History Main / VForVendetta

[[redirect:ComicBook/VForVendetta]]

[[quoteright:216:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vforvendetta.jpg]]

->''Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November,\\
the Gunpowder Treason and Plot.\\
I see no reason why the gunpowder treason\\
should ever be forgot.''

'''''V for Vendetta''''' is a comic by AlanMoore and David Lloyd. Starting in March, 1982, it ran for 10 issues, originally in a British anthology comic called Warrior, and later in its own comic published by DC. It features several of Alan Moore's trademarks: Anarchy portrayed as a positive force, mixing fiction and historical fact and [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism large amounts of cynicism]].

The title character is V, a government experiment GoneHorriblyWrong. Armed with extraordinary strength, intellect and [[SuperReflexes reflexes]], along with some home-made high explosives, he escapes from the facility that created him and sets about committing terrorist attacks against the fascist government of Britain. He is TheFaceless throughout the comic, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask in order to conceal his true identity. The fact that Guy Fawkes was arrested for trying to blow up the king has something to do with it, of course.

Evey Hammond is rescued from rapist policemen by V, and this act of kindness starts the comic. She is taken to his ElaborateUndergroundBase, and, although scared by V at first, she decides to join his campaign to bring down the Government, replacing it with an anarchist society.

It was adapted into a film in 2006 with Hugo Weaving as V and NataliePortman as Evey. Where the original comic was influenced by Alan Moore's fears of [[MargaretThatcher Thatcherite]] Britain becoming a repressive dictatorship, the film owes more to critics of the second [[GeorgeWBush Bush]] administration.

----
!!This comic and its film adaptation provide examples of:

