The Matrix character names
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Several of the character names in the Matrix series have additional meanings.
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[edit] Characters
- Smith - In an early scene in The Matrix Reloaded, Smith drives an Audi A8 with the license plate number "IS 5416"; in the King James Bible Isaiah 54:16 reads "Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy."
- Mouse - The name of a character in the Hugo Award nominated Science Fiction novel Nova (1969) by Samuel R. Delany.
- Councillor Hamann - A reference to J. G. Hamann (Johann Georg Hamann), the philosopher.
- Councillor West - A reference to, and played by, Dr. Cornel West, the philosopher.
- Councillor Dillard - A reference to Annie Dillard, the author.
- Commander Jason Lock - A reference to John Locke, the philosopher.
- Captain Soren - A reference to Søren Kierkegaard, the philosopher, originator of the concept and terminology of the "leap of faith". He used the pseudonym Vigilius Haufniensis ("watchman of the harbour) which also links to the ship's name.
- Neo - The letters of One rearranged.
- Captain Ajax - (commands the Icarus). A reference to the Greek hero Ajax in Homer's Iliad. Ajax is also an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML, a Web development technique for creating interactive web applications.
- Captain Thadeus - (commands the Osiris, as seen in the Animatrix) - Thaddeus is one of the names for Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost or desperate causes.
- Captain Ballard - A reference to J. G. Ballard, the British novelist and forerunner of the cyberpunk movement in literature which inspired The Matrix.
- Malachi - Meaning "My messenger/angel". Malachi was the last of the minor prophets and writer of the last book of the Old Testament.
- Bane - meaning "nemesis"
- Seraph - A "Seraph" is a member of the "Seraphim", the highest order of the hierarchy of angels in medieval Christian theology (among other angelic designations from other faiths/belief systems. See Seraph for more.).
- The Merovingian - The Merovingians were a dynasty of Frankish kings who ruled parts of France and Germany from the 5th to the 8th century AD. The Merovingian is characterized fairly heavily as Hades -- Lord of the Underworld In Greek mythology, Hades is married to Persephone.
- Persephone - Greek mythology states she was taken to the underworld by Hades; she was the beautiful and lonely bride of a monster - Hades himself. Her mother, Demeter, goddess of nature, pled for her daughter's company; Hades, moved, allowed his wife to return from the underworld for six months a year. During the other half, Demeter mourns and winter reigns.
- The Oracle - The "mother" of the Matrix, as described by The Architect, the primary creator. She is an analogue of the Delphic Oracle - all-seeing and all-knowing. The term is also used in complexity and computability theory: an oracle machine is an abstract machine used to study decision problems - a very apt description of the Oracle's role in the Matrix.
- The Keymaker - A program designed to create access points through practically any location in the Matrix.
- The Architect - A software architect is someone who designs computer systems at a high level, and The Architect is assumed to have designed the Matrix itself, but was unable to do so on his own; this is where The Oracle came in.
- Mifune - In honor of Toshiro Mifune, an actor that played many Samurai in Japanese films.
- Choi - French for choice (Slightly altered—this is choix). His girlfriend is Dujour, French for of the day (Slightly altered—this is du jour). Choix du jour means plate of the day.
- Zee - Is not a reference to actress Nona Gaye's aunt Zee (short for Zeola), as the character was named before Gaye was cast.
- Sati - A reference to the Hindu figure Sati. Sati often means "Self immolation" or self sacrifice. In the language "pali", sati the state of being mindful, which means to be with what is, so sati is a special kind of consciousness or self-consciousness.
- Rama Kandra - A reference to the Hindu figure Rama Kandra, one of the avatars of Vishnu.
- Captain Kali - Kali is a Hindu goddess who is said to feed on the bodies of the dead on battlefields. The consort of Shiva, Kali counterbalances life with death.
- Cain and Abel - (the Merovingian's two vampire henchmen) - Cain and Abel were first two children (the children of Adam and Eve) in the Old Testament.
