WMG / The Purge Universe

The United States is the only country left from some (maybe not so) natural catastrophe

C'mon! How would other nations and institutions like UN and the Red Cross tolerate this nonsense? The USA would be more isolated than North Korea. That may be kind of why we never hear any mention to international affairs or news on the TV or the radio. Also, what better way to raise a religious, extremist and absurd society than a catastrophe?

• According to the website, the borders of the United States are entirely open and apparently there's quite a bit of immigration. That would suggest that the U.S. isn't the only country, but if it's good enough to attract immigrants who know that they're in danger, then that doesn't say a lot of good things about the rest of the world.
• Or other countries just simply ignore The Purge when it happens in this cinematic universe's America, for whatever reason.
  • The other countries might be like the Purge every day. (Many countries are already like that in real life. Immigrants might prefer America because they would only have to worry about their safety one night a year while being assured a much better life for 364/5 days a year.
    • yeeeeeesh. If you believe this, the series is about you.
• All Jossed. The first Purge explicitly states that the rest of the world exists as normal after the New Founding Fathers took over. Furthermore, Purge: Election Year makes a huge point about establishing that the US has managed to create a booming "Purge Holiday" style sub-economy where people from all over the world come to the US explicitly to participate in the Purge. And the Purge TV show even states that other nations, like France (who were among the nations that denounced the Purge when it first started up) were going to set up their own version of Purge night due it's "success" and popularity.

This isn't just some random target

Why expend so much effort? Sure, your original prey decided to hole up in someone's house. Why not move on to the next house? Or the next guy wandering the streets? Unless, of course, this isn't just a random bystander. Two likely scenarios:

• He's The Mole — The trailer shows the defences of the house, which have likely survived prior Purges, failing. What if the man is letting the gang in?
• He possesses something valuable, possibly proof that the titular purge does nothing to reduce crime and exists solely to maintain control through fear. The "gang" is actually a government death squad.
  • Jossed; He really was just a random bystander who happened to be targeted by a group of vicious psychopaths. Their logic for going to such extremes to get to him is essential "He's a filthy homeless person and we have the right to kill him." He is also stated to have killed one as well, further drawing their wrath.
  • Actually, in a quick cameo in The Purge: Anarchy, the person is shown to be one of the Resistance members. Although one could argue that the events of the last film may have driven him to join the Resistance, it's also just as likely that he was a member before the events of Anarchy - the reason why the Polite Stranger would want him dead would then be escalated into not just a random person killing one of his men, but also because the person was also a member of a group dedicated to pulling down the Purgers from the inside.

America is a one-party state

From going on their website one can see there is no reference to any political party other than the one promoted all over the pages: the New Founders of America, NFA. There is, though, reference to unity, and strength through Purging. The corruption, stagnation, and decay of multi-partisan democratic government is passive-aggressively denounced, and there are hints of a mass political reorganization under the NFA, which they refer to as the "Great Integration". This means America as we know it is dead, though they still use the familiar symbols of American democracy, such as the same federal government, the state governments, the Statue of Liberty, the Constitution, etc. America has traded freedom for safety, forgetting Benjamin Franklin's words, and making a mockery of the original America. The Party symbol is revered as almost a new national symbol: the blue baptisia flower.

• Seems to be Jossed by Election Year, where there is another party opposing the NFA and it's implied they beat them in the election.

The guy who wanted to kill his boss ended up getting killed by said boss.

Don't announce your crimes ahead of time on the radio, buddy.

The leaders of this society have a deal with the elder gods, sort of like The Cabin in the Woods, except on a more massive scale.

In return for a massive human sacrifice on Purge night they get prosperity for the rest of the year. So basically in Anarchy, the hit squads are basically meeting a quota so that we may live for a year.

One of the members of the New Founding Fathers is Princess Morebucks

C'mon! She started The Purge in Townsville before!

The Purge is a pseudo-sequel to The Running Man

• Think about it. Ben Richards took out The Running Man TV show, and things went back to normal but crime goes up during the next few years. And going by the NFA web site, the first Purge happened in 2017. Who's to say the Food Riot was just the first Purge taking effect?

There are a whole lot of 5-and-under children with birthdays in December.

• Because what else are you going to do if you're not one for going "hunting" during the Purge?
• Not to mention, all of the rape likely going on, especially if the explicitly religious government has made abortion and contraceptives illegal or difficult to access...especially if this is how the population will replenish itself after all the murders going on.
  • Ehh, wouldn't they be in March if the Purge occurs in June?
    • No because the Purge takes place on March 21/22.
    • Thank you for the clarification.

The first Purge or two weren't murder sprees.

