Source: watchmen.wikia.com

7. Richard Nixon in Watchmen

I mean, of COURSE this one was gonna be on here.

Nixon’s role in Watchmen goes beyond glorified cameo and is full-on important to the narrative. In the universe in which Watchmen takes place, Nixon was able to serve multiple consecutive terms, due mostly to the political assassinations carried out by masked crimefighter The Comedian. Using these terms, he won Vietnam (with Dr. Manhattan’s help) and ushered in an age of civil unrest and slow descent into seemingly inevitable nuclear war.

He also signed into law the Keane Act, which banned costumed heroes from carrying on with their activities, unless they were specifically sanctioned by the government. Throughout the book, Nixon’s presence is constantly felt, especially in terms of the sense of ever present dread that fills each page.

Nixon’s reign is one of the key signifiers, upon first reading Watchmen, that something in its universe has gone terribly wrong.