Characters appearing or mentioned in this story

 

Neo (mentioned only, deceased?)

Smith (mentioned only, deceased)

the Oracle

Sati

Seraph

LED Agents

the Merovingian

Morpheus (dies in the course of the game)

the Architect

Persephone

Shapers

N30 Ag3nts

Niobe

Blood-drinkers

Lupines

Exiles

Ookami

Doberman gang

Malphas

Invalesco (dies in the course of the game)

Feronus

Cypher (mentioned only, deceased)

Cypherites

masked men

masked assassin (dies in the course of the game)

Corrupted

Agent Skinner (dies in the course of the game)

Complete Corrupted

Agent Pace

Trinity (mentioned only, deceased)

Neurophyte (Anne Simpson)

Captain Sawayaka (Jayna Kiyomizu)
WanNi (Wan Ni Mokaraakhom)
Tamarin
Tyndall

Ghost

Maerd (Morpheus simulacrum)

Sarah Edmontons (mentioned only)

Vashuo (Anatoli Ivanov, dies in the course of the game)

Gemaskeerd

Agent Gray

Flood

Toorima/Veil (Tasha Spencer, aka Kelly Jackobsen)

Enmascarado (dies in the course of the game)

Fillament (mentioned only)

the General (aka General David Beatts, aka Cacophony)

Commandos

Anome (dies in the course of the game)

Commander Lock

Slasher gang

Zion council

Dire Lupines

the Effectuator

the Colonel (aka Colonel Torres)

Cryptos

Furies gang

Argon

Justine Kalt

Silver

Demons Army gang

Crossbones gang

Hatchet

Mammon

Waite

Acuben (dies in the course of the game)

DifferenceEngine

Bugsweep

Darago (dies in the course of the game)

Kid

Shimada (dies in the course of the game)

Hypatia/The Librarian (dies in the course of the game)

The Jeweller

Fracastoro

Brian

Tester

Grover

ProtectorProgram

Turring (Alan Mathison)

Sleepwalkers

Matarax (Gian Phillips)

Decius Wadsworth

Ms. Osborn
Ms. Tucker
Ms. Walls
Ms. Finch
Mr. Quimby
Mr. Meters
Mr. McNeil
Mr. Bartle

Bells gang

Unlimit

Brenda Utley

Caboclo (dies in the course of the game)

Dr. Obama

Maxson
Genev
Tungsten
Beirn
Meillak
Andromeda
Azul
Phinney
Weit
Seral
Tancred
Wendigo
Casque
Phenora
Crop
Antlia (Janet Koladakis)

Anome's mother (mentioned only, deceased)

Anome's father (mentioned only)

the Twins

Elements

Mercury

Thallia

Raini

Blackwoods gang

Keterina (dies in the course of the game)

Systematica

MoonAvatar

the Apothecary (dies in the course of the game)

Trainman

Anti M

Beryl

Project Nine

Colonel Strong

Joshua Maston

The Landlord

Yttri

Amber

Cerulean

Madame T (Naomi Tarasova)

the Auditor

Synn

Daelyn (Jodie Shenton)

Navin Manohar (dies in the course of the game)

Navin Manohar bluepill simulacrum

Rachel Dunkirk

Dame White

Itarrot (aka Mr. G, Balthazar Gerards)

Danielle Wright (dies in the course of the game)

the Coroner

Pepper (aka the Cabbie)

Incidence 5.991

Captain Roland

Colt

Mauser

Grace

Mary MacHenry

Strenlo (Daniel Blevins, dies in the course of the game)

the Digger

GreatWyrm

Cpahr (Joseph Weiz)

ZAITSO

Viellard

Darjarian (dies in the course of the game)

Starschwar (dies in the course of the game)

the Intruder (Halborn)

Cinquez

Terminator (dies in the course of the game)

Bookwyrms

Lo Ruhamah

Murphey

Agent Griffin

0uranos

Demedrian

Tsusai (Charles Winzer)

Fyror

Indigo

Father Jonas

the Brethren

Jezebeth

Piqo (Timothy Miles)

Carlyne (2nd Intruder)

