History Characters / WatchmenRorschach

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Rorschach's devotion to his ethos is so strong that he can't accept any form of compromise. The fault in his philosophy is shown early on, as his patriotism and admiration for the Comedian's persona and combat record make him accept the attempted rape of Sally Jupiter, [[MadonnaWhoreComplex who Rorschach considers to be a whore,]] as a moral lapse of an otherwise upstanding citizen, even though he is later shown to consider rape a perfectly good reason to kill someone. He also applauds President Truman's dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan as it ended a world war, but decries Ozymandias' doing the same to New York for the same reasons, and is determined to make Veidt answer for this "evil".

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: He's a master of and firm believer in this trope, making it his to go method of getting information. He doesn't even care if the person he's doing it to is the one he's after, reasoning that doing it enough will get someone to talk.

* LonersAreFreaks: Rorschach has no close friends or anyone he even particularly likes being around or who likes him in return, except maybe Dan and even Dan has his limits for how much of Rorschach's shit he is willing to put up with. Dr Long even states that he's never met anyone so isolated.

* MisanthropeSupreme: He has an extremely dim view of humanity as a whole, viewing just about everyone as scum to be put down or weak, immoral hedonists who lack the conviction and determination he believes he possesses in abundance. Unsurprisingly, even his former friends can't stand being around him as a result.

* NoSocialSkills: He never bathes, he thinks it's socially acceptable to break into people's houses and steal their stuff and has the nerve to tell Laurie that her mother almost getting raped by the Comedian could have been a moral lapse. Even Dan has problems dealing with him to the point where he finally lashes out at Rorschach. This leads to a handshake that Rorschach finds very awkward. The only time Rorschach feels at ease with anyone is when he's breaking people's fingers. He at least has the decency to try to avoid doing that in front of children (probably because of his own past experiences with AbusiveParents). It's made clear to the reader that while Rorschach is ultimately a good person and genuinely wants to help others, his total lack of proper social skills and his abundance of disorders will probably end up destroying him and they very much do so.
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Is among other things a misogynist and homophobe. But unlike many examples, instead of white washing his behavior, it only serves to further showcase how unpleasant a person he is, and why you shouldn't entirely identify with him uncritically.

** Rorschach may be batshit insane, AxCrazy 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 apologizes when Nite Owl calls him out on his behaviour, admitting that he knows he isn't easy to get along with.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: The guy's 5'6" and an incredibly strong and brutal fighter who can snap bones like they're breadsticks. He wore elevated heels as a part of his outfit.

* SuperZeroes: For all his toughness and intimidation, he's probably the closest thing to a straight example of this among the main cast as he is shown to be a raging lunatic with backwards social views who lives in squalor and has terrible hygiene and who was not only wrong in his initial belief but ends up being utterly useless in stopping the actual plot. As cool as he might seem, it's made painfully clear that Rorschach is someone no sane person would ever want to be like.

* WalkingDisasterArea: He tends to create a mess a lot. It ranges from the relatively mild, such as easily breaking Dreiberg's locks and busting into his house to eat his cans of beans, to the extreme brutality of burning down a house, terrifying a load of bargoers just by showing up to break a criminal's fingers, and wrecking his cell and a prison restroom to kill his victims.

* PsychopathicManchild: As tough and intimidating as he is, Rorschach is also incredibly immature and his worldview and belief in absolute good and evil and inability to tolerate shades of grey or anything that threatens his beliefs as well as his views on women and poor hygiene and social skills are a sign of a child who never grew up. Read some of the essays he wrote as a kid and his narration now and the two aren't all that different in their ideology he even expresses the same adolescent admiration for his father despite never having even met him, simply assuming that he must have been a good man because he was told as much. Alan Moore intended him as a deconstruction of the black-and-white morality of heroes like Mr A, showing how someone who insists on seeing the world in such rigid terms with absolutely no room for nuance or lenience would come across less as a brave exemplar of moral integrity and more as someone completely unable to function in the world in any real capacity.

* LovingAShadow: A non-romantic example. Early on Rorschach praises his father as an honest, hard-working man. It is later revealed that he never even knew his father, who ditched Rorschach's mom before he was born and was possibly just one of his prostitute mother's many customers.

