Editing V for Vendetta (section)

==Plot==
===Book 1: Europe After the Reign===
On Guy Fawkes Night in London in 1997, a financially desperate 16-year-old, Evey Hammond, sexually solicits men who are actually members of the state secret police, called "The Finger". Preparing to rape and kill her, the Fingermen are dispatched by [[V (comics)|V]], a cloaked [[Anarchism|anarchist]] wearing a mask, who later remotely detonates explosives at the [[Palace of Westminster]] before bringing Evey to his [[contraband]]-filled underground lair, the "Shadow Gallery." Evey tells V her life story, which reveals her own past and England's recent history. During a dispute over [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]] in the late 1980s, the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]], under the [[President of the United States|presidency]] of [[Ted Kennedy]], entered a global [[nuclear war]] which left [[continental Europe]] and [[Africa]] uninhabitable. Although [[United Kingdom|Britain]] itself was not bombed due to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government's decision to remove [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom#US nuclear weapons in the UK|American nuclear missiles]], it faced environmental devastation and [[famine]] due to the [[nuclear winter]]. After a period of lawlessness in which Evey's mother died, the remaining [[corporation]]s and [[Fascism|fascist]] groups took over [[England]] and formed a new [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] government, [[Norsefire]]. Evey's father, a former [[Socialism|socialist]], was arrested by the regime.

Meanwhile, Eric Finch, a veteran detective in charge of the regular police force ("The Nose"), begins investigating V's terrorist activities. Finch often communicates with the other top government officials, collectively known as "The Head." These individuals include Derek Almond, who supervises the Finger, and <!-- NOT Sutler:: -->Adam Susan,<!-- ::NOT Sutler --> the reclusive Leader of Norsefire, who obsessively oversees the government's ''Fate'' computer system. Finch's case thickens when V kidnaps Lewis Prothero, a propaganda-broadcasting radio personality, and drives him into a [[mental breakdown]] by forcing him to relive his actions as the commander of a [[Death camp|"resettlement" camp]] near [[Larkhill]] with his treasured doll collection as inmates. Evey agrees to help V with his next assassination by disguising herself as a [[Child prostitution|child prostitute]] to infiltrate the home of Bishop Anthony Lilliman, a <!-- preserve Commonwealth English spelling: Paedophile, not Pedophile: START -->[[paedophile]]<!-- END preserve Commonwealth English spelling: paedophile, not pedophile: --> priest, whom V forces to commit suicide by eating a poisoned [[Sacramental bread|communion wafer]]. He prepares to murder Dr. Delia Surridge, a medical researcher who once had a romance with Finch. Finch suddenly discovers the connection among V's three targets: they all used to work at Larkhill. That night, V kills both Almond and Surridge. Surridge leaves a diary revealing that V—a former inmate and victim of Surridge's cruel medical experiments—destroyed and fled the camp and is now eliminating the camp's former officers for what they did. Finch reports these findings to Susan, and suspects that this vendetta may actually be a cover for V, who, he worries, may be plotting an even bigger terrorist attack.

===Book 2: This Vicious Cabaret===
Four months later, V breaks into Jordan Tower, the home of Norsefire's propaganda department, "the Mouth"—led by Roger Dascombe—to broadcast a speech that calls on the people to resist the government. V escapes using an elaborate diversion that results in Dascombe's death. Finch is soon introduced to Peter Creedy, the Finger's new head, who provokes Finch to strike him and thus get sent on a forced vacation. Evey takes shelter at the house of a man named Gordon, who found her on the street. While originally platonic, they eventually build a romantic relationship. Evey and Gordon unknowingly cross paths with Rose Almond, the widow of the recently killed Derek. After Derek's death, Rose had reluctantly begun a relationship with Dascombe. With both of her lovers murdered, she is forced to perform demoralising burlesque work, increasing her hatred of the unsupportive government.

