This is a list of characters from The Matrix franchise universe. Many of the characters listed here have names reflecting certain aspects of them, such as their status, personality, or role.

Introduced in The Matrix

Apoc Apoc (played by Julian Arahanga) is a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix. He is murdered by Cypher when the latter forcibly unplugs Apoc's connection to the Matrix in the real world, killing him instantly.

Agent Brown and Agent Jones

Choi and DuJour Choi (played by Marc Gray) is assumedly a bluepill who appears in the first movie buying illegal software from Neo, for which Choi pays $2,000 in cash. Choi, his latex-clad girlfriend DuJour (played by Ada Nicodemou), and several unnamed and unspeaking friends arrive at Neo's door after he had been mysteriously told to "follow the white rabbit" through his computer. When Neo notices that Dujour has a tattoo of a white rabbit on the back of her left shoulder, he accepts their offer to go with them to a goth club, where he is approached by Trinity. Going to the club and subsequently waking up late for work the following day set the stage for the rest of the film, though Choi, Dujour, and their friends are never seen or alluded to again.

Much of Choi's dialogue foreshadows the rest of the film: "I know. This never happened. You don't exist", "You need to unplug", and "Hallelujah. You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ."

These names would appear to be inspired by French language; "Choi" and "DuJour" resembles the French phrase "Choix du jour", meaning "Choice of the day".

Cypher/Mr. Reagan

Mr. Reagan (a.k.a. Cypher) (played by Joe Pantoliano) is a central character in The Matrix. In the film, he regrets being "unplugged" and entering the real world. He betrays the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, offering to give up Morpheus to the Agents in exchange for being inserted back into the Matrix with no memory of his time outside the Matrix. In the climax of the film, after the visit to the Oracle, he exits the Matrix and murders members of the crew by leading Mouse into a trap, blasting Dozer and Tank with a lightning rifle, and "unplugging" Switch and Apoc. As he is about to kill Neo and Trinity, a critically injured Tank kills him.

Dozer Dozer (played by Anthony Ray Parker) is the pilot and chef of the Nebuchadnezzar. He is Tank's brother, and like him, is unable to enter the Matrix as he was born in Zion and therefore has no mechanical ports that machine-bred humans do. After Cypher attempts to murder Tank, Dozer charges at him and is killed instantly by Cypher's lightning rifle.

Morpheus

Mouse Mouse (played by Matt Doran) is a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar.

In the film, Mouse is the youngest crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar and the programmer of the virtual reality training simulation program. One of his stand-out scenes occurs when he is discussing to Neo whether the Nebuchadnezzars food tastes like "Tastee Wheat" (a brand of cereal, posters of which can be briefly seen in the train stations shown in The Matrix Revolutions), and adds to the theme of subjective reality by suggesting that the flavor associated with both is not the 'true' flavor, but the Machines' error. He is the creator of the program Woman in the Red Dress, which is used as a distraction in part of Neo's training. He is a very eager young man, excited to see the possibility that Neo could be the one to end the war. He also offers Woman in the Red Dress in a private session to Neo saying, "To deny our impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human".

Mouse is the first victim of Cypher's betrayal of the crew. As Agent-led SWAT team members storm the building used by Neo and the others as an entry/exit point, Mouse attempts to stop their initial approach wielding dual automatic shotguns (custom made for the film), but is killed by the police.

Neo

Neo (born Thomas A. Anderson, also known as The One, an anagram for "Neo") is the protagonist of the Matrix franchise. He was portrayed as a cybercriminal and computer programmer by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy, as well as having a cameo in The Animatrix short film Kid's Story. Andrew Bowen provided Neo's voice in The Matrix: Path of Neo. In 2008, Neo was selected by Empire as the 68th Greatest Movie Character of All Time. Neo is also an anagram of "one", a reference to his destiny of being The One who would bring peace. There are claims that a nightclub in Chicago inspired the name of the character in the Matrix. Neo is considered to be a superhero.

Oracle

Rhineheart Mr. Rhineheart (played by David Aston) is Thomas Anderson's boss at the software company Metacortex.

Smith

Switch Switch (played by Belinda McClory) is a member of the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar.

Unlike the mental projections of other crews, who usually wear dark clothes and nearly-opaque sunglasses, Switch wears white clothes and yellow, translucent sunglasses. Switch and Apoc are portrayed as front-line soldiers while inside the Matrix, acting as "point" and "rear guard" in their escape from the Agents and police and providing covering fire as they make their way into the sewers. Switch's weapon of choice is a Browning Hi-Power pistol. Switch also pokes fun at Mouse, calling him "the digital pimp". Switch is killed when her mind is forcibly pulled from the Matrix by Cypher, who betrayed the crew in an attempt to return to the Matrix as a permanent resident himself.

The character was supposedly originally meant to be a feminine character in the Matrix and a man in the real world, but the producers decided to change this because they thought it would confuse the audience.

Tank Tank (played by Marcus Chong) is the original Operator of the Nebuchadnezzar.

Tank watches over not only the jacked-in crewmembers, but also the ship itself in case the Sentinels (killing machines) detect the ship. Like all Operators, Tank is a skilled programmer who can provide jacked-in crewmembers almost anything they need and guides them to and from dangerous events within the Matrix.

