Belligerence Theory

The Belligerence Theory states that people have the innate compulsion to disrupt or Hulk-smash the natural order of a given situation. Men, women, and children will induce chaos in order to satisfy their own sadistic, hedonistic urges. Put simply, when presented with a Lego city scape, the typical human being will "fuck that shit up."

The Belligerence Theory is evident and almost always demanded in various, video game franchises.

In Rampage, your goal is mass destruction. You, the player, control raging monsters in a super-belligerent mission to annihilate digital representations of real, existing cities. Your actions include car-crushing, building-punching and people-munching. Actions are rewarded with points and level progression. In Rampage, the choices are simple: demolish or be demolished.

In Burnout, you are the Michael Bay of luxury sedans. Your task is to calculate the degree to you which you can piss off insurance companies by instigating car accidents—with your own car. Possible actions include ramp-jumping, fuel-tanker collisions, car-crashing, and, uh, more car-crashing. Points are awarded in proportion to the level of damages you inflict on property, other vehicles, and yourself. In-game physical laws are vivid and hyper-realistic. Newly damaged cars are magically repaired at the beginning of each stage, as it is in real life.

The key element of Belligerence Theory is "unethical eradication," i.e., the deliberate disregard for human and inanimate life. Many of today's games require the maiming of digital but very fluid, life-like entities. In Call of Duty, you must compromise terrorists, helicopter, and dogs. In Worms and Gunbound, you hurl explosives at each other in lateral, platform madness. And in Grand Theft Auto, you are graced with the ability to destroy hookers with pimp-like passion.

This argument challenges Romero's Tidiness Theory. Use of the metaphor "cleaning" in explaining violence compromises any sense of ethical wrongness. Stabbing a Russian soldier is not "scrubbing," it is killing. Punching a hole through a building is not "renovating," it is mass destruction. And eating a maze worth of pellets is not "sweeping," it is gluttony.

The Tidiness Theory, according to Romero, posits that self-improvement is justified at the expense of others. What of worms killed-in-action who cannot return to their families? What of the city zoning permits that Rampage creatures so readily invalidates? (Oh yeah. And the people inside.) What of the dogs brutally assaulted in PaperBoy? These digital creatures matter, too. His theory disregards the sentiments of said victims and fails to address the destructive potential of man's actions.