The Architect (The Matrix)

"I am the Architect. I created The Matrix."

- Describing his role to Neo, the sixth One.

The Architect is the creator of the Matrix and the Bigger Bad in The Matrix trilogy.

Matrix Betas
Once The Machines have enslaved humanity, a program called the Architect created a peaceful simulation called the Matrix and the Agents led by Agent Smith. At first the Architect attempted to make a utopia but ultimately the human mind refused that type of reality due to few food. As a result, it was the first beta. After some unannounced amount of time he created a world similar to what we see as modern time but with nightmarish creatures. The second beta failed as well.

The Prophecy
As time went on the Architect and a program all human knew called the Oracle formed a way to keep the Matrix and humans under control by forming a story meant to give hope to the few who knew the truth. It turns out that the One is meant to reboot the Matrix about every one hundred years to keep the humans and presumably the Machines from becoming extinct.

The Five Ones
Every century for five centuries, the Architect has met the first five Ones. He gave them a choice to reboot the Matrix or leave humanity extinguished. All five of them chose to go to the source. The sixth Matrix has begun.

The Sixth One
One hundred years have passed and the sixth One, Neo was created. The Architect noticed that his most favored agent Smith went rogue, so the Architect converted Smith into a virus. The Architect finally sees Neo. He explains to Neo that the One prophecy is false and that Neo is the result of a systemic anomaly that brings imbalance to even the most simplistic equations. Unlike the previous five Ones, Neo has deep feelings with Trinity. Neo has a different choice compared the first five Ones.

Peace
Since Neo made peace with the Machina, he then met up with the Oracle and told her that her game was "very dangerous" (implying he found out about her role in ensuring Neo found an alternate means to end the war). He then acknowledged that, thanks to Neo's actions, humanity will be freed from the Matrix as promised per the peace agreement, although the Architect highly doubted the peace will last long and implied that humanity may just decide to break their end of the bargain.

Personality
The Architect uses very advanced vocabulary which emphasizes his infinite intelligence. He is very racist towards humans. He is also humorless and has no emotions. Nonetheless, he was capable of keeping promises, as when the Oracle asked him about the humans, he mentioned they would "naturally" be freed, and when asked if he was to maintain his end of the bargain, he said to her "what do you think I am, human?" while implying that humans don't keep promises.

Powers
The Architect has a pen that if touched, changes his hundreds of monitors to focus on someone else. In one case, the monitors of Neo show his many different reactions compared to what Neo was going to say.

Quotes

 * "You have many questions and though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, some of them you will not. Concurrently, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize, it is also the most irrelevant."
 * "Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control, which has led you, inexorably, here."
 * "The first Matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect; it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being. Thus I redesigned it, based on your history, to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus the answer was stumbled upon by another: an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the Matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother."
 * "Denial is the most predictable of all human responses."
 * "Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously your greatest strength and your greatest weakness."
 * "What do you think I am, human?"

Neo Monitors Quotes

 * "Others? How many?" (The different responses of Neo questioning his predecessors.)
 * "I'll fucking kill YOU!" (The different response of Neo not understanding the Architect.)
 * "BULLSHIT!" (The different responses of Neo denying the attack on Zion.)

Trivia

 * Sean Connery was originally going to play the Architect.
 * The Architect created both the Matrix and Agent Smith, which makes him the Bigger Bad.
 * The Architect was parodied by Will Ferrell in the 2003 MTV Movie Awards intro.
 * According to Cornel West, who not only had a cameo in the film as Councillor West, but also was a massive influencing factor in the Wachowski Sisters' (at the time the Wachowski Brothers) decision to write the movies, the Architect's scene, and to some extent the overall film, was meant to be a "devastating critique of all salvation stories."
 * The Architect's conversation with Neo had some similarities with the Patriots' contacting Raiden late into Metal Gear Solid 2, including their revealing (or confirming, in their case) their role in manipulating everything, even their struggles, as well as taunting the heroes about how they were ultimately pawns. The main difference is that the Architect at least offered Neo a choice to not undergo his programming of saving Zion temporarily, while the Patriots instead forced Raiden to do their will by threatening Sunny and Rosemary to force his cooperation in ending the S3 Plan by killing Solidus. Ironically, the film he debuted in was released in 2003, merely two years after the release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the game featuring the Patriots debut.