Captain Metropolis
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
'' is a twelve-issue
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...
created by
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...
,
Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story " For the M ...
, and
John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...
, published by
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
in 1986 and 1987. ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
'' focuses on six main characters: the
Comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
,
Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman) is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the graphic novel, limited Limited series (comics), series graphic novel, ''Watchmen.'' Follo ...
, Nite Owl II,
Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's collection '' Ros ...
, Rorschach, and the Silk Spectre II. These characters were originally based on the Mighty Crusaders and then reworked in an unsolicited proposal to fit superhero properties DC had acquired from
Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic-book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T. W. O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line (comics), line was a divi ...
in the early 1980s. Moore later based the team's predecessors, the Minutemen, on the Mighty Crusaders. Since the publisher planned to integrate Charlton's superheroes into the main
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...
and the script would have made many of them unusable for future stories, series writer Alan Moore eventually agreed to create original characters. Moore wished the main characters to present six to perceive the world, and to give readers of the story the privilege of determining which one was most morally comprehensible.Eno, Vincent; El Csawza.
Vincent Eno and El Csawza meet comics megastar Alan Moore
. ''Strange Things Are Happening''. May/June 1988.
The protagonists of ''Watchmen'' were reused in the prequel series ''
Before Watchmen ''Before Watchmen'' is a series of comic books published by DC Comics in 2012. Acting as a prequel to the 1986 12-issue ''Watchmen'' limited series by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, the project consists of eight limited series and on ...
'', which also gave backstories to several minor characters from the original graphic novel, and introduced new characters. Later on, several ''Watchmen'' characters reappeared in the limited series '' Doomsday Clock'', bringing them into the main
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...
. The television series ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
'' is set in the same
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
as the limited series, taking place in 2019 in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
.


Overview

Key * A model served as a body double, with the actor's likeness superimposed onto the model. * Actor lent only their likeness for their film character. * Appearance through a photographic still. * Appearance by an in-universe actor portraying the character. * Character was not in the film.


Crimebusters

The Crimebusters are a superhero group that succeeds the Minutemen and are the main characters of ''Watchmen''. The group was short-lived when the Keene Act that forbade non-government sanctioned superheroes was passed. Among its notable members are:


The Comedian

The Comedian (Edward Morgan "Eddie" Blake) is a
vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...
, initially based on the
Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
and then on the Charlton Comics character Peacemaker, with elements of the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
spy character
Nick Fury Colonel (United States), Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and ...
added. Moore and Gibbons saw the Comedian as .Cooke, Jon B.
Alan Moore discusses the Charlton-Watchmen Connection
. ''Comic Book Artist''. August 2000. Retrieved on October 8, 2008.
Gibbons went with a
Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...
-style appearance (mustache and cigar) for the Comedian in his design, deciding that the "clown" look had already been appropriated by the
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
supervillain
the Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, the character first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' on ...
. His costume itself was noted by Gibbons as being particularly problematic; he was initially designed with a more militaristic costume which was later dropped for a black leather outfit with a . He believes that humans are savage in nature, and that civilization can never be more than an idea. He, therefore, chooses to become a mockery of society, fighting and killing without reservation. Blake's murder, which takes place shortly before the story begins in 1985, sets the plot of ''Watchmen'' in motion. The character appears throughout the story in flashbacks and aspects of his personality are revealed by other characters.Reynolds, p. 106 Richard Reynolds described the Comedian as . Nicholas Michael Grant said the Comedian is In the ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
'' film, he is portrayed by
Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022) and its spin-off '' The Walking Dead: Dead City'' (2023–present ...
. The film also places him as John F. Kennedy's assassin, as shown in the opening montage. In '' Watchmen: The End Is Nigh'', the Comedian is voiced by Mark Silverman. Due to his death in the graphic novel, he does not appear in the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
sequel series ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
'', but he is mentioned and his legacy lives on through his daughter Laurie. The Comedian is seen briefly in a flashback episode in which he is portrayed by an uncredited actor. According to a Peteypedia article, Lady Trieu's mother Bian My had encountered Blake during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
in 1971 in which he and his battalion of Blazin' Commandos' burned down her village. In '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Comedian is voiced by Rick D. Wasserman.


Doctor Manhattan

Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman is a vigilante and the only character with
superpowers Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, tec ...
.Wright, p. 272 His character was based on the
Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic-book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T. W. O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line (comics), line was a divi ...
character
Captain Atom Captain Atom is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books, initially owned by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. All possess some form of energy-manipulating abilities, usually relating to nuc ...
. He was originally a
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
who was transformed into a blue, irradiated powerful being after he was disintegrated in an Intrinsic Field Subtractor in 1959. He had returned to the chamber to retrieve his girlfriend's watch (which he had repaired), and was accidentally locked inside when the Subtractor started automatically. Osterman was blown into atoms, with nothing left of his body. Within a few months, his disembodied consciousness managed to reconstruct a physical body for itself, after several hideous partial reconstructions. Following his reanimation, he is immediately pressed into service by the
United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...
, which gives him the name Doctor Manhattan, after the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. Though he dabbles briefly in crime-fighting, his greatest influence is to grant the U.S. a strategic advantage over the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, with his most significant action taking place after he is personally asked by President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
to intervene in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, leading to an unqualified victory for the U.S. with the defeat of
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
and the
Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...
, preventing the collapse of the Saigon government. Since he works for the U.S. government, he is exempt from the provisions of the Keene Act, but spends much of his time doing advanced technology research and development, and physics research. He is single-handedly responsible for the shift to electric-powered vehicles (by synthesizing the needed elements and chemicals himself) and Veidt credits him with causing a huge leap forward in myriad areas of science and technology. As a result, the technology of the alternative 1985 of the ''Watchmen'' universe is far more advanced. After the death of his father in 1969, he does not conceal his birth name and is referred to as "Jon" or "Dr. Osterman". Perhaps due to his own
transhumanist Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the human enhancement, enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cogni ...
nature, Doctor Manhattan is not only able to perceive time as non-linear, with him often describing past, present and future events as though they were all happening within the time of his retelling of them, this also leads to him acting in accordance with a personal philosophy which most closely resembles
determinism Determinism is the Metaphysics, metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes ov ...
. While he can change reality to his will, he believes himself and all of his actions to be pre-determined. He therefore both does and does not possess free will and is, in a way, controlled by forces well within his control. He refuses to change the pre-ordained course of events. In the ''Watchmen'' film, Doctor Manhattan is a CGI character whose body is modeled after fitness model Greg Plitt, with voice,
motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...
, and facial performance provided by
Billy Crudup William Gaither Crudup (; born July 8, 1968) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for his performance in '' Jesus' Son'' (1999). He went on to star in numerous high-profile films, including ...
(who also portrays Osterman prior to his transformation). In ''Watchmen: The End is Nigh'', Doctor Manhattan is voiced by
Crispin Freeman Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter who is best known for voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime, animation, and video games. Some of his prominent anime roles include Zelgadis Grayw ...
. In the ''Watchmen'' TV series, he is portrayed by
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and '' Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal d ...
. For much of the series, he is solely known by the name Cal Abar, the husband of series protagonist Angela Abar and the survivor of an unnamed accident in 2009 which wiped all his memory. Instead, Manhattan had in fact installed a device into his forehead that suppressed his superpowers and his omniscient sense of time, allowing him to pursue a comfortable relationship with Angela, though this did remove his memory prior to 2009. Late in the series, in 2019, Angela discovers a plot by the white supremacist ring the Seventh Kavalry to destroy Manhattan and harness his powers; Angela subsequently forcibly removed the device from his forehead, causing him to regain his abilities and appearance, though immediately afterward he is captured by the Kavalry and transported into a synthetic
lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...
cage. As Senator Joe Keene, the Kavalry's leader, prepares to destroy Manhattan while harnessing his powers (ultimately killing Keene in the process since the machine didn't have a component that can filter the atomic energy), Lady Trieu intervenes, kills the rest of the Kavalry, and continues the demonstration in attempt to take his powers for herself so that she can do improvements to the world which Doctor Manhattan never got around to doing. Trieu is successful in killing Manhattan and he shares a final moment with Angela before he dies, though Trieu's plans are ultimately upended by Veidt and she is killed by another of his attacks. At the end of the series, Manhattan is implied to have transferred his powers to Angela. In '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Doctor Manhattan is voiced by
Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris Jr. (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: ''Assassins (musical), Assassins'', ''Sweeney Todd: The ...
.


