Fandom Overview: TRON
[WOW, I thought I’d never get this done. Actually, I’ll be doing some tweaking in the coming days, but the text is finished and the HTML tables work (more or less), so...]
Greetings, Programs! A User’s Guide to TRON
Introduction
What is TRON? As of the summer of 2011, it is a multimedia franchise based on the idea that there is another plane of existence hidden inside computers: “the Electronic World” or “the Grid,” a tangible, luminous digital realm in which sentient Programs live as autonomous beings, subject to the commands of the human Users who create them and give them purpose. It’s a premise that lends itself to philosophizing: What is life? Where do we draw the line between virtual and actual, simulation and reality? What constitutes identity? How much can someone change before becoming someone - or something - else? How far should we go in the pursuit of our desires? Can perfection exist, and would we recognize it?
Or, if that’s too heavy: TRON is a cult SF classic turned pop culture touchstone that showcases -
The Pretty
and
The Shiny
And there’s this guy.
“A World Inside the Computer Where Man Has Never Been … The Grid. A Digital Frontier”
The Canon
1982 - TRON
1983-1989 - TRON: Betrayal • TRON: Evolution
1990-2009 - TRON: Uprising • The “Flynn Lives” ARG
2010 - TRON: Legacy
Discontinuity - TRON 2.0 (Killer App) and TRON: Ghost in the Machine
The Characters
Users • Programs
’Ships
Het • Slash
Online Resources
Note: To avoid the major spoilers for Legacy, I will be making some tactful omissions in the synopses, and using hidden text in the character bios.
The Canon
1982 - TRON
The world inside the mainframe of ENCOM, a Type 2 Mega Corp, is in thrall to the Master Control Program, which, with the aid of its lieutenant, Sark, and in collusion with ENCOM VP Edward Dillinger, has been appropriating programs. Those which do not renounce the Users and serve Master Control willingly are turned into drones, used as cannon fodder in video games, absorbed by the MCP, or killed outright. The program’s reign over the ENCOM system, and its plans to infiltrate the outside world, face two challenges: Kevin Flynn, a programmer-turned- arcade owner who has been hacking the system for proof that he wrote ENCOM’s most popular games before getting fired by Dillinger, who took credit for his work; and Tron, an independent security program created by Alan Bradley. After one of Kevin’s hacks prompts a system lockdown, Lora Baines persuades Alan that they should warn Kevin, but their visit, instead of dissuading him, results in a plan: Kevin will use Lora’s workstation to forge a password that will allow Alan to deploy Tron against the MCP, thereby reopening the system and, hopefully, vindicating Kevin. Everything goes smoothly until the Master Control Program uses the digitizing laser in Lora’s lab to abduct Kevin into the system and orders Sark to send the User to his death in the games. Luckily, Kevin meets Tron, and with the help of Ram, Yori, and Dumont they fight for the freedom of both their worlds.
[The 1982 movie was not the smash hit Walt Disney Productions was hoping for, but it turned a profit and gradually gained a reputation as the SF film equivalent of the Velvet Underground’s first album: many programmers, designers, and animators cite TRON as a crucial influence. Pixar’s John Lasseter has stated, “Without TRON, there would be no Toy Story.”]
1983-1989
TRON: Betrayal
This graphic novel depicts the rise and fall of Kevin Flynn. Kevin has become CEO of ENCOM and married Jordan Canas, with whom he has a son, Sam. He has also set up a secret lab in the basement of his arcade containing the digitizing laser and an unnetworked computer. On this mainframe he builds “a new Grid for Users and Programs...where all information [is] free and open,” and installs Tron to deal with gridbugs and other glitches. During Jordan’s pregnancy, Kevin, realizing he will have less opportunity to visit the Grid, creates Clu to oversee the system’s development in his stead. Then the unexpected occurs: the appearance of new digital life. The Basics - Programs created by Users - now share the Grid with Isomorphic Algorithms, or ISOs, whose code was not written but generated spontaneously. While Kevin is fascinated by the new programs, Clu considers them an unpredictable element that destabilizes his “perfect system.” Clu is also troubled by the lengthening intervals between Kevin’s visits, and increasingly resents his maker’s preoccupation with “the real world.” After Jordan’s death in September 1985, Kevin finds it ever more difficult to juggle the demands of work, home, and the Grid. Matters are taken out of his hands in July 1989 when Clu decides that, for the system’s sake, both the ISOs and his “corrupted” User must go. Kevin survives Clu’s attack, thanks to Tron, but is unable to reach the portal to the outside world before it closes. Since the portal cannot be activated from inside the system, Kevin is trapped on the Grid.
TRON: Evolution
This game, which was released in tandem with Legacy, starts during a detente between the Basics and ISOs and ends shortly after Clu’s coup. An attack by a mysterious and dangerous virus, Abraxas (Julian Glover), disrupts the installation of Radia (Kari Wahlgren), an ISO, as Co-Systems Administrator. Clu declares that the virus is the fault of the ISOs and begins his purge. The player takes the role of a new Basic system monitor, Anon, who witnesses Clu’s assault on Kevin and Tron, then teams up with an ISO, Gibson (Jensen Ackles), to fight Abraxas and Clu.
1990-2009
TRON: Uprising
This animated television series follows a young security program, Beck (Elijah Wood), as he is mentored by Tron and attempts to fight against Clu’s campaign of terror. [The show is scheduled to start as a ten-part “microseries” on DisneyXD in the fall of 2011, and then air standard-length episodes in the summer of 2012.]
The “Flynn Lives” ARG
ENCOM was thrown into chaos when Kevin Flynn vanished. Alan Bradley stepped in as CEO but was unable to prevent the company’s stock from falling as a result of Flynn’s absence and competition from Dillinger Systems. A year later, the board declared it was time to accept Kevin’s loss and move on, and instituted measures to increase profits, including mass layoffs. Alan resigned as CEO in protest, but remained with ENCOM as an “Executive Consultant” in order to preserve Kevin’s legacy for Sam, the single largest shareholder in ENCOM.
The Flynn Lives movement was started by supporters of Kevin Flynn who were dissatisfied with ENCOM’s actions after he went missing. Some felt that the company was too quick to give up on him; others suspected that someone at ENCOM knew something, or might even had played a role in his disappearance. Under the leadership of ZackAttack, members tried to keep the search going, investigated ENCOM’s possible involvement, and explored Kevin Flynn’s last known projects; over time, their focus shifted to keeping Kevin’s spirit alive within the increasingly mercenary company. Inevitably, over the years their energy flagged, but the group was revivified in 2009 when Sam Flynn began pranking ENCOM.
