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Mega City (The Matrix)
Encyclopedia
Mega City is an enormous virtual megacity
in which the inhabitants of the Matrix live their lives in the Matrix series
. The City is a conglomeration of many cities, fused into one large city with a gigantic downtown and an impressive skyline.
during the 1990s; e.g., gray and utilitarian with small pockets of color and entertainment.
According to the films' graphic designer Suzanne Buljan, companies and utilities in the city were uniformly given generic "City" names which are seen on signage and vehicles throughout the films, such as City Metro, City Waste, City Rail, City Post and City Power:
theory proposed by Jean Baudrillard
and developed by Umberto Eco
; that is that the virtual "city" constructed by the machines controlling the society is more convincing and realistic to its inhabitants than the "real world" – a dystopia
n future noir portrayed in stark contrast to the virtual one.
The harsh, gray, uninteresting landscape was implemented to make sure the unknowing inhabitants of the Matrix did not question their living space, lacking an alternative. It is possible that the City is an inhabitant-unique environment, in which no one sees things the same way. The visualization of the City as gray and unnatural in The Matrix could possibly be a result of the redpills' experience outside of the Matrix. Further, Agent Smith describes to a captured Morpheus that earlier instances of the Matrix which were cheerier did not meet the (subconscious) expectations of the humans hosted within.
of various cities of the late 20th century, in particular:
Although such distinctive landmarks as the Sydney Harbour Bridge
(which is still visible in the final scene of the earliest film) and the Sydney Opera House
were digitally removed or shot around, there are several clearly Australian buildings, companies and signs visible throughout the trilogy, particularly the first movie.
Buildings: Sydney Tower
is visible on the construct TV screen. Martin Place
, St James railway station, and various locations near Central station
and Surry Hills
are also recognisable.
Companies: Aon Corporation (201 Kent St, Bullet-time fight seen was filmed on the roof of adjacent Symantec
building), Australian Associated Press (aap)
(259 George St, Signage changed to AAPT
in Matrix Reloaded, currently Suncorp), AWA Limited (Television in Morpheus' Room is an old AWA) , AMP Limited
(50 Bridge St), Citigroup
(Old logo on Old Building seen in Matrix, new Building at 2 Park St seen in Martix Reloaded), Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Dymocks Booksellers
, KPMG
(45 Clarence St, now RBS
), IBM Corporation (201 Sussex St, now Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank (20 Bond St), MMI
, Westpac
(Several buildings, 60 Margaret St, where the Company Neo works for, is now known as 'Metcentre' has no signage).
Signage: Australian English
spelling and terms, such as "Authorised personnel only" or "Do not use lift in case of a fire," appear occasionally. This may be because production designer Owen Paterson
is Australian, rather than because Australian locations were used.
, near Oakland, California
. A two-mile purpose-built highway complete with overpasses, onramps and offramps, and highway signs was erected on portions of two unused aircraft runways on the former military base. After filming, the movie set was taken down and removed (although the darker pavement on top of the lighter concrete runway is still visible in satellite imaging programs). The preceding chase sequence from an underground car park was shot in various Oakland streets. The Webster Tube, which goes under the Oakland Inner Harbor between downtown and Alameda Island
, was also used. A highway sign reading "Whipple Ave. ½, Woodside Rd. 1½, Marsh Road 3¾" is seen on an overpass during the motorcycle chase scene. These roads are connected to US Route 101 on the San Francisco Peninsula
, and a street sign with those mileages would be seen on southbound 101 in the Redwood City area, although no scenes were photographed in that area.
. Some street names, such as Paterson Pass and Wu Ping
Ave., are derived from names of production staff.
In a brief screenshot of the first movie, wherein Tank zooms in a map on the screen to give Cypher directions to the telephone, the map of the city shows a coastline similar to that of Chicago's Lake Michigan Coastline.
The city also has a Chinatown
district, as seen in Enter the Matrix
,The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions
The Wachowski brothers provided a map of Mega City for the designers of the MMO
game The Matrix Online, which splits the city into four main districts: Downtown, International, Richland (ironically called the "slums" by the redpills), and Westview.
The map shows that the actual shape of the city represents the Y-shaped symbol seen at the end of the code sequence in The Matrix Revolutions
.
In the Matrix series
, Club Hel is a nightclub
run by the Merovingian
, a ruthless, powerful elder program in the Matrix. The club appears in the film The Matrix Revolutions
and the games The Matrix Online
and The Matrix: Path of Neo
.
The club is located in the basement level of a building in the Mega City. The entrance is guarded by armed supernatural programs having gravity-defying capabilities.
In The Matrix Revolutions, Morpheus
, Trinity
, and Seraph
defeat these guards before proceeding to the inner chamber. Here they meet with the Merovingian to barter for Neo
's escape from the Mobil Avenue Station, a computer construct run by the Merovingian's henchman, the Trainman. After Trinity starts a fight and creates a Mexican standoff
with the Merovingian, Neo is freed.
