Morpheus (The Matrix)
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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Resurrections)[1]
| Morpheus | |
|---|---|
| The Matrix character | |
 | |
| First appearance | The Matrix (1999) |
| Last appearance | The Matrix Resurrections (2021) |
| Created by | The Wachowskis |
| Portrayed by | Laurence Fishburne Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Resurrections)[1] |
| Voiced by | Laurence Fishburne |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Captain of Nebuchadnezzar |
| Fighting style | Budo Krav Maga Wushu Jeet Kune Do |
| Significant other | Niobe |
Morpheus (/ˈmɔːrfiəs/) is a fictional character in The Matrix franchise.[2] He is portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the first three films, and in the video game The Matrix: Path of Neo, where he was the only original actor to reprise his character's voice.[3] In The Matrix Resurrections, an AI program based on him is portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.[1][4][5]
The Wachowskis, the creators of The Matrix franchise, instructed Fishburne to base his performance on Morpheus, a character in Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.[6] At the studio's request, Gaiman later wrote "Goliath", a promotional short story set in the film's universe.[7]
The name Morpheus is that of the god of dreams in Greek mythology, which is consistent with the character's involvement with the "dreaming" of the Matrix. The mythical Morpheus and his family, including two brothers (Phobetor and Phantasos), lived in a dream world protected by the Gates of Morpheus with two monsters standing guard. Beyond the gates were the River of Forgetfulness, beside which Morpheus once carried his father to hide in a cave, and the River of Oblivion. This theme of duality carries over to Morpheus in The Matrix, who offers Neo either a blue pill (to forget about the Matrix and continue to live in the world of illusion) or a red pill (to enter the painful world of reality).[8]
Fishburne did not reprise his role in the 2021 The Matrix Resurrections film. He stated that, "I am not in the next Matrix movie, and you'd have to ask Lana Wachowski why, because I don't have an answer for that".[4][5] Both Vulture and Polygon highlighted that the recasting of Morpheus might imply that Matrix transmedia (such as The Matrix Online) remains part of the canon.[4][5]
Overview
In the Matrix films, Morpheus is the captain of the Nebuchadnezzar, a hovercraft of the human forces of the last human city, Zion, in a devastated world where most humans are grown by sentient machines to be used as power sources and their minds kept imprisoned in the Matrix, a virtual computer-generated world, to stop them from realising the truth of the real world. Morpheus was once a human living inside the Matrix until he was freed.[9]
To the Matrix, Morpheus is a terrorist wanted by "Agents", sentient computer programs that patrol and protect the Matrix.
Earlier in his life, Morpheus gained the romantic attention of Niobe, another hovercraft captain. Their relationship became estranged shortly after Morpheus visited the Oracle, an ally living in the Matrix, who told Morpheus that he would be the person who would find the One, a person with superhuman abilities within the Matrix who could end the human/machine war. Since that visit, Morpheus has spent much of his life searching the Matrix for the One.
Personality
In The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded, Morpheus was a truly inspirational leader and influential teacher to many people, particularly the majority of his crew, to the extent that Tank commented that "Morpheus was a father to them, as well as a leader". In The Matrix Revolutions, with Morpheus's faith in the prophecy shattered, he does not appear as strong a leader or character as he was in the first two films. He comes across as subdued and defeated. Despite his strong faith, Morpheus still showed some rationality in dangerous situations rather than blindly relying on his beliefs to see him through the current crisis; perhaps his only truly irrational decision was to attack Agent Smith while unarmed in order to give Neo a chance to escape.