[In the real world, the Flynn Lives alternate reality game began in July 2009 and is ongoing. Participants solve puzzles and perform tasks in order to access online content, participate in special events, and obtain exclusive memorabilia.]
2010 - TRON: Legacy
In a prologue, seven-year-old Sam Flynn enjoys a bedtime story about his father Kevin’s adventures on the Grid with Tron and Clu, which ends with the promise that one day Kevin will take Sam there. That is the last Sam sees of Kevin for twenty years, until, the night before Sam’s latest prank against ENCOM, Alan Bradley is paged from the long-abandoned Flynn’s Arcade. Sam investigates, discovers the hidden lab, and ends up on the Grid. He is conscripted into the Games and survives a disc battle with Rinzler and a light cycle match against Clu before he’s rescued by Quorra. She reunites him with Kevin, who tells his son about Clu’s coup and the eradication of the ISOs. Kevin, realizing that Clu sent the page as part of a plan to obtain Kevin’s identity disc, which might enable Programs to leave the Grid, urges caution. Sam, however, argues that he can destroy Clu from outside the system and leaves. Kevin decides he has no choice but to join him, and soon the Flynns and Quorra are racing to reach the portal before Clu, who has designs on the world outside the computer.
Discontinuity: TRON 2.0 (Killer App) and TRON: Ghost in the Machine
In 2003, TRON 2.0, a first-person shooter game for PCs, was released; the Mac version, subtitled “Killer App,” came out the following year. As Jethro Eugene “Jet” Bradley, son of Alan Bradley (who became CEO following Kevin Flynn’s retirement) and Lora Baines (who died in an accident with the digitizing laser, but whose mind or consciousness is partially preserved in Ma3a, an A.I.), the player searches for a kidnapped Alan and battles digitized agents of Future Control Industries (fCon), a company conducting a hostile takeover of ENCOM, with the help of Mercury, a female warrior program (Rebecca Romijn). Then, in 2006-2008, a six-part comic book series titled TRON 2.0: Ghost in the Machine was published. Jet, traumatized by his experience in the system, is on the run from the police, who suspect him of murdering Alan. After fleeing into the digital realm, Jet must cope with a war between free Programs and a resurrected MCP, and his increasingly unreliable memory and splintered consciousness.
The game and the comic were touted as sequels to the 1982 film, but they have been rendered uncanonical by Legacy and its tie-ins.
The Characters
Users
Ram: You really think the Users are still there?
Tron: They’d better be. I don’t want to bust out of here and find nothin’ but a lot of cold circuits waiting for me.
Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges)
“On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy.”
Kevin Flynn is the brilliant, charismatic, exasperating axis of the TRON franchise. He’s introduced as an extroverted hacker and an irrepressible smart-ass, unable to resist teasing Alan and Lora even as they’re sneaking him into ENCOM. After his experiences in the digital world he becomes an optimistic visionary and proselytizes about the potential of computers to improve the human condition. He’s a good friend and an affectionate husband and father. On the downside, he’s confident to the point of arrogance, which leads him to dismiss others’ concerns, overextend himself, and neglect basic precautions (like backing up his work or writing an “In the Case of My Disappearance” letter). The death of Jordan, the destruction of the ISOs, and his exile on the Grid leave him a humbler, rueful man, though he still has a sense of humor.
Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund)
“What am I supposed to do?”
After losing his mother, Jordan, as a toddler, Sam was raised by his grandparents and his father, Kevin, who went missing in 1989. Sam clung to the belief that his father would return at first, but eventually decided, “He’s either dead, or chilling in Costa Rica.” He considers Alan Bradley his surrogate father but has distanced himself, unable to face Alan’s unwavering faith in Kevin or his efforts to urge Sam into a leadership role at ENCOM. Along with his share in the company, Sam inherited his father’s motorcycle and knack for hacking, both of which come in handy during his high-profile pranks on ENCOM. He is athletic and nervy, traits that serve him well on the Grid. Meeting Quorra and finding his father reveals the tender heart Sam had hidden under a veneer of flippancy.
Dr. Alan T. “Tron” Bradley (a.k.a. “Alan_1,” “ISOlated Thinker”) (Bruce Boxleitner)
“I don't even balance my checkbook on down time. I have an abacus at home for that.”
All ENCOM programmer Alan Bradley wanted was the freedom to work on his new program, Tron. Then he helps Kevin Flynn, his girlfriend Lora Baines’s ex, crash the repressive Master Control Program and gets promoted to Chief Operating Officer. After Kevin disappears he steps in as interim CEO and surrogate father to Sam, but by the start of Legacy he has been downgraded to “Executive Consultant,” and he and Sam are estranged. “TRON: The Next Day” reveals that as ISOlated Thinker he funded and fed intel to Flynn Lives. Alan is intelligent, sometimes prickly, principled but willing to bend the rules, something of a geek (check out the “GORT KLATUU BARADA NIKTO” poster in his cubicle), and loyal to his friends and loved ones.
Dr. Lora Baines (Cindy Morgan)
“Shall we dance?”
Lora is Yori’s creator and a member of ENCOM’s laser digitization team. She treats her colleague Walter Gibbs with friendly respect; addresses Kevin, an ex, with fond exasperation; and is warm and playful with Alan, whom she ultimately marries. Although her intent in visiting Kevin at the arcade was to warn him against further hacks, she is an enthusiastic participant in the ENCOM break-in. Above all, Lora is a dedicated scientist, and in Betrayal she leaves ENCOM for a job in Washington, D.C., but she continued her relationship with Alan on a long-distance basis and has joined him for ENCOM public events.
Edward Dillinger, Sr. (a.k.a. “MCTRL_751”) (David Warner)
“Doing our business is what computers are for.”
ENCOM’s Senior Executive Vice President is a Corrupt Corporate Executive who stole Kevin Flynn’s video games and had him fired, wrote Sark, and claims authorship of the final version of the Master Control Program. He is alarmed when the MCP reveals its plans for the world outside the ENCOM mainframe, and dismayed when the program threatens to reveal his crimes if he doesn’t cooperate. After leaving ENCOM he founded Dillinger Systems, a successful software company. His online chat with his son after “TRON: The Next Day” strongly implies that the Dillingers have schemes involving ENCOM.
Edward Dillinger, Jr. (a.k.a. “EDJ_0431”) (Cillian Murphy)
“The idea of sharing our software or giving it away for free disappeared with Kevin Flynn.”