The name is drawn from the realm of Hel
in Norse Mythology
, where a goddess of the same name ruled over the spirits of those who died ingloriously or who broke oaths. Similarly, the Merovingian does many dealings with the Exiles in the Matrix universe, the programs who have broken their oath to report for deletion.
The name of the Merovingian's wife Persephone
is a reference to Greek mythology
, in which Hades
, the god of the underworld, kidnapped and married a young maiden named Persephone
, who always remained resentful of him and unhappy with her marriage. Similarly, The Matrixs Persephone is constantly working against her husband and trying to undermine his endeavors, even though there is never a mention of the possibility of their separation.
There is also some allusion to hell
. The décor of this club is theological and mythological in nature. Eve
of biblical fame can be seen in the background holding the forbidden fruit of knowledge
, which she had eaten and fed to Adam
.
The club is a depiction of a gothic/fetish nightclub, filled with stereotypical members of goth, punk, and other modern subcultures. Some of the patrons even appear to be engaging in heterosexual and homosexual acts. It is similar to the club in the first Matrix film
in which Neo first meets Trinity. The patrons are Exiles in fact, and their attire and mannerisms are tied into the supernatural beings they are thought to be emulating (two Exiles standing guard to the Merovingian's balcony look like Satyrs, or possibly Minotaurs). A majority of the Exiles present are Vampires, Lupines, and other creatures from previous versions of the Matrix.
It has never been stated that there is only one location in the Matrix, just that the entire frachise is set in the same unidentified megacity.
Megacity
A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. Some definitions also set a minimum level for population density . A megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge. The terms conurbation,...
in which the inhabitants of the Matrix live their lives in the Matrix series
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...
. The City is a conglomeration of many cities, fused into one large city with a gigantic downtown and an impressive skyline.
Design and description
The city was designed to represent an amalgam of any number of major cities in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the 1990s; e.g., gray and utilitarian with small pockets of color and entertainment.
According to the films' graphic designer Suzanne Buljan, companies and utilities in the city were uniformly given generic "City" names which are seen on signage and vehicles throughout the films, such as City Metro, City Waste, City Rail, City Post and City Power:
Philosophy and hyperreality
The concept of the City in The Matrix and its sequels is an archetype of the hyperrealityHyperreality
Hyperreality is used in semiotics and postmodern philosophy to describe a hypothetical inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from fantasy, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies...
theory proposed by Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
and developed by Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
; that is that the virtual "city" constructed by the machines controlling the society is more convincing and realistic to its inhabitants than the "real world" – a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n future noir portrayed in stark contrast to the virtual one.
The harsh, gray, uninteresting landscape was implemented to make sure the unknowing inhabitants of the Matrix did not question their living space, lacking an alternative. It is possible that the City is an inhabitant-unique environment, in which no one sees things the same way. The visualization of the City as gray and unnatural in The Matrix could possibly be a result of the redpills' experience outside of the Matrix. Further, Agent Smith describes to a captured Morpheus that earlier instances of the Matrix which were cheerier did not meet the (subconscious) expectations of the humans hosted within.
Locations and references
Mega City as it appears in the Matrix films is an amalgamAmalgamation (fiction)
Amalgamation or amalgam, when used to refer to a fictional character or place, refers to one that was created by combining, or is perceived to be a combination, of several other previously existing characters or locations...
of various cities of the late 20th century, in particular:
- SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(where most of the movies were filmed) - OaklandOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(where some of the car chase scenes in The Matrix ReloadedThe Matrix ReloadedThe 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,...
were filmed) - Chicago, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
(where the Wachowski brothers were born and raised)
Sydney
Excluding the car chase sequence in The Matrix Reloaded, the Matrix films were entirely filmed in the Australian city of Sydney.Although such distinctive landmarks as the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
(which is still visible in the final scene of the earliest film) and the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
were digitally removed or shot around, there are several clearly Australian buildings, companies and signs visible throughout the trilogy, particularly the first movie.
Buildings: Sydney Tower
Sydney Tower
Sydney Tower Eye is Sydney's tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia...
is visible on the construct TV screen. Martin Place
Martin Place, Sydney
Martin Place, formerly known as Moore Street, is a pedestrian mall in the central business district of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Bank and other corporations, Martin Place is synonymous with corporate...
, St James railway station, and various locations near Central station
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
and Surry Hills
Surry Hills, New South Wales
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is located immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
are also recognisable.
