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Walter Kovacs (Rorschach) / The Doomsayer
Adrian Veidt, a brilliant businessman, operates as the vigilante hero Ozymandias for several years before announcing his retirement and publicly revealing his identity. As a young man, Veidt idolizes Alexander the Great but mourns the fact that he never succeeded in his ultimate goal of unifying all of humanity together. As a result, Veidt spends most of his life trying to fulfill Alexander’s ambition. Veidt realizes that as Ozymandias, he can only fight petty crime and have minimal impact on the world, so he quits to become a business magnate, using his incredible intellect to become an astute investor. Recognizing that America and Russia are racing towards mutual destruction with nuclear weapons, Veidt uses his massive wealth and intelligence to hatch an elaborate, though devastating, plot to save humanity from itself. He hires a cadre of artists and scientists to engineer a gigantic squid-like monster and teleports it into New York City, intentionally triggering a massive explosion that kills half of New York City and leaves survivors haunted by visions of an alien planet. Veidt correctly reasons that by convincingly faking an alien invasion, he can entice all the major world powers to end hostilities with each other and declare a unilateral peace, uniting themselves against a new existential threat. Veidt’s plan embodies a utilitarian ethic, since he murders millions of people to save the lives of billions. Although Veidt’s plan works in the short term, the novel leaves the ending ambiguous by hinting that Veidt’s plan may soon be discovered through the notes that Rorschach left after his death, thus breaking the illusion of alien invasion and threatening the world’s newfound peace. Depending on whether or not Veidt’s ruse is discovered, he is either the savior of the world or its greatest villain.
Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) Quotes in Watchmen
The Watchmen quotes below are all either spoken by Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) or refer to Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1: At Midnight, All the Agents…
Quotes
Meeting with Veidt left a bad taste in my mouth. He is pampered and decadent, betraying even his own shallow, liberal affectations. Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further.
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Because there is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise on this. But there are so many deserving of retribution… and there is so little time.
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Chapter 11: Look on My Works, Ye Mighty…
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Dreiberg: …And anyway, this is Adrian for God’s sake. We know him. He never killed anybody, ever. Why would he want to destroy the world?
Kovacs: Insanity, perhaps?
Dreiberg: Ha. Well that’s a tricky one… I mean, who’s qualified to judge someone like that? This is the world’s smartest man we’re talking about here, so how can you tell? How can anyone tell if he’s gone crazy?
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Teleported to New York, my creature’s death would trigger mechanisms within its massive brain, cloned from a human sensitive… the resultant psychic shockwave killing half the city.
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What does fighting crime mean, exactly? Does it mean upholding the law when a woman shoplifts to feed her children, or does it mean struggling to uncover the ones who, quite legally, have brought about her poverty?
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Chapter 12: A Stronger Loving World
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Veidt: I did the right thing, didn’t I? It all worked out in the end.
Jon: “In the end”? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.
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Get the entire Watchmen LitChart as a printable PDF.
Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) Quotes in Watchmen
The Watchmen quotes below are all either spoken by Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) or refer to Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1: At Midnight, All the Agents…
Quotes
Meeting with Veidt left a bad taste in my mouth. He is pampered and decadent, betraying even his own shallow, liberal affectations. Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Because there is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise on this. But there are so many deserving of retribution… and there is so little time.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11: Look on My Works, Ye Mighty…
Quotes
Dreiberg: …And anyway, this is Adrian for God’s sake. We know him. He never killed anybody, ever. Why would he want to destroy the world?
Kovacs: Insanity, perhaps?
Dreiberg: Ha. Well that’s a tricky one… I mean, who’s qualified to judge someone like that? This is the world’s smartest man we’re talking about here, so how can you tell? How can anyone tell if he’s gone crazy?
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Teleported to New York, my creature’s death would trigger mechanisms within its massive brain, cloned from a human sensitive… the resultant psychic shockwave killing half the city.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
What does fighting crime mean, exactly? Does it mean upholding the law when a woman shoplifts to feed her children, or does it mean struggling to uncover the ones who, quite legally, have brought about her poverty?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12: A Stronger Loving World
Quotes
Veidt: I did the right thing, didn’t I? It all worked out in the end.
Jon: “In the end”? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