Nite Owl

Nite Owl II (Daniel "Dan" Dreiberg) is a superhero who uses
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
-themed gadgets, in a manner which led Dave Gibbons to consider him Nite Owl was partly based on the
Ted Kord Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second fictional character to use the identity of Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. He was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared as a bac ...
version of the DC Comics superhero
Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three superheroes appearing in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the rights to the ...
. Just as Ted Kord had a predecessor, Moore also incorporated an earlier adventurer who used the name "Nite Owl" (the retired crime fighter Hollis Mason) into ''Watchmen''. While Moore devised character notes for Gibbons to work from, the artist provided a name and a costume design for Hollis Mason he had created when he was twelve.Kallies, Christy.
Under the Hood: Dave Gibbons
. SequentialTart.com. July 1999. Retrieved on October 12, 2008
Richard Reynolds noted in ''Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology'' that despite the character's Charlton roots, Nite Owl's
modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...
has more in common with the DC Comics character
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
. According to Geoff Klock, his civilian form The second Nite Owl is another vigilante who has not revealed his identity in the post-Keene Act era throughout the novel. "Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1" establishes that Dan Dreiberg's mother was physically abused by his father. Dreiberg's obsession with the original Nite Owl led him to plant a remote microphone device on Hollis' vehicle in order to track him down.Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1 It also establishes the events of how he was taken in as his apprentice: His father dies of an apparent heart attack while beating Dan's mother (Dan and his mother hold off calling for an ambulance) At the funeral, Hollis, having since discovered Dan's abusive childhood via police reports, confronts Dan and agrees to take him on as his sidekick. However, after training him, Hollis announces his retirement and informs Dan that he is giving him the Nite Owl identity rather than creating a sidekick persona for him. It is also revealed that Rorschach met Nite Owl on Dan's very first patrol and offered his assistance as a partner to the young rookie hero. In the ''Watchmen'' film, he is portrayed by
Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty (musical), The Full Mont ...
, who put on in between the filming of his flashback scenes and the 1985 scenes, showing the physical decline of his character. He is not present in the HBO ''Watchmen'' series, having been under federal custody since the events of the graphic novel. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Nite Owl is voiced by
Matthew Rhys Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. He gained recognition for playing Kevin Walker in the family drama series '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in the spy drama series ''The Americans'' (2013 ...
.


Rorschach

Rorschach (real name Walter Joseph Kovacs) is a noir
private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...
-themed vigilante who wears a white mask with constantly shifting ink blots. Rorschach continues to fight crime in spite of his outlaw status, eventually making the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Born to an abusive prostitute and a man whose last name she never bothered to learn, he spent much of his childhood in a home for troubled youth, after which he began working in a garment factory. After reading about the
murder of Kitty Genovese In the early hours of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bartender, was raped and stabbed outside the apartment building where she lived in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City, United States. Two weeks ...
and the reported complete indifference of the witnesses of the crime, he modified a special fabric that she had ordered, according to him, to create a mask and became a vigilante, eventually forming a productive partnership with Nite Owl II. In 1975, after failing to rescue a young girl, he lost all faith in humanity. When the story begins, a man is seen walking around New York carrying a sign that reads, , but it is not until several chapters later that the reader learns that this man is Kovacs/Rorschach. Moore based Rorschach on the
Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...
creations the
Question A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are i ...
and Mr. A. Moore said he was trying to .Stewart, Bhob. "Synchronicity and Symmetry". ''The Comics Journal''. July 1987. As a result, Rorschach's real name is given as Walter Kovacs. Ditko's Charlton character the Question also served as a template for creating Rorschach. Comics historian Bradford W. Wright described the character's
world view A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. However, when two parties view the s ...
as . Rorschach sees existence as random and, according to Wright, this viewpoint leaves the character . Moore said he did not foresee the death of Rorschach until the fourth issue when he realized that his refusal to compromise would result in him not surviving the story. Rorschach is close friends with the second Nite Owl. He is the first hero Rorschach meets with when Comedian is killed and Nite Owl organizes a rescue mission to free Rorschach from jail when he is arrested. ''Before Watchmen: Nite Owl'' reveals that Rorschach was active as a hero before Nite Owl made his debut and on the latter's first night out as a hero, Rorschach sneaks into his owl ship and offers his services to Nite Owl as a partner. In '' Doomsday Clock'', Kovacs is succeeded by Reginald "Reggie" Long, son of Dr. Malcolm Long, the psychologist in ''Watchmen'' who was assigned to evaluate Rorschach after he is apprehended. In the ''Watchmen'' film, he is portrayed by
Jackie Earle Haley Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor and director. His earliest roles included Moocher in '' Breaking Away'' (1979) and Kelly Leak in '' The Bad News Bears'' (1976), '' The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' (1977) and '' ...
. Due to his death in the graphic novel, he does not appear in the HBO sequel series ''Watchmen'', but his legacy and likeness are depicted in the form of the Seventh Kavalry, a white supremacist ring that was formed after Rorschach's journal was published by right-wing paper the '' New Frontiersman''. The Kavalry all wear Rorschach masks and are shown recording threatening videos in which they quote directly from Rorschach's journal. They know that Veidt orchestrated the squid attack and they plot to destroy Doctor Manhattan so that their leader Joe Keene Jr. can harness his powers. In the
season finale A season finale (British English: series finale; Australian English: season final) is the final episode of a season of a television program. This is often the final episode to be produced for a few months or longer, and, as such, will attempt to ...
" See How They Fly", Trey Butler is mistakenly credited as portraying Rorschach. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Rorschach is voiced by
Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in '' Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O'Phelan in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television ser ...
.


Silk Spectre

Laurel Jane "Laurie" Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre) is the daughter of Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre. Laurie's mother apparently wanted her to follow in her footsteps and so she fought crime for ten years before the Keene Act banned vigilantes. Unlike the other protagonists, Silk Spectre was not based on a particular Charlton character, although her relationship with Dr. Manhattan is similar to that between Captain Atom and the heroine
Nightshade Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...
. Moore felt he needed a female hero in the cast and drew inspiration from comic book heroines such as
Black Canary Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As one of the earliest female superheroes in the DC Comics universe, the character has made numerous appearances in prominent team-up titles, ...
and
Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine appearing in media published by Quality Comics and DC Comics. She was created by the Eisner & Iger studio, one of the first to produce comics on demand for publishers. The character's early adventures we ...
. Laurie is kept on retainer by the government because of her relationship with Doctor Manhattan and lives on a government base at the beginning of the comic. When Doctor Manhattan leaves Earth, the government has her removed from the base and suspends her expense account, forcing her to move in with Dan, with whom she starts a romantic relationship. At the end of the eighth issue, Doctor Manhattan appears and takes her to
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
because he knows she wants to convince him to save the world. On Mars, she realizes that the Comedian was her biological father. After the final encounter with Veidt at the end of the series, she assumes the identity of Sandra Hollis and continues her relationship with Dan. An offhand comment to Dan, in which she claims to want a better costume, with leather and a sidearm, implies that she is thinking of taking up her father's role as the Comedian. In the ''Watchmen'' film, she is portrayed by
Malin Åkerman Malin Maria Åkerman (born 12 May 1978), often anglicised to Malin Akerman, is a Swedish actress. She first appeared in smaller parts in both Canadian and American productions, including '' The Utopian Society'' (2003) and '' Harold & Kumar Go ...
. In a 2003 draft script by
David Hayter David Hayter is a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is well known as the English-language voice actor for Solid Snake and Big Boss (Metal Gear), Naked Snake in the ''Metal Gear'' video game series. He wrote the fi ...
, which was reviewed by ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'', Laurie uses the name Jupiter, and the alter ego name "Slingshot". The former detail seems to have been retained in the final version of the film (though the Nite Owl's goggles gave her last name as her mother's maiden name, Juspeczyk). The film gives her date of birth as December 2, 1949. Silk Spectre was ranked 24th in ''
Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...
'' "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list. In the television series, Laurie (portrayed by
Jean Smart Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. Jean Smart filmography, Her work includes both comedy and drama, and List of awards and nominations received by Jean Smart, her accolades include six Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
) has given up vigilantism and joined the FBI, becoming an agent in the Anti-Vigilante Task Force. On one mission, she and her co-workers posed as bank robbers at National Bank Inc. to draw out Mister Shadow. Though hinted to think of Dan where she owns a pet owl, it is heavily hinted she pines for Doctor Manhattan. She is sent to Tusla by Senator Joe Keene Jr., who apparently offered to have Dan released from prison, to investigate the death of Judd Crawford, but in reality she is meant to help the Seventh Kavalry locate Doctor Manhattan. She is present when Veidt manufactures another squid attack in an attempt to stop Lady Trieu from becoming a godlike entity, and ultimately arrests Veidt for his many crimes. While she does not have a crime-fighting alter ego anymore, this older, hardened version of Laurie nevertheless shows several parallels with her father the Comedian, having taken her father's last name, sharing his affinity for jokes as metaphors for her worldview, and having become an FBI agent after giving up vigilantism as the Comedian did before her. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Silk Spectre is voiced by
Katee Sackhoff Katee Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known for being Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), Niko Breckenridge on '' Another Life'' (2019–2021), Victoria "Vic" Moretti on '' Longmire' ...
.


