History Characters / Watchmen

* TeensAreMonsters: A newspaper clipping from the [[AllThereInTheManutal Mayfair RPG Sourcebook]] mentions that in 1933, Rolf was one of five Klan members acquitted 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 fourteen years old.

* BondageIsBad: His outfit invokes this and he is one of the most brutal vigilantes.

* StrawNihilist: Dr. Manhattan initially fits this trope. His [[NonLinearCharacter nonlinear]] view of time convinces him that his own actions are predestined and he is powerless to change the course of events. His godlike perception of reality leaves him unable to see the lives of individual humans as significant. As a result, despite being the most powerful man on the planet he just does whatever the government orders him to, because life is so devoid of meaning he can't see why it matters. Later he gets better, and comes to value each human life as unique and precious because of its unlikelihood.

* AffablyEvil: In addition to being a WellIntentionedExtremist, he's also gentlemanly, witty, and calm, even in hand-to-hand combat. He treats his underlings kindly (right until he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness drugs them and leaves them]] to die of exposure to [[HeKnowsTooMuch prevent his secrets from getting out]].) When his former crimefighting colleagues track him down and learn of his [[YouAreTooLate already-in-progress master plan]], he gives them the opportunity to keep silent, and when all of them (except Rorschach) agree, he trusts them enough to not only let them live, but to offer them hospitality in his fortress and allow them to leave freely. Hardly seems fair to hold the deaths of millions of innocent people against him.

* HonestCorporateExecutive: Adrian really isn't motivated by greed or a lust for personal power. He obtained his vast wealth through a skillful understanding of the stock market and legitimate business ventures. He's a KnightTemplar or WellIntentionedExtremist, but [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules not a sellout]].

* InvincibleVillain: He completely gets away with everything he set out to do, utterly outclasses the heroes mentally and physically and it's made abundantly clear that they never had a chance of stopping him.

* 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. Even Ozymandias admitted that his analysis about the futility of the masked vigilantes to resolve the real problems of the world was right.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Comedian probably killed President Kennedy, Woodward and Bernstein and singlehandedly rescued the American hostages in Iran.

* LackOfEmpathy: Doctor Manhattan says that Blake sees the stupidity and pain but just doesn't care.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Downplayed, as he is not insane, but he does display this viewpoint, and it's meant as a show of the immature mindset that was needed for him to become a superhero. He claims that when he put on the costume, or even thought about it, things just felt a lot simpler--he even claims that one of the things that first drew him to Superman, his favorite character, was that Superman lacked that sense of moral complexity and skeeviness held by characters like The Shadow. Though he's one of the more benign examples in the story, he still has a noticeable tendency to classify people into "good" (his fellow Minutemen) or "bad" (the Comedian, criminals in general), with ''Under the Hood'' being largely unforgiving to the Comedian for his AttemptedRape but glossing over the [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero racist comments]] made by Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, who are both framed quite positively.

* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Downplayed. While he's surrounded by his own memorabilia and has nothing to do but tell Dreiberg stories of his past exploits, he seems to have mostly made peace with his obsolescence.

* BrokenAce: In his prime, he was a confident leader and an ideal hero, being handsome, intelligent, charismatic and a skilled fighter and tactician. He was also a neurotic mess who was tortured by internalized homophobia and keeping his sexuality a secret and had to see his dream of heroes changing the world for the better die before him.

* 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.

* HeroesWantRedHeads: Sally Jupiter.

* CoolOldGuy: Harshly averted. He tries to position himself as this to younger heroes when he reforms the Crimebusters in the 60's and clearly thinks of himself as one and that they'll regard him as a mentor and father figure. In reality, they regard him as a relic and a pathetic middle-aged man in a costume and that's when they aren't put off by his conservative and outright racist social views.

* IWasQuiteTheLooker: He was a chiseled blond with a HeroicBuild in his youth. By the end of his life, he was a paunchy loser, which was only further emphasized when he wore his superhero costume.

* 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 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.

* TheSpook: His identity was never known and he promptly disappeared when people started asking questions, never to be seen again.

* BlamingTheVictim: In an interview in #10, she's shown to noticeably have this attitude regarding the infamous attempted rape. She can't bring herself to fully hate Eddie for it and keeps wondering to herself if her own actions somehow led to it, even though she knows, objectively, that what Eddie did to her was an irredeemable crime and her feelings are misplaced.

