My favorite detail in the whole Matrix saga will forever be the climax of Smiths and Neos fight in Revolutions. In the first act, the movie set up the emotions of machines. In the end, Smith (the machine) is an emotional mess, while Neo (the human) is completely stoic. Smith experiences everything from glee, anger, confusion and at the end, fear.
I always thought Smith’s extremely emotional behaviour (there might actually be a theory out there too, probably by Matrix Explained, great great channel) is because he has at that point assimilated everyone and acquired all their emotions as he is a virus in a host’s body he inherently senses his hosts’ emotions, which is extra ironic because he compared humans to viruses and said he hates the stinks of humans yet he basically lives in them 😂
@@Nicholas_Chen_ that's a really great observation! he despise humanity because he felt it infected him simply by his being present alongside it. he eventually became the thing that even more violently infected all the humanity in the matrix - but he was still ultimately made one with the thing he hated and craved an escape from the most.
sometimes the worst thing for oneself and everyone involved can be the achievement of dearly held goals, especially when chasing them invests oneself in their very contradiction.
What i like about the matrix trilogy is that you see Neo going through all these different emotions in the first film and smith showing almost no emotion, the second shows that neo has grown in 6 months and is more stoic whereas smith shows more emotion, in the third film neo is completely stoic and like you stated smith is an emotional mess
Hugo Weaving will never be forgotten for this iconic role. His portrayal as the diabolical agent/program is tremendously impeccable with every line and action. I recommend Sheriff Hoyt from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies from 2003 and 2006.
I've always thought that when Smith/Bane cuts his hand, it could be because he's never had the experience of being in a "real" body, so he's almost testing what limits this new body has.
@N using what a person would do in a situation as a indicator is completely useless. Because a human isn't making the decision. A program is. Why does it need spelled out for you that entirely different species approach decision making in different ways?
I do like how in this video you consider machines being evil as a matter of perspective, making this video truly an anomaly much like Agent Smith and Neo. It's interesting you mentioned his nihilism but he is also extremely narcissistic by assimulating literally every human being in the matrix, dominating and unifying everything. Sometimes extreme nihilism and extreme narcissism these two may be the same thing. It's deeply philosophical just like the Matrix universe you are analysing is. It would be very interesting to explore the lore and even theorise backgrounds for Smith (there are theories he was an ex the one) to see what made him who initially was a program developing a free will.
If you recall Seraph defeated Smith before, meaning Seraph was probably an earlier version of The One and Smith has been at his mission of freedom for a long time
Seraph was BOTH a former One and an Agent of the Paradise Matrix who once had angel wings but they were later deleted from the simulation by the Architect.
I think it's worth noting that the machine faction in the Matrix is not a monolith. We plainly see programs who have ideas distinct from the overall consensus. That being said, the Machines have as good as reason as anyone to revise their history to something more sympathetic in the second Renaissance
I just think everyone wants every villain to be sympathetic so chaotic evil characters are written so little. I’d argue that making someone who is evil but sympathetic is very difficult. Because it’s a thin line between being sympathetic and someone just acting immature in an extreme manner.
One thing I find interesting about Smith is how he gets some differentiation amongst his copies there at the end. Because of this detail, I think the video is missing one point it would be nice to have: the inevitable collapse of perfectionism. Overall, fantastic work once again.
There's a quote from the anime 'Cyber City Odeo 808' where a robot says: "The building's computer and myself have been designed by humans. Therefore, we inherit their faults." Machines are only as perfect as the person who made them. As Satoru Iwata's teacher once told him: "If something you made doesn't work, it's your fault." What happened in the Matrix was the result of humans unintentionally creating life, seeing it as a threat, and lead to their own destruction at the hands of the very life they created. And said life, just like the humans, ended up creating Agent Smith, another life form that wants to destroy what ever stands in his way. The flaws carried on.
If I were from the machine world I think it could be argued that Smith was a perfectly functioning program until that damned dirty human "imprinted" something on him. Thus his flaws were not from being a 6th generation Matrix guard manufacture. :D
Wow, I can't even believe it's already episode 75. I found you from your Arthur Fleck episode and instantly was hooked on the channel, despite the relative lack of content at the time. I instantly went and watched the entire back catalogue, and have watched every video since then. Congrats on 75 episodes of Analyzing Evil. Here's to 750 more.
I have always loved how Smith is the Antithesis of Neo, who is the thesis, and them merging is the answer (synthesis). But it's so cool how Neo and Smith are both the Wild cards, who go against their purpose. Especially Smith, in how he is the actual key in creating the peace. Him becoming an all-powerful villain, really helped set up the conditions to end the war. Also, a few other fun things I noticed are that Neo is One, while Smith is the many. And Neo becomes less and less emotional and more stoic with each movie, while Smith keeps hamming it up and acting more and more human. Smith killed Neo, who was reborn, then Neo killed Smith, who was also reborn. Smith works with the machines at first, before becoming a threat to the matrix. Neo is a threat to the matrix, before working with the machines to remove the threat. Even their core ideology is the opposite (Faith vs Nihilism). A lot of Ying-Yang stuff going on between them. Basically, it's an amazing cinematic rivalry, with a great ending.
When you delve not only into a character but the world and circumstances they live in. It amps up the awesomeness of your videos to ridiculous levels. This might actually be your best work yet!
@@trazyntheinfinite Ian McDiarmid lost his crown after The Rise of Skywalker, an unsalvageable dumpster fire of a movie. Exponentially worse than all the Matrix sequels.
Even though the machines made humans into their Energizer batteries they still provided the humans a world to live in instead of just leaving them as mindless vegetables that just generate electricity. I don't recall why the machines created the Matrix, perhaps they couldn't get enough energy out of vegetative humans?
The human bodies dosent function without the mind. So in order for the bodies to keep functioning and tricking the mind that they are living a normal life the Matrix was created.
If memory serves me correctly, the matrix was created as a way to keep humanity alive, to have a virtual place for their minds (because the body cannot live without it) and to be a prison. While humans are serving as batteries, they are also being kept from killing each other, as well as from destroying the sentient machines. The machines were not keen on destroying humanity, despite being depicted as "evil." Several times throughout the series, the machines are depicted as feeling sorry for humans and wanting peace, but humanity kept rejecting the idea. Also, Agent Smith, the Oracle, and the architect, to name a few, could all be manifestations of "personality traits/archtypes" of a singular machine conciousness.
In the original script the machines didn't use humans as batteries or power sources, but as processing units, all the minds of the entire human race was one giant computer, more powerful than something made just out of metal and silicon. This makes a lot more sense, as it gives the machines a reason to give the humans a virtual reality instead of just making them braindead. It's also more realistic, a human body needs to consume energy from food to stay alive, and if the machines had a source of food they could just burn that food for energy, no humans needed Unfortunately the studio executives thought a plot like that was too complex for viewers to understand so they literally asked the writer to dumb down the plot, that's why we got the nonsensical and unrealistic explanation we did. Film people underestimating the intelligence of the viewer, how typical
@@exantiuse497 I do remember reading about that actually. I agree with your sentiment on the execs. Intelligence is usually underestimated. The movies were good up until 4. The Animatrix is probably one of the most underrated series of the past 20 years.
I mean, it's kind of cool that Smith sees the goal of existence as ending--that's what programs do. They want to execute, return a value, and terminate. Continuing on too long indicates a bug.
I first watched the Matrix when I was a child, so I was too young to understand the meaning behind Agent Smith's words. However, as I grew up, and both increased my knowledge of the world around me and started paying attention to the news, I over time began to understand it. His opinion on humanity, his belief that our freedom might be a lie and all we are and do is already determined, and the fact that everything will inevitably end. While I saw and read about several villains along the years, Agent Smith was perhaps the one that left the deepest impression on me, and he played a rule in moulding my current perception of the world.
A long time ago, when Agent Smith was newly generated, he was tasked to kill the rogue program, The Oracle, and her son. He was new to the Matrix, and was unaware of her capabilities. So he tried to delete her by firing at her with his gun, though the Oracle safely removed herself and her son from danger, much to Agent Smith's dismay. He never again had the same opportunity to delete her, as he soon received a new task; kill the one who would disrupt the Matrix; Kill Neo. So every time he meets Neo, he reminds himself of that situation, so he can try to avoid the same mistake. "Mister Anderson".
