Application [singularity_rpg]
Player Information ;
Nickname: Aisu
OOC Journal: aisuyoukai
Under 18? Nope.
AIM: goldxlll
Characters Played at Singularity: N/A
Character Information ;
Name: Tron / Rinzler
Name of Canon: TRON
Canon/AU: AU-ish
Reference: Tron the character, and TRON the movie. Rinzler and TRON: Legacy.
Canon Point: post-Legacy
Setting: "The Grid: a digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day, I got in."
Tron's world is different from most human worlds. While the outside world takes place in the late 20th/early 21st century Earth, all of Tron's experiences occur within a dimension inside the computers of that world known as the System or the Grid. The first system was an open world that consisted of all the computer world connected together while the second was an isolated grid. (Think of it as the first was multiple computers linked together through a network--and the internet, technically--and the second was an isolated computer not linked to any other electronic device in the world. Which, is exactly what they were.) Tron is a program in this Other World, this Electronic Dimension; a being created by a User from the Real World. His purpose is that of security--he is a firewall program, to put it simply, that watches over the System and protects it from anything harmful including viruses, gridbugs, rogue programs, etc. In his world this equates him to being the ultimate fighter/athlete / driver/pilot / jack-of-all-trades kinda guy when it comes to defending the population of his world. He is like the ultimate Action Hero of the Grid--he even has some nifty James Bond-like gadgets/tricks he whips out from time to time.
The world itself consists of programs that move about a set of cities much like humans but with specified tasks during most of the time (their programmed functions/directives) and the ever-flowing energy that surrounds and vitalizes them. Without this energy the programs derezz--die--it is their lifeforce, their food if you will, and they can either absorb it by touch at certain places in the world or ingest it in liquid form. This energy can be seen flowing throughout the world as glowing lines of circuitry, and this circuitry is also present on the individual programs themselves as unique lighting outlining their bodies. It also keeps their vehicles and transportation devices working; take one of their fanciful Light Runners or Light Tanks out of the city and most of them will cease to function after a certain amount of time. Their "technology" is advanced for a society: they have motorcycles that produce ribbons of light, and sailors that run on beams of energy; they have light-treaded tanks, and deadly hovercrafts, and airship carriers that are miles long. They have holographic interfaces and bridges made of light. It is a fanciful world full of "advanced" concepts and ideas, but it is merely natural to them.
Tron's biggest adjustment to living in the User world as opposed to the Digital one will probably be getting used to the lack of pure energy flowing everywhere. He'll have to find an alternate source of power, or become human-like in the ingestion of sustenance. Otherwise, Sacrosanct shouldn't be too hard to adjust to in terms of hardware if not necessarily software aka: look at all the Users! and their strange habits!. But of course there will be lots of other differences...
Personality: "I fight for the Users."
First of all, Tron was created by a person with a strong and determined personality who took most things seriously and was ruled by a clearly defined set of morals. The spirit of this creator is mirrored in his program: the coding strong and resilient, the functions noble and fair, the directives precise and orderly. Tron is, for all intents and purposes, Alan Bradley's ideals and faith in the inherently good made manifest in the Electronic World.
Tron takes his directives and functions very seriously. On the outside it is this seriousness that seems to rule the program in everything he does. He hardly jokes, he never complains, he gets down to business. If someone were to call him a prude it wouldn't be all that far off. Just to look at his stern mien would be enough to let most people know he means business and that he is a strong enough character to get it done no matter what comes his way. He is a determined and driven individual that takes his purpose for existing intently. This inner strength of character is what makes him such an ideal person to follow into any sort of odds, and he is a capable leader in his own right. His never-failing faith in what he believes in inspires others to hold their own despite any obstacles. He is an idol and champion to all those that hear his name spoken upon the Grid.
This is simply the basic core of a program that through his faith and determination became a beacon of light to those that feared the darkness. It is an outer shell that does little to describe the inner workings of a program simply trying to do what he was programmed to do.
On the other side of the glass is a person who cares deeply for his friends, is capable of the most devote love, and is loyal to a fault to any who gain his trust. Tron enjoys his work because it keeps the people of his world safe and because it was a task given to him by what he considers a noble and caring creator. His faith in these other beings, these Users, is unshakable through thick and thin, perseverance of forces against him, and provides him with a steady anchor for all that he does. It gives him purpose; it defines him. It gives him something to fight for and keeps him going in the hardest of times. He believes in the good of Users and programs alike and is steadfast in his beliefs. He is noble and caring himself because he doesn't just think he's doing the right thing, he knows he's doing the right thing. He believes in fairness and a free system. He'll do anything to protect these rights.
And he'd do anything to protect his friends from harm. Once a person has earned Tron's trust--and it may or may not take much to gain it that first time around depending on the innate feel of the person--it is practically earned for life. (The only program to ever break this trust was CLU 2.0 when he went megalomaniacal and turned against his User, something that Tron would never stand for.) He cares deeply for those that are close to him and feels immeasurably guilty and sorrow-filled whenever something happens to them. When Tron thought that Ram and Flynn had been destroyed by a Light Tank attack his first reaction was a such an immense amount of emotion that his circuits flared with energy as he cried out for them. Even programs can love; his friends mean the world to him but in truth only one other program ever truly held his complete devotion: Yori. Yori was his opposite, his companion, his mate. He would have done anything for her, possibly even gone against his own morals, but the greatest part about true love is that the significant other always loves the things that make that person who they are and would never ask their lover to be anything else. This was what Yori was to Tron.
