History Main / RevolutionariesWhoDontDoAnything

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': Robert Freeman was shown to have been this during the civil rights movement, shown in several flashbacks where he either missed various sit-ins or where he did actually do something...But was overshadowed by a more well-known figure.

A very common trait of the NewAgeRetroHippie and the BourgeoisBohemian. They differ from the RuleAbidingRebel in that not only may they very well break the law and be genuinely rebellious, they also usually have a political goal in mind rather than just playing at being a rebel. Sometimes they may be a SoapboxSadie but usually that involves more actual activism. In some cases this may be a result of TheManIsStickingItToTheMan. Portrayals can range from affectionate SelfParody to active [[StrawCharacter straw-manning]], and everything in between. Please note that a character must actually fancy themselves a revolutionary or a radical who will end the status quo or overthrow the government; a character simply showing verbal support for a radical movement but not actively claiming to be a part of it does not count. It also doesn't count if they do actually do something but for [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist the wrong reasons]], or are upset with the final outcome.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Gert Yorkes professes to be a radical leftist, but is never really seen doing anything radical beyond being rude to adults.

* In the take on the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' by Creator/AAPessimal, Reg Shoe makes many cameo appearances as a theoretical revolutionary. He meets another misfit who joins the City Watch, in this case a [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong former revolutionary idealist from Far Überwald]]. Irena Politek is saved from being a SoapboxSadie by first having undergone Witch training in Lancre where she discovered stolid Lancre farmers are not impressed by talk of forming soviet collective farms, and punch great holes in her ideals. Irena then meets Reg Shoe where she realises that while people like her ''could'' win a Revolution, it would be people like Reg, stuffed full of theory and ideals, who would then try to win the peace afterwards and make it work. Irena is no longer a communist revolutionary.

* In the British comedy show ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' we have Rick who calls himself The People's Poet and pretends to be a far left radical whose poems will inspire the people to revolt. In reality he's actually pretty far right leaning and he's considered a pompous ass.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Multiple episodes throughout the shows run will build up the supposed resistance against the oppressive regime of the episode, only for them to turn out to be an ineffectual group who do almost nothing (or sometimes genuinely nothing) to actually fight the oppression. Granted this is usually down less to them being incompetent or hypocrites, over simply being to outmatched, thus the Doctor is able to galvanise them into something far more effective.

* On a sketch on ''Series/ThankGodYoureHere'', Bob Franklin found himself thrust into the role of a revolutionary leader. While his followers where certainly ready to act, Bob himself kept sidetracking the uprising with all sorts of irrelevancies and general reluctance to do anything.
* This is basically the whole point of ''Series/CitizenSmith''. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an urban Marxist revolutionary on the verge of bringing "power to the people", in emulation of his hero UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, whose plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually accomplishes anything revolutionary, namely hijacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck - and using it to storm Westminster, his victory is immediately undercut when he finds the Parliament has already disbanded for Summer recess.

* In ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'', while many of the characters fit this to some degree, most critics argue that Collins, being from an upper middle class background with the skills and connections to make a living himself, is probably the most egregious example.

* Sergio from ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'' is an ex-Cuban revolutionary who knows his way around bombs and "[[MurderIsTheBestSolution taking care of people]]." Despite that, though, he is generally laid-back, doesn't espouse his beliefs often and is willing to do various odd jobs for Izzy, a billionaire.

* Sometimes invoked with Mr Small in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''; in one particular episode he was openly called out on the fact that his efforts to be environmentally friendly will still have a negative environmental impact.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': Robert Freeman was shown to have been this during the civil rights movement, shown in several flashbacks where he either missed various sit ins, or where he did actually do something....But was overshadowed by a more well known figure.

* In the take on the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' by Creator/AAPessimal, Reg Shoe makes many cameo appearances as a theoretical revolutionary. He meets another misfit who joins the City Watch, in this case a [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong former revolutionary idealist from Far Überwald]]. Irena Politek is saved from being a SoapboxSadie by first having undergone Witch training in Lancre. Where she discovered stolid Lancre farmers are not impressed by talk of forming soviet collective farms, and punch great holes in her ideals. Irena then meets Reg Shoe.Where she realises that while people like her ''could'' win a Revolution, it would be people like Reg, stuffed full of theory and ideals, who would then try to win the peace afterwards and make it work. Irena is no longer a communist revolutionary.

* This is basically the whole point of ''Series/CitizenSmith''. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an an urban Marxist revolutionary on the verge of bringing "power to the people", in emulation of his hero UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, whose plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually accomplishes anything revolutionary, namely hijacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck - and using it to storm Westminster, his victory is immediately undercut when he finds the Parliament has already disbanded for Summer recess.

* ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'' features a few, including Fritz himself, though to his credit in the movie he did start a riot calling for people to rise up against 'The Bosses'. The original comics were even more blatant about this, with him being described as a poser who's posturing was taken seriously by everyone around him.
* Sometimes invoked with Mr Small in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', in one particular episode he was openly called out on the fact that his efforts to be environmentally friendly will still have a negative environmental impact.

* In ''Film/HailCaesar'', the Communist writers who kidnap Hollywood star Baird Whitlock are ultimately rather ineffectual. They don't do worse to him than speak for hours about Communist theory, screw up their attempt to deliver money to Russia, and their scheme to sow anti-capitalist themes in their scripts and with Baird's speeches shows itself to be faulty as Baird can barely even sustain a good take on set. They are implied they are arrested at the end of the film before doing anything substantial.

* Sergio from ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'' is an ex-Cuban revolutionary who knows his way around bombs and "[[MurderIsTheBestSolution taking care of people]]." Despite that, though, he is generally laid-back and is willing to do various odd jobs for Izzy, a billionaire.

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* ''The Hard Times'', a satire online publication centered around various alternative music scenes, features this a lot in their articles, including [[https://thehardtimes.net/culture/punk-upset-constant-anti-capitalism-rants-result-in-third-consecutive-birthday-with-no-gifts/ Punk Upset Constant Anti-Capitalism Rants Result in Third Consecutive Birthday with No Gifts]] and [[https://thehardtimes.net/culture/5-powerful-ways-to-help-end-child-detention-without-getting-too-involved-youre-a-busy-person-we-get-it/ 5 Powerful Ways to Help End Child Detention Without Getting Too Involved. You're a Busy Person, We Get It]]

A very common trait of the NewAgeRetroHippie and the BourgeoisBohemian. They differ from the RuleAbidingRebel in that not only may they very well break the law and be genuinely rebellious, they also usually have a political goal in mind rather than just playing at being a rebel. Sometimes they may be a SoapboxSadie but usually that involves more actual activism. In some cases this may be a result of TheManIsStickingItToTheMan. Portrayals can range from affectionate SelfParody to active [[StrawCharacter straw-manning]], and everything in between. Please note that a character must actually fancy themselves a revolutionary or a radical who will end the status quo or overthrow the government, a character simply showing verbal support for a radical movement but not actively claiming to be a part of it does not count. It also doesn't count if they do actually do something but for [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist the wrong reasons]], or are upset with the final outcome.

* In the British comedy show ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' we have Rick who calls himself The People's Poet and pretends to be a far left radical who's poems will inspire the people to revolt. In reality he's actually pretty far right leaning and he's considered a pompous ass.

While [[TruthInTelevision this is a thing]] in RealLife, for very obvious reasons, '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''.

While this is a thing in real life, for very obvious reasons Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

* In ''Film/HailCaesar'', the Communist writers who kidnap Hollywood star Baird Whitlock are ultimately rather ineffectual. They don't do worse to him than speak for hours about Communist theory, screw up their attempt to deliver money to Russia, and their scheme to sow anti-capitalist themes in their scripts and with Baird's speeches shows itself to be faulty as Baird can barely even sustain a good take on set.

These guys are not that. Maybe they spend more time [[WeAreStrugglingTogether squabbling amongst themselves]] than fighting the Bourgeoisie, maybe they're too concerned with [[NavelGazing analyzing theory]], maybe they decided [[ActualPacifist forcing people to adopt their way of life goes against their moral code]], maybe they're not actually revolutionaries at all, maybe they're only using 'The Cause' for their own personal benefit. More often than not they just [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority wanna look cool]]. Whatever the case, they just don't do anything super productive, even when given an opportunity to do so. Most option their involvement in politics usually amounts to posturing. Often times in their heads they may see themselves as a part of LaResistance (and more comedic examples of these do fall into this trope), though sometimes they are fully aware they aren't actually doing anything and are fine with that. Commonly, these characters may be students.

This trope should also not be confused with PiratesWhoDontDoAnything, which refers to when a character has a job they are never seen doing. This trope is for people claiming to belong to a radical group but who never do anything radical.