[edit] Ships
- Nebuchadnezzar (Commanded by Captain Morpheus) - Nebuchadnezzar was the Babylonian king in the Bible who (as an agent of God) attacked Jerusalem. God did this because the people had become corrupt, turned from God, and even ignored the prophets God sent to warn them. Notably, the Bible records King Nebuchadnezzar having had a number of prophetic dreams - which relates to the ship's captain name: Morpheus, the Greco-Roman god of dreams.
- Logos (Commanded by Captain Niobe) - In pre-Socratic philosophy - Logos the principle governing the cosmos, the source of this principle, or human reasoning about the cosmos. In Judaism, the word of God. In Christianity, the creative word of God, embodied as Jesus Christ.
- Mjolnir a.k.a. the Hammer - (Commanded by Captain Roland) - The name of Thor's hammer in Norse mythology, translated literally as "that which smashes". From this hammer, Thor could produce thunder. Though the ship's name is Mjolnir, it is always referred to as "the Hammer".
- Caduceus - (Commanded by Captain Ballard - Bane's ship) the staff of entwined serpents belonging to the Greek god Hermes. The caduceus had the power to induce sleep in men, or awaken them (following the theme of "waking up" common in The Matrix). Today it is an emblem for the practice of medicine.
- Osiris - (Commanded by Captain Thaddeus) Featured in the Animatrix movie Final Flight of the Osiris. Osiris, from Egyptian mythology, the god of death and the Underworld.
- Vigilant - (Commanded by Captain Soren) From the OED: "Wakeful and watchful; keeping steadily on the alert; attentively or closely observant." Søren Kirkegaard (who the captain's name refers to) used the pseudonym Vigilius Haufniensis (meaning "watchman of the harbour") which also links to the name of the ship.
- Gnosis - (Commanded by Captain Ice) Gnosis - Idea from Gnosticism of the awareness of the spiritual nature of the cosmos.
- Novalis - (Commanded by Captain Tirant) pseudonym of German poet and novelist, Friedrich Leopold. Wrote, "Sleep is a digest of sensual impressions. Dreams are excrements."
- Brahma - (Commanded by Captain Kali) Brahma is the Hindu creator god. One part of the Trimurti. His four heads recite the Vedas (which translates into "Knowledge" or "Truth").
- Icarus - (Commanded by Captain Ajax) Icarus is in Greek mythology, the son of Daedalus, who with his father, escaped imprisonment on wings crafted of feathers and wax. Icarus ignored his father's advice and flew too close to the sun, which melted the wax and caused him to crash into the ocean and die. "Icarus" is also a computer term for a program that crashes often.
- Pequod - (Commanded by Captain Flint) "Pequod" was the name of Ishmael's ship in the novel "Moby Dick".
- Witness - (Commanded by Captain Axel) This ship is owned by Turbine but commanded by Axel.
[edit] Locations
- Zion - Hill in Jerusalem which was the site of Solomon's Temple; Jerusalem; Palestine-Anointed city of God, used through various religions.
- Club Hel - Characterized as the Greek mythological Underworld, analogous to Hel/Hell in other belief systems. The Club is guarded by three identical bald men, denoting Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the underworld in Greek mythology. May also be a reference to Hel, the monstrous, half-rotten daughter of the Norse god Loki, and from whom Christianity gained its name for the abode of the damned. When confronted by Trinity and the others, the Merovingian commented "You fought through 'Hel' to get here"
- Le Vrai Restaurant - "Le Vrai" loosely translated from French means "the Real."
- Mobil Ave. - Mobil is an anagram of Limbo.
- Zero One - The first city of the machines. 01, in both binary and hexadecimal, common computing number formats, translates to the number 1, or first. It also sounds similar to Zion.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
See Talk # ^ Desa. "Unlocking The Matrix." Time, Canadian ed. (May 12, 2003): p. 53.
[edit] References
- The Matrix Character Database
- Some additional information from Like a Splinter in Your Mind: The Philosophy of The Matrix by Matt Lawrence (ISBN 1-4051-2524-1), Blackwell Publishing 2004.
