Jackie Earle Haley as
Walter Kovacs / Rorschach

Rorschach is a noir private detective-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.

He was born Walter Joseph Kovacs, the son of a prostitute by a man whose last name his mother never bothered to learn, and 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 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 and began to embrace extremist right-wing ideology. When the story begins, a man is seen walking around New York carrying a sign that reads "The End Is Nigh," 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 creations The Question and Mr. A. Moore said he was trying to "come up with this quintessential Steve Ditko character � someone who's got a funny name, whose surname begins with a 'K,' who's got an oddly designed mask".

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 as "a set of black-and-white values that take many shapes but never mix into shades of gray, similar to the ink blot tests of his namesake".

Rorschach sees existence as random and, according to Wright, this viewpoint leaves the character "free to 'scrawl his own design' on a 'morally blank world'". 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.

If you accept it as canon, then Before Watchmen 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.

Unlike the other five principal actors, Haley had read the comic and was keen to pursue the role when he heard he had become a favorite candidate among fans. Rorschach wears a mask with ink blots: motion capture markers were put on the contours of Haley's blank mask, for animators to create his ever-changing expressions.

Haley has a black belt in Kenpo, but described Rorschach's attack patterns as sloppier and more aggressive due to the character's boxing background.

Resources: imdb.com, Wikipedia.org

The rich and brilliant Adrian Veidt is being interviewed.

Doug Roth: Mr. Veidt, to date, you're one of only two Watchmen ever to reveal their true identity to the world, the first being Hollis Mason. And you've certainly profited greatly by it, turning your superhero alter ego, Ozymandias, into a billion-dollar industry: toys, lunchboxes, genetic engineering. I understand there's a movie in the works.

Adrian: I'm not hearing a question, Mr. Roth.

Doug Roth: I'm sorry. Do you think...

Adrian: The other Watchmen resent me for prostituting their struggle? It's a fair question. Yes, it's crossed my mind some of my old colleagues might see it that way, just as you're clearly aware that biased journalism sells more magazines.

The merchandising arm of Veidt Industries is funding our work with Dr. Manhattan. We recently expanded our research facility in Antarctica in the hope of developing cheap, renewable sources of energy that we might eliminate the world's reliance on fossil fuels.

Now, it doesn't take a political scientist to see that our Cold War with the Russians isn't ideological - it's based upon fear. Fear of not having enough. But if we make resources infinite... ah... we make war obsolete. I would hope the other Watchmen understand that. Wherever they may be. Thanks for your time.

Daniel is watching the interview, Adrian greets him.

Dreiberg: You look good, Adrian.

Adrian: Dan. It's been too long. So Rorschach thinks someone's hunting the Watchmen, huh?

Dreiberg: You think it's possible?

Adrian: Statistically, one murder doesn't equal a trend. Rorschach's a sociopath, Dan. And so was the Comedian. He was practically a Nazi. You know that better than anyone.

Dreiberg: I'm not here because I miss him.

Adrian: It's occurred to Rorschach that we're the only ones who know each other's identities.

Dreiberg: Actually, the whole world knows yours. That's why I'm warning you first.

Adrian: Thank you, Dan, but I fear there's something much more real to worry about than Rorschach's mask killer.

Dreiberg: If the Russians do launch their nukes, can Jon really stop them?

Adrian: The Soviets have 51,000 warheads stockpiled. Even if Jon stops 99 percent of them, the 1 percent that get through could still kill every living thing on Earth. Even Dr. Manhattan can't be everywhere at once.

The next evening, Rorschach sneaks into the US Army Rockefeller Military Research Center.

Rorschach [voiceover]: Rorschach's journal, October 13th, 1985. 8:30 PM. Meeting with Dreiberg left bad taste in mouth. A flabby failure who sits whimpering in his basement. Why are so few of us left active, healthy, and without personality disorders? The first Nite Owl runs an auto repair shop. The first Silk Spectre is a bloated, aging whore, dying in a California rest resort.

Dollar Bill got his cape stuck in a revolving door where he got gunned down. Silhouette, murdered: a victim of her own indecent lifestyle. Mothman's in an asylum in Maine. Only two names remain on my list. Both share private quarters at Rockefeller Military Research Center. I shall go to them. I shall go tell the indestructible man that someone plans to murder him.

Manhattan can normally see the future, but he says that he cannot see it now . . .

Dr. Manhattan: If the United States and Soviet Union engage in all-out war the resulting blast wave would produce a sudden burst of tachyons... particles which travel backward through what you perceive as time, therefore obscuring my vision of the present.

He transports ("zaps") Rorschach outside the military facility in mid-sentence when he upsets Laurie; Rorschach challenges Laurie's judgement of the Comedian, who once tried to rape her mother. Rorschach refers to the incident as a "moral lapse". Manhattan then tells Laurie that he has been working with Adrian to solve the energy crisis in an effort to avert the war. Manhattan reads her mind, and observes her parents fighting.

Dr. Manhattan: Your mind goes to dark places and you wonder why I keep the worst from you.

He also tells Laurie that he knows she wanted to have dinner with him, but that she will instead be going out to dinner with Daniel.

When Laurie arrives at the restaurant, Daniel is obviously smitten. They have dinner and talk about the old days.

Laurie: Do you remember that crazy guy? What did he call himself... Captain Carnage. He used to pretend he was a supervillain just so he could get beat up all the time?

Dreiberg: Yeah, he tried that on me once. I just walked away. He starts following me down the street in broad daylight, yelling 'Punish me! Punish me!' I say 'No! Get lost.'

Laurie: God. Whatever happened to him?

Dreiberg: Well, he pulled that on Rorschach, and Rorschach dropped him down an elevator shaft.

Pause, then both laugh.

Laurie: Oh my god. That's not even funny.

Dreiberg [laughing]: It's a little funny.

She observes that the Keene Act, which outlawed costumed vigilantism, has prevented them from going out as superheroes. Laurie confides that Jon is becoming more remote.

Laurie: I can't even tell if he actually cares about me anymore, or if he's just pretending

Dreiberg: If he's pretending, it's because he cares.

As she gets in a cab to leave the restaurant, she rolls down the cab window.

Laurie: I'm sorry. I invited you out to dinner to catch up and have a few laughs, but there don't seem to be many laughs around these days.

Dreiberg: What do you expect? The Comedian's dead.

At a cemetery, the Comedian is given a funeral with military honors, while Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" plays.

Laurie is teleported to her mother's home by Dr. Manhattan, where she immediately throws up into the toilet. The older woman, Sally Jupiter, observes that she thought Laurie would have gotten used to that means of travel by now. But Laurie hates it when Jon teleports her.

Laurie: Well, it beats flying coach.

She is drinking margaritas in the afternoon and reminiscing about her old Minuteman days, when she was the original Silk Spectre. She shows Laurie a pornographic comic that is based on Sally's super-hero of the 1940s (the original Silk Spectre). Laurie is appalled by her mother's behavior.

Sally: I'm 67 years old. Every day, the future looks a little bit darker. But the past... even the grimy parts of it... keep on getting brighter.

In a flashback, Sally remembers the original Minutemen having a group photo taken in a wood-paneled club.

Afterward, Sally goes to the billiards room to change out of her costume and the Comedian enters, making suggestive advances toward her.

Blake: No, spelt Y-E-S...

Sally: No, spelt N-O!

Sally tries to push him away but the Comedian brutally punches her and is ready to rape her when another member of their team, Hooded Justice, intervenes and beats Blake severely. Blake suggests that Justice gets off on beating men and Justice stops. Sally concludes the flashback with a cryptic observation about Eddie Blake.