** As brutal and unsympathetic to criminals as he is, it's implied that he mainly focuses on serious crime and saves his wrath for murderers, rapists, muggers and the like, although most petty criminals would probably rather steer clear of him entirely than test that out.

* InformedAttribute: Played with. Rorschach is referenced as being a brilliant detective, but his "mask killer" take on the Comedian's death is completely wrong. However, this was because he was against Veidt, who's ''ridiculously'' intelligent and actively working to manipulate him. By himself, he appears to have been ''pretty'' successful at least at legwork and uh, "interviews".

* ThePigPen: Rorschach's personal hygiene leaves a lot to be desired. It's been noted that he rarely showers due to seeing it as a distraction and as a result, he smells terrible.
* PintsizedPowerhouse: The guy's 5'6" and an incredibly strong and brutal fighter. He wore elevated heels as a part of his outfit.

* GutturalGrowler: It's mentioned that he speaks in a 'creepy monotone', but growling or lack thereof isn't specified. However, his speech bubbles are drawn with wavy outlines, implying the trope holds true for the comic as well. When doing a reading, Creator/AlanMoore also read Rorschach's dialogue with a growl.

* HeManWomanHater: Rorschach has some serious issues with women, largely due to his troubled childhood. Even before he became Rorschach, it was noted that he struggled to talk to girls and he was extremely uncomfortable handling women's garments while working in textiles. When he finally switches over, this attitude eventually morphs into full-blown misogyny, viewing Sally Jupiter as a "whore" and dismissing her rape as a minor mistake on Comedian's part and barely concealing his contempt for Laurie. That said, he appears to let go of some of his issues towards Laurie, at least, after [[spoiler:she and Dan break him out of prison, commenting that it a pity she didn't come with them to investigate his "mask killer" theory after Doctor Manhattan whisks her off to Mars]].

* BatmanParody: He has some elements of Batman in his character; the gritty side that lurks in the shadows and punches crime into submission. However, Rorschach has a lot of mental baggage that eventually leads to him going insane due to the constant exposure to the worst of humanity.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Rorschach's devotion to his ethos is so strong that it is impossible for him to accept any form of compromise. The fault in his philosophy is shown early on, as his patriotism and admiration for the Comedian's persona and combat record make him accept the attempted rape of Sally Jupiter, [[MadonnaWhoreComplex who Rorschach considers to be a whore,]] as a moral lapse of an otherwise upstanding citizen, even though he is later shown to consider rape a perfectly good reason to kill someone. He also applauds President Truman's dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan as it ended a world war, but decries Ozymandias' doing the same to New York for the same reasons, and is determined to make Veidt answer for this "evil".

* ExpressiveMask: And how. It does more than cover his face; to Rorschach, [[BecomingTheMask it]] ''[[BecomingTheMask is]]'' [[BecomingTheMask his face]]. His actual face, in contrast, is like a mask; his expression almost never changes. The black and white splotches in his mask never mix, representing his morality. For him there is only black and white, never gray.
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Anything he does. A vengeful prisoner gets his face burned, a masochistic "villain" is thrown down an elevator shaft. Rorschach does not half ass his responses.

* TheFettered: Kovacs' principles are all that matter to him; the good must be protected, and the evil must be punished, no compromise or nuance allowed. When he's finally confronted with his own failure to completely live up to his standards and faced with a dilemma he can't solve just by appealing to his code, [[DeconstructedTrope he breaks down.]]

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Before crimefighting was outlawed, he seemed to get along relatively well with his costumed peers, albeit with some criticism of his methods. Though Nite Owl was always his closest ally. After going rogue and a healthy dose of SanitySlippage, however, his former colleagues grow largely disgusted and disappointed in his brutality, rotten attitude and reckless vigilantism. Even Nite Owl is unsettled by his old friend's worsening mental state, and Rorschach's sociopathic tendencies and abrasive attitude begin to put a strain on their partnership when they reunite to investigate the Comedian's death.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: He went from being the impoverished and abused son of a prostitute and a dress maker to one of the most feared vigilantes in the city.

* GeniusBruiser: Holds his own in a fight, is ''very'' strong and has decent, albeit not exceptional, detective skills. Dan Dreiberg is the overall better detective, and is the one who actually figures out that Adrian Veidt is behind TheConspiracy.

