Adam Susan
 |
| Adam Susan | |
|---|---|
 Adam Susan in V for Vendetta #2 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Vertigo imprint of DC Comics (Originally Quality Communications) |
| First appearance | Warrior #1 (March 1982) |
| Created by | Alan Moore David Lloyd |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Norsefire Party |
Adam James Susan is a fictional character in the comic book series (later graphic novel) V for Vendetta, created by writer Alan Moore and illustrator David Lloyd. He is renamed Adam Sutler in the film adaptation.
Character's background
Adam Susan is the leader of the Norsefire party, and the ruler of the dictatorship that holds Britain in an iron grip. A firm adherent of pure fascism, he values order above all else and sees civil liberties as unneeded luxuries which are ultimately threats to a secure society. He states early in the novel that he believes in "the destiny of the White race", and subsequently despises anyone who is not white, Christian and heterosexual.
He gathered a select few like-minded politicians into his inner circle, and then exploited the poverty, chaos, and panic that followed a worldwide nuclear war to seize power. Once in control, he gave himself the title of "Leader," and banned all art and literature that conflicted with the views of the party, criminalized political dissent, and put Jews, muslims, Arabs, Pakistanis and homosexuals into concentration camps.
In order to further monitor the state, Susan took control of the intelligence departments known as the Eye and the Ear, the military police departments called the Nose and the Finger, and the propaganda department called the Mouth. These are run by his subordinates, Derek Almond (later Peter Creedy) at The Finger, Conrad Heyer at The Eye, Brian Etheridge at The Ear, Eric Finch at The Nose, and Roger Dascombe at The Mouth. The leaders of these departments run the day-to-day affairs of government.
From his inner sanctum, he eschews virtually all human contact and emotion, resolving to be feared and respected if he cannot be loved. He reserves the closest thing he can manage to human feeling for Fate, the super-computer which both surveys security and maintains the bureaucracy of his government; he loves and worships the machine as a goddess,(in one scene, it is strongly implied that he masturbates in the machine's presence).[1] He is not without human qualities, however; his last few moments in the novel reveal him to be a socially inept, timid man who is eager to somehow connect with his people. He recounts his past, including glimpses of his childhood; it is hinted that he was a lonely child who developed an inflated sense of his own power and importance by embracing fascism. It is also revealed that he has remained a virgin his entire life, as he feels that he would be disgraced by sexual contact with his "inferiors".
His rule begins to crumble when a masked terrorist calling himself "V" blows up the Houses of Parliament on November 5 (Guy Fawkes Day). V then begins systematically killing Susan's lieutenants. His defiance gradually inspires the public to rebel against Norsefire's reign. Susan tries desperately to capture and kill the mysterious vigilante, but remains increasingly powerless to stop him. Susan eventually finds out that V has been manipulating the Fate super-computer to express the forbidden emotion of love, driving him further into insanity.
At the end of the series, Susan is shot and killed during a publicity parade by Rose Almond, the widow of Derek Almond, Creedy's predecessor. Creedy immediately takes total control of London for a short period of time before he too is killed by one of his underlings, soon resulting in the total collapse of the government.
Film adaptation
In the film adaptation, the character is named Adam Sutler (a portmanteau of "Susan" and "Hitler"), and is portrayed by John Hurt. His title is "High Chancellor". The Fate super-computer subplot is not featured in the film version.
Chancellor Sutler is described as a deeply religious man with ultra conservative views.
In the film, Norsefire seizes control by blaming a viral epidemic catastrophe on terrorists, and promising to restore order. He then uses the supposed terrorist threat, along with an ongoing propaganda campaign in the state-run media, to cow the public into silence and justify Norsefire's genocidal policies. A decade later, when Sutler discovers he is being unexpectedly lampooned in a farce on television, he is enraged and orders the show's producer arrested in the dead of night and murdered. As in the graphic novel, Sutler lives in an underground bunker in self-imposed exile and leaves the day-to-day operation of his empire to his lieutenants.
Toward the end of the film, Sutler constantly blames Creedy for the failure to stop V. Realizing Sutler's position of power is weakened, Creedy makes a deal with V to assassinate Sutler. Creedy and his loyal men kidnap Sutler from his bunker and bring him to V in the London Underground, where Creedy shoots his hated boss. Sutler rarely appears in person in the movie (he is usually seen through communication monitors and large television screens).
