The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Difference between revisions

* One of the most important tropes in the French film ''Army of Shadows''. The film follows a cell of the French resistance battling the Nazi regime. While the Nazis are portrayed as terrible monsters, it's repeatedly highlighted that the French have to get their hands dirty as well. Much of their work consists of executing traitors, including {{spoiler|their beloved female comrade}}. While the movie isn't a pro-Nazi film, it clearly suggests that war is disgusting and hellish even if you're one of the good guys.

* The ''[[The Black Book]]'' catalogues Jews who were sold out to the Nazis by members of the Dutch Resistance. After the liberation, the Resistance harasses people who collaborated with the Nazis, even if it was done out of fear or as a part of their cover as double agents. To cover up their tracks, they even arrange a Nazi official to be executed for the crime of collaborating with the communist members of the Resistance.

* In ''[[The Baader Meinhoff Complex]]'', the Red Army Faction morphs into this trope over time. They start as a motley collection of political activists, juvenile delinquents, left-wing youths, and journalists who mainly participate in protests and rallies and undertake some occasional arson and vandalism with a political message. Eventually, they become brutal terrorists, robbing banks and bombing American military installations. Later "generations" of the group get progressively more radical and violent, taking and executing hostages, hijacking aircraft, bombing a newspaper, and assassinating and kidnapping public figures.

* In contrast to the rebels of the later films, the Separatists in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequels are almost entirely shown as being evil. Their rebellion against the republic is little more than a big business backed attempt to rule the galaxy in the name of profit, with all of the big names fully aware of this. Being controlled by a [[Evil Overlord|sith lord]] and a [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|homicidal cyborg]] certainly didn't help their causes reputation either. It's only the planets that revolt against the Republic in hope of receiving Confederacy assistance that actually believe in the moral cause beyond lip service.

* The Bolsheviks in ''[[Doctor Zhivago]]''.

 

 

* This is a major theme in Mockingjay, the last book in ''[[The Hunger Games]]'' trilogy by Suzanne Collins. By the end the rebellion only avoids simply becoming a direct copy of the [[Evil Empire]] they were trying to replace by a narrow margin.

* ''[[Black Company]]'', although POV is on [[The Empire]] side and {{spoiler|revolution ultimately fails}} in fist book. Played more or less straight in third book.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'', {{spoiler|Gaeta's}} Mutiny and ''especially'' the New Caprican Resistance.

* ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]''. While [[La Résistance]] are clearly better than the Federation, the main cast are all anti-heroes at best and Blake is often called on his devotion to the Rebellion over taking care of his people. And then he was replaced with Avon, who didn't even ''pretend'' to take care.

* In ''[[V|V: The Miniseries]]'' the Resistance used biological warfare against the enemy. Given that most Visitors lived in sealed starships and thus had the option of simply leaving unharmed, it's not quite as nasty as it sounds.

 

== Music ==

 

== Radio ==

 

== Video Games ==

* The Scoi'a'tel in ''[[The Witcher]]''. The game does go to great lengths to explain the understandable grievances that led to their formation and continued existence (being conquered, treated as second-class citizens and subjected to violence and pogroms by the humans), but also makes it very clear that they are ruthless murderers who attack innocent or not-so-innocent civilians, sometimes in particularly gruesome ways, rather than the oppressing government's armed forces. Quite a few Dwarven and Elven NPCs express their profound dislike for them.<br /><br />At one point early on, a member tries to convince the player/Geralt to let him take some crates of medical supplies. If you give them to him, it later turns out they really contain some really nasty weapons that only work on unarmored civilians. Which they use to prominently assassinate an unarmed civilian. Who happens to have a second job as a drug pusher, making addicts of elvish teenagers so he can force them into drug-controlled slavery and/or prostitution. Or at least that's what the moderate dwarves and elves say. So, that one particular incident was probably justified, but later it gets worse.

* The Defias Brotherhood in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' may count as an example of this. The Defias began as a group of disgruntled stonemasons who were cheated by their government. Unfortunately, they became too heavily involved with criminal elements and ended up robbing and killing the peasants.

** That's the revived AVALANCHE. The original incarnation of AVALANCHE seen in ''[[Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII]]'' was far more ruthless.