* ActorAllusion:
** StephenFry plays an erudite gay man in the entertainment industry, which he is.
** John Hurt [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour in a movie about a totalitarian London?]]
*** Notably, Hurt's presence is a sort of ''inversion.'' In the 1984 version of...well, ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'', John was portraying the protagonist, Winston Smith, and thus was a ''victim'' of the totalitarian government. In the film version of ''V For Vendetta'', meanwhile, he portrays High Chancellor Adam Sutler, and thus became the ''leader'' of such a government.
** In a similar manner, HugoWeaving is in [[TheMatrixTrilogy a movie about totalitarianism.]] However, like Hurt, Weaving is an inversion: In the first Matrix, Weaving played the antagonist, Agent Smith, who had a role in the totalitarian government [[TheStarscream (initially)]]. In V, however, he played the protagonist who was fighting against the totalitarian government.
* ActualPacifist: Evey refuses to help V when she realises he's murdering people, and at the end she says of the rioting Londoners "I won't help them kill. But I will help them build."
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: In the film, V's opening monologue to Evey involves 50 [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness words that begin with V]].
** ''"'''V'''oilà! In '''V'''iew, a humble '''V'''audevillian '''V'''eteran, cast '''V'''icariously as both '''V'''ictim and '''V'''illain by the '''V'''icissitudes of fate. This '''V'''isage, no mere '''V'''eneer of '''V'''anity, is a '''V'''estige of the '''V'''ox populi, now '''V'''acant, '''V'''anished. However, this '''V'''alorous '''V'''isitation of a bygone '''V'''exation stands '''V'''ivified, and has '''V'''owed to '''V'''anquish these '''V'''enal and '''V'''irulent '''V'''ermin '''V'''anguarding '''V'''ice and '''V'''ouchsafing the '''V'''iolently '''V'''icious and '''V'''oracious '''V'''iolation of '''V'''olition! The only '''V'''erdict is '''V'''engeance; a '''V'''endetta held as a '''V'''otive, not in '''V'''ain, for the '''V'''alue and '''V'''eracity of such shall one day '''V'''indicate the '''V'''igilant and the '''V'''irtuous. '''V'''erily, this '''V'''ichyssoise of '''V'''erbiage '''V'''eers most '''V'''erbose, so let me simply add that it's my '''V'''ery good honour to meet you and you may call me '''V'''."''
** In the comic, after [[spoiler:Finch]] takes acid he comes up with:
*** '''''V'''aulting, '''v'''eering, '''v'''omiting up the '''v'''alues that '''v'''ictimized me, feeling '''v'''ast, feeling '''v'''irginal... was this how he felt? This '''v'''erve, this '''v'''itality... this '''v'''ision... La '''v'''oie... la '''v'''érité... la '''v'''ie.''
** "'''V'''i '''v'''eri '''v'''eniversum '''v'''ivus '''v'''ici".
* AfterTheEnd: [[UnreliableNarrator At least according to the Government]].
** In the graphic novel, this is actually the case as nuclear war has destroyed everything ''but'' the British Isles.
* AgeInappropriateDress: Evey's prostitute outfit.
* AllThereInTheManual: The musical interlude, This Vicious Cabaret, pretty much outlines all of V's plans, but the initial reading makes it look like a summary of the preceding chapters.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Some contemporary reviewers find the idea of "concentration camps" for homosexuals, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 eradicate homosexuality even as an abstract concept]], etc. to be sort of an invocation of GodwinsLaw by comparing Thatcher's England to Nazi Germany. However, in the early 1980s MargaretThatcher did indeed make the suggestion, as a public health policy, that all gay men should be put into quarantine in closed institutions as a strategy to stop the spread of HIV infections. Alan Moore's WordOfGod says this aspect of the dystopia was a direct commentary on the implications of such proposals. It should also be noted it was Christopher Monckton, one of Thatcher's advisors, who was really proposing the AIDS quarantine, not so much Thatcher herself. The idea never took off.
* AnarchyIsChaos: {{Averted}}.
* AntiHero: V.
* AntiVillain: Again, V.
** And Finch.
** Adam Susan has some of this, as well, but not his movie counterpart, Adam Sutler.
* [[HeroicWillpower Anti-Villainous Willpower]]: V manages to hold off on any penalty to attack or agility for what looks like several minutes after [[spoiler: being pumped full of bullets that penetrated a metal chestplate in at least two dozen places]] (movie only). Since the entire scene is in slow-motion, it's probably only about thirty seconds, but that's still more than most people would be likely to manage.
** Ten fingermen, all armed with Beretta Inoxes with 15 round magazines, and Creedy with his magnum, emptied their magazines into him... he took ''at least'' [[UpToEleven a hundred-fifty]] bullets and still managed to kill them all.
* ApocalypseHow: Type 1 in the book, Type 0 in the movie.
* ArcWords: The repeated V/Five motif. The roses. The poem.
* AttemptedRape: In both versions, V meets Evey when he saves her from a police gang-rape.
* AudibleSharpness: whenever V breaks out his knives expect lots of "cutting the air" noises. In V's grand battle they even have ''visible'' sharpness.
** Averted in the graphic novel due to lack of sound effects entirely.
* AuthorFilibuster: The reality is a bit more complicated. As [[WordOfGod Alan Moore]] himself says: "''The central question is, is this guy right or is he mad? What do you, the reader, think about this?''" Given that V's terrorist actions are hardly whitewashed or excused, one can easily make the argument that the true hero of the piece is Evey who looks to be forging a middle ground between Norsefire's order and V's chaos.
** The film version is complicated in a different way. There's still technically the question of is this right or is this mad, but the film ''really really'' wants you to cheer on the anarchists. In the montage, as narrated by Mr. Finch, where V's plan involving the masks and the train cars is coming to fruition, a quick exchange takes place as such:
--->'''Mr. Finch:''' This is what he wants.
--->''Cut to convenience store being robbed''
--->'''Fawkes-masked robber:''' ANARCHY IN THE UK!
--->''Cut back to Mr. Finch''
--->'''Mr. Finch:''' Chaos.
* {{Badass}}
* BadassLongHair: V. Although it's hard to tell if it's a wig.
* BadAssLongRobe
* BadassBoast: "My turn."
* BatmanGambit: V's entire plan.
* BeardOfEvil: Invoked by V's mask.
* BecomingTheMask
* BigBad: Adam Susan.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Britain is free of the Dictatorship that had been ruling the country, but V lost his life in the process, and we don't know how well Britain will be able to take care of itself without a government in charge.]].
* BlackMarketProduce: In the film, on Evey's first morning in the Shadow Gallery, she is given toast with her breakfast and is astonished to find real butter. V explains that he stole it from the Chancellor's supplies.
