Rorschach (comics) - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Like most characters in Watchmen, Rorschach has no obvious "super powers". He merely has his will, physical strength, and skills. Rorschach is extremely resourceful, adapting ordinary household objects into tools or weapons, such as pepper to blind a police officer and the use of hairspray in combination with a match to set fire to another police officer, during a confrontation at Moloch's house. During the series he is shown to use cooking fat, a toilet bowl, a cigarette, a fork and his jacket all as weapons; he is also shown using a coat hanger as a makeshift measuring device. He owns a gas-powered grappling gun, which he uses to climb buildings (and once as a makeshift harpoon gun against a police officer), as seen in Chapter 1, which was designed and built by Nite Owl II.

Rorschach is well versed in street combat, gymnastics, and boxing. He is also extremely stoic, as shown by his indifference to pain and discomfort. He even tolerated arctic temperatures while wearing only a trenchcoat over street clothes, without complaining or even commenting on the severe cold.

Despite his mental instability, Rorschach was described as "tactically brilliant, and unpredictable" by Nite Owl, and possesses surprisingly good detective skills, as displayed when he is able to locate the Comedian's costume in his apartment when the police could not.

He is also skilled at lock picking; a running gag throughout the series has him breaking into Nite Owl's home to talk to him.