TRON: Legacy/Characters

Humans/Users

"I'm a user. I'll improvise."

Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund)

Action Survivor: When he first enters The Grid.
Anti-Hero: Type II, also known as the "Disney Anti-Hero". It makes sense, since Tron Legacy is a Disney film.
Badass Biker
Bloodless Carnage: Averted. When Rinzler hits him with a disc, Sam bleeds, and Rinzler recognizes him as a User.
Changing of the Guard
Chick Magnet
Collapsible Helmet
Deadly Disc
Heroes Love Dogs
In the Hood: Wears a cloak to disguise himself on the streets of TRON City as he goes to the End of Line club.
Indy Ploy
Nerds Are Sexy
Parental Abandonment
Playful Hacker
Rich Idiot With No Day Job: Sam might have the most shares of Encom, but he's a college dropout with no job and no social connections outside Alan Bradley and his rescue dog Marv.
Shirtless Scene: The entirely necessary stripping off of his old clothes by Gem and her colleagues.
- Mr. Fanservice: Not that we mind.
Spin Offspring
Wrong Genre Savvy: He mistakes a Lightcycle baton for a lightsaber.

"In there is our destiny!"

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges)

The father of Sam, and the creator of another Grid.

Acting for Two
Actor Allusion: To his role in The Big Lebowski.
The Atoner
Badass Beard
Badass Grandpa
Badass Longcoat
Badass Long Robe
Badass Pacifist: Kevin is so powerful that he usually wins without having to raise a hand against anyone.
Big Good
Chekhov MIA
Cool Old Guy
Disappeared Dad
God Is Flawed: See below.
God Is Good: But not perfect.
Grandpa God
Grandpa, What Massive Hottness You Have: Just look at his picture.
Hermit Guru
Hot Dad
Look On My Works Ye Mighty and Despair
My Greatest Failure: CLU. "He's ME. I screwed it up!"
The Obi-Wan: Even looks like him now, with the beard and robe.
Older Than They Look: Mentally, not physically.
Physical God: He created The Grid.
Pure Awesomeness: Capable of turning the tide in a battle by simply showing up and touching the floor.
Shout Out: To Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars with the beard, cloak, hideout, hermit nature, and regret.

Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner)

Coming back from the original Tron, Alan Bradley is revealed to be one of Kevin Flynn's closest friends and still in the employ of ENCOM. According to the ENCOM website, Alan holds the position of Executive Consultant, and later promoted to Chairman of the Board by Sam. He was the man who sent Sam to Flynn's Arcade to investigate a message, starting the search again...

Cool Old Guy
The Mentor: Arguably, since he became Sam's surrogate father during Kevin's disappearance.
The Peter Principle: According to supporting materials including the Alternate Reality Game, he was made CEO of Encom after Kevin's disappearance, and was later forced to resign as a result of the company's decline in the late 80's. Consider that he's a computer programmer, not necessarily a businessman by trade.
Promotion to Parent: Acted as a father figure to Sam Flynn after Kevin's disappearance.
Specs of Awesome: Still has the glasses.

Ed Dillinger, Jr. (Cillian Murphy)

The Cameo
Fake American
Four Eyes Zero Soul
Hypercompetent Sidekick: To the Corrupt Corporate Executive Mackey.

Richard Mackey (Jeffrey Nordling)

Corrupt Corporate Executive

Programs

"You could say I was a rescue."

Quorra (Olivia Wilde)