Adrian Veidt

Adrian Veidt, known as Ozymandias prior to the events of the graphic novel, is a former superhero who draws inspiration from his hero
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
and the Egyptian pharaoh
Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
, for whom he takes his superhero alias. A child prodigy, he graduated from high school and college before he was 18 and learned the art of lying as he hid the full scope of his brilliance for most of his childhood after being accused of cheating. When he inherited his family's fortune upon his parents' death in a car accident, Adrian gave it away to see if he could be a success by himself. Veidt traced Alexander the Great's path across the globe and ultimately returned to the United States, where he became a successful businessman. However, when his business partner and would-be love interest overdosed on drugs (purchased with funds given to her by Adrian as a gift to allow her to have fun in New York City one night), Veidt decided to avenge her death as a superhero. His costume was conceived as a Halloween costume but he quickly developed a name for himself as a hero. Two years before the Keene Act passed, Veidt went public with his secret identity and began merchandising his alter ego as he became one of the most important businessmen in the USA. However, his fear of a nuclear war between the USSR and the US, plus a rivalry with the Comedian (who unknowingly planted the idea of stopping the inevitable
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear annihilation, nuclear armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a Futures studies, theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes widespread destruction and radi ...
into Veidt's head), led to him engaging in the vast conspiracy at the heart of the ''Watchmen'' series. Ozymandias was directly based on
Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt is a fictional superhero character originally published by Charlton Comics. Publication history Charlton Comics Created by Pete Morisi, the character debuted in ''Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt'' #1 (Jan. 1966), part of Ch ...
, whom Moore had admired for using his full brain capacity as well as possessing full physical and mental control. Veidt is believed to be the smartest man on the planet, even capable of outsmarting Dr Manhattan. His combination of intelligence and highly advanced fighting skills makes him perhaps the most feared and dangerous of the mortal vigilantes. He was even able to catch a bullet fired at him (Chapter XII, page 15). He is often accompanied by his genetically engineered
lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...
, Bubastis. Richard Reynolds noted that by taking initiative to , Veidt displays a trait normally attributed to villains in superhero stories, and in a sense he is the "villain" of the series; however, he purposely acts for an objective greater good, thus avoiding the traditional "villain" classification, which is typically self-serving, delusional or evil.Reynolds, p. 110 Gibbons noted In 2008, he was ranked number 10 on the Forbes Fictional 15. '' Wizard'' magazine also ranked Ozymandias as 25th-greatest villain of all time and
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
ranked him as 21st-greatest comic book villain of all time. In the ''Watchmen'' film, Veidt is portrayed by
Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is an English actor. He made his screen debut in 2002 with ABC's television film '' Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His breakthrough role was in the romantic comedy '' Chasing Liberty'' (2004), f ...
. His costume was designed to parody the rubber suits featuring nipples in the film '' Batman & Robin''. This incarnation of Veidt uses a German accent when speaking with friends and an American accent when speaking publicly. Instead of breeding a giant monster and placing it in New York to massacre half the city as in the comics, Veidt destroys New York, along with many major cities across the globe, with energy blasts designed to look as though Doctor Manhattan had caused it, bringing world peace. In the television series, Veidt is portrayed by
Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, ...
. In the years since 1985, he continued to run his companies and helped to advance technology beyond those of Doctor Manhattan, which the world feared due to its ties with cancer. However, Veidt became recluse, and sometime before 2019, Veidt is reported to have died with his company acquired by Lady Trieu, revealed to be his daughter through artificial insemination. However, Veidt instead had spent much of the time since 1985 in Karnak, using the same teleportation device used for the squid to send storms of smaller squids randomly across the earth as to hold up the pretense of an alien invasion and ward off further international conflict. To his dismay, the world did not become the utopia he hoped to oversee, and in 2009, he took Doctor Manhattan's offer to be transported to a closed ecosystem Manhattan had created on
Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliffs, Alexan ...
to be adored by clones of two servants, Phillips and Crookshanks. Initially pleasing, Veidt soon became bored and instructed the first Phillips to become an adversary to him, the Game Warden. The Seventh Kavalry had somehow obtained pre-recorded footage that Veidt made in the event that
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...
became President of the United States. Over the next eight years, Veidt was able to briefly escape the ecosystem to leave a message to Lady Trieu for rescue, which comes in the form of an automated craft. For the trip back to Earth, Trieu turned him into a gold statue, having him revert to his human state years later so that he could witness her destruction of Manhattan and attempted harnessing of his powers. Transported back to his lair in Antarctica by Manhattan, Veidt uses his squid teleportation device to attack Tulsa so that he can stop Trieu from becoming a god. He is successful, only to be arrested by Wade Tillman and Laurie Blake for his many crimes. Prior to being knocked out by Wade, Veidt asked if the FBI was going to go after Robert Redford as well which he got a positive answer out of it. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Veidt is voiced by
Troy Baker Troy Edward Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. He is known for his numerous roles in video games, including Yuri Lowell in ''Tales of Vesperia'' (2008), Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' franchise, Booker DeWi ...
.


Minor characters

Key to the success of ''Watchmen'' is the wide range of characters it features beyond the 'main' stars. Moore stated in 1988 that, in ''Watchmen'', Christopher Sharrett, "(Interview with) Alan Moore," in ''
David Anthony Kraft David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...
's
Comics Interview David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...
'' #65 (1988), p. 7
Moore and Gibbons deliberately wanted all their characters The fleshing-out of the world was, in Moore's words, to demonstrate that Moore, "Watchmen Round Table: Moore & Gibbons," in ''
David Anthony Kraft David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...
's
Comics Interview David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...
'' #65 (1988), p. 37
Moore adds that it is possible to see the story as being as much about the supporting as the main characters:


Minutemen

The Minutemen are a superhero group that came before the Crimebusters. The group was founded in 1939 during the Golden Age. The group later disbanded in 1949 following some public controversies. Moore loosely based the Minutemen on the Mighty Crusaders. Among its notable members are:


Captain Metropolis

Captain Metropolis (real name Nelson Forrest Gardner) is a former Marine
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
. He was one of the more active members of the Minutemen, having organized its formation. Metropolis was involved in a sexual relationship with Hooded Justice. The relationship was reported to be abusive, with Hooded Justice abusing and cheating on Metropolis until H.J.'s mysterious disappearance in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, the Captain unsuccessfully attempted to recruit the second generation of superheroes into a new group called the Crimebusters. He was killed in a car accident in 1974 that left him decapitated. He was portrayed in the film by Darryl Scheelar. Two versions of the character appeared in the HBO series. One was portrayed by Chris Whitley as a fictionalized character in the series' show-within-the-show "''American Hero Story: Minutemen''", which details his relationship and affair with Hooded Justice. The real Captain Metropolis, seen in the episode " This Extraordinary Being", was portrayed by Jake McDorman. In this episode, Nelson Gardner finds the identity of Hooded Justice and recruits him to the Minutemen as well as developing a secret affair with him. However, their alliance is superficial as Nelson is more preoccupied with the Minutemen's publicity than earnest crimefighting. When Will Reeves / Hooded Justice discovers the location of the white supremacist group Cyclops, Nelson declines to rally the support of the Minutemen, telling Will is his issue to deal with. Gardner's last will and testament, published on the tie-in website Peteypedia, reveals that he died in regret and bequeathed his estate and property to Will, where he is still living in 2009. Gardener appears in the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', voiced by
Corey Burton Corey Burton is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformers'', Brainiac in the DC Animated Universe, Count Dooku and Cad Bane in ...
.


Dollar Bill

Dollar Bill (real name William Benjamin "Bill" Brady) is a bank-sponsored member of the Minutemen who was created by National Bank Inc. for publicity purposes. While he is described as having no actual superpowers, Dollar Bill was known for having apparently supernatural luck, surviving many things that should have outright killed him. Socially conservative, he is portrayed in ''Before Watchmen'' as
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
(barely tolerating his homosexual Minutemen colleagues) and good friends with the ultra-right-wing Comedian, voting to let him stay after the attempted rape of Sally Jupiter. He dies during a bank robbery at National Bank Inc. in 1947 when his cape is caught in the bank's revolving doors, allowing the robbers to shoot him at point-blank range. This was a problem he warned his employers at National Bank Inc. about, but they insisted the cape had to be part of the costume as Mason laments in his book. Even Rorschach, who dislikes Ozymandias for making his superhero alter-ego into a toy line, laments Dollar Bill's death while Hollis Mason commented in his book that his death would've been averted if Dollar Bill designed his own costume. In the film, he is portrayed by
Dan Payne Daniel Payne (born August 4, 1972) is a Canadian actor best known for playing the role of John in the television series '' Alice, I Think''. Career In his early 20s, Payne was a professional volleyball player. After his retirement, he was convin ...
. In the first episode of the
TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...
, a racist poster with Dollar Bill on it was seen in one of the hideouts of the Seventh Kavalry. The same poster also appears in the subsequent sixth episode as a part of the Minutemen's promotional materials. In episode 3, Laurie Blake used National Bank Inc. to fake a bank robbery in order to draw out Mister Shadow.


