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Agent (The Matrix)
Encyclopedia
The Matrix (franchise)
The Matrix is a science fiction action franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the 1999 film The Matrix and later spawned two sequels; The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003, thus forming a trilogy...
. They are sentient computer programs, displaying high-level Artificial Intelligence
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
, and are representatives, or "Agents", of the main antagonists within the Matrix fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. They are guardians within the computer-generated world of the Matrix. Something akin to the anti-virus of the Matrix, guarding it from anyone or anything (most often Redpill
Redpill
The term red pill and its opposite, blue pill, are pop culture terms that have become a common symbol for the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion and embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality ....
s) that could reveal it as a false reality or threaten it in any other way. Agents also hunt down and terminate any rogue programs, such as The Keymaker
Keymaker
The Keymaker is a fictional character in The Matrix film series portrayed by Korean-American actor Randall Duk Kim. The Keymaker is one of the sentient programs, rogue to the System. It carves shortcut keys used by every program in the Matrix...
, which no longer serve a purpose to the overall Machine collective. They appear physically human, but have a tendency to speak and act in highly precise and mechanical ways.
Physical aspects
Agents wear very dark green (almost black) business suits lined with a gold fabric, black dress shoes, a silver bar tie clip to complement the tie, square sunglassesSunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...
, and a communication earpiece
Headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...
. However, in Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions, Agent Smith
Agent Smith
Agent Smith is the main antagonist of The Matrix film series and multimedia franchise, mainly played by actor Hugo Weaving and briefly by actor Ian Bliss in the films and voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in The Matrix: Path of Neo.In 2008, Agent Smith was selected by Empire Magazine as number 84...
wears a black suit, angled sunglasses, and no earpiece. That represents his being an exile. These features are copied from the attire for plainclothes agents of the United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
, as well as those of the Men in Black
Men in Black
Men in Black , in American popular culture and in UFO conspiracy theories, are men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves...
conspiracy or the stereotypical G-Man
G-Man (slang)
G-Man is a slang term for Special agents of the United States Government. It is specifically used as a term for a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent....
/FBI
FBI portrayal in the media
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been a staple of American popular culture since its christening in 1935. That year also marked the beginning of the popular "G-Man" phenomenon that helped establish the Bureau's image, beginning with the aptly titled James Cagney movie, G Men...
official. All Agents are Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
males (with a minor exception of female Agent Pace from The Matrix Online
The Matrix Online
The Matrix Online was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Monolith Productions created by Richard Carroll. It was the official continuation of the storyline of the Matrix series of films. The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered...
game), which also provides a dynamic compared to the majority population of Zion, containing many diverse cultures and walks of life. They have sideburns, and their hair is either slicked back or side-parted. Matrix Agents carry Desert Eagle
Desert Eagle
The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the U.S. and by IMI in Israel; the pistol is manufactured primarily in Israel by IMI...
handguns in shoulder holsters that are concealed beneath their suits. In addition to proficiency in the use of firearms, all Agents are masters of the martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and hand-to-hand combat.
Agents are programmed to be extremely agile, allowing them to perform superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
feats such as leaping great distances, while possessing exceptional reflexes; on one occasion Smith managed to directly counter a punch from Morpheus with a punch of his own to Morpheus's still-moving fist. They can briefly move at speeds fast enough to evade gunfire, at least in most circumstances; contact shot
Contact shot
A contact shot is defined as a gunshot wound incurred while the muzzle of the firearm is in direct contact with the body at the moment of discharge. Contact shots are often the result of close range gunfight, suicide or execution...
s are effective, as are weapons with an extremely high rate of fire, such as that from a “Minigun
Minigun
The Minigun is a 7.62 mm, multi-barrel heavy machine gun with a high rate of fire , employing Gatling-style rotating barrels with an external power source...