Sister Margaret

Zero

the Unclean

Owl Bangheart

CiaoYun

Tygrius

Deffdog (Tim Deffner)

Palorina

the Evaluator

the Devoted

SIMLO

Oligarchs

Lt. Petrov

Pernicia (Beth Morris)

Captain Suda (dies in the course of the game)

SaintDaniel

Ramin (David Hill)

Captain Steelle

Captain RedBindi

Coroebus

Rose

Gargoyles

Captain Raeder

Captain Dernick

Les Enfants Terribles

Xeros

Councillor Dillard

Medea (dies in the course of the game)

Theresa Morton (Sidonae)

Stanley Morton (mentioned only, deceased)

CAR80N

Ginjiro

Silver Dragons gang

Temet Nosce

Gerald Croyden

Judie Lahler

Vulg (dies in the course of the game)

Pentangle

Rosaleen (dies in the course of the game)

BlazinWolf (Blaze Wolf)

Sheldon Brewer

Marias

Penelope Matthews (dies in the course of the game)

C0wb0y

Officer Vogt

Seven

Sleepers gang

Negligible

Satiate

Mr. Black

Ebony

Ethereal 2

chmarr

Pascal

SamaeI

Enoch Horner

Libertas Verus

Uticensis

Nicks

Edward Young

Pamela Bagwell

Barry Morganthal

Black Widow

Pileus

Dislodge

Imelda Kroller (dies in the course of the game)

Daryl Chester (dies in the course of the game)

Hampton gang

Nicky G.

the Manager

Suits gang

Neglect

Trinity program

Helian

Tesarova

Azuna

Sparks 

 

 

Didja Notice?

 

Beta testing

 

    Beta testing of the game began for select gamers in June 2004 and ended on March 15, 2005, one week before the official launch of the game. On that final day of testing, players were faced with a sky turned red and filled with giant eyeballs staring down at them! The machines running the Matrix had decided to eliminate all humans in the Matrix and sent Agents to hunt down individual player-characters, eliminating them! Near the end of the day, a fire virus began burning many of the remaining player-characters to death, then the final remaining player-characters were omnipotently crushed like beer cans into lumps on the sidewalk!

    The beta was over and all the player-characters were dead. The ending got high points for originality and shock, but some players were upset that the background stories they'd been building for their characters were wiped out and they would have to start from scratch when the game launched officially a week later.

    The game events of the beta testing phase are not part of the canon storyline of The Matrix Online.

 

Chapter 1.1: The Race to Find the One

 

The Oracle's apartment is similar to, but the layout is quite a bit different from, the one seen in the three films. She either moved to a new apartment or the Matrix itself was modified after the truce proclaimed at the end of The Matrix Revolutions.

 

    During the introductory cinematic for this chapter, Sati remarks to the Oracle, "It's funny. When I'm working, the sun doesn't work. It's jerky." This may imply that Sati controls the sun in the Matrix when she is not busy concentrating on other chores. Recall that at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, she apparently created the beautiful sunset for Neo. In Chapter 6 of the game, Sati is kidnapped and some operatives become concerned that the Matrix's weather will turn chaotic.

    In response to Sati's remark, the Oracle says, "Guess there's a few glitches in the system yet, since the Smith business. Nothing ever goes just right." She also said something similar to "Nothing ever goes just right" in The Matrix Revolutions, "Nothing ever works out just the way you want."

 

Red-eyed Agents (called LED Agents) begin to appear in Mega City, attacking all Redpills they encounter. They also drop code fragments that contain fragments of what seem to be Neo's final thoughts before death. The three major organizations of the Matrix deny responsibility for the appearance of the red-eyed Agents, but they all soon come to the belief that the Neo code is valuable and may be able to be used to resurrect Neo in some way.

 

LED Agents begin embedding Neo's code fragments into themselves, becoming N30 Ag3nts, looking like a cross between an Agent and Neo.

 

Chapter 1.2: Nightfall

 

It is learned that after Neo's "death" in the machine city following his battle with, and defeat of, Smith, his body was never returned by the machines, nor was it recycled. Is Neo truly dead?