Hollis Mason

Hollis Mason is the first Nite Owl who retired in 1962, and author of the autobiography "Under The Hood" which appears in excerpts throughout the story. Hollis was the only member of the Minutemen who did not have any social problems and mainly enjoyed being a costumed adventurer. On Halloween 1985, The Knot-Tops led by Derf assault Hollis in retaliation for the release of Rorschach, which was caused by Nite Owl II (Daniel Dreiberg) and Silk Spectre II (Laurie Juspeczyk). Derf hits Hollis on the head with Mason's own Nite Owl trophy killing the former superhero (in the film, this event is only depicted in the director's cut version). Hollis' death was avenged when Derf is among those killed by Ozymandias' giant monster. ''Before Watchmen: Night Owl #1'' showed that Dan Dreiberg's obsession with the original Nite Owl led him to plant a remote microphone device on Hollis' vehicle in order to track him down. At the funeral of Dreiberg's father, Hollis discovered Dan's abusive childhood via police reports. He confronted Dan and agrees to take him on as his sidekick. After training Dan, Hollis instead announced his retirement and granted Dan the Nite Owl identity, rather than creating a sidekick persona for him. In the film, he is portrayed in old age by
Stephen McHattie Stephen McHattie Smith (born February 3, 1947) is a Canadian actor. Since beginning his professional career in 1970, he has amassed over 200 film and television credits. He won the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in '' ...
and in youth by Clint Carleton. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Mason is voiced by
Geoff Pierson Geoffrey Pierson is an American actor known for his starring television roles on ''Dexter'', ''Unhappily Ever After'', ''Grace Under Fire'', '' 24'', ''Ryan's Hope'', and ''Designated Survivor''. He has also guest-starred in dozens of other TV sh ...
.


Hooded Justice

Hooded Justice is the first masked vigilante, often initialled "H. J." by his teammates. His real identity is never conclusively revealed but in Hollis Mason's book it is suggested to be circus
strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...
Rolf Müller. This is
retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...
heavily in ''Before Watchmen: Minutemen'' #6, where we learn that he is not Rolf Müller (a character that sexually abused and killed children), but it is strongly implied that he is Müller's son or ward, Jacob. Assuming that he himself was a victim of Müller's abuse, it explains a great deal about his violent persona, costume, and mask. A violent vigilante, Hooded Justice shared a romantic homosexual relationship with Captain Metropolis and a deep-seated rivalry with Comedian, after he prevented Blake from sexually assaulting Silk Spectre. Hooded Justice's relationship with Metropolis was a fractured one; Justice repeatedly cheated on his boyfriend with male prostitutes, physically abusing them in sadomasochist sexual encounters. This resulted in bribery of his lovers and the usage of Silk Spectre as his public girlfriend. He ultimately disappeared in the 1950s after refusing to cooperate with
HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...
's new policy on costumed vigilantes. In the original novel it is suggested that he was murdered either by the Comedian for voting him out of the Minutemen (as Ozymandias believes), or by the
Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...
of his native
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
. In the retcon we learn that Hollis Mason, mistakenly believing him to be Müller, attacked Hooded Justice and snapped his neck, killing him. He was never actually unmasked, and Metropolis burned down the headquarters with his former lover's body inside; it later turns out that the Comedian was the one who misdirected Mason to believe that Justice was Müller, so Ozymandias was partially right. Much of the "Under the Hood" information on Müller and H. J. is revealed to be a deliberate lie on Mason's part. This may be contrary to the intent of the original novel. In chapter 1, the fourth panel of page 25 focuses on two old men sitting affectionately together near Dan and Laurie in Rafael's restaurant. They look very much like older versions of Rolf Müller and Nelson Gardner, and it was speculated by many fans that these were in fact Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, who had faked their deaths in order to retire and be together. Dave Gibbons said this was unintended but allowed that it might be true. In the retconned world of ''Before Watchmen'', it is obviously not the case. In the film, Hooded Justice was portrayed by Glenn Ennis who speaks the character's few lines with a subtle German accent. In the TV series, Hooded Justice is revealed to have been Will Reeves, a black man who had escaped from the 1921
Tulsa race riot The Tulsa race massacre was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as ...
(portrayed by
Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (May 27, 1936 – March 29, 2024) was an American actor. He made his stage debut at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, he successfully auditioned for the Broadway theatre, Broadway play ''Take a Giant Step.'' Gossett co ...
as an old man and
Jovan Adepo Jovan Adepo (born 1988) is a British-American actor. He made his feature film debut in the period drama '' Fences'' (2016), which was followed by roles in the psychological horror film '' Mother!'' (2017), the action horror film ''Overlord'' (20 ...
as a young man). He became one of the first black officers in the New York City police force. After stumbling into a plot by the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
called "Cyclops" which sought to incite violence between black people, Reeves was nearly lynched by white officers as a warning to stay out of their business. While still wearing the noose and hood, Reeves helped a young couple fend off thugs that were trying to rob them, and his deed named him a hero the next day. Reeves took up the name Hooded Justice, using the costume to mask his race. He was invited into the Minutemen by Captain Metropolis, but cautioned from revealing his race to the other members. When Reeves found further clues to "Cyclops" including the use of hypnotic strobe effects to coerce black people into violence, the Minutemen refused to help, and Reeves took it on himself to end the New York City operation. This led to Reeves becoming disillusioned to his role, staying behind when his wife and son returned to Tulsa. In 2019, Reeves reveals himself to Angela, his granddaughter, and uses a modified version of the Cyclops hypnosis effect to chase down those with association with Cyclops. When Angela restores Doctor Manhattan's memories, he sends their adopted children to Reeves where they were when Veidt caused frozen squids to rain down on Lady Trieu and her followers. Will even wrote out a speech for Lady Trieu to read to the Seventh Kavalry and the Cyclops leadership. Angela found that he and her adopted children took refuge in a theater where Reeves stated that he saw the movie that inspired him to become Hooded Justice. In addition within the fictional show-within-a-show ''American Hero Story'', a mock version of Hooded Justice is portrayed by
Cheyenne Jackson Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings. After beginn ...
. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Hooded Justice is voiced by
John Marshall Jones John Marshall Jones is an American actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Floyd Henderson on The WB sitcom television series '' Smart Guy''.Elliott, Spencer (March 7, 2020)‘Smart Guy’ dad John Marshall Jones makes many rooms out of one ...
.


Mothman

Mothman (real name Byron Alfred Lewis) is a former member of the Minutemen who suffered from alcoholism and mental illness later in life. Lewis had a privileged upbringing and sought to help the less fortunate and fight oppression and corruption as a crimefighter. To this end, Lewis created a costume with special wings that helped him glide, dubbing himself "Mothman". However, a series of near death experiences in perfecting his wings left Lewis in constant pain, a drug addict and an
alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...
, with him requiring a drink each time before he flew for "courage". Lewis' mental stability ultimately deteriorated after he was called before
HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...
, leading to him being forcibly brought to a
mental asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...
in
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, but was briefly released for the Minutemen's reunion. In '' Doomsday Clock'' #2, the obituary in the newspaper reveals that Mothman is dead. In ''Doomsday Clock'' #4, a flashback involving the earlier history of Reggie reveals that he met Mothman at the same asylum following the alien monster's attack. Reggie and Mothman grow closer as Mothman plans to train Reggie to defend himself against the guard Jason. When Reggie sees the news that exposed Veidt's involvement with the alien monster attack, he sets fire to the asylum. When Mothman sees the fire, he states that it is calling to him and walks towards (and presumably into) it. Mothman is also notoriously stinky. In the film, he is portrayed by Niall Matter. In the TV series, he is portrayed by Brennan Kerr.


Sally Jupiter

Sally Jupiter (real name Sally Juspeczyk) is the first Silk Spectre and founding member of the Minutemen who is now retired. She is later the domineering " stage mom" of Laurie Juspeczyk (who becomes Silk Spectre II). Sally married her manager, Laurence Schexnayder, shortly after retiring. She narrowly avoided being raped by the Comedian, although years later she had a consensual affair with him, and ultimately bore his child. Sally adores the attention she receives from fans of "The Silk Spectre", though Laurie is repulsed at her mother's sexually explicit exploits in promoting herself. In the film, she is portrayed by
Carla Gugino Carla Gugino ( ; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After early roles in the films '' Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989), '' This Boy's Life'' (1993), '' Son in Law'' (1993), and '' Snake Eyes'' (1998), Gugino received wider recognition fo ...
. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Sally is voiced by
Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress and author. She came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical ''Grease (musical), Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter of Maude Findl ...
.