” as seen in the first Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
film. They seem to be impervious to pain, or to have an extremely high tolerance for it; when Neo shoots one Agent with a minigun, he shows no visible reaction to several bullets piercing his arm. They can only be "killed" by wounds that would be instantly lethal to a human; trauma to the head, heart, upper spine, and so on. Although very resistant, Agents can bleed (Morpheus cuts an Agent on "Matrix reloaded" in the cheek with a sword).
However, this "death" is only a minor obstacle. When an agent is killed, it can simply transfer itself to another body, as agents have the ability to take over Bluepills - humans directly connected to the Matrix. Hence, destroying an agent is virtually impossible. They can only possess bluepills, and thus Zion rebels are unaffected (only Smith, as a virus, had the ability to take over redpills by copying himself over them). For this reason, areas with a high population density (crowded apartment buildings, market places, freeways) are usually avoided by the Zion rebels.
Agents possess superhuman strength: they have been seen tearing off the roof of a car with one hand, and delivering punches that can shatter solid concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. Agents also seem significantly less stunned by punches and kicks than a human would be, although a sufficiently strong attack to a vital body area can stagger them, such as when Neo briefly stunned Smith by 'stabbing' him in the throat with his fingers.
Agents can only act within the boundaries of the Matrix, and as a result, they must obey the laws of physics set within the Matrix's world. Thus, while they can perform feats of incredible strength or have inhuman endurance, they cannot walk through walls, stop bullets, fly unassisted, etc. They can bend the rules, but they cannot outright break them. The only exception to these limits occurs in the first film, wherein Agent Smith appears to plant a suggestion in Neo's mind that his (Neo's) mouth has sealed itself, although this could have been a temporary rewrite of the code of Neo's RSI from the source rather than a regular ability possessed by conventional Agents.
Agents, apart from Smith who seems intellectually superior to others, often do not show emotion.
Interaction with Zion infiltrators
Their abilities make Agents extremely dangerous and virtually impossible to eliminate. All Zion hovercraft crewmembers know this, and upon encountering one, they are cautioned to escape. According to MorpheusMorpheus (The Matrix)
Morpheus is the name of a fictional character and the secondary protagonist of The Matrix Franchise. The Wachowski brothers were fans of Neil Gaiman and based the character of Morpheus on the title character from the comic book The Sandman, also adopting one of his most common pseudonyms,...
, in the time before Neo
Neo (The Matrix)
Thomas A. Anderson is a fictional character and the main protagonist in The Matrix franchise, as well as having a cameo in The Animatrix short film, Kid's Story. He was portrayed by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy and The Animatrix. Andrew Bowen provided Neo's voice in The Matrix: Path of Neo...
was freed from the Matrix, every human that had stood their ground against an Agent was killed. Morpheus and Neo both individually fought Agent Smith in the first movie, and both were defeated, only surviving because Smith needed Morpheus for questioning and Neo due to his self-realisation of himself as the One. Later, once Neo had harnessed his abilities as the One, Agents no longer posed a threat to him and he could easily disintegrate Smith, scaring Agents Brown and Jones into fleeing. It is implied in the game Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix is the first video game based on The Matrix series of films. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari and WB Interactive for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube game systems, and for the PC. It was published in Japan by Bandai...
that one of the main reasons for Neo's ability to defeat Agents was his ability to focus enough to move quickly for far longer periods than could normal rebels. This is the main cause of the player's difficulty in fighting Agents, since when the player is outside bullet time the Agents are able to dodge and counter all hand-to-hand attacks.
Morpheus had been fortunate enough to survive encounters with two Agents (Smith and Johnson) throughout the trilogy. He was defeated soundly by Smith (who was probably limiting the lethality of his attacks, as he wanted to capture the high-ranking infiltrator alive), and only overcame Johnson due to the nature of their situation; he did not wear down his opponent, but merely threw him from the top of the speeding truck on which they were fighting, although he only managed to turn the tables on his foe after he was thrown off himself due to the unexpected arrival of Niobe
Niobe (The Matrix)
Niobe is a fictional character in the video game Enter the Matrix and the two feature films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Niobe also appears in the MMORPG The Matrix Online...
