Ever since it was revealed that Rorschach would return inDoomsday Clock after his death in Watchmen, fans have wondered how it would be handled or justified.
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In the first issue of the series, though, it was revealed that Rorschach was in fact not Walter Kovacs (who did indeed die at the end of Watchmen), but another individual wearing Rorschach’s costume and carrying on many of his odd quirks.
He is working with Ozymandias on a plot to bring Doctor Manhattan back home and save the world…but who is he, and what motivates him?
Well, it is hard to say yet. After all, we have not reached the point in Doomsday Clock where all of the character’s background has been made clear. Still, writer Geoff Johns and artist Brad Walker have laid plenty of clues out so far — enough to stoke some fan theories and a ton of speculation.
We will steer clear of those for now, but here is what we know (for sure) about the new Rorschach.
He’s black
In the first issue of Doomsday Clock, while getting the Marionette and the Mime out of prison, he finds himself rejected by The Marionette, who does not want to work with the dangerously-unstable vigilante who locked them up in the first place.
To prove that he is not, in fact, Walter Kovacs, Rorschach removes one of his gloves and shows her a hand — proving that he is African-American.
One assumes that this might be the same prison where Kovacs was locked up, since it looks so similar. Even if not, maybe a “celebrity” like him would have a mug shot that made the rounds after his incarceration in Watchmen.
He blames Ozymandias for his family’s death
It is established numerous times that Rorschach hates Ozymandias and blames him for what happened to the world — but there is a particular reference to his family, who apparently died as a result of Ozymandias’s hoax.
This is not entirely surprising, seeing as he was headed home through the streets of New York on the night of the attack.
He has a deal with Ozymandias
At one point, coming back to consciousness in Doomsday Clock #2, Rorschach lunges at Ozymandias, saying he wants to kill him. Ozymandias tells him that they “have a deal,” which seems to calm Rorschach down.
…could this be why, as he told Batman in Doomsday Clock #3, “my hands are dirty, too?”
And what is the deal? Given Ozymandias’s terminal state, could it be that Ozy has offered Rorschach the opportunity to kill him once the world is saved? Or is it something more complex, like offering up Doctor Manhattan’s services to save Rorschach’s family?
He was present at the site of the “monster attack”
In Doomsday Clock #3, during his nap at Wayne Manor, Rorschach dreams about the night of Ozymandias’s attack on New York.
Thinking about getting home to his parents, Rorschach (then just Reggie, we assume) is driving his car through the congested streets of New York, avoiding the various arguments breaking out as the world teeters on the brink.
Suddenly, there is a flash of blue light and the windshield of his car fills up with the image above — Ozymandias’s monster, killing everything in its path…with the now-traumatized Reggie the very first person outside of its “blast radius.”
His name is Reggie
Revealed in the same scene where he lunges at Ozymandias and is told that they have an arrangement in place, part of Veidt’s attempts to calm Rorschach down involve referring to him as “Reggie.”
He is fascinated with Walter Kovacs
This should be no surprise to someone who is wearing Kovacs’s filthy, smelly old costume, but he is obsessed with the Watchmen antihero.
He appears to have been the one to steal Rorschach’s journal, and likely knew the truth about Veidt’s failed plot, and/or the death of Kovacs, before the rest of the world.
The pair have quite a bit in common, actually, including…
He is off-putting out of costume
Reggie smells — this is pointed out repeatedly. He also has no sense of time, and a broken watch he alternately obsesses over or forgets about completely when it’s time to fix it.
He sleeps in his car, which is filthy and stinks. And when he goes into his local diner in the morning he has to be picky to find the waitress who “doesn’t stare.”
Yep, sounds about like Rorschach.
He likes pancakes
…I mean, who doesn’t?
But really, this became a much bigger plot point than we could have expected, including his first encounter with Batman being shaped by Rorschach eating Bruce Wayne’s breakfast.
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