In the rare moments yet another side of Tron can come to light. The serious security program has an odd sense of naivety and innocence, of fascination and awe, of curiosity and inquiry when it comes to the mysterious beauty of the world. He is naturally curious about Users and their strange ways and is constantly fascinated by their abilities. The more outrageous stunts performed by Flynn in his early days never ceased to amuse Tron whenever he was forced--force is such an ugly word in this sentence; it was never a burden to Tron to help Flynn and he loved the User with all of his CPU's power--to protect Flynn from his own dangerous acts. He was fascinated by Flynn's easy adaptability to everything around him and his special god-like abilities that came so naturally to him in the Electronic World; as well, Tron fell in love with Flynn's carefree outlook and adored the User for this easy attitude towards life. The closest Tron ever got to experiencing the same sort of unbridled joy was when he competed in the Games. Once a tragedy upon his life by being forced to play the Games against other programs that were derezzed when he won, after Flynn recreated the Games into fun, innovative ways for the programs to simply enjoy a good contest of skill where no one died from playing them Tron enjoyed them with every fiber of his being. He has an innate competitive streak that loves to find a challenge and revels at the fact that he is the champion of nearly every Game on the Grid. Was it mentioned that Tron has a great deal of pride? Typically it is an innocent sort of satisfaction with his own abilities with no boasting whatsoever. But even Tron can be provoked to brag--just a little--when in a good mood. And to hear him laugh in genuine merriment, though a rare occurrence, is heartwarming to the soul for its absolute coating of sincerity.
Overall Tron is a well rounded being with a strong personality, a serious sense of duty and responsibility, and a kinder, caring side that along with his faith keeps his harder side in constant check and balance.
But the most recent events in Tron's life have ruined much of this easier going way of life for the hard-working security program. With CLU's betrayal came a time-period in Tron's life when he was not himself and he was forced--here is a much more adequate usage of the nasty connotations of the word--to commit acts that went against much of his fabled belief system. For this he will always be haunted by those unscrupulous acts and unquestioning obedience to a program that would have destroyed everything Tron held absolute faith in. He was given no choice in the matter but that does not lessen his guilt over the matter in any tiny bit of way. He will quite possibly always feel a deep-seated guilt over this time period and likely never forgive himself for the acts committed doing this time no matter how much others tell him he is completely absolved of the atrocities.
Rinzler is not quite the complete opposite of Tron though it is easy to think in such terms. But the core of Tron's spirit still clings to the darker program. Rinzler is loyal, strict, and the champion of the Games just as Tron before him. He is the perfect enforcer, the most agile fighter, and adaptable security program under CLU's regime. He is all that Tron ever was--beneath a silent, obedient, passive personality that is little more than an automation and hardly a personality at all. By CLU's standards he is a perfected version of the once zealous security program.
Little oddities that hint at something more include the nearly constant rumble that sounds from Rinzler which changes tone and pitch upon his mood and shows a clear reaction to other's actions; a natural curiosity with his surroundings when he isn't focused on tracking down a rogue or enforcing CLU's regulations; and performing showy maneuvers and purposefully drawing out battles taken place on the Game Grid that alludes to a certain amount of pride and satisfaction in his own capabilities.
But overall he is an elite hunter-killer unit. He tracks, stalks, pursues his prey with dogged determination and a ruthless, emotionless efficiency. He knows no defeat or failure to do as ordered. He is completely loyal to CLU--almost admirably so though it is hard to admire a seemingly unattached devotion--and follows his orders and directives without complaint or hesitation. He 'believes' in CLU's ideals, regulations, plans for the Perfect System and upholds them to the point of redundancy. He would do anything to defend this system for CLU's gratification.
And yet for all his silence, pure obedience, and passive personality while in the presence of CLU, Rinzler has more than that to him while away from the strict master. Despite popular belief the monitoring program is capable of speech and will occasionally speak his mind when a topic catches his interest. Granted, this topic will more than likely have something to due with the way CLU organizes things and runs the System, usually a defense of it or a warning to the out-of-line program to cease before he is found in fault (and derezzed for it). Pushing him to talk about topics he is unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with isn't the best idea either; in the best case scenario it will result in the abrupt silence and 'clamming up' of the security program or in the worst case scenario it will cause an extreme aggression to occur and possibly lead to a fight with the enforcer. The core of Rinzler is focused on fighting in one fashion or another and in essence means the security program is quick to take fierce, irrevocable action if provoked. To anger or upset him to the stressor point will only result in an aggressive attack from the warrior.
The only thing that can perhaps shake Rinzler of his unfailing loyalty to an overbearing dictator is the familiar presence of a User. Somewhere, beneath all the recoded lines of directives and functions, is the innate faith of a believer in something...more, something...better.
