Basic Trope: There is a revolution against an existing government. The revolution is unambiguously the good side, and the existing government is unambiguously the bad side.
- Straight: Bob is leading a revolution against a tyrannical Empire.
- Exaggerated:
- The Rebellion only ever does good things while The Empire is an Obviously Evil entity which does not have a single redeeming quality.
- Every character who is with The Rebellion is heroic, and every character who is with The Empire is evil.
- Downplayed:
- The rebellion and the overall cause is opposed to the old regime but because they don't want to fracture the nation or cause violence, they seek to compromise, reach at consensus with moderate members of the old order, and try to peacefully enforce a transition. If successful, can lead to a Velvet Revolution.
- The Rebellion are guilty of some Dirty Business themselves and some of those who stand with The Empire are less of a monster than others, but when comparing the two, it’s clear that despite said controversial actions in the name of the cause, the rebels are still unambiguously doing the right thing in ridding the world of the tyrannical government they oppose.
- Justified: The existing regime is really corrupt, deeply unpopular and commits atrocities with impunity, leaving the people to live in Crapsack World. The revolution and rebellion includes characters who oppose the regime for coherent, logical and compelling reasons rather than an innate sense of self-righteousness. Will often include neutral characters who are otherwise apolitical (and so an Audience Stand-In) who finally decides to take a stand. Most common type in both fictional and historical settings.
- Inverted: The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized
- Subverted:
- The revolution is opposing an evil regime but it turns out that the evil nature of the regime was inspired by long terms problems with no short-term solutions and so the revolution on coming to power adopts practises similar to the evil regime, and leads to a Full-Circle Revolution and Meet the New Boss.
- The Empire is only evil in rebel propaganda.
- Double Subverted:
- However, it turns out that the reason there's no short term solutions to the Empire's problems is because of massive unexposed internal corruption. Once the rebels seize power, they eventually dispose of the people creating conflicts of interest and begin to rule more justly.
- ...that turns out to be completely accurate.
- Parodied: The Empire is commanded by the most Obviously Evil Big Bad imaginable, and his mooks walk around the streets indiscriminately killing, while the noble patriot rebels cry tears of only pure gold and are surrounded by a choir of national anthem-belting angels wherever they go.
- Zig Zagged: The Revolution starts out nobly but enters into difficulties because of internal factionalism, descends into violence and eventually succeeds by making massive compromises with the old Empire, that turns away many of its former supporters who consider the leaders to be sell-outs. In this case, different factions in the revolution agree that the revolution was necessary, the Empire was bad and no one wants to return to the old form of government but they disagree on who should wait in line before getting a say in the new regime, and what means they should use to cut the guy in front of them, get a bigger slice or the whole cake. Not to mention the faction who argues that The Cake Is a Lie.
- Averted: The Empire is so evil you assume that there should be budding noble revolutionaries around the corner right? The plucky farm boys who dream of rising against the evil dictator and fulfill that prophecy? There ain't. The population has no access to the skills needed (literacy, military training, Phlebotinum, secret destiny) to mount the revolution, the various social classes and castes are played against each other, the government uses Bread and Circuses so skillfully that people don't think about their conditions, and every so often, the leader will introduce reforms and good works, such as building monuments, schools and parks, that make people believe that the Empire is good. The Revolutionaries will be seen as terrorists and have zero popular support, and there is no Heroic Bystander to protect him from the Secret Police because the Empire has the public's "hearts and minds". So yes, The Bad Guy Wins big time.
- Enforced: "The People's Democratic Republic of Troperland will censor our film if we portray their revolution as anything less than sparkling, so don't show any Rebels acting naughty. The audience doesn't need to know about the Troperman Square Massacre."
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Once the Revolution succeeds, they create a Propaganda Machine that features national anthems, national monuments, nationalistic plays, books, movies and songs that talk about how the Revolution against the Empire was totally a good thing. Expect no mention of contradictions, deeper issues, context or the lives lost to achieved said glory.
- Exploited: Powerful elites who seek power for themselves use their influence in the media to paint the rebels as heroes, so they can plan a Staged Populist Uprising.
- Defied: The Rebels are unambiguously the bad guys.
- Discussed: "In a totalitarian regime, the people who protect you, treat you nicely and help you without indoctrination or ideological demands feels like the group with the better and more sensible cause. Nice people are crucial to the success of the world revolution, comrade!"
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed:
- Despite their noble facade, the revolution is ultimately driven by pragmatism and cynicism under the worst conditions of Wretched Hive.
- There are tensions between moderate, radical and centrist elements within the party, the leaders try and maintain consensus by charisma and authority, and ensures that the project doesn't collapse by playing different elements against each other so as to maintain his power. The leadership and many lower-level participants are driven by selfish motivations such as career and social upliftment, wealth and vanity, the Rebellion indulges in propaganda, violence and the support of shady characters (such as businessmen who seek favorable deals in the new order, black marketeers, saboteurs, criminals, mercenaries) to achieve their noble aims, and may qualify as A Lighter Shade of Gray or the Gray in a Black-and-Gray Morality equation at best.
- Naturally in any revolution, there are winners and losers and history is Written by the Winners, so everyone gets to be made purer, nicer and more popular than they really were. They may be better than The Empire but that doesn't mean they are necessarily good people.
- The rebels succeed in their goals, but absolutely none of them are equipped to take over the newly created kingdom. In the end, the revolution causes more problems than it solves, and the peasants blame the rebellion for the whole thing.
- Reconstructed: The Revolutionaries may be incompetent, naive, violent and self-destructive, but their cause is noble and The Empire will always be a problem in the long run that must be opposed in some fashion or the other. Learn from old mistakes, try not to repeat them but follow their example and "move forward into broad, sunlit uplands." The result? A Heel–Face Town with Post-Scarcity Economy.
- Played For Laughs: The revolution is well-intentioned and little else. Nothing truly sensible and logical is implemented to achieve the fruition of the cause, the rebels are not brave and determined but either naive, ignorant or incompetent. If they gain the notice of The Empire it's by accident rather than any real political or military achievement and once they come to power they are so bad at the job that the population starts seeing the Empire with Nostalgia Filter because hey, they made the trains run on time.
- Played For Drama: Fighting the Empire is all that matters. Every other consideration is irrelevant. Fight without thinking of what government you want, without consideration of tactics, competence, organization and structure. Everyone who dies is a martyr even if it's a Senseless Sacrifice, and if we win, we can worry about what to do later, after all we have the luxury of time and don't have to worry about The Remnant and inevitable counter-revolution, leave alone asking if the people are on board with us? The cause is just, that's what matters.
Back to The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified.