* {{Expy}}: Of ''Nightshade''.

* {{Expy}}: Of Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt.

* GogglesDoSomething: They have infra-red vision.

* AllThereInTheManual: The ''Under The Hood'' excerpts give the clearest indicator of what his criminal career was like.

* BatmanParody: A less obvious example than Mothman, Nite Owl II, and even Rorschach. While Ozymandias lacks the nocturnal AnimalMotif, the HardboiledDetective aesthetic, or even the tragic aspects of Batman, he still plays the other traits straight; born into a wealthy family, lost his parents at a young age (although he was old enough to take care of himself and process whatever grief he had of them at that time), spent years WalkingTheEarth before becoming a superhero, runs a corporate empire and has trained himself to both physical and mental perfection. Unlike Bruce Wayne, Adrian quickly reasons that he can do ''far'' [[AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome more good with his wealth, public image, and company than with actual superhero exploits]], and his super intelligence and self-made fortune lead to him [[spoiler:making the horrific pragmatic decision to kill millions of people to save the world.]]

* BatmanParody: If the first Nite Owl, Hollis T. Mason, was a parody of The Phantom, Dan Dreiberg was created to be a parody of Batman, being themed after a nocturnal animal, [[CrimefightingWithCash using money to fund his crimefighting]], having a utility belt, and generally being CrazyPrepared.

* BatmanParody: A less obvious example than Mothman, Nite Owl II, and even Rorschach. While Ozymandias lacks the nocturnal AnimalThemedSuperbeing or the HardboiledDetective aesthetic, or even the tragic aspects of Batman, he still plays the other traits straight; born into a wealthy family, lost his parents at a young age (although he was old enough to take of himself and process whatever grief he had of them at that time), spent years WalkingTheEarth before becoming a superhero, runs a corporate empire and has trained himself to both physical and mental perfection. Unlike Bruce Wayne, Adrian quickly reasons that he can do ''far'' [[AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome more good with his wealth, public image, and company than with actual superhero exploits]], and his super intelligence and self-made fortune lead to him [[spoiler:making the horrific pragmatic decision to kill millions of people to save the world.]]

* TheDreaded: Even Rorschach is wary of this man to the point he left behind his notes before confronting Veidt because he knew he likely wouldn't survive the confrontation.

* BondVillainStupidity: Absolutely defies this, given that the common 007 villain mistake is revealing their master plan way sooner than they should, giving their enemies a chance to stop them. Veidt only tells Nite Owl and Rorschach because [[YouAreTooLate it's already been carried out]].

* StoutStrength: He's noticeably gained weight in retirement but is still very strong, able to easily beat most opponents he comes across and throw grown men around like ragdolls.

* PyrrhicVictory: Not only does his plan destroy him, he isn't even sure it worked and asks Jon if it was worth it.

* SuperZeroes: Probably the most conventional example in the story; a racist washed-up loser whose biggest scene is as a paunchy has-been desperately trying to claim that his moderate fighting skills will solve all the ills of America.

* CoolOldGuy: Harshly averted. He tries to position himself as this to younger heroes when he reforms The Crimebusters in the 60's and clearly thinks of himself as one and that they'll regard him as a mentor and father figure. In reality, they regard him as a relic and a pathetic middle-aged man in a costume and that's when they aren't put off by his conservative and outright racist social views.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Moore has often complained, in the years since ''Watchmen'', about the intrinsic fascist bias he sees in superhero comics and that one can draw a straight line from the scene in ''Film/BirthOfANation'' where the founder of the Ku Klux Klan sees a child playing with a white sheet and gets the idea for their hooded outfits to terrorize black people and the scene where Bruce Wayne sees a bat in a window and is inspired to become a TerrorHero. Naturally, this is why the progenitor of all superheroes in this universe not only has pro-Nazi and pro-Klan sympathies but is wearing a black [=KKK=] hood and symbolically wears a noose tied around his neck.

* 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.

* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: He invokes this trope to justify denying help to young Bernie, but when Bernard learns about WorldWarIII and the impending nuclear menace, he prefers to invoke ThePowerOfFriendship and help young Bernie.