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Deus Ex Machina concept.

We don't need you! We need nothing!

― Deus Ex Machina to Neo[src]


The Deus Ex Machina[1] is the central interface of the Machine City. It creates a humanoid "face" similar to that of a human baby's from a swarm of flying insect-like droids, which it uses to communicate.

Neo, after managing to fly past the city defenses in the hovercraft Logos, confronts the Machine entity and offers a proposal: In exchange for removing the out-of-control program, Smith, the Machines call a truce against Zion and humanity in the centennial Machine War.

The Deus Ex Machina, reflecting the intolerance that humanity once showed Machines, initially rejects Neo's assessment that Smith will destroy both the Matrix and the Machine City, but Neo convinces it of the truth.

After Neo is jacked into the Matrix, the Deus monitors the situation. It appears that, after Neo willingly allows himself to be assimilated by Smith, two objectives occur that allow Smith's deletion. First, Smith is now directly connected to a hard-line connected entity: Neo's avatar. Second, in assimilating Neo, Smith has completed the purpose he redefined for himself.

Moments after Neo is assimilated, the Deus appears to send a massive surge of energy through Neo's body, presumably a deletion program that wipes out the Smith/Neo avatar and destroys all other copies of Smith's code throughout the Matrix.

The Deus gathers Neo's body reverently in preparation of reinsertion of the Prime Program to reload the Matrix. Within the Matrix itself, the Black Cat walks quietly down a deserted street; with a shake of its head, it acts as an 'antivirus' that restores the Matrix to its pre-Smith state.

Demface color adj05

Concept art of Deus Ex Machina

The "face" of Deus Ex Machina is the face of a human, formed by thousands of tiny machines. The body of the Deus is a large, half-globe with hundreds of long spines.

Trivia

  • The face of Deus Ex Machina is based on a baby's face, according to the developers.
  • Deus ex Machina translates in Latin as "god out of the machine"; and is used as a plot device when a seeming dilemma is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object, i.e. the machines helping Neo, or Neo helping the machines.
  • The Deus is effectively the 'deity' of the Matrix, adding an element of literal truth to its name.
  • Voiced by voice actor extraordinaire Kevin Michael Richardson, who also did the voice of Thadeus in the Animatrix entry "Final Flight of the Osiris".

Gallery

Appearances

Notes

  1. This is the character's name, directly from the credits. "Deus ex machina" literally means "god from a machine". While the character itself may be seen to serve the literary purpose of a deus ex machina, the name may be ironic, as Neo himself serves this purpose from the Machines' perspective: he is essentially a "god" of the Matrix, created by the Machines, and it is his sudden presence in the Machine City which allows the Machines to deal with Smith.
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