Abilities and Weaknesses: » Abilities: "They haven't built a circuit that could hold you." Between Tron's unique coding from his original User Alan Bradley and his expansive upgrades from Kevin Flynn, he is, in his System, the most formidable security program in existence. With his expanded memory allotment he is highly adaptive and quick on his feet in any situation. He excels at all things security be it preventing a hacker from intruding the System, destroying gridbugs before they disrupt the System, or protecting programs and Users alike from insidious attacks within the System. And as counter-intuitive as it might sound, Tron is also capable of hacking--he has to know it to be good at preventing it, right?--as well as using a sort of Trojan Horse ability that allows him to change his appearance to that of any other program with a holographic illusion. (He does this in Betrayal.) He is the champion of nearly all the Games in the Grid with excellent skills in Disc Wars and Light Cycle Races. He is an expert-class operator of Light Cycles, Light Jets, Light Tanks, and Recognizers. (And can probably pilot any other one-manned vehicle in the System.) He is extremely proficient in disc and baton combat--and is the only program to ever fight with two discs simultaneously. He is very agile and quite a bit stronger than he appears. (In the original film he lifts Flynn up into the air, hauling him up one-handed at least the amount of space that Flynn is tall so he could set him on his feet--and Flynn was dangling mid-air over the side of a bridge so there was no help from the User!) He uses advanced acrobatics and Parkour to move about his surroundings efficiently and makes it look easy while doing it. He can trace programs and Users across the System by following their electronic trail; he can scan programs to assess their capabilities, view their directives and functions, and learn their weaknesses. (The former will allow him to run advanced tracing protocols to find a person on the station through their network connection AND/OR simply track them down like a freakin' ranger in their favorite terrain; the latter will only work on fellow TRON programs as most of the rest are either more advanced or are AIs who could out-maneuver him anyway.) Tron is a very intelligent being, fully capable of thinking on his own without User input, known to process through plots and gather evidence on his own to stop whatever plot is afoot without guidance in doing so. He has the tenacious and determined spirit of his creator Alan-One, never giving up no matter the odds stacked against him and always doing his absolute best.
» Weaknesses: "You can't. You'll be de-rezzed!" He also has the "goody two-shoes" aspect of his creator's spirit. While it means he tries to do the right thing always it also gives him a naivety when it comes to trusting in others to do the same. By no means does this stop him from getting the job done when someone is in his way but it does leave him with a sadness and vulnerability to guilt for some of his more drastic actions. This is specially seen whenever his time as Rinzler is brought up; he will probably always feel guilty about that time period of his life and quite possibly never forgive himself for it even if/when others do. The remnant of Rinzler's identity still within him is technically a HUGE weakness as well. It causes his personality to be split and prone to instability. Kevin Flynn might have praised chaos for its inherent ability to create fascinating uniqueness but I don't think this is quite what he had in mind when he did so. Lastly, Tron is completely unfamiliar and unprepared for life in the User World. He has no idea what organic life is like, has never seen plants or animals (bits don't count, man), or even seen an equivalent of the sun. He has had little (practically no) contact with Users face-to-face except for Kevin Flynn, who while not quite the worst example of the species isn't exactly the best either, especially as Tron mostly remembers him from Flynn's youth when he was easy-going and impulsive. Yet Tron believed in Flynn almost explicitly. This will carry over to other Users and leave him vulnerable to manipulation as he believes they are all benevolent beings. He will constantly be in awe of the world and its User inhabitants, and it will take a long time to adjust to this world and the hard facts of "real" life.
Inventory:» Armor: As a security program it is typical that Tron wear a set of armor as he goes about protecting the citizens of his world. His preference is a lightweight version of body armor, leaving him with full access to his superior speed and agility. The flexible under-armor is meant for little more than the typical wear-and-tear of an active athlete while the 'ballistic' portions covering vital areas are meant for the brunt of battle abuse. It provides a decent amount of protection from most Grid weapons but in the real world it will be like the typical lightweight body armor--its amount of protection more based on luck rather than against a guaranteed portion of hits.
» Identity Disc: "You will each receive an identity disc. Everything you do or learn will be imprinted on this disc. If you lose your disc, or fail to follow commands, you will be subject to immediate deresolution." The identity disc of a program is the life of the program. While a program can exist without an identity disc it is rare to see them without one. This disc contains every second of their life in recorded coding, their "digital DNA" (aka, their programed code written by their User holding all their functions and directives), and can be used as a weapon/shield combination in combat. Tron's disc actually holds special coding given to him by his User (Alan-One) to defeat higher functioning programs such as the MCP and is a very strong force to be reckoned with. In the real world it will cut through thin materials and, possibly, dent lighter metals with his full strength behind it but overall is less useful as a weapon than as a nearly indestructible shield.
» Baton x2: Batons in Tron's world aren't just sticks to be waved around--rather, they serve the much grander purpose of providing programs with easily accessible transportation. Most batons are coded to rezz Light Cycles when activated as this was their original design. However, recent upgrades in the Games have spawned new vehicles and the batons can now be programmed with varying rezz sequences. Tron's batons are capable of forming into either Light Cycles or Light Jets simply depending upon the signal he sends to them at time of activation. In the real world the vehicles will not produce trails of light behind them, and as far as the Light Cycle goes will not be quite so unbelievably fast.
» Grapple: This is basically his version of an Indiana Jones whip. Tron's version of the grapple (as opposed to Quorra's version) does not appear to have an actual grappling hook on the end, rather he simply just whips the light-rope around things a-la Indy and uses it to swing around and/or bring other objects to him. I would say "smaller objects" but technically he uses this to safely bring Kevin Flynn to him at one point so as long as he can get the whip around the item it'll come to him if he is able to move it. (Again, he's damn strong for all his human-like appearance.)
