“ The Oracle told me that I would fall in love, and that the man I loved would be The One. So you see? You can't be dead, because I love you. Now get up.
”― Trinity to Neo.[src]
Trinity is a Zion operative, the first mate of the Nebuchadnezzar and the lover of Neo.
Character overview[]
Like the series' other principal characters, Trinity is a computer programmer and a hacker who has escaped from the Matrix, a sophisticated computer program in which most of the human race is imprisoned as virtual slaves. Though few specifics are revealed about her previous life inside the Matrix, it is revealed that Morpheus, one of a number of real-world hovercraft commanders, initially identified her and helped her escape from the program.
At the beginning of the series, she is the first mate on Morpheus' Nebuchadnezzar and serves mainly as a go-between for him and the individuals he wishes to free from the Matrix. As the series progresses, her primary importance as a character becomes her close relationship with Neo. She is skilled with computers, at operating vehicles both inside and outside the Matrix, and in martial arts.
Throughout the series, her original name (prior to being freed from the Matrix) is never revealed. In The Matrix Resurrections, she is given the name "Tiffany", which she hates, and goes by the nickname "Tiff".
History[]
Pre-Series[]
Very little has been revealed about Trinity's original life as a Bluepill in the Matrix, not even what her name was. Trinity was apparently a well-known computer hacker at one point, famous in underground circles for hacking the IRS database.
Morpheus explained to Neo that the rebels have a rule against freeing minds after they reach a certain age because they have become so accustomed to the Matrix that the shock might kill them. The other generalized implication is that the rebels seek out young (i.e. teenage) minds who possess a questioning nature, dissatisfied with the world around them because they subconsciously recognize that the Matrix isn't real.
Thus people that the rebels free from the Matrix tend to be teenage computer-hackers, dissatisfied with the rigid constraints of reality within the Matrix. How well this applies to Trinity is unknown, but ultimately Morpheus himself freed her from the Matrix. Ghost was also freed from the Matrix on the same day (possibly by the same crew) and joked that this made him her brother of a sort.
The Matrix[]
Trinity first appears at the beginning of The Matrix, in a phone conversation with Cypher, which is heard off-screen. At a dingy hotel room, a chase ensues between Trinity and a group of police officers and Agents, a series of programs that police the Matrix against rebels.
Trinity is next seen communicating with Neo for Morpheus in several encounters. Eventually, she and the rest of the Nebuchadnezzar's crew unplug Neo from the Matrix and begin his training as a new recruit in the war against the Machines. She participates in several missions into the Matrix, including taking Neo to The Oracle, a person inside the Matrix who is said by the rebels to have supernatural powers.
Throughout the film, it is apparent that Trinity has developed romantic feelings for Neo. Near the end of the film, after he is killed by Agent Smith in the Matrix, she speaks to his still plugged-in body and reveals that The Oracle told her that she would fall in love with The One, a prophesied individual capable of manipulating the Matrix to an unprecedented degree. She kisses him, whereupon he is revived. Neo defeats the Agents and the film ends with the two in a romantic relationship that proves decisive in the outcome of the series.
The Matrix Reloaded[]
Trinity's importance as an individual character in the first sequel to The Matrix is fairly minimal for the first half of the film, though she appears in almost every scene.
She aids in the rescue of the Keymaker from The Merovingian and in the subsequent escape, but her real role in the plot does not come into play until the climax of the story, where Neo is forced to choose between saving Trinity and saving humanity, by joining with the Source and choosing 23 individuals to rebuild Zion after it is purged by the Machines.
If he chooses to re-enter the Matrix in order to save Trinity, the Architect warns Neo that the destruction of Zion together with the system crash of the Matrix, and the death of all connected to it, would cause the end of humanity.
Where previous Ones chose to save humanity by accepting The Architect's deal, Neo's 'profound attachment to the human species' (instilled in him through the Prime Program) manifests in his relationship with Trinity as an individual, not in a feeling of responsibility for the entire human race, like the previous Ones. He thus chooses to save Trinity instead of continuing the cycle.
This is perhaps the result of the Oracle's actions since the Path of The One normally leads to The One choosing to save humanity by making him believe he is the messiah and savior of humanity. But The Oracle has steered Trinity into falling in love with Neo (by telling her she would fall in love with The One before she met Neo), and thus has subtly changed the profound attachment that The One has for humanity into an attachment not only to humanity but more so in one particular individual he loved deeply: Trinity.
Although Neo fails to save her from being shot after re-entering the Matrix, he is subsequently able to not only remove the bullet but also revive Trinity after she dies of her injuries within the Matrix.
