Who is V?

Throughout this film I kept wondering: "who is V?". At one point of the film I thought V was Evey's friend Deitrich, because they were similar in almost every way.  The first mornings spent by Evey at the houses of V and Deitrich had similarities that are very much in plain sight.  From the Egg in a Basket, the music that is playing, and the aprons that they both were wearing, even the editing and the angles of the camera, all are the same.  I ask myself: why is this?  Could it be that Deitrich is V?  As I began to think deeper into the film I became aware that many people are meant to portray different personifications of V's characteristics.  However, I was no closer in my understanding of who V really was.  It did not come to me until the end of the film that I think I discovered the identity of V.

My understanding of who V is came from the ending sequence, perceptually when all of the masked people remove there masks.  We see a multitude of people, many for the first time.  We also see the faces of people who have died throughout the movie: a little girl, the women from the cell next to V, and Deitrich himself.  To me V is everyone, he is the embodiment of the ideals of liberty and equality, and he represents how we are all truly the same because we are all wearing the masks of humanity.