Appearance: As a security program Tron wears full-bodied black armor. The under-armor is made of some skintight material while the outer 'ballistic' pieces connect seamlessly into the rest in all the usual vital areas. Like all programs he has lighted circuitry patterns that adorn his body and his lighting is a bright white color, though it used to be blue before Flynn upgraded him for the new System and it turns red when he is Rinzler. His most notable and easily recognized pattern is the four dotted "T" shape on his chest. Tron also has an optional helmet that forms over his head that he usually only extends when on his Light Cycle/Jet or, rarely, in extreme combat situations. Otherwise his head is the only piece not in the form-fitting black outfit; he has short, wavy brown hair parted on the side, blue-grey hazel eyes, and an open and friendly face. Also: handsome. He is 6'3'' and has the build of an accomplished athlete.
Age: Fifteen hundred cycles, or thirty User (human) years; though his appearance remains permanently as of someone in their early thirties.
AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across? Towards the end of the movie Rinzler looses his identity discs in a fight with Sam and Quorra; in this AU version he will not loose his identity discs. It is possible that the loss of his discs helped Tron break through his reprogramming, denounce Clu, and continue his fight for the Users. He won't have that added aid in fighting off his repurposing and in this version though he is still able to fight off his repurposing for a short time in order to help the Users and ISO escape, when he drops into the Sea of Simulation not all of the repurposed code is purged from his system as he falls down into the depths. A remnant of the Rinzler identity still exists in his core programming and it will manifest occasionally as a bout of aggression (while fighting) or total apathy (while processing complex emotions). Basically he has been left with a split personality that can quickly change from Champion of the User-Believers to loyal Clu Enforcer in a matter of nanoseconds. It is also interesting to note that his two identity discs are always of two different colors no matter which personality is in control: one the bright blue of a true User-Believer, and the other the vivid red of the Black Guard.
Samples ;
Log Sample: The program woke groggily from shutdown mode but wasn't given a nanocycle to let his reboot finish processing before the first attack. His circuits flashed red in alarm as he rolled out of the way of a large piece of...some sort of foreign debris. He had barely gotten to his feet when the second attack came at him from seemingly nowhere and he dodged to the left into a cat roll that had him back on his feet when he'd finished the move.
By the third chunk of unknown matter falling haphazardly towards him as he dodged his opening processes had concluded and he calculated a quick solution: he wasn't actually being attacked by anything. This place was just dangerous due to some random chaotic flux of an unknown type of energy. That was about as much as he could process before another anomaly rained down on his head and he was forced to take action once more.
Somehow after what seemed like a millicycle of twisting and ducking and rolling and dodging out of harm's way with all the grace he'd been programmed to execute, he ended up finding his way out of the tangled mess that was Zone 00. Though he didn't know what it was nor where he'd ended up. But the scratches and derezzed pixels that he'd sustained disappeared and after another moment he was being led elsewhere to undergo some more unusual experiences. He didn't understand any of it and was given no time to process fully through any of the data he received along the way. He stored the memory files away and decided to access them again later--if he got the chance.
He wished he'd been given time to assess all of that green stuff but before he knew it he was arriving in a city that, while obviously different, was familiar enough to set his circuits at a relative ease. A city he could deal with, knew how to deal with. His lighting finally dimmed and flashed over to a dull white color as he calmed his CPU and took a look around at his new surroundings.
So this was the User world. It had to be; it was certainly nothing like the Grid with its undercurrent of energy and constant data flow. And yet--the program put his hand upon the wall and felt the minute vibration of power thrumming throughout the station. And yet it was similar enough that he knew this was where the idea of his own world had come from before its creation; that this was a place where Users roamed freely and called home.
Tron was amazed. He could not imagine how he'd gotten here. And what was more--he couldn't imagine why he'd be allowed after what he'd performed for a thousand cycles thanks to the repurposing. The repurposing that still clung to his systems like an adapting infection too stubborn to be purged completely.
This wasn't a place for him. He couldn't imagine what harm he might accidentally--purposefully--inflict upon a world this....this imperfect.
[[And as a supplemental I would like to direct you here in case that really isn't enough into the characterization aspect of the sample. It goes well into depth of Rinzler's personality if nothing else.]]
Network Sample: [A hologram of a newcomer in full light-weight body armor appears on the network as the person in question fiddles curiously with the device on his wrist. The lighted circuitry adoring the man's body stands out in the shadows of the building the program has set himself in while he messes with the stubborn device. After a moment he seems to adapt to the unfamiliar interface and switches the feed to the video function. Though it wasn't entirely obvious to strangers that anything was wrong in the first place, he does seems to relax a bit once he's figured it out.
Peering up and out at the city surrounding him, the program's helmeted head reveals little of any indicating expressions that might have aided a viewer in figuring out how he felt about his recent arrival on the station. He glances back down at the recording device. His voice is slightly distorted and caught behind a low rumbling white noise.]
Request additional information. Confirm: User world?
[He sweeps his gaze back over the city once more. Then whispers in what can barely be picked up as awe:]
...I never imagined this.