Ace Pilot
Action Girl
Badass Adorable: Although she knows how to kick ass, she is naive and innocent, much like a little girl.
Badass Bookworm: This Badass sure loves her Jules Verne novels, as well as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Buddhist scriptures.
Bob Haircut
Collapsible Helmet
Deadly Disc: In conjunction below, if you notice, she uses hers more defensively and doesn't hurl it around like everyone else.
Dual-Wielding: With her Identity Disc and a Laser Blade, in a sword and shield like form.
Drives Like Crazy: Sam is terrified by Quorra's reckless off-road driving during their escape.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Perhaps it has something to do with her being an ISO...
Grappling Hook Pistol
Instant Expert: On her first try, she basically becomes an Ace Pilot, complete with kills and complex maneuvers.
Jeanne D Archetype: She's an Action Girl guided by a sort of "higher power." Her somewhat androgynous appearance reinforces this comparison.
Laser Blade
Last of Her Kind: Quorra's the last ISO after the Great Purge.
Living MacGuffin
My Nayme Is: Her name is pronounced exactly like "Cora".
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
Shallow Love Interest: Averted. Olivia Wilde much preferred creating a more subtle and realistic romantic relationship between Sam and Quorra over being Strangled By the Red String, à la Neo and Trinity.
She's Got Legs: To reiterate, there's the scene midway through during the explanation of how Kevin got stuck on the Grid...whenever it cuts to Quorra we inexplicably get a full shot that does nothing but emphasize this.
Shiny Midnight Black
Skilled but Naive: She knows her combat skills, but she knows almost nothing about the real world.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?

"Out there is our destiny!"

Clu (Jeff Bridges)

Acting for Two
Affably Evil: Villainous Breakdown aside, he shows a polite and charismatic behavior.
AI Is a Crapshoot
Ascended Extra: From the minor character Clu in Tron.
Authority Equals Asskicking
Big Bad: Even more so than the MCP.
Blofeld Ploy
Blue and Orange Morality: He acts the way he does because he believes it is how he should fulfill his programs.
- Bonus points for living in a world where the morality of one is determined by being blue or orange.
Chronic Villainy: He is a program, so he's basically obliged to pursue his quest for perfection, even if it implies genocide.
Collapsible Helmet
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard
Contemplative Boss
The Corrupter: Since he can't create programs, he gets new recruits for his armies by "rectifying" them and removing their free will. He even manages to corrupt Tron, now known as Rinzler.
Creative Sterility: Cannot make new programs, so he must enslave them instead.
Dangerously Genre Savvy:

Zuse: I presume, your Excellency, that they perished in the elevator.

Clu: You presume?... (turns to Rinzler) Find them.

Deadly Disc
Disc Drag
Dramatic Unmask
Enemy Without
Evil Me Scares Me: Kevin Flynn created Clu in his own image.
The Evils of Free Will: Specifically, free will runs counter to maintaining order in a perfect system.
Face Heel Turn
Fantastic Racism: If there's one thing Clu hates, it's imperfection. And boy are ISOs and Users anything BUT perfect.
Freudian Excuse: His relationship with his creator is... complex.
From Nobody to Nightmare: In the 1982 installment, the first version of Clu was best known for shrieking upon crashing his tank. 28 years later, this new, upgraded Program betrays Kevin Flynn and becomes one of the most despicable villains in Disney history.
Hitler Cam: For his Triumph of the Will-esque speech.
Ink Suit Actor: Jeff Bridges.
Knight Templar
Large Ham: As Clu said to his soldiers, he will make our world open and available to all of them. Yes! TO ALL OF THEM!!!!!
Legacy Character: The original Clu was destroyed by the MCP in the original film. This Clu is an upgraded version that Flynn created to help him supervise the Grid.
Moral Sociopathy
Name's the Same: People forget that this is not the same Clu from the first movie but a separate program with a completely different function who is named after Flynn's hacking program from the first movie. This hasn't stopped anyone (even in this very article!) from referring to the two of them as if they were one in the same.
A Nazi By Any Other Name
Neat Freak: He was upset by the slightest lack of order in Flynn's apartment.
No Sell: Clu shrugs off a direct hit from a disc.
Perma Stubble
The Perfectionist
A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil
Putting On the Reich: Seriously, his speech was one hell of a terrifying tribute to Leni Riefenstahl's movies.
Rage Against the Heavens
Slouch of Villainy
Totalitarian Utilitarian
Turned Against Their Masters
Uncanny Valley: Invoked Trope.
Utopia Justifies the Means
Visionary Villain: Wants to create the perfect system... because that was the first order Kevin Flynn gave him upon his creation.
Villainous Breakdown: Experiences this twice; first when he's searching Flynn's house, and the second when his creator tells him that perfection is impossible.

