V's past and identity are mysterious. He is only seen costumed and masked in a Guy Fawkes mask. There is no hint of his activities before his imprisonment in Larkhill five years before the events of the novel, nor does the reader know why he was imprisoned in the first place. V’s race, sex, and sexual orientation are not certain—though he is referred to as a male and Evey assumes he is a man. The London populace does not know that the person behind V has changed after Evey adopts the guise of V, implying that V could truly be anybody.

Though V is the eponymous main character, he is not a protagonist but an antihero. While the typical definition of an antihero is a character that lacks typical heroic qualities, V does not lack these qualities. He has a concrete sense of morality, abundant courage, and a belief in Britain’s ability to rise from the rubble left behind by Norsefire. Rather, the definition of antihero that most suits V is that he can be seen as a hero from certain points of view and as a villain from others.

V was imprisoned in Larkhill’s Room V while forced to be a human test subject for Delia in 1993.