* GutturalGrowler: It's mentioned that he speaks in a 'creepy monotone', but growling or lack thereof isn't specified. However his speech bubbles are drawn with wavy outlines, implying the trope holds true for the comic as well. When doing a reading, Creator/AlanMoore also read Rorschach's dialogue with a growl.

* HeManWomanHater: Rorschach has some serious issues with women, largely due to his troubled childhood. Even before he became Rorschach, it was noted that he struggled to talk to girls and he was extremely uncomfortable handling women's garments while working in textiles. When he finally switches over, this attitude eventually morphs into full-blown misogyny, viewing Sally Jupiter as a "whore" and dismissing her rape as a minor mistake on Comedian's part and barely concealing his contempt for Laurie. That said, he appears to let go of some of his issues towards Laurie, at least, after [[spoiler:she and Dan break him out of prison, commenting that its a pity she didn't come with them to investigate his "mask killer" theory after Doctor Manhattan whisks her off to Mars]].

* HoboGloves: Since he's basically a bum who happens to work as a superhero, it should come as no surprise that his gloves are dirty and fingerless. Given he's both a TragicHero and a SociopathicHero, his gloves have both the "sympathetic" and "rough" connotations.
* HolierThanThou: Rorschach is extremely self-righteous and makes no secret of his contempt for pretty much everyone around him, including civilians and other heroes who he regards as weak and uncommitted, and sees himself as the only person left who still has real integrity and believes in good principles.
* HomelessHero: He lives in squalor and has poor personal hygiene and often resorts to stealing food, either from his friends or trash cans. Since he is entirely devoted to his work as a superhero and doesn't really have ties to civilian life in terms of friends and family, he doesn't really care about being poor.

* LogicBomb: As a child, Walter expressed in a paper that dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was indeed justified, as it helped to end World War II and prevent greater loss of life in the future. He followed this mindset through when he became Rorschach, and doubled down on his BlackAndWhiteInsanity after his StartOfDarkness. Ozymandias' destruction of New York was done as a massive GenghisGambit, meant to pressure the world into giving up international conflict and work to better all of mankind. However, despite Veidt's motives, his actions to save the world are beyond anything Rorschach can stomach, and sends him into a mental breakdown.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: As a result of his bad upbringing and personality formation, Rorschach tends to [[MadonnaWhoreComplex see women as either helpless victims or succubi]], i.e. entirely in extremes. In his mind, Blaire Roche and the historical Kitty Genovese, the horrible victim of rape and brutal murder, are pure angels whom he failed to rescue, whereas women who don't fit that standard, whether it's actual prostitutes (such as his mother or his landlady), or independent women who complain about sexual assault (such as Sally Jupiter), are liars and betrayers. This allows him to hate rapists and submit them to retribution, while simultaneously dismissing allegations against the Comedian as false or a simple mistake, if he even acknowledges it.

** Rorschach as in the ink blots is a fitting name for a man with a capacity to externally project his internal beliefs, who sees plots and meaning in vague outlines (i.e. the "Mask Killer" conspiracy idea of his) that are either non-existent, or woefully short of the real thing. The reality of the Rorschach ink blot test as noted by Dr. Malcolm Long is that they are truly meaningless and only reflect people's capacity to interpret the world, which is also fitting for Rorschach's existential belief in his convictions, that the world doesn't make sense unless you want it to.

* MercyKill: One way of interpreting his request that Dr. Manhattan kill him near the end.
* MisanthropeSupreme: He has an extremely dim view of humanity as a whole, viewing just about everyone as scum to be pout down or weak, immoral hedonists who lack the conviction and determination he believes he possesses in abundance. Unsurprisingly, even his former friends can't stand being around him as a result.
* MoralityChain: His former superhero comrades were clearly this to him. Rorschach is described as having always been more extreme and disturbed than the other Crimebusters, but we see in a flashback that he was much better adjusted when he worked alongside them, especially Dan. Even his speech bubbles were more solidified. After the Blair Roche incident and the outlawing of costumed heroes, Rorschach went completely off the deep end.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Debuting in TheEighties, he and The Comedian are considered the prototypes, or [[UrExample Ur-Examples]], for these type of anti-heroes, despite not strictly embodying this trope themselves.