Junior is the head of ENCOM’s software design team in Legacy, and the one board member who reacts effectively to Sam Flynn’s hack. He seems equally unimpressed by Alan Bradley’s protests against ENCOM’s profiteering and Chairman Richard Mackey’s grandstanding. He may play a larger role in a third film, a possibility supported by the video in which he chats online with his father and calls Sam Flynn’s decision to take control of ENCOM a “Minor bump in the road. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Roy “Ram” Kleinberg (a.k.a. “ZackAttack”) (Dan Shor)
“I knew it was over when they brought the cubicles back.”
Alert viewers of TRON noticed that Ram and the co-worker who asks Alan for popcorn were played by the same actor, implying a Program-User relationship. This was confirmed in the Legacy Blu-Ray bonus feature “TRON: The Next Day,” which revealed Roy’s name, his position at ENCOM (Lead Programmer before he was laid off), and his identity as ZackAttack, the mastermind of the Flynn Lives movement (and owner of Arcade Aid, a supply and repair company for classic arcade games). His devotion to Kevin Flynn’s ideals is rewarded when he’s invited to return to ENCOM as the company’s “moral compass.”
Dr. Walter Gibbs (Bernard Hughes)
“...our spirit remains in every program we design for this computer.”
ENCOM’s founder, who wrote Dumont and the chess program that became the MCP, has largely ceded control of his company since he’s more interested in his experiments, but the system lockdown inspires him to argue with Dillinger that the point of the ENCOM system should be the unobstructed flow of information and ideas.
Jordan Canas (embodied in Legacy and the ARG by Amy Esterle)
“I need you to be you, Kevin Flynn. Make me proud. And don’t disappear on me.”
Soon after his first trip into the electronic world, Kevin Flynn married Jordan and the two had a son, Sam. According to the ARG she was a talented architect who designed at least one building for ENCOM. In Betrayal, she’s portrayed as secure enough in the relationship to have patience with Kevin’s constant preoccupation. After she suffers an unspecified medical emergency while pregnant with Sam, Kevin modifies a telephone so he can be paged on the Grid (a feat which piques Clu’s interest). In the chapter following her death, her parents are shown helping Flynn to raise Sam and chiding their son-in-law for not spending more time with his family.
Programs
The programs are only algorithms as human beings are only collections of chemicals.
-from the TRON novelization by Brian Daley
Programs in TRON and Legacy
Tron (Bruce Boxleitner)
“I fight for the Users.”
A “self-monitoring computer security system” written by Alan Bradley, Tron is the greatest warrior of the Grid. He keeps faith with the Users even when he fears that they may have abandoned the Programs. After he escapes the light cycle arena with Flynn and Ram, Tron makes a beeline for Yori, whom he loves. He is surprised to learn that Kevin is a User, but accepts his new friend’s abilities and limitations with grace. When Kevin transfers him to the new Grid, he devotes himself to protecting his fellow Programs from gridbugs and other threats; he also competes in the Games, which he enjoys when the stakes are not life or death. Tron sides with Flynn and the ISOs against Clu, a choice which costs him dearly. When Tron’s not fighting, he is earnest and rather sweet.
“You’re the best program that’s ever been written.”
Clu (Jeff Bridges)
There have been two programs named Clu. First came the hacking program Kevin uses to search the ENCOM mainframe; he is killed by the Master Control Program after refusing to break under torture.
Kevin wrote the second Clu, his “Codified Likeness Utility” (sometimes called “Clu2” by fans), to act as Systems Administrator of the Grid. Clu is unable to create Programs, but can repurpose or destroy them. Tasked with creating “the perfect system,” he interpreted “perfection” as efficiency, order and control. He saw Kevin’s embrace of the ISOs as a betrayal of their mission, and his response was to eliminate both his “corrupted” creator and the entities he held responsible. There seems to be a bond between User and Program - Kevin claims that Clu fed on his resistance, and Quorra tells Sam that the only way his father could destroy Clu now is through “reintegration,” which neither would survive. In Legacy, Clu exults in his position as “Liberator” of the Grid, gloats over his enemies, and shows rage and anguish when confronting Kevin.
“I will create the perfect system.”
Programs in TRON
Master Control Program, or MCP (CGI character voiced by David Warner)
“No one User wrote me. I’m worth millions of their man-years.”
The Big Bad of TRON. Originally a chess program, the MCP was repeatedly upgraded over the years until it was capable of administering the entire ENCOM network. Master Control came to believe that it should also be in charge of the world outside the computer, and had infiltrated the Kremlin and the United States Strategic Air Command before it was stopped by Tron. Long presumed dead, the fact that in a Legacy Blu-Ray bonus feature Dillinger Sr.’s sign-in is “MCTRL_751” and his dialogue is read by a vocoded voice similar to the MCP’s raises interesting possibilities.
Sark (David Warner)
“You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic.”
This program, apparently written by Edward Dillinger, fills the role of the Dragon. He oversees and sometimes competes in the Game Grid, and delights in torturing and killing Programs. The MCP rewards him for good performance with power boosts, and punishes him when he fails. Although Sark exhorts Programs to renounce their “superstitious and hysterical belief” in the Users, he acknowledges his makers’ existence while speaking with the MCP, and has qualms about putting Kevin in the games.
Yori (Cindy Morgan)
“I knew you’d escape! They haven’t built a circuit that can hold you.”
Yori was created by Lora Baines as part of the digitizing laser project - her function is not specified in canon, but I think of her as a rendering program. During Tron’s captivity she was turned into a drone, but when they reunite she regains her personality. Yori oversaw the creation of the Solar Sailer simulation, and it’s her idea to use it to reach the MCP. She seems intrigued by Kevin Flynn even before he reveals that he’s a User; Cindy Morgan has said that she was told Yori possesses vestigal memories from Lora, and subconsciously recognizes him.
Ram (Dan Shor)
“Do you believe in the Users?”
This actuarial program, created by Roy Kleinberg, was conscripted as a video game warrior. He occupies the cell between Tron’s and Kevin’s, and the three of them compete as a team in the light cycle game before escaping. He is the first Program to realize that Kevin Flynn is a User.
Dumont
“All that is visible must grown beyond itself and extend into the realm of the invisible.”
The guardian of the last active input/output tower on the ENCOM mainframe was written by Walter Gibbs. The cycles under Master Control’s rule have left Dumont pessimistic, but Yori convinces him to let Tron communicate with Alan_1 and receive the code that will shut down the MCP.
