The protagonist of the series and the Chosen One to liberate mankind from the virtual world where the machines have imprisoned them. His real-world identity is Thomas Anderson, an office employee. He gets freed from the Matrix by Morpheus and his gang, and gradually learns about his destiny.
Badass Longcoat: The duster from the lobby scene in the first movie. In the sequels, part of his standard getup in the Matrix is a coat styled after a priest's cassock.
Do Not Call Me Paul / That Man Is Dead: "My name... is Neo." However, Smith almost always calls him Mr. Anderson in the sequels and Neo doesn't say either of this to him.
It also qualifies under Anti Anti Christ, as the Matrix Reloaded revealed that the purpose of The One was actually yet another method of machines controlling Humanity (basically the One would spare some people in Zion before Zion is destroyed and then the cycle continues), and there were The Ones before Neo and his predecessor. However, Neo actually rejects this path, and ends up granting humanity true freedom after destroying Smith, and himself in the process.
My Name Is Inigo Montoya: The above-mentioned line, after which he smashes Smith into the ceiling in the first show of his power as The One.
I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mister Anderson.
Played By: Hugo Weaving
It is inevitable.
The antagonist of the series. He is an Agent, a program designed to protect the Matrix from redpills - humans who will try to reveal it to anyone that the Matrix is a false reality - and Exiles, programs who will endanger it. After being destroyed by Neo in the first film, Smith gains virus-like abilities and begins making endless copies of himself by taking over the bodies of the bluepills and even redpills.
The Assimilator: After gaining virus powers he attacks others programs and assimilates them into his program and thereby creating copies of himself. His motive is ambigious and likely just expanding for the sake of expansion.
Ax Crazy: His plans, if they are even his own, as he hints that he doesn't even know why he's doing the things he does, essentially will result in the absolute destruction of Humanity, Machines, and the Matrix, and he has a psychopathic hatred of Neo.
Berserk Button: Breaking his shades, or even simply forcing them off him by kicking him hard enough, apparently gets him enraged, given how he reacted in The Matrix and The Matrix Revolutions.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: This ultimately leads to his downfall. After defeating Neo, he asks why he still continues to fight, going into a long rant about how fighting for freedom and other morals is foolish and that love is something that only a human mind could invent. He angrily asks Neo why he insists on fighting, even though he has absolutely no chance at winning. Neo simple says, "Because I choose to." This makes Smith snap, mercilessly attacking Neo, and failing to realize that even though he can see the future he cannot understand it, making him just as blind to his fate as anyone else.
Implacable Man: Like every other Agent, as long as you're in the Matrix, he will not stop until you're dead. Not even killing him is enough, because his personality can just possess another body.
Irony: His "Humanity Is A Virus" speech vs what he becomes.
Mind Rape: He overwrites the brains of his victims, leaving them without personalities. On the other hand, the Machines have done this to most of the human race.
Not Quite Dead: Destroyed by Neo in the first movie, but he came back in the second.
Nietzsche Wannabe: Every thing he says could count as this. But most notably are his speeches in The Matrix to Morpheus; his resurrection speech in The Matrix Reloaded; and his rage-fueled rant in The Matrix Revolution.
Omnicidal Maniac: He basically wants to destroy the Matrix and Machines, in addition to the humans. It's also hinted that he desired the destruction of the Matrix when interrogating Morpheus, or at least escape from it.
One-Man Army: Literally, since he is a virus in a computer program.
Removing The Earpiece: In the first film, he briefly removes it to confide in Morpheus how much he's come to hate humans (as opposed to simply performing his function like other Agents). He stops wearing it entirely in the sequels, and sends it to Neo to "thank" him for setting him free.
Zombie Apocalypse: What Smith unleashes upon the world of the Matrix, from all the bluepills perspective.
Trinity
It's the question that drives us, Neo. It's the question that brought you here.
Played By: Carrie-Ann Moss
Dodge this.
The second-in-command of the human resistance and Neo's eventual love interest. She is an amazing fighter and steals most of the fight scenes during the trilogy.
The most notorious terrorist in the Matrix world. The leader of the human resistance outside of Zion. He is the first who reveals the existence of the Matrix, and becomes Neo's mentor and teacher.
The Obi-Wan: Fulfills every aspect except the "dying to save the hero" bit; the closest he comes to this is allowing himself to be captured so the others can escape. Neo refusing to leave him behind is one of his most important decisions.
What Measure Is a Mook?: Morpheus views every human who is unconsciously in the Matrix (which is 90% of mankind) as a potential enemy, and blasts them away without a second thought.
We can never see past the choices we don't understand.