(Ominous Muted Flickering Sound)

Rinzler/Tron (Anis Cheurfa, voiced by Bruce Boxleitner)

Badass: This should be empasized, short of Clu; Rinzler is the most fearsome thing on the Grid bar none.
- Note that during the flashback as Tron, he was able to take out four of Clu's elite Black Guards in roughly the span of 2 minutes without breaking a sweat or even remotely having to strain himself. Compare anyone else who has to tangle with the guards or even some of the higher level sentries, which usually results in a quick derezzing.
Bifurcated Weapon: complete with a hilarious jab from Sam, "oh come on is that even legal?"
Black Knight
Brainwashed and Crazy: Was once Tron until Clu corrupted him.
Catch Phrase: Subverted. Being Tron, his Catch Phrase is "I fight for the Users!" However, being Brainwashed and Crazy for almost the entire movie, he only says it once.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Actually, Clu is, but his tactics during the fight with Sam mirrors video game Fake Difficulty (changing the rules to Rinzler's advantage).
Deadly Discs
Death Equals Redemption: Unless he was just rebooting at the end.
The Dragon
Dual-Wielding
Dying As Yourself: As he sinks into the sea, his Tron Lines go from red to blue.
Evil Costume Switch / Paint It Black
The Faceless
Heel Face Turn: "I fight for the users!"
Lightning Bruiser: Unlike Clu, who just simply shrugs off hits, Rinzler artfully dodges out of the way. And then is on you a heartbeat later, going ginsu on you with his dual discs.
Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome
Three Point Landing
The Voiceless: Says very little, and only makes a quiet growling sound otherwise.
You Shall Not Pass

"LIBATIONS! FOR! EVERYBODAAAAY!!!"

Castor/Zuse (Michael Sheen)

Ambiguously Gay
Actually, I Am Him
Blaster Cane
Camp Straight
Evil Albino
Evil All Along
Evil Is Hammy
Evilly Affable
Expy: To David Bowie in the "Ziggy Stardust" persona. He even talks about having had to "reinvent himself."
Large Ham: A fitting tribute to David Bowie, don't you think?
Light Is Not Good
Man in White
Rewarded As a Traitor Deserves: It was not the run-of-the-mill poisoned drink that killed him however...
Sissy Villain: Up there with Jim Carrey's Riddler.
White-Haired Pretty Boy

"Proceed to games."

Gem (Beau Garrett)

Creepy Monotone
Dark Chick
Evil Albino
Evil All Along: There's a reason why her program is called a Siren.
Femme Fatale
Form-Fitting Wardrobe
Light Is Not Good
Ms. Fanservice
Sexy Walk
White-Haired Pretty Girl
Woman in White

The Sirens (Yaya DaCosta, Serinda Swan, Elizabeth Mathis)

Jarvis (James Frain)

Bald of Evil
Derezzed Mid-Sentence
Dirty Coward
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Sort of, as he is the intelligence officer and chief administrator in Clu's regime.
Large Ham: His delivery of Clu's entrance doesn't just chew the scenery, it devours it.
Like a Weasel: "Long live the Users!" And later, when Clu searches for Sam and Quorra: "Death to the Use--"
You Have Failed Me

Masked DJs (Daft Punk)

As Themselves: Daft Punk playing DJs. Besides the addition of Tron Lines, they didn't have to change a thing about their costumes for their role.
The Cameo
Cool Helmet
Cyberpunk Is Techno
Dissonant Serenity: A fight starts in the End of Line club, and what do they do? Change the music!
Left the Background Music On
Musical Assassins
One-Scene Wonder

The Grid Announcer (Edie Mirman)

Hey It's That Voice: The same voice actress also appeared in another series about a digital world.
The Voice

The Black Guards

Elite Mooks
Faceless Goons
Laser Blade
Not Quite Flight: Their backpacks contain glider wings.
State Sec