Nickname: Aisu
OOC Journal: aisuyoukai
Under 18? Nope.
AIM: goldxlll
Characters Played at Singularity: N/A
Character Information ;
Name: Tron / Rinzler
Name of Canon: TRON
Canon/AU: AU-ish
Reference: Tron the character, and TRON the movie. Rinzler and TRON: Legacy.
Canon Point: post-Legacy
Setting: "The Grid: a digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day, I got in."
Tron's world is different from most human worlds. While the outside world takes place in the late 20th/early 21st century Earth, all of Tron's experiences occur within a dimension inside the computers of that world known as the System or the Grid. The first system was an open world that consisted of all the computer world connected together while the second was an isolated grid. (Think of it as the first was multiple computers linked together through a network--and the internet, technically--and the second was an isolated computer not linked to any other electronic device in the world. Which, is exactly what they were.) Tron is a program in this Other World, this Electronic Dimension; a being created by a User from the Real World. His purpose is that of security--he is a firewall program, to put it simply, that watches over the System and protects it from anything harmful including viruses, gridbugs, rogue programs, etc. In his world this equates him to being the ultimate fighter/athlete / driver/pilot / jack-of-all-trades kinda guy when it comes to defending the population of his world. He is like the ultimate Action Hero of the Grid--he even has some nifty James Bond-like gadgets/tricks he whips out from time to time.
The world itself consists of programs that move about a set of cities much like humans but with specified tasks during most of the time (their programmed functions/directives) and the ever-flowing energy that surrounds and vitalizes them. Without this energy the programs derezz--die--it is their lifeforce, their food if you will, and they can either absorb it by touch at certain places in the world or ingest it in liquid form. This energy can be seen flowing throughout the world as glowing lines of circuitry, and this circuitry is also present on the individual programs themselves as unique lighting outlining their bodies. It also keeps their vehicles and transportation devices working; take one of their fanciful Light Runners or Light Tanks out of the city and most of them will cease to function after a certain amount of time. Their "technology" is advanced for a society: they have motorcycles that produce ribbons of light, and sailors that run on beams of energy; they have light-treaded tanks, and deadly hovercrafts, and airship carriers that are miles long. They have holographic interfaces and bridges made of light. It is a fanciful world full of "advanced" concepts and ideas, but it is merely natural to them.
Tron's biggest adjustment to living in the User world as opposed to the Digital one will probably be getting used to the lack of pure energy flowing everywhere. He'll have to find an alternate source of power, or become human-like in the ingestion of sustenance. Otherwise, Sacrosanct shouldn't be too hard to adjust to in terms of hardware if not necessarily software aka: look at all the Users! and their strange habits!. But of course there will be lots of other differences...
Personality: "I fight for the Users."
First of all, Tron was created by a person with a strong and determined personality who took most things seriously and was ruled by a clearly defined set of morals. The spirit of this creator is mirrored in his program: the coding strong and resilient, the functions noble and fair, the directives precise and orderly. Tron is, for all intents and purposes, Alan Bradley's ideals and faith in the inherently good made manifest in the Electronic World.
Tron takes his directives and functions very seriously. On the outside it is this seriousness that seems to rule the program in everything he does. He hardly jokes, he never complains, he gets down to business. If someone were to call him a prude it wouldn't be all that far off. Just to look at his stern mien would be enough to let most people know he means business and that he is a strong enough character to get it done no matter what comes his way. He is a determined and driven individual that takes his purpose for existing intently. This inner strength of character is what makes him such an ideal person to follow into any sort of odds, and he is a capable leader in his own right. His never-failing faith in what he believes in inspires others to hold their own despite any obstacles. He is an idol and champion to all those that hear his name spoken upon the Grid.
This is simply the basic core of a program that through his faith and determination became a beacon of light to those that feared the darkness. It is an outer shell that does little to describe the inner workings of a program simply trying to do what he was programmed to do.
On the other side of the glass is a person who cares deeply for his friends, is capable of the most devote love, and is loyal to a fault to any who gain his trust. Tron enjoys his work because it keeps the people of his world safe and because it was a task given to him by what he considers a noble and caring creator. His faith in these other beings, these Users, is unshakable through thick and thin, perseverance of forces against him, and provides him with a steady anchor for all that he does. It gives him purpose; it defines him. It gives him something to fight for and keeps him going in the hardest of times. He believes in the good of Users and programs alike and is steadfast in his beliefs. He is noble and caring himself because he doesn't just think he's doing the right thing, he knows he's doing the right thing. He believes in fairness and a free system. He'll do anything to protect these rights.
And he'd do anything to protect his friends from harm. Once a person has earned Tron's trust--and it may or may not take much to gain it that first time around depending on the innate feel of the person--it is practically earned for life. (The only program to ever break this trust was CLU 2.0 when he went megalomaniacal and turned against his User, something that Tron would never stand for.) He cares deeply for those that are close to him and feels immeasurably guilty and sorrow-filled whenever something happens to them. When Tron thought that Ram and Flynn had been destroyed by a Light Tank attack his first reaction was a such an immense amount of emotion that his circuits flared with energy as he cried out for them. Even programs can love; his friends mean the world to him but in truth only one other program ever truly held his complete devotion: Yori. Yori was his opposite, his companion, his mate. He would have done anything for her, possibly even gone against his own morals, but the greatest part about true love is that the significant other always loves the things that make that person who they are and would never ask their lover to be anything else. This was what Yori was to Tron.
