List of ships in the Matrix series
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This article is about the 'hovercraft' ships shown in the fictional universe of the Matrix series.
The Animatrix short film "The Second Renaissance" depicts the war between men and machines which led to the creation of computer-generated world known as the Matrix. Humans are shown using technology enabling personal vehicles and flying warships to hover above surfaces. The "hovercraft" used by the human resistance, years after the end of the war, seem to use similar technology for propulsion.
Hovercraft are designed to patrol the sewers and tunnels left over from the megacities that existed before the Man–Machine war. Their crews attempt to enter the Matrix in order to locate and free the minds of humans who are ready to understand the truth of the artificial reality. A ship's Operator remains as guide, and prepares crews with navigation data and by hacking equipment and information in the form of programs sent directly to them.
Every hovercraft is equipped with a transceiver, used primarily to broadcast a pirate carrier signal into the wireless network that forms the Matrix. This transceiver is also used to communicate with Zion Control, the security staff monitoring access into the city docks. Typically, hovercraft do not attempt to contact Zion or other hovercraft while on patrol as this could give away their position to Sentinels, killing machines that regularly hunt for ships.
Each hovercraft is also equipped with an EMP device which disables any electrical devices in the blast radius. Since this includes the equipment of the hovercraft itself, in order for the EMP to be used the craft must land and its crew cannot be connected to the Matrix. EMP activation switches are placed on the Operator console. All ships are equipped to varying degrees with ballistic gun turrets for close-in point defense against Sentinels, for when the EMP-weapon is unavailable or its use undesirable. The turrets are controlled by proxy at turret control stations throughout the ships, either with control sticks or by computer interface (touchscreen). They also have multiple panels on the outside, which give off an electric shock to any machines in close proximity, such as sentinels on the hull of the ship.
The hovercrafts of the fleet came in range of sizes. The smallest was the Logos, which had a crew of three, while the Mjolnir was capable of carrying at least eleven. Crew members were furnished a basic blue (if crew) or red (if captain) tunic to wear as a uniform while docked at Zion.
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[edit] Avatar
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Avatar appears in the Zion Archives. An avatar in Hinduism is the incarnation or physical manifestation of an immortal being. The term is frequently used in computer games, Internet forums and virtual reality as an icon representing a user or player.
The Avatar may be one of the hoverbarges used in The Matrix Online to transport and jack in large numbers of Zionites to Matrix broadcast points.
[edit] Brahma
- Captain: Kali
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The captain of the Brahma, Kali, was seen at the captain's meeting in The Matrix Reloaded, but the ship was never mentioned during Reloaded or Revolutions. It was part of Commander Lock's defense fleet and in the MMORPG The Matrix Online it is mentioned that the Brahma was destroyed so utterly in the sentinel attack that nothing salvageable or identifiable remained.
It was named after Brahma, a Hindu god who is the creator in the Hindu trinity, Trimurti. The captain gets her name from a Hindu goddess Kali.
[edit] Caduceus
- Captain: Ballard
- First mate: Malachi
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Bane
The name of the Caduceus comes from the Greek word caduceus, which is the symbol of two snakes wrapped around a winged staff, commonly used as a medical symbol. In Reloaded, its captain, Ballard, offers to remain behind and wait for contact from the Oracle. While receiving her message, the crew member Bane was attacked by Smith, who overwrote his mind. During the defense of Zion, Bane/Smith killed the entire crew and used the ship's EMP to disable all of the ships except the Mjolnir. Bane is the only survivor and is saved by the Mjolnir.
[edit] Callapidae
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Parr, Red
- Other crew: Maggie, Rollins, Lena
The Callapidae, called the Grey Ghost, is featured in the comic Broadcast Depth. One of its crew members, Maggie (coincidentally sharing the name of a crew member on the Mjolnir), is the mother of two children who decide to find her in the Matrix as a birthday present for her. They accidentally alert the Sentinels to the position of the ship, and its entire crew is killed. The ship apparently looks like a crab, and the name is probably a misspelling of the family Calappoidea.
[edit] Ganesha
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Ganesha appears in a concept design sketch by artist George Hull [1], and in the Zion Archives. Its name derives from Ganesha, a Hindu elephant god.
[edit] Gnosis
- Captain: Ice
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Corrupt, Wurm, and Jacob
The Gnosis is referenced in Reloaded. Her crew are featured in Reloaded and Enter the Matrix.
When the Zion ship captains meet within the Matrix, Gnosis crew members Corrupt and Wurm are assigned to guard the door to the meeting place. When Smith arrives "looking for Neo", Corrupt speaks with him. Both Corrupt and Wurm warn the captains of the arrival of "the Feds", a trio of Matrix Agents.