Companies: Aon Corporation (201 Kent St, Bullet-time fight seen was filmed on the roof of adjacent Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
building), Australian Associated Press (aap)
Australian Associated Press
Australian Associated Press is Australia's national news agency. The organisation was established in 1935 by Fairfax and The Herald and Weekly Times.AAP employs more than 175 journalists who work in bureaux in all Australian states and territories...
(259 George St, Signage changed to AAPT
AAPT
AAPT is Australia's third largest land line telecommunications company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. The company is a member of the Infrastructure Assurance Advisory Group for the Critical Infrastructure Protection branch of the Attorney-General's...
in Matrix Reloaded, currently Suncorp), AWA Limited (Television in Morpheus' Room is an old AWA) , AMP Limited
AMP Limited
AMP Limited is an Australian financial corporation. It operates primarily in Australia and New Zealand. AMP formed in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, a non-profit life insurance company. In 1998 it was demutualised and listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges...
(50 Bridge St), Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
(Old logo on Old Building seen in Matrix, new Building at 2 Park St seen in Martix Reloaded), Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Dymocks Booksellers
Dymocks Booksellers
Dymocks booksellers is a bookstore chain found in Australia. It currently has 73 stores in Australia, 7 in New Zealand and 13 in Hong Kong.- History :...
, KPMG
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
(45 Clarence St, now RBS
RBS
-Banking:* Royal Bank of Scotland - Scottish high street bank** Royal Bank of Scotland Group - A majority British state owned Scottish holding company, which owns Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and others-Defence:...
), IBM Corporation (201 Sussex St, now Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank (20 Bond St), MMI
Manufacturers Mutual Insurance
The Manufacturers' Mutual Accident Insurance Association Limited was an Australian insurance company founded in 1914 primarily targeting the Workers' Compensation market...
, Westpac
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
(Several buildings, 60 Margaret St, where the Company Neo works for, is now known as 'Metcentre' has no signage).
Signage: Australian English
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
spelling and terms, such as "Authorised personnel only" or "Do not use lift in case of a fire," appear occasionally. This may be because production designer Owen Paterson
Owen Paterson (production designer)
Owen Paterson is an Australian production designer, who was chiefly responsible for the design and look of The Matrix series of movies. He grew up in Western Australia, and now resides in Sydney with his wife and two children....
is Australian, rather than because Australian locations were used.
Alameda, CA
The highway scenes were shot on a specially-constructed set at the Naval Air Station AlamedaNaval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.NAS Alameda had two runways: 07-25 and 13-31...
, near Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. A two-mile purpose-built highway complete with overpasses, onramps and offramps, and highway signs was erected on portions of two unused aircraft runways on the former military base. After filming, the movie set was taken down and removed (although the darker pavement on top of the lighter concrete runway is still visible in satellite imaging programs). The preceding chase sequence from an underground car park was shot in various Oakland streets. The Webster Tube, which goes under the Oakland Inner Harbor between downtown and Alameda Island
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
, was also used. A highway sign reading "Whipple Ave. ½, Woodside Rd. 1½, Marsh Road 3¾" is seen on an overpass during the motorcycle chase scene. These roads are connected to US Route 101 on the San Francisco Peninsula
San Francisco Peninsula
The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in Santa Clara County, including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Mountain...
, and a street sign with those mileages would be seen on southbound 101 in the Redwood City area, although no scenes were photographed in that area.
Chicago
Early drafts of the screenplay identified the city as Chicago, and most of the street and landmark names referenced in the films are from Chicago, such as Wabash and Lake, Franklin and Erie, State Street, Balbo Drive, Cumberland Ave, the Adams Street Bridge and the Loop TrainChicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
. Some street names, such as Paterson Pass and Wu Ping
Yuen Woo-ping
Yuen Woo-ping is a Chinese martial arts choreographer and film director, renowned as one of the most successful and influential figures in the world of Hong Kong action cinema. He is one of the inductees on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong...
Ave., are derived from names of production staff.
In a brief screenshot of the first movie, wherein Tank zooms in a map on the screen to give Cypher directions to the telephone, the map of the city shows a coastline similar to that of Chicago's Lake Michigan Coastline.
The city also has a Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
district, as seen in 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...
,The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Online
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
game The Matrix Online, which splits the city into four main districts: Downtown, International, Richland (ironically called the "slums" by the redpills), and Westview.
The map shows that the actual shape of the city represents the Y-shaped symbol seen at the end of the code sequence in 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,...
.
Club Hel
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...
, Club Hel is a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
run by the Merovingian
Merovingian (The Matrix)
The Merovingian, also known as the Frenchman, and called Merv by Trinity, is a fictional character in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, portrayed by Lambert Wilson in both films...
, a ruthless, powerful elder program in the Matrix. The club appears in the film 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,...
and the games 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...
and 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 club is located in the basement level of a building in the Mega City. The entrance is guarded by armed supernatural programs having gravity-defying capabilities.
