"Please! Don't all leave...Somebody has to do it, don't you see ? Somebody has to save the world..."
A former Marine who applied his knowledge of military strategy to crime-fighting. A very insecure and nervous person. Remained active until 1974, when he was decapitated in a car crash.
Batman Gambit: In one of the RPG modules (which had input from the original creators), he secretly arranged the kidnappings of the 1960's heroes' loved ones in order to force them to work together, in an effort to make them more amenable to the idea of teaming up as The Crimebusters. If considered canon (there's nothing in the comic that contradicts it), the plan obviously didn't work, but he wasn't exposed as the mastermind.
"Blake is interesting. I have never met anyone so deliberately amoral. (...) As I come to understand Vietnam and what it implies about the human condition, I also realize that few humans will permit themselves such an understanding. Blake's different. He understands perfectly — and he doesn't care."
—Dr. Manhattan
A veteran 'hero' who was vicious even when young, and has since become a full-blown hired gun on government payroll. Dies on the first page, though we only later find out why.
Becoming the Mask: At one point Rorschach theorizes that The Comedian took on his persona in order to become a satirical reflection of society's corruption. If this theory is true (Rorschach is hardly an unbiased observer), Blake appears to have gotten into the part a bit too much.
Also, he defies this trope when he discovers Ozymandias’ plan and raves about it to Moloch: He discovers that even he cannot laugh this off as another joke:
Comedian also looks a lot like Bucky in his Minuteman days who somehow grew into a wise-cracking, cigar smoking, woman beating version of Captain America, with a bit of Wildcat and a pinch of Nick Fury.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Genuinely attempted to connect with Laurie on two separate occasions and notably didn't react the way he usually does after she publically lashed out at him and dashed him in the face with a drink. According to the RPG, he was also composing a letter to her before Ozymandias killed him. He also seems to have had real feelings for Sally Jupiter.
Me Love You Long Time: Brutally subverted as he got himself a Vietnamese girlfriend during the Vietnam war but eventually kills her and her unborn baby once the war is over.
Kick the Dog: Killing a pregnant woman, assassinating JFK, and attempting to rape a fellow superheroine, for examples.
Took a Level in Badass: He was already badass when he started out, but over the years he started wearing body armor (after getting stabbed) and carrying guns.
Who Shot JFK?: He's also implicated to be behind Woodward and Bernstein's deaths (which didn't happen in our timeline), although this is much more speculative. In the movie, the assassination is shown outright, and The Comedian also remarks while he's violently dealing with an angry mob: "I haven't had this much fun since Woodward and Bernstein!"
Dollar Bill (Bill Brady)
A star college athlete from Kansas who was hired by a bank to be their in-house superhero. Died in 1947, when during an attempt to foil a bank robbery, his cape got caught in the door and he was shot.
Born Lucky: According to the RPG, his sporting and superhero career were studded with incredible strokes of good luck. Up until a certain day, that is...
Impractically Fancy Outfit: The bank who sponsored him insisted that he wore the cape that led to his untimely death.
Nice Guy: At least, according to Hollis Mason in Under the Hood.
Superheroes Wear Capes: Deconstructed, as Alan Moore was showing how impractical wearing a cape is, and how wearing a cape lead to his death.
Hooded Justice (Possibly Rolf Muller)
"You sick little bastard, I'm going to break your neck..."
Possibly the first costumed superhero. Little is known about him, save that he was extremely violent and brutal, and a supporter of the KKK and Nazis. Disappeared in 1955, possibly at the hands of The Comedian.
Berserk Button: Seeing women hurt, possibly. His first appearance involved him stopping a rape (crippling one of the attackers in the process), he beat the Comedian severely following his attack on Sally Jupiter, and according to the backstory presented in the RPG Rolf Muller's father abused his mother — Until thirteen-year-old Rolf beat the crap out of him.
Culture Equals Costume: Justice's costume references the circus (leotard and cape), the KKK (face concealing hood), and bondage (ropes on ankles, wrists, waist and neck) — all things Muller/Justice is associated with.