When the Nebuchadnezzar returns to Zion, Neo is worshiped by some residents who believe he has the power to save them (he is clearly not comfortable with this). One elderly woman asks him to watch over her son, Jacob, who serves aboard the Gnosis. He can not have been shown on screen, however, because the only time a Gnosis crew member appeared on screen, they were in the Matrix, and Jacob must have been a native to Zion.
The Gnosis is part of the fleet sent to intercept the invading Sentinels. The ship is disabled when Bane sets off the EMP and subsequently destroyed.
[edit] Icarus
- Captain: Ajax
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Icarus is a ship in the fleet sent to intercept the invading sentinels in The Matrix Reloaded. However, the ship is disabled when Bane sets off the EMP on the Caduceus, and the Icarus is subsequently destroyed.
The name of the Icarus derives from Icarus, a character in Greek mythology. Its captain is named after the Greek hero Ajax the Great.
[edit] Logos
- Captain: Niobe
- First mate: Ghost
- Operator: Sparks
- Other crew: None
The Logos is a hovercraft in Reloaded, Revolutions, and Enter the Matrix. The name is derived from the Greek word logos which is usually translated into the English as word, but has varied meaning in philosophy, analytical psychology, and religion.
The smallest vessel in the fleet, it supports a crew complement of only three Zion personnel: Niobe, Ghost, and Sparks. Built for sheer speed over any other attribute, the Logos has the purpose of relaying urgent information as well as serving as a carrier for its two pod-born crewmen. Its combat abilities are negligible when compared with other ships in the fleet.
The Logos is Mark XIV Number 14 and built in the year 2101. In the New International Version, Mark 14:14 reads: "Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' "
When Zion's attack becomes imminent, the Logos crew coordinates the recall before joining the rest of the fleet in Zion. When the Council inquires of the fate of Morpheus and his ship the Nebuchadnezzar, the Logos and the hovercraft Vigilant search for the Neb, eventually participating in a skirmish within the Matrix involving Agents and minions of the Merovingian.
The Logos is later disabled when it is attacked by a massive horde of Sentinels as well as a Sentinel Tow Bomb, necessitating the use of its EMP. As a result, it survives the assault, but it is depowered as an unavoidable side effect. The hovercraft Mjolnir finds it shortly, rescuing the crew of the destroyed Nebuchadnezzar and giving the Logos a jump-start. Later, Niobe gives the Logos to Neo and Trinity so that they can travel to the Machine city, in an attempt to stop the war with the Machines. The Logos is rendered inoperable on impact when it crash-lands in the Machine City.
[edit] Logos II
- Captain: Niobe
- First mate: Ghost
- Operator: Sparks
- Other crew: Seraneth (Syntax server liaison), Soluma and Alsos (Vector server liaison), Racon, Cephaus, and Merrit (Recursion server liaisons)
Logos II is Niobe's current ship in The Matrix Online. It is named after her original ship.
[edit] Mariner
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Rook
- Other crew: Deuce, Speedy, Rocket
The Mariner is featured in the comic, "There are no Flowers in the Real World". It has been attacked by Sentinels and all but one member of the crew, Rocket, has died. He survives for days without any real food or water, but then is killed by an agent just before he is found.
[edit] Mjolnir (“Hammer”)
- Captain: Roland
- First mate: Colt
- Operator: AK
- Other crew: Maggie, Mauser
The Mjolnir is the ship that locates the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar after their ship is destroyed by a sentinel tow bomb at the end of The Matrix Reloaded. They have also picked up Bane, who appears to be the only survivor of the battle between the Sentinels and the Zion fleet, but has in fact been taken over by Smith.
Much of The Matrix Revolutions takes place on the Mjolnir, as against Captain Roland's better judgment, Niobe lets Neo and Trinity (and a stowed-away Bane) take the Logos in an attempt to reach the Machine City.
With the remaining crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Logos, the Mjolnir races back to Zion, relying on Niobe's piloting skills to steer the ship through the narrow mechanical tunnels. Reaching the city as it is under attack by thousands of sentinels, and with their communications antenna destroyed, the Mjolnir crash lands in Zion's dock and sets off its EMP. This destroys the attacking sentinels, but as an angry Commander Lock warns Roland and Morpheus, they have also crippled the city's defenses against any subsequent attacks.
This ship's named is derived from Mjolnir, the hammer of the Norse thunder god, Thor. Because of this, most characters refer to the ship as the Hammer. Except for Roland, all members of the crew have gun-related names: "Maggie" is short for "magazine" or "Magnum"); AK is named after the AK series of assault rifles; Colt is named after the Colt line of pistols; and Mauser is named after the Mauser pistol (and possibly rifles). Roland may be named after the protagonist of The Dark Tower, who was a gunslinger, or the Roland surface-to-air missile system, or potentially even Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner from the 1978 Warren Zevon song.
