The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Difference between revisions

 

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* The entire point of ''[[Genesis Climber Mospeada]]'' (which became the third season of [[Robotech]]) was an armed insurgency against the Inbits occupying Earth. Any Inbits that saw the error of their treatment of humans underwent a [[Heel Face Turn]] eventually, while those that did not defect became progressively more genocidal in attempting to wipe out the human resistance.

* The rebel group [[Redshirt Army|Katharon]] from the second season of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' is basically fighting the good fight, standing up for the neglected (and sometimes downright oppressed) Middle Eastern countries and going against the oppressive Earth Sphere Federation.

** Which makes it even more crushing when {{spoiler|they are crushed}}

 

* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' The Galactic Empire were remarkably evil, what with the racist motives and the [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]. The Rebellion, on the other hand, wore halos. This was eventually fleshed out in the [[Expanded Universe]] with both sides [[Kick the Dog|kicking]] or [[Pet the Dog|petting the dog]].

** Ironically, the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the prequels is almost entirely shown as being a big business-backed attempt to rule the galaxy in the name of profit, with all of the big names fully aware of this. 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. (If this ever came to light, it may have been what resulted in the Rebellion being looked upon so unfavorably in later years.) Also the fact they are dominated by dissident nonhuman groups no doubt helped Imperial propaganda, which doubtless is all part of the evil plan.

* In [[Sleeping Dogs]], though two members of [[La Résistance]] ''were'' revealed to have framed an innocent man, the main character Smith, for a bombing, the guerrillas overall are portrayed being better by far than the brutal [[State Sec|Special Police Force]] they fight.

 

* ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' makes a caricature of the People's Republic of Haven at every opportunity. Its post-Revolution government is treated as more or less evil incarnate.

** The second revolution, however, gets treated much more sympathetically. Of course, the ringleaders had spent the books immediately preceding that event being quietly subversive and sympathetic.

* Usually averted in the [[Star Trek Novel Verse]]. Rebel movements are often very ambiguous and/or complex. For example, the Silgov in [[Starfleet Corps of Engineers]], though clearly victimized, are presented as questionable in some regards themselves, willing to victimize Koa in turn in order to get what they want. The X'Mari Resistance, meanwhile, are sympathetic, but clearly no saints. One of the best examples is in the novel [[Diplomatic Implausibility]]. On taD, while the al'Hmatti are indeed victimized by Klingon oppression, at least one Klingon overseer is genuinely upset to discover an al'Hmatti he thought was a friend was a terrorist/freedom fighter. His distress when the al'Hmatti in question turns on him is portrayed with great sympathy. Both Klingon and al'Hmatti are treated with respect by the author throughout. Finally, the Nachri rebels are questionable in conduct, too, although their grievances may well be legitimate.

 

* While ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'''s revolution is already over and failed, despite the rather ugly mess it caused, it's looked back on rather favorably. We didn't get to see a lot of Alliance oppression before ''[[Serenity]]'', but the Academy and the Blue Hands and what they did to River was pretty damned evil. There are some indications that the Browncoats were not all squeaky-clean, though; in "Bushwhacked" an Alliance officer implies that he personally encountered prisoners who had been tortured by Browncoats, and in the tie-in comics there were extremists known as "Dust Devils" who kept on fighting after the war ended, performing terror attacks on civilians and military.

** The implication is that, overall, the Alliance wasn't generally tyrannical. It's greatest fault was, as River Tam said in ''[[Serenity]]'', that it is "meddlesome." [[Word of God]] has it that the Core worlds generally were more progressive than the outlying worlds, and the poor living conditions in the outer worlds were unnecessary. The formerly leading worlds of the Independents are the ones with aristocracy and slavery (though the connection isn't clearly drawn in [[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]). Malcolm Reynolds is an [[Anti-Hero]], but his desire for independence is set against the tendency of the Alliance to overreach, which could lead to disaster.

* The German children's TV show ''Politibongo'' is this trope turned up to 11. The revolution might be stupid and constantly messing things up which their contact on earth as to fix for them, but they [[White and Grey Morality|never are evil]].

 

* In the ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' series, Zero is found by the Resistance to Neo Arcadia, an empire that Zero's friend X (hero of the previous series) created with the best of intentions, only for it to go bad after he left. The Resistance is full of spunky, heroic types with [[La Résistance|French names]], and they're always in the right—with one major subversion. Elpizo, the leader in ''Mega Man Zero 2'', is zealous and aggressive; when his new methods fail, he goes nuts and becomes the game's [[Big Bad]].

** In ''[[Mega Man X Command Mission]]'', there's a Rebellion, and they're not very nice guys. But there's also a ''Resistance'' to the Rebellion, and they're swell. X gladly helps them fight the Rebellion... until the big twist, when it turns out that {{spoiler|BOTH groups are basically good and have been manipulated by [[The Man Behind the Man]].}}

* Subverted in ''[[StarCraft]]'', where the Sons of Korhal rebel against [[The Empire]], and eventually institute their own, equally worse dictatorship in its place. Played straight in ''[[StarCraft II]]'', where Raynor's Raiders are trying to bring down the Dominion that they helped create in the first game.

* Also subverted in the first two ''[[Ace Combat]]'' games, where the player character is part of a mercenary squadron fighting against the revolution.

* Subverted in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]''. The game start with the player and some Stormcloak rebels ending up victims of the Empire (the player almost gets beheaded despite not being a rebel). This gives the player a positive view of the Stormcloaks. But as the game progress, it soon turns into a [[Grey and Grey Morality]] situation as it's shown the Stormcloaks and the Empires both have their flaws.

 

* Played with in ''[[Girl Genius]]'', where [[The Empire|the Wulfenbach Empire]] is the only thing that prevents Europe from plunging into the total bloody anarchy of not long ago, but the rather sinister revolutionaries just have to put on a good show and people cheer for them, in large part ''because'' of this very trope.

** Well that and the fact that most of the ruling authorities are [[Mad Scientist|power-crazed amoral lunatics who are equally likely to]] [[Pet the Dog]] as they are to turn it into cheese [[For Science!]] probably doesn't help the dispositions of the common peasants said revolutionaries recruit from frequently.

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209180121/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4252 Trike Girl obviously thinks she can pull this off.]

 

* Inverted on ''[[Challenge of the Go Bots]]''. Gobotron was a democracy, and Cy-Kill's Renegades were a bunch of war-mongering thugs.

 

* The Zapatista Army of National Liberation, more commonly known as "the Zapatistas". their history of legitimate warfare and preference for peaceful secession has made it hard for even their opponents to characterize them with any harsher term than "rebel". It probably helps that their opponents include far-right paramilitaries with a history of massacring indigenous refugees.