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[NOTE: This post started its own thread before I merged it here. --"Curiosity Inc."]

Mine is either Dr. Manhattan or Ozymandias

Everyone always thinks I'm insane but I'm a big Comedian fan, folowed VERY closely by Sally Jupiter.

With Blake, It's so easy to hate him because he's a terrible person, but you see him in moments like when he meets Laurie for the first time and you remember that he's human. He projects this hardcore, intense persona that is brutally honest, and you either like him or hate him. I hated him, but then by the second reading, I realized how amazing and complex he was.

As for Sally, she's just a great example of a role model gone wrong. She was exploited, abused and mostly unhappy with her life, but she managed to look and act so damn glamorous that it was like it didn't matter. She forced herself to be happy, and just had way too much sass to be overlooked.

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"...And drink a toast to absent friends,
Instead of these comedians..."

Yeah good point. Both the Nite Owls and both the Silk Spectres are the only heroes in the book I'd want to talk to in real life.

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Definitely Rorschach. His power? Super-insanity.

Ozymandias is a close second, probably the most sincere, IMO.

Rorschach.

Simply by the fact that he is the only one of the mains that sees the horror of Veidt's plan and refuses to cooperate. He's the only one, in my eyes, who really retains his honor.

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But what if the nukes went flying while Rorschach was on his mask killer hunt? And the world was blown to bits... and mankind perished from the Earth... and intelligent life was extinguished from the universe forever.

How horrible is that crime?


And what would you give that humanity might live if that were indeed the alteranative?

A few years trimmed off a few million lives in exchange for the survival of intelligent life in the cosmos?

The test of a philosophical system isn't how cool it sounds or how emotionally satisfying it might be in the moment... but does it freakin' work? Does it promote LIFE?

What is most important? Principles or those who might hold them? Of what use is a void free from compromise, forevermore in shadow?

Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver are revered in the Hindu triad, but there is a reason that Shiva the Destroyer is the most worshipped of the three.

Well, yeah. That's one of the main riddles in Watchmen, and clearly one could argue for the viewpoint of either side. The whole point of the ambiguous ending is that Veidt's plan (or "system", perhaps) could potentially fail. Once the editors of the New Frontiersman discover they are in possession of the journal of the vigilante Rorschach, whom they once credited as "a patriot" and "an American" (Ch. VII, I think), Veidt's plan will be revealed, and all hell will break loose.

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

Or, then again, they might not. Then everything's hunky-dory. But back to the point...

It's not necessarily his objectivist worldview that I admire, but moreso how he expresses that moral code. He is the only one of the main characters left alive by the time Veidt's plan is executed that does not conform (or shift) in order to avoid the consequences of the alternative (Dan & Laurie change identities, Manhattan leaves, etc.). He stands out from the group. And in his final moments, it somehow seems apparent that he was aware of what would befall him as a consequence of his choice.

Regardless of whether he was ultimately right or wrong in his outlook on life, his unwavering sense of personal honor and his repressed, yet present human side ("You are...a good friend, Daniel"), made for a complex and very, very memorable character.

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Nice response, Rodyle. In spite of my "devil's advocate" post, I find that I very much agree with you.

Walter is not my favorite character... or even in the running... but I like your take on him.

On the note of favorite characters, been trying to think of what powers each of the second group of heroes have besides exceptional hand-to-hand combat.

Rorschach - Tactics, streetsmarts
Nite Owl II - High-tech equipment, Owl Ship
Dr. Manhattan - Atomic-level control in his vicinity
Ozymandias - Fittest man, smartest man, rich, catching bullets
Comedian - Tactics, large weapon supply, extremely fit
Silk Spectre II - ..........? Boobs in silk?

Seriously, what can Laurie do? She comes off as useless to me, speaking tactically-wise.

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"The street's are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over all the Vermin will drown"- Rorschach

Her mother worked her like hell. She's shown to be a pretty capable fighter, and apart from some parental issues, she (and Dan) has the power of sanity amongst her contemporary nutjobs.

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Doctor Manhattan, for sure. Love the religious layers on him.

...So speaking tactically wise, she's useless compared to everyone else. Insanity apparently doesn't matter when you save hostages and control riots.

