History Characters / WatchMen

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Rorschach stresses that the Comedian is essentially a nihilist, just like him. Unlike Rorschach's anti-authoritarian belief in justice, however, The Comedian is fundamentally amoral, driven only by a desire to be uglier than the world (hence his breakdown once he realizes that Ozymandias's nihilism exceeds his own). As for the Comedian himself, even he was horrified at his attempted rape of Sally.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He's also genuinely sickened when Sally implies that his interest in his child is incestuous in nature, and he thinks Hooded Justice is a sick man. Also, Ozymandias's plan to slaughter millions of innocent people was too much for even ''him'' to shrug off.

* ActuallyAGoodIdea: At one point, the Comedian disrupts the first Crimebusters meeting by pointing out how the [[MutuallyAssuredDestruction inevitability of nuclear war]] would render the Crimebusters' efforts of fighting petty criminals unimportant in the long run. Ozymandias quietly agrees with the Comedian and decides to end the Cold War by killing half of New York with a psychic "alien". However, it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] by the fact that only Ozymandias thinks his plan is a good one as most of the other protagonists find his plan to be morally questionable and Dr. Manhattan implies that Ozymandias's solution is only temporary.

* CrazyPrepared: When Laurie frets that the cops have figured out Dan is Nite Owl, he nonchalantly mentions that he had set up back-up identities ''years'' ago, just in case. He also made one for ''her''. Dan is like the poster boy for the Usefulnotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks. The amount of equipment he had built for himself is just plain silly. His ship, built for fighting urban crime, has a fog generator, a water cannon, flame thrower and air to freaking air missiles. He also had a different Nite Owl suit for every environ you could possibly imagine. He even has a Snow-Owl suit for crime fighting in extreme cold. [[ChekhovsGun Why would you need one of those?]]

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: She was the only female "Crimebuster." But being ''Watchmen'', this is a DeconstructedTrope. Most Token Female characters in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks were presented as the most emotional and/or empathic, and usually as the less physically powerful of their respective teams. Laurie is definitively the most emotionally-driven of the main characters, being almost exclusively motivated by her relationships (with Jon, with her mother, with Dan and with her real father). The empathy part is quite arguable as Laurie acts with indifference ''at best'' and great skepticism to the value of the superheroes or the ideals other characters fight for. And as for the "less physically powerful", she ironically is the one that comes the closest to defeating the arguable BigBad Veidt by engaging WhyDontYouJustShootHim on sight.

* HaveANiceDaySmile: Wears a pin with that. Once hit with a splash of blood, it becomes the series' UsefulNotes/{{Trademark}}.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: His father, Mr. Dreiberg, was a very successful corporate banker and repeatedly encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps, but Dan wanted to pursue his passions in ornithology. When Mr. Dreiberg died, he left his son a considerable inheritance, which Dan used to fund his crime-fighting career. By his retirement, Dan is still living off of the money his father built up and shows no signs of having a regular job. This either means Dan really knows how to stretch his budget or his father left him ''a lot'' of money. If Dan has another source of income, such as smart investments or tech work on the side or help from Adrian, it isn't mentioned.

[[caption-width-right:350:Men Are So Naive]]

* HeroWithBadPublicity: He becomes this in his later years due to making racist remarks about Black and Latino people and openly regarding the Civil Rights and anti-war movements as social evils he and other heroes needed to stand against. By the end of his life, he's regarded as a pathetic failure.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: He has some questionable views on race, even for the time, regarding the Civil Rights movement, anti-war movement and other such activities as social evils to be fought against. ''Under the Hood'', a memoir published in 1963, alludes to since-notorious comments he'd made in the past about Black and Latino people, which Hollis acknowledges as "difficult to argue or deny [are] both racially prejudiced and inflammatory", and apparently were bad enough to warrant mention alongside Hooded Justice's Nazi sympathies.