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: V does this to two of [[spoiler: Creedy's]] guards '''with thrown knives''' in the film's climax.
* BombThrowingAnarchists: V, though he certainly has some goals beyond simply blowing stuff up. The comic could in some ways be considered a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope.
* BodyHorror: The descriptions of what happened to the people tested are enough to make you want to smack the lead scientist, Delia Surridge, [[AntiVillain but MAYBE not kill her]].
* BookEnds: [[spoiler:V kidnaps someone]].
** In the movie, [[spoiler: The 1812 Overture]].
* BottomlessMagazines: Averted. V even mentions he'll kill all the guards before they have time to reload.
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: V does this to Evey. It leads her to a HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath and after she reboots she TookALevelInBadass.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: V to Lewis Prothero, though the ''coup de grace'' that really breaks him involves more than talking.
* BulletproofHumanShield: V uses this tactic to outmaneuver the constables in Jordan Tower.
* BulletTime: Well, Throwing Knife Time in this case.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Finch has said, to Adam Susan's face, that he disapproves of the Norsefire party. While most people would probably be locked up for this, Finch is so damn good at his job that Susan lets it slide.
* BuryYourGays:
** Gordon Dietrich, who in the comic is a petty criminal who flirts with Evey, is in the movie a closeted gay television host and comedian. He ends up being arrested for making fun of the BigBad on TV, then executed when they find out he's gay and has a Koran.
** Among the people who were tested alongside V there was a lesbian called Rita, who due to hormone injections not only died, but [[BodyHorror also developed vestigial fingers on her calf]]. Also Valerie, her lover, and most of Britain's LGBT people.
* ByronicHero
* CaptainObvious: in the film:
--> '''Evey''': "I don't see any instruments".
--> '''V''': "Your powers of observation continue to serve you well".
* CastingGag: JohnHurt as the Leader.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: [[spoiler: Uhhh... is the Head masturbating to his ''[[{{Squick}} computer?]]'']]
** Physically, yes, but he really [[spoiler: is masturbating to England herself]]
*** So he's [[spoiler: lying back and thinking of England]]?
* CelibateHero
* CoatHatMask
* ColdBloodedTorture: From ''both'' sides, although opinion's vary on whether V was justified with his.
* CorruptPolitician: Norsefire were brutal opportunists in the comic, corrupt bastards in the film.
* CrapsackWorld: It's a post-nuclear wasteland, the second coming of the Nazis has taken power over Britain, and the only person who dares to stand up to them is an apparently insane terrorist who wants to replace them with... nothing.
** And, also in the movie, apparently the rest of the world is in chaos (America is now in the middle of a second civil war and is described as "the world's biggest leper colony.").
* CrazyPrepared: V.
* DarkMessiah: V can be interpreted as this
* DeFictionalization: Anonymous has adopted the Guy Fawkes motif for its protests, which apparently tickles Moore enough that he doesn't mind that this is inspired by the movie, rather than the book.
** In some ways, the whole movie. It was obviously a commentary on current events when it came out, but watching it in 2011 is a bit...surreal, to say the least.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Moore has admitted he knew basically nothing about nuclear weapons when he started the comic, and so it's insanely optimistic about how many people would survive a nuclear war, which of course depends on how widespread the war is, as a limited war might lead to this situation.
--> '''Alan Moore''': ''I came up with a character called "Vendetta", who would be set in a realistic thirties world that drew upon my own knowledge of the Gangster era, bolstered by lots of good, solid research. I sent the idea off to Dave. His response was that he was sick to the back teeth of doing good solid research and if he was to draw one more '28 model Duesenberg' he'd eat his arm. This presented a serious problem.''
* DissonantSerenity: In TheMovie, V's rampage at the very end can come across as this, probably because of that mask. Also, massive explosions set to gorgeous music.
* TheDogBitesBack: The specific person who does this may differ between the comic and the film (Rose and Creedy, respectively), but this is ultimately how Adam Susan/Sutler is killed, with V being involved in causing the trope to happen.
* DomesticAbuse: Derek Almond towards Rose, and Helen Heyer towards Conrad.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: Subverted, when V broadcasts his communiqué over BTN's network.
* DoomedMoralVictor: as a part of the ThanatosGambit
* TheDragon: Almond functions as this throughout the first chapter.
* DragonAscendant: Creedy in the movie; in the graphic novel he ends up just one of numerous factions struggling for power after the Leader is killed.
* DualWielding: V's main weapons are multiple knives.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Shadow Gallery
* EldritchAbomination: FATE is either a highly sophisticated computer that Susan in his insanity, believes to be alive, or it's this in which case, it's also the EvenBiggerBad.
* EnemyRisingBehind: V does this in the climax of the film.
* EvilOverlord: Both versions of Susan/Sutler, though Susan is more of a WellIntentionedExtremist while Sutler (who admittedly we only see communicating to his inner circle or about to die) just seems power-mad. However, while Susan was arguably a WellIntentionedExtremist, the ways he went about fulfilling his goal clearly seat him in the 'evil' territory (torture, genocide etc.). And his argument that he needs to be in power to support and bolster England kinda goes into 'Overlord' territory.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Going by the vocal line in "The Vicious Cabaret," V seems to have a relatively low voice. This probably explains why they chose someone like Hugo Weaving to play the part in the film.
* EvilVersusEvil[=/=]GreyAndBlackMorality[=/=]ALighterShadeOfGrey: Opinions vary as to how to interpret the Fascism vs Anarchy of the graphic novel. General consensus is that V is probably better than Susan and the majority of Norsefire, but still not exactly a great guy, while some of Norsefire's lower-ranked members (like Finch) may or may not be better people than V himself, if somewhat misled. [[FlameBait And we shall not go further into it.]]
* ExecutiveMeddling: It apparently spawned the title itself.
** While the movie was being made someone thought it would be a good idea to outright lie and say that Alan Moore completely supported the movie. He didn't, and made that fact known by refusing any payment what-so-ever on every movie adaptation of his work afterwards. Good job!
* ExpressiveMask: V's mask never moves, but it still manages to convey emotion through shadow and angles.