Blake is my personal favorite because, as Jon Osterman put it, “Blake’s different. He understands perfectly… And he doesn’t care.”

same here man, its just somethng about him, you should hate him for being such a bastard, but you cant.

When I started reading Watchmen for the first time I couldn't decide who my favorite was until I finished Chapter XI. Rorschach always stood out as a favorite though because of how crazy he was. The first time he entered Happy Harry's and broke that guy's two fingers made me laugh so hard and at first I couldn't honestly understand why. Made me laugh even harder when I read, "Nobody knew anything. Feel slightly depressed," and pausing with "Hurm."

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.. Thank you Venus, for everything ..
“It’s not the creed nor nationality that counts. It’s the man himself” - Willie Maley
Karim Benzema takes on the World

Amen to that! Judging my username and my past posts, it's really quite obvious as to mine is. Blake is at a close second. Damn hot.

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Sally Jupiter, actually. Yeah, she made for a pretty ineffectual superhero, but something just draws me to be very fond of her. Maybe an underlying "girl power" sentiment. I always root for the pretty girl!

I'm intrigued by her relationship with Blake. I would say that Sally loved Blake, and Sally was one of the very few people, if any, Blake had any emotional regard for. You might even say he loved her, I don't know.

Also, Sally placed all her self-worth into beauty which makes for a very shallow and fleeting sense of self-worth. Hence, she corresponds with creeps who remind her of a time when she was young, when she was worth something. She spends her days reliving her youth in her mind, even the worst parts of it, and is surrounded by relics of her past.

"Laurie, I'm 65. Every day, the future looks a little bit darker. But the past, even the grimy parts of it....well, it just keeps getting brighter all the time."

God, that line is such a downer, but sums it up Sally in her current state perfectly.

To add to the low self-esteem bit, there's also a sense of guilt within Sally. That, maybe, because she drank, swore, and was a burlesque dancer before she started running around the city practically in her underwear to fight crime with a bunch of men, she deserved to be degraded. Her behavior would be considered unladylike, floozy-ish even in her time, and probably even today. So combine her fairly brash, almost vulgar tendencies with an underlying belief that her actions cause her to be objectified and, hey, "maybe I want to be objectified," and you can see why she would not only forgive Blake for his assault, but pin some of the blame on herself. A lot of rape victims tend to blame themselves for the crime but I feel like Sally took it to a whole other level, where she was even willing to let the assailant into her bed. Part of that may have been to rationalize her feelings toward Blake because if it wasn't all his fault then, maybe, "This is okay, what I'm doing is okay."

On the other hand, Sally had the strength to not allow daughter to follow the same path. Whatever feelings she had for Blake, she knew what kind of person he was, and this was not someone who belonged in Laurie's life as a father figure or otherwise. My heart really went out to Blake when Sally told him off and took Laurie away but she was right. Sally was ultimately right to send Laurie into adventuring, too. Laurie may have professed to hate the career but, in the end I think we see it's what she was meant to do. I think her biggest problem was with the costume, honestly, and I don't blame her. One thing I would have loved to see was the new costume Laurie thought up for herself. I think it would have looked like a combination of the later Comedian and Silhouette's costumes, personally. Also, good on Sally for getting the girl some actual training before sending her out in the world. She made sure Laurie was better prepared for the job than she herself was.

So, yeah, Sally's not a major player, but I feel that she's a lot more interesting and complex than most people would believe. And I wish she had more votes!

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It's weird when I think about this question, because there are few of these characters I would actually like in reality. I feel most of them are so emotionally messed up that they would be unbearable to be around (or even think about), but most of them are fascinating.

I really like Rorschach. He is incredibly conservative, bimodal in his thinking, and stinky. But I still like him the best, especially for the fact he stays consistent at the end of the GN.

Surprisingly (I guess)...I dislike Dr. Manhattan the most.

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"You know what I wish? I wish all the scum of the Earth had one throat and I had my hands about it."

Dammit!

*conflicted frustration*

Despite myself, Rorschach got my vote. Because he seriously brings the LULZ when there is no Comedian around. The whole "Fat chance. Tall order." scene in Sing Sing sorta won me over to camp Inky, just because of the clever use of puns.


But, Danny almost got my vote. Nerds always need extra support and TLC.