Silhouette

The Silhouette (real name Ursula Zandt) was a gun-toting vigilante and member of the Minutemen. ''Before Watchmen'' gave a new backstory, that Ursula was motivated by the deaths of her parents and sister at the hands of the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in their native Austria. According to the first Nite Owl, Silhouette was the first member of the Minutemen who went public with her career as a super-hero, when she busted a child pornography ring in New York. She had a close working relationship with Nite Owl and, after being forced out of the Minutemen (upon being publicly outed as a
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
), continued to work with Nite Owl. She investigated a string of child murders until she and her lover Gretchen were killed by The Liquidator, a criminal she had fought years earlier as seen in ''Before Watchmen: Minutemen'' #4. In the film, the words scrawled on the wall at the scene of her murder implied that her killer was motivated by homophobia and not necessarily revenge. She is portrayed by Apollonia Vanova in the film.


Adversaries

The following are villains in ''Watchmen'':


Big Figure

Big Figure (real name Tom Ryan) is jailed dwarfish
crime lord A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...
and former adversary of Nite Owl and Rorschach. He tries to get revenge when Rorschach is imprisoned in the same prison as he is, only for him and his minions to be killed by Rorschach during a prison riot. In the film, he is portrayed by an uncredited Danny Woodburn. In the animated film he is voiced by Phil Fondacaro.


Captain Carnage

Captain Carnage showed up in New York City around 1976 and began attempting to entice costumed adventurers into beating him. Carnage would pretend to be a supervillain in order to get beaten up, constantly yelling things like Carnage once devised an elaborate fake theft ring that continued on for months, eventually ending when Silk Spectre II discovered the clues to his location he had planted at the scene of his crimes and crashed his "hideout" – a mirrored room in SoHo with soft music playing and flashing red lights on the walls. When she attacked Carnage, she noticed that he was turned on by the beating. He started following Nite Owl II, only to be ignored. He tried the same thing on Rorschach, who dropped Carnage down an elevator shaft, killing him. Captain Carnage is only mentioned in passing when Laurie and Daniel are talking on the rooftop garden of Rafael's restaurant, reminiscing about the past. It is possible that the purpose of the character is to prefigure Laurie and Daniel's sexual frustration when in their normal roles, only being able to function when they are dressed and acting as superheroes.


Moloch the Mystic

Moloch the Mystic (real name Edgar William "Eddie" Jacobi, also known as Edgar William Vaughn, and William Edgar Bright) is a crime lord who fought the Minutemen and other superheroes for several decades. Moloch was jailed for a time during the 1970s, after which he retired from crime. In ''Watchmen'', he is dying of cancer, which he received from Adrian Veidt. Moloch is later murdered by Adrian, who frames Rorschach. Supplementary materials for the television series reveal that Moloch was the longest active supervillain and ran a series of crime syndicates, all of which were destroyed in 1958 by Ozymandias after he had first become a vigilante, which is heavily implied to have been a factor in Moloch's jail time and subsequent retirement. In the film, he is primarily portrayed by
Matt Frewer Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV film and 1987 Max Headroom (TV series), television series of the same name. He became prominent when ...
, with Mike Carpenter playing Moloch as a younger man in various flashbacks. In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Moloch is voiced by
Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Herbert West in the ''Re-Animator'' film series (1985–2003) and portraying multiple characters in the ''Star Trek'' universe, most notably the ...
.


Twilight Lady

Twilight Lady (real name Elizabeth "Liz" Lane) is a
dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...
-styled villain of Nite Owl II, seen only in an autographed photograph and erotic dream sequence in the original novel. The character has two completely different origins in later material written by other writers. In the video game '' Watchmen: The End is Nigh'' (which is set in the 1970s), Twilight Lady (voiced by
Courtenay Taylor Courtenay Taylor is an American actress. She is best known for her video game voice roles as Jack in the ''Mass Effect'' series, Ada Wong in the ''Resident Evil'' series, the female Sole Survivor in ''Fallout 4'', Amanda Holliday and Empress C ...
) is established as a madam whose clients include many high-profile Washington politicians, whom she blackmails for state secrets and money. In the game, Nite Owl II and Rorschach must fight her and the Comedian, the latter of whom is ultimately sent to kill the Sin Queen to stop her extortion racket. However, ''Before Watchmen: Nite Owl'' portrays her as a dominatrix who befriends Nite Owl II when a fight between Dan and a crook spills over into her place of work. Falling for the hero and inspired by his heroic actions, she adopts the "Sin Queen" alias and becomes a super-hero, investigating a series of prostitute murders along with Nite Owl and a jealous Rorschach. The murderer of the prostitutes turns out to be a fire and brimstone minister whom Rorschach is friends with; Nite Owl rescues the Sin Queen, whom the minister kidnaps and threatens to burn alive. The near death experience causes her to give up her would-be career as a hero. Dan lied to Laurie about her being a former lover of his, and passed her off as a criminal who was fixated on him to hide their relationship.


Other characters


Alien Monster

The Alien Monster (referred to by fans as the Squid) is a 100-foot,
giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, ...
-like monster with one eye, dozens of long muscular tentacles, and an exposed brain. It was created by Ozymandias (Adrian Veidt) as part of his plan to avert a
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear annihilation, nuclear armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a Futures studies, theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes widespread destruction and radi ...
. Veidt had invited science fiction writers Max Shea and James Trafford March, surreal artist Hira Manish, and an assortment of other writers, artists, and scientists to his private island under the impression that they were taking part in a top secret movie production. Genetically engineering the monster took several months; its brain was the cloned brain of deceased psychic Robert Deschaines, augmented by a psychic resonance device. Once completed, Veidt had the ship that was transporting the artists home blown up to hide his involvement in the events. At midnight on November 2, 1985, Veidt
teleported Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction and fantasy literature. Teleportation is often paired with tim ...
the Alien Monster to the heart of New York City where it exploded, unleashing a massive psychic
shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
that caused millions of deaths. The monster's body was discovered by Doctor Manhattan and Silk Spectre. In '' Doomsday Clock'' #3, the Alien Monster was seen in Reggie Long's nightmare. In the film, the Alien Monster was replaced with exploding energy reactors that generate a radioactive decay signature similar to Doctor Manhattan as a way to frame him for the retaliated attack in light of the cancer allegations against him. In the TV series, it is shown that "squidfalls", unexplained meteorological occurrences in which thousands of smaller alien monsters fall from the sky, occur around the world as late as 2019. These are revealed to be the continuing work of Adrian Veidt, believing them necessary to maintain fear of the "aliens" and thereby world peace. Episode 5 shows the effect of the psychic shockwave in Looking Glass' flashback where its body was shown and a younger Looking Glass is among the survivors of the attack. It also shows Veidt recording a message for future President Robert Redford in front of the Squid moments before its teleportation. In the season one finale, Veidt engineers a frozen squidfall over the city of Tulsa, killing Lady Trieu and thousands of others in the surrounding area before she is able to absorb Doctor Manhattan's powers. In the same episode, Wade was able to obtain the recording of Veidt's message to Redford to be used as evidence.


Bernard

Bernard is a newsdealer who appears periodically on the central New York street corner. Bernard is amongst the many characters who dies when Veidt's monster appears in New York, and he dies trying to protect his young namesake. Moore has stated that he In the animated film '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Bernard is voiced by Max Koch.


Bubastis

Bubastis is a genetically altered red
lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...
with stripes that was created by Ozymandias to serve as his sole companion. When meeting with a toy company, Adrian Veidt asked for the toy company to make a toy of Bubastis as well. When Doctor Manhattan was lured into the intrinsic field subtractor, Veidt regretfully apologizes to Bubastis and turns on the machine which kills Bubastis and temporarily disassembles Doctor Manhattan. In the sequel " Doomsday Clock", Bubastis's DNA was used by Ozymandias to create Bubastis II in his plot to find Doctor Manhattan in the DC Universe. In the film, Bubastis has blue fur.


Doug Roth

Doug Roth is a
reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
for Nova Express. He is present at Dr. Manhattan's interview with
Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is an American broadcast Journalism, journalist, best known as the News presenter, anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 y ...
and reveals that several of his coworkers died of cancer, presumably from Manhattan. This leads to Manhattan's self-imposed exile on Mars. Roth is portrayed by John Shaw in the film. In the animated movie '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Roth is voiced by
Jason Spisak Jason Spisak () is an American actor, producer, and computer programmer. He is also the co-leader of the Symphony OS Project and the designer of Symphony's unique Mezzo desktop environment and wrote the Laws of Interface Design, to which the proje ...
.