The Mjolnir's commissioning plaque reads "Mark XIV No. 62 Made in the USA Year 2111". In the New International Version, Mark 14:62 reads: " 'I am,' said Jesus [in response to the question "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One"]. 'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.' "
[edit] Nebuchadnezzar
- Captain: Morpheus
- First mate: Trinity
- Operator: Tank, Link
- Other crew: Apoc, Cypher, Dozer, Mouse, Neo, Switch
The Nebuchadnezzar, nicknamed the Neb, is the main hovercraft featured in the The Matrix and Reloaded; it is used by the main characters Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity.
The inscription on its core read "Mark III No. 11 made in the USA year 2069." Mark 3:11 reads "And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, they would fall down in front of him shrieking, 'You are the Son of God!'"
In The Matrix, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar is searching for Neo, whom Morpheus believes to be the One. When they find him, he is trained and taken to see the Oracle. While returning from the Oracle, Cypher betrays the crew, gives the Agents Morpheus, and kills Dozer, Apoc, and Switch. Mouse dies before this. Neo and Trinity manage to save Morpheus from the agents, after which Neo becomes the One. The ship was heavily damaged when sentinels invaded the ship when Morpheus, Trinity and Tank were desperately waiting for Neo to come back to the real world through a portal before discharging the EMP, disabling the ship and the sentinels.
In Reloaded, the ship is seen again. Since the events of the first film, Tank has died, and Link has replaced him as operator. After Neo visits the Oracle, the crew goes to a restaurant called Le Vrai and takes the Keymaker from the Merovingian's captivity. Later that night, with the help of the Vigilant and the Logos, Neo enters the Source and speaks to the Architect.
The Nebuchadnezzar is destroyed by a Sentinel's tow bomb near the conclusion of Reloaded, right after Neo had left the Architect. The crew escapes before the ship's destruction thanks to Neo's newfound ability to identify and assume limited control over Sentinel hardware using his powers as The One as shown at the conclusion of the movie. The crew were found by the hovercraft Mjolnir very shortly after.
The name Nebuchadnezzar is a Biblical reference to Nebuchadnezzar, from the Book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar ('the Great') was famous for his conquests of Israel in Biblical times (specifically Judah and Jerusalem). He also built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the lost Seven Ancient Wonders of the World) for his wife.
[edit] Neo's Hope
- Captain: Kid
- First mate: Shimada
- Operator: Unknown (may be filled by Shimada)
- Other crew: Novalux (Syntax server liaison), TaeCross (formerly Recursion server liaison, discharged), Sezar (Vector server liaison)
Neo's Hope is Kid's designated ship in The Matrix Online. Kid's crew is labeled as rogue by Zion. The Recursion liaison, TaeCross, was discharged from his position and committed suicide in an act of terrorism days later.
[edit] Novalis
- Captain: Tirant
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Novalis is referenced in Reloaded as part of the fleet sent to intercept the invading sentinels. It is disabled when Bane sets off the EMP on the Caduceus, and is subsequently destroyed.
In the MMORPG The Matrix Online, it is mentioned that the wreckage of the Novalis was in fairly good shape, and the ship was quickly rebuilt using spare parts available in Zion, and renamed the Novalis II.
Its name comes from Novalis, an 18th century German novelist and poet.
[edit] Novalis II
- Captain: Sawayaka
- First mate: WanNi
- Operator: Tamarin
- Other crew: Neurophyte, Vashuo, Lelan, Toorima, Oniyuzu, Odran, Al3xandra
In The Matrix Online it is said that the Novalis II was built from the salvaged wreckage of the Novalis. Neurophyte was infected by a kill code virus while inside the Matrix. At the time, there were nine servers, and each one had a different fate for Neurophyte:
- On Regression, Proxy, Iterator, Enumerator, and Output, she was recovered by Zion and restored to full health.
- On Linenoise, she was recovered by Zion but died in the process of extracting the killcode embedded in her brain.
- On Method, the Machines recovered her and restored her to full health, and she became a Machinist operative as a result.
- On Heuristic and Input, the Machines recovered her and extracted the killcode at the cost of her life.
Vashuo was killed by Toorima when she betrayed Zion and joined the Cypherites. She was captured and put under arrest, but was freed by either Gemaskeerd or Enmascarado, two of her fellow Cypherite operatives. It was after her escape that she revealed herself as Veil, the Controller for the Cypherite faction (alongside its leader, Cryptos, a former Zion captain). At this point, her whereabouts are unknown and she is wanted by all three organizations.