** Reg Shoe first appears as an activist for Undead Rights in ''Discworld/ReaperMan''. Here he is a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie]] whose life after death is fuelled by a burning sense of social justice and a revolutionary zeal. His backstory is filled in in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' where it is revealed that in life he was a revolutionary idealist whose life was filled with ideals of leading the glorious People's Revolution. Sam Vimes discovers he is so hung up on the ''theory'' of a revolution that he is utterly incapable of putting it into practice.
** In ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'', there is a revolution going on to remove the corrupt and cruel regime. But as Rincewind (who's been dragged into this very much against his will) points out, they don't do anything except put up posters with inoffensive slogans (they can't get it into their heads to do anything uncivil) and don't even know what they're trying to obtain: when Rincewind wants to know if they asked a rice farmer what he wants out of the revolution, they just look confused (for the record, the rice farmer would like a longer string to hold a pooping water buffalo). And then it turns out the entire revolution was orchestrated in the first place by a noble aiming for the throne. [[SpannerInTheWorks Fortunately, Cohen the Barbarian was also around...]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': For all her anti-capitalist and anti-government sentiments, Haley Smith doesn't seem to do much in the way of revolutionary actions, but she at least occasionally protests. Her (sometimes) boyfriend is a more obvious example, seeing as how he does very little aside from getting high.

* In the take on the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' by Creator/AAPessimal, Reg Shoe makes many cameo appearances as a theoretical revolutionary. He meets another misfit who joins the City Watch, in this case a [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong former revolutionary idealist from Far Aberwald]]. Irena Politek is saved from being a SoapboxSadie by first having undergone Witch training in Lancre. Where she discovered stolid Lancre farmers are not impressed by talk of forming soviet collective farms, and punch great holes in her ideals. Irena then meets Reg Shoe.Where she realises that while people like her ''could'' win a Revolution, it would be people like Reg, stuffed full of theory and ideals, who would then try to win the peace afterwards and make it work. Irena is no longer a communist revolutionary.

* Reg Shoe in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' first appears as an activist for Undead Rights in ''Discworld/ReaperMan''. here he is a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie]] whose life after death is fuelled by a burning sense of social justice and a revolutionary zeal. His backstory is filled in in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' where it is revealed that in life he was a revolutionary idealist whose life was filled with ideals of leading the glorious People's Revolution. Sam Vimes discovers he is so hung up on the ''theory'' of a revolution that he is utterly incapable of putting it into practice.

* This is basically the whole point of ''Series/CitizenSmith''. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an an urban Marxist revolutionary on the verge of bringing "power to the people", in emulation of his hero UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, who's plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually accomplishes anything revolutionary namely hijacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck, and using it to storm Westminster his victory is immediately undercut by the discovery Parliament has already disbanded for Summer Recces.

* Reg Shoe in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' first appears as an activist for Undead Rights in ''Discworld/ReaperMan''. here he is a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie]] whose life after death is fuelled by a burning sense of social justice and a revolutionary zeal. His backstory is filled in in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' where it is reealed that in life he was a revolutionary idealist whose life was filled with ideals of leading the glorious People's Revolution. Sam Vimes discovers he is so hung up on the ''theory'' of a revolution that he is utterly incapable of putting it into practice.

** "The Sun Makers": The resistance are (initially) presented as a bunch of barely organised thugish individuals, who spend all their time hiding from [[MegaCorp The Company]]and bickering amongst themselves.
** "State Of Decay": Whilst a brilliant scientist, who has successfully managed to get the alien tech working again, Kalmar is presented as a timid and ineffectual leader, who continues to insist that despite their numbers the resistance must wait for so vaguely defined point in the future when they will be ready to fight back. This infuriates the other members, many of whom are losing their families to the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent the three who rule]]. It takes the Doctor revealing the last [[VampireMonarch Great Vampire]] is about to be awakened for him to agree to finally act.
** "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel": The Preachers, led by Ricky, are fairly well organized and do have a smattering of competence in gathering information and reconnaissance. But they are completely hopeless at any sort of direct action against Cybus Industries, and Ricky's reputation as "Britain's Most Wanted" is greatly exaggerated (he's most wanted...for parking tickets).

* This is basically the whole point of ''Series/CitizenSmith''. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an an urban maxist revolutionary on the verge of brining "power to the people", in emulation of his hero UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, who's plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually acomplishes anything revolutionary namely hijacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck, and using it to storm Westminster his victory is immediately undercut by the discovery Parliament has already disbanded for Summer Recces.

* [[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks Robert Freeman]] was shown to have been this during the civil rights movement, shown in several flashbacks where he either missed various sit ins, or where he did actually do something....But was overshadowed by a more well known figure.
* For all her anti-capitalist and anti-government sentiments, Haley Smith from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' doesn't seem to do much in the way of revolutionary actions, but she at least occasionally protests. Her (sometimes) boyfriend is a more obvious example, seeing as how he does very little aside from getting high.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'', while many of the characters fit this to some degree, most critics argue that Collins, being from an upper middle class background with the skills and connections to make a living himself, is probably the most egregious example.

