Chapter Summaries

Rorschach killed three men in Gotham, leaving Batman injured and Gordon to investigate the deaths. He then caught a woman trying to steal his watch and declared that she would become his servant.

• Rorschach stomped Henry and two other men to death despite Batman’s protests, then escaped as police sirens approached.
• Batman fled the scene after Alfred warned him that police were on their way, and James Gordon found four bodies and Batman’s Batarang.
• Rorschach entered Gotham’s wealthy district, considered how to become stronger, and headed to a luxurious hotel for food.
• A woman pretended to seek Rorschach’s help from a pursuer while secretly removing his watch.
• Rorschach grabbed the woman’s hand when she tried to leave and told her he had decided she would serve as his servant.

Rorschach caught Catwoman stealing his watch and used his powers to force her to become his assistant. After threatening to drop her from the sky, he returned her safely to the ground, where she accepted.

• Rorschach grabbed Catwoman after detecting a fragment of a special energy source hanging from her neck, then guessed her identity when she tried to escape.
• Rorschach whisked Catwoman to a deserted street, retrieved his stolen watch from her handbag, and returned the bag to her.
• Catwoman apologized and offered to compensate Rorschach, but he insisted that he would decide how she made amends.
• Catwoman ran into Rorschach's invisible barrier, and he lifted her high into the sky.
• Rorschach offered Catwoman the choice of becoming his maid or falling, and she agreed to be his assistant.
• Rorschach brought Catwoman back to the ground, and she stopped herself from trying to run.

Rorschach took Catwoman to an upscale hotel and questioned her while news reports linked Batman to a murder scene. He seized Catwoman’s pendant and demanded to know where it came from, and she admitted she had taken it from a museum.

• Rorschach brought Catwoman to an upscale hotel to eat and question her.
• A television report said a Batarang found at a murder scene had made Batman a suspect, and Catwoman insisted Batman had not killed anyone.
• Rorschach teased Catwoman about her concern for Batman, then reached for her pendant and frightened her.
• Rorschach took the pendant and demanded its origin, and Catwoman said she had picked it up at a museum.

Rorschach learned that the fragment Catwoman stole from a Gotham WWII Memorial Hall might have come from Wonder Woman’s shield, then let Catwoman leave after taking it. Meanwhile, Batman told Detective Gordon about Rorschach’s killing of four robbers, and Gordon set out to find him.

• Catwoman said she had taken the fragment from a WWII Memorial Hall and shared a legend about an armored woman who fought in the war.
• Rorschach suspected the fragment was from Wonder Woman’s shattered shield and asked Catwoman whether the hall held any others; she said it did not.
• Rorschach took the fragment as punishment but allowed Catwoman to leave, and she fled after retreating cautiously.
• Batman met Detective Gordon and denied killing the four victims, explaining that he had seen Rorschach kill them after they robbed him.
• Batman described Rorschach’s appearance and abilities, and Detective Gordon said he would find him.

Rorschach searched Gotham for more Origin Point fragments and decided Wayne Enterprises could help him locate them, so he planned to approach Bruce Wayne. Three days later, he attended a Wayne Enterprises cocktail party and unexpectedly ran into Catwoman.

• Rorschach checked the WWII Memorial Hall with his super vision and found no other fragments.
• Rorschach decided to seek help from Wayne Enterprises and wait until Bruce Wayne had recovered before talking to him.
• Rorschach spent several days enjoying Gotham while keeping track of Bruce Wayne.
• Rorschach attended a high-society cocktail party at Wayne Tower three days later.
• Catwoman approached Rorschach at the party and asked why he had come.

Rorschach attended a high-society gathering with Catwoman as his companion and approached Bruce Wayne to ask for help identifying a mysterious fragment. He revealed that he knew Bruce was Batman and warned that Gotham would learn the secret if Bruce refused.

• Rorschach ordered Catwoman to serve as his female companion, and she stayed with him and danced.
• Bruce Wayne arrived at the gathering and greeted the guests as a carefree playboy.
• Rorschach left Catwoman and approached Bruce, who tried to learn where he came from.
• Rorschach offered Bruce a fragment and asked him to figure out what it was.
• When Bruce questioned his confidence, Rorschach said Gotham would learn that Bruce was Batman if he did not help.

Rorschach confronted Bruce Wayne about being Batman and asked him to investigate a mysterious fragment and find the others. Bruce made helping conditional on eliminating Gotham’s criminals, and Rorschach accepted before leaving with the fragment.

• Rorschach revealed that he knew Bruce Wayne was Batman and knew about the Batcave, while Bruce denied his identity before demanding to know who Rorschach was.
• Rorschach handed Bruce a fragment and asked him to identify it and find the remaining fragments.
• Bruce said he would help only if every criminal in Gotham disappeared, and Rorschach accepted the condition.
• Bruce tossed the fragment aside, but it hovered and flew back into Rorschach’s hand.
• Rorschach left with the fragment, while Bruce was left stunned by its strange powers.