Played By: Gloria Foster & Mary Alice
An Exile, a "rogue program" in the Matrix, who helps the human resistance at times with her cryptic advice. She can see into the future, but prefers her visitors to make up "their own damn minds" in deciding their actions. The Architect refers to her as the mother of the Matrix. She is possessed by Smith in Revolutions, causing him to gain powers similar to Neo's, but this ultimately proves part of his defeat.
Manipulative Bitch: Even though her intentions are good. The last scene of the trilogy is her and the Architect commenting on the "dangerous game" she's played to end the war.
The Nth Doctor: The Oracle had two actresses during the films, Gloria Foster died and was replaced with Mary Alice. The in-universe explanation was that Rama-Khandra gave the Merovingian the Oracle's shell codes, causing her to gain a new physical appearance.
A member of the human resistance against the Machines and part of Morpheus' gang. It was a nasty shock to him when he was jerked out of the Matrix and forced to live in the hellish real world, leading to him becoming the Sixth Ranger Traitor, willing to doom mankind in order to get back into the Matrix.
The other crew members of the hovercraft the "Nebuchadnezzer", captained by Morpheus. Trinity, Cypher and Neo are members. Other crewmen are the brothers Tank and Dozer, bodyguards Apoc and Switch, and technician Mouse. The latter members are all executed by Cypher aside from Tank.
The Elite Mooks of the Matrix, the Agents are suited men who act as the sentinels of the computer world, hunting down and killing all redpills or potential ones. All of them Cool Shades and earpieces symbolizing their connection to the machine mainframe. The Agents are Implacable Men and usually defy the physics of the Matrix as redpills do. They materialize in the Matrix by possessing the bodies of bluepills, and if killed they can just do it again.
Implacable Man: Neo has a hard time dealing with Smith and his two cohorts in the first film. This is subverted in the sequels since Neo now has superpowers.
The main antagonists of the series behind Agent Smith and all the other hostilities of the Matrix. After years of abuse at the hands of mankind, the early machines turned against their creators and eventually declared war on mankind, leaving them in ruin. They created the Matrix to use the humans as an energy source after mankind blocked out the sun, allowing the humans to live peaceful but fake lives in a computer system. The machines use Sentinels to patrol the underground passages to eliminate any redpills or Zion citizens. The machines eventually decide to destroy Zion and send an army of Sentinels to wipe it out. In the third film, Zion and the Machines make peace when Neo saves the Matrix from Agent Smith.
Cry For The Devil: How the machines were treated before their uprising was quite depressing. They even built their own civilization called Zero One, but their attempt to join the UN peacefully was downright rejected merely because they were economically better than mankind.
Kill All Humans: For a time they wanted to do this, but changed their decision when they learnt humans could be used batteries.
Killer Robot: The Sentinels are built to destroy human enemie
The Matrix Reloaded
Niobe
What if all this, the prophecy, everything is bullshit?
Played By: Jada Pinkett-Smith
Captain of the Logos, Niobe is Morpheus' ex-girlfriend who now is dating Commander Locke. Not a believer in Morpheus' prophecy, Niobe does however believe in Neo and lends him her ship in the third film to reach the Machine City. She is an Ace Pilot, driving the Hammer hovercraft to Zion whilst under attack from an army of Sentinels.
Working with the Ex: Niobe gets on well with Morpheus and it is implied they become a couple again at the end of the third film.
Link
All I know is that ship needs an operator. And right now that operator's me.
Played By: Harold Perrineau
The new operator on the Nebuchadnezzer after Tank's off-screen death, Link is Tank and Dozer's brother-in-law, married to their sister Zee. He provides comic relief for the films, often being bamboozled by Neo's powers.
Comic Relief: His reactions to the events in second film are hilarious.
Heel Faith Turn: Link is given a religious pendant by his wife to bring him home, but he does not share her faith. By the end of the films, Link is so happy to wear the necklace that he swears never to take it off.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: When Marcus Chong, who played Tank in the original film, left the film after a contract dispute it was established that operator Tank had died in between the first and second film. Link, who plays much the same role, suddenly appeared as his brother-in-law.
Ghost
Niobe's Number Two, Ghost is the best gunner in Zion. He was released from the Matrix on the same day as Trinity, and has unrequited feelings for her.
All Love Is Unrequited: Ghost's love for Trinity is unrequited due to the latter being in love with Neo.
Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.
Played By: Lambert Wilson
A powerful Frenchman Exile. Considering himself a businessman, the Merovingian believes in "cause and effect", is very manipulative and enjoys the finer things in life. He has a wife named Persephone, who he often cheats on. He holds the Keymaker captive, but he is freed by Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and Persephone getting payback on him.
The program that created and acts as maintainer of the Matrix. Aside from that, it is never clearly explained who or what he really is, or if he and the giant machine in that Neo makes a deal with at the end of Revolutions are one and the same.