[Look closely, and you’ll see a “Dumont” logo in the classic TRON font on one of the shipping containers that make up Sam’s riverside bachelor pad.]
Programs in Legacy
Quorra (Olivia Wilde)
“I guess you could say … I’m a rescue.”
A wide-eyed, well-read ( Jules Verne is her favorite), ass-kicking ingenue, Quorra is Kevin Flynn’s “apprentice” in the cycles following Clu’s coup. Although saddened by the purge of the ISOs and Clu’s domination of the Grid, she’s a naturally cheerful person, laughing when she evades the sentries or thinks that Sam has said something funny. While Quorra reveres Kevin as the Creator, she is very much her own person and behaves according to her nature (which she describes as “more aggressive”), knowledge, and opinions. When she makes a mistake, she acknowledges it and moves on. During the race to the portal she shows herself capable of sacrifice for the sake of friends and the greater good.
Rinzler (Anis Cheufra)
“Rrrrrr...”
The faceless, largely speechless Program who wields dual identity discs is The Dragon to Clu’s Big Bad. He is the champion of the disc wars game, greeted with chanting from the bloodthirsty (voxel-hungry?) crowd. When Quorra breaks into the light cycle arena and escapes with Sam, Rinzler is dispatched in pursuit. Later, he tracks the Flynns and Quorra from the End of Line Club, and when he catches up Kevin is shocked to realize that Rinzler is a repurposed Tron. Soon afterward, he reverts to his original allegiance and turns on Clu. His current status is unknown [warning: linked images are spoilers].
[Because of his incredible acrobatics and near-constant rumble or growl, there is a lot of fanfic and fanart featuring kitty!Rinzler.]
Gem (Beau Garrett) and the Sirens
“It’s unfortunate we met the way we did.”
Gem is one of the Sirens, the Programs who costume and equip Sam for the games. She later takes Sam to the End of Line Club to meet Zuse.
Castor (Michael Sheen)
“I'm Castor, your host, provider of any and all entertainments and diversions.”
The flamboyant majordomo of the End of Line Club controls access to Zuse.
Jarvis (James Frain)
“I could be of even greater service.”
This Middle Management Mook serves Clu. His eagerness to please outstrips his courage and his competence.
Zuse (SPOILER: Michael Sheen)
“Zuse has been around since the earliest days of the gaming grid. By necessity, he has to mind all the percentages. All the angles.”
This program fought alongside the ISOs and has a reputation for being able to get any Program anywhere. He might have served as a rallying figure for the anti-Clu factions, but he went into hiding after the purge.
The Masked DJs (Daft Punk, who composed the soundtrack)
“Electrify the boys and girls, if you would be so kind.”
These two Programs provide the music for the End of Line Club’s dance floor. They’re often referred to as the MP3s in fandom.
’Ships
Let me start by addressing the obvious questions: do Programs feel love and/or desire, and can they have sex? The answer is a definite “yes” to the first: Tron and Yori touch constantly, and at the End of Line Club we see Programs canoodling and, later, grieving for the newly derezzed. As for the second issue, while Programs do not procreate, it appears they can perform an act analogous to lovemaking - the script and novelization of TRON include a love scene between Tron and Yori, some of which was filmed, scored, and had complete FX added before the sequence was cut. (This footage is the source of the fanfic convention that Programs glow purple when aroused, as well as all the references to “sparkle capes” or “glitter capes.”) However, kisses seem to be unknown to Programs until Kevin plants one on Yori; she wastes no time sharing this innovation with Tron, who likes it.
Het
Kevin: She still leave her clothes all over the floor?
Lora: Flynn!
Alan: No!
Lora: Alan!
Alan: I mean, not that often.
There are several canon het relationships: Alan/Lora, Kevin/Lora (past - see quote above), Tron/Yori, and Kevin/Jordan. Other pairings hinted at in canon are Kevin/Yori (the aforementioned kiss), Quorra/Sam (she ogles him; he compares her to a sunrise), Gem/Sam, Castor/Gem ( amoral OTP), and Quorra/Zuse (based on how they talk about each other and their intense stare-off at the End of Line Club). Many reviewers of Legacy speculated about Kevin/Quorra, and there is a definite frisson when Clu and Quorra are face to face (“I have something very special in mind for you”). When Quorra isn’t paired with a Flynn, the most likely alternatives are Alan, Rinzler, or Ed Dillinger, Jr.
Slash
There is a case to be made for an Alan/Kevin/Lora OT3, possibly expanded into an OT4 after Kevin and Jordan’s marriage.
The most popular User slash pairings are Alan/Kevin (available in ’Eighties and silver fox versions) and Alan/Sam. Roy Kleinberg is often paired with Kevin or Alan (sometimes Kevin and Alan). Ed Dillinger, Jr. has been paired with Alan or Sam (sometimes Alan and Sam). And yes, there is Flynncest and Ed Jr./Ed Sr.
Program slash fics tend to feature Ram/Tron, Clu/Tron, or Clu/Rinzler. Other possibilities include Clu/Jarvis, Jarvis/Rinzler, Gem/Quorra, Quorra/Rinzler, Gem/Rinzler, Castor/various, the Sirens/various, and the DJs/various. The villainous Programs of TRON don’t get much play, but I have seen MCP/Sark and Sark/Tron.
The most obvious combinations for Program/User slash are the doppelganger duos: Alan/Tron, Clu/Kevin, and Lora/Yori. Kevin/Tron is a no-brainer, and Sam/Tron is a popular option despite the obvious difficulties. Sam is also frequently paired with Clu and/or Rinzler (for all your dubcon, noncon, fight!sex, hate!sex needs). There is a fair amount of Kevin/Ram and Kevin/Ram/Tron. Other mixed three- and foursomes are Kevin/Tron/Yori, Kevin/Ram/Tron/Yori, Clu/Kevin/Tron, Alan/Lora/Tron, Quorra/Rinzler/Sam, Ed/Quorra/Sam, and Ed/Quorra/Rinzler/Sam.
Online Resources
Livejournal
Greetings, Programs! A User’s Guide to TRON
Introduction
What is TRON? As of the summer of 2011, it is a multimedia franchise based on the idea that there is another plane of existence hidden inside computers: “the Electronic World” or “the Grid,” a tangible, luminous digital realm in which sentient Programs live as autonomous beings, subject to the commands of the human Users who create them and give them purpose. It’s a premise that lends itself to philosophizing: What is life? Where do we draw the line between virtual and actual, simulation and reality? What constitutes identity? How much can someone change before becoming someone - or something - else? How far should we go in the pursuit of our desires? Can perfection exist, and would we recognize it?
