The monster lies dead at Fortieth and Seventh.
The alien monster (popularly known among fans as the Squid) is a genetically engineered creature created through the efforts of Adrian Veidt in order to save humanity from nuclear holocaust.
History
Background
The beginnings of the monster trace back to the first meeting of the Crimebusters in 1966, for which Veidt, already disillusioned of his former belief that he could save the world by merely trying to deal with its negative symptoms (namely crime), is present. This truth is further revealed to him by the Comedian, who mercilessly demonstrates to the would-be team how hopelessly obsolete the methods of superheroes are in trying to help the world when the threat of nuclear annihilation looms over their heads. Reflecting on this, Veidt decides to attempt to save the world in a different way: by uniting humanity against a new threat.
In 1975, Veidt retires from superheroism – two years before the Keene Act would have made this mandatory - and reveals his true identity to the world, simultaneously creating Veidt Enterprises to make enough money to finance his plan by marketing his image as well as selling other products, such as Nostalgia and patented electrical hydrants. In secret, he also founds Pyramid Deliveries, which in turn funds Dimensional Developments, with Veidt Enterprises as the parent company; both of these companies would play key roles in Veidt’s plan.
Utopia cinema (obviously owned by Veidt) prepared subconsciously the way for this: Its name that signified Veidt's vision, and displayed mostly retro sci-fi alien invasion-themed movies.
Creation
With the direct and indirect scientific assistance of Doctor Manhattan, Veidt pours the vast resources at his disposal into the study of genetic engineering (an early success of which was Bubastis). Meanwhile, through Dimensional Developments, he puts an equal amount of work into discovering how to replicate Jon’s power of teleportation, though it is notable that the teleportation method created by Veidt is too imprecise to prevent the teleported object from reappearing in the same space as another object, resulting in an explosion; still, this only further suits Veidt’s intentions. Both of these studies take nearly a decade to perfect. He also has a number of tachyon generators constructed in locations around the world to obscure Doctor Manhattan’s vision of the future in order to prevent him from taking any action against Veidt.
Once the research is completed to Veidt’s satisfaction, he uses Pyramid Deliveries to transport science fiction writer Max Shea, surrealist artist Hira Manish, and a large number of other writers (like James Trafford March), artists (like Linette Paley), and scientists – who are under the impression that they were being employed as part of a top-secret movie production – to a privately owned island for a period of several months, in which time they conceptualize and engineer the monster.
The brain was created by stealing that of deceased psychic Robert Deschaines and cloning it, augmenting it considerably in the process. The monster was engineered and bred with nightmarish imageries from the creations of the abovementioned scholars, which derived from its supposedly alien world. Both the disappearances and the theft of the brain are reported by The New Frontiersman, correctly insisting that it is part of an elaborate conspiracy.
While on a plane during a mission in 1985, the Comedian spotted the island and, suspecting the works of Marxist countries, infiltrated it and discovered Veidt’s conspiracy, the resulting “professional jealousy” of which deeply traumatized him. Breaking into the apartment of Edgar Jacobi, formerly the supervillain Moloch, he drunkenly rambled about the island before departing; Veidt, who had Moloch’s house bugged, discovers that the Comedian had found out about his plan and subsequently murders him by throwing him out of his apartment window, thereby prompting investigation by Rorschach and setting off the events.
Afterward, all of the monster’s creators are killed when the Pyramid Deliveries ship taking them home is blown up in order to erase all evidence of Veidt’s plan.
Death
At midnight on November 2, 1985, Veidt teleports his monster into the heart of New York City. As predicted, large sections of its body (namely its tentacles) explode upon arrival, causing considerable collateral damage and killing the creature instantly. Its death generates a massive psychic shockwave from within its brain, killing half of the population of New York City.
Impact
Its appearance and devastation in New York City frightens the governments of the world, believing the monster to be an alien from another dimension, into working together against the new threat, at last ending the Cold War, and creating worldwide peace and removing the seeming inevitable threat of mankind’s destruction by nuclear war.
Most of the former Crimebusters, having uncovered Veidt’s plot for themselves, agree that it is necessary to keep the truth of the monster a secret to continue to prevent the nuclear holocaust that so nearly claimed humanity before. Rorschach, however, refuses to compromise and attempts to return to civilization and spread the word of Veidt’s doings. He is confronted by Doctor Manhattan, who tells him that he cannot allow the truth to get out. Jon gives him one last chance to change his mind, but Rorschach maintains that the only way to keep him quiet is to kill him, and so Doctor Manhattan disintegrates him.
Veidt Enterprises continued with propaganda to augment humanity's interest in space. One popular show was The Outer Limits, the Cold War-themed candies "Mmeltdowns" were renamed "Sunbursts". The perfume "Nostalgia" was renamed "Millennium" mirroring a new era of hope. "Utopia" was renamed "New Utopia". One of the first movies it showed was Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice, a Swedish film about an upcoming holocaust and peoples' reactions to it. Also, graffitis with mottos such as "Watch the skies" and "Quantum Jump" could be seen in the streets.
However it is not known if Veid't plans lasted for long. Rorschach's Journal was mailed in the offices of The New Frontiersman with all his revelations about the fake invasion.
Appearance and Attributes
The alien monster is an enormous creature, with a probable height of at least one hundred feet. With its dozens of long, muscular tentacles, the topsides of which are covered with boil-like contusions, it most closely resembles a gargantuan squid (hence the fan nickname). It face possesses one large eye and a horny, eight-pronged beak. Most of its head is taken up by its enormous brain, which lies openly exposed. Its tentacles are all either a mottled yellow or a sickly blue color with a grey underside, while its head is mostly a fleshy pink. Its blood is dark green.
As mentioned earlier, the psychic shockwave produced by the monster’s death is of sufficient power to make half of New York City’s citizens die with blood pouring from their ears. Its brain is programmed with gruesome images of its supposed homeworld (such as infants of its species chewing their way out of their mother’s womb), devised by Max Shea and illustrated by Hira Manish; these images cause many of the survivors of the monster’s attack to go insane, and Veidt mentions that psychics around the world will have nightmares for years after the event.
It is notable to mention that, even if the alien monster had not largely exploded upon arrival, it is likely that it would not have survived for very long anyway. For one, it is clearly a very heavy creature and it does not appear to have any sort of skeletal framework, meaning that its body would have collapsed under its own weight in short order. For another, since it was designed to die immediately, it is unlikely that it was created in such a fashion as to be able to keep itself alive for any period of time; for example, its creators may not have bothered with providing it with a means to digest food even if it had been somehow able to procure enough food to support itself.