He is a mysterious anarchist, vigilante, and freedom fighter who is easily recognizable by his Guy Fawkes mask, long hair and dark clothing.

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.

The man eventually starts taking surplus ammonia-based fertilizer back to his cell, where he arranges it in bizarre, intricate patterns on the floor.

In the process he stumbles across Evey Hammond as she is being accosted by several members of "the Finger", Norsefire's secret police, and saves her, bringing her back to his lair.

V then kidnaps Prothero, who is now the "Voice of Fate" on the government's propaganda radio, and drives him insane by destroying his prized doll collection in a satire of the exterminations that occurred at Larkhill.

V stages an attack on the government's propaganda broadcasting station, strapping himself with explosives and forcing the staff to follow his orders under threat of detonating them.

V also radicalizes Evey by kidnapping and torturing her and leading her to believe she is a prisoner in one of Larkhill's camps; when she announces that she would rather die than inform on him, he reveals the ruse to her.

V explains to her that he is an anarchist in the strict political sense of the term, and essentially believes all governments will eventually turn into oppressive fascist states.

Evey then puts him in state, surrounded by Violet Carson roses, lilies, and gelignite, in an Underground train that stops at a blockage along the tracks right under 10 Downing Street, which V had previously prepared.

Also, where the comic V was portrayed as a political anarchist who sought the destruction of all governments, the movie V focuses his anti-government philosophy exclusively on Norsefire, commenting to Evey as he prepares for his final stand that he leaves it up to her if Parliament should be destroyed, as he recognizes that he does not have a right to shape a world he will not see.