Or, if that’s too heavy: TRON is a cult SF classic turned pop culture touchstone that showcases -
The Pretty
and
The Shiny
And there’s this guy.
“A World Inside the Computer Where Man Has Never Been … The Grid. A Digital Frontier”
The Canon
1982 - TRON
1983-1989 - TRON: Betrayal • TRON: Evolution
1990-2009 - TRON: Uprising • The “Flynn Lives” ARG
2010 - TRON: Legacy
Discontinuity - TRON 2.0 (Killer App) and TRON: Ghost in the Machine
The Characters
Users • Programs
’Ships
Het • Slash
Online Resources
Note: To avoid the major spoilers for Legacy, I will be making some tactful omissions in the synopses, and using hidden text in the character bios.
The Canon
1982 - TRON
The world inside the mainframe of ENCOM, a Type 2 Mega Corp, is in thrall to the Master Control Program, which, with the aid of its lieutenant, Sark, and in collusion with ENCOM VP Edward Dillinger, has been appropriating programs. Those which do not renounce the Users and serve Master Control willingly are turned into drones, used as cannon fodder in video games, absorbed by the MCP, or killed outright. The program’s reign over the ENCOM system, and its plans to infiltrate the outside world, face two challenges: Kevin Flynn, a programmer-turned- arcade owner who has been hacking the system for proof that he wrote ENCOM’s most popular games before getting fired by Dillinger, who took credit for his work; and Tron, an independent security program created by Alan Bradley. After one of Kevin’s hacks prompts a system lockdown, Lora Baines persuades Alan that they should warn Kevin, but their visit, instead of dissuading him, results in a plan: Kevin will use Lora’s workstation to forge a password that will allow Alan to deploy Tron against the MCP, thereby reopening the system and, hopefully, vindicating Kevin. Everything goes smoothly until the Master Control Program uses the digitizing laser in Lora’s lab to abduct Kevin into the system and orders Sark to send the User to his death in the games. Luckily, Kevin meets Tron, and with the help of Ram, Yori, and Dumont they fight for the freedom of both their worlds.
[The 1982 movie was not the smash hit Walt Disney Productions was hoping for, but it turned a profit and gradually gained a reputation as the SF film equivalent of the Velvet Underground’s first album: many programmers, designers, and animators cite TRON as a crucial influence. Pixar’s John Lasseter has stated, “Without TRON, there would be no Toy Story.”]
1983-1989
TRON: Betrayal
This graphic novel depicts the rise and fall of Kevin Flynn. Kevin has become CEO of ENCOM and married Jordan Canas, with whom he has a son, Sam. He has also set up a secret lab in the basement of his arcade containing the digitizing laser and an unnetworked computer. On this mainframe he builds “a new Grid for Users and Programs...where all information [is] free and open,” and installs Tron to deal with gridbugs and other glitches. During Jordan’s pregnancy, Kevin, realizing he will have less opportunity to visit the Grid, creates Clu to oversee the system’s development in his stead. Then the unexpected occurs: the appearance of new digital life. The Basics - Programs created by Users - now share the Grid with Isomorphic Algorithms, or ISOs, whose code was not written but generated spontaneously. While Kevin is fascinated by the new programs, Clu considers them an unpredictable element that destabilizes his “perfect system.” Clu is also troubled by the lengthening intervals between Kevin’s visits, and increasingly resents his maker’s preoccupation with “the real world.” After Jordan’s death in September 1985, Kevin finds it ever more difficult to juggle the demands of work, home, and the Grid. Matters are taken out of his hands in July 1989 when Clu decides that, for the system’s sake, both the ISOs and his “corrupted” User must go. Kevin survives Clu’s attack, thanks to Tron, but is unable to reach the portal to the outside world before it closes. Since the portal cannot be activated from inside the system, Kevin is trapped on the Grid.
TRON: Evolution
This game, which was released in tandem with Legacy, starts during a detente between the Basics and ISOs and ends shortly after Clu’s coup. An attack by a mysterious and dangerous virus, Abraxas (Julian Glover), disrupts the installation of Radia (Kari Wahlgren), an ISO, as Co-Systems Administrator. Clu declares that the virus is the fault of the ISOs and begins his purge. The player takes the role of a new Basic system monitor, Anon, who witnesses Clu’s assault on Kevin and Tron, then teams up with an ISO, Gibson (Jensen Ackles), to fight Abraxas and Clu.
1990-2009
TRON: Uprising
This animated television series follows a young security program, Beck (Elijah Wood), as he is mentored by Tron and attempts to fight against Clu’s campaign of terror. [The show is scheduled to start as a ten-part “microseries” on DisneyXD in the fall of 2011, and then air standard-length episodes in the summer of 2012.]
The “Flynn Lives” ARG
ENCOM was thrown into chaos when Kevin Flynn vanished. Alan Bradley stepped in as CEO but was unable to prevent the company’s stock from falling as a result of Flynn’s absence and competition from Dillinger Systems. A year later, the board declared it was time to accept Kevin’s loss and move on, and instituted measures to increase profits, including mass layoffs. Alan resigned as CEO in protest, but remained with ENCOM as an “Executive Consultant” in order to preserve Kevin’s legacy for Sam, the single largest shareholder in ENCOM.
The Flynn Lives movement was started by supporters of Kevin Flynn who were dissatisfied with ENCOM’s actions after he went missing. Some felt that the company was too quick to give up on him; others suspected that someone at ENCOM knew something, or might even had played a role in his disappearance. Under the leadership of ZackAttack, members tried to keep the search going, investigated ENCOM’s possible involvement, and explored Kevin Flynn’s last known projects; over time, their focus shifted to keeping Kevin’s spirit alive within the increasingly mercenary company. Inevitably, over the years their energy flagged, but the group was revivified in 2009 when Sam Flynn began pranking ENCOM.
[In the real world, the Flynn Lives alternate reality game began in July 2009 and is ongoing. Participants solve puzzles and perform tasks in order to access online content, participate in special events, and obtain exclusive memorabilia.]