, who rescued him.
Niobe has defeated an Agent, but as with Morpheus, there were extenuating circumstances. The fight took place onboard a cargo plane in the skies above the Megacity; Niobe lowered the rear cargo ramp and managed to knock Agent Johnson out of the plane.
Ghost has also defeated a single Agent during a raid on a nuclear power plant, again by making use of unique circumstances of the encounter. Agent Johnson challenged him in the control room of the plant, whereupon he damaged one of the high-voltage servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
with small arms fire and threw his opponent into it, electrocuting him.
Trinity
Trinity (The Matrix)
Trinity is a fictional character and Neo's love interest in The Matrix universe, played by Carrie-Anne Moss in the films. In the gameplay segments of Path of Neo, she is voiced by Jennifer Hale...
is the only other character to have "stood up" against an Agent and survive, given that she dispatched one of them by a contact shot
Contact shot
A contact shot is defined as a gunshot wound incurred while the muzzle of the firearm is in direct contact with the body at the moment of discharge. Contact shots are often the result of close range gunfight, suicide or execution...
when it was near to killing Neo, getting in close while the Agent's attention was focused on Neo. If, as Morpheus suggests, no other human had survived an Agent encounter, this would mark the first time that an Agent had been "defeated", albeit the Agent's program then "body hopped" into another Bluepill and was fighting again within minutes.
Agents Jones and Brown
In the first Matrix movie, Agents Jones (Robert TaylorRobert Taylor (Australian actor)
- Biography :Taylor is best known internationally for his role in The Matrix as Agent Jones. He also appeared in the crocodile horror film Rogue and stars in Australian thriller Storm Warning and the 2009 Australian movie Coffin Rock.-Filmography:...
) and Brown (Paul Goddard
Paul Goddard (actor)
Paul Goddard is an actor based in Australia.His best known roles are Agent Brown in the film The Matrix and Stark in the science fiction television series Farscape....
) are credited as Agent Smith's "sidekicks". Smith is given at least one order (or at least a forceful suggestion) by Jones ("order the strike"), and there appears to be some resentment or disagreement between the three at times.
Jones and Brown undergo little character development and do not appear in the sequels, though they are occasionally seen in The Matrix Online
The Matrix Online
The Matrix Online was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Monolith Productions created by Richard Carroll. It was the official continuation of the storyline of the Matrix series of films. The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered...
. They are mostly silent, but brutal accomplices to Smith, who perform secondary tasks such as holding Neo in place when Smith places a tracking device (itself possibly a program) inside his body cavity.
Brown chases Trinity across the rooftops in the opening sequence, missing several shots. Brown is also present in the scene wherein Morpheus is interrogated, injecting a truth serum into Morpheus's neck. Finally, Brown is ordered by Smith to check Neo for life signs after Smith shoots him and confirms Neo's death.
Jones is less prominent than Brown in the first movie, but his most notable scene is to confront Neo in near a helicopter. He then stands above the stricken Neo, uttering the line "Only human", before being shot himself by Trinity, who managed to get in close enough to shoot him in the head at point-blank range
Point-blank range
In external ballistics, point-blank range is the distance between a firearm and a target of a given size such that the bullet in flight is expected to strike the target without adjusting the elevation of the firearm. The point-blank range will vary with the firearm and its particular ballistic...
while he was occupied with Neo. From this, it can be deduced Jones perceives the human race much as Smith does, though with less unbridled revulsion. Likely as a precaution, Jones is seen holding Brown back when Neo is about to destroy Smith in the end of the film, and they are last seen fleeing from Neo.
Upgraded Agents
The Matrix ReloadedThe Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...
introduced "Upgraded" Agents, Jackson, Johnson, and Thompson. Their enhanced strength, speed and stamina enable them to engage in protracted combat with Neo. In The Matrix: Path of Neo
The Matrix: Path of Neo
The Matrix: Path of Neo is the third video game based on the Matrix series and the second developed by Shiny Entertainment. Players control the character Neo, participating in scenes from the films. It was released on October 4, 2005 in North America....
