From the messianic Neo to the nefarious Agent Smith, the Wachowskis created some of the most iconic characters ever to grace the silver screen for The Matrix franchise. The Matrix has become a staple of science fiction; terms like “The One” and “red pill” have entered the pop culture lexicon. It’s both a thought-provoking meditation on human existence and artificial intelligence, and a poignant religious allegory about a “chosen one” figure with impostor syndrome. As with any classic movie, part of what makes The Matrix so timeless is that its characters are so compelling and three-dimensional.
Not every character in The Matrix franchise is well-written and well-developed. Characters like the Keymaker and the Trainman exist purely to facilitate the plot. The Architect speaks exclusively in nonsensical hypotheticals and sounds like he carries around a thesaurus. But most of the characters in this ensemble are fascinating figures played by great actors, whose performances have breathed life into the curious cyberpunk universe that the Wachowskis conjured up. From Trinity to Morpheus to the Oracle, The Matrix cast is jam-packed with memorable characters.
10
Link
After Tank and Dozer were killed in the first Matrix movie, the Nebuchadnezzar needed a new pilot. The Matrix sequels brought in a new character, Link, played by Harold Perrineau, to take their place. Whereas Tank and Dozer were unwaveringly loyal to Morpheus and his mission, Link is initially unsure about Morpheus. Morpheus is much more reckless than Link’s last captain, so he’s not sure if he can trust him. But over the course of his on-screen journey, he grows to trust Morpheus as much as his previous pilots did.
Link is only a supporting character, but he goes through some real growth throughout The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. At first, he refuses to wear his wife’s fortune necklace, because he doesn’t believe in her wild superstitions. However, by the end of The Matrix trilogy, he relents and wears it, because, he figures, “it can’t hurt.”
9
The Twins
The Merovingian’s most trusted henchmen, The Twins, are one of the highlights of The Matrix Reloaded. They were played by real-life identical twins, Neil and Adrian Rayment, and they’re arguably the best side villains in the entire franchise. The job of a side villain is simply to present a tangible threat to the heroes and look badass doing it, and The Twins certainly achieve that — especially in the iconic freeway chase.
Part of what makes The Twins such a fascinating pair of characters is that their backstory is a complete mystery. There’s a theory that they’re Agents from a previous version of the Matrix who went rogue (the sunglasses seem like a dead giveaway). But since it’s never been confirmed, it’s up to the audience to speculate on where this deadly duo might have come from.
8
Bugs
A lot of the new cast members in The Matrix Resurrections are just replacements for previous cast members. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was brought in as the new Morpheus and Jonathan Groff was brought in as the new Agent Smith, with neither of them living up to their predecessors. But there is one great new character — Bugs, named as part of the movie’s meta mockery of Warner Bros. — who kicks off the plot when she learns that the Matrix is running old code in a loop.
Bugs introduces the audience to the new group of rebels leading the charge against the Machines in Morpheus’ absence. Jessica Henwick plays Bugs as the audience surrogate, the way Keanu Reeves played Thomas Anderson in the original film. As a charming gunslinger who captains her own hovercraft, there’s something delightfully Cowboy Bebop about this character.
7
Niobe
Niobe is a human from Zion who nobly joined the resistance against the Machines. Played by Jada Pinkett Smith, Niobe is the captain and pilot of her own ship, the Logos, which is the quickest and most maneuverable craft in the human fleet. Within the virtual reality of the Matrix, Niobe is one of Zion’s most skilled martial artists — she kicks almost as much butt as Trinity.
She’s been in hand-to-hand combat with such formidable characters as Seraph, the Merovingian’s superpowered goon squad, and even Agent Smith, and lived to tell the tale. Niobe was one of the only characters to appear in all three Matrix sequels, along with heavy hitters like Neo and Trinity. Over the course of that three-movie arc, she became renowned as one of the franchise’s bravest and most powerful characters.
6
Cypher
In the first Matrix movie, Cypher double-crosses his team and sells them out to the Agents. Ralph Cifaretto himself, Joe Pantoliano, was the perfect casting choice to play this duplicitous sleazeball. Cypher has a unique perspective in this franchise. Most of the human characters in The Matrix movies share the same philosophy: that the Machines are evil for enslaving the human race, that the Matrix needs to be shut down, and that humanity should be free to live in the real world.
But Cypher has a very different philosophy. After staying with Morpheus’ resistance group for a while, Cypher is sick of living underground and eating gruel, and just wants to go back into the Matrix. As far as he’s concerned, if it looks like steak and tastes like steak, he doesn’t care that it’s not really real, which is actually a pretty good point.
