Agent Smith
Agent Smith (later merely "Smith") is a fictional character featured in the Matrix film series, played by actor Hugo Weaving. The struggle between Neo and Smith is an integral subplot that perpetuates the story of The Matrix.
As an Agent of the System
According to Morpheus, the tutor of the protagonist Neo, Smith is an Agent, an artificial intelligence manifested in the artificial world and possessing extraordinary powers to manipulate his surroundings (including superhuman strength and the ability to flawlessly dodge incoming bullets). However, Agents still have limitations, being "based on a world that is built on rules". Thus, he cannot fly, walk through walls, or perform any other actions outside the boundaries of his programming. Like all Agents in the Matrix, he was originally programmed to keep order within the system by terminating troublesome programs and human avatars which would otherwise bring instability to the simulated reality. To expedite such tasks, he and other Agents have the ability to take over the simulated body of any human that is a part of the Matrix, converting it into a copy of their own. If that body is killed, or an Agent needs to change his location quickly, he can assume the shell of any other human hard-wired to the Matrix in a matter of seconds. Agents can also communicate with each other instantaneously via earpieces.
Stylistic genealogy
The look and manner of Smith and his fellow Agents seem to be drawn from the common pool of paranoia and American pop culture. Obvious influences are the ruthless CIA or NSA agents of fiction who carry out their duties with cold precision and Midwestern accents. The appearance and personality of agents seem to mirror a Corporate American businessman. Some may suggest a more explicit allusion to the Men in Black of UFO and conspiracy lore.
Agents wore "evil-looking" glasses with corners or angles. Agent Smith's sunglasses changed after his transformation in The Matrix Reloaded from the square Agent-style into lenses shaped similarly to the protein capsule of certain viruses. Additionally, they more closely resemble the shape of Neo's sunglasses; but while Neo's have rounded edges, Smith's remain angular.
The police guards that provide security to many heads of state, such as the U.S. Secret Service dress is a similar manner to Smith and his agents, and have the same type of earpieces.
Following the naming pattern for Agents within the Matrix, Smith can be seen as a template for the everyman (or perhaps an antithesis thereof). The name is thought by some to imply the square, "whitebread" connotations of propping up The Man's (or in this case The Machine's) Establishment. Other Agents have names like Brown, Johnson, and Thompson—bland, common, innocuous, Anglo-Saxon names.
In addition, the name "Smith" is explicitly attributed (on the license plate of Smith's car in Reloaded) to the Book of Isaiah 54:16 from the Old Testament:
- 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.
In creating such a program to carry out menial tasks, the Machines have laid the foundations for their own destruction, a direct parallel to the creation of AI by humankind.
The two later films in the series make much of a dualistic opposition between Smith and Neo. Smith is pitiless and single-minded, focused on finality, conformity and "inevitability." As such, Smith represents determinism. By contrast, Neo, with his unpredictable, emotional, human nature, represents unbounded free will and the power of choice. Neo's solitary role as The One is contrasted by Smith, who, by replicating himself, becomes everyone. When Neo asks the Oracle about Smith, the Oracle explains that Smith is Neo's opposite and his negative.
Agent Smith's weapon of choice, as standard with all agents of the Matrix, is the Desert Eagle.
Departure from the norm
Agent Smith complains at one point that the Matrix and its inhabitants smell disgusting—an odd observation for an artificial entity. It is perhaps a metaphorical statement. Smith has a strong hatred of humans and their weakness of the flesh. He compares humanity to a virus, a disease organism that would replicate uncontrollably to destroy their environment were it not for the machine intelligences keeping them in check.
At the same time, Smith also secretly despises The Matrix itself, feeling that he is as much a prisoner of it as the humans he is tasked with watching over. It is perhaps these sentiments that later drive him to possess an immense desire for the destruction of both mankind and machines alike.
Agent Smith also appears to be the leader of other Agents in that he has the authority to launch Sentinel attacks in the real world. It is unclear whether or not sentience was a part of his initial programming or developed through experience in dealing with Zion rebels. Unlike other Agents, Smith does not approach problems through a pragmatic point-of-view, but rather with brute-force and questionable rage. The fact that he refers to The Matrix as a prison, if interpreted as a reference to his own condition, could be an indication that he had become self-aware, a mind existing outside of the machines' control.
The Wachowski brothers have commented that Smith's gradual humanisation throughout The Matrix is a process intended to mirror and balance Neo's own increasing power and understanding of the machine world.
Free Agency
As a result of being partially overwritten by The One, Smith also begins to exhibit stronger, more virulent human-like behaviors and emotions such as unpredictability and wry humor (this is a clear departure from his stern demeanor in the original movie). He makes the claim that Neo has set him free, indicating that he now has not only the vision but also the ability to break free of the machines' control and exist as a singular being. He is now allied with none but himself, rendering him an outlaw to both the Matrix and the human minds which populate it. Being free of burden, however, Smith is also compelled to feel that he is still crushed by the weight of purpose. He essentially correlates purpose with imprisonment, and because he still exists within The Matrix, there is an unseen purpose which binds together Neo and himself.