, the upgraded Agents recover from violent physical injuries in a relatively short time. However, an unarmed Neo is still able to defeat them easily.
The upgraded Agents continue the use of very plain, common, Anglo-Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
names. A difference is that now their names are all two syllables and end in "-son", while the original Agents had names consisting of only a short syllable.
Rogue Agents
When Smith was destroyed by Neo at the end of The MatrixThe Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
, his programming instructed him to return to the Source (the Machine mainframe), either to be destroyed or stored. As a result of Neo's attack, something changed in Smith that allowed him to defy his programming. The change in Smith also disconnects him from the system, setting him "free" from his duties. In effect, this change makes Smith an "Exile" program without purpose. By copying his programming onto others, especially The Oracle, Smith develops similar qualities as the One, such as the ability to withstand dramatic damage and the power of flight. Because Smith feels that he is still a victim to "purpose", he thus makes it his goal to destroy both Zion and The Matrix. Beginning to behave like a virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
, he makes multitudinous copies of himself by using humans and other programs in the Matrix as hosts. The copies thereafter display the memories and special abilities of any assimilated programs, such as the Oracle's ability to see the future and control over The Matrix. Smith's ability to copy himself onto others may be a corruption of his original ability to move between hosts before Neo's attack. Neo is shown to be the only person able to withstand such assimilations, Morpheus only being spared because Neo threw off the Smiths that were trying to copy over him; even the Oracle fell victim to the attack, although it apparently required greater effort on Smith's part than usual. Smith eventually assimilates the entire Matrix and is destroyed when Neo, co-operating with the Machines, allows Smith to copy his programming onto him after a protracted fight.
Other Agents
Many other agents have appeared in the Animatrix, the Matrix console games, and the Matrix comics. Agents Ash, Bird, Finn, Fine, Gray, and White are the only Agents named there, but other unnamed Agents have appeared as well.Agent White also appears in The Matrix: Path of Neo
The Matrix: Path of Neo
The Matrix: Path of Neo is the third video game based on the Matrix series and the second developed by Shiny Entertainment. Players control the character Neo, participating in scenes from the films. It was released on October 4, 2005 in North America....
as a replacement for Smith
Agent Smith
Agent Smith is the main antagonist of The Matrix film series and multimedia franchise, mainly played by actor Hugo Weaving and briefly by actor Ian Bliss in the films and voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in The Matrix: Path of Neo.In 2008, Agent Smith was selected by Empire Magazine as number 84...
after the latter was destroyed by Neo
Neo (The Matrix)
Thomas A. Anderson is a fictional character and the main protagonist in The Matrix franchise, as well as having a cameo in The Animatrix short film, Kid's Story. He was portrayed by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy and The Animatrix. Andrew Bowen provided Neo's voice in The Matrix: Path of Neo...
. White appears in only one section of the Redpill Rescue level called The Security Guard. He appears much like Agent Brown but has his own personality, and appears to be stronger than both Jones and Brown at the time as he gives Neo a fair degree of difficulty, even while Neo is the One.
The Animatrix
The Animatrix
is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
story World Record featured a different style of Agent wearing full-length trenchcoats instead of the usual dark suit.
Online
The Agents lived on in the film's continuation, the MMORPG The Matrix OnlineThe Matrix Online
The Matrix Online was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Monolith Productions created by Richard Carroll. It was the official continuation of the storyline of the Matrix series of films. The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered...
. In line with the brokered truce created by Neo at the end of The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction film and the third installment of The Matrix trilogy. The film was released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and released simultaneously in sixty countries on November 5,...
, Agents were no longer assigned to kill redpill
Redpill
The term red pill and its opposite, blue pill, are pop culture terms that have become a common symbol for the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion and embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality ....
s on sight. Instead, they guard various areas of the Matrix that are still restricted to the awakened. The Agents revert to their original programming with the collapse of the Truce.
