Moloch (Edgar William Jacobi, Edgar William Vaughn, William Edgar Bright)

Character Analysis

This pointy-eared supervillain starts his career off as a magician, then segues into vice clubs, and eventually becomes a major crime lord. After spending the '70s in prison, he reforms his ways, but eventually his past catches up to him. A la Janey Slater, Veidt gives Moloch cancer to strengthen his anti-Dr. Manhattan PR campaign. Then, Veidt has Rorschach framed for Moloch’s murder, a bullet hole through the forehead. Bad guy or not, Moloch cuts a sympathetic figure, more so than many of the heroes in the book. Watchmen’s all topsy-turvy, isn’t it?