7:45 I would have included that the machines didn't need to make the Matrix, their energy needs would have been met by ranks of braindead automatons, but they loved us enough as their forebears to try to build us a prison we wouldn't recognize as one.
Isn't the Animatrix story from the machine's POV? If so, then we only have one side of the story, and the winner's no less. Your empire's hands look a lot cleaner when you get to decide where history starts, and what parts of it don't count.
@@logicplague On the surface, the Machines didn't need to give us thinking minds, the Matrix, Zion, or even maintain the sewers (A few nuclear bombs or even creating a canal to flood Zion from an ocean would have solved a lot of issues), but they maintained a peace at their own deficit.
5:50 it seems humanity's fear of the decline of power is a fear the machines have as well. Which makes perfect sense considering we made them, they are our intellectual descendents so this basically makes them just another form of human life, even though they are not bound by the same physical limitations as we are.
I feel I can say, in absolute honesty, this may be Vile Eye's best one yet. I've been a fan of the Matrix since first seeing it as a kid and only just after watching have I found someone able to so precisely review and critically analyze the world of the Matrix and the nature of Agent Smith in such a perfect manner. The only criticism I could possibly conjur in regards to this video, would be that Vile Eye's manner of presentation feels genuinely more rushed and "less ASMR" than previous videos, and I believe this could be due to them having recently (and quite obviously) increased their time and energy devoted to producing these videos much more frequently than older ones. This is me saying Im gonna subscribe to the vile eye patreon because their shit is that good, I just hope they arent pushing themselves to "meet a goal". The majority of Vile Eye's fanbase is endearingly patient and we should only ever ask for Quality, not Quantity.
Agent Smith reminded me a lot of the T-1000s in Terminator lore. He was designed as a near indestructible, damn near perfect killing machine. But unlike other “models” of his kind his design allowed a level of intelligence that eventually bred autonomous thinking. Mass production of T-1000s never became a thing because Skynet feared its creation could potentially band together and resist it. Unfortunately, the machine entity in The Matrix was too slow to both realize and react to Smith’s autonomy, and it almost got consumed by the aforementioned virus that was Agent Smith and his clones.
I like the way Smith refers to himself as "inevitable". It's not Smith himself that's inevitable, it's what he is and what he does. As much as Smith despises humans he is very much an example of one. One of many that caused the downfall of mankind in this universe. It transcends what is right or wrong. The mere happening of it is what's "inevitable". Ying cannot exist without Yang. There will always be peace, and there will always be conflict. It's a take on the universe itself. Without an enormous catastrophic explosion, and billions of years of the dust settling we couldn't be here today. We're merely an instance of order bound within chaos which was probably set upon by order again. It goes on forever because that's what forever is. Shifting polarities. An eternal ballet between dominating forces.
Neo is The One. The prophecy (which is a lie, remember) says that to end the War, the One must enter that special room in that building. The Key Maker, who grants them access to said building, does not tell Neo which door is THE door, as "You will know which". This is when the prophecy is revealed to be a lie and that it is simply another measure of control. Humans WILL NOT accept the Matrix, UNLESS there is an element of choice involved, even if it is on an unconscious level. This is the function of The One. To make a choice. To ensure that the Matrix doesn't crash. The Architect tells Neo that the machines are going to attack and destroy Zion, which they have already done 5 times. Neo is given the following choices: 1. Choose a set number of people to be awakened from the Matrix. Rebuild Zion with them. 2. Save Trinity. So, for sake of argument, let's assume Smith is the One (he's not). How did Neo enter that room? How did he know which one it was? And MOST importantly: Why does the Archetect explain the entire plan of the machines and how the Matrix functions, and THEN offer Neo a choice? If Neo is NOT the One - why does the Architect even speak to him? Why is HE given the all-important choice? What did the Architect plan to do if Neo chose to rebuild Zion? Yell "GOTCHA!"? Neo IS The One. The Matrix is crashing. (This is why the One needs to reboot it). Smith is part of the Matrix failing and crashing, which it WILL DO, which is why the One even exists.
I see him more as the shadow of the one, though they have a duality. Neo can’t reboot the matrix without being assimilated by Smith thus achieving his ultimate goal. But this scenario wouldn’t exist if Neo didn’t set Smith free in the first place which gave him the weird assimilation power. So they both are dependent of each other.
@@Nicholas_Chen_ Wait, who are you saying is the Shadow? Because I'll accept Smith as that; when Neo became the One in the original movie and "destroyed" Smith, I could easily buy that as a problem the One created and now must fix before the Matrix can be properly rebooted.
Hugo Weaving is the perfect Agent Smith and absolutely was such a show stealer. Also, I remember watching that anime short before the sequels came out and it really shook me. It was heartbreaking seeing the robots getting murdered in the streets, especially that scene where a mob is attacking a young woman and this man kills her with a hammer revealing she was a robot underneath it all. And that really burned in the concept of "just because something is not human does not mean it is devoid of emotions, desires, hopes, fears, and most of all a fear of its death." After that it made me almost sympathize with humanity LESS in this universe as they rebuffed every opportunity at peace, equality, and even potential growth from the offer of shared knowledge. Obviously, the state which humans "live" in during the films' events is tantamount to enslavement but it also in its own dark way feels like human got off lightly after brutalizing, annihilating, and near genociding the robots. Gives you pause at the bad guys in not only this series of films but humans against robots as a whole. Each side is trying to survive but how much effort did humanity REALLY put into a peaceful coexistence? For the world of the Matrix, not only was it none but it was a violent spitting in the face of every possible olive branch offered. Just some random ramblings. Almost makes me wonder if there will come a Vile Eye video of just "Humans" in various forms of media as the subject of Analyzing Evil.
Some villains for consideration: Judge Doom - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The Grand High Witch - The Witches Cardinal Daniel Houseman - Stigmata Leonard Shelby - Memento Albert Wesker - Resident Evil franchise Neil MacCauley - Heat Shingen Yashida - The Wolverine
I'm waiting for some anime villains, Sosuke Aizen from Bleach will be an exciting video seeing as he is the type of villain who basically scripted the protagonist's entire life up to that point. Naruto has an interesting assortment of villains that are worth analyzing as well. Naraku from the Inuyasha series, which I'm curious how much his video will discuss his incarnations or Onigumo's Heart initially preventing him from killing Kikyo.
I always thought it was heavily implied that Smith's actions were the result, or unintentional result, of The Architect's attempt to "balance the equation". The Oracle at the very least implies this in the 2nd movie, if I remember correctly. In which case can we even be sure Smith's actions were "evil" subjectively if he was just still carrying out his intended purpose and programming ?
@@ShadeATV Yes, he did. That's certainly not up for interpretation. I suppose my question is whether he could have acted differently, if he had a choice, or was he still just a program following his programming? It comes down to if Smith had a choice or not. If he chose to kill, then yes, absolutely evil, unequivocally so. But if he was still just a program following orders, is that the same thing? The end result is the same, of course, but I guess my argument, for lack of a better word, is that if Smith was still just another part of the system, the result of the architect's trying to "balance the equation" is it fair to assign him moral agency? Evil by it's common definition implies moral agency. If Smith was still just running programming, does he have moral agency? I'd argue no. I'd place the blame primarily on the Architect. I always took it to be heavily implied that Smith's actions were the result of said Architect. Either he's directly responsible and Smith's actions are part of his plan, or he made a mistake and Smith's actions are the consequence of that mistake. That's at least my take based on my recollections of the movies. I may end up rewatching them again, to see if that recollection is correct or not.
I think the Oracle, as the Architect's consultant, had him inadvertently create Agent Smith to break the cycle of the One, which the Architect was perfectly fine with continuing. he was created as the perfect leverage, a problem which can only be solved by The One, and only a One that rejected the Architect's cycle of the One I think him calling her mother, is a good indictor that she had some hand in his creation and flaws
[EDIT: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR NO WAY HOME IN THE COMMENTS] Great video as always! I have a suggestion for a good villain, Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin from the original spider-man movies and the MCU. I think he'd be a great one to cover considering how sadistic Goblin can be, and even before his transformation, Norman as a business man has a hard time being an actual father figure to Harry. While Norman himself isn't evil, he tries hard to be a good person, but just never has the best way of going about doing so...