* TheExtremistWasRight
* FakeBrit: Both Portman (Israeli-American) and Weaving (Australian). However, given V's cloudy backstory and the xenophobia of the government, V may not have been a native Brit himself.
** Considering Weaving actually spent a good portion of his childhood and teens living in the UK, his FakeBrit status is debatable.
* FictionalPoliticalParty: [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Norsefire]]. In the film, the party came to power after a democratic election. In the graphic novel, they came to power after first Thatcher's government fell, a liberal party replacing Thatcher withdrew from NATO and caused the ColdWar to go hot, resulting in the most far right policies being seen as vindicated, but Alan Moore models them as a FictionalCounterpart to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_National_Front the British National Front]].
* FastForwardGag: Used in the film, complete with "Yakety Sax."
* FootFocus
* GagDub: MyWayEntertainment does this for the first meeting of V and Evey in "V for Vocabulary."
** Randy Hayes did his [[MotorMouth long-winded version]] entirely on the fly.
* GambitRoulette
* GenreSavvy: Evey knows a reporter is lying because she has a habit of blinking when she's reporting a false story.
** Invoked by Finch when he speculates what will happen at Parliament.
-->'''Dominic:''' What do you think will happen?
-->'''Finch:''' What usually happens when people without guns stand up to people '''with''' guns.
* GirlishPigtails: Evey sports them as part of her disguise as an underage prostitute.
* AGoodWayToDie: [[spoiler:V's]] death in the film.
--> '''[[spoiler:Evey]]''': "I don't want you to die!"
--> '''[[spoiler:V]]''': "That is the most beautiful thing you could have ever given me..."
* HappinessInSlavery: [[DiscussedTrope discussed]], [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], then outright [[DefiedTrope defied]] by V, saying the people's happiness comes from having never compared their lives to freedom.
* HeroAntagonist: Finch spends the entire book tracking down the protagonist and investigates Larkhill's past to discover why V has such a murderous rage for its former staff. When he figures out the truth, he acknowledges the government is wrong and should be changed but also reaffirms his belief that V is still a dangerous murdering terrorists and he needs to be stopped, too.
* HeldGaze: Happens twice between V and Evey in the LiveActionAdaptation, at one time verging upon an AlmostKiss. Somewhat subverted in that the film shows that V is always wearing his mask and has no eyes due to [[spoiler: the explosion that annihilated Larkhill, which may or may not have happened because of V.]] but the romantic tension created is still clear.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Rosemary]].
** [[spoiler: V goes through an anti-heroic sacrifice.]]
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The film did this for Guy Fawkes, even though that was never Moore's intent. In reality, his "hero" status is highly dubious. The Gunpowder Plot wasn't really to strike a blow for freedom, they simply wanted to replace the Protestant king with a Catholic one. Further, they packed in so much gunpowder that hundreds (possibly thousands) of innocent civilians would have been killed, including many children -- the only thing the plotters worried about was whether too many Catholics would be taken out. By modern standards they were depraved terrorists.
* IconOfRebellion: Guy Fawkes masks and the letter V in general.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every chapter begins with the letter V.
* IronicEcho: "Spare the rod..."
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: Almond plays a sick game with his wife where he pretends to go crazy and shoot her - but his gun is not loaded. Then he finally catches V, and tries to [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim Just Shoot Him]] - with the still-not-loaded gun.
* KickTheDog: Initially, it's made apparent the government makes people disappear for "crimes" such as protesting (e.g. Evey's parents), but it's later done again harder when Gordon is taken simply for mocking Sutler, and is undoubtedly killed for being gay and for owning protester propaganda and a Quran.
** Later taken UpToEleven with Valarie; while Gordon is bagged for incredibly petty reasons, Valarie and Ruth are taken [[BuryYourGays because they love each other]]. Valarie is specially notable as her story is shocking enough to make [[spoiler: Evey instantly sympathize with V ''even after he's tortured her'' simply because Valerie and her story are real.]]
** V's [[spoiler: torture of Evey]].
* KillThePoor: Along with other "undesirables," the homeless are rounded up and placed in death camps.
* TheKindnapper: V kidnaps Evey twice, both times motivated by some form of benevolent intentions. The first time, he saves her from being raped by the government's secret police. The second time, he is testing her -- albeit in a horrible way -- to see if she is worthy of being his successor.
* KirkSummation: It's scarily reminiscent of the trope-naming HannibalLecture, except that [[GreyAndBlackMorality the guy he's delivering it to is so much worse]].
* KingpinInHisGym: There's one scene in the movie in which V has some fun fencing with a suit of armour. As he exists somewhere in the fuzzy border between AntiHero and AntiVillain, he's probably villain enough to count.
* KnifeNut: V, especially in the movie.
* KnightInSourArmor: Eric Finch
* LadyMacbeth: Helen Hayer. So obsessed with power is she that, as her husband and lover lie dead or dying on her living room floor, she is so incensed their passing would mess with ''her'' plan that she hooks up a video camera to their television set just so her dear hubby can watch himself die.
* LandslideElection: In the film, Norsefire came to power with 87% of the vote.
* LaserGuidedKarma: How V kills the last three employees of his old "Resettlement Camp."
** Lewis Prothero ordered V to be part of the experiment that drove V mad and valued his dolls more than the inmates, V dressed his dolls up as prisoners and loaded them into an incinerator, driving him insane.
** Archbishop Anthony Lilliman was a pedophile who stood by while V was administered the serum, so V had Evey dress as a prostitute to get close to him, and killed him with a cyanide laced communion wafer.
** Dr. Delia Surridge injected V with the serum, so V poisoned her in her sleep. However, she got off easy compared to the others, as she actually regretted her actions.
--->'''Surridge''': "Is it meaningless to apologize?"
--->'''V''': "Never."
--->'''Surridge''': "I'm so sorry." (''Dies peacefully'')
* [[spoiler: LegacyCharacter]]