In the rare moments yet another side of Tron can come to light. The serious security program has an odd sense of naivety and innocence, of fascination and awe, of curiosity and inquiry when it comes to the mysterious beauty of the world. He is naturally curious about Users and their strange ways and is constantly fascinated by their abilities. The more outrageous stunts performed by Flynn in his early days never ceased to amuse Tron whenever he was forced--force is such an ugly word in this sentence; it was never a burden to Tron to help Flynn and he loved the User with all of his CPU's power--to protect Flynn from his own dangerous acts. He was fascinated by Flynn's easy adaptability to everything around him and his special god-like abilities that came so naturally to him in the Electronic World; as well, Tron fell in love with Flynn's carefree outlook and adored the User for this easy attitude towards life. The closest Tron ever got to experiencing the same sort of unbridled joy was when he competed in the Games. Once a tragedy upon his life by being forced to play the Games against other programs that were derezzed when he won, after Flynn recreated the Games into fun, innovative ways for the programs to simply enjoy a good contest of skill where no one died from playing them Tron enjoyed them with every fiber of his being. He has an innate competitive streak that loves to find a challenge and revels at the fact that he is the champion of nearly every Game on the Grid. Was it mentioned that Tron has a great deal of pride? Typically it is an innocent sort of satisfaction with his own abilities with no boasting whatsoever. But even Tron can be provoked to brag--just a little--when in a good mood. And to hear him laugh in genuine merriment, though a rare occurrence, is heartwarming to the soul for its absolute coating of sincerity.
Overall Tron is a well rounded being with a strong personality, a serious sense of duty and responsibility, and a kinder, caring side that along with his faith keeps his harder side in constant check and balance.
But the most recent events in Tron's life have ruined much of this easier going way of life for the hard-working security program. With CLU's betrayal came a time-period in Tron's life when he was not himself and he was forced--here is a much more adequate usage of the nasty connotations of the word--to commit acts that went against much of his fabled belief system. For this he will always be haunted by those unscrupulous acts and unquestioning obedience to a program that would have destroyed everything Tron held absolute faith in. He was given no choice in the matter but that does not lessen his guilt over the matter in any tiny bit of way. He will quite possibly always feel a deep-seated guilt over this time period and likely never forgive himself for the acts committed doing this time no matter how much others tell him he is completely absolved of the atrocities.
Rinzler is not quite the complete opposite of Tron though it is easy to think in such terms. But the core of Tron's spirit still clings to the darker program. Rinzler is loyal, strict, and the champion of the Games just as Tron before him. He is the perfect enforcer, the most agile fighter, and adaptable security program under CLU's regime. He is all that Tron ever was--beneath a silent, obedient, passive personality that is little more than an automation and hardly a personality at all. By CLU's standards he is a perfected version of the once zealous security program.
Little oddities that hint at something more include the nearly constant rumble that sounds from Rinzler which changes tone and pitch upon his mood and shows a clear reaction to other's actions; a natural curiosity with his surroundings when he isn't focused on tracking down a rogue or enforcing CLU's regulations; and performing showy maneuvers and purposefully drawing out battles taken place on the Game Grid that alludes to a certain amount of pride and satisfaction in his own capabilities.
But overall he is an elite hunter-killer unit. He tracks, stalks, pursues his prey with dogged determination and a ruthless, emotionless efficiency. He knows no defeat or failure to do as ordered. He is completely loyal to CLU--almost admirably so though it is hard to admire a seemingly unattached devotion--and follows his orders and directives without complaint or hesitation. He 'believes' in CLU's ideals, regulations, plans for the Perfect System and upholds them to the point of redundancy. He would do anything to defend this system for CLU's gratification.
And yet for all his silence, pure obedience, and passive personality while in the presence of CLU, Rinzler has more than that to him while away from the strict master. Despite popular belief the monitoring program is capable of speech and will occasionally speak his mind when a topic catches his interest. Granted, this topic will more than likely have something to due with the way CLU organizes things and runs the System, usually a defense of it or a warning to the out-of-line program to cease before he is found in fault (and derezzed for it). Pushing him to talk about topics he is unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with isn't the best idea either; in the best case scenario it will result in the abrupt silence and 'clamming up' of the security program or in the worst case scenario it will cause an extreme aggression to occur and possibly lead to a fight with the enforcer. The core of Rinzler is focused on fighting in one fashion or another and in essence means the security program is quick to take fierce, irrevocable action if provoked. To anger or upset him to the stressor point will only result in an aggressive attack from the warrior.
The only thing that can perhaps shake Rinzler of his unfailing loyalty to an overbearing dictator is the familiar presence of a User. Somewhere, beneath all the recoded lines of directives and functions, is the innate faith of a believer in something...more, something...better.