When a Scottish gangster named Ally Harper murders Gordon, a vengeful Evey interrupts a meeting between Harper and Creedy, the latter of whom is buying the support of Harper's thugs in preparation for a [[coup d'état]]. Evey attempts to shoot Harper but is suddenly abducted and then imprisoned. Amidst interrogation and [[torture]], Evey finds an old letter hidden in her cell by an inmate named Valerie Page, a film actress who was imprisoned and executed for being a lesbian and documented her experiences in the letter.

Evey's interrogator finally gives her a choice of collaboration or death; inspired by Valerie's letter, Evey refuses to collaborate and, expecting to be executed, is instead told that she is free. Stunned, Evey learns that her supposed imprisonment is a hoax constructed by V so that she could experience an ordeal similar to the one that shaped him at Larkhill. He reveals that Valerie was a real Larkhill prisoner who died in the cell next to his and that the letter is not a fake. Evey forgives V, who has hacked into the government's ''Fate'' computer system and started emotionally manipulating Adam Susan with [[mind games]]. Consequently, Susan, who has formed a bizarre romantic attachment to the computer, begins to descend into madness.

===Book 3: The Land of Do-As-You-Please===
The following 5 November (1998), V blows up the [[BT Tower|Post Office Tower]] and Jordan Tower, killing "the Ear" leader Brian Etheridge, in addition to effectively shutting down three government agencies: the Eye, the Ear, and the Mouth. Creedy's men and Harper's associated street gangs violently suppress the subsequent wave of revolutionary fervor from the public. V notes to Evey that he has not yet achieved what he calls the "[[The Magic Faraway Tree (novel)#Lands in the Book|Land of Do-as-You-Please]]," meaning a functional [[anarchy|anarchistic]] society, and considers the current [[chaos theory|chaotic]] situation an interim period of "[[The Enchanted Wood (novel)#Lands in the book|Land of Take-What-You-Want]]." Finch has been mysteriously absent, and his young assistant, Dominic Stone, one day realises that V has been influencing the ''Fate'' computer all along, which explained V's consistent foresight. All the while, Finch has been travelling to the abandoned site of Larkhill, where he takes [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] to conjure up memories of his own devastating past and to put his mind in the role of a prisoner of Larkhill, like V, to help give him an intuitive understanding of V's experiences. Returning to London, Finch suddenly deduces that V's lair is inside the abandoned [[London Victoria station|Victoria Station]], which he enters.

V takes Finch by surprise, resulting in a scuffle that sees Finch shoot V, and V wounds Finch with a knife. V claims that he cannot be killed since he is only an idea and that "ideas are bulletproof"; regardless, V is indeed mortally wounded and returns to the Shadow Gallery deeper within, dying in Evey's arms. Evey considers unmasking V but decides not to, realising that V is not an identity but a symbol. She then assumes V's identity, donning one of his spare costumes. Finch sees the large amount of blood that V has left in his wake and deduces that he has mortally wounded V. Occurring concurrently to this, Creedy has been pressuring Susan to appear in public, hoping to leave him exposed. Sure enough, as Susan stops to shake hands with Rose during a parade, she shoots him in the head in vengeance for the death of her husband and the life she has had to lead since then. Following Rose's arrest, Creedy assumes emergency leadership of the country, and Finch emerges from the subway proclaiming V's death.

Due to his LSD-induced epiphany, Finch leaves his position within "the Nose." The power struggle between the remaining leaders results in all of their deaths: Harper betrays and kills Creedy at the behest of Helen Heyer (wife of "the Eye" leader Conrad Heyer, who had outbid Creedy for Harper's loyalty), and Harper and Conrad Heyer kill each other during a fight precipitated by Heyer's discovery that his wife Helen had had an affair with Harper.

