Cypher
The freed man who regrets it: he knows the pleasure on offer is fake and prefers it anyway.
film · 1999
A member of Morpheus's crew, Cypher took the red pill years ago and has never got over it. A figure of disenchanted lucidity, he is not fooled by the illusion: he misses it knowingly, and embodies the temptation the film must face for Neo's choice to have a price.
Justification
One night, Cypher wonders aloud in front of Neo why he did not take the blue pill. The pleasure he finds there is no less real to him: it is the object that is simulated, not the enjoyment.
The night conversation with Neo on the ship · The dinner with Agent Smith · The betrayal aboard the Nebuchadnezzar
Justification
What Cypher misses is the comfort he lost. He is the man who would plug into the .
The night conversation with Neo on the ship · The dinner with Agent Smith
1 more
Justification
Cypher does not believe in the prophecy and acts as if the outcome depended on him alone. Rejecting a prophecy does not, however, amount to a view on free will, and he casts himself as a victim, deceived by Morpheus: the position is extrapolated.
The betrayal aboard the Nebuchadnezzar
Justification
His own interest comes before the lives of those he lived with.
The betrayal aboard the Nebuchadnezzar