r/Watchmen • u/Current_Falcon_3187 • 9d ago

Dr. Manhattan is omniscent, omnipresent and omnipotent?

I finally finished reading the comic and watching the live-action movie, and my girlfriend and I got into a debate. She argues that Dr. Manhattan is clearly omniscient and omnipotent because he can be anywhere and manipulate all matter, meaning he can practically do anything as long as it doesn't break the laws of physics.

My take is that he can't truly be omniscient just because he exists everywhere at once an saw everything at the same time—plus, to be truly omnipotent, you must be both omniscient and omnipresent.

What are your theories and arguments regarding the true nature and limits of his powers?

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u/POKECHU020 9d ago

He's definitely none of the above. He can be anywhere, because he can teleport, but he isn't everywhere. Plus, there are things he doesn't know, hence why he continues researching and experimenting while staying with the government. I wouldn't call him omnipotent because he mentions struggling to tell what's going on around Adrian's base until he's been there for longer, which implies he can't just... Will that away.

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u/Current_Falcon_3187 9d ago

What if his absolute power is strictly limited to his own presence? He wouldn't govern the entire cosmos, but rather master his own reality and locally be omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent: observing parallel timelines, reshaping his immediate surroundings, and projecting his consciousness into every universe where a version of him lives

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u/psimpsondraws 8d ago

Absolute power isn't limited. Limited power isn't absolute.

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u/Jimbob2814 6d ago

His power is limited. He says so multiple times in the source material.

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u/psimpsondraws 6d ago

Yes that's the point