Markup View

Author: hszmv1

May 15th 2017 at 9:47:38 AM

I would say the difference between the Gaia's Avenger seems to have some tangential connection to nature (i.e. Plant Person or BeastMan) that gives them either a legit calling from Gaia OR a reasonable WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity reasoning that this is the will of Mother Earth... Eco-Terrorists are more self-appointed (and more mundane) and can show up equally in a SpeculativeWork or a more realistic work (i.e. Poison Ivy in Batman often acts like an  Eco-Terrorist, but there was a KingOfTheHill episode that dealt with the arson of an Auto-dealership, which is a RealLife act of Eco-Terrorism).

Related, Eco-Terrorism is generally thought of as not having hierarchy structures (that is, there is no Osama bin Laden of Eco-Terrorism, ordering cells to carry out acts.).  They are generally organized into a few grassroots cells that favor a direct approach.  It's not uncommon for an Eco-Terrorist organization to have cross-membership with an environmental organization that would in no way condone the use of violence in the name of Environmentalism.  This can create all sorts of UnfortunateImplications if for such a group if such a connection is established as it can lead to confusion about said group's actual work and lead to accusations that such a group is in favor of eco-terrorism.   I would say that is a good reason for a NoRealLifeExamples BUT this needs to have the qualification that it does occur in Real Life (Real Life tactics might be a good thing to note here, as it can help to further qualify a more realistic portrayal.).

Often, TheHero will find him on the receiving end of this accusation, especially if the work is prone to GreenAesops.  One of the common spoofs of CaptainPlanet puts Cap in the role of Eco-Terrorist (not that they weren't immune from this in the show, as I recalled that there was on episode where the Planeteers or Captain Planet was arrested... though it could have been for something else, my memory was that it was related to eco-terrorism when they happened to be by standards).