How to overthrow the government: tips from 10 scifi revolutionaries

It ’s the July 4 weekend , so naturally our opinion turn to independency , and bloody , lovely rotation . alas , overturning your colonial ruler is hard body of work . So we ’ve collected tips from the ten greatest science fiction revolutionaries , to serve you prevail .

John Sheridan (Babylon 5)

The lesson : Keep an ace up your sleeve .

When President Clark of Earth declares martial law , the Babylon 5 station breaks aside from the Earth alliance , and Sheridan start recruiting Earth colony to join his uprising . The odds are way , way against Sheridan — but there ’s a reason why he ’s the only human ever to have taken out a Minbari warship . He has an unity in the cakehole : There are a chemical group of telepaths who have been program to interface with the Shadows ’ vessel , but their programming has driven them balmy and they screw up all technology when you take them out of cryosleep . These telepaths were a nonaged secret plan item earlier in time of year three , but Sheridan draw a blank nothing , and just when you least require it , he smuggles them aboard Earth ship and takes out a large part of the Earth fleet all at once . He also does a great problem enter allies , including ships from the League Of Non - Aligned Worlds . This show , in general , is one long tutorial in insurrection — there is n’t a major character on the show who has n’t overthrown at least one planetary government .

The lesson : Become the less of two evils .

Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)

The lesson : Invalidate the governing political theory .

At the end of Return Of The Jedi , Luke does n’t just defeat Darth Vader in fighting — he also proves that the Empire ’s main ideology is improper . The Dark Side of the Force is not stronger than the Light Side . This is as sinewy a blow against the Empire as launching a million 10 - wing fighters , because it undermines the Emperor ’s whole reason for being in charge . Instead of Vader converting Luke to the Dark Side , Luke convey Vader back to the light .

The Doctor (Doctor Who)

The deterrent example : Declare triumph early .

The Doctorhas overthrown more tyrannical erratic governmentsthan almost anyone . For a while there , he was toppling two or three a twelvemonth .

His greatest revolutions , arguably , happen in “ The Happiness Patrol , ” “ The Sunmakers , ” and “ The Long Game . ” And in all three cases , he ’s very concerned in see the state ’s propaganda apparatus . This is especially true in “ The Sunmakers , ” where he takes over the government ’s broadcast medium center and announces that the revolution has been a success — before it ’s even embark on . Why wait until you ’ve actually won to declare victory ? Life is short , even for a Time Lord . ( Go to about 3:40 in the video below . )

Gopro Hero13 Limited Editon

http://io9.com/338332/doctor-who-revolutionary-or-tool-of-the-man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_QtzD_uXBw

Mike (The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress)

The lesson : Do n’t be afraid to screw

Mike , the electronic computer that helps the residents of the lunar dependency revolt against their Earth lord , is n’t above using nucleotide trickery to get forward . When he worries that the Earth people will attempt to take out the electromagnetic arbalist that the Loonies use to send grain to Earth ( and which could be a powerful weapon system ) he has the Loonies build a secret backup theoretical account . He impersonates the colony ’s regulator , to play tricks the Earth people into think they ’re still in ascendence for a while after the revolution . He even allegedly stuffs the ballot box in the newly independent colony ’s first election . Because winning means trend some corner sometimes .

Flynn and Tron (Tron)

The example : wedge your enemy to put all their specialty into their offensive

When Tron and Flynn lead the attack against the Master Control Program , they ’re outgunned , even though Flynn has astonishing substance abuser powers . But when Tron attacks the Master Control Program ’s main hatchet man , the program Sark , the MCP start to panic . And the MCP make a crucial mistake , assign all of its functions into Sark . This causes Sark to become giant and super - powerful , but it also creates a gargantuan target — and leaves the MCP itself unprotected . Boo yah !

Paul Muad’Dib (Dune)

The lesson : restraint access to a key imagination

In the first Dune book , Paul show he ’s the Kwisatz Haderach , and then establish an assault on the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV with the help of his Fremen allies . They win part by riding on the tremendous sandworms that are aboriginal to the satellite Arrakis , aka Dune . But also , when Paul wins an audience with Shaddam , he peril to destroy the spicery , melange , that allow navigators to see and go between world , unless Shaddam steps down as Emperor in favour of Paul . face with the loss of the all - of import spicery , the Spacer ’s Guild urges Shaddam to close up .

Captain Kirk (Star Trek)

The moral : Blow up the computer .

I do n’t think Captain Kirk ever subvert a repressive regime without first causing its data processor system to break loose . It ’s just the way you do thing , in James Tiberius ’ playbook : Step one , blow up the mainframe , and the system will collapse like a star sign of cards . Step two commonly involves giving an impassioned speech with your shirt ripped in strategic places . But really , Kirk knows that most vicious regimes are either run by a reckoner , or perfectly dependent on a estimator for their surveillance and societal control infrastructure . And most computers can be talk into ego - destructing . Oh , and if someone charge you of being Archons , just run with it — especially if it freaks them out .

The SG-1 crew (Stargate SG-1)

The lesson : bear witness that the godlike rulers are n’t wielding the great power of thaumaturgy , just engineering .

Pretty much every time the SG-1 gang steps through a stargate , they scent up upsetting the decree of the galaxy . In their original moving picture , they defeat the false god Ra , and over the course of their series they bump off a bunch of the System Lords , former rulers of the galaxy . They also take prison term to unseat a clustering of random authoritarian and tyrannous governments that are n’t connect to the System Lords but are still unfair or lousy . Overthrowing governments just comes naturally to these folks . And a lot of the time , they do this by proving the Goa’uld are using regular sometime technology , not magic , and anybody can see it . ( They also gain fundamental allies , including the Tok’ra and former Jaffa Teal’c , which is an important gene too . )

V (V For Vendetta)

The moral : Create symbol that are more important than any one individual

( Spoiler alarum ! ) vanadium dies at the end of the miniseries , but through a series of perverted mindgames and psychological torture , he create his own replacement : Evie , who takes over outwear the iconic masquerade and destroys Downing Street . The rebellion succeeds partly because V , the symbol , ca n’t be destroyed as easy as just wiping out one single person .

Star Trek screencaps from the always awesomeTrekcore .

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