Gloria Long

The wife of Malcolm Long and mother of Reggie, the second Rorschach. She dies in the New York massacre caused by Ozymandias' alien monster.


Wally Weaver

Wallace "Wally" Weaver is a scientist and Dr. Jon Osterman's best friend. Veidt gives Wally cancer as part of his scheme to exile Doctor Manhattan. In the film, Wally is voiced by Rob LaBelle. In the animated film ''Watchmen Chapter I'', Wally is voiced by
Yuri Lowenthal Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971) is an American voice actor known for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. Some of his prominent voice roles in video games include Peter Parker / Spider-Man in various video games associated with t ...
.


Janey Slater

Janey Slater is the first girlfriend of Dr. Jon Osterman. She leaves him in 1966 after she perceives a relationship building between Osterman and Laurie. Veidt gives Janey cancer as part of his scheme to exile Doctor Manhattan. Janey erroneously believes that Jon Osterman gave it to her. In the live action film, Janey is portrayed by
Laura Mennell Laura Mennell (; born 18 April 1980) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in '' Thirteen Ghosts'', ''Alphas'', '' Haven'', '' Loudermilk'', '' The Man in the High Castle'', ''Watchmen'' and ''Batwoman''. In 2011/2012 Mennell co-starred on t ...
. In the animated film ''Watchmen Chapter I'', Janet is voice by
Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...
.


Detective Joe Bourquin

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
Joe Bourquin is the partner to Detective Steven Fine. Bourquin dies when Veidt's monster appears in New York. In the film, he is renamed Detective Gallagher and is portrayed by Don Thompson. In the animated film ''Watchmen Chapter I'', Bourquin is voiced by Max Koch.


John David Keene

John David Keene Sr. is a Senator who is responsible for the Keene Act that banned superheroes that were not government-sanctioned. In the TV series, he is portrayed by Ted Johnson. Now an old man and using a wheelchair, John is present at his son Joe Keene's plans to inherit Doctor Manhattan's powers. Laurie comments that she did not suspect that Keene Sr. would be part of Cyclops. After Joe Keene is turned into ooze because he did not have a component in the machine he used that would filter the atomic energy, Keene Sr., the rest of the Seventh Kavalry, and the Cyclops leadership are all vaporized by Lady Trieu where Keene Sr.'s wheelchair is left behind.


Malcolm Long

Malcolm Long, Ph.D. is the
psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...
who is assigned to evaluate Rorschach after he is apprehended. He is initially very hopeful of curing Rorschach, even though his utter lack of emotion makes Long's psychological evaluation techniques useless. Rorschach's unveiling of events that shaped his uncompromising mindset greatly affects Dr. Long's own outlook and marriage. Malcolm and his wife die when Veidt's monster appears in New York. In '' Doomsday Clock'', Malcolm has a son named Reggie who became the second Rorschach. In the film, he is portrayed by William S. Taylor. In the animated film he is voice by
John Marshall Jones John Marshall Jones is an American actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Floyd Henderson on The WB sitcom television series '' Smart Guy''.Elliott, Spencer (March 7, 2020)‘Smart Guy’ dad John Marshall Jones makes many rooms out of one ...


Seymour David

Seymour David is a junior worker at the ''New Frontiersman'' magazine offices, designed by Moore to be . He is the final character in ''Watchmen'', playing a pivotal role in the final pages, whom Moore describes as . When a planned article for the ''New Frontiersman'' has to be scrapped, the editor leaves it up to Seymour to find something usable in the magazine's submissions, which include Rorschach's journal. It is revealed in '' Doomsday Clock'' #1 that the journal was published and that Seymour was afterward. In the film, Seymour is portrayed by
Chris Gauthier Chris Gauthier (27 January 1976 – 23 February 2024) was an English-Canadian actor best known for his roles as Neville in '' Need for Speed: Carbon'' and William Smee in ''Once Upon a Time''. Early life Chris Gauthier was born in Luton, Engl ...
. In the animated film he is voice by
Yuri Lowenthal Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971) is an American voice actor known for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. Some of his prominent voice roles in video games include Peter Parker / Spider-Man in various video games associated with t ...
.


Detective Steven Fine

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
Steven Fine is the
police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...
that investigates Edward Blake's murder, and captures Rorschach. He deduces that Dan Dreiberg is Nite Owl II, and hints at this to Dreiberg in an effort to warn him away from further activity. Fine dies when Veidt's monster appears in New York. Supplementary materials for the television series reveal that the investigation of Blake's murder, Rorschach, and Dreiberg were abandoned after Fine was killed during the attack. He is portrayed by
Jerry Wasserman Jerry Wasserman (born November 2, 1945) is an Americans, American professor and film and television actor. Wasserman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a professor of English and Theatre at the University of British Columbia. He was also a f ...
in the film. In the animated movie '' Watchmen Chapter I'', Fine is voiced by
Dwight Schultz William Dwight Schultz (born November 24, 1947) is an American television, film and voice actor. He is known for his roles as List of The A-Team characters#Howling Mad Murdock, Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action series ''The A-Te ...
.


Television series

The HBO television series is set after the events of the original limited series comic, taking place in 2019 in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma.


Sister Night

Sister Night (portrayed by
Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress, director and producer. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her o ...
as an adult, Faithe Herman as a child) is the masked identity of Angela Abar. Angela was born in Vietnam (by that point, the 51st state). Her parents were killed by a suicide bomber and her grandmother June came to bring her to the continental United States only to suffer a heart attack. In 2009, she met Doctor Manhattan in Vietnam where he asked her on a date and informed her they would fall in love. Due to her hatred of Manhattan and skepticism of his identity, she initially refuses to believe him but nonetheless goes on the date with him to humor him; they quickly fall in love and he assumes the physical form of the deceased Calvin Jelani so that they can be together in public. When Angela grows frustrated with Manhattan's omniscient view of time, they agree to install a device into his forehead that suppresses his supernatural abilities, though this also temporarily removes his memories. Following the implementation of the device, Angela tells Manhattan that his name is Cal Abar and that he has suffered amnesia following an accident. Together, they move to Tulsa where Angela joins the
Tulsa Police Department The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) is the principal law enforcement agency for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It holds national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and stands as the second- ...
. On Christmas Eve 2015, Angela and Cal were attacked by members of the Seventh Kavalry, a white supremacist group who were upset at the police's enforcement of special reparations for victims of racial injustice stemming from the
Tulsa race riot The Tulsa race massacre was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as ...
in 1921. Angela survived the attack, but learned from her superior Chief Judd Crawford that the homes of 39 other officers were attacked, and of those that survived, only Angela and Judd were staying on the force. To protect officers, a law was passed to require officers to disavow their profession and disguise themselves. Angela opted to take up the Sister Night costume, itself inspired by the fictional
blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...
70s film ''Sister Night: The Nun with the Motherf%&$ing Gun''. Her outfit consists of black spraypaint going across her eye areas, a black
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
's
habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...
, a black balaclava going over her nose and mouth, a white shirt, black trousers, and long black boots with heels. In her day-to-day life, Angela is a
baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...
who runs a bakery called "Milk and Hanoi" where the sign on it still says "Opening Soon". She and Cal also adopted three children whose parents were killed during White Night. Angela investigates Judd Crawford's death in 2019, quickly deducing that he was a KKK member as well as a founding member of the Seventh Kavalry, though initially covering up this information as she investigates the identity of Crawford's killer, Will Reeves, who claims to be her grandfather. When she is incarcerated for covering up the details of Crawford's death, Angela impulsively swallows an entire bottle of Nostalgia, pills that contain Reeves's memory, and she learns that he was the Hooded Justice, the first-ever masked vigilante. Angela later learns of the Seventh Kavalry's plans to destroy Doctor Manhattan and forcibly removes the device from Cal's forehead, causing him to regain his memories, his omniscience, and his normal appearance. Another flashback revealed that Cal used his Doctor Manhattan abilities to take down some attackers during Angela's fight with them. Shortly afterwards, they are attacked by the Kavalry and, despite both Angela's and Manhattan's attempts to stop them, he is captured. Keene prepares to harness Manhattan's powers, but it is thwarted by Trieu and Keene is reduced to ooze because the machine he used did not have a component to filter the atomic energy. Angela watches as Trieu kills the entire Kavalry and plans to claim Manhattan's powers for herself. Accepting the inevitable, Manhattan transports Blake, Tillman, and Veidt away from the Kavalry's base but keeps Angela by his side so that they can be together when he dies; he assumes Cal's appearance for a final time and tells Angela that he loves her as he is finally destroyed by Trieu. When Veidt manufactures another squid attack to upend Trieu's plans to harness Manhattan's powers, killing her in the process, Angela finds safety in a local theater, where Will Reeves has taken her kids. She shares a moment of clarity with Will and she finally accepts him as her grandfather, allowing him to stay with them as they take her children home. Her oldest son Topher learns at this time that she is Sister Night. When she arrives home, Angela realizes that Manhattan may have transferred his powers into an egg, something he indicated was possible on the first night they met. Angela eats the raw egg. She then starts to see if she can walk across water as the episode abruptly ends. It is implied that she obtains Manhattan's powers as a result.


