Walter Joseph Kovacs was a violent vigilante known as Rorschach. When the Keene Act banned costumed adventurers, he went undercover and continued his one-man battle against crime illegally, where all others folded. Rorschach used to wear a piece of cloth that has moving and shifting inkblots that resemble an actual Rorschach test as a mask. He considered this his true face.
He was killed by Doctor Manhattan to maintain the peace brought about by Adrian Veidt, but his legacy lives on through the white supremacist group Cyclops' rebranding as Seventh Kavalry, and various other people wishing for a voice for their beliefs through violence.
Biography[]
Costumed Crimefighter Career[]
Rorschach had been one of the members of the short-lived Crimebusters. Despite the passage of the Keene Act, in 1977, Rorschach continued his one-man battle against crime long after costumed vigilantes become both detested and illegal.
On October 12th, 1985, Eddie Blake was thrown out of his apartment window. In attempting to discover the murderer's motivation, Rorschach develops the "Mask Killer" theory; someone is attempting to kill all existing costumed vigilantes. Considering this as a possible cause makes Rorschach feel obliged to investigate and inform the other masks about a threat on their lives.
Rorschach was captured and arrested by the New York City Police Department on October 21, 1985, after having been framed for the murder of Edgar Jacobi, and was identified as Walter Kovacs. At Sing Sing, Kovacs was subsequently interviewed by psychiatrist Malcolm Long, who determined that Kovacs had dissociative identity disorder. Rorschach was freed from police custody by Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II.[1]
Following his release, Rorschach with the help of Dreiberg, continued his "Mask Killer" investigation. They explored the New York underworld looking for clues on whatever plot is taking place.
They visited Happy Harry’s Bar & Grill to interrogate the criminal element and tried to acquire information about an incident that occurred on the day of Kovacs' arrest, the attempted murder of Adrian Veidt by contract killer, Roy Victor Chess. Through physical torture, Kovacs induced a scattered confession from a man who described himself as an employee of Pyramid Deliveries saying that he had delivered some envelopes to Mr. Chess at the request of his superior.
While at the bar, they discover that the prison break led to a series of anti-superhero riots, including the murder of Dreiberg's predecessor and mentor as Nite Owl, Hollis Mason. Dreiberg swears vengeance, assaulting one of the Knot Top gang members believed to be responsible with such fury that Rorschach, known for his brutality in dispatching criminals, has to restrain him.
They determine that their leads point to none other than their former comrade Ozymandias. Upon discovering Veidt's involvement in the death and neutralization of costumed adventurers, Dreiberg, convinced of Veidt's guilt, persuaded Rorschach that they need to confront him at his headquarters in Antarctica. They aboard the Owlship, and fly en-route to the frozen continent, but not before stopping over at a nearby mailbox for Rorschach to deliver his journal to the New Frontiersman.
Legacy[]
Rorschach was last seen alive on November 1, 1985 following his escape from Sing Sing, and because his death was not heavily investigated due to the destruction of New York City by the alien monster the following day, the public assumed that he had simply disappeared without a trace. However, his journal was discovered in the aftermath by Seymour David, an editorial assistant of the far-right newspaper New Frontiersman.[1]
The Rorschach Journal published in it's entirety by the New Frontiersman in 1995.
In March 1987 the editor of the New Frontiersman, Hector Godfrey, ran excerpts from Rorschach's journal along with a summary of its contents. Rorschach hoped that his journal would convince the entire world the real truth of Adrian Veidt's plans and what really happened in New York. However, because it was published in a reactionary newspaper known for conspiracy theories, distain for Veidt, and Rorschach was declared clinically insane by the late psychiatrist, Malcolm Long, it was largely dismissed as lunacy by the general public and mainstream media.[1]
Rorschach’s journal nearly faded into obscurity if not for two events, the “Blue Wave” of 1992 that ushered Robert Redford into the White House, and the arrest of Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II in 1995 for violating the Keene Act. Their capture reignited cultural fascination with masked vigilantes, and to capitalize on that curiosity, New Frontiersman published his journal in its entirety and was titled The Rorschach Journal.[1]
Veidt himself described the supposed evidence involving his role in the destruction of New York as "fake news". Despite the general dismissal by the general public, however, Rorschach gained popularity with right-wing conspiracy theorists and had become a conservative/libertarian icon.[1]
Years later, in the 21st century, a television series was created called American Hero Story in which the first season focused on Rorschach's public history. According to F.B.I. agent and historian Dale Petey, the series was an example of liberal media smearing Rorschach's legacy as being shameful to ever support.[2]
Rorschach's journal as well as his image were later appropriated by the Seventh Kavalry, a white supremacist terrorist group under the direction of the Cyclops. Emboldened by his right-wing politics, violent anti-establishment message, and description of morality as "black-and-white", the Kavalry misinterpreted and appropriated his journal as a far-right racist manifesto. Members of the Kavalry wore crude replicas of Rorschach's mask and attacked members of the police and their families for enforcing President Redford's reparations to victims of racial injustices, while intending to acquire the powers of Doctor Manhattan.[1]
Trivia[]
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series Watchmen and is an adaptation of Rorschach. The original character was created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and first appeared in Watchmen #1.
- Actor Trey Butler was credited as "Rorschach" in the series finale "See How They Fly", though this is just a misnomer, as Butler only played a nameless Rorschach-masked member of the Seventh Kavalry.
- Walter Kovacs did not appear onscreen throughout the run of the television series, but he was mentioned as early as its first episode "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice". More information about Rorschach's backstory and legacy would also be mentioned in documents on the auxiliary website Peteypedia.