* LibertyOverProsperity: One of V's points during his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to all England (and/or humanity in general) is that they have accepted trading their freedoms in exchange for security. He does mention that he doesn't mean that they should go back to the Stone Age, but that they need to stop stagnating.
* LifeImitatesArt: Oh so very much.
* LipstickAndLoadMontage: In the film adaptation, Evey does this while V gets his gear ready to fight.
* LiveActionAdaptation
* LivingLegend: V deliberately invokes this so that he can inspire people. More so in the film.
* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Give the Man In Room Five a garden plot, he'll grow roses. Give the Man In Room Five some gardening chemicals, he'll make napalm and mustard gas...
* LonersAreFreaks: The Head, Adam Susan, is completely obsessed with technology and his own idealization of fascism, and has virtually no interest whatsoever in social or romantic pursuits. At his advanced age, he is a virgin convinced that his own computer system is in love with him. When he finally decides to be a better leader towards the end and actually get to know his people, he's revealed to be quite socially awkward and shy.
* MeaningfulName: Evey, the pronounciation is similar to "IV", being the Roman numeral for "4", and also the number of the room that Valerie was kept in.
** Her name also sounds like the letters "E" "V" -- "E" being the fifth letter of the alphabet and "V" being, well, V, and also the roman numeral for 5. As well as V being the fifth letter at the end of the alphabet.
** Also the last character in the name is Y, being the 25th letter which 5 is the square root of. And 2 5 seperated is two five, leading into 2 halves to the whole of 10 completing the cycle.
* MeaningfulEcho: Evey's rebirth is meant to echo V's "birth"; the movie makes this abundantly clear by using the footage of V at Larkhill merged into Evey on the roof.
* MirrorScare: The murder of Lewis Prothero, at least in the movie.
* MoralityPet: Part of the reason Evey is in this graphic novel is so that V can be shown being kind to someone, making him more sympathetic.
* MoralMyopia: Lewis Prothero, as V notes, cares a great deal more for his rare doll collection than he ever did for the people he sent to the ovens at Larkhill.
** V himself is guilty of this - he claims to care about people, but the cold, sociopathic way in which he [[KickTheSonOfABitch kills so many Fascists]] and slaughters {{Mooks}} makes it clear that really, he only cares about the people he's decided to like.
* MortalWoundReveal: A subtle one in the great big showdown, where [[spoiler: V appears to survive a NoOneCouldSurviveThat, but]] turns out to be only human after all -- albeit something of a {{Determinator}}.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: In the film. It's against a country's best interests to elect a man named ''[[AdolfHitler Adam Sutler]]''.
* NoDoubtTheYearsHaveChangedMe: V takes revenge on those involved in the concentration camp and the experiments which created him.
* NoEndorHolocaust: At the climax of the movie [[spoiler: the Houses of Parliament are destroyed by a massive bomb on a tube train beneath them. An explosion of such size would devastate a wide area around it, but miraculously the thousands of be-masked V supporters watching the show from only a few metres away are completely unharmed, rather than being shredded by flying debris]].
* NoNameGiven: V. He states: "I do not have a name. You can call me V".
* NoPlaceForMeThere
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Justified. All the backup died. V was the only survivor. He then burned the facility to the ground, and later [[spoiler:kills the scientist and steals her diary]].
* OhCrap: The security guard's reaction to seeing V's rather incendiary undershirt.
--> "Fuckin' 'ell."
** At the close of the first arc, Finch presents an OhCrap moment to the surviving members of the Head: that the idea of V being a serial killer murdering those who wronged him is, in fact, the optimistic and comforting view. The alternative is that V was killing those who witnessed his transformation, and thus may have been able to stop him from executing his real plan.
** In the comic, the same day V promised to destroy Downing Street, Dominic is controlling the policemen to make sure that Downing Street is not attacked, and hoping that V is actually dead, and then a bell starts to sound. Dominic identifies that bell as the Big Ben... but then he remembers that ''the Big Ben had been blown up the previous year''. And then [[spoiler:Evey as]] V appears.
* OneLetterName: V.
* OrangeBlueContrast: A rare non-advertising, non-simultaneous example for cinema, Evey's "awakening" takes place in a ''very'' blue rain storm and it is interspersed with images V's "awakening", which took place in a raging inferno.
* OrderVersusChaos: V's objective is to abolish all law. He does not, however, want to abolish all ''order''. As he tells Evey, he doesn't want people rioting in the streets; he desires an orderly society that remains so even without a government. V advocates ''actual'' anarchist principles, as opposed to simple mayhem; as noted above, it strictly and consistently averts the AnarchyIsChaos trope.
* PairTheSpares: Implied with [[spoiler: Evey and Finch]] in the film version, during [[spoiler: Finch's monologue about everything being connected]].
* PassingTheTorch: [[spoiler: Evey ''becomes'' V]].
* PayEvilUntoEvil: V does this to Prothero, Lilliman and Creedy (in the movie). While his torture is undoubtedly cruel, all three were CompleteMonster material and as such their deaths are nothing short of a relief.
* PetRat: Alistair Harper and his gang are hired in this capacity by the government when the existing police force isn't enough.
* PetTheDog: V does this with Evey occasionally - reading to her, dancing with her etc.
* PerverseSexualLust: In-universe example: [[spoiler:The Norsefire leader]] for the government computer system, FATE. FATE wasn't in the movie, probably because of a combination of this and the screenplay-writing Wachowski bros having their [[TheMatrix fill of computers]] by then. Another possible reason is that FATE was implied to be an absolutely cold AI in the book, when such was the norm in scifi. Fast forward 25 years, and most popular scifi AIs are anything but dispassionate. The idea that FATE could ever return Susan's affections is part of what drives Susan insane.
* PlayingWithSyringes: V's origin.
* PoliceBrutality: Norsefire Fingermen, and in the film the regular police gun down an innocent man (admittedly he was disguised as V) when V takes over a news studio. It's played to look like they shot the real V, though judging from the reactions of the various people watching the news it's not very widely believed that they did it.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Norsefire. ''All'' of Norsefire.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: In the movie [[spoiler: Creedy kills Sutler]] with one.
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Evey, in TheMovie.
