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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 4703070" data-attributes="member: 15538">The idea that lawful equates to obeying the status quo authority is demonstrably wrong. If that were true, you could change someone's alignment by changing the regime. Lawful means abiding the legitimate authority, with that determination hinging on a number of factors. In Rorschach's case, that means authority and individuals that acknowledge natural law in the same way he does. He is against Communism and views any communist authority as illegitimate. He helps the police, but will not allow them to arrest him because he sees himself as acting more legitimately. As for as communitarian versus liberal (in the classic sense, not the partisan sense), he is communitarian, as he views every single living person as accountable to all others how they choose to live their lives (hence his cold-blooded response to Silhouette's death... he might have had sympathy, but she had it coming, in his view... does anyone else wonder if he might actually have been the killer?). Thus, he can allow the Comedian his "moral lapses" because on the balance, he sees the Comedian as fighting against utter chaos.  He adheres to a personal code, fiercely, even to the point of embracing his death rather than changing. The fact that he is somewhat self-serving in that respect makes him only human... if he were some kind of LN paladin, he would be in trouble, but that is not the case. Insanity can mix with any alignment, so again, if you consider him insane, that still does not disqualify him from being Lawful. Rorschach considers everything he does necessary, not simply preferable. He is autonomous, not anarchic.Ozymandias I peg as LN. He is willing to bend and break rules, but ultimately works within a system. His big scheme is really just what Rorschach does on a grand scale, breaking fingers in order to halt evil and save lives. You could call him evil, because he does something evil... yet he would not do it for anything less than what he considered an imperative. Doctor Manhatten is TN... very decent and compassionate, but too detached to do good for its own sake. His moral compass is his integrity, not a sense of something outside himself. The universe will abide in its own way.Silk Spectre... NG. She really believes in doing the right thing. And she does not even hesitate to assault a police officer acting under some insane impulse to enforce the Keane Act during a prison riot. Her mother, CG... a do-gooder and merciful soul, but also someone who believes everyone does things for their own reasons most of all. Rorschach's foil, a sensual, individualistic, relativistic creature.Nite Owl II... LG. Compassionate, to a fault. Bent by his conscience to accept things he would not choose for himself. The original Nite Owl, probably NG. The Comedian... LE. Utterly selfish and destructive, but still capable of being shocked. Never evil for its own sake, always for some gain. Plagued by a vague sense of honor that suggests his lack of self-control is probably a failing.</blockquote>

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