For every American who wanted to get their kill on, there must have been 5-10 who heard "nothing is forbidden, everything is permitted" and thought "gee, I've always wanted to smoke some dope/hire two hookers/drive 90 mph on the highway" or other similar crimes. That first night, plenty of people were out doing a wide cross-section of petty crimes and misdemeanors. But the next year, when the bona-fide whackos are sure that the Purge isn't just some trick to get people to incriminate themselves, the blood starts to really flow, with the petty offenders providing a target-rich enviroment for your spree killers and oppourtunity rapists. The 364 days after that are when people really start preparing for a lockdown, leading to the situation as of the film's Purge.

• In addition, the carnage of each Purge probably escalated drastically when people began targeting other people who killed or harmed friends or loved ones. This cycle of revenge and retaliation would likely give motives to people who weren't interested in violence.
• The Crips are a lesser evil now because street gangs have completely reorganised themselves after the Purge. There's one night a year they can go all out with their war and they did, wiping each other out. So they already know that these guys roaming the street aren't actually street gangs, because they're not active the rest of the year. So they've merged against them instead. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the bodies in LA are hired Purgers, not the homeless.
  • The First Purge teaser seems to confirm this. During the test run, people were more interested in partying and other minor crimes so military forces disguised as civilians were sent in to kill people.

The series will be subject to constant Genre Shift.

The first film was Home Invasion, the creators have said the second film will be about people out on the streets trying to survive. At some point, though, we have to start going political thriller, to try to find out more about the Greater-Scope Villain the New Founding Fathers, and after that we'll get a rebellion that will basically create a war movie.

• The Purge: Election Year [1] so yeah it's confirmed.

The sequels will eventually see the duration of the Purge extended.

Likely as part of an anniversary event (the founding of the New America) or as a means of quelling a coming revolution. It will be extended from 12 hours to a day, a week or even longer, and will provide the series with ample amounts of daytime horror.

The benefits of the Purge will wear off over time.

The purge's benefits, especially 1% unemployment, will be subject to diminishing returns, due to the heightened employment being a direct symptom of Purge-related damage. As people get better at preparing for the Purge, the need for extra jobs will decrease, due to the surge of employment being primarily in areas like medicine, construction, and security, added solely due to the injury and destruction caused by the last Purge. Eventually though, people will build better bridges, buildings, and become more personally prepared for the Purge, and the costs will start to outweigh the benefits.

The Purge is a mid-quel to Demolition Man

After the chaos of the riots depicted in the opening sequence of Demolition Man, society continued to collapse as Sandra Bullock later describes. The Purge was initially instituted as an intermediate means to bring the violence and lawlessness under control. However, as the credits to the purge note, it was becoming larger and more successful, and as a result it burned itself out. Only a few years after the Purge film, the violence prone individuals had largely been killed off or sowed their wild oats, and the remainder had become so scarred and traumatized that they renounced violence altogher. This allowed Cocteau to seize power from the rest of the "New Founding Fathers" and institute the reforms that led to the society you see in San Angeles.

One of The Purge sequels (more than likely a Grand Finale), will end with The New American government outright deposed by revolutionists/taken over by a coup, who uses the "nothing is illegal during 12 hours" rule as a means to justify their actions.

It would certainly lead to a delicious Hoist by Their Own Petard/Death by Irony to the New America, but also gives plenty of room for an even bigger Downer Ending than the other Purge films - such as if the new government extends "The Purge" to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, until all of America is obliterated and eviscerated in the process.

• According to The Other Wiki, there are two rules to The Purge: no harming government leaders, and no weapons higher than "class 4" (probably military grade), and anyone who breaks those rules is executed. So no, there can't be an ironic take down. Even if a revolution is successful, there won't be any irony to it.
  • Actually, if we go by that standard, it's still possible. They'd just have to find some clever strategy to pull of the Revolution with lower-grade weapons, and not actually KILL any of the government officials. Lock them in a cell, and when dawn comes, Resistance members are all sitting at their desks, doing their jobs, rewriting some laws...oh, what do ya know, the new laws say that being responsible for something like The Purge is a capital offense...
    • The rebels could just begin their massacre on a day that ISN'T Purge night. From what we see it isn't too hard to get a hold of some SERIOUS firepower (making one wonder what the hell "class 4" weapons are). Considering that the upper classes play idiot-volleyball the rest of the year, a sudden outburst of freedom fighting/terrorism would likely take them wholly by surprise.
• Partially confirmed in Election Year, where members of the NFA vote to get rid of the "government leaders are off-limits" rule in order to justify killing an opposing party's leader and the rebellion uses the opportunity to go after them instead.

The Purge is not a sustainable policy in the long term and will eventually cause a societal collapse.

The violence of each Purge is escalating with each passing year. It is only a matter of time before a large enough group of wackos decide that they don't want to stop all the oh-so-fun murder and mayhem just because it's 7AM and the cops have finally come out to say "time's up." Once that happens, the government will not be able to restore order.