* WrongGenreSavvy: He believes he's one of the leads in a traditional, idealistic Golden/Silver Age story about heroes changing the world with their actions and inspiring example rather than a brutal takedown of that very idea. He later tries to reform with younger heroes and thinks they will look to him as a wise leader and mentor, in the vein of [[ComicBook/TheFlash Jay Garrick]], when they really see him as a relic from another time and pathetic old man still playing dress up and his views make him look less like an exemplar of old-fashioned heroism than someone who is laughably behind the times at best and outright bigoted at worst.

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: As a wealthy, progressive minded playboy who fights crime in an animal themed costume, he's got a bit of Bruce Wayne and Ted Kord in him. Sadly, in this setting, his wealth causes him to feel guilt about his privilege and his progressive views get him subject to a brutal investigation from HUAC. In the end, Byron ends up an alcoholic trainwreck rather than an inspiring hero.

* TeensAreMonsters: A newspaper clipping from the [[AllThereInTheManutal Mayfair RPG Sourcebook]] mentions that in 1933, Rolf was one of five Klan members acquitted (by a sympathetic jury) of the murder of a black man and his wife (this phrasing, as opposed to something like "black couple" lightly implies that they may have been targeted due to being an interracial marriage). It's said that the husband's neck had been snapped by some manner of unknown tool or weapon--however, the inclusion of this fact in Rolf's section and his being able to break peoples' bones with his bare hands imply that he performed a NeckSnap. Also, Rolf was sixteen years old.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Has a savior complex that can be seen from space.

* RapeAsDrama: Part of Sally's backstory.

* BoxingBattler: His primary fighting style. Best seen in the film, when he drops into a 30's boxing stance to take on a group of home invaders. He's eventually overpowered and killed, but puts up a hell of a fight beforehand, expertly ducking and parrying the blows of the much larger, younger men.

* CoolOldGuy: He was always the nicest and most level-headed of the Minutemen, and he's only gotten better with age. The movie amps this up, showing that he's almost as spry as he was as a young man, fighting off 3 Knot-Tops before they gang up on him and kill him.

* DefiantToTheEnd: He makes a valiant effort to fight off his killers and goes down swinging even if it isn't enough to save him.

* TheLastDance: The elderly, long-retired Hollis puts up a fight against his murderers before they kill him.

[[caption-width-right:250:''"Whatever happened to the American Dream? It came true. You're lookin' at it."'']]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco021_6.jpg]]

* SuperZeroes: Zigzagged. On the surface, he seems a straight example, a once impressive hero who's since become an paunchy nerd it's hard to imagine was ever a capable vigilante. However, he's still extremely capable, utterly demolishing a group of much younger thugs even after years of being out of practice. He eventually borders on an outright subversion as he picks up vigilantism again with no issue and while he fails to stop Ozymandias' plan, it's simply due to Adrian's skill and resources rather than Dan's competence.

* TheBrute: An anti-heroic version.
* TheCowl: He is a really intimidating vigilante by size alone and his beatings are savage.

* DysfunctionJunction: Let's see: We've got a savage brute with a mysterious past and Nazi sympathies and possible connections, a sadistic killer and rapist, an alcoholic with serious mental health issues, a closeted lesbian and a seemingly perfect hero who wants to inspire positive change...who is also racist and sees progressive societal movements as evils to be fought. In the midst of that, two otherwise regular guys who dress like an owl and in an American flag seem downright quaint.

* OlderIsBetter: Subverted. In their initial presentation, it seems like they might be an overall more idealized and optimistic bunch, contrasting with their more neurotic modern counterparts. Before long, though, it becomes clear that they were every bit as flawed as the heroes of the 60s. The only thing that really gives them a better reputation is the fact that they had better PR and were too ineffectual to really affect any kind of negative change--by contrast, heroes like Doctor Manhattan or Ozymandias were outright ''world-threatening''.

* FormerlyFit: Had a classic HeroicBuild in his youth, but sported a prominent gut in his later years.