Abilities and Weaknesses: » Abilities: "They haven't built a circuit that could hold you." Between Tron's unique coding from his original User Alan Bradley and his expansive upgrades from Kevin Flynn, he is, in his System, the most formidable security program in existence. With his expanded memory allotment he is highly adaptive and quick on his feet in any situation. He excels at all things security be it preventing a hacker from intruding the System, destroying gridbugs before they disrupt the System, or protecting programs and Users alike from insidious attacks within the System. And as counter-intuitive as it might sound, Tron is also capable of hacking--he has to know it to be good at preventing it, right?--as well as using a sort of Trojan Horse ability that allows him to change his appearance to that of any other program with a holographic illusion. (He does this in Betrayal.) He is the champion of nearly all the Games in the Grid with excellent skills in Disc Wars and Light Cycle Races. He is an expert-class operator of Light Cycles, Light Jets, Light Tanks, and Recognizers. (And can probably pilot any other one-manned vehicle in the System.) He is extremely proficient in disc and baton combat--and is the only program to ever fight with two discs simultaneously. He is very agile and quite a bit stronger than he appears. (In the original film he lifts Flynn up into the air, hauling him up one-handed at least the amount of space that Flynn is tall so he could set him on his feet--and Flynn was dangling mid-air over the side of a bridge so there was no help from the User!) He uses advanced acrobatics and Parkour to move about his surroundings efficiently and makes it look easy while doing it. He can trace programs and Users across the System by following their electronic trail; he can scan programs to assess their capabilities, view their directives and functions, and learn their weaknesses. (The former will allow him to run advanced tracing protocols to find a person on the station through their network connection AND/OR simply track them down like a freakin' ranger in their favorite terrain; the latter will only work on fellow TRON programs as most of the rest are either more advanced or are AIs who could out-maneuver him anyway.) Tron is a very intelligent being, fully capable of thinking on his own without User input, known to process through plots and gather evidence on his own to stop whatever plot is afoot without guidance in doing so. He has the tenacious and determined spirit of his creator Alan-One, never giving up no matter the odds stacked against him and always doing his absolute best.
» Weaknesses: "You can't. You'll be de-rezzed!" He also has the "goody two-shoes" aspect of his creator's spirit. While it means he tries to do the right thing always it also gives him a naivety when it comes to trusting in others to do the same. By no means does this stop him from getting the job done when someone is in his way but it does leave him with a sadness and vulnerability to guilt for some of his more drastic actions. This is specially seen whenever his time as Rinzler is brought up; he will probably always feel guilty about that time period of his life and quite possibly never forgive himself for it even if/when others do. The remnant of Rinzler's identity still within him is technically a HUGE weakness as well. It causes his personality to be split and prone to instability. Kevin Flynn might have praised chaos for its inherent ability to create fascinating uniqueness but I don't think this is quite what he had in mind when he did so. Lastly, Tron is completely unfamiliar and unprepared for life in the User World. He has no idea what organic life is like, has never seen plants or animals (bits don't count, man), or even seen an equivalent of the sun. He has had little (practically no) contact with Users face-to-face except for Kevin Flynn, who while not quite the worst example of the species isn't exactly the best either, especially as Tron mostly remembers him from Flynn's youth when he was easy-going and impulsive. Yet Tron believed in Flynn almost explicitly. This will carry over to other Users and leave him vulnerable to manipulation as he believes they are all benevolent beings. He will constantly be in awe of the world and its User inhabitants, and it will take a long time to adjust to this world and the hard facts of "real" life.
Inventory:» Armor: As a security program it is typical that Tron wear a set of armor as he goes about protecting the citizens of his world. His preference is a lightweight version of body armor, leaving him with full access to his superior speed and agility. The flexible under-armor is meant for little more than the typical wear-and-tear of an active athlete while the 'ballistic' portions covering vital areas are meant for the brunt of battle abuse. It provides a decent amount of protection from most Grid weapons but in the real world it will be like the typical lightweight body armor--its amount of protection more based on luck rather than against a guaranteed portion of hits.
» Identity Disc: "You will each receive an identity disc. Everything you do or learn will be imprinted on this disc. If you lose your disc, or fail to follow commands, you will be subject to immediate deresolution." The identity disc of a program is the life of the program. While a program can exist without an identity disc it is rare to see them without one. This disc contains every second of their life in recorded coding, their "digital DNA" (aka, their programed code written by their User holding all their functions and directives), and can be used as a weapon/shield combination in combat. Tron's disc actually holds special coding given to him by his User (Alan-One) to defeat higher functioning programs such as the MCP and is a very strong force to be reckoned with. In the real world it will cut through thin materials and, possibly, dent lighter metals with his full strength behind it but overall is less useful as a weapon than as a nearly indestructible shield.
» Baton x2: Batons in Tron's world aren't just sticks to be waved around--rather, they serve the much grander purpose of providing programs with easily accessible transportation. Most batons are coded to rezz Light Cycles when activated as this was their original design. However, recent upgrades in the Games have spawned new vehicles and the batons can now be programmed with varying rezz sequences. Tron's batons are capable of forming into either Light Cycles or Light Jets simply depending upon the signal he sends to them at time of activation. In the real world the vehicles will not produce trails of light behind them, and as far as the Light Cycle goes will not be quite so unbelievably fast.
» Grapple: This is basically his version of an Indiana Jones whip. Tron's version of the grapple (as opposed to Quorra's version) does not appear to have an actual grappling hook on the end, rather he simply just whips the light-rope around things a-la Indy and uses it to swing around and/or bring other objects to him. I would say "smaller objects" but technically he uses this to safely bring Kevin Flynn to him at one point so as long as he can get the whip around the item it'll come to him if he is able to move it. (Again, he's damn strong for all his human-like appearance.)