Judd Crawford

Judd Crawford (portrayed by
Don Johnson Don Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series '' Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...
) was the chief of the Tulsa Police Department. During his tenure, Judd was also the leader of a separate KKK-eqsue cell of the secret white supremacist, domestic terrorist organization Cyclops. Judd conspired with Senator Joe Keene to orchestrate the "White Night", an event that resulted in Tulsa police officers and their families being killed in their homes where the ones that were sleeping in bed took the brunt of the attacks. Judd had to make it look like that he was attacked. After the incident, Keene passed a new law which forced police officers to wear masks, partly to protect the identities of officers and appear , while secretly fomenting public mistrust of the police. Following one of the fights with the Seventh Kavalry, Judd was hypnotized by Will Reeves to hang himself. Judd's death allowed Senator Keene to invite Laurie Blake to Tulsa to investigate, secretly luring her there for his own purposes. While Sister Night discovered Judd's connection with the KKK, Looking Glass learned from Keene Jr. that Judd led the police department on Joe's behalf while Joe led the Seventh Kavalry. It is revealed in the final episode that after the White Night event, Judd and his wife discerned that Cal was actually Doctor Manhattan and purposely got close to the Abar family so he could help the Kavalry in their plot to destroy Manhattan.


Looking Glass

Looking Glass (portrayed by
Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor, writer, and director. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report (film), Minori ...
as an adult, Phil Labes as a teenager) is the masked identity of Wade Tillman. Wade was a
Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...
from Tulsa, visiting
Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...
, on the night of November 2, 1985, to try to preach to the crowds there. A female member of the Knot Top Gang lured him into a hall of mirrors with the promise of sex, but instead ran off with his clothes except for his shoes and socks. Before he could give chase, psychic waves from the appearance of the alien monster in New York City shook the area, and Wade found himself one of the few survivors. This left Wade with a
post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...
, leaving him fearful of squids, building a bunker in his backyard, and pushing him towards isolation. Though he married Carolyn, they split after about seven years due to Wade's stress, though they remain on amicable terms. Wade, normally a focus group analyst for an advertising agency, joined the Tulsa police as Looking Glass, wearing a fully reflective mask made of material purportedly able to protect him from psychic waves. As Looking Glass, he uses his "Pod", a small chamber with various screens on its walls, to interrogate subjects: he flashes various images on the screens to judge their responses. In "Little Fear of Lightning", Wade is captured by the Seventh Kavalry and is shown the video in which Veidt confesses to having manufactured the alien squid attack. Senator Keene shows Wade the video on the condition that Wade bring Angela to the Kavalry in return. Disillusioned by what he has seen, Wade has Angela turned in for her having covered up the details of Judd's death. Despite his compliance, he is that night attacked in his home by Kavalry members. After killing all the attackers, Looking Glass disappears. It is revealed several episodes later that he has infiltrated the Kavalry where he guarded Laurie. Present for the attempted destruction of Manhattan by the Kavalry and by Trieu, Wade is transported by Manhattan to Veidt's office in Antarctica alongside both Veidt and Blake, and aids Veidt in manufacturing a frozen squid attack to stop Trieu from absorbing Manhattan's powers. Subsequently, Wade and Blake both arrest Veidt for his many crimes. Wade knocked out Veidt after he got a positive answer on if the FBI was going to go after Robert Redford.


Red Scare

Red Scare (portrayed by
Andrew Howard Andrew Howard (born 12 June 1969) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Training Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night'', '' Beggar's Oper ...
) is a robust communist member of the Tulsa Police Department who wears a predominantly red outfit consisting of a red ski mask, a red jacket, and a red trainer pants. Not much is known about his past. Red Scare named his alias after the real "
Red Scare A Red Scare is a form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise of left-wing ideologies in a society, especially communism and socialism. Historically, red scares have led to mass political persecution, scapegoating, and the ousting of thos ...
", which saw the United States gripped in fear of Communism and communist sympathizers in the nation. Red Scare is often seen paired with Pirate Jenny.


Panda

Panda (portrayed by Jacob Ming-Trent) is a desk cop for the Tulsa Police Department who wears a
giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white animal coat, coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. ...
mask that covers his face except for his jaw area where the panda mask's lower jaw should be.


Pirate Jenny

Pirate Jenny (portrayed by
Jessica Camacho Jessica Camacho is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles as FBI Agent Sophie Foster on the third season of the Fox supernatural drama series '' Sleepy Hollow'' (2015–16), Emily Lopez on the CBS legal drama series '' All ...
) is a member of the Tulsa Police Department who wears a
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
-themed outfit. She is often seen paired with Red Scare.


Dale Petey

Dale Petey (portrayed by
Dustin Ingram Dustin Kyle Ingram (born January 25, 1990) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Bert in the 2016 remake of ''Cabin Fever'', as Duane Ogilvy in Nickelodeon's ''Unfabulous'', and as Agent Petey in HBO's ''Watchmen''. ...
) is an FBI Agent who accompanies Laurie Blake in her investigation in Judd Crawford's murder. Having a Doctorate in Superhero History, he has a profound knowledge of the history of the Minutemen and the Crimebusters, and his writings on the matter have filled in much of the show's backstory via the HBO subsite "Peteypedia". Petey is all but directly confirmed to be Lube Man, a costumed vigilante that wears a skin-tight suit and able to cover himself in an oily substance to escape from Angela in " If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own", based on "Peteypedia" material related to Petey's dismissal from the FBI after the end of the events in the series. According to showrunner
Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine named ...
, Lube Man was introduced as and did not expect the character or his identity to take off in popularity with fans of the show, pointing readers to Peteypedia to his identity.


Mr. Phillips

Mr. Phillips (portrayed by
Tom Mison Thomas James Mison (born 23 July 1982)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Ancestry.com; accessed 6 February 2014. is an English actor, voice artist, and writer. Following his film debut in ''Venus'' (2006), Mi ...
) is a series of male clones that serve Adrian Veidt on Europa. They were cloned from the original Mr. Phillips that knew a younger Jon Osterman. When one clone dies, their bodies would be made use of by Veidt and a new clone will be grown in their place.


Game Warden

The Game Warden (portrayed by
Tom Mison Thomas James Mison (born 23 July 1982)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Ancestry.com; accessed 6 February 2014. is an English actor, voice artist, and writer. Following his film debut in ''Venus'' (2006), Mi ...
) is a powerful clone of Mr. Phillips that was made to antagonize Adrian Veidt. His presence was first seen when fires a warning shot towards Veidt after he shot an
American bison The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. ...
and later sent a letter of warning to him. The Game Warden was fully seen when he busts Veidt for having left the area of Europa. He places him under arrest and quotes Adrian quotes that their god left them years ago. The Game Warden had placed Adrian on trial where he was found guilty before a jury of his peers which happened to be pigs. He then subjected Adrian to public humiliation. When Veidt gets out of his prison thanks to a horseshoe hidden in a cake by one of the servants, he makes his way towards Lady Trieu's rocket. The Game Warden tries to stop him only to be killed when Veidt stabs him with the horseshoe. Before dying, the Game Warden asks Veidt if he was a worthy opponent. Veidt just tells him "no."


Mrs. Crookshanks

Mrs. Crookshanks (portrayed by
Sara Vickers Sara Louise Vickers (born 1985) is a Scottish theatre, television and film actress best known for playing Joan Thursday in the British television detective drama series '' Endeavour'' (2013–2023). Early life and education Vickers was born in ...
) is a series of female clones that serve Adrian Veidt on Europa. They were cloned from the original Mrs. Crookshanks that knew a younger Jon Osterman. When one clone dies, their bodies would be made use of by Veidt and a new clone will be grown in their place.


Christopher Abar

Christopher "Topher" Abar (portrayed by Dylan Schombing) is the adopted son of Angela and Cal Abar. They took him in after his biological parents the Doyles were killed during the White Night.


Rosie Abar

Rosie Abar (portrayed by Lily Rose Smith) is the older adopted daughter of Angela and Cal Abar.


