8 Smartest Decisions In DC Villain History

5. Executing The Plan BEFORE Explaining It To The Heroes - Watchmen

It would be easy to kick off this entry by qualifying Watchmen as the amazing deconstruction of superhero comics that it is, but given you've heard it all before there's pretty much no point. Instead, let's take a look at Ozymandias, and how the climax where his scheme is revealed specifically exemplifies the genius of the comic.

Everyone who's read a comic or consumed any old piece of superhero media will be familiar with the tired and tested cliche of the villain revealing their master plan to the heroes, only for said heroes to use that information against the villain and thereby save the day. None ever seem to ponder the thought that their scheme could be foiled by their tenacious rivals, instead choosing to savour the moment by revelling in their own genius for just a second too long.

Ozymandias makes no such error. When Nite-Owl and Rorschach go to confront him for the murder of the Comedian, he reveals his grand design to his old teammates, with the presumption being he's yet to go through with his plan.

And then he just goes ahead and says he did it thirty-five minutes ago. Doing so eliminates the risk he could be foiled, and he proves successful when Doctor Manhattan ties up the loose-end that is Rorschach. It's left open ended as to whether or not Rorschach's journal exposes Ozymandias (at least when you ignore Doomsday Clock), but you'd struggle to find a more fool-proof plan.