- Moloch (comics)
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character_name = Moloch the Mystic
publisher = DC Comics
debut = "Watchmen" #2 (1986)
creators = Alan Moore (story) and Dave Gibbons (art)
alter_ego = Edgar William Jacobi
full_name =
species =
homeworld =
alliances =
aliases =Edgar William Vaughn, William Edgar Bright
supports=
powers = Ruthless criminal mastermind, effective planner and organizer. "Solar mirror weapon".
Moloch the Mystic (real name Edgar Jacobi) is a fictional character in the 1987 comic book limited series "Watchmen". He is a former supervillain and magician with satanic features, including pointed ears. He was created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons.
Biography
A crime boss from the 1940s through the 1960s, he ran an underground vice den and constructed a solar mirror weapon as part of his nefarious schemes. Over the course of his criminal career, he clashed with both Nite Owls, Ozymandias, and Doctor Manhattan. Eventually captured, he spent the 1970s in prison, where he converted to Christianity and gave up his life of crime. At some point during that time, he worked for a company run by Adrian Veidt, Dimensional Developments, where he was secretly bombarded with radiation to induce cancer as part of Veidt's scheme to drive Dr. Manhattan off the planet as part of his larger plan. Following Moloch's release, he lived alone in New York City, until his murder in 1985 as part of Ozymandias' plot.
Though a secondary character and well past his criminal phase in life, Jacobi serves an important role in the "Watchmen" story; it is he who is first confronted in his bedroom one night by the Comedian, Edward Blake, who reveals his recent discovery of Ozymandias' plot to stop an impending nuclear crisis between the Soviet Union and the United States. Unbeknowst to either Jacobi or Blake, Ozymandias had bugged Jacobi's apartment.
Later, Jacobi is harshly interrogated several times by Rorschach, who is investigating Blake's murder. Rorschach returns one night to find Jacobi murdered, an obvious frameup, which Veidt arranged to prevent the vigilante's interference. Rorschach is captured and remanded to prison.
Origins
Although many of the Watchmen characters were based on various Charlton Comics superheroes purchased by DC, Moore and Gibbons have never said who, if anyone, served as the basis for Moloch.
Film
Moloch will be played by Matt Frewer in the upcoming 2009 "Watchmen" film. [ [http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/11/13/exclusive-watchmen-cast-turns-it-to-the-max/ Adler, Shawn; "'Watchmen' Cast Turns It To The ‘Max’"; MTV Movies Blog; November 13, 2007] ]
References
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2010.
