User:Coolcat3895/watchmen

Plot summary
In New York, the police investigate the murder of Edward Blake. With the police not being able to figure out who murdered him, Rorschach takes it into his hands. Edward Blake was the comedian, a hero who worked with the government and was part of the minuteman. The Comedian was one of the only friends that Rorschach had because they both were not "soft". Rorschach is a feared outlaw who was very vigilante and didn't really give up. He was determined to find out who killed Edward Blake. After Edward Blakes funeral Jon (Dr.Manhattan) is accused on national television of giving everyone he has worked with or is close to cancer. When the government took it seriously Jon went to mars to get away and escape his problems. While he was on mars things were getting worse on earth, Adrian Veidt survived an assasination attempt, and Rorschach is framed for the murder of Moloch. While Walter (Rorschach) is in jail he has a psychologist named Mal trying to help him and figure out his problems. Mal thought he was getting through to him, but he turns around and goes back to his old ways. During their sessions together Walter keeps having flashbacks on his childhood and the struggle he went through when he was growing up. He also talked about Rorschach and how his alter ego came about. Dan feeling too "impotent" dawns his Nite Owl costume again in an attempt to recapture the glory of his old life. With the help of Laurie, the pair save people from a burning tenement building in downtown New York and expose that the masks are back. In the aftermath of their daring rescue the two decide to free Rorschach from prison. After fighting their way into the building they discover Rorschach finishing up business with an old enemy, Big Figure. They return to Dan's house where they discover Jon waiting for them. Jon and Laurie leave to discuss the fate of humanity on mars while Dan and Rorschach leave to investigate the mask killer conspiracy further. While on mars Laurie and Jon argue about the importance of life and whether Jon should intervene in the Nuclear War. During the argument Laurie discovers her father is none other than the Comedian, the man she has grown her entire life hating. This near impossible event brings Jon to understand the importance of life and convinces him to return and save earth. During Jon and Laurie's argument, Rorschach and Dan continue their investigation only to discover that Veidt was behind the assassinations and killings all along. All four of them: Dan, Rorschach, Jon, and Laurie come together at Veidt's antarctic base to confront him. They discover that Veidt's plans were to end the war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. His plan consists of killing millions in New York to fool the world into believing it's being attacked by aliens. Dan, Rorschach, and Jon are unable to stop Veidt in time to prevent his plan but continue to attack him regardless until Veidt turns on the many TVs in his observation room showing that his plan had worked. Dan, Jon, and Laurie all accept that they must remain silent to keep the world in peace but Rorschach's inability to accept compromises leaves to tell the world. Jon intercepts and kills Rorschach before he can tell anyone and put mankind back into danger of a nuclear war. As Jon walks back into Veidt's headquarters he finds Dan and Laurie naked, asleep, and cuddling on the floor he looks at them with a smile on his face presumably because he's happy that Laurie is happy. Jon then finds Veidt meditating about the acts he has committed. Jon then leaves to somewhere in the universe saying that he plans on making new life.

Main Characters

 * Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl - Dan is one of the former masked heroes who make up the protagonists of the story. Formerly working with Rorschach, Dan gave up his life of crime fighting in 1977 when the Keene Act banned vigilanteism.  Dan falls in love with Laurie Juspeczyk which is a cause of tension later in the story.


 * Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre - Laurie, a retired crime fighter, is daughter of Sally Juspeczyk a.k.a. Silk Spectre. Laure shows serious parent issues; she resents her mother for pushing her to be a crime fighter and never knew who her father was. She later discovers that the Comedian, a man who had tried to rape her mother, was her true father.


 * Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan - Jon, a giant blue man, was a scientist who was disintegrated when he was only in his thirties. He is the only one who actually has powers. Jon is being accused of giving everyone hes been close to cancer so he goes to mars and settles there for a while.


 * Walter Kovacs/Rorschach - a very watchful masked man who wears a mask that has symmetrical but always shifting ink blots, and fights crimes even despite his outlaw status. He is feared throughout the book and plays with peoples minds.


 * Edward Blake/The Comedian - The Comedian was a Hero who was part of the Minutemen who was still active after the Keen Act of '77. his character appears in only flashbacks because his death sets off the whole plot to the story


 * Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias - Adrian was a masked hero who retired before the Keene Act of '77 retaining his popularity.  Regarded as the world's smartest man, Adrian used his popularity to gain wealth and power until he was at a point he deemed suitable to "save the world". Through an elaborate series of conspiracies and secretive acts Adrian managed to form a plan that would put an end to war and save the planet from global nuclear war.

Supporting Characters

 * Edward Jacobi/Moloch - A former villain to both the Minutemen and the Crimebusters, Moloch retired from his life of crime after being incarcerated. Given cancer as part of an elaborate conspiracy against Jon, Moloch was being pursued by information by Rorschach when he was murdered to frame Rorschach.


 * Sally Juspeczyk - Sally, a retired crime fighter, was part of the minutemen. She is Laurie juspeczyk's mom. While she was an active crime fighter she was almost raped by Edward Blake (The Comedian). It turns out that the comedian is the father to Laurie.


 * Bernard/News Vendor - the news vendor vends papers and magazines, daily he save a paper for Walter (Rorschach) but he does not know that its Rorschach because hes not wearing his mask. Bernard often speaks to customers at his news stand stating that "[he] took the job to meet people." During his time at the news stand he holds conversations with a boy who comes by and reads a comic book daily (also named Bernard).


 * Cab Driver - The cab driver is one of the minor characters of the story. She is a friend of the news vendor, Bernard, and often stops to have polite conversation with him exploring the way the average person views the events of the world. Later in the book it is showed that she is a lesbian that is having problems with her girlfriend questioning what her true sexuality is.


 * Dr Malcolm Long/the Psychologist - Mal works with Walter as his psychologist while he is in jail, he is fooled into thinking that Walter is making progress but he is just covering up what he really thinks and says what he knows the Psychologist wants him to say.


 * Detectives Fine and Bourquin - These detectives investigate the murder of Edward Blake and pursue the cases of several masks known to operate in New York. They arrest Rorschach and harass Dan after his second debut as Nite Owl in an attempt to scare him back into hiding. They also deal with other cases of New York including murder cases spurred on by the oncoming nuclear war.


 * Bernie - Often found sitting on a recharge station next to a news stand, Bernie spends most of his time reading a pirate comic while the news vendor (also named Bernard) talks to him about the politics and events of recent times.


 * Hollis Mason/Nite Owl - Former hero who participated in the Minutemen of the 1940's, Hollis Mason is an icon and a mentor to Dan Dreiberg (the new Nite Owl). Running a garage that specializes in obsolete oil based cars, he and Dan often have beer and reminisce over the times before they retired from crime fighting. He is murdered by a riotous gang when they mistake him for the Dan after Dan and Laurie spring Rorschach from prison.

Themes
The thing that seperates Watchmen from the rest of the comic world is its use of realism. Unlike other comics, Watchmen puts the heroes in a universe where they aren't outside of the spheres of ideology that control real people (i.e. religion, politics, philosiphy). It is one of the reasons for Watchmen's major success due to its breaking of the norm and making heroes far more relatable than they were ever before. One example of the ideologies effecting in-story characters would be Doctor Manhattan's uniform. At first Manhattan starts with a full body suit and a helmet symbolizing the U.S. government's control over him. He then begins to slowly strip away parts of his costume showing his withdrawl from outside influences and humanity.