30 quotes
Lost Ideals and the American Dream
Nite Owl II/Dan Dreiberg
We were supposed to make the world a better place! What the hell happened to us?!... ...What happened to the American dream?
[Surveying the carnage after the Comedian has broken up one of the "Keene Act Riots" by gleefully shooting rioters; quiet and broken]
The Reality of the American Dream
The Comedian/Edward Blake
(While shooting gleefully into a crowd of rioters, Nite Owl asks him what happened to the American Dream) What happened to the American dream? It came true! You're looking at it!
The Futility of Traditional Heroism
Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt
Dan, grow up. My new world demands less obvious heroism. Your schoolboy heroics are redundant. What have they achieved? Failing to prevent Earth's salvation is your only triumph.
The Limitations of Human Intelligence
Doctor Manhattan/Dr. Jon Osterman
I've walked across the surface of the sun, seen events so tiny and so fast that they hardly can be said to have occurred at all. But you, Adrian...are just a man. And the world's smartest man poses no more threat to me than does its smartest termite.
Justice Is Inescapable for Everyone
The Comedian/Edward Blake
(After Rorschach tells him that justice matters) Justice is coming to all of us. No matter what the fuck we do.
Rorschach's Challenge to Perception
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Your turn, doctor. Tell me! What do YOU see?
[He slides his mask back down over his face]
Power Dynamics in Confinement
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you... you're locked in here with me!
A Comedian's Death Sparks Unanswered Questions
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Tonight, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why... somebody knows.
[discovering that the victim of murder was The Comedian]
Pursuing Conquest Through Ancient Teachings
Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt
Well, it was unprecedented. I wanted... needed to match his accomplishments, and so I resolved to apply antiquity's teaching to our world, today. And so began my path to conquest. Conquest not of men, but of the evils that beset them.
Rorschach's Warning About the Ship Operation
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Daniel... Do not wish to interfere with operation of ship, but perhaps you should pull up sharply...
[As the Owlship careens out of control]
Desperate Demand for Identity Restoration
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
MY FACE! GIVE ME BACK MY FACE!
[on being unmasked]
The City's Dark Reality and Rorschach's Resolve
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Rorschach's journal, October 12th 1985. Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city's afraid of me. I've seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. And when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up around their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll whisper "No." Now the whole world stands on the brink staring down into bloody hell. All those liberals, and intellectuals, and smooth-talkers; and all of a sudden nobody can think of anything to say. Beneath me, this awful city, it screams like an abattoir full of retarded children. And the night reeks of fornication and bad consciences.
Understanding the Complexity of Human Experience
Silk Spectre II/Laurie Juspeczyk
People's lives take them strange places. They do strange things, and sometimes they can't talk about them... I know how that is.
The Nature of Humanity and Isolation
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Edward Blake, The Comedian, born 1918, buried in the rain. Murdered. Is that what happens to us? No time for friends? Only our enemies leave roses. Violent lives ending violently. Blake understood. Humans are savage in nature. No matter how much you try to dress it up, to disguise it. Blake saw society's true face. Chose to be a parody of it, a joke. I heard a joke once. Man goes to doctor, says he's depressed. Life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says "Treatment is simple. The great clown, Pagliacci, is in town. Go see him. That should pick you up". Man bursts into tears. "But doctor", he says, "I am Pagliacci." Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.
Confessions of a Complex Antihero
The Comedian/Edward Blake
I've done some bad things. I did bad things to women. I shot kids. You know, in Nam. But that was FUCKING WAR! But this? I've never seen anything like this. And here I am, spilling my guts to one of my archenemies. The truth is, you're the closest thing to a friend I've got. What the fuck does that say?
Confrontation with Rorschach's Behavior
Nite Owl II/Dan Dreiberg
Okay, no, listen: I've had it with that! God, who do you think you are, Rorschach? You live off people while insulting them, and nobody complains because they think you're a goddamned lunatic!