* PunchClockVillain: Eric Finch, arguably.
* PuttingOnTheReich / ANaziByAnyOtherName: Norsefire are Neo-Nazis, so it's not too odd. In the graphic novel, the dictator even gets a monologue saying why fascism is a good thing.
** In the novel, the song sung by the cabaret singer in Chapters 5-6 ("I like the ''boots''" etc.) [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this, citing everything from ''TriumphOfTheWill'' to "blond and blue eyes" to the "Heil Hitler" salute...
* PsychoSerum
* RageAgainstTheReflection: Only in the movie.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: V gives one to [[spoiler: ''the entire country'' by taking over the Norsefire equivalent of TheBBC]].
* RedemptionInTheRain: Evey, nicely juxtaposed with shots of V burning down the lab (and himself with it, nearly).
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Delia Surridge, who tells V she's sorry for what she's done to him. V shows mercy to her, and gives her a quick, painless death]].
* RefugeInAudacity: Gordon's last-minute script-change to his show, assuming that he was too famous to just be disappeared. [[spoiler: [[TemptingFate He was wrong]]]].
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: In the film, the revolution against the government is seen as completely positive. The graphic novel presents both the government and V's ambitions as being extreme.
** In the film they kinda handwaved the fact that depending on your position a 'revolutionist' is either a 'freedom fighter' or a 'terrorist.'
* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler: While the original V isn't a girl, Evey finds (to her benefit) that with the cloak and mask and everything, he easily ''can'' be.]]
* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler: V puts Evey through a fake dungeon, starving her and shaving her hair to test her loyalty to the cause and her moral fiber. She passes]].
* ShoutOut: At one point in the comic V is depicted reading the novel ''V.'' by ThomasPynchon, one of Moore's acknowledged influences.
** The chapter titled "The Land of Do-As-You-Please is a shoutout to Enid Blyton, of all things. Specifically her Faraway Tree books.
** As noted above, when a man robs a store while wearing a V mask, he yells "[[SexPistols Anarchy in the U.K.!]]" before fleeing.
* ShowWithinAShow: ''The Storm Saxon Show''
* SinisterMinister: Lilliman. Accessory to murder and torture, promoter of Fascism, explicitly a paedophile, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gives creepy sermons]].
* SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes: V is , amusingly enough, a Type V. Unless you agree with his pro-anarchy rant, in which case he's Type IV. The film softened him to a Type III.
* SociopathicHero: V. Literally. Finch describes him as being a clinical psychopath.
* SyntheticPlague: The St. Mary's Virus in the film version.
* TheStarscream: Creedy in both versions -- the graphic novel has a couple of others as well.
* SubText: [[spoiler: In the movie, during Finch's monologue about everything being connected, there is a brief shot of future-Evey with her hair grown back, next to a vase of Scarlet Carsons. The mirror on the wall shows a reflection of a relaxed-looking Finch drinking some wine]].
* SuperReflexes
* SympathyForTheDevil: V. Yes he is a murderer and terrorist, but his cause is a worthy cause, and the people he fought were mostly {{Complete Monster}}s.
** TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Rose]].
* ThouShaltNotKill: Evey.
* ThoseWackyNazis: The Head's name was changed from Adam Susan in the book to Adam Sutler in the film. Truly, there never was a [[IncrediblyLamePun subtler pun on Hitler]]...
* TranquilFury: Vengeance with a smile.
* TraumaticHaircut: Evey's torture.
* TrophyRoom: The Shadow Gallery.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The comic is made in 1980s and is set in 1990s, while the film is made in 2006 and is set in 2030s.
* TheUnReveal
** The identity of V is [[spoiler:now simply "V"]].
** He removes his mask a couple of times in the graphic novel -- but he's always angled so that his face is never shown.
* {{Undercrank}}: In the movie Gordon uses this in his comedy show when he throws out the approved script, right down to playing [[Series/TheBennyHillShow "Yakety Sax"]].
* UnexpectedSuccessor: "Queen Zara": in order for Zara to become queen over half the British Royal Family has to be killed off, forced to abdicate or pass up the throne.
* VikingFuneral: [[spoiler: V gets a modern take on one; laid to rest on the train that delivers his bomb to Parliament.]]
* VillainProtagonist: The only reason V skates by as a "hero" is because he's going after people much worse than he is.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:The Head's computer is hacked and he is sent an anonymous love letter (from V obviously). He is affected so heavily he is turned into a {{Woobie}} for some people]].
** Creedy suffers a nasty one in the movie after V rips his henchmen to shreds and is still strong enough to send Creedy to hell before expiring.
* VoiceOfTheLegion
* WallSlump
* WaterSourceTampering: The British government is implied to have done this in the film.
* WeAllLiveInAmerica: Mostly averted in the movie (like V saying "lift" instead of "elevator") but not always -- several uses of "cop" which is generally an Americanism (Brits prefer "copper"), Finch pronouncing lever as leh-ver instead of lee-ver, Portman's accent (although YMMV on that last one.)
* WellIntentionedExtremist: V
** Also, Adam Susan -- he's killed more people than V, by far, and for reasons just as if not more extreme, and he's completely dumbfounded when [[spoiler: he gets shot]].
* WesternTerrorists: {{Deconstructed}}.
* WhamEpisode: It's implied that the key formative event in the Man in Room Five's transformation into V isn't the experiments upon him, or the cruel and indifferent treatment he received from the prison camp's staff. It's [[spoiler: the note from Valerie, which he delivers to Evey exactly as he received it himself. It has a similar effect upon her]].
* WhatTheHellHero: Evey's initial reaction to [[spoiler: V's torture of her and when he kills the Bishop]]. She forgives him for both times, though.
* [[WhyWontYouDie Why Won't V Die?]]: Because beneath his mask is more than flesh, beneath his mask there is an idea, and ''[[CantStopTheSignal ideas are bulletproof]]''.
** [[spoiler: Also: metal sheets. Which are not entirely bulletproof, but do stop V from dying where he stands, instead allowing him to slowly bleed out as he stumbles his way back to his lair]]. What, you thought they'd pull the [[spoiler: OnlyAFleshWound card?]]
* YouAreNumberSix: Played straight. The camp dehumanized V to the point where nobody knew him as anything but the Man in Room Five, so he took it as his new identity.
* ZergRush: In the film, V sends everyone in London Guy Fawkes costumes so they could overwhelm Norsefire troops by sheer numbers.

