R is for Rebel Leader

Rebel leaders are one of the most interesting character trope in film and literature. Sometimes as military leaders and sometimes as symbols, they inspire rebellion against the corrupt and malignant organizations that impose their rule, inspiring the oppressed to rise up against those that oppress them. Here are a few of my favorite examples of rebel leaders . . . or to be more exact, here are some of my all time favorite characters. 

R is for Rebel Leader 

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly) – Once a Brown Coat sergeant in the Unification War Against the Alliance, Mal Reynolds turned away from the life of a soldier after they lost the war. He contends himself with taking odd jobs here and there, content to stay off the radar and simply drift through space. However, when the Alliance kills off those he cares about in order to get to him and the Tam siblings he gives shelter, Mal digs deep for that rebel, Brown-Coat attitude and fights back. In other words, he aims to misbehave. 

John Connor (The Terminator franchise) – He was raised from infancy to become a leader, taught weaponry and self-defense by his mother Sarah. He pushes and drives the resistance, organizing what's left of humanity to fight against Skynet and the machines that seeks to wipe humanity out forever. 

Harry Potter (The Harry Potter series) – In the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter is encouraged by Ron and Hermione to create a secret group, named Dumbledore's Army. The DA is basically the youth division of the Order of the Phoenix, created to oppose the Ministry's interference at Hogwarts via. deplorable Professor Dolores Umbridge. The DA further rises up to fight against Voldemort himself in the Battle of Hogwarts. 

Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Admiral Ackbar (Star Wars) – The Rebel Alliance, created in opposition to Palpatine's Galactic Empire, is an allegiance of insurrectionist factions working to restore the Old Republic. With leaders like Luke, Han, Leia and Ackbar, they take on Palpatine, Darth Vadar and the Empire's fleet and bring the Imperialist regime to an end. 

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games series) – Katniss Everdeen never intended to get mixed up in a rebellion against the Capitol. She wanted nothing more than to live a quiet life with her younger sister and best friend Gale, hunting and traipsing around the woods. However,  when she inadvertently starts and uprising and learns the lengths to which the Capitol will go to bring it to its knees – including the torture of the boy who once saved her life – she agrees to become the Mockingjay, a symbol for the resistance.  

V (V for Vendetta) – V was once inmate at Larkhill Resettlement Camp, a concentration camp set up by Britain's white supremacist government. After he frees himself via a homemade incendiary device, he takes on the persona of V in order to become an anarchist and vigilante, seeking to bring down the fascist dictatorship that rules England. He wears the face of Guy Fawkes and transforms himself into a symbol – an idea– because as a man he can be "killed and forgotten, but four hundred years later an idea can still change the world". 

And there you have it, my Top 5 (or 6 in this case) favorite Rebel Leaders. What are some of your favorites?

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This post is part of the Blogging A through Z Challenge 2013. My theme (in case you didn't already guess) is character types and tropes. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you’d like to check in on the other participants, simply click here.