The idea of Smith's transformation from being an Agent of the System into becoming a 'free Agent' is similar to the Fall from Grace of Lucifer. In both cases, a former Agent of the System (in the two sequels, Smith is no longer referred to as "'Agent' Smith", but simply as "Smith") becomes able to move freely, and comes to have a dangerously rebellious and opposite nature.
Revelation of purpose
Agent Smith appears to have been destroyed by Neo at the end of the first movie in the Matrix trilogy, but he makes a calculated return in The Matrix Reloaded with somewhat altered abilities and motivations, and dropping the title "Agent". His appearance has changed from the first movie as well—his sunglasses are of a different, more angular shape than the square ones the Agents wear and his suit is now black instead of grey—both physical signs of his connection with Neo. Subsequently, Smith can take over new human bodies and programs alike (including Agents) without leaving his previous body, replicating himself much like a computer virus might. Smith loses his ability to phase into any body connected to the Matrix at will, as he is no longer a part of the system. Instead, Smith is now infectious through touch; by jabbing his hand into the body of another being in the Matrix, a Smith can convert that being into another Smith.
- Although Smith gains the power to copy over Agents, in truth Smith only copies the body the Agent was possessing at that time. The program of the Agent can move to another body, as demonstrated in The Matrix Reloaded.
- It may also be that in place of the normal power of the Agents to leap into any shell connected to the Matrix, that Smith has the ability to enter the shell, although permanently now.
- Smith is also able to copy over redpills, something regular Agents cannot do. When he does copy over redpills, he can inhabit their physical bodies when he jacks out of The Matrix, as in the case of Bane. Fortunately, most redpills were in Zion at the time of Smith's return, making Bane the only one possessed by Smith. However, Smith was nearly successful when he attempted to absorb Niobe and Ghost, two other redpills in Enter the Matrix. Like Neo, they were able to repel the attack and managed to elude Smith.
- Keeping in the theme of machines, Smith's behavior is very similar to a computer virus, which also copies its programming into or over other files. This is somewhat fitting—as Smith notes in The Matrix, he considers human beings a "virus", and in the process of becoming more human, Smith has also become a virus. In a bizarre case of irony, he becomes what he hates most about humans: something which consumes all resources before moving on and acting without reason or logic.
Against the Anomaly
In The Matrix Revolutions, Smith's presence in The Matrix has consumed all of the "Core Network" (the underlying foundation of the inner workings of The Matrix), thus rendering him immutable by even the machines themselves. The Oracle explains to Neo that he and Smith have become equal in power, and that for Smith to be eliminated, the "equation must be balanced." Smith succeeds in absorbing all the inhabitants of the Matrix, including the Oracle, giving him her powers of foresight as well as reality-bending powers equivalent to those possessed by Neo. Towards the end of the movie, Neo engages a single Smith, the one that was created from the Oracle, in the final showdown between superhero and supervillain, a seemingly endless struggle between two forces of equal might. In the middle of this struggle, Smith explains to Neo his final nihilistic revelation, he has come to realize that "the purpose of life is to end."
After an arduous battle in midair, Neo is smashed into the ground by an enraged Smith. As he gets up, Smith asks him why he fights, becoming enraged as he begins suggesting possible reasons for Neo to fight: "Is it freedom or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love?" Smith proceeds to say these reasons are "temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence without meaning or purpose, and all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself." Demanding again to know why he persists, Smith is enraged by Neo's simple and irrational answer: "Because I choose to."
Ultimately, Smith prevails, beating Neo unconscious. Suddenly recognizing the scene from prophecy, he stands before Neo and says, "Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo." This is the only time (excluding a line in The Matrix Reloaded: "I'm looking for Neo.") that Smith does not call him Mr. Anderson, and Neo gets up, to Smith's complete surprise. Neo asks, "What are you afraid of?" and surrenders to Smith, conceding "You were always right. It was inevitable." Smith absorbs Neo, seemingly conquering his enemy. However, at that moment, a mysterious force causes Neo's body to radiate in a blinding light of ascension, which subsequently causes all Smiths to overload and be destroyed. This force could be provided by the Machines, through whom Neo is currently plugged into The Matrix. Another theory for the cause of the "mysterious force" is that because Neo is The One, and Smith his exact opposite, adding the two together results in zero, which eliminates both Neo and Smith and returns order. A third possible explanation is that Neo may have defeated Smith in the same way he did it in the first movie, by destroying the former Agent (along with his clones) from the inside, but destroying himself as well to ensure Smith wasn't reborn. A fourth may be that Smith was deleted at that moment. Agent Smith's purpose was to kill The One. Once a program's purpose is fulfilled, it is deleted. Agent Smith's purpose was fulfilled, and thus made him eligible for deletion.
On a philosophical level, the ending draws heavily on the Hindu/Buddhist concept of the cycle of rebirth (as seen in the use of Sanskrit lyrics in the music played during the climatic scenes). The endless copying of Smith is a depiction of the individual trapped in the process of continual reincarnation. By sacrificing himself, Neo renounces the self and thus offers the potential of nirvana. Where Smith seeks control of the Matrix and fails, Neo achieves oneness with the Matrix and succeeds.
| Films |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fictional universe |
| ||||
| Video games |
| ||||
| Related | |||||