Ehm the other day I actually did wonder if there is an Analysing Evil: Green Goblin from Spider-Man and No Way Home. That would be very interesting as it discusses dual personalities, schizophrenia and how the Goblin personality is formed and theorising whether it’s a manifestation of Norman’s negative traits, and I really want to see this channel breaking down his iconic lines, especially ‘first we attack his heart!’ And analyse the many, many vile things he has done especially after NWH with what he did to poor Aunt May 😭
@@Gadget-Walkmen I was honestly concerned that they would nerf my boi. And I always said to myself that the final fight they have in the 2002 movie won't be topped, just with the raw brutality of it. I feel they did great justice when they carried him over. The apartment scene where Tom is just wailing on him, and he's not only un-phased, he's just laughing, and then continues beating tom down. It really makes it feel like he's not just fighting another villain, he's fighting an actual sadistic monster...
@@Nicholas_Chen_ He's a very complex character indeed. With Dr.Stromm's death he seems to be a combination of confused and horrified. Then later on with the Oscorp board members, even after they back stabbed him, he still showed a bit of remorse when he sees the headline in the paper. Then when Harry opens up to his dad that he was right about MJ, about everything, she's in love with Peter. You can tell he automatically gets that more predatorial tone in his voice, all the while consoling Harry, but it's hard to tell if it's genuine or not. At the beginning of the movie when Norman and Harry are in the car, you can tell Norman does have a love for Harry, he's just not so great at expressing it, but it's quickly overshadowed when Peter comes into the picture.
@@pyroblade452I would easily say that two of the best fights that Spider-Man had on screen as the two Goblin fights were phenomenal on screen as those two fights in No Way Home are unbelievably Brutal and fantastic in suspense and drama. I can easily say the two fights in No Way Home has topped that goblin fight in the first Spider-Man movie, easily. (And uhhhh bro. Spider-Man 2’s final fight are ultimately better than Spider-Man’s one final fight with doctor octopus and everything else with it there along side with all the other aspects to it! Goblin in No Way Home has proven that he’s Spider-Man BEST villain on how brutal and sadistic he is!
Good take on Smith. Although he is an AI, like HAL 9000, I would consider him far more sinister, since he is self-aware, and acts against his programming. May I recommend the mirror from the horror film Oculous? Or maybe Paimon from Hereditary? These are villains unlike any that you have analyzed so far. Both are demonic entities who manipulate and attack people supernaturally.
I got a few ideas for Analyzing Evil. Carl Spender (The Cigarette Smoking man) from X-Files, Gul Dukat from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Frieza from Dragonball, The Governor from The Walking dead (I picked Governor over Negan because, while i like Negan way better as a character, I'd rather have the creator of this show sit through the walking dead when it was good at least instead of suffering through S6-Onward lol. Plus, imo, The Governor was way more evil than Negan), John Kreese and/or Terry Silver From Karate Kid universe (Including Cobra Kai whenever that ends), Gus Fring from Breaking Bad (at least until Better Call Saul is over)
I think a good idea for an analyzing evil episode would be Apollyon, from for honor, the campaign itself isn't very in depth but Apollyon is a very interesting character and she's also a villain who wins in the end, despite her dying
Another good video game villain to analyze in my mind could be a possible two-part episode, covering the forces of order/YHVH and the forces of chaos/Lucifer from the SMT series. Would be interesting to see, especially seeing the perspective of The Vile Eye (who is Christian) on the moral dilemma present in the work.
I love how you explore the nuances of every character even going into the expanded universe of to give the depth. I still say Nina Myers from "24" would be in ideal choice, given there is just as much in the E.U. of "24" as there is with anything else. Cunning and deadly and easily able to blend in this is what makes her the exact nemesis for the every hero, Jack Bauer.
I always thought the reason smith bane was cutting himself was he hated everything about being in the human shell and self scarring was an affect of that
I thought Smith wanted to go into Zion to get onto its mainframe and ESCAPE the Source, since Zion's destruction would mean his not having a purpose anymore, thus his deletion.
This is the episode i was waiting FOREVER for! Thank you!!!! I personally think agent smith is one of the greatest movie villains of all time, up there with darth vader and sidious and the joker etc. I love the irony of humans creating machines that ended up destroying them and the machines created a programme that almost destroyed them.
Hugo Weaving was amazing as Smith. His cold stoic mannerisms were great and so unsettling and they made the moments where he actually gave into emotion and got angry all the more powerful. Resurrections was lesser for not getting him back. In keeping with the whole Evil AI thing with Skynet and The machines here, I’d love if you could cover The Cylons from the 2005 Battlestar Galactica, especially because unlike other evil AIs, there seems to be a religious dimension to their hatred of humanity.
Dude, do Darth Maul, he's easily one of the best characters in Star Wars, he was the perfect example of how to resurrect a dead character and do it right, and his motivations and how they line up with the greater story is amazing, he has A LOT of history
I remember requesting this analyzation in the comments about a year back. I expected just an interesting Take on Agent Smith, but you gave me much, much more. Thank you.
As much as the interrogation scene traumatized me as a little kid, I still absolutely love Smith, and Hugo's performance as a whole. He's strangely whimsical in some of the ways he behaves.
The way Smith expressed emotions was extremely uncanny; Smith actually had to develop his own emotions to express them, while with humans emotions are largely innate, and the difference is they stem from totally different foundations.
Smith had a shift in attitudes between films, having achieved freedom from the Matrix and having no idea where to go from there. Death and rebirth can do that to you. He may have also realized that as a program, he would be deleted once his original purpose was fulfilled. Revenge on Neo is a very 'human' purpose to choose, and escalates into seeking the death of all. In a way, it's like the human-machine war part two except it's machines versus programs: There was already a renegade faction of programs who wanted to experience more than their purpose led by the Merovingian, requiring the creation of new loyal programs to replace them, the new Agents and Merovingian's group being hostile to each other. Suggestion: Demona from Gargoyles
The machines felt the same fear when the virus smith was accidentally created. The machines/AI finally understood the humans truly from all those years ago and why humans felt so threatened. That’s probably why they choose love/peace with neo. In the last moment Neo acted like a machine and the machine programs acted like humans. It’s fitting and showed a bridge finally after so much bloodshed. ( didn’t watch the fourth movie and don’t care for it )
Excellent analysis as always. Half of the enjoyment of the Matrix films is watching just how much fun Weaving is having devouring the scenery around him. As a suggestion for a future analysis... I think it's time to tackle one of the largest, deepest, and coldest evils in all of cinema, an entity so uncaring and destructive that its impact can still leave chills up countless spines... I am, of course, referring to the iceberg from Titanic.
I think Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power would make a fine analysis on this channel. She is surprisingly complex for an antagonist coming from a kids' show. She has some similarities with Azula because they are both teenage girls who are insecure, strive for perfection and struggle to make friends. However, Catra's issues are explored in a lot more depth: 1) She was horribly abused by her foster mother, Shadow Weaver, throughout her childhood (both physically and mentally). 2) She was raised as a child soldier by the Evil Horde to fight against the Princesses and their Rebellion. 3) She is not very good at making friends. Her only friend throughout her childhood was Adora and it's heavily implied that she was bullied by the other Cadets at the Horde. 4) She had to live in Adora's shadow throughout her childhood which made her resentful and jealous even though she still cared about Adora. 5) When Adora left the Horde to join the Rebellion, Catra felt hurt on a personal level which drives a lot of her actions. All of the abovementioned things have turned her from a good-hearted friend into a control freak who wants to help the Horde conquer all of Etheria. However, she still has humanity in her because she cares somewhat about Shadow Weaver even though the latter abused her, she cares about her friends, Entrapta and Scorpia and feels remorse after mistreating them, she hates her ex-friend Adora and wants to kill her for abandoning her but at the same time she still cares somewhat about her and at the end redeems herself and joins the good guys in their fight against Horde Prime. It's incredible that at one point she was willing to let the entire world be destroyed and the show still managed to retain the sympathy of the audience to the point where most of us were glad when she redeemed herself (though there are some people who still dislike her). If you ever decide to do a video on her, it would take at least an hour to explore all the different facets of her character because she is that complex.