Rorschach began his planned purge of Gotham by targeting a drug deal, but Batman confronted him to stop him from killing criminals. Rorschach overpowered Batman and left him helpless, calling Alfred to take him home.

• Rorschach used his super-hearing to locate crimes in Gotham and chose a drug deal as the first target of his purge.
• Batman intercepted Rorschach, arguing that the criminals’ crimes did not deserve death, while Rorschach mocked Batman’s own criminal status.
• Batman attacked Rorschach with irritant gas, but Rorschach emerged unaffected and knocked Batman away with one punch.
• Batman tried to escape to a rooftop using his grappling gun, but Rorschach reached him first and lifted him effortlessly.
• Rorschach called Alfred to pick up Batman and began lifting him into the air.

Rorschach threw Batman into a dumpster and covered him with trash before heading to an abandoned Gotham dock to stop a drug deal. He killed Tyler Sheridan from a distance, leaving the armed gangs stunned.

• Rorschach threw Batman from a building into a dumpster, then buried him under trash to keep his identity hidden.
• Rorschach left to stop the Pink Powder Gang and the Skull Gang from completing their drug deal.
• At an abandoned dock, Tyler Sheridan and Martin Starr exchanged cash and drugs while their armed men watched.
• Rorschach appeared beside a car and told Tyler and Martin that none of them would leave.
• Rorschach snapped Tyler's neck from a distance, shocking everyone at the dock.

Rorschach slaughtered the Pink Powder Gang at the old docks to make Gotham’s criminals fear him, then waited for the police and media to arrive. When Detective Gordon confronted him, Rorschach admitted to the killings and suddenly appeared in front of him.

• Rorschach killed the remaining Pink Powder Gang members despite their gunfire, pleas, and a grenade, emerging unharmed.
• Rorschach let the massacre draw attention so the media could spread his warning that Homelander would not allow criminals to exist in Gotham.
• Reporters arrived at the docks before Gordon and his officers reached the scene.
• Gordon found more than twenty bodies and questioned Rorschach, who admitted he had killed them all.
• Gordon ordered Rorschach to raise his hands, but Rorschach refused and appeared directly in front of him.

Rorschach defeated Gordon and the Gotham police officers who tried to arrest him, then used a live interview to announce that he would not allow criminals in Gotham. He left the reporter and cameraman stunned as his warning reached the camera.

• Rorschach disarmed Gordon and knocked down the officers who opened fire on him.
• A Gotham TV news crew arrived, and reporter Emily approached Rorschach for an interview with cameraman Parker.
• Rorschach told Emily that he had killed members of the Pink Gang and the Skull Gang during their drug deal.
• Rorschach announced to the camera that he, Homelander, would not allow criminals in Gotham and pointed to the dead gang members as a warning.

Rorschach, calling himself Homelander, publicly declared war on Gotham’s criminals after defeating drug dealers and police officers, then became the subject of citywide ridicule. Catwoman believed he was serious, while Bruce Wayne realized Rorschach had acted on their bet and feared the chaos his challenge would bring.

• Emily interviewed Rorschach, and he declared that he would not allow criminals to exist in Gotham; he used telekinesis to knock Gordon down when Gordon tried to stop the interview.
• Homelander’s televised declaration made him famous overnight, but most Gotham residents dismissed his claims as a publicity stunt and mocked him.
• Catwoman watched the report and believed Homelander’s powers made his threat credible, warning that Gotham could be changed completely.
• Bruce Wayne realized Homelander had taken their bet seriously and worried that his declaration would create chaos for Gotham and Batman.

Rorschach realized Gotham’s criminals had dismissed his warning and began purging those who ignored it. He attacked an arms deal at an abandoned factory, killing the two guards with heat rays.

• A refined young man in Arkham watched Rorschach on television, then took a crude mask and fear toxin from his safe.
• A Joker-painted man assembling a chemical bomb noticed Rorschach’s broadcast, while a mustached crime boss dismissed him and ordered his men not to interfere.
• Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and other Gotham villains also noticed Rorschach’s declaration.
• Rorschach concluded that criminals had mistaken him for a publicity-seeking clown and decided to target those who ignored his warning.
• Rorschach used his super-hearing to find an arms deal at an abandoned factory and appeared outside it.
• Two guards recognized and mocked Rorschach, so he killed them with heat rays.

Rorschach hunted criminals across Gotham, slaughtering gang members and assassins while leaving the name Homelander behind. He continued vanishing between crimes, spreading fear and blood throughout the city.

• Rorschach smashed through an iron gate and killed everyone at a gang transaction after declaring their criminal activity a provocation.
• Rorschach carved Homelander into the ground as his calling card, then used his super hearing to find another crime.
• Rorschach appeared behind a gunman threatening a young lawyer and killed him with a punch before carving Homelander into the ground again.
• Rorschach continued appearing across Gotham wherever crimes were underway, leaving fear and blood in his wake.

