10 Worst Things Comic Villains Have Done To Regular People

Although it has grown to be one of the most famous twists in comic book history, it was impossible for readers to ever predict the super "hero" Ozymandias's master plan: teleporting a giant, genetically modified squid into the middle of New York City, causing a huge explosion that kills millions of innocent people, and then blaming the whole thing on aliens.

It was, frankly, unexpected.

Ozymandias's justification for this mass slaughter has had Watchmen fans arguing for decades. His idea was that, unless he could unite all the nations of the world and end the Cold War, all-out nuclear apocalypse was inevitable. However, if we all thought we were under attack from alien squid monsters, surely the governments of the world would put aside their petty differences and prepare to fight a greater threat. Those three million regular New Yorkers HAD to die, so that billions of people around the world could live.

As Jake Peralta of Brooklyn's 99th Precinct would say: "Cool motive, still murder."

There is one fatal flaw to any argument that defends Ozymandias: we live in a world where New York was never attacked by a giant squid, yet we still managed to avoid nuclear armageddon without his "help". Perhaps the regular people of the world are smarter than "the Smartest Man on the Planet" gave them credit for.

Laurie "Silk Spectre" Blake puts it well in the surprisingly excellent Watchmen TV series: "Yeah, people keep saying that [the world will end]... But it never seems to happen."