Rage Within the Machine: Difference between revisions

When a main character is loyally part of a party or division linked to the government, but is beginning to doubt if said party/division is right about their beliefs and policies, or, in extreme, rebels. Often used in [[Dystopia|dystopiandystopia]]n fiction - it's common that at the end the rebel's faith is restored, or they get killed.

Compare to [[Big Brother Is Employing You]], [[My Country, Right or Wrong]], [[My Master, Right or Wrong]], [[Just Following Orders]], and mostly [[Defector From Decadence]].

Not to be confused with [[Man in Thethe Machine]]... unless, of course, it's a [[Cyborg]] [[Turned Against Their Masters|rebelling]] [[Phlebotinum Rebel|against]] those that made him/her/it [[Viral Transformation|abduct]] and [[Unwilling Roboticisation|robotisize others]]. Also, not to be confused with [[Rage Against the Machine]]. Or [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/21/charlie-brooker-rage-against-the-machine this article], from which the title was derived.

{{examples|Examples}}

* [[Schindler's List|]]: Oskar Schindler.]]

* Winston Smith in ''[[Nineteen Eighty -Four|1984]]'' has to be one of the most famous examples who secretly rebels against Big Brother {{spoiler|and is psychologically crushed for it. The last line is "He loved Big Brother".}}

* D-503 in Yevgeny Zamyatin's ''[[We (Literature)|We]]'' - but at first he cannot grasp the fact that he feels the urge to rebel...and considers it a sickness.

* Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson from ''[[Brave New World (Literaturenovel)|Brave New World]]''. Unlike his fellow citizens, Bernard wishes for more solitude and dislikes taking soma. Helmholtz wants to create [[True Art]].

* The City Watch in general and Vimes in particular in the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[DiscworldNight Watch (LiteratureDiscworld)/Night Watch|Night Watch]]''. ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Jingo|Jingo]]'' is an arguable case, since they never had any loyalty to Rust, but to the ruler he deposed.

* Inspector (later Watch Commander) Carmichael of [[Jo Walton]]'s [[Alternate History]] ''[[Small Change (Literature)|Small Change]]'' trilogy has been [[An Offer You Can't Refuse|blackmailed]] into becoming [[Da Chief]] of what is effectively a [[Day of the Jackboot|British]] [[State Sec|gestapo]]. Although [[Zero -Approval Gambit|publicly feared and hated]], he uses the resources and privileges he now has to his advantage to secretly move as many innocents as he can safely out of the country.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* Deep Throat of ''[[The X -Files]]'' fed Mulder information from his position in authority.

* In ''[[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]]'' Nikita rebels right away when Division kills her boyfriend. Micheal on the other hand stays loyal even though he had doubts for a long time.

* Cloud Strife in ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]''.

* Cecil Harvey from ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' doubts the [[Fake King|King of Baron]]'s intentions when he's ordered to attack Mysidia and steal their crystal, and finally leaves his service after being unwittingly used to burn the Village of the Mist to the ground.

* ''[[Devil Survivor (Video Game)|Devil Survivor]]''. Izuna knows that the government is planning to {{spoiler|eliminate Tokyo to get rid of all the demons}}, but will follow through with the plan "for the good of the country". Of course, she'd rather not resort to this option, and as a result, will help the main characters in some of the endings.

* ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]''. {{spoiler|JC Denton starts out as a UNATCO (United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition) Agent, but he rebels after a few missions when his brother shows him proof that his bosses are corrupt and serving a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]].}}

== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==

* [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060203 Alluded] to] in The Other's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100705 backstory] in ''[[Girl Genius]]''.

* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', Kat Donlan was raised in the Court and is a very strong supporter of its scientific worldview... until she discovers a conspiracy that the Court's founders pulled off. She loses all respect for the Court's organization and current leadership, even though she remains a firm believer in the power of science.