"Me, I hope we keep out of it. Just thinking about war, it scares me..."
A millionaire playboy who decided to become a superhero both out of a desire to add spice to his life and out of guilt over his privileged lifestyle. Ultimately, his alcoholism (and being hauled before the HUAC) turned him into a shell of his former self, and was eventually committed to a sanitarium.
"This is the left hook that floored Captain Axis!"
One of the first superheroes to fight crime, and a former police officer, Hollis Mason has since retired, revealed his identity and written an autobiography that provided dramatic insights into the world of superheroes. He has seen the rise and fall of superheroics in the world, and fears for the new generation of costumed crimefighters.
Badass Grandpa: He was more than capable of giving a hell of a fight guys at least half his age.
Superheroes Wear Capes: Tried it, but after he discovered how hard it was to walk around his own house with the thing on without it catching on things, he decided to go without.
Token Good Teammate: Like Nite Owl II, he comes the closest of the Minutemen to being a true hero.
The Silhouette (Ursula Zandt)
"Perhaps the Poles thought so too, eh? You agree, Sally?"
A bored Jewish aristocrat who fought crime for thrills. Was exposed as a lesbian and drummed out of the Minutemen in 1946, and killed by an old foe afterward.
Civvie Spandex: In the comics, her costume is a simple black pantsuit with a red sash. The Movie makes it look more super-heroic.
Rich Bitch: Her only line is an insulting dig at Sally (who had covered up her heritage), and she's mentioned as being a rather unpleasant person.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Being Jewish, she despised the Hooded Justice, who was openly supportive of the Nazi regime.
Silk Spectre I (Sally Juspeczyk/Jupiter)
"Laurie, I'm 65. Every day the future looks a little bit darker. But the past, even the grimy parts of it... well, it just keeps on getting brighter all the time."
A former model who started fighting crime for publicity and became a founding member of the Minutemen, but hasn't been doing much since, except training her daughter to follow in her footsteps.
Comedian: "Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Pregnant woman. Gunned her down. Bang. And y'know what? You watched me. You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into snowflakes! You coulda teleported either of us to Goddamn Australia... but you didn't lift a finger!"
The only truly superpowered character in the story, due to a Freak Lab Accident, Jon Osterman gained godlike powers. He's used his powers to revolutionize the world, provide energy for electric cars and blimps, and continues to work on amazing new technology... but as time has passed he has turned more emotional distant to the people around him and indifferent towards humankind in general, and just doesn't seem to care about anything any more, or do anything unless he's told to.
Blessed with Suck / Cursed with Awesome: Manhattan's power. The accident erased him from existence, but he came back with godlike powers. Then again, he's gradually detaching from the rest of humanity...
Blue and Orange Morality: Even after rediscovering the value of life, he sees life in terms of predictable/unpredictable, instead of good/evil.
Cloudcuckoolander: Due to his intellect and power, Jon becomes very distant from everyone.
Case in point: he treats "What's up" as if it's a logical question.
Complete Immortality: The only thing that slows him down is the same thing that gave him his powers, and since he already overcame that problem to begin with, it's more of a minor hindrance than anything else.
Deus Exit Machina: Laurie even called him that when he appeared at Daniel's apartment.
There are also elements of Superman, a fact even commented on by characters in the story.
Extreme Doormat: He only became a nuclear physicist because his father ordered him to. Even after he became the most powerful man in the world, he still remained a doormat, following the orders of the government.
Not So Stoic: He only shows genuine emotion during his interview and later when Adrian attempts to destroy him.
Doctor Manhattan: Please if everyone would just go away and leave me alone... I SAID! LEAVE ME ALONE!
The Omniscient: In the first part of the story, while he's still a side character.
Prescience Is Predictable: Dr. Manhattan describes himself as "a puppet who can see the strings." Since he literally views all time simultaneously, he can't change the future because, to him, it's already happening. This causes him to stop caring about what happens and just go with the flow. When a tachyon storm disrupts his ability to tell the future, he becomes excited, saying he had forgotten the joy of uncertainty.
