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Rorschach
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Real Name
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Walter Kovacs
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First Appearance
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Watchmen #1 (September, 1986)
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Creators
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Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
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Team Affliations
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Watchmen (movie only)
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Alias
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None
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Base of Operations
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New York City
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Powers
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None
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Skills and Abilities
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Hand-to-hand combat expertise, Detective Expertise
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Tools and Weapons
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Uses Improvised Weapons
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Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) is a vigilante and superhero from the comic book Watchmen.
Origin[]
After suffering from years of abuse and childhood trauma, Walter Kovacs attempted to restore order into his world until a particularly brutal case caused him to believe that he lived in a world of moral absolutes and those who were in the wrong must be destroyed.
History[]
Childhood[]
Born on March 21st, 1940, Walter Joseph Kovacs was the son of prostitute Sylvia Joanna Kovacs and a man known only as "Charlie". He was often abused during his childhood (interestingly Sylvia and "Charlie" had long arguments about politics, which may have helped inform his world view when he grew older), and authorities only discovered this after he attacked a pair of bullies, leaving one halfblind. Child support then took Walter away to The Lillian Charlton Home for Problem Children and actually seemed to be doing much better, with fewer violent outbursts and an interest in studying and athletic pursuits such as boxing and gymnastics.
As he grew, the absense of Walter's father loomed heavily. This was very apparent in an essay he wrote at age 11 in which he imagined "Charlie" as the president's aide (due to his love of President Truman) and presented him as a national hero whom he idolized (how much of this Walter was simply fantasy and which "facts", if any, he believed of these writings is unknown). At age 13, Walter told one of the Charlton Home employees (who wrote a transcription of it) about a nightmare he had, which heavily implied that Walter may have been traumatized by watching his mother have sex with someone, though it is not entirely clear.
During his time at The Lillian Charlton Home, Walter's mother made no attempt to contact him and in 1956, she was found dead in an alley in South Bronx after her pimp forced her to consume Drano cleaning fluid. When Walter was told about the news, he simply responded "good".
The Face of Rorshach[]
He grew up and worked at a dress company, where he encountered the fabric used for his mask, which contained liquids that move while always staying symetrical and never mixing. The woman who ordered the dress made of the fabric changed her mind, so Walter took it home. He later discovered that the woman who ordered the dress was Kitty Genovese, who was murdered and raped while her neighbors did nothing. Ashamed of humanity, he used the fabric to make a "new face" for himself that he "could bear to look at in the mirror", and began a career as a crime fighter. He took on the name Rorschach, after the Rorschach ink blot tests, which his ever changing mask resembled.
After years of fighting crime with Nightowl, he went on an independant case to rescue a kidnapped little girl being held for ransom (the girl was mistaken for the daughter of a wealthy man) only to find that the kidnapper upon realizing his mistake, killed the girl and fed her to his dogs.
Having completely lost faith in humanity, his mind snapped, and he killed the dogs and trapped the murderer in his house, which he then set on fire and watched burn.
He then became a more violent anti-hero, sometimes going as far as to torture people for information by breaking their fingers. He continued to fight crime even though superheros not employed by the government were banned.
Years later, he found that a recently murdered man was actually The Comedian, a superhero working for the governement. He suspected someone was targeting superheroes, but did not know why.
He was later framed for murder, and sent to prison, where all the criminals wanted him dead. He was broken out during a prison riot by Nightowl and Silk Spectre, who had decided to return to superheroing, and who realized Rorschach was right.
They found out the killer was Ozymandas, another former hero who owned a large bussiness, and went to his hide away in Antarctica to confront him.
Ozymandas revealed he killed The Comedian because he found out about his plan to blow up New York, making it look like Dr.Manhattan did it, in order to make Russia and the USA unite, thus preventing a nuclear war. His plan worked, and everyone agreed to keep the secret, except Rorschach. Dr. Manhattan gave Rorschach a choice, either keep the secret, or die. Rorschach chose death and was blown up.
Movie[]
He is played by Jackie Earl Haley in the film Watchmen.
Equipment and Abilities[]
fedora, trench coat, a piece of cloth as a mask that has moving and shifting inkblots that resembles an actual Rorshach test, detective skills, lock picker, can use everyday items as weapons,able to withstand incredibly cold temperatures,boxing, gymnastics and gaspowered grapling hook