* Played brutally straight in ''[[Command and Conquer|Command And Conquer: Generals]]'' with the Global Liberation Army. Your first mission involves "liberating" a local village by flooding the valley it is in, wiping out half of the village in the process. Your ''second'' mission involves stealing aid supplies from more poor villagers, and you are ''explicitly ordered'' to shoot the villagers if they are taking supplies and level their homes. The third mission involves a massive riot and leveling and looting half a city, and by the final mission, you've {{spoiler|gassed a major Chinese city.}} [[Moral Event Horizon|Any doubt that the GLA are not utter bastards]] is wiped away very, ''very'' quickly.

* In ''[[Modern Warfare]]'', Khaled al-Asad's revolution in his [[Qurac|unnamed Middle-Eastern nation]] is explicitly shown to be brutal and violent, as the player experiences it from the perspective of the deposed President of the country as he's driven through the street. At first there's beatings and arrests in the streets, followed by civilians being shot as they run away and execution squads shooting people in the street. It ends with the President being marched into a square and executed on international television.

* The mage revolt in ''[[Dragon Age 2]]'' is very brutal, and when [[Only Sane Man|Thrask]] goes down the hotheads take control and run away with it.

* A large part of ''[[Golden Sun Dark Dawn]]'''s plot involves the beastpeople of Morgal's recent, successful, and terribly bloody revolution against the kingdom of Sana. Among other things, [[Would Hurt a Child|a little girl is captured and condemned]] to [[Cruel and Unusual Death]] in Belinsk, just for being Sanan nobility. {{spoiler|The Grave Eclipse is caused by the king of Morgal [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|forcing you to activate]] what he believes is a [[Superweapon Surprise|superweapon]], which he intends to use on Sana and on Morgal's other neighboring country, Bilibin.}}

{{quote| Vox Populi member: Your homes are ours! Your lives are ours! Your wives are ours! It all belongs to the Vox!}}

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has various rebel factions, from the Christian Federation and their penchant for suicide-ramming freighters into enemy vessels, to the Liberation and their campaign of terror-bombings. Even the Resistance has as their main gripe the fact that supernaturally-powered humans are forced to serve in the Tech Infantry [[Space Marine]] forces. These forces are fighting against [[Bug War|alien Bugs]] that want to eat everyone, other aliens that want to kill all humans and take their planets as living space, and still other aliens who want to enslave humans and work them all to death. This makes their occasionally violent tactics seem a bit extreme.<br /><br />Although the Earth Federation and the Middle Kingdom that replaces it are both quite nasty, the aliens -- especially the Bugs -- are usually worse, and the endless rebellions, mutinies, and civil wars make it darn hard to fight the Bugs as a united front.

* Both this trope and it's inverse characterize the Red May Revolution in ''[[Reds]]!'' While the communist revolution in America doesn't lead to a Soviet style nightmare, it is far from a tea party. The revolutionaries may have the moral high ground in the face of the dictatorial reaction by the old regime, but they still have their own Red Terror and [[Kangaroo Court]] system. Anti-authoritarian currents in American society appear to have won out by the present day, as the Red Terror seems to be pretty universally regarded as a mistake.

 

** Jet's Freedom Fighters are not a particularly nice bunch. Despite being a charming group of kids who initially help out Team Avatar, they're actually willing to do pretty terrible things to wipe out the Fire Nation. At one point, they attempt to flood a town filled with innocent civilians, simply because the Fire Nation was occupying it. To their credit, the group realizes their mistake and makes a [[Heel Face Turn]] shortly after the flooding fiasco. Despite [[The Atoner|efforts to do the same]], Jet himself ends up stuck in the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]], though he eventually ends up on the right side.

** The Omashu Resistance also does some unscrupulous things in their efforts to drive out the Fire Nation occupying their city. The first thing we see them do is attempt an assassination of the governor's family, including his infant son. Again, they perform a [[Heel Face Turn]] shortly afterwards.

* The Decepticons from ''[[Transformers]]'' are occasionally this, depending on the incarnation.

* ''[[Liberty's Kids]]'' takes a relatively balanced look at [[The American Revolution]] for its intended audience. For instance, while it treats the overall goals of the American Independence as a good thing, the negative elements like mob violence, slavery and the privations Native Americans suffered in the conflict are not overlooked while the British/Loyalist side are allowed to express their point of view.