• Anarchy shows signs of this, though the "wackos" in question are in increasingly organized La Résistance whose purpose seems to be turning the tables on the rich. In fact, there's also evidence that it isn't actually working to begin with, if the government needs death squads to meet quota.

The Purge takes place in the same Universe as Battle Royale.

Eventually the government will make participation mandatory.

The sociopaths are cannibalizing each other, reducing the number of people willing to go out on the streets and kill. As for the rich, word will start getting around that the Resistance will assassinate anyone who participates, removing their feeling of security. This will lead to a rapidly decreasing participation rate, until the only way the government can get people to kill each other is to MAKE THEM.

The next film will be about the Resistance breaking someone out of prison.

To keep things fresh they'll want to keep changing environment, and people have already brought up how it's probably hell inside prisons during The Purge. At the same time, they'll also want to stick with the Resistance angle. So, they'll combine the two: the Resistance will need to save someone locked up in prison, and will use the chaos of the next Purge to get him out.

• Why would a prison be hell? Just put everybody in 12 hour cell lockdown. Keep absolutely everybody in their cell for the duration and chances are it's not really any worse than usual. Okay, so your cellie might get ugly, but that's nothing new.

One of the sequels or TV show seasons will be set in Las Vegas

Vegas is "Sin City" and a place with which all sorts of depravity takes place. Add the Purge to it, and it could open up all sorts of story ideas.

The writers read tvtropes.

Anarchy basically addressed every issue this site has brought up (minus the absence of crimes other than murder), and used every idea we've put forward, up to and including the government sending out hit squads to increase the body count.

• ...or they're Tropers themselves!

The Purge is set in the same universe as V for Vendetta (film).

• Interesting thought, since some exposition involves the Brit news talking about how barbaric the United States has become. A sort of True-Propaganda.

A future movie will be about the assassination of a disgraced New Founding Father.

This would make a lot of sense on multiple levels. One of the NFFAs is kicked out of the party, so he's no longer immune to the purge, but still lives in a highly secure manor, because he's still wealthy. The Resistance wants to kill him because it would represent a symbolic victory for them. This would allow for a movie with a more solid goal for the protagonists, while still allowing us to have the level of carnage shown in Anarchy as the guards and Resistance basically have an all-out war. Furthermore, it will allow for a lot more backstory as the target will inevitably be allowed to give a Hannibal Lecture before being put down.

Most companies (especially the wealthier ones) now put a clause in their contracts that shape up to, "If you rob us or come after any of the CEOs on Purge Night, you're fired and blacklisted."

Because honestly, they'd be idiots not to do this. Of course, there are people who don't get caught, but most people probably wouldn't risk it.

There are anti-discrimination laws in place.

Given how The Purge is treated as Serious Business by the government, it seems likely that they passed laws forbidden discrimination against people who participate. This brings both Fridge Brilliance and Fridge Horror to the guy telling the radio host he's going to kill his boss...of course, doesn't stop the boss from being prepared...

"Purge heroes" are a thing.

I.E., people fancy themselves vigilantes, and use the one night of crime being legal to do some good. These people go after murderers who walked, Dirty Cops, child molesters, etc. Most people In-Universe view them as genuine heroes — or at least, the lesser of two evils. For bonus points, a future movie will feature one or several of these vigilantes.

• From a Certain Point of View, Leo was this during The Purge Anarchy, in that he's out that night on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against a man who killed his son. Subverted in that the man only killed Leo's son in a car accident, and Leo forgives and spares him when he finally confronts him, and then Double-Subverted when Leo goes out of his way to save Eva, Cali, Shane and Liz, and brutally takes down the Purgers hunting them, even though it would've been easier to avoid them.
• They'll be hated by those who support the Purge and those who participate to do evil for evil's sake without feeling guilty or worry of the consequences. They considered the idea people participate in the Purge as an excuse to punish evil as blasphemy.
  • Being publicly hated won't stop the Purge heroes' determination to save lives during The Purge.

The Purge will eventually be streamlined into the Hunger Games

The Bikers from The Purge Anarchy will become AscendedExtras in the next Purge movie

The next movie will give expansions on the backgrounds of the Bikers, and will show how they start feeling as the Purge goes on - some may remain PunchClockVillains who only kidnap civilians for the money, others may begin to go Ax-Crazy and actively kill during The Purge, and some may realize what they're doing is completely wrong, and may take a Heel–Face Turn against the other Bikers, either killing off the members who are still evil, or getting killed by their former friends for their betrayal.

The Senator blames herself for her family's deaths.

In the trailer we see a flashback where a killer has her family tied up, and says they're going to play "Mommy's Choice." My guess is he made her pick one member of her family to live, and she chose herself.