The Matrix Revolutions[]
In the third installment of the Matrix series, Trinity is involved in the rescue of Neo from a cut-off segment of the Matrix, where he is being held by a program in the employ of The Merovingian. In the real world, Trinity goes with Neo to the Machine City in an attempt to negotiate with the Machines, serving as the pilot after Neo is blinded in a confrontation with Bane/Smith.
While attempting to evade Machine pursuers, their hovercraft crashes into the Machine City, right after they fly over the cloud cover and Trinity sees the Sun for her first and only time. In the aftermath of the crash, it is shown that Trinity has been impaled in the abdomen and arm by power cables, resulting in her death after saying a final goodbye to Neo.
After Trinity's death, Neo gives his life to defeat Smith and negotiate a truce with the Machines.
The Matrix Resurrections[]
Trinity's body was recovered and rebuilt by the Machines at great expense, alongside Neo's. During the reconstruction process the Machines discovered that her and Neo's bond made them dangerous. Exploiting this, they were interred at the Anomaleum, reinserted into the Matrix with their memories suppressed, and given fake lives, to serve as a control for the rest of Bluepilled humanity while also increasing their energy yield. Inside the Matrix, Trinity was renamed "Tiffany", a married mom with kids, who only knew Neo as "Thomas Anderson" and a fellow customer at a coffee shop. She is later rescued by Neo, Sati, Bugs and her crew, recovering her memories and developing powers of her own similar to Neo's.
Appearance[]
Trinity is tall and beautiful woman in her early to mid-thirties with short black hair, pale blue eyes and an athletic figure.
In the Matrix, Trinity is mainly seen wearing a tight-fitting, shiny black bodysuit along with gloves and boots of the same color. Like other Redpills, she wears dark sunglasses much of the time.
In the real world, Trinity mostly wears a coarse gray shirt, blue pants and dark shoes, standard clothes in Zion.
Other portrayals[]
Video games[]
In "Enter the Matrix", Trinity appears in a scene where she faces off against Ghost in a practice spar, the two subsequently discussing their shared belief that Neo can defeat the Machines despite the absurdity of the concept. Over the course of the game, it is heavily implied, although never expressly stated, that Ghost is in love with Trinity, but that she regards him as a brother for their having been freed from the Matrix at or near the same time.
Her role in "The Matrix: Path of Neo" is relatively similar to her appearances with Neo in the films; she has a spar with him during his sword-fighting training, accompanies him during the raid on the military building to rescue Morpheus (subsequently helping him to defeat an Agent on the rooftop), and is later rescued by him from some attacking Agents after the last meeting with the assorted ship captains.
A Detective Story[]
Trinity appears in The Animatrix episode A Detective Story which tells of the story a private investigator named Ash hired to locate her despite being nearly impossible to find. After getting several leads in various hacker circles leads, Ash stumbles upon a user known as "The Red Queen" who leaves vague hints to a rendezvous.
Upon finding her, Ash discovers that Red Queen is actually indeed Trinity and learns his employers, the Agents, ultimately used him to find her. The chronological placement of A Detective Story is uncertain though it is indicated to have occurred prior to the events of The Matrix according to The Matrix Universe poster.
Kid's Story[]
Trinity can also be heard in the Animatrix episode Kid's Story alongside Neo assisting Kid after his escape from the Matrix via self-substantiation.
Online[]
This article or section is based on information from the game - The Matrix Online - and the information may contradict situations and events from The Matrix Resurrections. |
Despite having "died" during the course of the third film, Trinity made a return to the series in the official continuation, The Matrix Online. Taking on a major role in the game's final chapters it was revealed both she and Neo were actually the culmination of decades of Machine research into translating human DNA perfectly into Machine code, allowing them to interface directly with technology without the need for simulated interfaces.
Originally developed by The Oracle, this program was called The Biological Interface Program and was strongly sought after by the Oligarchy as a means to transfer their digital minds to physical bodies instead of the mechanical androids they had developed.
Without a physical form (the Machines recovered her program from her dying body) Trinity takes the appearance of a floating figure made of golden code within The Matrix. Initially distraught with her condition (confusion, anger, and sadness being the prominent emotions expressed during her awakening after being freed from the Oligarch Network), she eventually finds solace in the fact her existence is the key to finally rebooting the Matrix and erasing Oligarch override control once and for all.
She ultimately meets her end in the Source of The Matrix, merging with a human inside the core of the Machine code base itself, combining the three core groups; Man, Machine and Program. This initializes the final reboot sequence, removing the Oligarch control and allowing the Machines to finally exist without fear of cruel masters. Although it is unclear from the outlines Ben Chamberlain released prior to the game's closure, this conclusion likely sees the creation of a new truce between Zion and The Machines and is the basis for the new Matrix created around the concept of human thought control.
