History ComicBook / Watchmen

* {{Narm}}: InUniverse and {{Deconstructed}} -- In the original Night Owl's autobiography, ''Under the Hood'', Hollis Mason reminisces about "the saddest thing I can think of", and tells the story of the time he and his father's employer, on the edge of a complete breakdown and with his eyes full of tears broke the news that his wife was cheating on him. But despite this being a great personal tragedy for the boss, they couldn't help but laugh hysterically at him, as the boss [[ItMakesSenseInContext was wearing big plastic breasts]] and was playing "Ride of the Valkyries" on the record player in his office as he made the announcement. They immediately realized their mistake and profusely apologized to him afterwards, but Hollis still suspects that their intial reaction is what what ultimately drove their employer over the edge, as he committed suicide in his office the same day after everyone went home.

* AnAesop: Empathy is a hero's most important quality. Regardless of honorable intent, committing atrocities [[TheNeedsOfTheMany for the sake of the greater good]] never ends well; neither does [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity singleminded, uncompromising adherence to a code]]. You can't solve the world's problems if you're indifferent to other people's suffering.

* {{Narm}}: InUniverse and {{Deconstructed}} -- In the original Night Owl's autobiography, ''Under the Hood'', Hollis Mason reminisces about "the saddest thing he can think of", and tells the story of the time he and his father's employer, on the edge of a complete breakdown and with his eyes full of tears broke the news that his wife was cheating on him, but despite this being a great personal tragedy for him, they couldn't help but laugh hysterically at him, as the boss [[ItMakesSenseInContext was wearing big plastic breasts]] and was playing "Ride of the Valkyries" on the record player in his office. They immediately apologized to him afterwards, but their reaction is still what ultimately drove their employer over the edge, and he committed suicide the same day.

* KarmicDeath: After Hooded Justice beats seven shades of shit out of The Comedian (Edward Blake) for nearly raping the first Silk Spectre (Sally Jupiter) ,Blake threatens him, and, sure enough, a man who could very well have been the civilian identity of Hooded Justice turns up dead, with The Comedian as the most likely culprit. Shortly thereafter, when newly-minted crimefighter Ozymandias (Adrian Veidt) investigates the disappearance of Justice, he comes across Blake and is beaten by him in a senseless brawl. Decades afterward, Veidt murders Blake in a home invasion, with the main purpose of silencing him before he can reveal the particulars of Veidt's EvilPlan, but likely does it personally to [[ItsPersonal avenge his earlier ass-kicking at The Comedian's hands]].

* LastSecondWordSwap: At the end, when Laurie and Dan visit Sally in disguise:

---> Is that what happens to us? A life of conflict with no time for friends...so that when it's done, only our enemies leave roses.

---> '''Rorschach:''' Funny story. Sounds unbelievable. Probably true.

* UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople: Ozymandius has a pet genetically modified lynx, Bubastis.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler:Ozymandius' plan involves killing a lot of people under the belief that doing so will make the world a better place.]]

* UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain: Rorschach is quite homely and short, both of which are mentioned in-story at least once. Also, he smells bad, dresses scruffily and has terrible table manners. He's a NobleBigot, a rape apologist, a StrawNihilist ... but, then again, Rorschach [[PayEvilUntoEvil only kills dangerous criminals]]. Ozymandias, is attractive in a sort of fey, {{Bishounen}} way and WickedCultured. While Rorschach and Ozymandias are both {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, Rorschach ''[[NeverHurtAnInnocent never]]'' hurts an innocent person throughout the whole story, whereas Ozymandias kills over three million innocent people (at least a couple personally) with the intention of saving billions from nuclear war. This kind of pushes Rorschach into an AntiHero status while Ozymandias becomes more of an AntiVillain, so this mostly plays the trope straight.

** Sally Jupiter chides Hollis Mason for discussing their shared past as Minutemen with young Laurie in the room.

* UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain: Rorschach is quite homely and short, both of which are mentioned in-story at least once. Also, he smells bad, dresses scruffily and has terrible table manners. He's a NobleBigot, a rape apologist, a StrawNihilist ... but, then again, Rorschach [[PayEvilUntoEvil only kills dangerous criminals]]. Ozymandias, is attractive in a sort of fey, {{Bishounen}} way and WickedCultured. While Rorschach and Ozymandias are both {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, Rorschach ''[[NeverHurtAnInnocent never]]'' hurt an innocent person throughout the whole story, whereas Ozymandias killed over three million innocent people with the intention of saving billions from nuclear war. This kind of pushes Rorschach into an AntiHero while Ozymandias is more of an AntiVillain, so this mostly plays the trope straight.

* {{Ubermensch}}: Arguably one of the themes of the work. Just about all the "costumed" characters show some shades of it, but especially Rorschach and Ozymandias, who unflinchingly do what they think is right, even if it means [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity running a]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans bit counter]] to societal norms. Notably, these two characters' moral principles still run entirely counter to each other.

* TrespassingToTalk: Rorschach frequently invades the residence of people he wants to talk to, be it his friends and enemies. In one case, leaving a Right Behind You message in the victim's fridge.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Deconstructed with the Comedian. He is originally kicked out of the Minutemen for being this -- not for being an AntiHero or HeroicComedicSociopath, but for trying to '''rape''' his teammate, Silk Spectre. He is then invited back to join the Crime-Busters, but he himself torpedoes the group.

* TeleportationSickness: Others besides Dr. Manhattan tend to find his teleporting them unpleasant, some rioters even suffering heart attacks when he puts them back home.
** Though Manhattan's narration points out that this was due at least partly to the shock of suddenly finding themselves back home.

