Full-Circle Revolution: Difference between revisions

 

== Comic Books ==

** Executed subtly in ''Tintin and the Picaros'': during the course of the book, the heroes help Tintin's friend General Alcazar overthrow the despotic General Tapioca from the leadership of [[Banana Republic|San Theodoros]] (mostly because said despot imprisioned Madame Castafiore and sentenced Thomson and Thompson to death). However, the penultimate panel of the book is almost a carbon copy of an earlier one (showing soldiers patrolling a slum filled with starving people), only a sign now reads "Viva Alcazar" instead of "Viva Tapioca" and the police's uniforms are slightly different, hinting that nothing important has changed.<br /><br />Also, Alcazar wants to execute a whole lot of people, starting with Tapioca of course, and is only kept in bay because Tintin is his [[Morality Pet]], showing that Alcazar and Tapioca are as bad as each other. Tapioca actually consoles Alcazar over being stopped -that is, ''the man who just overthrew him and wants to shoot him.'' Similarly, the only reason Tintin became Alcazar's friend in the first place was because he ended up as his lieutenant. A few hours of slippage and he could have ended up as Tapioca's lieutenant just as easily.

** Earlier books such as ''Broken Ear'' would depict Alcazar and Tapioca committing ''multiple'' coups on a ''daily'' basis against each other.

 

== [[Fan Fiction]] ==

 

== Film ==

== Literature ==

* [[William Butler Yeats]]' poem "The Great Day": "Hurrah for revolution and more cannon shot!/A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot./Hurrah for revolution, and cannon come again!/The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on."

* Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'':

** And previously to that, in ''Interesting Times'', when Rincewind refuses to help the communist rebels against the Agatean Empire, one of the things he points out is that their plans amount to setting up exactly the same government that they're trying to overthrow, just with different names.

* [[George Orwell]]:

* ''L'Engrenage'' by Jean-Paul Sartre is about a country whose reactionary government is overthrown by a revolution, but before long the new regime realizes that it is unable to fulfill its promises, and goes back to the previous one's methods. Eventually it is itself overthrown by a new revolution, and the cycle starts anew.

* ''Les Justes'' by Albert Camus, about a group of idealistic students who engage in terrorist acts in order to overthrow a despotic regime, features the famous quote "One begins by desiring justice, and one ends up setting up a police."

* In the [[Backstory]] of ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', the ruling Targaryen dynasty is ousted by an alliance of powerful nobles and replaced by a Baratheon king... but most everything else stays pretty much the same. The old king was too busy being insane to bother ruling the actual kingdom, the new king too busy getting drunk, hunting, and conceiving bastards on anything with a pulse and a uterus. Under both monarchs, the day-to-day running of the kingdom is largely done on the local level by feudal lords and on a national level by an appointed council of advisers, some half to 3/4 of whom are consistent between dynasties in both cases.

* In the [[X Wing Series]] novel ''Starfighters of Adumar'' (part of the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]), Wedge confronts a New Republic diplomat who's willing to do whatever it takes to get an independent planet to join the NR, even adopting the methods of the Empire. Wedge declares this is the same as having the Empire back in power, just with different faces on the credit notes.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'': The Cylons, after Season 2's "Downloaded."

{{quote| '''Old farmer''': Listen, years ago I rode with [[wikipedia:Benito Juarez|Juárez]] against [[wikipedia:Maximilian I of Mexico|Emperor Maximilian]]. I lost many chickens but I thought it was worth it to be free. When [[wikipedia:Porfirio Diaz|Porfirio]] became President, I supported him – but he stole my chickens. Then came [[wikipedia:Victoriano Huerta|Huerta]] and he stole my chickens. Then it was [[wikipedia:Venustiano Carranza|Carranza]]’s term, and he stole my chickens too. Now comes [[wikipedia:Pancho villa|Pancho Villa]] to liberate me and the first thing he does is steal my chickens!...What makes one different from the others? My chickens don’t know. All over the world revolutions come and go. Presidents rise and fall. They all steal your chickens. The only thing to change is the name of the man who takes them.}}

{{quote| '''Libby:''' Let me tell you about power - how to get it, how to keep it.}}

 

== Music ==

* This was a theme of the song "[[Protest Song|Won't Get Fooled Again]]" by [[The Who]]; the most famous line is "[[Meet the New Boss]], same as the old boss".

