Ozymandias (comics)
| Ozymandias | |
|---|---|
Ozymandias. Art by Dave Gibbons.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance |
Watchmen #1 (September 1986) |
| Created by |
Alan Moore Dave Gibbons |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Adrian Alexander Veidt |
| Abilities |
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Ozymandias (/ˌɒziˈmændiəs/ oz-ee-MAN-dee-əs) (real name Adrian Alexander Veidt) is a fictional character in the acclaimed graphic novel miniseries Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, published by DC Comics. Named Ozymandias in the manner of Ramesses II, he is a modified version of the comic book character Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt from Charlton Comics. His name recalls the famous poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which takes as its theme the fleeting nature of empire and is excerpted as the epigraph of one of the chapters of Watchmen. Ozymandias is ranked number 25 on Wizard's Top 200 Comic Book Characters list and number 21 on IGN's Top 100 Villains list.
Adrian Alexander Veidt was born in 1939, and is the son of wealthy German American immigrant parents. As a child, he received high grades in school, and it was noted that he was very intelligent. He then hid this information from his elders and peers by deliberately achieving average marks. After his parents' deaths, he inherited their substantial fortune at the young age of 17, but he chose to give it all to charity and embark on a vision quest, following the route of his childhood Alexander the Great. His rationale was that he wanted to be free from money and make something of himself on his own, from nothing. During an excursion into the Middle East, Veidt consumed a ball of hashish and developed visions of the past. At the conclusion of his travels, in Egypt, he realized that Alexander the Great was a pale imitation of Ramesses II who became Veidt's new hero.
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