Line #39 Awesome/Watchmen


1	'''Comic'''
2
3	[[quoteright:149:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/watchmen_fearful_symmetry.png]]
4	* Issue #11 is one big long CMOA for the BigBad, but especially the comment that follows the JustBetweenYouAndMe:
5	-->''"Do it?" Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think [[EvilGloating I'd explain my masterstroke]] if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? [[YouAreTooLate I did it thirty-five minutes ago.]]''
6	** Also, most of the fallout in #12. As horrific and doomed to failure in the long term ThePlan is, the way that Adrian manages to pull everything off and ''talk the others into helping cover it up''.
7	** Not to mention Ozymandias beating the hell out of Nite Owl and Rorschach while hardly getting up while eating his dinner.
8	** And the second time he beat up Rorschach, not only does he do it without letting Rorschach lay a finger on him, he ''keeps monologuing the whole time''!
9	* "Where are you going? This is too big to be hard-assed about! We have to compromise!" [[{{Determinator}} "No. Not even in the face of Armageddon.]] ''[[BlackAndWhiteMorality Never compromise."]]''
10	** This is [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]]: He chose to die rather than betray his principles and compromise. According to WordOfGod, Rorschach is a DeathSeeker, so it is most likely what Rorschach wanted. Which leads to another CMOA: ''"DO IT!"''
11	* Almost every big Rorschach scene in Comicbook/{{Watchmen}} is made of win. Some examples:
12	** Nearly fighting off a SWAT team with [[ImprovisedWeapon some pepper, a can of hairspray and a grapple gun.]]
13	** Fighting off the Big Figure's two goons inside his cell.
14	*** "Two-nothing. Your move."
15	*** "[[BondOneLiner Never disposed of sewage with toilet before. Obvious, really.]]"
16	** And, later, drowning the Big Figure himself in a toilet bowl. Dialogue afterward: "[[BondOneLiner We don't want to get too reckless and go diving headfirst into things!]]" "Hurm. Good advice. Sure there are many who'd agree with you."
17	** Don't forget the whole dialogue before the fight: "Big figure... Small world"
18	*** "Tall order."
19	*** "Fat chance."
20	** Taking his first step to being a UnscrupulousHero as a kid: when some bullies tease him (accurately) about his mother being a whore and then threaten to beat him up, he grabs the cigarette one of them is smoking and [[EyeScream stabs it in the guy's eye]]. He then proceeds to attack ''another'' bully, biting his cheek. Only then is he restrained.
21	** Rorschach's time in jail starts with all the crooks he helped put there informing him of everything they're going to do to him now that he's stuck in prison with them, which Rorschach listens to without responding or even batting an eyelid. Later, an inmate actually tries to attack him in the prison cafeteria. Rorschach throws hot grease in the a-ttacker's face, and, as he is being dragged off to solitary and the attacker is being rushed to the infirmary, Rorschach turns to the other prisoners and says, very calmly:
22	-->"None of you understand. ''I'm'' not locked up in here with ''you.'' ''You're'' locked up in here with ''me.''"
23	** Rorschach expressed his feelings toward compulsory retirement in a note left outside police headquarters along with a dead multiple rapist: "'''NEVER.'''"
24	** "Away down alley, heard woman scream, first bubbling note of city's evening chorus. Approached disturbance. Attempted rape/mugging/both. Cleared throat. The man turned and there was [[OhCrap something rewarding in his eyes]]. Sometimes, the night is generous to me."
25	** Rorschach's HannibalLecture in the end of Chapter VI after he admits to seeing a dog's head cleaved in half on a Rorschach Inkblot Test, where Rorschach tells his therapist a story where a kidnapping investigation goes wrong when the superhero detective breaks in a suspect's house to find that the owner of the household killed the girl by roasting her in an oven/cutting her into little pieces and tries to cover up the murder by feeding the roasted/diced corpse to the dogs. How does Rorschach respond to this discovery? He takes a hatchet/cleaver and cleaves the dogs' heads in half. Then he proceeds to burn the wretch alive when he returns, watching the building burn for an entire hour, making sure the bastard doesn't escape, and becomes utterly disgusted with the evils of humanity and resolves to clean man of its filth through murder. The most amazing thing about this example is that the story even causes the shrink to become a more moral and compassionate person at the cost of his happiness.
