In The Matrix films, background characters are often taken over by villainous Agents in pursuit of Neo and Trinity’s crew, but what exactly happens to these transformed people? Beginning with the first Matrix film in 1999, The Wachowski sisters’ trilogy changed the cultural zeitgeist with its exploration of simulations, digital landscapes, and the nature of reality itself. Inside the Matrix, Agents appear like generic FBI pencil-pushers, but this is merely a mask for the deadly tenacity and cold calculation with which they doggedly hunt their prey, occupying any person around the heroes at will.
When an Agent takes over someone in the Matrix, they are put in a suspended state, not existing in real-time within the Matrix but not deleted either, they are simply put on hold. Anyone without sunglasses in the Matrix is fair game for such a takeover. In the simulated world, people are digital representatives of their real-world bodies, which are held captive by the Machines. When Agents take over a digital body, the person remains inside but has no control over their actions. After the Agent exits, the person awakes with no memory of what happened or any idea that there was a computer program manning their body.
Do People Die When Taken Over in the Matrix?
People typically don’t die when an Agent takes them over, but there is a possible exception. This comes from the short film A Detective Story, which is part of The Animatrix, a series of short films that take place in the world of The Matrix. Released between the second and third Matrix films, The Animatrix shorts are considered canon. A Detective Story follows a private investigator who receives a tip to find a hacker named Trinity (yes, that Trinity). When he eventually finds her, the two are discovered by Agents and a fight ensues. The detective is taken over by an Agent and Trinity shoots him. After the gunshot, the Agent leaves his body but the bullet wound remains. While his death is not confirmed on-screen, it is heavily implied those wounds were fatal.
How Agent Smith Was Able to Take Over Bane in The Real World
Agent Smith’s control of Bane’s living body In The Matrix Revolutions is subject to a few theories, though there isn’t a definitive answer. It’s possible that Agent Smith gets to the real world by corrupting Bane into a clone of himself while in the Matrix, thereby changing his real-world function. Another explanation is that, due to the technology implanted in humans from the machines, all humans are susceptible to Agent takeover, even in the real world. While the answer remains a mystery, the fact that it happened proves that Agent Smith is the most powerful rogue Agent in this version of the Matrix.
What makes The Matrix films so compelling are the difficult questions it raises. When humans become so interconnected with technology, who really has control? Will the world we live in become closer and closer to the simulated Matrix? Is it already there? The speculation never ceased after the ending of The Matrix trilogy, nor will it any time soon with the recent revival of the franchise.