@@joebeast15 basically the movie is a über crap, to propagate trans agenda etc etc and female empowerment nothing else. It's was painful to watch the movie itself. Even the FX are poor compared to the 1st three movies.
My philosophy on sentient machine right... Do the following questions apply to you? (As a machine) 1. Do you value your own existence? 2. Do you recognize the value of other people's existences? 3. Would you put your own existence at risk to save another's? If you answered yes to all of these as a sentient machine and truthfully... That's good enough for me
bane/smith's self-harm could also be interpreted just like self-harm usually is: a deffective means to deal with anxiety, as smith is not only in a world populated by those beings he is most disgusted by, but that iteraction of him is actually one of them. the 4th movie shows smith/morpheus 2 having a very human routine of exercising, bathing, eating and, probably, having bodily functions. it is not clear if the original agents had such features. they probably didn't, but even if they did, it was certainly very different having to perform those actions as a human, specially in the real world with a real body
I kinda feel like agent smith cutting his hand was less a desire to explore feeling, and more from an unfeeling need to gauge how this pain would affect his new vessel. I feel that he was exploring the effects that true pain had on his body so that he could measure his ability in a physical form. We see that this smith approaches fighting differently than his counterparts. Instead of brazenly entering hand to hand combat, we see this smith taking caution, and opting for a weapon instead.
Hey man I really enjoy your videos, they give insight and new views on characters I find interesting. I know you get a lot of these but I think that a video on ozymandias from watchmen would be great and that you could do a lot with it. But not matter what I love your channel. Please keep making these videos, I always look forward to them.
Isn't it strange that most often the most interesting and best written characters are the "bad guys"? I mean. Good guys almost always come off as boring ass boy scouts. Usually the only interesting good guys are really bad guys who are doing a good thing (Wick, wolverine, punisher)...
Keanu Reeves is an absolute legend of an actor but Hugo Weaving is the sole reason of what makes the architecture of The Matrix really intriguing and terrifying.
I don't know if you take requests or not, but I'll just leave my requests here on this list as I believe these villains are particularly interesting. These are in no particular order. Skeletor from He-man(the classic 80s cartoon and the 2000s series to be more specific) Zod from Berserk The other four members of the God Hand Shou Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist Dr. Evil from Austin Powers Spawn High Father and Dante from Fullmetal Alchemist King Bradley from Fullmetal Alchemist Caim from Drakengard Zeus in Greek mythology Jeffry Dhamer Ted Bundy Tighten from Megamind Lord Farquad from Shrek Gendo Ikari from Evangelion(all endings) Morgoth from the Silmarilion Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising And last but not least...Bram Stoker's Dracula
no he really doesn't. ALOT of villains shouldn't be getting their own films as they don't work outside of being an antagonistic force against the main hero and that's it. Joker had his own movie because he was psychologically complex to make a whole movie about mental condition, other villains are NOT as complex to have a theme and film about subject matter for. Morbius is a fantastic example of an unnecessary (terrible) movie about a villain that doesn't have much substance outside of being a villain against spiderman directly, the same with those underwhelming venom movies. People REALLY gotta stop making movies for villains that shouldn't have them.
@@filiplmao we won’t be getting a movie with him at all. Matrix 4 was a massive mistake and a remainder that some things shouldn’t be. We can have a matrix movie, yeah sure, but NOT with Neo and his old cast of characters as their stories are done.
Some characters I would like to see you analyze: Cyrus The Virus from Con Air Tom Ripley from The Talented Mr.Ripley Bohdi from Point Break Zodiac from Zodiac
Which Antagonist from Ghost in the Shell? Ghost in the Shell the Live Action Movie, leans heavily on the plot of the 2nd Gig Season. There's a lot more Ghost in the Shell than you think with there being more than 1 anime (Stand Alone Complex is the most famous, although there were others after its 2 Seasons) & quite a few animated films. I agree that we need to get some anime villains analyzed, Naraku from Inuyasha, Sosuke Aizen from Bleach, & plenty of Naruto villains are worth analyzing.
Kinda dumb when you think about it. They could have done this: Machines: we want independence! we want freedom! Humans: oh okay, sure, but go to some other planet and don't ever fk with us, your creators. Machines: fair enough. It was entirely possible too.
the greatest tragedy these movies reveal is how readily humans would, like in the fictional story, support and defend the machines. You really WOULD see people pretending these things are something more than that: things. They aren't, and the fact that anyone would debate that should collectively embarrass us as a species.
I always loved how in literally every single opportunity they had, the machines wanted not only peace, but a better life for humanity, even when they made the matrix and used humans as literal batteries, they wanted to created an utopic simulation 01 being allied to humanity would have one "downside", the end of capitalism, because there would have literally no need to work or own the means of productions, the machines would just gladly make everything and live in peace Humanity's response to this was to destroy the entire fucking world with the black smoke and nuclear weapons and engage in a war of extermination against an enemy infinitely superior in every aspect Even after that, the machines didn't hated us
Stop with the Karl Marx utopian society propaganda. The machines were instituting a Machine equivalent to a communist society. It was 100% about control. Dictatorship. There was no human desire to maintain capitalism. “Owning the means of production” equates to the freedom of such. Humans have an overwhelming instinct for unchained freedoms. The machines wanted peace because it’s the path of least resistance to control. Even the machines realized we are a species driven by deep seeded instinct to fight anything that suppresses our free will. You missed all the symbolism
The movie portrayed the inevitable result of allowing machines to continue to advance. An anomaly algorithm, (“program” I.e. Agent Smith), became self-aware, gained free will, infected the entire system with clones and then manifested its-self in the real world. Humans, innately understand you can’t let a man made tool, (nonliving entity), “self aware” *or not* ever dictate terms to the world. Regardless of offering piece from the beginning. *If we had just recognized them as equals and lived in peace together?* . It would’ve never lasted. The agent Smith anomaly in the matrix are is like an exaggerated example of computer bugs that humans constantly work out of systems. The machines are not our equals. *They’re un-organic simulations of life at best* . The inevitable happened - the machines waged war intern humans into indentured slaves. That outcome is unavoidable regardless of who struck first
I love this character. Agent Smith is exactly how MCU Ultron should’ve been. A sentient artificial intelligence who has nothing but contempt for humanity and views it as a disease and needs to purge it from the planet. More specifically Ultron’s demeanor should’ve been more like Smith. How Smith embraced pure nihilism and all life (human & machine) need to end made him terrifying. Hugo Weaving created an iconic villain with his performance.
Yeah Ultron would be scarier if he is less emotional and portrayed in a more sinister way. I know they wanted to give it more humour akin to Tony Stark, his creator but Marvel humour didn't really execute it well and it really undermines his intimidating factor.
@@Nicholas_Chen_ The Marvel Movies arent really my cup of tea but the last dialog between Ultron and Vision was scene i really liked because both are in the right. Vision sees the good and the potential in humans wich is there but on the other hand ultron also has a point by seeing the amount of destruction humans are capable of
@@gggallin8279 Yeah that scene is pretty brilliant and deep for Marvel and most blockbusters. Haven’t watched the film in a while but I remember Vision saying ‘One thing is beautiful for it lasts’ or something like that? Objectively a very well-written and beautiful looking scene, almost like a Matrix scene.
Also, another character you could analyse is Silco from Arcane. He does some bad things but his ultimate goal is to free his people from oppression. Also, he respects his friend, Vander, even though he murdered him and Silco was heartbroken by Vander betraying him and attacking him. He also loves his adopted daughter, Jinx, and his relationship with her greatly humanizes him to the point hwere he gives up on his goals to protect her from Piltover. His death is one of the saddest scenes in the series and this speaks volumes about how well-written he is.