26	* Dr. Manhattan also has several, though his finest is probably reconstructing himself after Veidt destroys him, afterwards telling him:
27	-->'''Dr. Manhattan''': "I've walked across the Sun. I've seen events so tiny and so fast they hardly can be said to have occurred at all, but you... you are a man. And the world's smartest man means no more to me than does its smartest termite."
28	** Veidt's response to that scene is pretty damn good too, as he picks up an object while staring down someone who could kill him and ruin everything with a thought.
29	--->"What's that? Another ultimate weapon?"\
30	"You could say that." ''(switches on all the international news stations)''
31	* Another good one is when he breaks up a demonstration during the police strike:
32	-->'''Dr. Manhattan:''' Pay attention. You will all return to your homes.\
33	'''Rioter:''' Oh yeah? And what if we don't, ya big blue fruit?\
34	'''Dr. Manhattan:''' You misunderstand me. ''[[ThatWasntARequest It was not a request.]]''\
35	''(he then teleports the entire crowd to their individual homes)''
36	** A more subtle one is when he metaphorically flips the bird to all the marketing people trying to exploit the fact that there's actually a person with real superpowers by giving himself a symbol that means something: a hydrogen atom.
37	** "I'm disappointed in you, Adrian. VERY disappointed."
38	* Rorschach actually one-ups Dr. Manhattan in the riot. He held off Lower East Side ''on his own.'' And he has no superpowers to speak of.
39	* Nite-Owl and the Silk Spectre save people from a burning apartment building, proving that it's possible to find genuine heroes even in the [[CrapsackWorld Crapsacky]] {{Deconstruction}} that is ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''.
40	** Even more heroic: After a few sessions with Rorschach, his psychologist is speaking in his stilted style and sees the dark side of humanity everywhere he looks. When he looks at an ink blot, he sees a dead, maggot-ridden cat, but admits that even that's just assigning meaning to a meaningless, uncaring world... and he STILL stops to help people on the street. For all its darkness and depression, every arc of Watchmen affirms the value of life.
41	*** It's more than that. As Rorschach brings him round to his nihilistic way of thinking, ''only then'' does he start to help people. It's incredible, really. The psychologist's wife was literally threatening to leave him on the spot when he stopped to help that girl, his life is more or less ruined, and yet he ''still'' just ''has'' to stop and help. Picking up genuine heroism from a psychopathic AntiHero might seem odd, but what do you know? And then Ozymandias' plan gets everyone involved blown up anyway. [[ShootTheShaggyDog Ouch.]]
42	*** What you really have to remember, too, is how Rorschach calls him out on his bullshit therapy by saying there are others who need his help more, and he just wants a published name. After leading him through the void and leaving the optimistic man a wreck, Rorschach gets him to understand that despite how ugly and devoid the world is, we must help others if we hope to see a better future.
43	* Even though it doesn't work. Silk Spectre's attempt to unload a pistol into the BigBad with a ShutUpHannibal: "You're an asshole, Veidt."
44	** And to be fair, the only reason it doesn't work is that Veidt manages to ''catch'' the bullet, which is awesome in itself, but it's not half as awesome as the way he ''convinced Nite-Owl he could''. Especially when Adrian [[HowDidYouKnowIDidnt admits he wasn't sure he could do it either.]]
45	* Also, the best part about Rorshach didn't really have Rorschach in it. Owl and Spectre are talking about a villain who was a masochist, and that when he came to Rorschach saying "Hurt me", Rorschach dropped him down an elevator shaft. Mega win.
