future. A hero with that kind of superpowers would of alter the future knowing it
would do society good and would definitely not leave earth in middle of a nuclear crisis like Dr.
Manhattan did. He basically stopped caring for human life when he decided to bail, shown in this

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article The Superman Exists, and Hes American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power by
Christopher explains, As a result Dr. Manhattan no longer finds much value in the human
race finds it difficult to care about the pressing problem immediately confronting it having
to endure a nuclear war due to his decision to take up residency on mars.(6) He knows his
presence on earth is preventing a nuclear war and his decision to leave showed he cared little of
the human race at that point. A true hero would have strong emotions towards human life, never
quit on the human race, and alter the future for the good of the human race. Dr. Manhattan failed
to show these hero like characteristics therefore, is the reason why he is not a ultimate hero like
Rorschach.
When the kneen act passed and force all masked vigilantes to retire, Rorschach was the
only one who refused and continued to solve crimes. Moreover, Rorschachs view on evil is what
separates him from the others, his belief that Because there is good and evil, and evil must be
punished. Even in the face of Armageddon(Moore 32) That is what a true hero mindset
should be like, punish the evil no matter what, even if the world is ending, punish them to rid of
the evil. Rorschach mostly worked alone and unlike Dr. Manhattan did not work for the
American government, he had a different method of dealing with the evil in society. In An article
by Jacob M Held, called Can we steer this rudderless world? Kant Rorschach, Retributivism,
and Honor Jacob points out Rorschachs method, when Rorschach administers punishment
he is administering the ancient law of retaliation an eye for an eye. This way of punishing
criminal means Rorschach did not give mercy to anybody performing terrible crimes, such as
murder and rape, hes not the type of hero that gives out second chances to criminals. Which is
the best method to get rid of the evil in society. Rorschachs method of punishing evil may look
too extreme at first, but in the end he is doing this to bad people who committed crimes. Hes the

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type of hero who gets things done more effectively, while simultaneously breaking rules and
laws in the process. That is what makes him a hero, the will to do whatever it takes to help take
the evil out of society. Rorschach's way of solving crime is much different than his old partner
Nite Owl yet, both are still considered the ultimate heroes of Watchmen.
Although Nite Owl, unlike Rorschach, retired due to the kneen act, hes still considered
an ultimate hero because as a masked vigilante he did things by the rules and he enjoyed being
one. When Rorschach visited Nite Owl to inform him about the death of The Comedian, as
Rorschach left, Nite Owl had a regretted face expression after Rorschach reminded him that he
quit. Nite Owl also showed that he liked saving people when he and Laurie rescued people from
a burning building. All of Nite Owls intentions were good throughout the novel, he even
supported the crime busters when other heroes did not. Furthermost he kept quiet about Adrians
plan at the end in order to keep world peace, his behavior and attitude as a masked vigilante is
what made him an ultimate hero of Watchmen.
Many people will disagree with me on Adrian being a true hero of Watchmen because of
his evil plot that caused millions to die. A plot that made him look like a villain at first, but in the
end was meant for a greater cause, world peace. Something, Dr. Manhattan could not accomplish
with his god like superpowers. Even though hes responsible for the lives of millions, he did save
Earth from an even bigger problem, a nuclear war that would of killed everybody else on it. His
intentions were actually good all along as he cheerfully gloated his accomplishment I saved
earth from hell Next Ill help towards utopia...(Moore 402) He never wanted to destroy earth, he
just wanted to stop the Americans and Soviets from launching nuclear bombs at each other. Not
only did he save the human race from possible nuclear extinction but he also made earth a better
place, by creating world peace, a goal every true hero should stride for.

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Rorschach, Nite Owl, and Adrian are the ultimate heroes of Watchmen and not Laurie, Dr.
Manhattan and The Comedian. A true hero is someone who wants to be one, wants to stop and
punish the evil, and whose intentions are to make the world a better place. As Rorschach's,
Adrian's, and Nite owls actions, attitude, and behavior proved that they are the true heroes of
Watchmen. Meanwhile The Comedian's, Laurie's, and Dr. Manhattans actions and attitude
showed, they lacked in quality hero characteristics. They all had flaws of their own and good
intentions for the human race, but in the end, their actions spoke louder than their words.

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Works Cited
Held, Jacob. Can we steer this rudderless world? Kant Rorschach, Retributivism, and
Honor, Academia. Web. 28 September. 2015.
Moore, Alan, writer. Watchmen. Dave Gibbons, Illustrator. New York. DC Comic, 1986, 1987.
Print.
Robichaud, Christopher. The Superman Exists, and Hes American: Morality in the Face of
Absolute Power 5-17. Web. 28 September. 2015.