** There's also his frequent insinuations about how AllWomenAreLustful, and how Ozymandias as a SellOut is similar to a prostitute, solely out of his own bitterness about his mother being a prostitute.
** Rorschach also mocks other heroes for not being able to be as tough as he is, either because they are too comfortable (Veidt), too pampered (Sally) or that they have retired (Dan Dreiberg), when in most cases Rorschach merely fights low-level thugs whom he intimidates by breaking their fingers and other bullying acts, in addition to interrogating an old man suffering from cancer (Moloch). Likewise, he's the only hero who ends up being captured by the police and having his identity exposed (something that doesn't happen to Dan, Laurie or Adrian), and he pretty much suffers a CurbStompBattle against the only antagonist who is a match for him (Ozymandias), simply because he's not as good a combatant as he thinks he is. Even so, he does acknowledge beforehand that Ozymandias very well may be a better fighter than himself.

* PsychopathicManchild: As tough and intimidating as he is, Rorschach is also incredibly immature and his worldview and belief in absolute good and evil and inability to tolerate shades of grey or anything that threatens his beliefs as well as his views on women and poor hygiene and social skills are a sign of a child who never grew up. Read some of the essays he wrote as a kid and his narration now and the two aren't all that different in their ideology and he even expresses the same adolescent admiration for his father despite never having even met him, simply assuming that he must have been a good man because he was told as much. Alan Moore intended him as a deconstruction of the black and white morality of heroes like Mr A, showing how someone who insists on seeing the world in such rigid terms with absolutely no room for nuance or lenience would come across less as a brave exemplar of moral integrity and more as someone completely unable to function in the world in any real capacity.

* RuleOfSymbolism: In the pirate comics, the protagonist is threatened by a shark, which he calls a soulless, emotionless machine that does nothing but kill and eat. He kills it and eats it in order to survive, but is ultimately doomed to damnation. When an informant (possibly Ozymandias) calls the police to deliver a hint as to the vigilante's future whereabouts, the detective can't hear him correctly over the room noise (asking what the caller means by "Raw shark?" before the realization finally sets in. Rorschach is ultimately killed because he's impossibly driven and unwilling to compromise, leaving Veidt alone in his damnation.

* SanitySlippage: Before the Blair Roche case, it's hinted that he was somewhat stable and didn't have his creepy monotone voice as evidenced with the word balloons in the flashback to the first Crimebusters meeting. He was also more willing to display emotion, idealistic, and expressed his friendship with Dan more openly with things like handshakes and while brutal towards criminals, he at least didn't use lethal force or at least not as often. After Blair Roche's murder and burning down her murderer's house, he slowly spiraled into insanity and became more obsessed with his BlackAndWhiteMorality principles.

* SonOfAWhore: He developed a number of sexual hangups thanks to growing up around his mother's work. Well, that and being beaten and verbally abused by his mother, and bullied by other kids for being a SonOfAWhore.
* StartOfDarkness: He failed to save a little girl in time when a murderer kidnapped her and fed her body to his dogs. Rorschach killed the dogs, chained the murderer to a stove, set the place on fire, and left him with a hacksaw and a choice: cut his hand off and escape, or stay there and die. Rorschach watched the building burn, but didn't see anyone emerge. After that, he never left criminals alive.

* SymbolFace: Rorschach famously wears a white mask with shape changing black and white ink that ''never'' mix. The ink changes and takes form into multiple shapes and patterns. This is supposed to show how he only sees the world though Black and White, Good and Evil. There is no gray, the inks do not mix to become gray.

* TerseTalker: He's always like this when talking, but his journal and internal monologue switch between this and [[PurpleProse outbreaks of fluency]]. Still skips articles and pronouns in journal.

* TranquilFury: Unlike the other characters, who express fury through violent outbursts (The Comedian particularly), Rorschach is almost always calm and quiet in his violence. Even when pushed to his very limit in 1975, he didn't yell or lash out, he retained his quiet demeanor. He is emotionally withdrawn and during his adulthood he only makes a facial expression twice in the book (Panel 8 of Page 7 of Chapter 6, when he remembers a childhood incident, and when he orders Manhattan to kill him.) For the rest of the story his face is either covered by his mask or a blank stare. This is changed in the movie, however. His blank stare is replaced by a ClintSquint, and he is prone to fits of eye-twitchery. In 1975, when pushed to his limitations, instead of breaking down into the calm psycho he breaks up into an aggressive animal.

