Fifth Column (V franchise)

The Fifth Column is a subgroup of alien Visitors in the 1980s science fiction franchise V. They are depicted as Visitors who oppose the current leadership and plot to rebel against them.

Original series

In the Original Miniseries, it is revealed that the Fifth Column was first organized in opposition to the Leader's rule. The group first makes itself known to the humans when Visitor officer Martin talks to Resistance leader Mike Donovan about Diana's intentions. The Fifth Column begins to take a more active stance in V: The Final Battle when Visitor officer Andrew notes the numerous attacks against loyalist officers in other ships. Fifth Columnists also helped the Resistance unmask John, capture Diana, and are also inoculated against the Red Dust bio-weapon.

In V: The Series, Diana's escape results in a major crackdown against all Fifth Column members in the Visitor Fleet. The emergence of Martin's twin brother Phillip helps bring the Fifth Column back together, but now have to be on the alert against Visitor loyalists and the so-called Sixth Column (Visitor loyalists who are moles in the Fifth Column).

Known members

These were Fifth Column members encountered in the series, excluding the books:

2009 version

Fifth Columnists also appear in the re-imagined 2009 V series, but unlike those in the original version, most Fifth Columnists on Earth are not initially an active resistance force, at least not in the present day; reference is made to a prior resistance within the Visitor race that led to the Fifth Column going into hiding. Most seen thus far are living on Earth, posing as humans, when the Visitor fleet arrives.

It has been intimated that the Visitor leader, Anna, exerts an influence bordering on mind control upon those loyal to her, and all such Visitors appear to be near-emotionless and inexpressive; in contrast, the Fifth Columnists shown thus far exhibit emotional ranges identical to human beings, and have spoken of leaving and rejoining the main Visitor culture as "disconnecting" and "reconnecting". Fifth Columnists, including deeply embedded members like Joshua and Lisa, are resistant to Anna's "Bliss" projection.

When the Visitors openly arrive on Earth, some Fifth Columnists, aware that Anna's peaceful overtures are a smokescreen for the Visitors' true intentions, decide to join with humans who are themselves suspicious of the Visitors and form a resistance group. The human members of the resistance have also come to refer to themselves as the Fifth Column.

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