* HeroicBuild: In his day. Toward the end of his career, he went to seed.

* TwoDecadesBehind: Literally as he keeps his 1940's superhero persona into the sixties and is hopelessly out of touch and behind the times, failing to see that the world has left his brand of heroism behind and younger heroes see him as an embarrassment.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: His father, Mr. Dreiberg, was a very successful corporate banker and repeatedly encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps, but Dan wanted to pursue his passions in ornithology. When Mr. Dreiberg died, he left his son a considerable inheritance, which Dan used to fund his crime-fighting career. By his retirement, Dan is still living off of the money his father built up and shows no signs of having a regular job. This either means Dan really knows how to stretch his budget or his father left him ''a lot'' of money.

* AmbiguouslyGay:

** He's handsome, charming and super wealthy, and Nova Express reporter Tim Roth comments on how "every woman I know wants to lay this guy". But he's never depicted in a relationship with a woman, even short term. And what was up with that file titled "boys" on his computer?

* ItsPersonal: While he kills the Comedian because HeKnowsTooMuch, it's strongly implied that this was simply an excuse to finally get some payback on the Comedian beating the ever-living snot out of him when they first crossed paths in the 60's. Granted, Blake had caught wind of Veidt's plan, so the necessity of killing him was still there.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: His father, Alan Dreiberg, was a very successful corporate banker and repeatedly encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps, but Dan wanted to pursue his passions in ornithology. When Alan died, he left his son a considerable inheritance, which Dan used to fund his crime-fighting career. By his retirement, Dan is still living off of the money his father built up and shows no signs of having a regular job. This either means Dan really knows how to stretch his budget or his father left him ''a lot'' of money.

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: Of Peacemaker. Also, the Comedian in his younger Minuteman days looks a lot like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's teenage partner Bucky, who somehow grew into a wise-cracking, cigar-smoking, woman-beating version of his mentor. His CaptainPatriotic elements and wartime status come from ComicBook/TheShield, whom he was actually going to be in the ''very'' earliest pitch of ''Watchmen.'' Not only that, what with his path from being a dashing young war hero in WWII to his later life as a top super-spy with greying temples, a facial scar, and a fondness for cigars, he bears a strong resemblance to the original ComicBook/NickFury.

** Could also be a parody of Golden Age propaganda heroes (like the Black Terror) in general as The Comedian was only useful as a soldier and a mob-buster. He is ''sorely'' lacking in "role-model hero" attributes, but he excelled at being a living weapon.

* {{Eagleland}}: A solid type II. He's a self-righteous jingoist and who happily gets his hands dirty on the behalf of the Nixon administration whether he's overthrowing foreign governments or assassinating political enemies. Interestingly, he openly considers the American dream to be a farce and doesn't even consider himself a patriot.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He's also genuinely sickened when Sally implies that his interest in his child is incestuous in nature, and he thinks Hooded Justice was a sick man. Also, Ozymandias's plan to slaughter millions of innocent people was too much for even ''him'' to shrug off.

* HiddenHeartOfGold: A possibility come up with InUniverse by other characters.

* JerkassHasAPoint: His major trademark. The Comedian is a complete asshole, but much of the things he says to antagonize others often have some truth to them. He was one of the first to notice Dr. Manhattan's humanity beginning to falter after he did not stop him from killing an innocent woman and his cruel speech to Captain Metropolis, that heroes have no ability to do anything to stop the world from destroying itself, is also devastatingly accurate. Even Ozymandias admitted that his analysis about the futility of the masked vigilantes to resolve the real problems of the world was right.

* {{Fetish}}: Seemingly can't maintain an erection unless he and his partner are in costume. While it's partly due to the power and adrenaline that come from thinking of himself as an indomitable superhero, Dan also admits that the spandex itself plays a role. This gives a slightly humorous bent to his status as an AscendedFanboy of costumed heroes.