Matrix (fictional universe)
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The Matrix is the main setting of the Matrix series of science fiction films, comics and games.
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Overview
In the dystopia the series depicts, Earth is dominated by sentient machines. Humans are grown in pods and are connected by cybernetic implants to an artificial reality called the Matrix, which keeps their minds under control while the machines use the thermal energy of their bodies as an energy source.
The virtual reality world simulated by the Matrix consists primarily of a vast unnamed megacity which resembles human civilisation around the turn of the 21st century. As this environment is practically indistinguishable from reality, the majority of humans connected to the Matrix are unaware of its true nature. However, most of the central characters in the series know that it is not real, and as a result can partially bend the simulation's physical laws in order to perform superhuman feats.
The virtual world is first introduced in The Matrix. The Animatrix short film "The Second Renaissance" and the comic "Bits and Pieces of Information" show how the initial conflict between humans and machines came about, and how and why the Matrix was first developed. Its history and purpose are further explained in The Matrix Reloaded.
Version one
After the human race was defeated by the machines of Zero One, the machines performed experiments using cybernetic implants to connect human minds to computers. The first version of the Matrix into which the humans were hardwired was created by the Architect. According to him in The Matrix Reloaded, it was designed as a perfect world, with no wars, plagues, or dangers of any sort. People, due to human nature, began to reject this simulated utopian reality; according to Agent Smith, this rejection caused "entire crops" of humans to die.
Version two
Instead of the "perfection" of the first, the second version of the Matrix simulated a world more in line with "the varying grotesqueries of [human] nature", with wars, plagues and more hellish environments. Images shown on the television screens as version two is being described include images of Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, as well as war, sickness and death. Particularly evident is images of radiation-burnt victims of the atomic bomb. This suggests that version two was in a perpetual state of war. It has been alluded to by pre-version three programs such as the Merovingian and Persephone that entities such as the Twins (ghosts), Seraph (angels), Cujo and his werewolves, Vlad and his vampires, as well as other "supernatural" programs are remnants of this era of the Matrix.
Much to the frustration of the Architect, this version was also a failure.
Version three
The creation of a third version was suspended until a way of dealing with mankind's unpredictable nature could be found. The solution was stumbled upon by the Oracle, a program created to understand the human psyche. The Oracle found that 99% of humans would accept the system if given a subconscious choice to accept or reject the Matrix. However, the remaining 1% could eventually become dangerous to the stability of the Matrix if left unchecked. This problem was solved by allowing this 1% to reject the Matrix and create a settlement of their own called Zion. Otherwise, the unwilling people left inside the Matrix would cause it to crash, killing everyone connected to it.
In order to keep the inhabitants of Zion under control, they created the concept of the One, and the Oracle disseminated among the rebels a prophecy that this person would free humanity. The One would also be instrumental in the smooth restarting of the Matrix. Before the Matrix would crash, Zion would be attacked, and the One would meet the Architect, and would be told the truth about the Matrix and his following task:
"The function of the One is now to return to the Source allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the Prime Program. After which you will be required to select from the Matrix twenty-three individuals — sixteen female, seven male — to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the Matrix which, coupled with the extermination of Zion, will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race."
The survivors would be told the prophecy of the One, but would not be allowed to know of the cycle of the Matrix's renewal, each time believing it to be around the year 2100 when they were revived, and the first time anyone had been freed from the Matrix.
The "One cycle" was put into effect, with the machines maintaining control of the system for five full cycles and five Ones. However, the sixth One, Thomas Anderson (called Neo), was different from his predecessors in a way the machines had not expected. The previous Ones had all felt a general attachment to people, and had chosen to prolong the Matrix in order to avoid the extinction of the human race; Neo, however, loved a particular woman, Trinity, a hacker whom the Oracle had told would fall in love with the One. Neo rejected the rational idea posed by the Architect to save humanity and instead made the irrational decision to save Trinity from an attack by an Agent.
In turn, this led to more system crashes and the allowance for Smith, a rogue Agent corrupted and strengthed by a previous encounter with Neo, to spread throughout the Matrix like a virus. He became a threat to both machines and humans alike, and so when the One struck a deal with the machines — in the form of an entity known as Deus Ex Machina — to get rid of Smith in return for peace, it agreed. Neo battled Smith, but eventually realized that the only way to win was to allow Smith to imprint over himself, enabling the machines to delete the rogue program through him. Peace was restored, and the inhabitants of Zion were allowed to survive.
Version four
The conclusion of The Matrix Revolutions shows a fourth version of the Matrix world, in which any people that wish to leave the Matrix are allowed to do so. The Matrix Online takes place in this version of the Matrix.