Doctor Manhattan

Template:SuperheroboxDoctor Manhattan is a fictional superhero who is a central character in the classic comic book series, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics. He is a modified version of the character Captain Atom created by Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics.

Character history

Dr Manhattan was born Jon Osterman in 1929. His father is a watchmaker, and Jon plans to follow in his footsteps. When the US drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Jon is sixteen. His father, confronted with the undeniable reality of quantum physics, declares his profession outdated and throws Jon's watch-making parts out the windows. Not only is this the turning point in Jon's career choice, from watchmaker to nuclear physicist, it foreshadows Dr. Manhattan's 'quantum' perception of time.

Osterman attends Princeton University from 1948-58 and graduates with a PhD in Atomic Physics. In 1959, he moves to the research base at Gila Flats. Here he meets Janey Slater, and they eventually become lovers. During this period it is established that Jon is somewhat weak-willed. His father largely determined his path in life, and Janey is clearly the dominant partner in their relationship.

During a trip to New Jersey in July 1959, Jon and Janey visit the Amusement park. Janey's watchband breaks, and the watch is damaged when a fat man steps on it. The previous panel includes a crying little boy in the foreground. Jon decides to repair the watch. Note that the fat man and the little boy have, as in 1946, been linked to the destruction of a watch, once again showing the triumph of quantum mechanics over a Newtonian, mechanistic universe.

In August, 1959, Jon goes to give Janey the repaired watch, only to discover he has left it in his jacket inside the Intrinsic Field experiment test chamber. Going to recover it, he is accidentally locked inside and has his "intrinsic field" removed, resulting in his apparent death. He is vaporised, only to reappear over the following months; first as a brain, then a circulatory system (November 10) then a partially muscled skeleton (November 14). Eventually, Jon reappears on the 22nd November as a tall, bald, blue-skinned man.

He is typically considered the only character in the Watchmen world to explicitly possess supernatural abilities (albeit there are indications that this is false, as it is relevant to the plot that at least one person possessed genuine psychic abilities). He has complete control over matter, including his own body's size, coloration and density. In addition, he can create multiple copies of himself which function independently of each other, project energy rays, create force fields, transmute and create matter, teleport himself and others, move objects (telekinetically?), and even reverse entropy locally. Part of Watchmen's background information states he would be capable of destroying upwards of 60% of all Soviet nuclear missiles while at the same time decimating large areas of Russia.

Jon becomes a pawn of the United States government. They give him the code name Dr. Manhattan (a reference to the Manhattan Project) in order to scare America's enemies. He is also provided with a fairly ridiculous costume, which he slowly abandons as his detachment from humanity grows. His presence unbalances the cold war, and the United States becomes more aggressive and adventurist during this period. At President Nixon's request, he brings America victory in the Vietnam war within three months.

His presence radically alters the North American economy, providing the massive amounts of lithium required for cars to become electric.

During the first meeting of the Crimebusters superhero group, he catches the eye of Laurie Juspeczyk, the Silk Spectre II. His relationship with Janey Slater ends acrimoniously shortly after, and he begins dating Laurie.

After his transformation, Jon begins to experience time in a non-linear, "quantum" fashion. His already weak will becomes sublimated further during this time. It is implied that he does not so much perceive the past or future as directly experience them. He increasingly has difficulty acting in what those around him consider the present moment. This leads to many accusations and even the public perception that he is emotionless. However, during the course of Watchmen he displays powerful emotion several times. His apparent lack of sentiment is more a matter of radically altered priorities.

His knowledge of the future does not allow him to change events. He believes he has no choices for the large part of Watchmen. His total determinism of action and the implied amorality of such a position is strongly contrasted with his apparent ability to do anything. In some sense, unlimited power has come at the cost of the total absence of responsibility. During the period where he fights crime, because his government told him to, he states that the morality of the action escapes him. From his radically altered perspective, almost all human concerns appear pointless to him. This growing sense of disconnection is marked by his use of clothing which over the years eventually shrinks until he is naked by the 1980s.

Dr. Manhattan serves the role of foil to Adrian Veidt. Dr. Manhattan is the technological superman: deterministic, incredibly powerful, extremely remote from daily concerns and apparently possessing no sentiment. Veidt is the more traditional ubermensch, having achieved his success from discipline, reason and willpower.

Events of Watchmen

At the start of Watchmen, Dr Manhattan is working in Rockefeller Military Research Center for the Government. He is living with the Silk Spectre, Laurel Juspeczyk.

However, Dr. Manhattan leaves Earth for Mars when he is accused of causing cancer in close associates over the years. However, this was a frame arranged by Veidt to induce Osterman to leave, to remove his interference in his scheme to save the world. Eventually, he brings Laurel to Mars to discuss why he should do anything to aid humanity, an argument Laurel inadvertently wins when she goes through her life and realizes to her shock that her father is The Comedian, a man whom she despised for sexually assaulting her mother. From that revelation, Dr. Manhattan is amazed by the improbable variables that occurred to result in the birth of Laurel, which he sees as a stunning thermodynamic miracle. By extension, this miracle can apply to any living thing on Earth, and so Dr. Manhattan decides to return to Earth protect this wonder called life.

While they return too late to stop Veidt's plan, they teleport to Antarctica to confront him. Veidt hinders Dr. Manhattan with a tachyon generator that interferes with Dr. Manhattan's ability to see the future, and then disintegrates him by neutralizing his intrinsic field. Dr. Manhattan restores himself much more quickly this time, but when Veidt reveals that his scheme appears to have averted a looming nuclear war Dr. Manhattan realizes that to expose the scheme would be too dangerous for all life on Earth. Dr. Manhattan and the other superheroes except for Rorschach agree to keep quiet to preserve Veidt's results, and Dr. Manhattan kills the dissenter to silence him.

At the end of Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan decides to depart Earth for good. Veidt is surprised by his decision, pointing out the apparent contradiction with Dr. Manhattan's renewed interest in human life. Dr. Manhattan responds, "Yes. Perhaps I'll create some."