46	* Falling firmly into a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment\|s}} as well, when Adrian's genetically engineered monster reaches its destination, we see a sequence in which Bernard the news vendor runs to protect young Bernie from the blast ''with his own body.'' Later, we see the two both dead, with Bernard still protecting Bernie.
47	* ''The Veidt Method'' Fitness Ad: "I WILL GIVE YOU BODIES BEYOND YOUR WILDEST IMAGININGS!".
48	* The bit where Nite Owl tells Rorschach off. He causes a lot of problems for all his friends and they basically have to put up with him acting like a misbehaving child, and yet he still acts like an unrepentant asshole to everyone. This was definitely a needed ReasonYouSuckSpeech to Rorschach.
49	* This entire book is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for Creator/AlanMoore--even if you disagree on the story's message, characters and writing, no one can deny the amazing amount of {{Easter Egg}}s and FridgeBrilliance that went into every single panel. Everytime you read this comic you notice something new.
50	* Ozymandias shouting "I DID IT!"
51	* Adrian opening a can of whoop-ass on a guy that tried to assassinate him.
52	* Nite-Owl, angered by the death of Hollis Mason, beats the crap out of a topknot. He goes so far that ''Rorschach'' gets disturbed by it.
53	* While Adrian's plan may have succeeded in the short term, Rorschach ultimately out-played him... simply by cataloguing the events and leaving them for the ''New Frontiersman'' to publish. Of course, that depends on whether or not it's acted upon, which is no certainty considering he chose to give it to a tabloid.
54
55	----
56	'''Film'''
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58	The ''Watchmen'' movie has more than its fair share of awesome moments. Most of them just compound the action in the graphic novel, but some are stand-out win.
59
60	* Rorschach vs the police.
61	--> '''Police Officer''': Here we come. Hope you're ready, ''hero''.\
62	'''Rorschach''': When you are.
63	* Nite Owl and Silk Spectre stopping an entire prison riot with their bare hands.
64	** And prior to this, brutally obliterating a horde of gangsters ambushing them in the alley in a manner that made the battle in the comic look tame.
65	* Rorschach lays out to the prison populace just how screwed they are: "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. ''You're locked in here with me!''"
66	* Mars. Smiley face. Combination CMOA and SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming\|Moments}}.
67	** That ''is'' actually [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galle_(Martian_crater) a formation]] on Mars.
68	* How about the movie's bit with Nite Owl beating the living hell out of Ozymandias? Sure Ozy clearly let him, but it was still a very cool moment.
69	* A bit obvious, but a giant, naked Dr. Manhattan marching on Vietnamese soldiers, with Ride of the Valkyries music playing, and in slow motion, one by one, he pops the Vietnamese soldiers with his mind.
70	** And in a later scene, some of the surviving Viet Cong soldiers chose to bow down to Dr. Manhattan directly in surrender.
71	*** Same here. Few things embody the [[CrapsackWorld crapsacky]] {{Deconstruction}} that is ''Watchmen'' better than "the invincible man" killing (implicitly thousands of) people simply because a politician asked him to, after which they declare him to be a god out of fear of retribution (which, [[FridgeBrilliance in retrospect]], brilliantly foreshadows Adrian's plans).
72	* Say what you want about the creative liberties, Manhattan's digital body was like staring directly at God.
73	* The sex scene in flight between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre after the flame thrower is hit.
74	* Adrian Veidt ducking under an assassin's bullet, grabbing a nearby blunt object, and smashing the man sideways into a pool of water, all in one fluid, slow-motion movement.
75	** Not just a blunt object, a ''velvet rope stanchion'' (it's an even heavier-looking ashtray in the comics). Ones that size can be ''heavy'' bastards, and he just casually sweeps it up in a run and swings it like a bat at the guy, hardly being affected by the momentum of the weight. ''Awesome''.
76	** Adrian knew when the killer would probably show up. Which means he either knew what method the killer would likely use - and carefully manipulated everyone so they'd be in good blocking positions, including that executive he didn't like - or he came up with a plan more or less on the spot.