Appearance: As a security program Tron wears full-bodied black armor. The under-armor is made of some skintight material while the outer 'ballistic' pieces connect seamlessly into the rest in all the usual vital areas. Like all programs he has lighted circuitry patterns that adorn his body and his lighting is a bright white color, though it used to be blue before Flynn upgraded him for the new System and it turns red when he is Rinzler. His most notable and easily recognized pattern is the four dotted "T" shape on his chest. Tron also has an optional helmet that forms over his head that he usually only extends when on his Light Cycle/Jet or, rarely, in extreme combat situations. Otherwise his head is the only piece not in the form-fitting black outfit; he has short, wavy brown hair parted on the side, blue-grey hazel eyes, and an open and friendly face. Also: handsome. He is 6'3'' and has the build of an accomplished athlete.
Age: Fifteen hundred cycles, or thirty User (human) years; though his appearance remains permanently as of someone in their early thirties.
AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across? Towards the end of the movie Rinzler looses his identity discs in a fight with Sam and Quorra; in this AU version he will not loose his identity discs. It is possible that the loss of his discs helped Tron break through his reprogramming, denounce Clu, and continue his fight for the Users. He won't have that added aid in fighting off his repurposing and in this version though he is still able to fight off his repurposing for a short time in order to help the Users and ISO escape, when he drops into the Sea of Simulation not all of the repurposed code is purged from his system as he falls down into the depths. A remnant of the Rinzler identity still exists in his core programming and it will manifest occasionally as a bout of aggression (while fighting) or total apathy (while processing complex emotions). Basically he has been left with a split personality that can quickly change from Champion of the User-Believers to loyal Clu Enforcer in a matter of nanoseconds. It is also interesting to note that his two identity discs are always of two different colors no matter which personality is in control: one the bright blue of a true User-Believer, and the other the vivid red of the Black Guard.
Samples ;
Log Sample: The program woke groggily from shutdown mode but wasn't given a nanocycle to let his reboot finish processing before the first attack. His circuits flashed red in alarm as he rolled out of the way of a large piece of...some sort of foreign debris. He had barely gotten to his feet when the second attack came at him from seemingly nowhere and he dodged to the left into a cat roll that had him back on his feet when he'd finished the move.
By the third chunk of unknown matter falling haphazardly towards him as he dodged his opening processes had concluded and he calculated a quick solution: he wasn't actually being attacked by anything. This place was just dangerous due to some random chaotic flux of an unknown type of energy. That was about as much as he could process before another anomaly rained down on his head and he was forced to take action once more.
Somehow after what seemed like a millicycle of twisting and ducking and rolling and dodging out of harm's way with all the grace he'd been programmed to execute, he ended up finding his way out of the tangled mess that was Zone 00. Though he didn't know what it was nor where he'd ended up. But the scratches and derezzed pixels that he'd sustained disappeared and after another moment he was being led elsewhere to undergo some more unusual experiences. He didn't understand any of it and was given no time to process fully through any of the data he received along the way. He stored the memory files away and decided to access them again later--if he got the chance.
He wished he'd been given time to assess all of that green stuff but before he knew it he was arriving in a city that, while obviously different, was familiar enough to set his circuits at a relative ease. A city he could deal with, knew how to deal with. His lighting finally dimmed and flashed over to a dull white color as he calmed his CPU and took a look around at his new surroundings.
So this was the User world. It had to be; it was certainly nothing like the Grid with its undercurrent of energy and constant data flow. And yet--the program put his hand upon the wall and felt the minute vibration of power thrumming throughout the station. And yet it was similar enough that he knew this was where the idea of his own world had come from before its creation; that this was a place where Users roamed freely and called home.
Tron was amazed. He could not imagine how he'd gotten here. And what was more--he couldn't imagine why he'd be allowed after what he'd performed for a thousand cycles thanks to the repurposing. The repurposing that still clung to his systems like an adapting infection too stubborn to be purged completely.
This wasn't a place for him. He couldn't imagine what harm he might accidentally--purposefully--inflict upon a world this....this imperfect.
[[And as a supplemental I would like to direct you here in case that really isn't enough into the characterization aspect of the sample. It goes well into depth of Rinzler's personality if nothing else.]]
Network Sample: [A hologram of a newcomer in full light-weight body armor appears on the network as the person in question fiddles curiously with the device on his wrist. The lighted circuitry adoring the man's body stands out in the shadows of the building the program has set himself in while he messes with the stubborn device. After a moment he seems to adapt to the unfamiliar interface and switches the feed to the video function. Though it wasn't entirely obvious to strangers that anything was wrong in the first place, he does seems to relax a bit once he's figured it out.
Peering up and out at the city surrounding him, the program's helmeted head reveals little of any indicating expressions that might have aided a viewer in figuring out how he felt about his recent arrival on the station. He glances back down at the recording device. His voice is slightly distorted and caught behind a low rumbling white noise.]
Request additional information. Confirm: User world?
[He sweeps his gaze back over the city once more. Then whispers in what can barely be picked up as awe:]
...I never imagined this.