10 DC Superheroes With Tortured Pasts

Alan Moore has a history of creating some of the most psychologically damaged, and greatest, characters to ever grace comic books. To many, the greatest of Moore's creations is the satirical figure of Rorschach.

Before he ever donned the familiar changing mask, Walter Joseph Kovacs' life was darker than a black hole. The son of a prostitute and an unknown father, his mother was the poster girl for an abusive parent. Constantly beating the boy, as well as verbal destroying him, her zest for hatred of her son would see him put into care.

But it was the kidnapping and murder of Blair Roche that saw Walter give up all pretense of balance, and become Rorschach.

Arriving at Gerald Grice's home, he discovers that Grice has already killed the girl and fed her body to his dogs. This, in turn, causes him to have a psychotic breakdown and the effects are quite staggering.

He kills the dogs and, when Grice returns home, handcuffs him to a stove. Pouring kerosene all around him, he informs Grice that his only chance for survival is to cut off his own hand. Not giving him a chance to perform such an act, he sets fire to the shack and leaves.

As he put it himself, Kovacs went into the shack but Rorschach was the one who came out.