Over the past half century, live action role play (LARP) has grown into a worldwide cultural phenomenon. It involves preplanned theater wherein participants portray characters in an imaginary environment and interact with one another in real time.
On the other hand, violent extremism supports or commits real, ideologically motivated violence to further political, social, or religious goals.
This article will outline definitive ways to distinguish between LARP and criminal or malicious activity, which may be helpful to both law enforcement and prosecutors if suspects of targeted violence claim they were playacting.
Most people engaged in LARP as children, pretending to be certain characters and moving into a fictional world with rules defining the actions within it. The stage was set, characters were assigned, and a story line was created.
LARPing as a cultural pastime has evolved into playing tabletop games, recreating historical events (e.g., military battles), or enacting futuristic fantasy. One can even attend dinner theater events during which diners LARP as characters in a mystery.
