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| “ | You know... I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth; the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy, and delicious. After nine years... you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss. | „ |
| ~ Cypher Reagan to Agent Smith. |
| “ | I know what you're thinking. It's the same thing I've been thinking every day for the last nine years: Why, oh why, oh why didn't I take the blue pill? | „ |
| ~ Cypher's first words to Neo. |
Cypher Reagan is the secondary antagonist of the 1999 film The Matrix, the first instalment of The Matrix franchise.
He was a human released from the Matrix by Morpheus. But he hated the real world, and after nine years on the Nebuchadnezzar, he decided he had to get back into the Matrix by selling Morpheus and the Nebuchadnezzar's crew to Agent Smith and the Agents.
He was portrayed by Joe Pantoliano, who also played Teddy in Memento, Francis Fratelli in The Goonies, Caesar in Bound, Ralph Cifaretto in The Sopranos, Gabe Ugliano in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Albert Arlington in Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Stickyfins Whiting in SpongeBob SquarePants.
Biography[]
When Morpheus believed that their next target, Neo, was the One, Cypher made contact with Agent Smith. When Trinity was in the Matrix, Cypher contacted her and enabled the Agents to trace the line, but Trinity got away.
Later on in the movie, after Neo was on the ship with them, Cypher went into the Matrix and met with Agent Smith in a restaurant. Cypher told Smith that he wanted to have his memory erased and be reinserted into the Matrix, stating that "ignorance is bliss". He also said that he wanted to be someone rich and important, like an actor. Smith told him that Cypher could have anything he wanted, if he gave Smith the access codes to the Zion Mainframe. Cypher told Agent Smith that he did not know them, but Morpheus did. So the two of them made a plan to trap Morpheus.
When the crew went into the Matrix to visit the Oracle, Agent Smith, who had been told by Cypher the whereabouts of their hideout, organized a police squad. When the crew got back to their hideout to exit the Matrix, The Machines used a De ja vu to block their escape, then sent Smith, the other agents, and their squad in to catch them. Mouse was killed, and Morpheus was caught by Agent Smith and the police.
The rest escaped through the walls. But Cypher, pretending to fall behind, was let out by the police, who knew he was on their side. He then took a short cut to the nearest Phone and got out before the others. When Cypher was back on the ship, he took a lightning rifle, killed Dozer and wounded Tank before they could get the others out.
Cypher's death.
Cypher then answered Trinity's wireless phone and revealed his treachery. He then pulled Apoc and Switch's plugs, killing them. He wanted to save Trinity for last, because he still had a bit of love for her, so he went for Neo. Cypher tested Morpheus' theory that Neo was the One, saying that if what Morpheus believed was true, there would have to be a miracle to stop him from pulling the plug. Unfortunately for Cypher, Tank was not dead and he blasted Cypher with the rifle, killing him.
After Cypher's death, a group called Cypherites were eventually formed who shared his foolish desire to live in the Matrix.
Quotes[]
| “ | Free. You call this free? All I do is what he tells me to do. If I have to choose between that and the Matrix, I choose the Matrix! | „ |
| ~ Cypher to Trinity. |
| “ | I should have taken the red pill straight up your ass! | „ |
| ~ Cypher cursing Morpheus. |
Trivia[]
- In recent years, The Matrix has been looked back as an allegory to gender transition in a transgender analysis approved by the Wachowskis, who came out in the 2010s as transgender women. According to this analysis, Cypher's insistence at the film's beginning that the attempt to free Neo from the Matrix will kill him represents the toxic narrative among transgender individuals formed by the continuous pressure of the gender-normative society to conform to its established standards, such as the belief that no one will ever be able to truly identify with the gender they feel if they do not transition before puberty.
- Additionally, he is also seen as an allegory of people who de-transition before turning on trans people while aiding the systems that oppress them.
- Despite the fact that Cypher was killed in the original film, Joe Pantoliano lobbied hard to reprise his role in The Matrix Resurrections, which was released in 2021. According to Pantoliano, he even sent messages to Lana Wachowski to ask her to include Cypher in the fourth film, but received no response.
External Links[]
- Cypher on the Matrix Wiki
- Cypher on the Pure Evil Wiki
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 Villains
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