Content Warning: V for Vendetta contains images and descriptions of violence, sexual violence, pedophilia, drug use, racism, and intolerance toward gay people. The source material uses outdated and offensive terms for Black people, Pakistani people, gay people, and neurodiverse people.

On November 5, 1997, a news broadcaster called “the Voice of Fate” (9) broadcasts to dystopian London. Illustrations depict police blockades and extensive surveillance. Additional panels show Evey Hammond, a blond 16-year-old girl, and V, a man whose face is hidden, separately getting dressed to go out for the night; the man dons a black cape, a wide-brimmed hat, and a white, rosy-cheeked Guy Fawkes mask.

Evey walks across Westminster Bridge toward Parliament to begin doing sex work to supplement her income. The first man she propositions is a “Fingerman”—someone working for the Norsefire government's military police unit, the Finger. The Fingerman and his colleagues attempt to rape Evey. V appears, setting off tear gas and a bomb, and rescues her. On a nearby rooftop, V recites a rhyme about the fifth of November and the Gunpowder Plot. They watch as the Houses of Parliament explode.