2010 - TRON: Legacy
In a prologue, seven-year-old Sam Flynn enjoys a bedtime story about his father Kevin’s adventures on the Grid with Tron and Clu, which ends with the promise that one day Kevin will take Sam there. That is the last Sam sees of Kevin for twenty years, until, the night before Sam’s latest prank against ENCOM, Alan Bradley is paged from the long-abandoned Flynn’s Arcade. Sam investigates, discovers the hidden lab, and ends up on the Grid. He is conscripted into the Games and survives a disc battle with Rinzler and a light cycle match against Clu before he’s rescued by Quorra. She reunites him with Kevin, who tells his son about Clu’s coup and the eradication of the ISOs. Kevin, realizing that Clu sent the page as part of a plan to obtain Kevin’s identity disc, which might enable Programs to leave the Grid, urges caution. Sam, however, argues that he can destroy Clu from outside the system and leaves. Kevin decides he has no choice but to join him, and soon the Flynns and Quorra are racing to reach the portal before Clu, who has designs on the world outside the computer.
Discontinuity: TRON 2.0 (Killer App) and TRON: Ghost in the Machine
In 2003, TRON 2.0, a first-person shooter game for PCs, was released; the Mac version, subtitled “Killer App,” came out the following year. As Jethro Eugene “Jet” Bradley, son of Alan Bradley (who became CEO following Kevin Flynn’s retirement) and Lora Baines (who died in an accident with the digitizing laser, but whose mind or consciousness is partially preserved in Ma3a, an A.I.), the player searches for a kidnapped Alan and battles digitized agents of Future Control Industries (fCon), a company conducting a hostile takeover of ENCOM, with the help of Mercury, a female warrior program (Rebecca Romijn). Then, in 2006-2008, a six-part comic book series titled TRON 2.0: Ghost in the Machine was published. Jet, traumatized by his experience in the system, is on the run from the police, who suspect him of murdering Alan. After fleeing into the digital realm, Jet must cope with a war between free Programs and a resurrected MCP, and his increasingly unreliable memory and splintered consciousness.
The game and the comic were touted as sequels to the 1982 film, but they have been rendered uncanonical by Legacy and its tie-ins.
The Characters
Users
Ram: You really think the Users are still there?
Tron: They’d better be. I don’t want to bust out of here and find nothin’ but a lot of cold circuits waiting for me.
Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges)
“On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy.”
Kevin Flynn is the brilliant, charismatic, exasperating axis of the TRON franchise. He’s introduced as an extroverted hacker and an irrepressible smart-ass, unable to resist teasing Alan and Lora even as they’re sneaking him into ENCOM. After his experiences in the digital world he becomes an optimistic visionary and proselytizes about the potential of computers to improve the human condition. He’s a good friend and an affectionate husband and father. On the downside, he’s confident to the point of arrogance, which leads him to dismiss others’ concerns, overextend himself, and neglect basic precautions (like backing up his work or writing an “In the Case of My Disappearance” letter). The death of Jordan, the destruction of the ISOs, and his exile on the Grid leave him a humbler, rueful man, though he still has a sense of humor.
Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund)
“What am I supposed to do?”
After losing his mother, Jordan, as a toddler, Sam was raised by his grandparents and his father, Kevin, who went missing in 1989. Sam clung to the belief that his father would return at first, but eventually decided, “He’s either dead, or chilling in Costa Rica.” He considers Alan Bradley his surrogate father but has distanced himself, unable to face Alan’s unwavering faith in Kevin or his efforts to urge Sam into a leadership role at ENCOM. Along with his share in the company, Sam inherited his father’s motorcycle and knack for hacking, both of which come in handy during his high-profile pranks on ENCOM. He is athletic and nervy, traits that serve him well on the Grid. Meeting Quorra and finding his father reveals the tender heart Sam had hidden under a veneer of flippancy.
Dr. Alan T. “Tron” Bradley (a.k.a. “Alan_1,” “ISOlated Thinker”) (Bruce Boxleitner)
“I don't even balance my checkbook on down time. I have an abacus at home for that.”
All ENCOM programmer Alan Bradley wanted was the freedom to work on his new program, Tron. Then he helps Kevin Flynn, his girlfriend Lora Baines’s ex, crash the repressive Master Control Program and gets promoted to Chief Operating Officer. After Kevin disappears he steps in as interim CEO and surrogate father to Sam, but by the start of Legacy he has been downgraded to “Executive Consultant,” and he and Sam are estranged. “TRON: The Next Day” reveals that as ISOlated Thinker he funded and fed intel to Flynn Lives. Alan is intelligent, sometimes prickly, principled but willing to bend the rules, something of a geek (check out the “GORT KLATUU BARADA NIKTO” poster in his cubicle), and loyal to his friends and loved ones.
Dr. Lora Baines (Cindy Morgan)
“Shall we dance?”
Lora is Yori’s creator and a member of ENCOM’s laser digitization team. She treats her colleague Walter Gibbs with friendly respect; addresses Kevin, an ex, with fond exasperation; and is warm and playful with Alan, whom she ultimately marries. Although her intent in visiting Kevin at the arcade was to warn him against further hacks, she is an enthusiastic participant in the ENCOM break-in. Above all, Lora is a dedicated scientist, and in Betrayal she leaves ENCOM for a job in Washington, D.C., but she continued her relationship with Alan on a long-distance basis and has joined him for ENCOM public events.
Edward Dillinger, Sr. (a.k.a. “MCTRL_751”) (David Warner)
“Doing our business is what computers are for.”
ENCOM’s Senior Executive Vice President is a Corrupt Corporate Executive who stole Kevin Flynn’s video games and had him fired, wrote Sark, and claims authorship of the final version of the Master Control Program. He is alarmed when the MCP reveals its plans for the world outside the ENCOM mainframe, and dismayed when the program threatens to reveal his crimes if he doesn’t cooperate. After leaving ENCOM he founded Dillinger Systems, a successful software company. His online chat with his son after “TRON: The Next Day” strongly implies that the Dillingers have schemes involving ENCOM.
Edward Dillinger, Jr. (a.k.a. “EDJ_0431”) (Cillian Murphy)
“The idea of sharing our software or giving it away for free disappeared with Kevin Flynn.”
Junior is the head of ENCOM’s software design team in Legacy, and the one board member who reacts effectively to Sam Flynn’s hack. He seems equally unimpressed by Alan Bradley’s protests against ENCOM’s profiteering and Chairman Richard Mackey’s grandstanding. He may play a larger role in a third film, a possibility supported by the video in which he chats online with his father and calls Sam Flynn’s decision to take control of ENCOM a “Minor bump in the road. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Roy “Ram” Kleinberg (a.k.a. “ZackAttack”) (Dan Shor)
“I knew it was over when they brought the cubicles back.”
