Dan Dreiberg’s hero was Nite Owl – a model defender of justice and a symbol of integrity. A desperate desire to escape his troubled family life leads Dan to the doorstep of his idol, Hollis Mason, the real man behind the owl mask. Dan impresses Mason with his brilliant technical skills, and Mason passes his identity on to him. But has the world changed, and are masked heroes now a thing of the past?

Jon Osterman is a meticulous and methodical scientist who, after a horrific accident caused by his own experiment, becomes Dr. Manhattan, a being capable of splitting atoms. For Dr. Manhattan, the past, present, and future are one and the same. But do the events of his life remain the same when he observes them? Or do they change? His very existence may have altered the nature of what will or will not be. Dr. Manhattan possesses godlike power, yet he struggles with his fragile human identity and the ability to change the world with a mere gesture.

Edgar Jacobi grows up an outcast, unloved and rejected. A desire for revenge leads him to a career as a stage magician, con artist, and gangster. As the mysterious and unpredictable Moloch the Mystic, he clashes with the Minutemen many times, but eventually encounters a much more insidious adversary…

This book collects the comics BEFORE WATCHMEN: NITE OWL #1–4, DR. MANHATTAN #1–4, and MOLOCH #1–2.