Consequences of Actions in Society
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Men get arrested. Dogs get put down.
The Miracle of Life Amidst Chaos
Doctor Manhattan/Dr. Jon Osterman
]. Events with astronomical odds of occurring, like oxygen turning into gold. I've longed to witness such an event, and yet I neglect that in human coupling, millions upon millions of cells compete to create life, for generation after generation until, finally, your mother loves a man: Edward Blake, the Comedian, a man she has every reason to hate, and out of that contradiction, against unfathomable odds, it's you — only you — that emerged. To distill so specific a form, from all that chaos; it's like turning air into gold. A miracle. And so... I was wrong. Now dry your eyes, and let's go home.
[[Miracles]
Determined to Speak His Mind
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Took a lot of effort to get in here to see you. I'm not leaving... ...until I've had my say.
[teleported away by Dr. Manhattan]
Rorschach's Frustration with Identity
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
WHERE'S MY FACE?!
[on the whereabouts of his mask]
Anticipation of the World's End
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Ancient Pharaohs looked forward to the end of the world. Believed cadavers would rise to reclaim hearts from golden jars. Hurm. Must currently be holding breath in anticipation.
[to Nite Owl II in Veidt's office]
The Cost of Preventing Global Catastrophe
Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt
Of course, my moral safeguards gave me pause at the necessary sacrifice. A few key regions around the globe - New York, Los Angeles, Moscow, Hong Kong - disintegrated in an instant. Fifteen million people killed by Dr. Manhattan himself. The world's punishment for flirting with World War III.
A Connection to Alexander the Great
Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt
The only person with whom I felt any kinship with died three hundred years before the birth of Christ. Alexander of Macedonia, or Alexander the Great, as you know him.
The Inevitable Destruction of Humanity
The Comedian/Edward Blake
You know, mankind's been trying to kill each other off since the beginning of time; now, we finally have the power to finish the job. Ain't nothing gonna matter once those nukes start flying; we'll all be dust. And Ozymandias here will be the smartest man on the cinder.
[sets fire to a map of the United States.]
A World Transformed Through Sacrifice
Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt
What, in life, does not deserve celebrating? This is the new Karnak. This represents the culmination of a dream more than 2000 years old. A dream now assured because of your unquestioning assistance. And for this, I am ashamed. Ashamed that you must now share such inadequate a reward. To the pharaohs. Their greatest secrets entrusted to their servants. Buried alive with them in sand-floored chambers. Sleep well, gentlemen. Our new, peaceful world will be indebted to your great sacrifice. Bubastis.
[raising a toast with his researchers; the researchers die from drinking poisoned champagne]
Humor in Tragedy: The Comedian's Perspective
The Comedian/Edward Blake
(Dr. Manhattan tells him that he sounds bitter over American victory in Vietnam) Me? Bitter? Fuck no. I think it's hilarious.
A Comedian's Death in New York
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Rorschach's journal. October 12, 1985. Tonight, a comedian died in New York.
[Final line of the film]
The Nature of Human Responsibility
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
God didn't kill that little girl. Fate didn't butcher her. Destiny didn't feed her to those dogs. If God saw what any of us did that night, he didn't seem to mind. From then on I knew; God doesn't make the world this way, we do.
Reflections on a Dying Heroic Legacy
Rorschach/Walter Kovacs
Rorschach's journal, October 13th 1985. 8:30pm. Meeting with Dreiberg left bad taste in mouth; a flabby failure sits whimpering in his basement. Why are so few of us left active, healthy, and without personality disorders? The First Nite Owl runs an autorepair shop. The first Silk Spectre is a bloated, aging whore dying in a California rest resort. Dollar Bill got his cape stuck on a revolving door where he got gunned down. Silhouette... murdered, a victim of her own indecent lifestyle. Mothman is in an asylum in Maine. Even Adrian Veidt. Possible homosexual? Must investigate further. 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.