Tank (and his brother Dozer) is unable to enter the Matrix, as he was born in Zion, and therefore without the mechanical ports which machine-bred humans such as Neo or Morpheus have. After Cypher betrays the crew, Tank becomes his first attempted victim in the real world. Cypher blasts an unaware Tank from behind with a lightning rifle, gravely injuring him. He then takes Tank's place in the Operator's chair after murdering Dozer, taunting Neo and Trinity as he "unplugs" Apoc and Switch. As Cypher is about to unplug Neo, Tank recovers enough from his injuries to stand up and kill Cypher with the lightning rifle. He then rescues Neo and Trinity, providing them weapons and valuable information needed in the film's climax.

Tank dies after the events in The Matrix but before the events in the sequel, The Matrix Reloaded. The character's duties as ship's Operator are handed over to Link, who is married to Tank and Dozer's sister, Zee.

The demise of the character was reportedly due to actor Marcus Chong's salary demands and conflicts with the Wachowskis, the writers and creators of the Matrix series, leading to his removal.

Trinity

Introduced in The Matrix Reloaded

Architect Portrayed by Helmut Bakaitis, he is the "father" of The Matrix and its predecessors, and an exceptionally powerful AI. The Oracle states that he tries to "balance the equations" of the Matrix while she unbalances them. The character first appears in The Matrix Reloaded when Neo encounters him while looking for The Source. The Architect tells Neo that he must choose between saving the Matrix and saving Trinity. After Neo chooses the latter and surrenders himself to the machines to purge Smith from the Matrix, the Architect tells the Oracle at the end of The Matrix Revolutions that he will honor the new human/machine truce and allow everyone who wishes to leave the Matrix to do so. As expected from an AI, the Architect is emotionless, analytical, logical, and pragmatic. He generally views humanity and human emotion with contempt if not outright misanthropy.

Sean Connery was originally offered the role, but turned it down because he did not understand the story.

Axel Axel (played by Leigh Whannell) is a crew member of the Vigilant. When the crews of the Vigilant, Nebuchadnezzar, and Logos go to help Neo reach the Source, Axel is the only non-Operator human other than Trinity to not enter the Matrix, owing to a broken leg. Instead, he stands guard, watching for any Sentinel attacks. He hobbles back to Jax soon after to inform him of an imminent attack, but the catwalk below him collapses from the weight of his leg brace, and Axel falls to his death.

Ballard Captain Ballard (played by Roy Jones Jr.), is the captain of the Zion hovercraft Caduceus in the film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix. He is killed when Bane (possessed by Smith) pre-emptively detonates an EMP, leaving the human crewmembers defenseless against the machines.

Bane Bane (played by Ian Bliss) is a crew member of the Zion hovercraft Caduceus in the films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. His consciousness is overwritten by Smith in the Matrix, allowing Smith to take control of Bane in the real world. He attempts to assassinate Neo, but is foiled by the Kid. He later attempts to convince Captain Ballard to search for the Nebuchadnezzar, but is rebuffed. The Caduceus is then sent to the front lines to defend against the machines, where Bane pre-emptively detonates the EMP, disabling all hovercraft and enabling the machines to massacre everyone. Bane/Smith is the only survivor and is found unconscious by the Mjolnir. He then kills Maggie and stows aboard the Logos just before Neo and Trinity depart for the machine city. He holds Trinity hostage and fights Neo, blinding the latter by cauterizing Neo's eyes. Despite this, Neo's real-world powers revealed that he could still see auras of all machines, and he kills Bane/Smith in the ensuing battle.

Binary Binary (played by Tahei Simpson) is a crew member of the Vigilant. She, Vector, and Soren attack a backup power generator for the local power plant in the Matrix to assist Neo in reaching the Source, but are all immediately killed when the Vigilant is destroyed by Sentinels in the real world. This forces Trinity to enter the Matrix and complete the Vigilant crew's mission.

Cas Cas (played by Gina Torres) is the widow of the Nebuchadnezzar's former pilot Dozer.

Ghost Ghost (played by Anthony Wong) is the guns specialist of the Logos ship in the video game Enter the Matrix and the feature films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

Ghost is described by the Wachowskis as an "ascetic Buddhist killer".Making of Enter the Matrix dialogue A student of philosophy, he quotes and/or refers to Hume, William James, Nietzsche and especially Kierkegaard. Ghost's name may be a reference to the phrase "ghost in the machine", which describes the concept of mind-body dualism.

Ghost's latest appearance was in the MMORPG The Matrix Online. Due to copyright issues with Anthony Wong, Ghost is bald and has been completely shaven of all facial hair. Ghost, along with "the Twins", are the only recurring characters up-to-date to lack voice actors for The Matrix Online. Ghost was the first to encounter "Trinity" inside the Matrix after her death, although it was not made clear whether this Trinity was 'real' or a simulation.The Matrix Online chapter 12.1

Councillor Hamann Councillor Hamann (played by Anthony Zerbe) is a senior member of the Zion Council. He is supportive of Neo even though, by his own admission, he does not understand the nature of Neo's abilities.

Jax