 

Chapter 1.3a: The Hunt for Morpheus

 

When the machines deny Morpheus' demand for the return of Neo's body, Morpheus' forces begin setting off "code bombs" that reveal the underlying code of the effected portions of the Matrix in order show the bluepills the true nature of the "reality" they live in. Zion refutes Morpheus' actions.

 

Chapter 1.3b: The Hunt for Morpheus’ Killer

 

Trinity's body has also, like Neo's, not been recycled by the machines.

 

Deleted chapter: Choice and Consequence

 

The crew of the hovercraft Novalis II struggle to save the life of crewmember Neurophyte. The outcome of their attempts to save her had several variations, dependent on which of the nine initial game servers the player was on. But when Warner Bros. exited the online gaming field just a few months after launching MxO and sold the game to Sony Online Entertainment, Sony merged the data of the original nine servers onto just three servers (low sales and memberships to MxO did not warrant supporting so many servers) the conflicting resolutions of the Neurophyte plot caused continuity errors and confusion in the game universe, so the plot was eliminated entirely. Hence, this is a deleted chapter and the events in it are not part of the canon storyline of The Matrix Online (though the Novalis II and its crew remain a part of the game).

 

Chapter 2.1: Double Cross

 

During the introductory cinematic for this chapter, Niobe refers to Persephone as "tesoro". This is Italian for "treasure".

 

A company called Kalt Chemicals is seen in the game. This is a fictitious company seen to be run by Justine Kalt.

 

A character called Maerd appears and begins planting code bombs throughout Mega City. Maerd is uncannily like the deceased Morpheus in many respects. Notice that his name is "dream" spelled backwards; Morpheus' name was borrowed from that of the Ancient Greek god of sleep and dreams.

 

A report of a coma patient named Sarah Edmontons reviving in the hospital and suddenly walking out and disappearing is heard. "Sarah Edmontons" is an anagram of Thomas Anderson (Neo).

 

The name of the masked man called Gemaskeerd is Dutch for "masked".

 

The name of the masked man called Enmascarado is Spanish for "masked".

 

Chapter 2.2: Rise of the Cypherites

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 2.3a: Arrival of the Commandos

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 2.3b: Death of the Destroyer

 

The Oracle calls a meeting of redpills at Debir Court, the same courtyard where she met with Neo (and where Neo's brawl with numerous Smiths took place) in The Matrix Reloaded.

 

Chapter 3.1: The Effectuator

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 3.2: Enigma of Cryptos

 

The Sentinel newspaper mentions a magician called Cryptos who will soon begin street performances throughout the city. This newspaper may be intended to be the same as the Mega City Sentinel seen in Path of Neo.

 

A hovership called Nescire is introduced.

 

Chapter 3.3: Veil of Cryptos

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 4.1: Retribution

 

In addition to Agent Pace, the machines create another program designed to liaison with humans called DifferenceEngine. A difference engine was also the name of early mechanical calculators designed by engineer Charles Babbage in 1822.

 

DifferenceEngine goes wonky for a bit, seeming to have a case of the remnant Smith virus, complaining about the stench of humanity and claiming that after the final battle (in The Matrix Revolutions) Neo was given a hovercraft and left the machine city alive.

 

Chapter 4.2: E Pluribus Neo

 

Kid and some fellow followers of Neo's memory form the group E Pluribus Neo (EPN) to uphold his ideals. The name comes from the Latin phrase E pluribus unum, "Out of many, one." The phrase is also an unofficial motto of the United States.

 

Somnus Consulting Services seen in this chapter is a fictitious company.

 

As leader of EPN, Kid is calling himself Michael. Kid's real name was revealed to be Michael Karl Popper in "Kid's Story".

 

Turring (Alan Mathison) is probably named for early computer scientist Alan Turing (1912-1954), considering Turing's full name was Alan Mathison Turing.

 

Chapter 4.2b: A Piece of Blue Sky

 

Metacortex co-founder Decius Wadsworth claims credit for the Blue Sky concerts, his "gift to the city". Wadsworth is probably named for U.S. Army Colonel Decius Wadsworth (1768-1821) who developed a cipher system that was repeatedly updated and used through the end of WWII. Metacortex is the company Neo worked for before taking the red pill from Morpheus and waking up to the real world.

