Who Is Smarter: Dr. Manhattan or Ozymandias?
Alan Moore’s Watchmen features two of the smartest comic book characters ever created. The anti-villain genius Adrian Veidt, known better as Ozymandias, and the omniscient god-like being, Dr. Manhattan, formerly a scientist known as Jonathan Osterman. These two are undoubtedly geniuses, and in this article, I’ll tell you which one of them is smarter, so keep reading to find out!
Comparing Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias
This question shouldn’t really cause that many problems since Dr. Manhattan, as an omniscient god-like being, would definitely be smarter than Ozymandias, who, albeit a genius, is still just a mere human being with all the limits a human being has. Still, Ozymandias’ scheming nature makes people wonder whether he is smarter than Doctor Manhattan, which is why we will be answering that in more detail in today’s article.
When it comes to Dr. Manhattan, he is omniscient. He knows everything. There is no possibility, no reality, no question, no fact that Dr. Manhattan doesn’t know. Due to his powers, he can simultaneously be in the past, present, and future, thereby knowing every possible outcome of every situation.
The issue with this approach is that Manhattan is rarely focused on one thing, i.e., he tends to stretch his mind to thousands of problems simultaneously. This is why some things pass under his radar – they are observed, but he doesn’t really pay much attention to them. This seems to be a decision of Manhattan rather than an error in his functioning, meaning that he can but chooses not to.
On the other hand, Ozymandias is a genius and quite possibly the smartest human in the history of comic books. And while he truly is a genius and an excellent psychologist, Ozymandias is no match for Dr. Manhattan’s omniscience. He is limited by being just a human, while Dr. Manhattan has evolved beyond that. So, if Ozymandias is no match for Dr. Manhattan’s intellect, how did he manage to outsmart him (in the comic books, the movie, and the TV show) on several occasions?
This is quite possibly why some people think that Ozymandias could outwit Manhattan, but that is not really true. Namely, due to Manhattan’s inherent lack of focus on just one issue, he tends not to react to certain things. Knowing Manhattan’s psychology quite well and being an excellent manipulator, Ozymandias just exploited that “flaw” in Manhattan’s functioning to scheme and put his plans into action.
Sure, Manhattan didn’t know much about Ozymandias’ doings, but it was because he chose not to investigate these things further, although there is no doubt that he could’ve done it and that he could’ve stopped Veidt’s every plan, no matter how elaborate it was.
What are your thoughts on this? I would like to hear what you think. Let me know in the comments below!