* [[Concept Album|The storyline of]] ''Holy Wood: In the Shadow of the Valley of Death'' by [[Marilyn Manson]] is this. An oppressed man orchestrates the revolution all on his own, ends up just as bad as those he overthrew. Some theories suggest he commits suicide upon realizing this as the final track treats us to the sound of a gun being loaded (but no gunshot). Considering it's only one of three interconnecting storyline albums, the plot and chronology of which are heavily debated and have never been officially explained, nobody really knows the consequences in this case.

 

 

* The premise of ''[[Red Faction|Red Faction: Guerrilla]]'': The story takes place fifty years after the first ''[[Red Faction]]'' and revolves around the fact that the Earth Defense Force (EDF), who helped save the day in the original game, have become cruel oppressors as bad as Ultor, leaving your character to join a [[La Résistance|resistance movement]] to liberate the planet.

** ''Red Faction II'' has this in a single game. You play as a member of a nano-enhanced squad created by the tyrant Sopot, whom he later tries to kill. You fight on the side of the Red Faction to depose Sopot, which you end up doing by locking him in with a launching missile. Then you come back to the Red Faction HQ to see your commander killing the entire leadership of [[La Résistance]], declaring himself the new chancellor. Before you can say anything, he declares you a traitor for no good reason, forcing you to fight him for the rest of the game. If anything, he's even worse than Sopot.

{{quote| The leader of the reactionary force called ORCA is named [[Meaningful Name|Maximilian Thermidore]]. He aims to secure humanity's future by destroying the assault cells which prevent humans from leaving Earth. Willing to [[Utopia Justifies the Means|sacrifice millions of lives to achieve his goals]] he proves as brutal as the regime he is fighting against. He pilots the NEXT Unsung and holds rank one both within ORCA and within Collard. However, his methods, his targets, and his ideology are all different from the corporations, making him not exactly a perfect example of this trope.}}

* ''[[The Ninja Warriors Again]]'' ends on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLqm5fZP5pI#t=03m34s this] depressing note:

{{quote| Bangar was defeated by the three androids. It was a great victory for the opposition force. A few months later Mulk became the new president and created a fresh government. ... The development of the androids progressed, and these powerful weapons of Mulk's new government became far stronger than Bangar's old forces. The people seeing this said "History repeats itself."}}

* ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'': About midways through the game, John Marston, the [[Player Character]], travels to the unruly Northern Mexico, and soon realizes that he must help the ambitious [[Rebel Leader]] Abraham Reyes and his army with overthrown the dictatorial local government in order to further his own goals. In the epilogue, {{spoiler|Reyes moves on to attack Mexico City and manages to overthrow the president, after which he becomes a tyrant and doesn't change Mexico for the better in the slightest, which really is not that surprising, considering that he was already an egomaniac obsessed with personal glory when John met him.}}

** {{spoiler|[[Word of God]] claims that this isn't the case: the "assertiveness" upgrade simply fixes his programming that until now forced him to obey the orders of ''anyone'', meaning you some random raider can't just walk up to Yes Man and take over Vegas himself.}}

* Two of the endings in the original ''[[Alter AILA]]'' follow this pattern. In the Rebellion ending, {{spoiler|White}} becomes President and quickly proves to be just as evil as Kugar ever was. In the Independent ending, {{spoiler|Gold averts the trope during his government, but is assassinated shortly afterwards and replaced by yet another dictator.}} Meanwhile, the Imperialist ending {{spoiler|is more a case of [[Meet the New Boss]], as Red pulls a [[The Starscream|Starscream]] and overthrows Lian for the hot seat, but that's no revolution at all}}.