 

The Sleepwalkers are seemingly wiped out during the Blue Sky battle. The group's leadership is wiped out shortly thereafter.

 

Chapter 4.3: Cheat Codes

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 5.1: Betrayal

 

Niobe drinks from one of the cheat code vials, but is betrayed and shot by Anome before the contents take effect. Anome leaves the severely injured Niobe trapped inside the Bishop Imports building, a construct outside the normal Matrix. There are various independent companies called Bishop Imports around the world, but the one seen here is likely meant to be fictitious.

 

Chapter 5.2: Unlimit

 

A nightclub called Parallaxis is seen in the Matrix.

 

Thanks to the cheat codes drank by members of Unlimit, their bodies can die while their RSIs (Residual Self-Images) can continue to live in the Matrix.

 

Chapter 5.3: System Shock

 

Club Messiah is seen in the Matrix.

 

The Pendhurst-Amaranth corporation, the maker of Tastee-Wheat, is a fictitious business entity.

 

Chapter 6.1: Investigations

 

One of the members of Unlimit is Caboclo. He has four arms since drinking a cheat code vial. "Caboclo" is a term for a person of mixed ancestry of Brazilian Indian and European or African.

 

Caboclo mentions a female acquaintance named Dr. Obama. The "Obama" name is likely borrowed from that of U.S. President Barack Obama, who served 2009-2017.

 

The Twins' code is found within the Matrix and the Merovingian's people are able to resurrect them. The Twins were killed by Morpheus in The Matrix Reloaded.

 

Chapter 6.2: Uneasy Peace

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 6.3: Kidnapping

 

The General has a base on the real world Earth called Stalingrad. Presumably, this is not the location of the actual city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), or it would have been relatively easy to find.

 

The General reveals that he was the program who led the assault against Zion at the end of the machine-Zion war in The Matrix Revolutions.

 

Chapter 7.1: The Search

 

With Sati kidnapped, the weather in the Matrix goes a bit wonky, with the atmosphere taking on an orange hue. 

 

Morpheus' new hovercraft after the destruction of the Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix Reloaded was Nabonidus. Both ships were named after rulers of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626-539 BC).

 

Kid is captain of a hovercraft called Neo's Hope for the EPN.

 

The name of the character called Anti M is a play on that of Auntie Em in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum.

 

Chapter 7.2: Desperation

 

The Zionists begin moving the Oracle to different safe houses around the city in order to protect her, as she had begun to become a frequent target of the General's or Merovingian's operatives.

 

Chapter 7.3: Fall of the General

 

The Zionist hovercraft Pelageus is introduced.

 

Chapter 8.1: War

 

It is revealed that the Zionists have secretly begun building another underground human city in the real world called New Zion. The machines discover this and the truce ends.

 

It is implied that Seraph is a former member of the Seraphim, angel-like programs in a beta version of the Matrix.

 

A Cypherite hovercraft called Solstice is introduced.

 

Chapter 8.2: Open Hostilities

 

Although there are a few entities called Wright Research in the world, the one seen here is fictitious.

 

Argent Biometrics is a fictitious company.

 

When Commander Lock is reported missing after a massive attack on Zion, Captain Roland is promoted to commander of all Zion forces. Roland's hovercraft, Mjolnir, is destroyed in the attack as well. Roland's first mate on that ship, Colt, was promoted to captain.

 

The old city of Zion is left in ruins with the bulk of free humans now living in New Zion.

 

Chapter 8.3: Evacuation

 

    In the cinematic of this chapter, Persephone is seen reading an erotic poem from the 1866 book Poems and Ballads by Algernon Charles Swinburne, the poem, "Dolores".

    Other books seen on a shelf as she is reading are: Love Poems and [...], possibly 1957's Love Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare; Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a Persian-to-English translation of quatrains attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), the so-called "Astronomer-Poet of Persia", by Edward FitzGerald (1809-1883); The Unitary Theory of Emotion, a fictitious book, as far as I can tell; Complete Poems and Major Prose (1957) by John Milton; Byron's Poetical Works by Lord Byron (1898); Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832); and Myers on Human Emotion, a fictitious book, as far as I can tell.