Reed Richards Is Useless: Averted. His presence and abilities have definitely solved many of the world's problems. (Not as many as he could solve, though.)
Lampshaded by Niteowl I. He states that he plans to run a car repair shop after he puts up the cape, saying that even Dr. Manhattan can't change cars. Manhattan then explains how he can do exactly that.
Story Breaker Power: Ironically, it doesn't do much. Even when Dr. Manhattan is vaporized and comes back.
Walking Wasteland: Dr. Manhattan's presence is said to give people cancer. Subverted, as it's actually Veidt deliberately inducing cancer in Manhattan's past acquaintances.
You Cannot Change The Future: Dr. Manhattan exists in a multidimensional quantum solid state, and quickly tires of listening to his friends talk about what "could have happened" or what "should happen", since he already sees his entire time-stream. For him, the only difference between past and future is directional causality. The effects of causality on Dr. Manhattan himself are slightly contradictory, as future events can affect him backwards by causing him to report them, but not in any other way; he's unable to use the knowledge to interfere, and sees himself as bound by one-directional causality much like normal people.
Dr. Manhattan: Miracles by definition are meaningless. Only what can happen does happen.
Dr. Manhattan: (repeating himself twice) Excuse me Rorschach. I'm informing Laurie 45 seconds ago.
Rorschach: Used to come here often, back when we were partners.
Dreiberg: Oh. Uh, yeah... yeah, those were great times, Rorschach. Great times. Whatever happened to them?
Rorschach: [exiting] You quit.
A former superhero fan, then full-fledged superhero, and now retired intellectual. A gadget-based hero who flies the night skies in his state-of-the-art airship, Archie, he sometimes questions his use of million-dollar technology to fight petty crime.
Crazy-Prepared: 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. Note that he also made one for her.
Dan is like the poster boy for the Silver Age. The amount of equipment he had built for himself is just plain silly. His ship, build for fighting urban crime, has a fog generator, flame thrower and air to freaking air missiles. He also had a different Nite-Owl suit for pretty much every environ you could possibly imagine. He even has a Snow-Owl suit for crime fighting in extreme cold. Why the Hell would you need one of those?
Gadgeteer Genius: Has an insane amount of gadgets devoted to fighting crime in his basement.
Also, while we repeatedly see Airships are commonly used in 1985 as a viable form of transport due to Dr Manhattan being able to synthesise Helium; the fact that Archimedes on the other hand is able to hover with no visible jets seems to suggest that Dan invented some form of anti-gravity technology. That he has Archie in the first (and only) Crimebusters meeting, means that he had cracked this technology as early as 1965!
I DID IT! after he destroyed New York to stop a nuclear war
Probably the most successful and effective hero of the lot. Adrian has honed his body and mind to near-superhuman perfection, created a multibillion dollar corporate empire, and mastered the sciences to change the world.
Broken Ace: He is a young, blonde supergenius who is insanely rich, pretty much has America in his hands and defeats Rorschach, Silk Spectre, Nite Owl and Dr Manhattan at the end. He is also the antagonist, and portrayed as deludedly idealistic to believe that his plan will work.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: "Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago."
Tragic Villain: He is never punished for his actions; they do hurt him psychologically, though. But the real tragedy is that in trying to save humanity, Ozymandias loses his soul by becoming the very evil he wanted to destroy.
You Are Too Late: Was originally the trope namer, and has one of the most iconic uses of it.
Rorschach (Walter Kovacs)
"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicans will look up and shout 'save us'... and I'll look down and whisper 'no.'"
The only non-government superhero still active as of the beginning of the book, Rorschach is a ruthless, disturbed vigilante who believes the world to be falling apart around him. He speaks in fragments and lives like a bum, having devoted his life almost entirely to fighting crime—and it's his devotion that allows him to pick up the trail of a man's mysterious death...
Ambiguously Gay: The "holding a handshake too long" scene that demonstrates Nite Owl II's sexual tension for Silk Spectre II is mirrored later with confirmed bachelor Rorschach doing the exact same thing to Nite Owl II.
Although that may be due to the fact that he has No Social Skills.
