V

V is an enigmatic, charismatic, and highly skilled anarchist vigilante, freedom fighter, and terrorist who was the unwilling subject of experimentation by Norsefire, the fascist, Nordic-supremacist political party ruling the United Kingdom. Easily recognizable by his Guy Fawkes mask and dark clothing, V works to depose the totalitarian Norsefire regime which rules the United Kingdom in a tight grip. The background and identity of V is largely unknown. He was at one point an inmate at Larkhill Resettlement Camp, one of many concentration camps where political prisoners and others deemed undesirable by the Norsefire Government are exterminated by Britain's new fascist regime. While there, he was part of a group of prisoners who were subjected to horrific medical experimentation, conducted by Dr. Delia Surridge, involving artificially designed hormone injection. All prisoners so injected died slowly under gruesome circumstances, suffering physical mutations, with the sole exception of "the man in room five", V.

The experiments actually yielded some beneficial results: V developed Olympic-level reflexes, increased strength, and incredibly expanded mental capacity; he is a genius in the fields of explosives, martial arts, philosophy, literature, politics, hacking, music, chemistry, and even gardening. One stormy night, he detonated an improvised explosive device and escaped his cell. Much of the camp was set ablaze, with many guards being killed by V's mustard gas. V emerged from the wreckage, reborn in fire, his naked and charred body a tall, defiant silhouette backed by a curtain of flames. The camp was evacuated and closed down. Thereafter, he adopted the new identity, "V", and donned a Guy Fawkes mask and costume. V would then spend the next five years planning his revenge on the fascist government, building his secret base, which he calls the "Shadow Gallery". He went on to kill off most of the over 40 surviving personnel from Larkhill, making each killing look like an accident.

V is secretive of his identity and background. He is never without his mask, only removing it when exacting vengeance on those responsible for his transformative tragedy; one who glances upon the unspeakable face beneath is scarcely likely to live to tell the tale. He dresses in black, covered from head to toe, not one inch of his irreparably burned and scarred skin exposed. Atop his mask sits a tall, wide-brimmed black hat, a sort of cross between a top hat and a Capotain. Framing his metallic Guy Fawkes visage, behind which lie the empty, imperceptible pits of his eyes, is a wig of pin-straight, dark brown hair that lightly brushes his shoulders, the precisely cut bangs lying just out of view beneath the hat's brim. Hidden under V's heavy black cloak is a wide array of killing instruments: Knives and blades of all shapes and sizes for all conceivable conflicts, symbols of his unrelenting preparedness and ruthlessness in the fight against England's oppressors. Deeper still, thick plates of armor provide a nigh inexorable base layer of protection to work hand-in-hand with V's own mutational hardiness. V lives in the Shadow Gallery, a labyrinth of interconnecting underground tunnels and rooms. The main room of the gallery is filled with an amazing collection of human culture. There is art that spans from the renaissance to the painted covers of Eerie comics, literature that ranges from Shakespeare to Spillane, philosophy from Plato to Bukowski, and a vast collection of nonfiction. There are movie posters everywhere, and an entire wall is lined with videocassettes. A jukebox stands in front of an enormous vinyl and CD collection of music. V is a skilled pianist, a competent chef, and has even dabbled in fencing.