    All seem to focus on Persephone's obsession with human emotion, particularly love, devotion, and betrayal.

 

Digger speculates that their may be multiple versions of the Matrix running inside each other. Digger also speculates on the machine manipulation of symbols from the Book of Genesis along the lines of philosopher Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach. The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament of the Bible. Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (1804-1872) was a German anthropologist and philosopher known for his critiques of the Christian Bible.

 

GreatWyrm speculates that Earth's ruined sky (the sun blocked by a cloud swarm of nanites) might be compared to the Biblical flaming sword that guarded the Garden of Eden. In the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden to prevent them eating of the fruit of the Tree of Life and a flaming sword was placed to guard the way back.

 

Ouroboros Corporation is a fictitious company.

 

ZAITSO is a personal digital assistant (PDA) to Cpahr. ZAITSO stands for Zion Artificial Intelligence Text to Speech Operator.

 

Chapter 9.1: Intrusion

 

The members of E Pluribus Neo move into the ruins of old Zion.

 

The machines claim that the Intruder appears to be a freeborn human with some kind of influence over the Matrix through override codes.

 

The Intruder's code is found to be a higher version than that of the Matrix itself. Might this mean that the Matrix we know is actually just a simulation inside a yet higher Matrix?

 

Chapter 9.2: Interface

 

The Intruder pumps Zion and EPN for information about Neo and Trinity.

 

The EPN hovercraft Horizon and Zion hovercraft Juggernaut are introduced. The Juggernaut is self-destructed shortly thereafter by its captain, Cinquez.

 

A program called Terminator generated by the Intruder destroys many System Agents before being destroyed itself by machine operatives. Possibly, the program's name is an homage to the Terminator franchise, which is also about machines taking over the world and waging a war against the remnants of humanity.

 

Chapter 9.3: Rivals

 

The Oracle is killed by Halborn.

 

Chapter 10.1: Oligarchy

 

Deffdog is seen to be the captain of the hovercraft Shadrack.

 

The Cypherite hovercraft Infinite Dream and the Zion hovercrafts Crescendo, The Hand of God, and Titan are introduced.

 

Supersymmetric Research is a fictitious company.

 

Chapter 10.2: Ouroboros

 

The Merovingian has a program inserted into Matrix bluepills in order to use EEG wiring and the energy of podded humans to transmit a wide broadcast to the General in no-man's land, but the energy proves insufficient.

 

A message about the status of Commander Roland and Commander Lock from Councillor Dillard is intercepted by the Cypherites. Councillor Dillard has appeared previously in Path of Neo, The Matrix Reloaded, Enter the Matrix, and The Matrix Revolutions.

 

When the Merovingian's EEG broadcast plan fails to reach the General, his researcher's implement a new scheme of transmission based on "tropospheric ducting." This is a real world phenomenon in which all types of broadcast signals can be received at longer distances due to higher temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere. This phenomenon is frequently seen in AM and FM radio broadcasts in summer months, where stations hundreds, or even over a thousand, of miles away can be received on a standard radio.

 

CAR80N is an Exile, who was a robotic assembly line worker before the human-machine war, who now exists in the Matrix, but alo maintains his robotic body in the real world.

 

Chapter 10.3: Checks and Balances

 

It is revealed that the real power behind the Ouroboros Corporation is the Oligarchs.

 

Chapter 11.1: Fractures

 

Persephone asks the Black Widow to kill her, but the Widow refuses to do so and Persephone responds it was nothing more than a passing fancy.

 

Cross Financial Logistics is a fictitious company.

 

Chapter 11.2: Wright

 

No notes.

 

Chapter 11.3: Overrides

 

Their are some hints that the biological interface program may have some connection to Trinity.

 

Wright claims she is trying to recapture the biological interface program in order to put control of the Matrix into the humans' hands.

 

Chapter 12.1: Trinity?