Gordon and the Gotham Police Department investigated a string of murders attributed by witnesses to Homelander, who had carved his name at each scene. By the end of half a day, the department had counted more than thirty-five such cases across Gotham, leaving the officers stunned by the scale and speed of the killings.

• Gordon and his colleagues arrived at a fifth murder scene and found Homelander's name carved beside the victim.
• A young lawyer told Gordon that Homelander had killed a hitman who was about to shoot him, then used lasers from his eyes to carve the name into the pavement.
• Gordon brought the lawyer back to the police station to provide a detailed account.
• Gordon learned that every case received by the department that day involved a murder blamed on Homelander.
• The officers counted more than thirty-five Homelander murder cases across Gotham in half a day, many with witnesses.

After Homelander killed 121 criminals in 56 cases across Gotham in a single day, the news media and citizens were stunned to learn he had fulfilled his promise. Bruce Wayne, Catwoman, and Gotham’s supervillains were left questioning who he was and how he had done it.

• Gotham’s news outlets investigated a wave of murders marked with the name Homelander and found 56 cases and 121 victims.
• Emily and Parker learned that witnesses identified Homelander as the killer and that every victim had been committing a crime.
• News reports declared that Gotham had experienced no criminal incidents that day apart from Homelander’s killings.
• Gotham’s citizens reacted with disbelief as Homelander’s story spread across the city.
• Bruce Wayne was stunned that Homelander had accomplished what Bruce had dismissed as impossible.
• Catwoman suspected Homelander’s speed had let him cover Gotham, while Scarecrow, Ra’s al Ghul, the Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and other supervillains were also shocked.

Rorschach’s Homelander had driven Gotham’s ordinary criminals into hiding by killing hundreds over four days, earning widespread public praise as Gotham’s Knight of Light. Bruce Wayne rejected the killings as unjust and went to the Batcave to act, where Alfred was already working at a computer.

• Rorschach killed 139 criminals on the first day of his purge, then 21 on the second and five on the third, until Gotham reported no crimes on the fourth day.
• Gotham’s media and public debated Homelander, and most citizens praised him for making their city feel safe.
• Bruce Wayne condemned Rorschach’s killings as selfish and unjust, despite their effect on Gotham’s crime rate.
• Bruce Wayne left his hospital bed and headed to the Batcave, where Alfred was operating something at a computer.

Bruce Wayne learned that Homelander could kill dozens of people in a day and travel three kilometers in a second, then sought Catwoman for information about him. Homelander appeared at Catwoman’s apartment and confronted Batman.

• Alfred showed Bruce Wayne footage of Rorschach’s eye lasers and evidence suggesting Homelander crossed three kilometers in one second.
• Bruce Wayne decided he could not do nothing, suited up as Batman, and went to find Catwoman instead of confronting Homelander.
• Batman arrived at Catwoman’s apartment and demanded she tell him everything she knew about Homelander.
• Catwoman mocked Batman for being made to look like a loser and challenged why she should help him.
• Homelander appeared on the windowsill and asked Batman why he had not come to find him directly.

Rorschach confronted Batman over their conflicting ideas of justice and warned him that Gotham's wager was not finished until its supervillains were defeated. After spending an evening with Catwoman, Rorschach heard that criminals were robbing a jewelry store and prepared to deal with them.

• Batman arrived and challenged Rorschach, but Rorschach argued that Batman had no more right to act outside the law than he did.
• Batman asked how long Rorschach would remain in Gotham, and Rorschach said it depended on Batman investigating the fragment.
• Batman refused to help, then left through a window in the form of a giant bat, believing he could eventually find Homelander's weakness.
• Rorschach decided he had not completed his wager because Gotham's supervillains had not yet been dealt with, and he planned to tell Bruce Wayne the truth afterward.
• Catwoman asked about Rorschach's codename, then grew close to him, and they spent an unforgettable night together.
• After dinner with Catwoman, Rorschach heard that criminals were robbing a major Gotham jewelry store and set out to stop them.

Rorschach learned that Mr. Freeze had robbed Gotham's largest jewelry store and left its customers and employees frozen, but he chose to finish dinner with Catwoman before intervening. As the police began their operation, Rorschach waited to see how they and Batman would fare against the supervillain before showing Gotham Homelander's power.

• Rorschach told Catwoman that a robbery had occurred on Prince Avenue, and she turned on the television to learn that Mr. Freeze had robbed To Alice and frozen people at the scene.
• Rorschach recognized Mr. Freeze as a supervillain and decided to make him the first target of Homelander's response.
• Catwoman urged Rorschach to go, but he said he would finish dinner with her first while monitoring the scene with his enhanced senses.
• Rorschach heard the Gotham Police Department arrive and decided to let the officers and Batman face Mr. Freeze before he intervened.
• Kevin Conroy rallied twenty armed officers, assigned their tasks, and led them toward To Alice.