Type II or III during the early days of his career. He was in better health mentally, being a vigilante was still legal, and he would leave criminals to be arrested by the police, instead of murdering them. But the Keene Act and mentally snapping after the brutal murder of a girl had driven him nearer to the edge.
The Anti-Nihilist: Rorschach believes that rules and principles are the most important in life because the world has no more meaning than the one we impose on it.
Asexual: He likes to think of himself as this, although he may not be completely asexual due to his active Oedipal hang-ups. He says once that putting on his mask lets him be free of "fear or weakness or lust", and he once had some kind of creepy wet-dream nightmare about his mom when he was a kid. Of course, this may signify the start of his asexuality.
"I had feelings when I woke up. Dirty feelings, thoughts and stuff. The dream, it sort of upset me, physically. I couldn't help it. I feel bad just talking about it."
Ax Crazy: See what he did to the child abductor and his dogs.
Berserk Button: The same as Batman's: don't ever harm a child.
Also Rorschach's one limit. He won't punish his landlady for (falsely) telling the news he slept with her, because her kids are with her. Also, perhaps, because he saw himself in her son. And unlike his mother, she was holding her kids like she loved them.
Bold Inflation: Aside from the ill-fated Crimebusters meeting (which took place long before the 1975 kidnapping case which completely redefined him), the only instances where he spoke like this are when he was unmasked by the police and when he goads Dr. Manhattan into killing him.
Butter Face: A Rare Male Example. Has a very muscular and athletic body but, from the neck up, he's rather unattractive. Plain-looking at best.
Celibate Hero: He's freaked out beyond all recognition about anything to do with sex, due to child abuse. He has a massive madonna-whore complex and mentions once that he was "offered Swedish love and French love but not American love [by prostitutes]," however you want to interpret that.
Cool Mask: Made from a failed prototype for a designer dress. Contains black fluids in latex which move from heat and pressure but never mix into grey.
Determinator: Even after he jumps out a window which is at least five stories up, he lies on the ground telling himself to get up while the police kick him unconscious. And them some.
The Dreaded: This was seen in the comic when Rorschach entered the bar and the bartender begged him not to kill anyone today.
Dying as Yourself: Rorschach takes his mask off just before Dr. Manhattan kills him.
Possible subversion - perhaps he had conceptualized Rorschach as some kind of force of justice and only allowed Walter Kovacs to be the one who really died.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: One of Rorschach's signature tools, until the police take it away after his arrest. It gets turned into an Improvised Weapon at one point.
Guttural Growler: In the film, at least. In the comic it's mentioned that he speaks in a 'creepy monotone', but growling or lack thereof isn't specified.
Subverted: He paints himself as one in a Crapsack World. However, he is also batshit insane...
Double Subverted: ...but he was onto something with his "mask killer" theory; he was, initially, the only person to notice something odd.
Pet the Dog: Rorschach may be batshit insane, Axe Crazy and treat even his team-mates with suspicion and abuse, but he does make it very clear that he does value his friendship with Nite Owl and even apologizes when Nite Owl calls him out on his behaviour.
Pintsized Powerhouse: The guy's 5'6". He wore elevated heels as a part of his outfit.
"I don't know anybody! I don't know anyone except goddamned superheroes!"
Stage-mothered almost from birth into continuing her mother's legacy, Laurie has become very bitter and disillusioned since the Keene Act and starts out in the story as Dr Manhattan's girlfriend.
Passing the Torch: More like having the torch shoved into her hand against her will, gratefully throwing it away, and then deciding it wasn't so bad after all.
Pretty Freeloader: She was this for Doctor Manhattan and became this to Dan (he insisted). Can't blame her since she has no job skills aside from fighting crime.
The Heart: Managed to keep six (briefly seven) people together as an effective crime-fighting team, in spite of their neuroses and occasional hatred for each other. Perhaps a subversion in that he didn't actually care about any of the individual members (except for Sally) and dumped the team when he saw that they weren't going to be profitable for much longer.
May-December Romance: With Sally. He seems to have hooked up with her when she was about seventeen or eighteen.