• Or she could've picked one, the others were killed then the person she picked was killed too.
• I personally got the impression she was one of the kids, and for whatever reason, her mother chose her over her siblings. There's still potential for guilt, though.

A large number of people stay in

Because The Internet Is for Porn, and they can get whatever they want that night.

Election Year will feature an Expy of Ted Cruz.

It was probably in production too early to feature Donald Trump, but as the only prominent person in our government to ACTUALLY advocate government shutdown as a solution to societal woes, it would be more surprising if Cruz WASN'T portrayed as a New Founding Father.

The Polite Leader's constant smirking and giggling wasn't scripted

• His actor just couldn't keep a straight face while saying his lines, so they just decided to Throw It In!.

The glowing reports about how the Purge has benefited the economy are lies.

There probably is no freedom of the press in the Purge future, and it makes sense for the New Founding Fathers to tell the public that everything is going great. They say that the unemployment rate is extremely low, but there are still homeless people, even with a bunch of them getting murdered every year.

• The sequels confirm this, the government sends out "death squads" to kill people to give the appearance that it is working. the fourth film, a Prequel, shows that the during the test run people were more interested in uninhibited partying and minor crimes over straight up murder and that the government skewed the results by sneaking in military personnel and had them kill people while dressed up as civilians.

Pete from Northern Virginia was killed by his boss on Purge Night.

Unless his boss was incredibly stupid, he probably put two and two together and was expecting Pete that night. If you're planning to kill someone, don't broadcast said plans over coast to coast radio.

Somewhere out there, there are Batman-like vigilantes.

I'm not talking about a bunch of overweight nerds who would get killed on the first day, I'm talking about competent Badass Normal guys who are well trained. Somewhere out there, these men are fighting back and saving people.

• Explored in the Purge TV show, and interestingly one group of these are heroes and one group of these are anti-heroes. The TV show featured two groups of people who, while not in costume, basically engage in vigilante behavior. One is a group of paramedics who illegally provide medical attention to the wounded and who fight back against Purgers doing bad, if encountered. Another is a group of female vigilantes who target men who attempt to harm women during the Purge and brand them so that women they might date know they are rapists/abusers.
• The show also subverts this with Lee Tergesen's character; who is shown as a masked vigilante type rescuing random people from Purgers... only to reveal that they are people who have wronged him or committed unknown slights towards him and that he's only "rescuing" them so he can kill them himself. In other words, he's a villain pretending to be a vigilante.

A future sequel will have police officers taking their weapons, uniforms, vehicles, and equipment and forming their own resistance group during The Purge.

The Polite Leader is an in-universe celebrity.

He stars in a somewhat-popular television drama set in a boarding school or similar, the gang is a bunch of co-stars and extras, and the masks and suits are actually cosplays of his character. The women are dressed like the female lead.

President Roan's attempt to stop the Purge will end up with negative results, even if order is restored after the events of The Forever Purge.

The Purge 5 will open with the Supreme Court kindly explaining to the President that, no, she cannot just overrule a Constitutional Amendment via Executive Action!

• It was never said in the movie that she will use an executive Order to get rid of it, it was said that her first action as a president will be to "work on getting rid of it", so this troper figures that it is a long term thing. But what she could do if there will be another purge before she can stop the purge, she can limit the purge. For example immunise children (who do not participate) and forbid other actions.
  • Then again "we will work on getting rid of x" or words to that effect are politician-speak for "we are not going to get rid of x because we need it around as an issue in the next election" ...

In future sequels, more and more sci-fi elements will be introduced.

The purge immunity laws don't protect most of the action we see, so the government must have arranged broader protections for such behavior.

• Purge immunity only covers purge night itself, so anybody who has engaged in any preparatory acts in advance (buying weapons for purpose of purging, agreeing to purge together) is guilty of conspiracy outside the protected window.
• Also, nearly every crime we see is also a tort, subjecting the perp to civil liability. so all those rich people abducting people to purge are going to be sued into bankruptcy barring broader protections.

The purge won't actually have much effect on human behavior so what we do see going on must be Rule of Drama

• Most crime is either A) impulse crime, from people who lack the willpower to wait for purge night, or B) habitual/relationship crime, which people will do every night except purge night when it's unsafe. So for example there's speculation that there's going to be a lot of extra rape on purge night, but the overwhelming majority of rape is committed by date rapists, marital rapists, etc, people who don't need purge night to do what they are already doing. Given how infrequently rape is prosecuted in American society it's safer to rape outside of purge night. More broadly most common crime (theft etc) has low enough prosecution rates that law enforcement, or lack thereof, is not the driver of criminal behavior (which is instead driven by ingrained socialization).