----
''England prevails.''
----

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Some contemporary reviewers find the idea of "concentration camps" for homosexuals etc. to be sort of an invocation of GodwinsLaw by comparing Thatcher's England to Nazi Germany. However, in the early 1980s MargaretThatcher did indeed make the suggestion, as a public health policy, that all gay men should be put into quarantine in closed institutions as a strategy to stop the spread of HIV infections. Alan Moore's WordOfGod says this aspect of the dystopia was a direct commentary on the implications of such proposals. It should also be noted it was Christopher Monckton, one of Thatcher's advisors, who was really proposing the AIDS quarantine, not so much Thatcher herself. The idea never took off.

Evey Hammond is rescued from rapist policemen by V, and this act of kindness starts the comic. She is taken to his ElaborateUndergroundBase, and, although scared by V at first, she decides to join his campaign to bring down the Government, replacing it with an anarchist society.

* ActorAllusion:
** StephenFry plays an erudite gay man in the entertainment industry, which he is.
** John Hurt [[NineteenEightyFour in a movie about a totalitarian London?]]
*** Notably, Hurt's presence is a sort of ''inversion.'' In the 1984 version of...well, ''[[NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'', John was portraying the protagonist, Winston Smith, and thus was a ''victim'' of the totalitarian government. In the film version of ''V For Vendetta'', meanwhile, he portrays High Chancellor Adam Sutler, and thus became the ''leader'' of such a government.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: In the film, V's opening monologue to Evey involves 50 [[{{Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness}} words that begin with V]].

* ArcWords: The repeated V/Five motif. The roses. The poem.

** The film version is complicated in a different way. There's still technically the question of is this right or is this mad, but the film ''really really'' wants you to cheer on the anarchists. In the montage, as narrated by Mr. Finch, where V's plan involving the masks and the train cars is coming to fruition, a quick exchange takes place as such:

* CelibateHero

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Moore has admitted he knew basically nothing about nuclear weapons when he started the comic, and so it's insanely optimistic about how many people would survive a nuclear war, which of course depends on how widespread the war is, as a limited war might lead to this situation.

* DragonAscendant: Creedy in the movie; in the graphic novel he ends up just one of numerous factions struggling for power after the Leader is killed.

