Agent Smith facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Agent Smith/Smith
The Matrix character
A mannequin of Smith
First appearance	The Matrix (1999)
Last appearance	The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Created by	The Wachowskis
Portrayed by	Hugo Weaving (original) Ian Bliss (human form) Jonathan Groff (The Matrix Resurrections) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Matrix Resurrections)
Voiced by	Christopher Corey Smith (original; The Matrix: Path of Neo) Gideon Emery (human form; The Matrix: Path of Neo) Matt McKenzie (The Animatrix)
Information
Aliases	Bane
Species	Computer program Computer virus Human (while possessing Bane)
Gender	Male
Occupation	Agent (formerly) Virus (formerly)

Agent Smith (later simply Smith) is a fictional character and the main antagonist of The Matrix franchise. He was primarily portrayed by Hugo Weaving in the first trilogy of films and voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005), with Ian Bliss and Gideon Emery playing his human form, Bane, in the films and Path of Neo respectively. He also makes a cameo in the anime film The Animatrix (2003), voiced by Matt McKenzie. Jonathan Groff and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II portray Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021), the latter playing Morpheus in a dual role.

In 2008, Agent Smith was selected by Empire Magazine as the 84th Greatest Movie Character of All Time. In 2013, Weaving reprised the role for a General Electric advertisement. He is considered to be the archenemy of Neo who is the main protagonist of the story.

Overview

Smith began as an Agent, an AI program in the Matrix programmed to keep order within the system by terminating human simulacra which would bring instability to the simulated reality, as well as any rogue programs that no longer serve a purpose to the Machine collective. To this end, Smith and his fellow Agents possess a number of superhuman attributes from their ability to bend the rules of the Matrix. Smith manifests his physical form by inhabiting and overwriting the simulated body of a human wired into the Matrix; by moving from body to body, he can reform himself if he is "killed" (which only kills the host body) and appear virtually anywhere. He can overcome the limitations of gravity and the human body, giving him speed and strength sufficient to dodge bullets flawlessly, punch through concrete with his bare hands, jump impossible distances, and easily recover from devastating physical assaults. He and other Agents wear dark green business suits with matching neckties, white dress shirts, and sunglasses with rectangular lenses. They use earpiece radios that allow them to communicate with each other instantaneously and perceive the actions of other humans wired into the Matrix via a type of shared consciousness. When Smith removes his earpiece during the first film, he is left unaware of the attack on the building in which he is holding Morpheus. Smith is armed in the first film with the Desert Eagle, chambered for high-caliber .50 AE ammunition, as is standard with all Agents within the Matrix.

At the end of the first film, Smith appears to have been deleted by Neo. However, in the sequels, Smith is revealed to have been linked to Neo, which enabled him to resist being sent to the Source – the Machines' mainframe, where obsolete or malfunctioning programs are deleted. No longer an Agent, Smith is liberated from the Machines' control and exists as a renegade program that manifests himself akin to a self-replicating computer virus compared to his original Agent-based ability to inhabit a single body wired into the Matrix. Smith gains the power to copy his physical form onto any entity in the Matrix by phasing his hand into their body and spreading a black liquid that transforms them into a copy of himself, resulting in an ever-growing army of Smiths connected by a single consciousness. By copying himself onto a human redpill in the process of disconnecting from the Matrix, Smith overwrites their consciousness and takes control of their body in the real world. This is seen when Smith takes over Bane's body in The Matrix Reloaded; however, he is repelled when he attempts to do the same to Morpheus and Neo. Smith's real power comes from his ability to absorb memories and powers from his victims, human and program alike, culminating in him taking over the Oracle and fighting Neo in the final battle of the Matrix series. Neo allows himself to be overwritten during the battle, thus giving the Machines an opportunity to delete Smith and return the Matrix and its inhabitants to normal.

Images for kids

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  Movie poster for The Matrix Revolutions, featuring some of the numerous copies of Smith

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  Smith and other Agents as mannequins

See also

In Spanish: Agente Smith para niños