Why you shouldn't like Rorscharch in Alan Moore's WATCHMEN

Rorscharch has a pretty big misaimed fandom.

Citing Alan Moore from a 2008 interview:

‘What would he be like in the real world.’ And he’d be very much like Rorschach—if you’re a revenge-driven vigilante, you’re not quite right in the head. Yeah, alright, your parents got killed when you were a kid, whatever, that’s upsetting.

But for most of us, if our parents were killed when we were little, would not become a bat-themed costumed vigilante—that’s a bit mental.

So, I thought, ‘Alright, if there was a Batman in the real world, he probably would be a bit mental.’

He wouldn’t have time for a girlfriend, friends, a social life, because.
*He’d just be driven by getting revenge against criminals… dressed up as a bat for some reason.

He probably wouldn’t be very careful about his personal hygiene.

He’d probably smell.

He’d probably eat baked beans out of a tin.

He probably wouldn’t talk to many people.

His voice probably would have become weird with misuse, his phraseology would be strange.

Alan Moore explicitly intended for Rorscharch to be a narrow minded, mentally unstable wreck of a man - he was surprised that so many readers ended up loving a character he was trying to make as pathetic as possible. Yes, we’re supposed to feel sorry for him, but we’re also supposed to feel disgusted and frightened of what he has become.

If I remember correctly, Moore wrote Rorscarch that way to show how dangerous it was to have a completely Manichaen black and white view of morality like he does. He implied that only incredibly psychologically damaged individuals like Rorscharch could possibly subscribe to that kind of a worldview - he spent two whole chapters dealing with this whole thing.

“I wanted to kind of make this like, ‘Yeah, this is what Batman would be in the real world.’

But I had forgotten that actually to a lot of comic fans that smelling, not having a girlfriend—these are actually kind of heroic. So actually, sort of, Rorschach became the most popular character in Watchmen. I meant him to be a bad example, but I have people come up to me in the street saying:

‘I am Rorschach! That is my story!’ And I’ll be thinking,:

‘Yeah, great, can you just keep away from me and never come anywhere near me again for as long as I live?’”

I, for one, am not a fan of Rorschach because he is the kind of fictional character that I would want to have a picnic with were he to somehow be flesh & blood.

I'm fond of the term "speculative fiction" because it's about musing on ideas and themes. Rorschach evokes some powerful feelings regarding child abuse, numbing childhood experiences and pure unfettered, justified rage - definitely not pleasant material!

So, indeed, your point is completely reasonable. Poor Rorschach is not "like-able" in the normal sense of the word, however, I like him as a fictional character. What he represents, and not even in a "pro-this or that" take-a-stand thing. Just what he represents as an unfortunate aspect of the human experience and how he, is something of a come-uppance for the lost & forgotten.

That's why Rorschach get's my attention. That's why I venerate him, more than "like" him.

Cheers! Thanks for posting.