Impostor Agents
Red-Eyed 'Impostor' Agents appeared at the start of The Matrix Online storyline during chapter 1.1. These 'agents' impersonated system representatives and began widespread sabotage and assaults on the awakened redpills in an attempt to stress/break the truce agreement. All three major organizations (ZionZion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
, the Machines
The Machines
Machines of Loving Grace was an industrial rock band from Tucson, Arizona.Named for a Richard Brautigan poem, they formed in 1989. The original lineup consisted of Scott Benzel , Stuart Kupers , and Mike Fisher , with Brad Kemp added shortly thereafter...
, and the Merovingian) were quick to deny being responsible for the attacks and the impostors were soon declared a fourth group unto themselves.
It was soon discovered that these beings were not agents at all, but rather were using some kind of disguise technology to try to implicate the machines for their actions. Glowing red eyes and lack of system-issue firearms were flaws in the plan.
It is revealed in a "Report to the General" document that the Red-Eyed Agents are the General's, the Exile who used to command the Sentinels, commandos, taking into consideration that programs could gain access to other shells (like the way the Oracle changed appearance in the movies), made occasional documented reports to the General in various Zion and Machine critical missions, and also hinted that their disguises were malfunctioning.
Agent Gray
Gray was one of several Agents trapped in the Matrix during the infestation known as Smith. His program was overwritten with new code, executing instructions which conflicted with his primary architecture. When Smith was defeated and Smith's program was withdrawn from the system, Gray was freed.The Machine Civilization is run by cautious protocols, and there was still some chance that the Smith code had found a place to shelter within the system, or within an RSI. Agents that had been exposed to Smith were quarantined within the Matrix during the reset — something that is usually never done. Bluepills have their connections to the system attenuated so they never notice the event, and Exiles can seek shelter in a construct, but Agents have no such recourse. Those trapped in the system during the reset were literally turned inside out as their code was deconstructed and recompiled with a vicious error-checking routine.
Even afterward, he has not been allowed to return to the Source, instead relegated to a buffer system created during the reboot — a gateway construct which acts as a Machine analog to the Merovingian's Mobil Avenue Station. In some ways he is almost an Exile, but for the fact that he believes he will eventually be able to return to the Source.
Due to his current situation, Agent Gray was selected to act as recruiter and Controller for human beings that the Machines believe can assist them in controlling the Matrix. Like all Agents he is normally dispassionate and aloof, with a precise manner of speaking, but his forced dealings with humans have left him with somewhat more understanding of them than most Agents.
When dealing with humans, he uses many euphemisms, as he has found that humans often prefer not to say what they really mean. Death is “cessation of awareness”; stealing is “expeditious acquisition”. He addresses humans by their gender titles and bluepill last name (e.g. "Mister Anderson"), and seems to have a foolproof way of knowing this information about every human to whom he speaks.
Though Gray resented his assignment greatly at first, he has come to appreciate the fact that he is better at dealing with humans than most other machine Agents. Although he does not enjoy interacting with humans, the fact that he is efficient at it gives him a sense of pride.
Occasionally, a remmnant of Smith's code has been known to influence his behavior, causing him to develop a misanthropic and homicidal attitude, as well as greatly increasing his power.
Agent Gray is voiced by John Patrick Lowrie
John Patrick Lowrie
John Patrick Lowrie is a voice actor who has notably performed roles in video games such as The Suffering and The Suffering: Ties That Bind, Total Annihilation, No One Lives Forever: The Operative and No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way, and Valve games Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2:...
.
Agent Pace
Agent Pace is the first female Agent, created in the The Matrix Online storyline as an attempt by the Machines to better interact with their human liaisons. Agent Pace is somewhat less stern and more personable than other Agents, and often refers to her human liaisons using ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
terms, almost verging on "pet names" if AI could be said to use them (similar to how the Merovingian program decided that he prefers French over other human languages, Pace likes Italian).