77	* The entire opening credit sequence, set to "The Times They Are A-Changing", explained virtually ''all'' of the backstory of the comic book that we needed to know in about two minutes. Awesome. Comic book movie adaptations, take notes: THIS is how you cover the backstory of a superhero.
78	** Even before said montage, The Comedian's death scene is extended and utilizes SoundtrackDissonance extremely well. As he tries to fight back, a mysterious man in black gives him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown while Music/NatKingCole's "Unforgettable" -- a slow, ''romantic'' song plays in the background.
79	** Said opening scene also gives ByronicHero The Comedian a badly needed one: he clearly knows the whole time that he's not going to win the fight, but he completely refuses to give up throughout the beating Ozy gives him.
80	* In what possibly may be even more of a GeniusBonus than the comic, part of the poem 'Ozymandias' is on the Ramses II pedestal, explaining in [[FridgeBrilliance the most subtle way possible]] that Ozy's peace will last about as long as a pinky finger in the presence of Rorschach.
81	** While at the same time, the Surface Meaning is full of IronicEcho that suggests OhCrap, coming just as it does after TheReveal. Just like the book's EasterEgg of the endlessly-repeated fitness-ad, ''The Veidt Method'': "I WILL GIVE YOU BODIES BEYOND YOUR WILDEST IMAGININGS!" which [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome reappears in the climactic scene]].
82	** Even more CMOA for the Double Meaning of the Shelley poem.
83	** Not to mention that [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Mozart's Requiem Aeternam]] plays in the background, perfectly symbolizing exactly what is going through Veidt's mind without the need for any dialogue.
84	* Ozymandias not only caught the bullet, but acted as though he had been shot and laying there until Silk Spectre came up, so he could knock the crap out of her.
85	* Given the total removal of cigarettes from the film, Rorschach's EyeScream mentioned above isn't possible, so a GroinAttack is substituted. The film makes up for it by then not simply having him bite the other boy's cheek, but rip off a hunk of flesh.
86	* The special edition features Hollis Mason fighting back futilely yet heroically against his murderers, scored with the theme from ''Raging Bull''.
87	** Flashing back to his glory days as a young man, beating up costumed super-villains, all the while. . .
88	*** Those brief flashbacks (particularly the moment where he fractures the Space villain's helmet) are an indication of just how badass the old Owl was back in his prime. Watching him drop into that 30s boxing stance and take on five guys less than half his age was quite the moment.
89	*** Specifically, [[http://i39.tinypic.com/2hn48w3.png his face]] during the start of the scene. It's as if he's thinking "You've fucked up now, son."
90	* [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic All Along The Watchtower]] playing as Nite Owl II and Rorschach are flying to Veidt's base. An added bonus is the line "two riders were approaching" directly matches up with a shot of the two walking towards their destination.
91	** Particularly nice is that this comes as a {{Shout Out}} to the comic; the chapter the scene takes place in is titled "Two Riders Were Approaching" and ends with a quote from the song.
92	** Set up perfectly with the climax of [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Jon and Laurie's]] [[GondorCallsForAid story arc]] and the AstronomicZoom to the smiley face on Mars!
93	* Adrian laying a massive [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech verbal smackdown]] on the [[ToxicInc oil/coal/gas company representatives.]]
94	* Rorschach's "justice" on the child killer, altered from the graphic novel, due to the fact that the original scene would have been WrongfullyAttributed as a ripoff of ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''.
95	--> '''Rorschach''': Men get arrested. Dogs get put down!
96	* Creator/JackieEarleHaley's entire performance as Rorschach. He utterly nails the character and delivers a performance that is often held up alongside Creator/HughJackman as Wolverine and Creator/HeathLedger as The Joker when mentioning comic book characters they got exactly right and every scene Haley is in shows why he was that reputation.
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Context Awesome / Watchmen