The Watcher’s vow of non-intervention, like Star Trek’s Prime Directive, was a rule made to be broken.
The Fantastic Four had had interplanetary adventures from the beginning, but it was the arrival of the awesome Watcher in their 13th issue that made the feature begin to feel really cosmic for me.
As when the Watcher bent his rule to aid the Fantastic Four in stopping Galactus (Fantastic Four 50, May 1966), he often found ways to dance around the commandment of non-intervention when he deemed it necessary.
One favorite instance was in the Tales of the Watcher story The Watcher Must Die! (Tales of Suspense 58, Oct. 1964)
Galactic Warlord Wrogg can’t stand the fact that the Watcher remains unconquered, effectively mocking his supremacy.
“It is said that the Watcher is powerful!” Wrogg boasts. “Bah! What power can one lone being muster against the might of my legions??”
FAFO, as they say.
Tracking down the Omnipotent Observer on an asteroid, Wrogg mistakes his impassivity for fear.
“Your military might is awesome to behold, Warlord Wrogg!” the Watcher says. “And your legions are as numerous as the stars in the heavens!”
“Ahhh! That’s more like it!” Wrogg replies. “I thought you’d soon start begging! I knew you weren’t as mighty as the legends claim!”
“You are wrong, warlord! The Watcher does not beg! I was about to say that all of your power is as nothing to me!”
Wrogg orders his troops to fire, but a strange humming sound freezes them where they stand.
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