John Preston (Equilibrium)

John Preston is the main protagonist of the 2002 film Equilibrium. Though initially a dedicated member of the brutal totalitarian society Libria, after missing one of his Prozium doses, he begins experiencing emotions again. In the process, Preston comes to realize that the society he serves is morally wrong and begins taking steps to stand against it, also joining the resistance in the process.
He was played by Christian Bale, who portrayed as Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy.
==Story==
Grammaton Cleric First Class John Preston, is Libria's highest ranking cleric. He is a widower whose wife was executed after being revealed to be a sense offender, leaving him with two children, Robbie and Lisa. After a raid on a group of resistance members in The Nethers, Preston notices that his partner, Grammaton Cleric First Class Errol Partridge, has personally taken a copy of the poems of Yeats under false pretenses. Preston discovers that Partridge has not turned the book over for destruction and follows him to a ruined cathedral in The Nethers, where Partridge speaks of emotion and forces Preston to aid him in suicide by cop. Shortly afterwards, Preston accidentally breaks the vial of his morning dose of Prozium, and begins to experience emotions.
Preston is assigned a new partner, the career-conscious Brandt. Following a standard police raid on a Librian woman, Mary O'Brien, who has stopped taking Prozium, his emotional confusion is exacerbated during her interrogation. He first acts out of emotion when he makes an excuse not to execute a puppy in The Nethers. Preston has by now ceased taking Prozium and is forced to try and maintain his monotone and emotionless façade in front of his son and the increasingly suspicious Brandt. Over the course of the film, Preston's behavior increasingly mirrors that of Partridge in the beginning, even to the point of repeated dialogue.
Soon, Preston is involved in illegal activities. During one visit to the Nethers, he is forced to kill several Librian policemen who find the rescued puppy in his car. Brandt, having seen Preston re-arranging his desk and refusing to personally execute resistance members during a raid in the Nethers, becomes more suspicious. In consequence, Preston is summoned before Vice-Counsel DuPont, and explains that he is attempting to infiltrate the Resistance in order to destroy it. DuPont tells him that he has heard rumors of a cleric attempting to join the Resistance, and Preston promises to find this traitor. Preston soon makes contact with the Resistance. He agrees to assassinate Father, an act which will create enough confusion for the Underground to detonate bombs in Libria's Prozium factories and hopefully bring down the Tetragrammaton Council. However, watching Mary O'Brien's execution in Libria's furnaces causes Preston to weep uncontrollably, and Brandt arrests him.
Brandt brings Preston before DuPont; Preston, however, tricks DuPont into believing Brandt was the criminal. Apparently cleared, Preston is released. He returns home to destroy his stashed Prozium before police find it, and is confronted by his young son, who reveals to Preston that he and his sister have not taken Prozium for some time, and have hidden his cache of Prozium. As part of an elaborate plot formed with the Underground, the leaders of the Resistance turn themselves in to Preston, who persuades DuPont to grant him an audience with Father.
Preston arrives for his audience with Father, and is confronted by Father in a sudden reversal. Via a telescreen, Father speaks to Preston, revealing that he has been aware of Preston's sense-offense, and has staged Brandt's arrest in order to lull Preston into a false sense of security and allow him to think that his assassination scheme can go ahead. The face on the telescreen changes, revealing the face of Vice-Council DuPont, who explains that the real Father died years before, and that the Tetragrammaton Council elected DuPont as the new Head of State.
Preston, however, embarks on a rampage using concealed pistols that he uses in order to reach Brandt and DuPont. Preston and Brandt face each other using paired short swords (similar in size and shape to the Japanese wakizashi), but Preston easily dispatches Brandt. Preston and DuPont then confront each other with handguns in a battle of Gun Kata masters, during which Preston manages to get the upper hand and kills DuPont. Preston then destroys the propaganda machines which broadcast across Libria, and the device which projects holographic images of Father. Realizing that the Tetragrammaton Council is faced with a crisis, the Underground detonates their bombs and the prisoners are released.
==Abilities==
Preston is Grammaton Cleric, a highly trained law enforcement officer for the state. He is responsible for seeking out and executing Sense Offenders like his wife. He and his kind have been highly trained in martial arts, specifically a form called “gun kata,” and are feared throughout Libria. In Preston’s words, “I’m alive… I live… to safeguard the continuity of this great society.”
==Personality==
Prior to his awakening, Preston was just another robot at service of the state. When he begins to feel true emotions, though, he becomes a righteous and courageous man.
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