Alert viewers of TRON noticed that Ram and the co-worker who asks Alan for popcorn were played by the same actor, implying a Program-User relationship. This was confirmed in the Legacy Blu-Ray bonus feature “TRON: The Next Day,” which revealed Roy’s name, his position at ENCOM (Lead Programmer before he was laid off), and his identity as ZackAttack, the mastermind of the Flynn Lives movement (and owner of Arcade Aid, a supply and repair company for classic arcade games). His devotion to Kevin Flynn’s ideals is rewarded when he’s invited to return to ENCOM as the company’s “moral compass.”
Dr. Walter Gibbs (Bernard Hughes)
“...our spirit remains in every program we design for this computer.”
ENCOM’s founder, who wrote Dumont and the chess program that became the MCP, has largely ceded control of his company since he’s more interested in his experiments, but the system lockdown inspires him to argue with Dillinger that the point of the ENCOM system should be the unobstructed flow of information and ideas.
Jordan Canas (embodied in Legacy and the ARG by Amy Esterle)
“I need you to be you, Kevin Flynn. Make me proud. And don’t disappear on me.”
Soon after his first trip into the electronic world, Kevin Flynn married Jordan and the two had a son, Sam. According to the ARG she was a talented architect who designed at least one building for ENCOM. In Betrayal, she’s portrayed as secure enough in the relationship to have patience with Kevin’s constant preoccupation. After she suffers an unspecified medical emergency while pregnant with Sam, Kevin modifies a telephone so he can be paged on the Grid (a feat which piques Clu’s interest). In the chapter following her death, her parents are shown helping Flynn to raise Sam and chiding their son-in-law for not spending more time with his family.
Programs
The programs are only algorithms as human beings are only collections of chemicals.
-from the TRON novelization by Brian Daley
Programs in TRON and Legacy
Tron (Bruce Boxleitner)
“I fight for the Users.”
A “self-monitoring computer security system” written by Alan Bradley, Tron is the greatest warrior of the Grid. He keeps faith with the Users even when he fears that they may have abandoned the Programs. After he escapes the light cycle arena with Flynn and Ram, Tron makes a beeline for Yori, whom he loves. He is surprised to learn that Kevin is a User, but accepts his new friend’s abilities and limitations with grace. When Kevin transfers him to the new Grid, he devotes himself to protecting his fellow Programs from gridbugs and other threats; he also competes in the Games, which he enjoys when the stakes are not life or death. Tron sides with Flynn and the ISOs against Clu, a choice which costs him dearly. When Tron’s not fighting, he is earnest and rather sweet.
“You’re the best program that’s ever been written.”
Clu (Jeff Bridges)
There have been two programs named Clu. First came the hacking program Kevin uses to search the ENCOM mainframe; he is killed by the Master Control Program after refusing to break under torture.
Kevin wrote the second Clu, his “Codified Likeness Utility” (sometimes called “Clu2” by fans), to act as Systems Administrator of the Grid. Clu is unable to create Programs, but can repurpose or destroy them. Tasked with creating “the perfect system,” he interpreted “perfection” as efficiency, order and control. He saw Kevin’s embrace of the ISOs as a betrayal of their mission, and his response was to eliminate both his “corrupted” creator and the entities he held responsible. There seems to be a bond between User and Program - Kevin claims that Clu fed on his resistance, and Quorra tells Sam that the only way his father could destroy Clu now is through “reintegration,” which neither would survive. In Legacy, Clu exults in his position as “Liberator” of the Grid, gloats over his enemies, and shows rage and anguish when confronting Kevin.
“I will create the perfect system.”
Programs in TRON
Master Control Program, or MCP (CGI character voiced by David Warner)
“No one User wrote me. I’m worth millions of their man-years.”
The Big Bad of TRON. Originally a chess program, the MCP was repeatedly upgraded over the years until it was capable of administering the entire ENCOM network. Master Control came to believe that it should also be in charge of the world outside the computer, and had infiltrated the Kremlin and the United States Strategic Air Command before it was stopped by Tron. Long presumed dead, the fact that in a Legacy Blu-Ray bonus feature Dillinger Sr.’s sign-in is “MCTRL_751” and his dialogue is read by a vocoded voice similar to the MCP’s raises interesting possibilities.
Sark (David Warner)
“You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic.”
This program, apparently written by Edward Dillinger, fills the role of the Dragon. He oversees and sometimes competes in the Game Grid, and delights in torturing and killing Programs. The MCP rewards him for good performance with power boosts, and punishes him when he fails. Although Sark exhorts Programs to renounce their “superstitious and hysterical belief” in the Users, he acknowledges his makers’ existence while speaking with the MCP, and has qualms about putting Kevin in the games.
Yori (Cindy Morgan)
“I knew you’d escape! They haven’t built a circuit that can hold you.”
Yori was created by Lora Baines as part of the digitizing laser project - her function is not specified in canon, but I think of her as a rendering program. During Tron’s captivity she was turned into a drone, but when they reunite she regains her personality. Yori oversaw the creation of the Solar Sailer simulation, and it’s her idea to use it to reach the MCP. She seems intrigued by Kevin Flynn even before he reveals that he’s a User; Cindy Morgan has said that she was told Yori possesses vestigal memories from Lora, and subconsciously recognizes him.
Ram (Dan Shor)
“Do you believe in the Users?”
This actuarial program, created by Roy Kleinberg, was conscripted as a video game warrior. He occupies the cell between Tron’s and Kevin’s, and the three of them compete as a team in the light cycle game before escaping. He is the first Program to realize that Kevin Flynn is a User.
Dumont
“All that is visible must grown beyond itself and extend into the realm of the invisible.”
The guardian of the last active input/output tower on the ENCOM mainframe was written by Walter Gibbs. The cycles under Master Control’s rule have left Dumont pessimistic, but Yori convinces him to let Tron communicate with Alan_1 and receive the code that will shut down the MCP.
[Look closely, and you’ll see a “Dumont” logo in the classic TRON font on one of the shipping containers that make up Sam’s riverside bachelor pad.]
Programs in Legacy
Quorra (Olivia Wilde)
“I guess you could say … I’m a rescue.”
A wide-eyed, well-read ( Jules Verne is her favorite), ass-kicking ingenue, Quorra is Kevin Flynn’s “apprentice” in the cycles following Clu’s coup. Although saddened by the purge of the ISOs and Clu’s domination of the Grid, she’s a naturally cheerful person, laughing when she evades the sentries or thinks that Sam has said something funny. While Quorra reveres Kevin as the Creator, she is very much her own person and behaves according to her nature (which she describes as “more aggressive”), knowledge, and opinions. When she makes a mistake, she acknowledges it and moves on. During the race to the portal she shows herself capable of sacrifice for the sake of friends and the greater good.