[edit] Osiris
- Captain: Thadeus
- First mate: Jue
- Operator: Bobbie
- Other crew: Five others, names unknown
The Osiris is named after the Egyptian god, Osiris. Its commissioning plaque reads "Mark VI No. 16 Made in the USA Year 2079". In the New International Version, Mark 6:16 reads "But when Herod heard this, he said, 'John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!' "
In the Animatrix film "Final Flight of the Osiris", this ship discovers the Machine army digging down towards Zion. After they are attacked by Sentinels the crewmember Jue enters the Matrix to send a desperate message using an emergency broadcast drop:
- This is Thadeus, captain of the Osiris. It is 18:03 on 12-14, and I fear this will be our last transmission. Less than two hours ago we were pinned between two search units near BZ 2-18. We tried to outrun them on the surface when our sensors went completely berserk. We didn't believe what our equipment was telling us until we ran smack into the middle of it. An army. Their army. It's massive, hundreds of times the size of anything we've fought. We are under heavy pursuit and have sustained critical damage. We are going to attempt an emergency broadcast drop in the Matrix. After that, all we can do is hope that somehow this disk reaches Zion, and if it does, then it is not too late.
Just after Jue has dropped this message, the ship is destroyed by Sentinels. Its message, however, is retrieved by the Logos with an emergency operation by Captain Niobe and Second Mate Ghost in Enter the Matrix, and Zion is warned of the army.
[edit] Pequod
- Captain: Flint
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Pequod was mentioned in both "There are no Flowers in the Real World" and "Hunters and Collectors". In the former story, the ship is on a rescue mission to save Rocket, a crew member jacked in aboard the Mariner after all of the other crew members had died. In the latter story, this ship has been destroyed in a Sentinel attack and the only surviving member is its captain Flint, who spends much of his time collecting artifacts from the surface to learn about human history before the Matrix.
The ship's core reads "Mark III No. 9 Made in the USA Year 2096". It could possibly be an error, because the Nebuchadnezzar was Mark III No. 11 and made in the USA Year 2069. However, Mark 3:9 reads, "And he spake unto his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him." The biblical passage indicates a proposed exit Jesus could make to "rescue" him from the crowd. The biblical passage would be an appropriate derivation for "There are no Flowers in the Real World", being that the Pequod was sent to rescue Rocket. However, if the Mark III hovercraft series was constructed in 2069, it would have been most likely retired soon after. The 2096 models might have been something similar or completely unrelated. The relation of Mark III between the Nebuchadnezzar and the Pequod is currently unknown.
The name of the Pequod is a reference to the name of Ishmael's ship in the novel Moby Dick. "Hunters and Collectors" borrows from the novel and even features it in the ruins of a surface city. The relationship to a ship called Mariner is a further reference to the novel.
[edit] Polaris
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Nova
The Polaris is mentioned in the comic "Hunters and Collectors". Nova, the narrator, was a member of its crew. The ship's name is derived from Polaris (also known as Alpha Ursae Minoris), the current northern pole star.
[edit] Prometheus
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
A message to players of The Matrix Online was broadcast from the hovercraft Prometheus. The ship is named for Prometheus, one of the titans from Greek mythology.
[edit] Shiva
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Shiva appears in the Zion Archives. Shiva is the third form of God as the Destroyer, one of the Trimurti (popularly called the "Hindu trinity").
[edit] Vigilant
- Captain: Soren
- First mate: Vector
- Operator: Jax
- Other crew: Axel, Binary
The name of the ship Vigilant means "watchful and alert", and its commissioning plaque reads "Mark XIII No. 32 Made in the USA Year 2106." Very fittingly, in the New International Version Mark 13:32 reads: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
In Enter the Matrix, Vigilant crewmember Axel has been captured by Agents. The crew of the Logos happen to turn up at the airport, just as he is being transported, and they undertake a perilous rescue attempt.
When Morpheus makes his case to the Zion Council that only Neo can save them from the oncoming Machine onslaught, Soren is the first to offer the services of his ship and his crew to Morpheus's plan. The Vigilant crew is assigned to hack in to the City's power grid to disable the security systems of the Source building.
As Soren and his team make their way to the control room, in the real world, a group of sentinels has located the Vigilant. The sentinels fire a tow bomb at the ship, and as Axel and Jax rush to take action, a walkway collapses killing them. The bomb hits the ship and explodes, killing all on board. Inside the Matrix, Soren and his crew collapse as their real world bodies die.
[edit] Vishnu
- Captain: Unknown
- First mate: Unknown
- Operator: Unknown
- Other crew: Unknown
The Vishnu appears in a concept design sketch by artist George Hull. [2], and in the Zion Archives. The ship's name is derived from Vishnu, the second form of God as the Preserver in the Trimurti.
[edit] Unnamed ships
There are five unnamed ships included in the Matrix comics. One is a ship used for carrying potentials and is unnamed. Another crashed in the fetus fields, and only one of its crew members survived. He found a strange man who knew nothing of the Matrix but was convinced that the fetus harvesters were dragons. A third was stolen by a group of rebels who attracted agents for the thrill of it and were not allied with Zion. The fourth ship was used to destroy money that had a virus attached to it and the fifth and final unnamed ship was used by a crew that saved a girl who could change her residual self image.