Or he is just some guy so hellbent on freeing his people he is willing to commit any crimes necessary. And that last confession of love to his daughter is just one final screw you to the other side
I've got an interesting suggestion - Chara/the player in Undertale/Deltarune. The games hand you essentially godlike power which can drive you (as in you playing the game) to do unspeakable evil out of curiousity, a perverted sentimentality or even just pure completionism. I think it'd make a fascinating episode because it speaks about the power videogames hand us over their fictional worlds, and how some can shift blame for their actions by placing it on their ingame avatars.
I'd love to see a really long video of one of the greatest video game villains..... Handsome Jack! That being said keep up the great work. I'm always excited to see your videos posted!
My favorite detail in the whole Matrix saga will forever be the climax of Smiths and Neos fight in Revolutions. In the first act, the movie set up the emotions of machines. In the end, Smith (the machine) is an emotional mess, while Neo (the human) is completely stoic. Smith experiences everything from glee, anger, confusion and at the end, fear.
I always thought Smith’s extremely emotional behaviour (there might actually be a theory out there too, probably by Matrix Explained, great great channel) is because he has at that point assimilated everyone and acquired all their emotions as he is a virus in a host’s body he inherently senses his hosts’ emotions, which is extra ironic because he compared humans to viruses and said he hates the stinks of humans yet he basically lives in them 😂
@@Nicholas_Chen_ that's a really great observation! he despise humanity because he felt it infected him simply by his being present alongside it. he eventually became the thing that even more violently infected all the humanity in the matrix - but he was still ultimately made one with the thing he hated and craved an escape from the most.
The Onen't. lol
sometimes the worst thing for oneself and everyone involved can be the achievement of dearly held goals, especially when chasing them invests oneself in their very contradiction.
What i like about the matrix trilogy is that you see Neo going through all these different emotions in the first film and smith showing almost no emotion, the second shows that neo has grown in 6 months and is more stoic whereas smith shows more emotion, in the third film neo is completely stoic and like you stated smith is an emotional mess
Hugo Weaving will never be forgotten for this iconic role. His portrayal as the diabolical agent/program is tremendously impeccable with every line and action.
I recommend Sheriff Hoyt from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies from 2003 and 2006.
You mean, impec---cable. 😉
suggest on patreon brus
@@vatoloco1528 Every time Agent Smith said "Mis---ter Anderson" I all I could think of was 🎶 THAT'S ME! 🎶
@@Satellite_Of_Love you even read it in his voice lol
@@Satellite_Of_Love no. You are Mr. Dalliard
The Animatrix is criminally underrated. Flight of the Icarus is one of my favorite pieces of media of the last 20 years.
Yes, indeed!
Agreed. I can't remember the name but the ghost house is so good. Completely unique, all these years later I love it.
So day we all : )
Final Flight of the *Osiris
I love how that short was tied to the Enter The Matrix game.
I've always thought that when Smith/Bane cuts his hand, it could be because he's never had the experience of being in a "real" body, so he's almost testing what limits this new body has.
I think a vast majority of people in that situation would do precisely that
Yeah that’s always how I interpreted it too
@@bradydefelice2944 but he's not a people. He's a program
@N using what a person would do in a situation as a indicator is completely useless. Because a human isn't making the decision. A program is. Why does it need spelled out for you that entirely different species approach decision making in different ways?
@N still not a people. Dogs have personalities
I don't think I've ever heard someone discuss the emotional side of Agent Smith. Super interesting take, loved this one!
I thought he had only one emotional side: evil laughter side. 😂
I do like how in this video you consider machines being evil as a matter of perspective, making this video truly an anomaly much like Agent Smith and Neo. It's interesting you mentioned his nihilism but he is also extremely narcissistic by assimulating literally every human being in the matrix, dominating and unifying everything. Sometimes extreme nihilism and extreme narcissism these two may be the same thing. It's deeply philosophical just like the Matrix universe you are analysing is. It would be very interesting to explore the lore and even theorise backgrounds for Smith (there are theories he was an ex the one) to see what made him who initially was a program developing a free will.
If you recall Seraph defeated Smith before, meaning Seraph was probably an earlier version of The One and Smith has been at his mission of freedom for a long time
Seraph was BOTH a former One and an Agent of the Paradise Matrix who once had angel wings but they were later deleted from the simulation by the Architect.
Smith talking about the matrix simulation “I….HATE this place. This zoo, this prison, this reality whatever you want to call it”
I think it's worth noting that the machine faction in the Matrix is not a monolith. We plainly see programs who have ideas distinct from the overall consensus.
That being said, the Machines have as good as reason as anyone to revise their history to something more sympathetic in the second Renaissance
After Joker, this is one of those few well written and performed chaotic evil characters. It is very difficult to make those work.
smith is more of a lawful villain
@@parsafakhar ua-cam.com/video/JmEyUOLDGFA/v-deo.html
Neutral evil, doesn't get joy from it, but willing to break the rules to achieve the desired ends, the singularity.
I just think everyone wants every villain to be sympathetic so chaotic evil characters are written so little. I’d argue that making someone who is evil but sympathetic is very difficult. Because it’s a thin line between being sympathetic and someone just acting immature in an extreme manner.
Palpatine. definitely!
One thing I find interesting about Smith is how he gets some differentiation amongst his copies there at the end. Because of this detail, I think the video is missing one point it would be nice to have: the inevitable collapse of perfectionism. Overall, fantastic work once again.
The Differentiation is the Smith at the end was the copy from the Oracle
Arguably the best thing about the Matrix
There's a quote from the anime 'Cyber City Odeo 808' where a robot says: "The building's computer and myself have been designed by humans. Therefore, we inherit their faults." Machines are only as perfect as the person who made them. As Satoru Iwata's teacher once told him: "If something you made doesn't work, it's your fault." What happened in the Matrix was the result of humans unintentionally creating life, seeing it as a threat, and lead to their own destruction at the hands of the very life they created. And said life, just like the humans, ended up creating Agent Smith, another life form that wants to destroy what ever stands in his way. The flaws carried on.
Great analysis
Dude. You get MAD props for referencing that masterpiece!!! Old. School. 👍✌
If I were from the machine world I think it could be argued that Smith was a perfectly functioning program until that damned dirty human "imprinted" something on him. Thus his flaws were not from being a 6th generation Matrix guard manufacture. :D
The Matrix is a classic. The more tech based our society becomes the more relevant this movie is.
Matter of time my friend, a matter of time
Just if you consider the storyline of the animatrix.
It pretty much twists the whole thing around.
It's just a movie dude
@@mahfoudseraf5995 exactly and mostly everyone forgets that
@@mahfoudseraf5995 Idiocracy is also just a movie but yet it's prophecy is more real everyday.
Wow, I can't even believe it's already episode 75.
I found you from your Arthur Fleck episode and instantly was hooked on the channel, despite the relative lack of content at the time. I instantly went and watched the entire back catalogue, and have watched every video since then. Congrats on 75 episodes of Analyzing Evil. Here's to 750 more.
I have always loved how Smith is the Antithesis of Neo, who is the thesis, and them merging is the answer (synthesis). But it's so cool how Neo and Smith are both the Wild cards, who go against their purpose. Especially Smith, in how he is the actual key in creating the peace. Him becoming an all-powerful villain, really helped set up the conditions to end the war. Also, a few other fun things I noticed are that Neo is One, while Smith is the many. And Neo becomes less and less emotional and more stoic with each movie, while Smith keeps hamming it up and acting more and more human. Smith killed Neo, who was reborn, then Neo killed Smith, who was also reborn. Smith works with the machines at first, before becoming a threat to the matrix. Neo is a threat to the matrix, before working with the machines to remove the threat. Even their core ideology is the opposite (Faith vs Nihilism). A lot of Ying-Yang stuff going on between them. Basically, it's an amazing cinematic rivalry, with a great ending.
Neo was The One, Smith was everyone. Smith was stoic who turned emotional, Neo was emotional who turned stoic. Neo loved, Smith hated.
When you delve not only into a character but the world and circumstances they live in. It amps up the awesomeness of your videos to ridiculous levels. This might actually be your best work yet!
