V

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, homosexuals, Black people, Jews, Muslims, Indians, Pakistanis, and others deemed undesirable by the Norsefire Government are exterminated by Britain's new fascist regime. While there, he is part of a group of prisoners who are subjected to horrific medical experimentation, conducted by Dr. Delia Surridge, involving artificially-designed hormone injection. Lewis Prothero is the camp's commandant, and a paedophile vicar, Father Lilliman, is at the camp to lend "spiritual support". All prisoners so injected die slowly under gruesome circumstances, with the sole exception of "the man in room five" ("V" in Roman numerals). During that time, the man had some level of communication with Valerie Page, a former actress imprisoned for being a lesbian, kept in "room four", who wrote her autobiography on toilet paper and then pushed it through a hole in the wall.

Although there is nothing physically wrong with him, Surridge theorizes that his mind had been warped by the experimentation. Still, his actions seem to maintain a twisted logic. The experiments actually yield some beneficial results: he develops Olympic-level reflexes, increased strength, and incredibly expanded mental capacity (as demonstrated consistently throughout the novel, V is a genius in the fields of explosives, martial arts, philosophy, literature, politics, hacking, music, chemistry, and, as stated by Dr. Surridge in the graphic novel, gardening).

Over time, the man is allowed to grow roses (violet carsons) and raise crops for camp officials. The man eventually starts taking surplus ammonia-based fertilizer back to his cell, arranges it in bizarre, intricate patterns on the floor. He then takes a large amount of grease solvent from the gardens. In secret, the man uses the fertilizer and solvent to make mustard gas and napalm. On a stormy night (Nov. 5th), he detonates his homemade bomb and escapes his cell. Much of the camp is set ablaze, and many of the guards who rush in to see what happened are killed by the mustard gas. The camp is evacuated and closed down. He adopts the new identity, "V", and dons a Guy Fawkes mask and costume. V then spends the next five years planning his revenge on the fascist government, building his secret base, which he calls the "Shadow Gallery". He then kills off most of the over 40 surviving personnel from Larkhill, making each killing look like an accident. He saves Prothero, Lilliman and Surridge, (the three most responsible for the experiments on him) for last, showing the remorseful Surridge a merciful consideration by poisoning her in her sleep.