-->'''Finch:''' What usually happens when people without guns stand up to people '''with''' guns.

* HeldGaze: Happens twice between V and Evey in the LiveActionAdaptation, at one time verging upon an AlmostKiss. Somewhat subverted in that the film shows that V is always wearing his mask and has no eyes due to [[spoiler: the explosion that annihilated Larkhill, which may or may not have happened because of V.]] but the romantic tension created is still clear.

* LipstickAndLoadMontage: In the film adaptation, Evey does this while V gets his gear ready to fight.

* MirrorScare: The murder of Lewis Prothero, at least in the movie.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: V does this to Prothero, Lilliman and Creedy (in the movie). While his torture is undoubtedly cruel, all three were CompleteMonster material and as such their deaths are nothing short of a relief.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: V gives one to [[spoiler: ''the entire country'' by taking over the Norsefire equivalent of {{the BBC}}]].

* TheStarscream: Creedy in both versions -- the graphic novel has a couple of others as well.

* VillainProtagonist: The only reason V skates by as a "hero" is because he's going after people much worse than he is.

** Creedy suffers a nasty one in the movie after V rips his henchmen to shreds and is still strong enough to send Creedy to hell before expiring.

* ZergRush: In the film, V sends everyone in London Guy Fawkes costumes so they could overwhelm Norsefire troops by sheer numbers.

->''Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November,''
->''the Gunpowder Treason and Plot.''
->''I see no reason why the gunpowder treason''
->''should ever be forgot.''

''VForVendetta'' is a comic by AlanMoore and David Lloyd. Starting in March, 1982, it ran for 10 issues, originally in a British anthology comic called Warrior, and later in its own comic published by DC. It features several of Alan Moore's trademarks: Anarchy portrayed as a positive force, mixing fiction and historical fact and [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism large amounts of cynicism]].

* TheUnReveal: The identity of V is [[spoiler: now simply "V"]].
** He removes his mask a couple of times in the graphic novel - but he's always angled so that his face is never shown.
* {{Undercrank}}: In the movie Gordon uses this in his comedy show when he throws out the approved script, right down to playing [[BennyHill "Yakety Sax"]].

--> Evey: "I don't see any instruments".
--> V: "Your powers of observation continue to serve you well".

* HeldGaze: Happens twice between V and Evey in the LiveActionAdaptation, at one time verging upon an AlmostKiss. Somewhat subverted in that the film shows that V is always wearing his mask and has no eyes due to [[spoiler: the explosion that annihilated Larkhill, which may or may not have happened because of V.]] but the romantic tension created by their {{HeldGaze}}s is still clear.

->''I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.''

* [[HeroicWillpower Anti-Villainous Willpower]]: V manages to hold off on any penalty to attack or agility for what looks like several minutes after [[spoiler: being pumped full of bullets that penetrated a metal chestplate in at least two dozen places]] (movie only). Since the entire scene is in slow-motion, it's probably only about thirty seconds, but that's still more than most people would be likely to manage.
** Ten fingermen, all armed with Beretta Inoxes with 15 round magazines, and Creedy with his magnum, emptied their magazines into him... he took ''at least'' [[UpToEleven a hundred-fifty]] bullets and still managed to kill them all.

* EvilVersusEvil[=/=]GreyAndBlackMorality[=/=]ALighterShadeOfGrey: Opinions vary as to how to interpret the Fascism vs Anarchy of the graphic novel. General consensus is that V is probably better than Susan and the majority of Norsefire, but still not exactly a great guy, while Norsefire's lower-ranked members (like Finch) may or may not be better people than V himself, if somewhat misled. [[FlameBait And we shall not go further into it.]]

* KnifeNut: V, in the movie.

* PetRat: In the film, Alistair Harper and his gang are hired in this capacity by the government when the existing police force isn't enough.

** In the film they kinda handwaved the fact that depending on your position a 'revolutionist' is either a 'freedom fighter' or a 'terrorist.'

* VikingFuneral: [[spoiler: V gets a modern take on one in the movie; laid to rest on the train that delivers his bomb to Parliament.]]

* ZergRush: V sends everyone in London Guy Fawkes costumes so they could overwhelm Norsefire troops by sheer numbers.

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: V does this to Evey in the movie. It leads her to a HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath and after she reboots she TookALevelInBadass.]]

* ColdBloodedTorture

* TheKindnapper: V kidnaps Evey twice, both times motivated by some form of benevolent intentions. The first time, he saves her from being raped by the government's secret police. The second time, he is testing her-albeit in a horrible way- to see if she is worthy of being his successor.
* KirkSummation: Due to HighOctaneNightmareFuel, is reminiscent of the trope-naming HannibalLecture, except that [[GreyAndBlackMorality the guy he's delivering it to is so much worse]].

* MirrorScare: The murder of Lewis Prothero, at least in the movie. In the original comic, even though [[spoiler: he doesn't ''kill'' Prothero]], that scene is damn near HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: V does this to Evey in the movie. It leads her to a HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath and after she reboots she TookALevelInBadass.]]

-->-- Traditional