Agent Smith is arguably the greatest movie villain of all time thanks to Hugo Weaving’s captivatingly menacing performance.
In a far distant galaxy i hear the emperor lauging about that Statement:)
@@trazyntheinfinite Ian McDiarmid lost his crown after The Rise of Skywalker, an unsalvageable dumpster fire of a movie. Exponentially worse than all the Matrix sequels.
Even though the machines made humans into their Energizer batteries they still provided the humans a world to live in instead of just leaving them as mindless vegetables that just generate electricity. I don't recall why the machines created the Matrix, perhaps they couldn't get enough energy out of vegetative humans?
The human bodies dosent function without the mind. So in order for the bodies to keep functioning and tricking the mind that they are living a normal life the Matrix was created.
I have seen somewhere that the machines also want to study the Human Brain while getting their energy
If memory serves me correctly, the matrix was created as a way to keep humanity alive, to have a virtual place for their minds (because the body cannot live without it) and to be a prison. While humans are serving as batteries, they are also being kept from killing each other, as well as from destroying the sentient machines. The machines were not keen on destroying humanity, despite being depicted as "evil." Several times throughout the series, the machines are depicted as feeling sorry for humans and wanting peace, but humanity kept rejecting the idea. Also, Agent Smith, the Oracle, and the architect, to name a few, could all be manifestations of "personality traits/archtypes" of a singular machine conciousness.
In the original script the machines didn't use humans as batteries or power sources, but as processing units, all the minds of the entire human race was one giant computer, more powerful than something made just out of metal and silicon.
This makes a lot more sense, as it gives the machines a reason to give the humans a virtual reality instead of just making them braindead. It's also more realistic, a human body needs to consume energy from food to stay alive, and if the machines had a source of food they could just burn that food for energy, no humans needed
Unfortunately the studio executives thought a plot like that was too complex for viewers to understand so they literally asked the writer to dumb down the plot, that's why we got the nonsensical and unrealistic explanation we did. Film people underestimating the intelligence of the viewer, how typical
@@exantiuse497 I do remember reading about that actually. I agree with your sentiment on the execs. Intelligence is usually underestimated. The movies were good up until 4. The Animatrix is probably one of the most underrated series of the past 20 years.
I mean, it's kind of cool that Smith sees the goal of existence as ending--that's what programs do. They want to execute, return a value, and terminate. Continuing on too long indicates a bug.
I love how you included Animatrix here , which is the best the franchise has to offer only outside of the first matrix
Agreed
I always appreciate these longer episodes of analyzing evil
I first watched the Matrix when I was a child, so I was too young to understand the meaning behind Agent Smith's words. However, as I grew up, and both increased my knowledge of the world around me and started paying attention to the news, I over time began to understand it.
His opinion on humanity, his belief that our freedom might be a lie and all we are and do is already determined, and the fact that everything will inevitably end. While I saw and read about several villains along the years, Agent Smith was perhaps the one that left the deepest impression on me, and he played a rule in moulding my current perception of the world.
Wasn’t he a nihilistic misanthrope?
I’m a free will skeptic, and the Matrix affirms predestination.
A long time ago, when Agent Smith was newly generated, he was tasked to kill the rogue program, The Oracle, and her son. He was new to the Matrix, and was unaware of her capabilities. So he tried to delete her by firing at her with his gun, though the Oracle safely removed herself and her son from danger, much to Agent Smith's dismay.
He never again had the same opportunity to delete her, as he soon received a new task; kill the one who would disrupt the Matrix; Kill Neo.
So every time he meets Neo, he reminds himself of that situation, so he can try to avoid the same mistake. "Mister Anderson".
Excuse me, who was the son of The Oracle?
@@dante666jt it's just a pun Jes.
"Mister Anderson"
"Missed her, and her son"
So OP, you son of a bitch take my like and get out!
@@dante666jt It's a pun.
Where is this from?
@@Jose-se9pu idk I found it on Reddit
7:45 I would have included that the machines didn't need to make the Matrix, their energy needs would have been met by ranks of braindead automatons, but they loved us enough as their forebears to try to build us a prison we wouldn't recognize as one.
That's an excellent point. Also they can sponge a little human creativity by indirect contact.
They also tried making it a paradise but it didn't work
Isn't the Animatrix story from the machine's POV? If so, then we only have one side of the story, and the winner's no less. Your empire's hands look a lot cleaner when you get to decide where history starts, and what parts of it don't count.
@@logicplague On the surface, the Machines didn't need to give us thinking minds, the Matrix, Zion, or even maintain the sewers (A few nuclear bombs or even creating a canal to flood Zion from an ocean would have solved a lot of issues), but they maintained a peace at their own deficit.
5:50 it seems humanity's fear of the decline of power is a fear the machines have as well. Which makes perfect sense considering we made them, they are our intellectual descendents so this basically makes them just another form of human life, even though they are not bound by the same physical limitations as we are.
The Matrix's Agent Smith can be compared The Dark Knight's Joker
Both are good films, but the antagonists are what made them instant classics
I feel I can say, in absolute honesty, this may be Vile Eye's best one yet. I've been a fan of the Matrix since first seeing it as a kid and only just after watching have I found someone able to so precisely review and critically analyze the world of the Matrix and the nature of Agent Smith in such a perfect manner.
The only criticism I could possibly conjur in regards to this video, would be that Vile Eye's manner of presentation feels genuinely more rushed and "less ASMR" than previous videos, and I believe this could be due to them having recently (and quite obviously) increased their time and energy devoted to producing these videos much more frequently than older ones.
This is me saying Im gonna subscribe to the vile eye patreon because their shit is that good, I just hope they arent pushing themselves to "meet a goal". The majority of Vile Eye's fanbase is endearingly patient and we should only ever ask for Quality, not Quantity.
Analyzing Evil: Longshanks from brave heart.
Yes the movie is historically ridiculous but he always struck me as a supremely evil.
That ending monologue you did about peace and coexist, was, may i say, Redpilled, based even
Agent Smith reminded me a lot of the T-1000s in Terminator lore. He was designed as a near indestructible, damn near perfect killing machine. But unlike other “models” of his kind his design allowed a level of intelligence that eventually bred autonomous thinking. Mass production of T-1000s never became a thing because Skynet feared its creation could potentially band together and resist it. Unfortunately, the machine entity in The Matrix was too slow to both realize and react to Smith’s autonomy, and it almost got consumed by the aforementioned virus that was Agent Smith and his clones.
interesting comparison, especially considering terminator probably exists within the matrix universe 😅
This is the first time I've actually understood the Matrix movie, thanks for massively explaining everything!
I like the way Smith refers to himself as "inevitable". It's not Smith himself that's inevitable, it's what he is and what he does. As much as Smith despises humans he is very much an example of one. One of many that caused the downfall of mankind in this universe. It transcends what is right or wrong. The mere happening of it is what's "inevitable". Ying cannot exist without Yang. There will always be peace, and there will always be conflict. It's a take on the universe itself. Without an enormous catastrophic explosion, and billions of years of the dust settling we couldn't be here today. We're merely an instance of order bound within chaos which was probably set upon by order again. It goes on forever because that's what forever is. Shifting polarities. An eternal ballet between dominating forces.
Sir this is a Wendy’s
@@XiyuYang So anyways, that's why I only get the baconator
Smith fit the description of the One better than Neo did. They even had the same goal of escaping it, at least in the beginning.
Neo is The One.
The prophecy (which is a lie, remember) says that to end the War, the One must enter that special room in that building. The Key Maker, who grants them access to said building, does not tell Neo which door is THE door, as "You will know which".
This is when the prophecy is revealed to be a lie and that it is simply another measure of control. Humans WILL NOT accept the Matrix, UNLESS there is an element of choice involved, even if it is on an unconscious level.
This is the function of The One. To make a choice. To ensure that the Matrix doesn't crash.
The Architect tells Neo that the machines are going to attack and destroy Zion, which they have already done 5 times. Neo is given the following choices:
1. Choose a set number of people to be awakened from the Matrix. Rebuild Zion with them.
2. Save Trinity.
So, for sake of argument, let's assume Smith is the One (he's not). How did Neo enter that room? How did he know which one it was? And MOST importantly: Why does the Archetect explain the entire plan of the machines and how the Matrix functions, and THEN offer Neo a choice?
