Erie Resemblances

     As you might have noticed, I've been writing a lot about Alan Moore's magnum opus Watchmen lately. As I promised, this latest post is not about creating a Rorschach costume. In fact, I don't plan on touching on Rorschach that much at all in this article- I mean, what's the purpose blathering on and on about a character many of you, Dear Readers, are unfamiliar with. Instead, allow me to enlighten you on the subject of Watchmen's plot. Don't worry, I won't give away any major spoilers to the end of the book, although I may not be able to help myself when it comes to spoling minor plot twists from the rest of the novel.

    So... where to begin? How can I relate the entire bizarre scenario of such a twisted novel to a presumptuously ignorant fan-base? I have an idea! How about I compare the various plot elements and characters of Watchmen to a narrative that you, Dear Reader, are more familiar with? That's how I taught my friend about the plot to the Inheritance Cycle: (which I shall elaborate upon in a later post, perhaps the next one) I just told him: "Imagine Star Wars, but in the Middle Ages. And with dragons."

    Can anybody guess what analogue I'm going to draw between Watchmen and a more accessible franchise? Go on, guess!

Yeah, I'm going there. 

     Now, some of you might be scratching your heads (except for those of you familiar with both Watchmen and Pixar's The Incredibles, who are likely saying "Well, duh.") 

     Wait a minute, say those who are unfamiliar with the territory. The Incredibles is for kids! Watchmen is filled with violence and nudity and the movie version is rated R! How can they be similar at all? That's just stupid. You're stupid. 

     Well, doubtful Reader, that shows what you know! Let us examine, for a moment, the uncannily similar characters in the two franchises. You'll find that the character's modi operandi and the interpersonal relationships between the characters are analogous at their most dissimilar and indistinguishable the rest of the time. 

 The Protagonist

An aging superhero who has trouble adjusting to the life of a civilian after the government outlaws vigilante crime-fighting. 

Here is Mr. Incredible, also known as Bob Parr, the protagonist of The Incredibles. He is, as you will soon find out, the exact same person as Rorschach, with the only differences between the two being aesthetic and superficial.









Here is Rorschach, also known as Walter Kovacs, the... well, the main character of Watchmen. Although he may seem to act differently from Mr. Incredible superficially, on the interior, they are practically clones.

The Reluctant Best Friend

In both superhero stories, there is a deuteragonist who initially retires from being a crime-fighter, but eventually comes to their senses to help the protagonist achieve their goal. 

Here is Frozone (also known as Lucius Something-or-other), as portrayed by the rich and sultry voice of the Bad Muthafuckah himself, Samuel L. Jackson. He tries to give up superheroing, but his friend and former super-friend Mr. Incredible talks him into continuing underground badassery. (He also managed to deal with the fact that his superhero alter-ego's name sounds like a hair product for those volumizing afros.) 

Here is Nite Owl (also known as Daniel Drieberg). He is best- er, friends, I guess- and former teammates with outlaw crime-fighter Rorschach. He thinks that he's glad to be retired, until he realizes that his sense of satisfaction with retirement is a facade and that Nite Owl will always be a part of him. He also apparently never learned to spell. 

The Female

No superhero story would be complete without the distressing damsel, but Watchmen and The Incredibles both opt for a strong female character, each a superheroine in their own right. 

Here is Elastigrl, also known as Helen Parr (nee "Girl," apparently.) She favored the retired life even before it was forced upon her, although her romantic interest is more interested in "the greater good" than their marriage. She eventually comes to her senses and takes up the cape once more. 

Here is The Silk Spectre II (also known as Sally Jupiter.) Sally, like her Pixar counterpart, preferred to stay in retirement. Here long-time boyfriend, however, never gave up the superhero life. In the end, though, Sally realizes that her place will always be between the bad-guys and the rest of the world. 

The Evil Genius

The oldest stock-villain in all of comicbook-dom! The mad scientist bent on conquering the Earth through SCIENCE! 

Well, not quite like that.  

                                                                                            Here is Syndrome (also known as Buddy, also also known as Incrediboy.) Syndrome doesn't have any superpowers, but he is really frickin' smart. Like, so smart you wouldn't believe it. Anyway, he uses his genius to convince the world that he's a superhero and become even more obscenely wealthy. (This is, of course, the guy who has at least one private continent, an army of giant robots, and hovercrafts decades ahead of their time.) 

Here is Ozymandias (also known as Adrian Veidt). Ozymandias is so frickin' smart that you really wouldn't believe it and so on and so forth. He uses his genius to convince people- yeah, just copy and paste the paragraph from Syndrome's description. They're the same exact thing. 

The Giant Octopus Monster

Okay, this is not usually a trope of the superhero genre, but somehow it managed to become a staple of the "forced retirement superhero revenge murder mystery" subgenre. 

This is the Omnidroid 9000.