Rinzler (Anis Cheufra)
“Rrrrrr...”
The faceless, largely speechless Program who wields dual identity discs is The Dragon to Clu’s Big Bad. He is the champion of the disc wars game, greeted with chanting from the bloodthirsty (voxel-hungry?) crowd. When Quorra breaks into the light cycle arena and escapes with Sam, Rinzler is dispatched in pursuit. Later, he tracks the Flynns and Quorra from the End of Line Club, and when he catches up Kevin is shocked to realize that Rinzler is a repurposed Tron. Soon afterward, he reverts to his original allegiance and turns on Clu. His current status is unknown [warning: linked images are spoilers].
[Because of his incredible acrobatics and near-constant rumble or growl, there is a lot of fanfic and fanart featuring kitty!Rinzler.]
Gem (Beau Garrett) and the Sirens
“It’s unfortunate we met the way we did.”
Gem is one of the Sirens, the Programs who costume and equip Sam for the games. She later takes Sam to the End of Line Club to meet Zuse.
Castor (Michael Sheen)
“I'm Castor, your host, provider of any and all entertainments and diversions.”
The flamboyant majordomo of the End of Line Club controls access to Zuse.
Jarvis (James Frain)
“I could be of even greater service.”
This Middle Management Mook serves Clu. His eagerness to please outstrips his courage and his competence.
Zuse (SPOILER: Michael Sheen)
“Zuse has been around since the earliest days of the gaming grid. By necessity, he has to mind all the percentages. All the angles.”
This program fought alongside the ISOs and has a reputation for being able to get any Program anywhere. He might have served as a rallying figure for the anti-Clu factions, but he went into hiding after the purge.
The Masked DJs (Daft Punk, who composed the soundtrack)
“Electrify the boys and girls, if you would be so kind.”
These two Programs provide the music for the End of Line Club’s dance floor. They’re often referred to as the MP3s in fandom.
’Ships
Let me start by addressing the obvious questions: do Programs feel love and/or desire, and can they have sex? The answer is a definite “yes” to the first: Tron and Yori touch constantly, and at the End of Line Club we see Programs canoodling and, later, grieving for the newly derezzed. As for the second issue, while Programs do not procreate, it appears they can perform an act analogous to lovemaking - the script and novelization of TRON include a love scene between Tron and Yori, some of which was filmed, scored, and had complete FX added before the sequence was cut. (This footage is the source of the fanfic convention that Programs glow purple when aroused, as well as all the references to “sparkle capes” or “glitter capes.”) However, kisses seem to be unknown to Programs until Kevin plants one on Yori; she wastes no time sharing this innovation with Tron, who likes it.
Het
Kevin: She still leave her clothes all over the floor?
Lora: Flynn!
Alan: No!
Lora: Alan!
Alan: I mean, not that often.
There are several canon het relationships: Alan/Lora, Kevin/Lora (past - see quote above), Tron/Yori, and Kevin/Jordan. Other pairings hinted at in canon are Kevin/Yori (the aforementioned kiss), Quorra/Sam (she ogles him; he compares her to a sunrise), Gem/Sam, Castor/Gem ( amoral OTP), and Quorra/Zuse (based on how they talk about each other and their intense stare-off at the End of Line Club). Many reviewers of Legacy speculated about Kevin/Quorra, and there is a definite frisson when Clu and Quorra are face to face (“I have something very special in mind for you”). When Quorra isn’t paired with a Flynn, the most likely alternatives are Alan, Rinzler, or Ed Dillinger, Jr.
Slash
There is a case to be made for an Alan/Kevin/Lora OT3, possibly expanded into an OT4 after Kevin and Jordan’s marriage.
The most popular User slash pairings are Alan/Kevin (available in ’Eighties and silver fox versions) and Alan/Sam. Roy Kleinberg is often paired with Kevin or Alan (sometimes Kevin and Alan). Ed Dillinger, Jr. has been paired with Alan or Sam (sometimes Alan and Sam). And yes, there is Flynncest and Ed Jr./Ed Sr.
Program slash fics tend to feature Ram/Tron, Clu/Tron, or Clu/Rinzler. Other possibilities include Clu/Jarvis, Jarvis/Rinzler, Gem/Quorra, Quorra/Rinzler, Gem/Rinzler, Castor/various, the Sirens/various, and the DJs/various. The villainous Programs of TRON don’t get much play, but I have seen MCP/Sark and Sark/Tron.
The most obvious combinations for Program/User slash are the doppelganger duos: Alan/Tron, Clu/Kevin, and Lora/Yori. Kevin/Tron is a no-brainer, and Sam/Tron is a popular option despite the obvious difficulties. Sam is also frequently paired with Clu and/or Rinzler (for all your dubcon, noncon, fight!sex, hate!sex needs). There is a fair amount of Kevin/Ram and Kevin/Ram/Tron. Other mixed three- and foursomes are Kevin/Tron/Yori, Kevin/Ram/Tron/Yori, Clu/Kevin/Tron, Alan/Lora/Tron, Quorra/Rinzler/Sam, Ed/Quorra/Sam, and Ed/Quorra/Rinzler/Sam.
Online Resources
Livejournal
- A good all-purpose community, where people can ask questions, link to fics, show icons and vids, arrange fan meet-ups, and promote comms, is tron_legacy, which despite its name accepts posts about the whole canon.
- The tronkinkmeme has slowed down a bit but it’s still going, and will probably revive when TRON: Uprising airs.
- There are various fic comms, whose names are self-explanatory:
- all-tron-fic
- tron-genfic
- tron-het
- tron_slash
- Too many character- and pairing-specific comms to list; check the user info pages of the above comms for affiliates.
- women-of-tron focuses on the female characters.
- tron_icons is exactly what it says in the box.
- The official site for the movie, disney.go.com/tron, offers the usual amenities (cast and character bios, wallpapers, video and sound clips, merchandise) along with the opportunity for fans to create “Program” avatars with which to explore the interactive site.
- flynnlives.com is the main site for the ARG. There are lots of goodies to be found if you explore the many links, including games, loads of backstory, and extracts from Kevin Flynn’s books (be sure to run your cursor over the pages - the highlighted passages have attached audioclips).
- Of course there is a Tron Wiki.
- Tron-Sector is a fantastic fan site.
- There are a lot of TRON fans on Tumblr. Check out Tron Universe, or just type “tron” into the search box.