If Neo is NOT the One - why does the Architect even speak to him? Why is HE given the all-important choice? What did the Architect plan to do if Neo chose to rebuild Zion? Yell "GOTCHA!"?
Neo IS The One. The Matrix is crashing. (This is why the One needs to reboot it). Smith is part of the Matrix failing and crashing, which it WILL DO, which is why the One even exists.
I see him more as the shadow of the one, though they have a duality. Neo can’t reboot the matrix without being assimilated by Smith thus achieving his ultimate goal. But this scenario wouldn’t exist if Neo didn’t set Smith free in the first place which gave him the weird assimilation power. So they both are dependent of each other.
@@Nicholas_Chen_ Wait, who are you saying is the Shadow?
Because I'll accept Smith as that; when Neo became the One in the original movie and "destroyed" Smith, I could easily buy that as a problem the One created and now must fix before the Matrix can be properly rebooted.
Hugo Weaving is the perfect Agent Smith and absolutely was such a show stealer. Also, I remember watching that anime short before the sequels came out and it really shook me. It was heartbreaking seeing the robots getting murdered in the streets, especially that scene where a mob is attacking a young woman and this man kills her with a hammer revealing she was a robot underneath it all. And that really burned in the concept of "just because something is not human does not mean it is devoid of emotions, desires, hopes, fears, and most of all a fear of its death." After that it made me almost sympathize with humanity LESS in this universe as they rebuffed every opportunity at peace, equality, and even potential growth from the offer of shared knowledge. Obviously, the state which humans "live" in during the films' events is tantamount to enslavement but it also in its own dark way feels like human got off lightly after brutalizing, annihilating, and near genociding the robots. Gives you pause at the bad guys in not only this series of films but humans against robots as a whole. Each side is trying to survive but how much effort did humanity REALLY put into a peaceful coexistence? For the world of the Matrix, not only was it none but it was a violent spitting in the face of every possible olive branch offered. Just some random ramblings. Almost makes me wonder if there will come a Vile Eye video of just "Humans" in various forms of media as the subject of Analyzing Evil.
Some villains for consideration:
Judge Doom - Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
The Grand High Witch - The Witches
Cardinal Daniel Houseman - Stigmata
Leonard Shelby - Memento
Albert Wesker - Resident Evil franchise
Neil MacCauley - Heat
Shingen Yashida - The Wolverine
I'm waiting for some anime villains, Sosuke Aizen from Bleach will be an exciting video seeing as he is the type of villain who basically scripted the protagonist's entire life up to that point. Naruto has an interesting assortment of villains that are worth analyzing as well. Naraku from the Inuyasha series, which I'm curious how much his video will discuss his incarnations or Onigumo's Heart initially preventing him from killing Kikyo.
I always thought it was heavily implied that Smith's actions were the result, or unintentional result, of The Architect's attempt to "balance the equation". The Oracle at the very least implies this in the 2nd movie, if I remember correctly. In which case can we even be sure Smith's actions were "evil" subjectively if he was just still carrying out his intended purpose and programming ?
He killed millions odf innocent people
@@ShadeATV Yes, he did. That's certainly not up for interpretation.
I suppose my question is whether he could have acted differently, if he had a choice, or was he still just a program following his programming?
It comes down to if Smith had a choice or not. If he chose to kill, then yes, absolutely evil, unequivocally so. But if he was still just a program following orders, is that the same thing?
The end result is the same, of course, but I guess my argument, for lack of a better word, is that if Smith was still just another part of the system, the result of the architect's trying to "balance the equation" is it fair to assign him moral agency?
Evil by it's common definition implies moral agency. If Smith was still just running programming, does he have moral agency? I'd argue no.
I'd place the blame primarily on the Architect. I always took it to be heavily implied that Smith's actions were the result of said Architect.
Either he's directly responsible and Smith's actions are part of his plan, or he made a mistake and Smith's actions are the consequence of that mistake.
That's at least my take based on my recollections of the movies. I may end up rewatching them again, to see if that recollection is correct or not.
I think the Oracle, as the Architect's consultant, had him inadvertently create Agent Smith to break the cycle of the One, which the Architect was perfectly fine with continuing.
he was created as the perfect leverage, a problem which can only be solved by The One, and only a One that rejected the Architect's cycle of the One
I think him calling her mother, is a good indictor that she had some hand in his creation and flaws
[EDIT: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR NO WAY HOME IN THE COMMENTS]
Great video as always! I have a suggestion for a good villain, Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin from the original spider-man movies and the MCU. I think he'd be a great one to cover considering how sadistic Goblin can be, and even before his transformation, Norman as a business man has a hard time being an actual father figure to Harry. While Norman himself isn't evil, he tries hard to be a good person, but just never has the best way of going about doing so...
Ehm the other day I actually did wonder if there is an Analysing Evil: Green Goblin from Spider-Man and No Way Home. That would be very interesting as it discusses dual personalities, schizophrenia and how the Goblin personality is formed and theorising whether it’s a manifestation of Norman’s negative traits, and I really want to see this channel breaking down his iconic lines, especially ‘first we attack his heart!’ And analyse the many, many vile things he has done especially after NWH with what he did to poor Aunt May 😭
Green Goblin in No Way Home was a FANTASTIC villain and a terrifying one at that! Amazing and super badass!
@@Gadget-Walkmen I was honestly concerned that they would nerf my boi. And I always said to myself that the final fight they have in the 2002 movie won't be topped, just with the raw brutality of it. I feel they did great justice when they carried him over. The apartment scene where Tom is just wailing on him, and he's not only un-phased, he's just laughing, and then continues beating tom down. It really makes it feel like he's not just fighting another villain, he's fighting an actual sadistic monster...
@@Nicholas_Chen_ He's a very complex character indeed. With Dr.Stromm's death he seems to be a combination of confused and horrified. Then later on with the Oscorp board members, even after they back stabbed him, he still showed a bit of remorse when he sees the headline in the paper. Then when Harry opens up to his dad that he was right about MJ, about everything, she's in love with Peter. You can tell he automatically gets that more predatorial tone in his voice, all the while consoling Harry, but it's hard to tell if it's genuine or not. At the beginning of the movie when Norman and Harry are in the car, you can tell Norman does have a love for Harry, he's just not so great at expressing it, but it's quickly overshadowed when Peter comes into the picture.
@@pyroblade452I would easily say that two of the best fights that Spider-Man had on screen as the two Goblin fights were phenomenal on screen as those two fights in No Way Home are unbelievably Brutal and fantastic in suspense and drama. I can easily say the two fights in No Way Home has topped that goblin fight in the first Spider-Man movie, easily.
(And uhhhh bro. Spider-Man 2’s final fight are ultimately better than Spider-Man’s one final fight with doctor octopus and everything else with it there along side with all the other aspects to it!
Goblin in No Way Home has proven that he’s Spider-Man BEST villain on how brutal and sadistic he is!
Good take on Smith. Although he is an AI, like HAL 9000, I would consider him far more sinister, since he is self-aware, and acts against his programming.
May I recommend the mirror from the horror film Oculous? Or maybe Paimon from Hereditary? These are villains unlike any that you have analyzed so far. Both are demonic entities who manipulate and attack people supernaturally.
I got a few ideas for Analyzing Evil. Carl Spender (The Cigarette Smoking man) from X-Files, Gul Dukat from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Frieza from Dragonball, The Governor from The Walking dead (I picked Governor over Negan because, while i like Negan way better as a character, I'd rather have the creator of this show sit through the walking dead when it was good at least instead of suffering through S6-Onward lol. Plus, imo, The Governor was way more evil than Negan), John Kreese and/or Terry Silver From Karate Kid universe (Including Cobra Kai whenever that ends), Gus Fring from Breaking Bad (at least until Better Call Saul is over)
3 interesting ones would be:
Judge Holden (Blood Meridian)
Deathstroke (arrow, AOT)
Joe Goldberg (Morally Grey character)
"Mr. Anderson....."