In The Matrix Revolutions, Morpheus
Morpheus (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,...
, 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...
, and Seraph
Seraph (The Matrix)
Seraph is the name of a fictional character in the science-fiction Matrix universe. He is portrayed as the personification of a sophisticated challenge-handshake authentication protocol which guards the Oracle....
defeat these guards before proceeding to the inner chamber. Here they meet with the Merovingian to barter for 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...
's escape from the Mobil Avenue Station, a computer construct run by the Merovingian's henchman, the Trainman. After Trinity starts a fight and creates a Mexican standoff
Mexican standoff
A Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse; a confrontation that neither side can foreseeably win. The term is most often used in lieu of "stalemate" when the confrontational situation is exceptionally dangerous for all parties involved.In popular culture, the Mexican...
with the Merovingian, Neo is freed.
The name is drawn from the realm of Hel
Hel (realm)
In Norse mythology, Hel, the location, shares a name with Hel, a female figure associated with the location. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death...
in Norse Mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, where a goddess of the same name ruled over the spirits of those who died ingloriously or who broke oaths. Similarly, the Merovingian does many dealings with the Exiles in the Matrix universe, the programs who have broken their oath to report for deletion.
The name of the Merovingian's wife Persephone
Persephone (The Matrix)
In the movies The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Persephone is the wife of The Merovingian. She seems bored with her existence in the Matrix, and is disaffected by her husband ....
is a reference to Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, in which Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
, the god of the underworld, kidnapped and married a young maiden named Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
, who always remained resentful of him and unhappy with her marriage. Similarly, The Matrixs Persephone is constantly working against her husband and trying to undermine his endeavors, even though there is never a mention of the possibility of their separation.
There is also some allusion to hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. The décor of this club is theological and mythological in nature. Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
of biblical fame can be seen in the background holding the forbidden fruit of knowledge
Forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of knowledge that cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but is forbidden to have....
, which she had eaten and fed to Adam
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
.
The club is a depiction of a gothic/fetish nightclub, filled with stereotypical members of goth, punk, and other modern subcultures. Some of the patrons even appear to be engaging in heterosexual and homosexual acts. It is similar to the club in the first Matrix film
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...
in which Neo first meets Trinity. The patrons are Exiles in fact, and their attire and mannerisms are tied into the supernatural beings they are thought to be emulating (two Exiles standing guard to the Merovingian's balcony look like Satyrs, or possibly Minotaurs). A majority of the Exiles present are Vampires, Lupines, and other creatures from previous versions of the Matrix.
Locations outside of Mega City
The revelation that the Matrix films and games take place in a single megacity was surprising, as there were several references to other places and cultures throughout the series. This gave rise to the speculation that the Matrix contains only one city, wherein the names, media, and language differences exist to convince the inhabitants that an entire world exists outside it. References to other places are shown below.- During NeoNeo (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...
's online search for 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,...
, the headline "Morpheus eludes police at Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
" and an ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
newspaper appears, suggesting that LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
are simulated to some degree in the Matrix world, unless the City's airport is called "Heathrow". Alternatively, London exists only in name and the news article was just propaganda to make inhabitants of the Matrix afraid of Morpheus and see him as a terrorist criminal instead of liberator. - The presence of an airport and a post office in Enter the Matrix implies that City-dwellers can travel, or seem to travel, to other cities and countries.
- In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo is transported to a remote mountainous area resembling the AlpsAlpsThe Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
or the HimalayasHimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
(supposedly the location of the Merovingian's mansion), from which he has to fly "500 miles due south" in order to return to the City. - In The Matrix: Path of NeoThe Matrix: Path of NeoThe 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....
, Neo, Morpheus, and the Keymaker enter the United States Congress, which is then overwritten by Smith. The presence of a national government suggests that there are other nations within the Matrix. - In Beyond, one of the short films from The AnimatrixThe Animatrixis 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...
, the setting appears to be that of Japan - East Asian lettering can be seen on signposts, and the main character Yoko owns a cat called Yuki, indicatively Japanese names. In addition, in World Record, another Animatrix short, the runner wears running gear emblazoned with 'USA', and a nurse mentions her aunt who lives in the south of France. This seems to suggest that not only are there regions outside the City, but other nations too, leading to the possibility of the Matrix being larger than previously thought. - While interrogating Neo in the original film, the Agents view some of his biographical data. Neo's birthplace is shown onscreen as "Lower Downtown, Capital City". The idea of a 'Capital' city suggests that there are other cities, else the term 'capital' is meaningless. Another thought is that the name of Mega City in the Matrix universe is Capital City.
- During the same interrogation, a glimpse of Neo's passport is visible, upside down. It clearly shows that it is a United States Of America passport, issued in Capital City, USA.
It has never been stated that there is only one location in the Matrix, just that the entire frachise is set in the same unidentified megacity.