An exiled program who appears as a middle-aged Asian man. He carries numerous keys that allow him access to the backdoors and secret passages of the Matrix. Able to unlock a key to the Architect's chamber, the Keymaker is imprisoned by the Merovingian until Neo and co. rescue him. He is gunned down by the numerous Agent Smiths.
Badass Grandpa: The Keymaker is pretty sturdy, surviving the whole car crash sequence without a scratch despite being attacked by Agents, the Twins, cops, and flung around like a toy.
Cool Key: Take your pick. He's got a room full of them.
You do not truly know someone until you fight them.
The Oracle's bodyguard, appearing as a soft-spoken Asian man with kung fu powers. He once worked for the Merovingian, and had a few run-ins with Smith back when the latter was still part of the system.
Apologetic Attacker: Whenever he fights someone to make sure they are who they say they are, he apologises in advance.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The Twins are last seen being sent flying into the air by Morpheus after he owns their car, but it is unknown if they are alive or dead. The Matrix Online revived them, whilst other sources claim they died in the second film.
Commander Locke
The head of Zion's defensive forces, Commander Locke is quite angry a lot of the time but wants nothing more than to defend Zion from the Machines, no matter the cost. He is in a relationship with Niobe, expanding on his fued with Morpheus further.
The Brigadier: He strongly disbelieves in Morpheus' belief in the Oracle's prophecy.
Passing the Torch: To Kid to open Zion's doors for the Hammer to arrive.
Rousing Speech: Mifune's speech to his APU troops ("If we have to give these bastards our lives, we give them HELL before me do!")
The Kid
A young redpill who was freed from the Matrix by Neo and of his own will. Now a Tagalong Kid, Kid deeply believes in Neo's ability to save mankind and is his biggest supporter. He is a bit of a Scrappy, but Took a Level in Badass in the third film to defend Zion.
Took a Level in Badass: Took up Captain Mifune's APU to blast apart Zion's sealed doors to allow the Hammer to enter.
The Matrix Revolutions
Bane/Agent Smith
A redpill who is killed and possessed by Agent Smith in Reloaded. In the real world, the possessed Bane physically harms himself and seeks mankind's destruction. During the films he uses an EMP to disable a small fleet of hovercraft, preventing Zion's EMP counterattack and allowing the five ships to be destroyed, then attacking Neo and Trinity aboard the Logos, blinding Neo, but he (or at least the Smith code possessing him) is then decapitated by the blind man.
Off with His Head!: At the very least the Smith code possessing Bane suffered this trope.
Rolan
Captain of the Hammer, Rolan is a grouchy and cynical man who disbelieves in the One and Neo's ability to stop the war. He has a tendency to say "Goddamn" a lot.
Ascended Extra: In The Matrix Reloaded, he only appears in the opening and ending scenes. He becomes a supporting character in the third film.
A family of exiled programs, Rama-Khandra and Kamala created Sati out of love but are forced to leave her in the Matrix with the Oracle, as she serves no purpose to the Machines. Going to the Merovingian for help, Rama-Khandra gives him the Oracle's shell codes, causing her to change her appearance. They meet Neo in Mobil Avenue and are taken by the Trainman to the Matrix. Rama-Khandra and Kamala return to the Machine City.
A program designed to smuggle exiles in and out of the Matrix. Appearing as a dirty tramp-like man, the Trainman can teleport of sorts by leaping in the paths of train. He controls Mobil Avenue and works for the Merovingian.
A God Am I: Gives one of these speeches while kicking the crap out of Neo in his train station, as he is all-powerful in there.
Clock King: Knows exactly when trains in the Matrix are due, to the extent of being able to blindly leap in front of them to lose pursuers.
The protagonist of Beyond. She is a normal teenage girl who loses her cat Yuki one day and goes out into the city to find it. She ends up in a ruined house that contains a glitch in the Matrix, which bends the laws of reality.
The protagonist of A Detective Story. Ash is a private detective hired by the Agents to locate Trinity. He takes on the case after receiving a sum of $800,000 in his bank account, and despite the horrid fates of all the other detectives that attempted it before.
Eye Scream: Unlike Neo, Ash had his bug implanted here (in his left). Trinity removes it with a special device, somehow without destroying his eye in the process, but it is still terrifying.
Face Death with Dignity: The last we see of him, he is critically wounded in a train car and surrounded by three Agents who are only moments away from shooting him to death. What does he do? He calmly points his revolver at them, and lights a cigarette.
Vague Age: The voice actors, combined with the animation, lend themselves to this. While Yoko's age is clearer and the Kid's is almost stated, it's not clear for Ash.