Emma Abar

Emma Abar (portrayed by Adelynn Spoon) is the younger adopted daughter of Angela and Cal Abar.


Lady Trieu

Lady Trieu (portrayed by
Hong Chau Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She has received several award nominations for her film roles as Ngoc Lan Tran in '' Downsizing'' (2017) and as Liz, a nurse, in '' The Whale'' (2022), including a nomination for the Academ ...
) is a scientist and the owner of Trieu Industries which bought out Veidt Enterprises following news of Adrian Veidt's "death". Trieu is the daughter of Adrian Veidt after her mother Bian, in a show of defiance against Veidt, inseminated herself with one of Veidt's own sperm samples without his knowledge. Trieu is highly intelligent due to Veidt's genetics, and calls herself the Trieu came up with a means to capture
Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman) is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the graphic novel, limited Limited series (comics), series graphic novel, ''Watchmen.'' Follo ...
's powers in a quantum centrifuge, but was rebuffed by Veidt when she approached him for financial help in 2008. Instead, she established Trieu Enterprises, not only making it a trillion-dollar company, but using it as a front to construct her quantum centrifuge in Tulsa as the "Millennium Clock." During this time, she had expected to find Manhattan on Europa, but discovered a message from Veidt there and sent an automated craft to recover him and bring him to Earth by 2019 when her plan was to be completed. Lady Trieu has also created a clone of her mother Bian to assist her. Through Will Reeves, Lady Trieu learned of Manhattan's identity on Earth as Cal Abar, husband to Angela. She also learned the Seventh Kavalry had discovered this as well and planned to capture Manhattan themselves and Will asks for her help to wipe the Kavalry and Cyclops out. As Trieu's quantum centrifuge activates following the Seventh Kavalry's capture of Manhattan, Trieu teleports the Kavalry, Manhattan, Angela, Laurie, and Wade to downtown Tulsa with Bian and Veidt in attendance as her men use their special shields to disarm the Seventh Kavalry of their weapons. When the ooze that used to be Joe Keene emerged from the machine, Lady Trieu stated that they didn't add a component to the machine to filter the atomic energies which can have that effect on anyone. After briefly reading a speech written to her by Will Reeves, she vaporized the Kavalry alongside the Cyclops leadership and triggers the centrifuge as Jane Crawford predicted. Manhattan teleports Veidt, Laurie, and Wade to Karnak, where they use Veidt's squid-rain-making device to send frozen squid projectiles in the immediate area. Though Trieu is able to destroy Manhattan before this, the squids destroy the centrifuge and kill Trieu before the transfer of power can be complete.


Bian My

Bian My (portrayed by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) is the "daughter" of Lady Trieu. In reality when she speaks with a recuperating Angela, Lady Trieu states that Bian is actually a younger clone of her mother, and has received some of the memories of Trieu's mother through Trieu's technology. The original Bian named Bian My (portrayed by Elyse Dinh) was once a
cleaning lady A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter or caretaker, is a pe ...
of Adrian Veidt, present for his creation of the "Squid" in 1985. She inseminated herself with Veidt's sperm and escaped from Karnak as a sign of retribution against Veidt as seen in a flashback. According to a Peteypedia article, Bian My had encountered Comedian during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
in 1971 in which he and his battalion of Blazin' Commandos' burned down her village. This would explain why her clone has recurring nightmares of that event. When Veidt was freed from his gold encasing by Trieu, he saw Bian and noted that she cloned her own mother. She accompanied her mother to her plot. When Lady Trieu teleported everyone to her, Bian gave Lady Trieu the speech that Will Reeves wrote for her to read in front of the Seventh Kavalry and the Cyclops leadership. Bian later found Angela on the ground following Doctor Manhattan's death and helped her up while advising her to inform her fellow police officers to get away while they still can. Bian survives Veidt's second squid attack by ducking into one of the phone booths. She is last seen being comforted by Red Scare and Pirate Jenny over what had transpired.


Seventh Kavalry

The Seventh Kavalry is a white supremacist group with connections to the Cyclops organization. Each of its members wear Rorschach masks. On Christmas Eve of 2015, the Seventh Kavalry committed the "White Night" event orchestrated by Senator Joe Keene where they attacked the houses of 40 known police officers and their families. The ones who were asleep at the time took the brunt of the attack. Angela Abar and Judd Crawford were the only confirmed survivors of this attack. It was later revealed during the "White Night" event that the Seventh Kavalry learned that Doctor Manhattan was Cal Abar when he used his powers on some of the attackers where one of them was teleported to the Grand Canyon. Their plan is to capture and destroy Doctor Manhattan so that they can harness his powers. Some members of the Seventh Kavalry were able to do that at the cost of some of its members who were beheaded by Doctor Manhattan. The laser that aided them transported him to a synthetic lithium cage that was created from melting down a lot of watch batteries. With Laurie as their prisoner and Looking Glass hiding amongst its ranks, the Seventh Kavalry sent out invites to the Cyclops leadership to meet with them at an abandoned building where all was revealed to them by Joe Keene. Despite the warning from Angela that Lady Trieu is coming for them, Joe began his plot by using a machine to gain Doctor Manhattan's abilities. Upon its activation, Lady Trieu teleported everyone to her location where her men used their special shields to disarm the Seventh Kavalry of their weapons. Lady Trieu opened the machine to find that Joe was dissolved by the machine because it didn't have the component to filter the atomic energy. As Lady Trieu reads from a speech written out by Will Reeves of what Cyclops and the Seventh Kavalry did to all non-whites, Jane Crawford anticipated that Lady Trieu was going to kill them. Lady Trieu does that by vaporizing the Seventh Kavalry and the Cyclops leadership.


Joe Keene

John Joseph "Joe" Keene Jr. (portrayed by
James Wolk James Joseph Wolk (born March 22, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the CBS comedy series '' The Crazy Ones'' (2013–2014), the AMC period drama series ''Mad Men'' (2013–2014), the CBS drama thriller series ''Zo ...
) is a Republican Senator and leader of the Seventh Kavalry who aims to become President. His father is responsible for a 1977 law banning masked vigilantism. Looking Glass was the first to learn of Joe Keene's involvement with the Seventh Kavalry while having one of its members fake an attempt on his life. In addition, he also showed Looking Glass the footage that Ozymandias pre-taped for Robert Redford in the event that he became President of the United States. After Laurie Blake was dropped down a trap door by Jane Crawford and taken captive, Joe revealed to her their plans to capture and destroy Doctor Manhattan so that they can harness his powers. Later, the Kavalry is successful in capturing Manhattan as the Cyclops leadership gathers. However, the Kavalry was unsuccessful in harnessing his powers with Keene's body being dissolved in the process because he didn't have a component in the machine to filter the atomic energies according to Lady Trieu as the energies of Doctor Manhattan can do that to anyone. The rest of the Kavalry and the Cyclops leadership are subsequently killed by Lady Trieu.


Jane Crawford

Jane Crawford (portrayed by
Frances Fisher Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is an American actress. She began her career in theater and later starred as Detective Deborah Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Edge of Night'' (1976–1981). In film, she is known for her rol ...
) is Judd's wife who is secretly a high-ranking member of the Seventh Kavalry. Due to Angela's ramblings when recuperating from Will's Nostalgia, Laurie visits Jane about Judd's connection with the Seventh Kavalry. This causes Jane to open the trap door beneath Laurie and inform Joe Keene of her capture. Jane is also present for the capture of Doctor Manhattan and is outed as a high-ranking member of Cyclops. After figuring out what Lady Trieu will do to them, Jane is among the Cyclops members vaporized by Lady Trieu.


Renee

Renee (portrayed by
Paula Malcomson Paula Malcomson (born 1 June 1970) is a Northern Irish actress. She is sometimes credited as Paula Williams. She is known for playing Trixie in ''Deadwood'' (2004–2006), Maureen Ashby in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2010), and Asterid Everdeen in ''T ...
) is a radiologist who is a member of the Seventh Kavalry. She is the one responsible for luring Looking Glass to the Seventh Kavalry's hideout.


See also

*
List of DC Comics characters This is a list of DC Multiverse fictional characters which were created for and are owned by DC Comics. Alphabetically * List of DC Comics characters: 0–9 * List of DC Comics characters: A * List of DC Comics characters: B * List of DC Comi ...
* List of ''Doomsday Clock'' characters


Citations


General sources

* Gibbons, Dave. ''Watching the Watchmen: The Definitive Companion to the Graphic Novel''. Titan Books, 2008. . * Klock, Geoff. ''How to Read Superhero Comics and Why''. Continuum, 2002. . * Reynolds, Richard. ''Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology''. B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1992. . * Wright, Bradford W. ''Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America''. Johns Hopkins, 2001. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Characters Of Watchmen Watchmen characters, List of