Comics[]
Trinity also makes various appearances in The Matrix Comics.
Derivation of name[]
The name "Trinity" is derived from the Holy Trinity in Christian theology, which teaches the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons of one essence in the Godhead. Her name seems to parallel Morpheus (as the Father), Neo (the Son being freed by Morpheus from the Matrix), and Trinity is the third of the three (and thus taking the role of the Holy Spirit by analogy).
Further evidence of the link between the character Trinity and God is the scene, from the first Matrix movie, in which Neo meets Trinity for the first time. Their dialog goes as follows: "Who are you?", "My name is Trinity.", "Trinity. The Trinity? That cracked the IRS D-base?", "That was a long time ago.", "Jesus.", "What?" "I just thought um...you were a guy.", "Most guys do." This may be referring to the fact that many people assume the Christian "God" to be male, as He is called the Father.
Also, Trinity directly responds to the name Jesus, which is a part of the Holy Trinity, as if it were her name. Another instance of this is in the scene, from the original Matrix, where Neo returns to the Matrix for the first time after being 'freed'. Neo says, "God!" and Trinity answers, "What?" then Neo responds, "I used to eat there. Really good noodles." This could just be her answering to Neo's outburst, however. Her being the force that revives Neo after his death in the first film implies a further parallel between her character and God.
Although in this instance, the character's name is probably derived from the Christian Holy Trinity, a triad deity is not exclusive to Christianity. It is generally accepted by theologians as a common theme in religions. Other holy trinity examples include the Greek Hecate and Hindu Brahman Trimurti. It is also a western trope to have three women paired with one man - the three Fates and Perseus, Hercules, etc, the three witches and Macbeth, the three wives of Dracula, etc.
It is also a Norwegian name, with "Trine Andersen" possibly serving as an inspiration for Trinity's character. This may especially be true considering that Neo's real name is Thomas Anderson.
Skills and abilities[]
Throughout the Matrix franchise, Trinity is shown to have many skills both inside and outside the Matrix, including martial arts, computer use, the use of firearms and other weapons, and operating a range of motor vehicles. Some of these skills can be downloaded from outside the Matrix as needed, such as when Trinity flies a helicopter during the first movie. Other skills are trained or inherent.
Trinity is seen to be especially skilled at the use of cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles, even in comparison to other hackers. In the first film, she pilots a Bell 212 helicopter and manages to maintain control even after its hydraulics system is damaged. In The Matrix Reloaded, she carries The Keymaker to safety on a Ducati 996 motorcycle in a harrowing chase through oncoming traffic.
Combat, both armed and unarmed, is another area where Trinity excels. Master of kung fu fighting and a skilled shooter, Trinity can take out a roomful of gun-wielding enemies without tousling a hair out of place. Trinity was also able to defeat many of The Merovingian's superhuman thugs with little to no difficulty and fight on almost equal ground with one of The Twins. She was even able to briefly hold her own with Agent Thompson, however, she was ultimately beaten by the Agent. She did manage to kill an Agent even before Neo did, making her the first Redpill of her generation to do so, although she accomplished this feat through a surprise attack, gunning down the Agent from point-blank range while his attention was focused on Neo. In the real world she was able to free herself from the hands of Bane (Smith), leaving him with a few injuries on his face.
In The Matrix Resurrections, after reawakening to her true identity, Trinity begins to develop reality-bending powers within the Matrix similar to Neo's, causing The Analyst to panic. This includes her own ability to fly. Simply touching Neo in the middle of a crowd caused their hands to glow and create a shockwave that blew back all of their nearby enemies.
Notes[]
- Though her Bluepill name will most likely forever remain unknown, a few fans have speculated it might've actually been Alice or possibly, Dinah (Alice's pet cat). This mainly comes from taking into account the various minor references to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland novels during her activities as a hacker (i.e. "follow the white rabbit", "through the looking glass", "The Red Queen", etc.). There is however no concrete evidence to support this notion.
- Trinity's Bluepill name in The Matrix Resurrections is "Tiffany", but it's unclear if this was her original Bluepill name or a new persona imposed on her by the Matrix. The way The Analyst talks about it near the end of the movie, it seems that he chose the name "Tiffany" as a joke and, thus, it wasn't her original Bluepill name.
- As Tiffany, she had a family with her husband, Chad. They had two sons, named Donnie and Brandon, and a daughter named Callie.
Behind the scenes[]
- Trinity is played by Carrie-Anne Moss in the films. She also voiced Trinity in The Animatrix. In the gameplay segments of Path of Neo, she is voiced by Jennifer Hale.