With the fate of the top government officials unknown to the public, Stone acts as leader of the police forces deployed to ensure that the riots are contained should V remain alive and make his promised public announcement. Evey appears to a crowd, dressed as V, announcing the destruction of [[10 Downing Street]] the following day and telling the crowd they must ''"...choose what comes next. Lives of your own, or a return to chains"'', whereupon a general [[Insurgency|insurrection]] begins. Evey destroys 10 Downing Street<ref>{{Cite comic|writer=[[Alan Moore|Moore, Alan]]|penciller=[[David Lloyd (comics)|Lloyd, David]]|story=V for Vendetta|title=V for Vendetta|volume=10|date=May 1989|publisher=[[DC Comics]]|page=28|panel=6}}</ref> by blowing up an [[London Underground|Underground]] train containing V's body in the style of an explosive [[Viking funeral]]. She abducts Stone, apparently to train him as her successor to make sure people like Susan will never hold power ever again. The comic ends with Finch quietly observing the chaos raging in the city and walking down an abandoned motorway whose lights have all gone out.

===Norsefire government===
{{main|Norsefire}}
The highest-level officials in the Norsefire government form a council known as "The Head." The five individual departments are named after sensory organs or appendages that reference their functions.

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
|+Norsefire government officials in ''V for Vendetta''
|-
! Branch
! Head
! Eye
! Ear
! Nose
! Finger
! Mouth
|-
! Function
| Leadership
| Video Surveillance
| Audio Surveillance
| Investigative<br/>(New Scotland Yard)
| Executive<br/>(Secret Police)
| Propaganda{{efn|The Voice of ''Fate'' as broadcast by the Mouth was provided by Lewis Prothero, former commander of Larkhill Resettlement Camp, driven incurably insane by V in Book 1, Chapter 5.}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | Leader
| rowspan="2" | <!--Head-->Adam James Susan{{efn|name=AJS}}
| rowspan="2" | <!--Eye-->Conrad Heyer{{efn|name=CH}}
| rowspan="2" | <!--Ear-->Brian 'Bunny' Etheridge{{efn|name=BBE}}
| rowspan="2" | <!--Nose-->Eric Finch{{efn|Assisted by Dominic Stone, who fills as leader of The Nose in for Finch during the latter's forced holiday after Finch was goaded into striking Peter Creedy.}}
| <!--Finger-->Derek Almond{{efn|name=DA}}
| rowspan="2" | <!--Mouth-->Roger Dascombe{{efn|name=RD}}
|-
| <!--Finger-->Peter Creedy{{efn|Temporarily elevated to Emergency Commander in the wake of Susan's death.}}{{efn|name=PC}}
|-
! Partner
| <!--Head-->''Fate''{{efn|As explained in Bk 1 Ch 5.}}
| <!--Eye-->Helen Heyer{{efn|name=HH|Abandoned by Finch to "louts" at the conclusion of Bk 3 Ch 11.}}
| <!--Ear-->Mrs. Etheridge
| <!--Nose-->Delia Anne Surridge{{efn|Medical researcher at Larkhill. Poisoned by V in Bk 1 Ch 10.}}
| <!--Finger-->Rosemary Almond
| <!--Mouth-->—{{efn|Dascombe pressures the widowed Rosemary Almond into a relationship.}}
|-
! rowspan=2 | Dies
| rowspan=2 | <!--Head-->Bk 3 Ch 7{{efn|name=AJS|Shot by Rosemary Almond.}}
| rowspan=2 | <!--Eye-->Bk 3 Ch 10{{efn|name=CH|Abandoned by Helen Heyer to exsanguinate following struggle with Ally Harper, gangster from Scotland.}}
| rowspan=2 | <!--Ear-->Bk 3 Prologue{{efn|name=BBE|Dies in explosion of Post Office Tower.}}
| rowspan=2 | <!--Nose-->—
| <!--Finger-->(Almond) Bk 1 Ch 10{{efn|name=DA|Stabbed by V when confronted at Dr. Surridge's apartment.}}
| rowspan=2 | <!--Mouth-->Bk 2 Ch 4{{efn|name=RD|Shot by Fingermen as a decoy.}}
|-
| <!--Finger-->(Creedy) Bk 3 Ch 8{{efn|name=PC|Killed by Ally Harper using a straight razor.}}
|}

;Notes
{{notelist|25em}}