5
The Oracle
The all-seeing Oracle is one of The Matrix’s most interesting characters. The Oracle is a sapient program who is privy to every single decision made by every single person connected to the Matrix, which gives her what appears to be an ability to see the future. The Oracle was initially played by Gloria Foster, who made the character an icon, before being replaced by Mary Alice in The Matrix Revolutions after Foster sadly passed away.
The Oracle’s role in The Matrix franchise has been linked to determinism — the belief that everything that has ever happened and ever will happen is inevitable — but the movies are deliberately ambiguous about that. She explains that no one, including herself, can see past a decision they do not understand. Whether her power of prediction is deterministic or not, the character is undeniably captivating.
4
Agent Smith
Agent Smith is the big bad of The Matrix saga; an A.I. program doing the Machines’ bidding within the Matrix. Like the other Agents, Smith speaks in a monotonous tone and doesn’t express any emotion. In the hands of a lesser actor, he’d be a forgettable and unengaging character. But Hugo Weaving has a knack for creating memorable villains, as seen with his turns as Red Skull and Megatron in other big sci-fi franchises.
Weaving ensured that Smith had an unforgettable screen presence, and that his rivalry with his arch-nemesis Neo was palpably intense. Ian Bliss did a great job of embodying Weaving’s portrayal of Smith when he took human form as Bane, too. Along with Darth Vader, Voldemort, and Heath Ledger’s Joker, Smith is one of the most iconic and terrifying villains in blockbuster history.
3
Trinity
Deep down, The Matrix has always been a love story. Neo isn’t inspired to save the human race because of his supposed messianic purpose; he’s inspired by his love for Trinity. Their love was always at the heart of the franchise. The Matrix Resurrections confirmed this when it revealed that Trinity was always a part of “The One” prophecy, and that it’s more like “The Two.” Neo and Trinity were destined to liberate humanity together.
Along with Pam Grier, Sigourney Weaver, and Linda Hamilton, Carrie-Anne Moss helped to break new ground for female action heroes with her turn as Trinity in The Matrix franchise. Trinity is a badass fighter who has the all-powerful Agents running scared. Trinity has even more tenacity than Neo and even more grace under fire than Morpheus; she’s an invaluable asset to the team.
2
Morpheus
From Gandalf to Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise older mentor is a staple of the hero’s journey. They guide the hero on their quest to fulfill their true potential and save the world from evil. But they’re not usually as suave and charismatic as Morpheus. Morpheus may be Neo’s older mentor, but he’s still a pretty formidable fighter himself.
In the first movie, Morpheus is mostly used to deliver exposition. Neo knows nothing about the Matrix or the Machines or the war against them, so Morpheus has to explain everything to him (and, by extension, the audience). Expositional characters are usually pretty bland and forgettable, because they’re just there to supply information. But Laurence Fishburne gives Morpheus such a mesmerizing presence and imbues him with so much personality that he’s still one of the franchise’s best characters.
1
Neo
The hero of The Matrix franchise, played brilliantly by Keanu Reeves, is also its greatest character. Thomas Anderson is just a bored office drone stuck in a computer simulation of 1999, but his alter ego Neo is the prophesized “The One” who will liberate humanity from its robotic overlords. Along with Harry Potter and Anakin Skywalker, Neo is one of the most iconic “chosen one” characters in pop culture. He’s reluctant to accept his role as a messiah, but he ends up living up to the prophecy.
The Wachowskis envisioned Neo as a Christ figure and drew a few clear parallels with Jesus’ story. Much like Jesus, Neo is plagued with self-doubt and suffers from impostor syndrome. This makes Neo one of The Matrix’s most relatable characters, even when he gains the power to fly, stop bullets in mid-air, and bend reality to his will.
The Matrix
The Matrix is a sci-fi action franchise that launched with the Wachowskis’ 1999 film. It depicts a dystopian future where humanity is unknowingly trapped in a simulated reality by sentient machines. The protagonist, Neo, discovers this truth and that he is “The One,” a being that will lead a rebellion against the machines and restore freedom to humanity.
Movie(s)
The Matrix
, The Matrix Reloaded
, The Matrix Revolutions
, The Matrix Resurrections
, The Matrix 5
Cast
Keanu Reeves
, Laurence Fishburne
, Carrie-Anne Moss
, Hugo Weaving
, Joe Pantoliano
, Jada Pinkett Smith
, Monica Bellucci
, Lambert Wilson
, Harold Perrineau
, Gina Torres
, Collin Chou
, Neil Patrick Harris
, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
, Jessica Henwick
, Jonathan Groff
, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
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