Watchmen is quickly becoming one of the best DC TV shows on the small screen and is actually a strong competitor to other comic book related series. The difference with Watchmen is that the world they are living in is a lot more realistic.
That means, compared to other series you may love to watch, the costumes in the show aren’t quite as comic book accurate as you may expect. Many of them are a little bit cheesy and based far more on what you’d find in the real world. Here are all of those costumes, ranked!
PANDA
The Panda is a member of the police force that works behind a desk rather than in the field. He has to protect his identity like any other member of the public service, although his costume doesn’t need to be battle-ready like his colleagues'.
Panda has, therefore, come to adopt a giant panda head that he wears on a regular basis. While it looks quirky and different and achieves what it needs to, it’s a really strange and impractical choice and doesn’t exactly instill fear in any enemies he could come across.
PIRATE JENNY
Pirate Jenny is a particularly violent member of the police force. You’d assume from her name that she has taken a pirate theme to her suit. While you could compare the costume to modern pirates, it doesn’t exactly remind us of a classic swashbuckling look.
The mask across her face is just a bandanna and she’s wearing pretty regular clothes, even if they do somewhat protect her. She’s usually armed with some kind of shotgun and she’s certainly intimidating but there’s a lack of theme here.
THE RED SCARE
The Red Scare at least chose a theme and stuck with it, that being the color red, and the stereotypical reaction people may have to that color and political concepts of various types. It’s an interesting choice for the police officer, who is just as violent as his partners.
The mask itself is more of a ski mask with the classic eye and mouth holes. It’s clumsy and not very protective and the rest of the tracksuit is only good for running, really. Despite this, the overall look somehow works and is extremely different from what we’ve seen in the past.
LUBE MAN
Lube Man is one of the many mysteries we’re still waiting to have solved. He was introduced a few episodes ago and we don’t even know the identity of the masked man, nor do we understand what he is trying to achieve or his motives.
The costume is incredibly practical though. It allows him to run very fast, with a streamlined silhouette. The oil on the military belt allows him to slide across the floor into the sewers. The suit is also a reflective silver, which could protect from a squid attack.
POLICE FORCE
The police force has a set uniform that protects their identity. After one dreadful night where so many of their force was killed, the masks they are now equipped with put a stop to such an event from ever happening again. Plus it’s a pretty cool look.
The blue uniform with yellow highlights and yellow masks evoke the traditional colors of the Watchmen series. It’s a really practical costume and makes this police force feel really different compared to any other that we’ve seen in a superhero franchise.
LOOKING GLASS
The silver masked police officer is responsible for identifying whether a suspect is part of the racist 7th Kavalry. His mask is quite different compared to the others on this list, as it is just a reflect single piece of material, which garnered the name Looking Glass.
The mask actually has another purpose other than covering his face. It also protects the wearer from the physic attack of the squid that landed in New York. The rest of the costume is bland but that mask certainly makes up for it.
HOODED JUSTICE
Hooded Justice was the main feature of the last episode of the show. He’s been revealed to be Will and there’s a long story behind the mask and suit that he wears. The inclusion of the noose around his neck is a result of the near hanging that he experienced.
As the first masked crime fighter, there’s also a story behind why he had to put the hood back on. It hid the ethnicity of the hero and therefore made him seem more trustworthy to the racist individuals he was trying to protect. Overall it’s a striking and practical look.
MISTER SHADOW
The one-off character Mister Shadow has garnered a lot of interest from fans. The obvious Batman reference is really well designed for this world. The costume is essentially a traditional vigilante suit with protective body armor and black painting.
It’s a really cool look and one of the best suited for battle on this list. Compared to all the police officers, this suit is actually for an individual that has financed his crime-fighting career himself. The suit is fitting of the name and it’s a shame we won’t be seeing it again.
OZYMANDIAS
Ozymandias has only donned the iconic purple suit a couple of times in the series but it is still one of the best on the show. It’s so comic accurate that we love it every time it’s on-screen. It’s over the top, colorful and exactly what the character needed.
It also helped with the overall reveal of Adrian Veidt in the series itself. It doesn’t serve a purpose at the moment, but we are sure that the costume will return for a very specific reason; perhaps a ‘heroic’ Ozymandias returning to his people again.
SISTER NIGHT
The final police officer on this list is also the main character. As such, this costume needed to be the best, as we’d be seeing it so much. The suit effortlessly fits into this wider world of vigilantes, giant squids, and strange masked heroes.
It pulls from a lot of other classic designs, including the black color scheme and leather jacket as well as the whip. The mask is a little plain but the suit definitely feels like it belongs to a superhero. And we think that more of these costumes should take notes from Sister Night’s design.
