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Tajh Henderson
Professor Hymes
ENGLISH 113B
12/8/15
The Watchmen or Men Who Watch?
The graphic novel Watchmen, written by Alan Moore, is a novel that includes superheroes
with extremely different viewpoints on life and these superheroes also share different morals,
ethics, and values. In the graphic novel, these costumed heroes are living the life of a normal
civilian. The book opens with immediate excitement and action with the death of a retired hero
The Comedian. Soon after, the book introduces the superhero character Rorschach and the
story then tense to unfold from that point. Because of a series of unfortunate events, several
superheroes have no choice but to construct a plan of action in order to prevent catastrophic
events from happening which can lead to what might seem like the end of the world as they
know it. The novel includes characters who are portrayed as heroes, but it can be argued that
some of these so-called superheroes arent heroes at all. However, if the characters are analyzed
individually and objectively, there will be found that Ozymandias and Rorschach are the real
superheroes of this graphic novel. Ozymandias and Rorschach are the real heroes because
Ozymandias saves humanity, Rorschach does not agree with punishing evil, and the other
superheroes are not real heroes for several reasons and unheroic actions.
Rorschach is a character the author set out for nobody to like, yet everyone grows fond of
him he comes from a rough background that leads him into his line of work. Rorschach is also
known as Walter Joseph Kovacs. He is your different type of hero, one my say how can he be a

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hero because he too, like Veidt killer people. But there was a difference between Rorschach
killing and Veidt's. Rorschach is different because he reacted with villains in a way most heroes
did not, he believed in violence. He believe if someone did something wrong that they have to
pay the price. Some of the people he would just bring harm and pain to them, but others that did
the unthinkable crimes had to pay with death. And one may say how he could be considered a
good hero if he behave in such barbaric ways, well Rorschach believed the justice system was
unfair and if one thought about it that is how our justice system is in a way. People get sentence
the death sentence and life in prison for things sometimes they do not even do. So Rorschach
took thinks in his own hands. One may also say that Rorschach is extreme with handling the
criminals, but in Rorschach's mind they deserved the punishment. In chapter 6, Rorschach
describes a case he was solving where a child was kidnapped which the turned into her getting,
raped, and killed. When he finally found out who did and he went to look for the monster that is
when he discovered that child was raped and killer. Rorschach waits for the man, torches him
and then sets the man's house on fire with him still inside. Some may say how if that right, well
Rorschach felt as if the man took the Childs life so the man did not desire his. Now thinking back
to the justice system if that man was convicted he would have gotten some time for him crime,
now once the man was in prison and other inmate found out what he did they would have
tortured and killed him them self. Rorschach is also the true hero of the book because he was the
only one with good intentions on trying to find out who killed the Comedian, everyone else was
too concerned with their selfish needs, with the exception of Ozymandias.
Ozymandias is a hero because he committed an evil act for a greater good. He was
willing to sacrifice the lives of two million people to save the world from nuclear war, and he
therefore saved humanity from the annihilation of billions of people. Even though this is an evil
act and innocent lives are being taken, it is justified by the fact that he saved the majority of

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humanity is being saved. Ozymandias states whats significant is that I know. I know that Ive
struggled across the backs of murdered innocents to save humanitybut someone had to take the
weight of that awful, necessary crime (Moore and Gibbons 12.27). This means that Ozymandias
felt like he had to single handedly take the responsibility for saving humanity, even though he
knew what the cost would be. Most would say Ozymandias is a villain because his actions
sometimes come off as selfish and hes only concerned with personal gain but that was never
Ozymandiass motives, unlike some of the other so-called heroes in this novel.
There are several characters in this graphic novel do not always act as a hero. It is
important to understand the meaning of a hero before one can portray themselves as being such a
thing. A hero is someone who is living to fight the greater fight, a person who can put others
before themselves is a hero. Being a hero consists of having good character. The things a person
does to help without looking for any recognition or praise is a hero. I found it to be interesting
that every character in this graphic novel wasnt a superhero nor did some of the characters show
the characteristics of a true superhero. Edward Blake also known as The Comedian proved
himself to be one of the worst heroes. The novel explains that The Comedian did a number of
things that were outright wrong and unacceptable. Although he fought in numerous dangerous
battles that put his life in danger, he was doing it for his own satisfaction. The Comedian was a
very selfish person who only cared about himself, he performed heroic acts but he was far from
being a hero. He would punish the same innocent people he was sworn to protect and in the end
he felt no regret about it. Stacy Ange asserts he acts only out of his own amusement. It doesnt
matter one way or the other what he does, only that he does something that is enjoyable to him,
and that is usually violence (29). This describes how the Comedian acts however he wants so he
can enjoy himself, which usually leads to the Comedian using violence. Therefore, the Comedian

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is selfish, and violent for his own enjoyment, which is not something a real hero would be.
Furthermore, Silk Spectre II is not a real hero because she is also selfish. After Silk Spectre II
decided to leave Dr. Manhattan, she expresses to Nite-Owl that the way he looks at things, like
he cant remember what they are and doesnt particularly careThis world, the real world, to
him its like walking through mist, and all the people are like shadows (Moore and Gibbons
3.9). This portrays that Silk Spectre II thinks that Dr. Manhattan sees humans as void shadows in
a world he does not understand anymore. That just goes to show that she is selfish because once
she left Dr. Manhattan her focus and loyalty was no longer in serving the great or good.
The watchmen is a graphic novel that can explain numerous different things in a very
detailed way. It can teach you the difference in what a superhero truly is and what it means to
have superpowers and use them for personal gain. Walking away from this novel one can take
the knowledge of what it teaches you and construct their own idea of what it means to be a true
superhero. Ozymandias and Rorschach are the real heroes in Watchmen. Ozymandias is a hero
because he single handedly took the responsibility of saving humanity, he would have preferred a
way of saving the world where no innocent people had to die, and he understands no innocent
lives should ever be taken , nut his plan had to be executed since disarmament was very
improbable. Rorschach is also a hero because he knew he had to punished evil at all cost. Even
though he functioned as all three branches of the legal system, and he didnt agree with the way
evil had to be punished, it is better to have someone check on criminals that fell through the
cracks of the legal system. Although the characters in the novel do hero like things, some of
them arent the definition of a true hero. There were heroes who showed what it meant to be
selfless and protect the great or good and there were heroes who werent really much of a hero at
all and only performed for personal reasoning and personal gain. A true hero will always fight for

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what is right and do anything to improve on what is wrong. The Comedian was more selfish than
all characters in the novel and Silk Spectre II was seen in the same light. Being a hero requires
good character, the things one does that goes unnoticed is what makes them a hero. Everyone has
their own ideal of Morals and Ethics. Some may say heroes have to have a certain criteria of
morals and ethics to even be a hero. In this novel that is proved to be false information. Many
claimed to want to help people, and serve the great or good. But the only good some these
heroes wanted to serve in their own personal motives and so they did just that. Those who
fought for the greater good also were questioned because of their actions, but the ones that may
least expect to accrual care about the peace of humanity was the one who was the hero of it all.

Works Cited

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Moore, Alan. Gibbons, Dave. The Watchmen. New York. DC Comics .,1986,1987.Print.
The Watchmen. Dir. Zack Snyder. Writers. David Hayter. Alex Tse. Dave Gibbons. Alan Moore.
2009. Film.