** What becomes of people who dress up in costumes but 1: They have no proper training or resources, 2: They're all at least a little unbalanced, and 3 (most importantly): They are taking the law into their own hands in a world just as full of political and social complexities as the real world? They die. They go insane (presuming they weren't [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity insane already]]). [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Or they become monsters.]]
** The Minutemen has many of the prejudices of that time period. Hooded Justice is a nazi supporter until the start of the Second World War, Captain Metropolis has racist opinions of black and hispanic people, the Comedian attempts to rape Silk Spectre on the basis that he thought she wanted it because she wore a {{Stripperific}} outfit, and Silhouette is thrown out of the group when she's discovered to be a lesbian.
** The first Nite Owl was a police officer during his day job, so he actually was properly trained and had official authority if he chose to use it. This is why he's the OnlySaneMan among either generation of superheroes.
** In his autobiography, he casually mentions that once the "costumed hero" phase hit its peak, most costumed villains simply gave up entirely or became regular criminals because, honestly, what's the point?

** Dollar Bill was killed ignobly after his [[CapeSnag cape got caught]] in the revolving door at a bank. The robbers then simply walked right up to him and shot him point blank.
** After the antagonist reveals his scheme to Nite Owl II and Rorschach, Nite Owl tries to talk him out of it, only for the antagonist to inform him that the only reason he told the pair about it in the first place is because [[YouAreTooLate he already set it into motion, and it's too late for them to stop him]].

* SuperpowerLottery: Deconstructed. Dr. Manhattan is a nigh-omnipotent, nigh-omniscient being, and the only one who has any superpower whatsoever. Yet he is so unmotivated and detached that he lets himself become a puppet of government, is one of those characters who can be manipulated very easily, and has a really hard time using his own powers not just for others', but for his own good.

* SuperRegistrationAct: The Keene Act banned superheroes' activities, with most of them being forcibly retired, a select few being hired by the government, and a few others acting clandestinely.

** An odd LampshadeHanging, in which Silk Spectre uses it as a warped justification for AttemptedRape. It's also noticeable that the costume was only very Stripperiffic by 1940 standards, as it's a very short backless gown with stockings. Further lampshaded when her daughter/successor complains about how ridiculous her own costume was. Unlampshaded when she puts the costume on for her new boyfriend and doesn't stop wearing it for the rest of the series (though there wasn't time to get a new one).
** Dr. Manhattan's progressively-diminished costume provides a Stripperific clue as to how far back in his personal timeline each of his flashback appearances lies. The fact that he's first seen buck-naked, and is only later seen in skin-tight bodysuits or Speedos, may be a bit of a joke on this trope.
* StrawmanNewsMedia: Neither the left or the right press come off very well here; the New Frontiersman is so rabidly right-wing that it's pretty much a print version of Breitbart, while the Nova Express is so ludicrously left-wing they're willing to risk World War III to get rid of superheroes. Hector Godfrey and Doug Roth respectively calling each other klansmen and communists doesn't really seem too far off.

* SmallStepsHero: Deconstructed hard. Captain Metropolis founded the Minutemen because he thought their street level heroics would make a grander difference by setting a good example and tried again, with Ozymandias' support, when the earlier team split up. As the Comedian pointed out, such heroics are worthless when the entire planet is facing nuclear annihilation and in the end, when the Cold War becomes violent and the world is destroyed, nothing will matter. Ozymandias comes to believe this, which kicks off his StartOfDarkness.

* SecretSexWorker: The woman who lives next door to Rorschach is a [[SingleMomStripper single mother and prostitute]] who hides her work from her young kids. The fact that she tries to hide this from her kids actually keeps Rorschach from killing her (despite her lying about him trying to rape her to the news), because it proves to him that she cares about her kids, unlike his mom who was ''also'' a prostitute, but [[SonOfAWhore didn't shield him from her work]].

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Read the in-universe article snippet of The New Frontiersman, and you'll notice that the newspaper is actually sniffing surprisingly close to the actual conspiracy. It recognizes that Doug Roth's behavior suggests bias and that he might have been subverted, and even thinks that it might have something to do with the disappearances of scientists and artists. Both of these conclusions are right--but not for logical reasons; the writer reached those conclusions because they simply decided to search for ''any'' evidence that their ideological opponents were bad, and then blamed it on them wholeheartedly.

* RapeAsDrama: Part of Silk Spectre I's backstory is how the Comedian tried to have his way with her.

** Laurie's mother Sally was almost raped by the Comedian, but later ends up becoming close to him and having an affair which results in Laurie's conception. Sally is torn because she knows objectively she ''should'' loathe him.

%%* RefrigeratorAmbush: Rorschach pulls one off.

* PurpleProse: The narration caps in ''Tales Of The Black Freighter'', the [[ShowWithinAShow Comic Within A Comic]], which seems to be a tribute to the narration style of Creator/HPLovecraft.

%%* PsychicPowers: Plays an indirect but key role in the plot.

* OldSuperhero: Deconstructed. For all their fighting skill, Captain Metropolis, the Comedian and Hollis Mason can't stop the ravages of time. The last two die fighting younger enemies. The first Silk Spectre plays with this one, as she recognizes her superhero days are well behind her but likes to reminisce about the past and pushes her daughter to take up her legacy.

* NostalgiaFilter: Lampshaded by Silk Spectre in both the novel and movie, where she comments on how the future seemed bleaker and the past increasingly blissful despite all the glaring, gritty flaws. Including what happened between her and the Comedian.