[[AC: Comic Books]]

[[AC: Fan Works]]

[[AC: Film]]

[[AC: Literature]]

** In InterestingTimes, there is a revolution going on to remove the corrupt and cruel regime. But as Rincewind (who's been dragged into this very much against his will) points out, they don't do anything except put up posters with inoffensive slogans (they can't get it into their heads to do anything uncivil) and don't even know what they're trying to obtain: when Rincewind wants to know if they asked a rice farmer what he wants out of the revolution, they just look confused (for the record, the rice farmer would like a longer string to hold a pooping water buffalo). And then it turns out the entire revolution was orchestrated in the first place by a noble aiming for the throne. [[SpannerInTheWorks Fortunately, Cohen the Barbarian was also around...]]

[[AC: Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Multiple episodes throughout the shows run will build up the supposed resistance against the oppressive regime of the episode, only for them to turn out to be an ineffectual group who do almost nothing (or sometimes genuinally nothing) to actually fight the oppression. Granted this is usually down less to them being incompetent or hypocrites, over simply being to outmatched, thus the Doctor is able to galvanise them into something far more effective.
** The Sun Makers: The resistance are (initially) presented as a bunch of barely organised thugish individuals, who spend all their time hiding from [[MegaCorp The Company]]and bickering amongst themselves.
** State Of Decay: Whilst a brilliant scientist, who has successfully managed to get the alien tech working again, Kalmar is presented as a timid and ineffectual leader, who continues to insist that despite their numbers the resistance must wait for so vaguely defined point in the future when they will be ready to fight back. This infuriates the other members, many of whom are losing their families to the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent the three who rule]]. It takes the Doctor revealing the last [[VampireMonarch Great Vampire]] is about to be awakened for him to agree to finally act.
** Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel: The Preachers, led by Ricky, are fairly well organized and do have a smattering of competence in gathering information and reconnaissance. But they are completely hopeless at any sort of direct action against Cybus Industries, and Ricky's reputation as "Britain's Most Wanted" is greatly exaggerated (he's most wanted...for parking tickets).

* Series/{{Yonderland}}: Despite supposedly being the front line force against [[EvilOverlord Imperatrix]]'s tyranny and created a network of secret tunnels beneath her lands, the resistance are presented as a bunch of layabouts, who spend all their time eating rich food, drinking wine and discussing politics. This infuriates Debbie when she finally meets them. Thankfully this inspires them to actually act, with them successfully rescuing her from Imperatrix's goons at the end.

* This is basically the whole point of Series/CitizenSmith. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an an urban maxist revolutionary on the verge of brining "power to the people", in emulation of his hero UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, who's plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually acomplishes anything revolutionary namely hyjacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck, and using it to storm Westminster his victory is immediately undercut by the discovery Parliament has alrady disbanded for Summer Recces.

[[AC: Theatre]]

[[AC: Video Games]]
* VideoGame/{{Deponia}}: The sequel Chaos on Deponia has a group of revolutionaries that are all talk and no action. Naturally, Rufus needs to change that as part of solving his own problem.

[[AC: Web Originals]]
* The Hard Times, a satire online publication centered around various alternative music scenes, features this a lot in their articles, including [[https://thehardtimes.net/culture/punk-upset-constant-anti-capitalism-rants-result-in-third-consecutive-birthday-with-no-gifts/ Punk Upset Constant Anti-Capitalism Rants Result in Third Consecutive Birthday with No Gifts]] and [[https://thehardtimes.net/culture/5-powerful-ways-to-help-end-child-detention-without-getting-too-involved-youre-a-busy-person-we-get-it/ 5 Powerful Ways to Help End Child Detention Without Getting Too Involved. You're a Busy Person, We Get It]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* The Resisty from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' are shown to have shades of this, though to their credit they did come close to destroying The Massive, if only because Zim inadvertently helped them.

While this is a thing in real life, for very obvious reasons NoRealLifeExamples.

* This is basically the whole point of Series/CitizenSmtih. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an an urban maxist revolutionary on the verge of brining "power to the people", in emulation of his hero UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, who's plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually acomplishes anything revolutionary namely hyjacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck, and using it to storm Westminster his victory is immediately undercut by the discovery Parliament has alrady disbanded for Summer Recces.

While this is a thing in real life, for very obvious reasons no real life examples, please.

* This is basically the whole point of Series/CitizenSmtih. In his own mind "Wolfie" Smith is the leader of the Tooting People's Front, an an urban maxist revolutionary on the verge of brining "power to the people", in emulation of his hero Che Guevara. In reality the Tooting Popular Front is entirely composed of the small group of his friends who humour him, and Wolfie is an unemployed dreamer and small time criminal, who's plans never go anywhere due to laziness or poor organisation. The one time in the series he actually acomplishes anything revolutionary namely hyjacking a Scorpion Tank - which itself was mostly down to luck, and using it to storm Westminster his victory is immediately undercut by the discovery Parliament has alrady disbanded for Summer Recces.