* TheUnblinking: He goes extended periods just staring, with Dr Long noting "he never seems to blink", a trait which makes him even more unsettling to be around.
* UncleanlinessIsNextToUngodliness: Or in Rorschach's case, uncleanliness is next to a ''severely'' warped mind. Ironically, it's heavily implied he doesn't bathe, as it distracts him from crimefighting. Many who encounter him recount after the fact that he smells ''terrible'', and he liberally douses himself with cologne to counter his smell.
* UngratefulBastard: Due to being, well, Rorschach, he struggles to show gratitude and is unappreciative of those he depends on, especially Dan. Even Dan and Laurie breaking him out of prison doesn't get either much respect, to the point that Dan finally has enough and calls him out on it, which Rorschach acknowledges and apologizes for.

* UnscrupulousHero: What he currently is and what he is well-known for. Rorschach is far from an ideal hero. He is absolutely ruthless towards criminals, killing them when he could easily beat them and leave them for the police. That said, most of the criminals Rorschach encounters are either killers or rapists so killing them might seem a [[PayEvilUntoEvil proper punishment]]. However, he does have genuinely good intentions and sincerely wants to make the world a safer place. To this end, he still saves civilians and actually cares a lot for kids.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: As a result of his bad upbringing and personality formation, Rorschach tends to [[MadonnaWhoreComplex see women as either helpless victims or succubi]], i.e. entirely in extremes. In his mind, Blaire Roche and the historical Kitty Genovese, the horrible victim of rape and brutal murder, are pure angels whom he failed to rescue, whereas women who don't fit that standard, whether its actual prostitutes (such as his mother) or his landlady, or independent women who complain about sexual assault (such as Sally Jupiter), are liars and betrayers. This allows him to hate rapists and submit them to retribution, while simultaneously dismissing allegations against the Comedian as false or a simple mistake, if he even acknowledges it.

* TheUnblinking: He goes extended periods just staring with Dr Long saying "he never seems to blink", a fact which makes him even more unsettled.

* RuleOfSymbolism: In the pirate comics, the protagonist is threatened by a shark, which he calls a soulless, emotionless machine that does nothing but kill and eat. He kills it and eats it in order to survive, but is ultimately doomed to damnation. When Rorschach tries to call the editor of his favorite newspaper, the man can't hear him over the room noise and repeatedly calls him "Raw shark? What?" before hanging up on him. Rorschach is ultimately killed because he's impossibly driven and unwilling to compromise, leaving Veidt alone in his damnation.

** Rorschach also mocks other heroes for not being able to be as tough as he is, either because they are too comfortable (Veidt), too pampered (Sally) or that they have retired (Dan Dreiberg), when in most cases Rorschach merely fights low-level thugs who he intimidates by breaking their fingers and other bullying acts, in addition to interrogating an old man suffering from cancer (Moloch). Likewise he's the only hero who ends up being captured by the police and having his identity exposed (something that didn't happen to Dan, Laurie or Adrian), and he pretty much suffers a CurbStompBattle against the only one who is equally matched, to Ozymandias, simply because he's not as good a fighter as he thinks he is. Although beforehand he does acknowledge that Ozymandias might be a better fighter than him.
** Likewise his hilarious comment near the end about how he must not let the Egyptian décor at Veidt's office overpower his logic, unaware that his own logic was coloured by his mask-killer theory simply because Eddie Blake at the time of his death happened to be The Comedian.

* NobleBigotWithABadge: Is among other things a misogynist and homophobe. But unlike many examples, instead of white washing his behavior, it only serves to further showcase how unpleasant a person he is, and why you shouldn't entirely identify with him uncritically.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: As a result of his bad upbringing, and personality formation, Rorschach tends to [[MadonnaWhoreComplex see women as either helpless victims or succubi]], i.e. entirely in extremes. In his mind, Blair Roche, and the historical Kitty Genovese, the horrible victim of rape and brutal murder, are pure angels who he failed to rescue, whereas women who don't fit that standard, whether its actual prostitutes such as his mother or his landlady, or independent women who complain about sexual assault such as Sally Jupiter, are liars and betrayers. This allows him to hate rapists and submit them to retribution while also dismissing allegations against the Comedian as false or a simple mistake if he does acknowledge it.