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During the film V for Vendetta, the character Delia Surridge recounts her experiences at Larkhill in her journal. She describes V developing abnormal abilities and kinesthesia, and when encountering V while the facility is burning to the ground, writes "...he looked at me, not with eyes - there were no eyes - but I know he was looking at me because I felt it."

Was V physically blind as a result of the experiments performed on him at Larkhill (or perhaps due to the fire), but somehow he compensated with his other heightened senses?

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No, he isn't blind in either the film or the source comic.

Ignoring the more obvious elements (fight scenes, throwing of knives, etc) there are at least two occasions where he performs acts that would be impossible without sight:

When he lacerates the poster:

V lacerates the poster

Cooking for Evey (where he flips and then catches a piece of bread in the pan)

V cooks for Evey

In the comic book, a line in Dr Delia's diary makes it clear that he can still see at the time of his escape;

"He looked at me. As if I were an insect. Oh God. As if I were something mounted on a slide."

And the film's official novelisation makes multiple references to V looking at things, for example;

"Sutler," V told him, his masked face leaning forward over Creedy's shoulder now, so he could see the way the mans eyes flashed.

and

Gasping in a deep breath, V turned away then, surveying his night's work: a scatter of dead bodies in a grimy, derelict Underground station that still resonated with the violence of his deeds, awash with blood and reeking with the smell of gunsmoke.

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    Although in the film, Delia specifically states "...he looked at me, not with eyes - there were no eyes - but I know he was looking at me because I felt it."
    – RobertF
    Commented May 4, 2014 at 14:45
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    @RobertF - "There were no eyes" could easily be read as "I couldn't see his eyes" since his back was to a bright fire...
    – Valorum
    Commented May 4, 2014 at 14:48
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    Also he watches a tv, reads a book. We can also see that he has eyes when he catches Evey why wearing balaclava.
    – Yasskier
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 8:41
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    @Yasskier Do you mean to tell me that a blind person cannot face a television or hold up a book and turn pages?
    – Dave Johnson
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 14:50
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    "Ignoring the more obvious elements (fight scenes, throwing of knives, etc)". Some blind comic characters fight very well !
    – Taladris
    Commented Nov 27, 2015 at 0:25
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Evey walks in on him in the Shadow Gallery reading a book.

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    We have no specific evidence that he can actually read it though
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 8:46
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    Holding a book while blind seems quite pointless though @Richard.
    – yondaime008
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 10:36
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    a screencap, or a video would go a long way here.
    – phantom42
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 10:54
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    @yondaime008 - You do need to take into account that he's A) Trying to deceive her for much of the movie and B) As mad as a box of frogs.
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 11:03
  • @Richard fair enough !
    – yondaime008
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 11:10
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When he was dueling with the armor, he didn't react to Evey's presence until he looked in her direction. Hearing her like Daredevil or using some sixth sense would have already alerted him to her being there, and acting surprised would serve no purpose since she already thinks he's amazingly skilled. And collecting art would be pointless, not to mention impossibly inaccurate, if he couldn't see. He can clearly see, he puts on an act. Though I suspect he does have some extremely improved hearing and maybe a low degree of a sixth sense.

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