Agent Smith

Agent Smith (later merely "Smith") is a fictional character featured in the Matrix film series and multimedia franchise, played by actor Hugo Weaving. The struggle between Neo and Smith becomes the main conflict underlying the events of The Matrix: which makes Smith the primary antagonist.

As an Agent of the System

Smith is an Agent, an artificial intelligence manifested in the Matrix and possessing extraordinary powers to manipulate his surroundings (including superhuman strength and the ability to flawlessly dodge incoming bullets).However, Agents still have limitations, being "based in a world that is built on rules". Consequently, he cannot fly, walk through walls, or perform any other actions outside the boundaries of his programming. Like all Agents in the Matrix, he was originally programmed to keep order within the system by terminating troublesome programs and human avatars which would otherwise bring instability to the simulated reality. To expedite such tasks, he and other Agents have the ability to take over the simulated body of any human that is a part of the Matrix, converting it into a copy of their own. If that body is killed, or an Agent needs to change his location quickly, he can assume the shell of any other human hard-wired to the Matrix in a matter of seconds. Agents also have the ability to communicate with each other instantaneously, represented via their earpieces (thus, when Agent Smith removed his earpiece during the first Matrix movie, he briefly severed his link with the other Agents).

Stylistic genealogy

The look and manner of Agent Smith and his fellow Agents seem to be drawn from the common pool of paranoia and American pop culture. One influence appears to be the popular image of federal law enforcement agents as ruthlessly efficient automata who carry out their duties with cold precision and General American accents. The manner in which Agent Smith speaks is virtually identical to that of the late Carl Sagan. Agents wear dark sunglasses with corners or smooth angles.

All Agents are Caucasian males (with a minor exception of female Agent Pace from the Matrix Online game), which also provides a dynamic compared to the majority population of Zion, containing many diverse cultures and walks of life. The Caucasian male Agents simply show a blandness and an apathy for the human race, with the exception of Smith's obsession with destroying Neo and his general hatred of humans.

Other Agents have names like Brown, Johnson, and Thompson — common, innocuous, Anglo-Saxon names. It was mentioned in the Philosopher Commentary on the DVD collection that the names of Smith, Brown and Johnson may be endemic to the system itself, demonstrating a very 'robotic' mindset on the part of the Machines.

In addition, the name "Smith" is explicitly attributed (as "IS 5416" on the license plate of Agent Smith's car in The Matrix Reloaded) to Isaiah 54:16 in the Old Testament:“ "Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy." ”

In creating such a program to carry out menial tasks, the Machines lay the foundations for their own destruction, a direct parallel to the creation of AI by humankind.

Neo's solitary role as The One is contrasted by Agent Smith, who, by replicating himself, becomes 'the many'. When Neo asks the Oracle about Smith, the Oracle explains that Smith is Neo's opposite and his negative.

Agent Smith's weapon of choice, as standard with all agents of the Matrix, is the notably large Desert Eagle, chambered with the high caliber .44 Magnum (determined by the number of rounds fired from the gun) ammunition. His clones carry this weapon as well. In the Matrix, Smith is shown killing Neo with the Desert Eagle. However, the number of times he fires the gun in this scene (10-12 times) exceeds the capacity of the .50AE Desert Eagle, which is seven.

Unlike the other characters in The Matrix, Agent Smith almost always refers to Neo as 'Mr. Anderson.' He calls him 'Neo' only once in each part of the trilogy. (The first time when he is interviewing Neo about his double life, the second when he is dropping off an Agent earplug in a package for Neo and the third when he is repeating a line of his vision to his face.)

Departure from the norm

Agent Smith is significantly more individualistic than the other agents from the start. Other agents rarely act without consulting each other on the earpieces the agents use to communicate. Smith far more often uses his to issue orders or gather information before acting on his own direction. The earpieces also represent some form of control mechanism by the machines. It is notable that when he is interrogating Morpheus, he sends the other agents from the room, then removes his earpiece, releasing himself from the link to the machines before expressing his opinion of humanity.

Agent Smith complains that the Matrix and its inhabitants smell disgusting, "if there is such a thing [as smell]". Smith has an open hatred of humans and their weakness of the flesh. He compares humanity to a virus, a disease organism that would replicate uncontrollably and eventually destroy their environment were it not for the machine intelligences keeping them in check. Ironically, Smith eventually becomes a literal virus, multiplying until he has overrun and remade the entire Matrix.

During Morpheus' imprisonment:“ I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you aren’t actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we... are the cure. ”

At the same time, Smith also secretly despises the Matrix itself, feeling that he is as much a prisoner of it as the humans he is tasked with watching over. He later develops an immense and increasingly open desire for the destruction of both mankind and machines alike.

Smith also appears to be the leader of other Agents, in that he has the authority to launch Sentinel attacks in the real world. As with other Agents, Smith generally does approach problems through a pragmatic point of view, but if necessary will also act with brute force and apparent rage.

The Wachowski brothers have commented that Smith's gradual humanization throughout The Matrix is a process intended to mirror and balance Neo's own increasing power and understanding of the machine world.

Free Agency

As a result of being partially overwritten by The One, Smith also begins to exhibit stronger, more virulent human behaviors and emotions such as unpredictability and dry humor (this is a clear departure from his stern demeanor in the original movie). He makes the claim that Neo has set him free, indicating that he now has not only the vision but also the ability to break free of the machines' control and exist as a singular being. He is now allied with no one but himself, rendering him an outlaw to both the Matrix and the human minds which populate it. Being free of burden, however, Smith is also compelled to feel that he is still crushed by the weight of purpose. He essentially correlates purpose with imprisonment, and because he still exists within The Matrix, there is an unseen purpose which binds together Neo and himself.

The idea of Smith's transformation from being an Agent of the System into becoming a "free Agent" is similar to Satan's Fall from Grace. In both cases, a former Agent of the System (in the two sequels, Smith is no longer referred to as "Agent Smith", but simply as "Smith") becomes able to move freely, and comes to have a dangerously rebellious and opposite nature. The virus-like qualities he gains may also be a reference to this, as one of the traditional titles of a demon is Legion, for they were many.

Source (wikipedia.org)

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