Merovingian (The Matrix)
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The Merovingian is a fictional character in the movies The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, portrayed by Lambert Wilson in both films. The character was named after the Merovingian dynasty of Frankish kings. He also plays a prominent role in the MMORPG The Matrix Online, often in conflict with either Zion, the Machines, and occasionally other Exile groups as well.
The Merovingian is a rogue computer program coercive created by the Matrix. As one of the few entities able to directly manipulate the code which creates the Matrix, he is that program's unofficial power broker. While technically a sophisticated program, his persona is that of a mannered French bon-vivant. He enjoys fine attire, scintillating banter, and carnal pleasures. He is married to Persephone, who resents his philandering. The Merovingian is the leader of a group of Exiles, employs The Twins and others as his henchmen, held the Keymaker prisoner, and controls the Trainman.
As revealed in The Matrix Revolutions, the purpose of the Merovingian is to control the Exiles from the machine world, eerily mirroring how the city of Zion is used to unite humans exiles from the Matrix. His wife Persephone mentions his henchmen coming from an "older" version of the Matrix; as the Architect notes upon meeting Neo in the second film, the second design of the Matrix was constructed so as to reflect the "varying grotesqueries" of human nature. This might very well have given rise to creatures such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts and demons; the selfsame creatures which the Oracle mentions as being anomalies within the system. Due to his role as keeper of such dissatisfied programs, the Merovingian has many such creatures in his employ.
Although he may own several other institutions and businesses, in the films he is only portrayed in two of them; the first being an upper-class restaurant named Le Vrai (meaning The True in French), and second being a BDSM rave club named Club Hel. His home is also presented as an elaborate French chateau, which is decorated with the busts of himself in the form of old warriors, and numerous medieval weapons from around the world.
While the Oracle (as her name suggests) is endowed with foresight, the Merovingian is endowed with hindsight. Or restated, the Oracle's gift is inductive reasoning, whereas the Merovingian's strength is deductive reasoning. This explains why the Merovingian's worldview is based upon causality and the reason that throughout The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions he is interested in why or how events unfold. Like all sentient programs within the Matrix (and the Machines in the real world), the Merovingian is a determinist, which is the basis for his dissertation on causality being the nature of the universe. Due to the conflicting nature between himself and the Oracle, the Merovingian decries her as a "fortune teller"; yet reveals in the third film that he secretly longs for "the eyes of the Oracle", which he believes would allow him fantastic powers of precognition.
The Merovingian believes that the person who holds the most power is the person who understands why the current state is what it is (or how events unfolded to their current state). His deductive ability or hindsight ability also afflicts him with hindsight bias and so his personality is thus arrogant and purports to be all-knowing.
[edit] Trivia
- The Merovingian states that he has survived all of Neo's predecessors. Persephone also reveals that the Merovingian used to be "like Neo" when she speaks of initially falling in love with him. Lambert Wilson revealed in an interview that the Merovingian is not a “previous Neo."
- In the Matrix Online MMORPG game it has been revealed by an Exile character called "the General" (not all Exile programs are beholden to the Merovingian) that the Merovingian was originally an Operating System in purpose.