 

It is strongly implied that the female program that appears briefly in various locations around the city is Trinity resurrected through the biological interface program. She seems generally confused and doesn't seem to know how this happened, nor does she seem entirely pleased about her new condition.

 

This was the final chapter published for the game. The Matrix Online was shut down at midnight on July 31, 2009, leaving current storylines unresolved, officially. The head game developer, Ben Chamberlain (aka Rarebit), released documents and notes of the planned storyline going forward (Chapter 12.2 - 14). The story as presented in these documents would have been subject to modification, but they represent the general thrust of where the plot was to go. Chapter 14 actually ends at a point that would have made for a pretty decent ending of the game and a conclusion-for-now of the Matrix narrative. For that reason, I provide brief story notes of these unpublished game chapters below.

 

Chapter 12.2 (No title provided)

 

(This chapter was never published within the game.)

 

The Merovingian has coded the pinfeathers stolen from Seraph to make them into anti-Seraphic darts. Merovingian operatives use them against Seraph in an attack, weakening him and forcing him to flee.

 

The Oligarchs Helian and Tesarova capture the Trinity program and use her coding to make realistic RSIs for themselves to use in the Matrix.

 

Chapter 13: Uprising

 

(This chapter was never published within the game.)

 

The Oracle is restored from a machine backup. She helps the Zionists gain access to the machine mainframe to search for Trinity.

 

Chapter 14: Freedom

 

(This chapter was never published within the game.)

 

The Oligarchs gain access to the Machine mainframe and initiate overrides in the Matrix, one effect of which is turning the sky white. This affects the bluepills in the simulation psychologically and causes casualties. As bluepills die in their pods in the physical world, the Machines are losing power.

 

The sun cycles in the Matrix are effected by the chaos of the Oligarch/Machine battle in the mainframe. Sati tries to compensate for this with her abilities, but finds it difficult. The Matrix begins to break down.

 

The Oracle reveals that the subconscious of the podded humans provides much of the shape of the Matrix and it is bluepill subconsciousnesses that the Oligarchs are attacking.

 

Opposition to the Oligarchs must take place within the Source to defeat them. The Machines allow a human operative and the Trinity program to enter the Source and the two beings merge, allowing the Source to recover and the Matrix to be reset with Oligarch control removed.

 

From this cooperative effort, a new truce between Machines and humans is crafted. An agreement arranges that any new humans born will be raised in a new Matrix where they can shape their own surroundings, cared for by Machines. The old bluepills will remain in the now stabilized old Matrix.

 

A new era of co-existence begins.

 

Unanswered Questions

 

    Is MxO still considered part of the canon of The Matrix franchise after the 2021 release of The Matrix Resurrections? The story of that film does not directly tie into any of the plot threads of MxO; whether it contradicts any of it is debatable.

   Since the events of The Matrix Resurrections take place 60 years after The Matrix Revolutions (and the events of MxO take place shortly after those of that film), there is plenty of room for the game's events to have occurred. Probably the biggest potential contradiction between the game and the film is in Niobe's description of what happened to Morpheus after Neo's death in The Matrix Revolutions. She says he was elected High Chair of the Council of Zion and, despite the start of the Machine Civil War, he did not believe that the peace between machines and humans that had been negotiated by Neo would be broken. But the Analyst's forces then did attack Zion, with Morpheus becoming a fatality.

   This does not mesh particularly well with the story of Morpheus her in MxO, where no mention is made of Morpheus' new position on the Council. Here, he continues to access the Matrix, first hoping to gather Neo's RSI (Residual Self-Image) in order to resurrect inside the Matrix, then, failing that, demanding that the machines return Neo's body (which the machines fail to do). In an attempt to coerce the machines, Morpheus and his agents begin using code bombs to sabotage parts of the Matrix, with Morpheus later seemingly killed by a program called the Assassin inside the Matrix.

   Niobe makes no mention of these MxO events in The Matrix Resurrections. Still, it might be possible to twist the threads around so that both versions are true. 

 

Memorable Dialog

 

life's too short.mp3

nothing ever goes just right.mp3

 

Back to The Matrix Episode Studies