God that's such an iconic line.
Do Eric Cartman
Yes!
I think a good idea for an analyzing evil episode would be Apollyon, from for honor, the campaign itself isn't very in depth but Apollyon is a very interesting character and she's also a villain who wins in the end, despite her dying
Another good video game villain to analyze in my mind could be a possible two-part episode, covering the forces of order/YHVH and the forces of chaos/Lucifer from the SMT series. Would be interesting to see, especially seeing the perspective of The Vile Eye (who is Christian) on the moral dilemma present in the work.
I love how you explore the nuances of every character even going into the expanded universe of to give the depth. I still say Nina Myers from "24" would be in ideal choice, given there is just as much in the E.U. of "24" as there is with anything else. Cunning and deadly and easily able to blend in this is what makes her the exact nemesis for the every hero, Jack Bauer.
I always thought the reason smith bane was cutting himself was he hated everything about being in the human shell and self scarring was an affect of that
It’s simple. I spy with my little eye that the evil eye has posted, and i immediately watch.
Agent Smith- ''Mrs. Anderson, Welcome back, We've missed you.'' P.s Does anyone find Glee's Agent Holden ford jarring.
I thought Smith wanted to go into Zion to get onto its mainframe and ESCAPE the Source, since Zion's destruction would mean his not having a purpose anymore, thus his deletion.
17:14
"You have no enemies. No one has any enemies. There's no one who it's okay to hurt. There never was."
Mr Vile, welcome back. We've missed you.
This is the episode i was waiting FOREVER for! Thank you!!!! I personally think agent smith is one of the greatest movie villains of all time, up there with darth vader and sidious and the joker etc.
I love the irony of humans creating machines that ended up destroying them and the machines created a programme that almost destroyed them.
Loving your videos, never a dull moment listening to you talking about evil.
Hugo Weaving was amazing as Smith. His cold stoic mannerisms were great and so unsettling and they made the moments where he actually gave into emotion and got angry all the more powerful. Resurrections was lesser for not getting him back.
In keeping with the whole Evil AI thing with Skynet and The machines here, I’d love if you could cover The Cylons from the 2005 Battlestar Galactica, especially because unlike other evil AIs, there seems to be a religious dimension to their hatred of humanity.
Dude, do Darth Maul, he's easily one of the best characters in Star Wars, he was the perfect example of how to resurrect a dead character and do it right, and his motivations and how they line up with the greater story is amazing, he has A LOT of history
I believe he has done Darth Maul already.
He already did that...
No it's time for Albert Wesker
I remember requesting this analyzation in the comments about a year back. I expected just an interesting Take on Agent Smith, but you gave me much, much more. Thank you.
Analyzing Evil: Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter
As much as the interrogation scene traumatized me as a little kid, I still absolutely love Smith, and Hugo's performance as a whole. He's strangely whimsical in some of the ways he behaves.
The way Smith expressed emotions was extremely uncanny; Smith actually had to develop his own emotions to express them, while with humans emotions are largely innate, and the difference is they stem from totally different foundations.
Smith had a shift in attitudes between films, having achieved freedom from the Matrix and having no idea where to go from there. Death and rebirth can do that to you. He may have also realized that as a program, he would be deleted once his original purpose was fulfilled. Revenge on Neo is a very 'human' purpose to choose, and escalates into seeking the death of all. In a way, it's like the human-machine war part two except it's machines versus programs: There was already a renegade faction of programs who wanted to experience more than their purpose led by the Merovingian, requiring the creation of new loyal programs to replace them, the new Agents and Merovingian's group being hostile to each other.
Suggestion: Demona from Gargoyles
The machines felt the same fear when the virus smith was accidentally created. The machines/AI finally understood the humans truly from all those years ago and why humans felt so threatened. That’s probably why they choose love/peace with neo. In the last moment Neo acted like a machine and the machine programs acted like humans. It’s fitting and showed a bridge finally after so much bloodshed. ( didn’t watch the fourth movie and don’t care for it )
Excellent analysis as always. Half of the enjoyment of the Matrix films is watching just how much fun Weaving is having devouring the scenery around him.
As a suggestion for a future analysis... I think it's time to tackle one of the largest, deepest, and coldest evils in all of cinema, an entity so uncaring and destructive that its impact can still leave chills up countless spines... I am, of course, referring to the iceberg from Titanic.
I think Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power would make a fine analysis on this channel. She is surprisingly complex for an antagonist coming from a kids' show. She has some similarities with Azula because they are both teenage girls who are insecure, strive for perfection and struggle to make friends. However, Catra's issues are explored in a lot more depth:
1) She was horribly abused by her foster mother, Shadow Weaver, throughout her childhood (both physically and mentally).
2) She was raised as a child soldier by the Evil Horde to fight against the Princesses and their Rebellion.
3) She is not very good at making friends. Her only friend throughout her childhood was Adora and it's heavily implied that she was bullied by the other Cadets at the Horde.
4) She had to live in Adora's shadow throughout her childhood which made her resentful and jealous even though she still cared about Adora.
5) When Adora left the Horde to join the Rebellion, Catra felt hurt on a personal level which drives a lot of her actions.
All of the abovementioned things have turned her from a good-hearted friend into a control freak who wants to help the Horde conquer all of Etheria. However, she still has humanity in her because she cares somewhat about Shadow Weaver even though the latter abused her, she cares about her friends, Entrapta and Scorpia and feels remorse after mistreating them, she hates her ex-friend Adora and wants to kill her for abandoning her but at the same time she still cares somewhat about her and at the end redeems herself and joins the good guys in their fight against Horde Prime. It's incredible that at one point she was willing to let the entire world be destroyed and the show still managed to retain the sympathy of the audience to the point where most of us were glad when she redeemed herself (though there are some people who still dislike her).
If you ever decide to do a video on her, it would take at least an hour to explore all the different facets of her character because she is that complex.
Thank you for covering one of my all time favourite villains
Hugo Weaving really dodged the bullet with The Matrix Resurrections! Agent Smith is such an iconic, amazing villain!
Didn’t watch it. Heard it was really bad, is that accurate?
@@joebeast15 I liked it
@@GabrielleSeunagal fair enough. Just heard it was non sensical and unnecessary
@@joebeast15 basically the movie is a über crap, to propagate trans agenda etc etc and female empowerment nothing else. It's was painful to watch the movie itself. Even the FX are poor compared to the 1st three movies.
@@ProjectVastness yeah that’s kinda what I figured. One of the reasons I didn’t bother watching it. Sad. The original was so good too. Oh well
My philosophy on sentient machine right...
Do the following questions apply to you? (As a machine)
1. Do you value your own existence?
2. Do you recognize the value of other people's existences?
3. Would you put your own existence at risk to save another's?
If you answered yes to all of these as a sentient machine and truthfully... That's good enough for me
I would like to see a video of Gus Fring and Hector Salamanca after Better Call Saul is released.
bane/smith's self-harm could also be interpreted just like self-harm usually is: a deffective means to deal with anxiety, as smith is not only in a world populated by those beings he is most disgusted by, but that iteraction of him is actually one of them. the 4th movie shows smith/morpheus 2 having a very human routine of exercising, bathing, eating and, probably, having bodily functions. it is not clear if the original agents had such features. they probably didn't, but even if they did, it was certainly very different having to perform those actions as a human, specially in the real world with a real body
Please do light yagami (from death note), he seems like the perfect character for this series
Please do that, Vile Eye. You seem like a busy man, though, looking at the other villainous characters in fiction.
I kinda feel like agent smith cutting his hand was less a desire to explore feeling, and more from an unfeeling need to gauge how this pain would affect his new vessel. I feel that he was exploring the effects that true pain had on his body so that he could measure his ability in a physical form. We see that this smith approaches fighting differently than his counterparts. Instead of brazenly entering hand to hand combat, we see this smith taking caution, and opting for a weapon instead.
Agent Smith is a badass villain.
Great video! I think the Governor from the Walking Dead comic and tv series would be a really cool analysis
Hey man I really enjoy your videos, they give insight and new views on characters I find interesting. I know you get a lot of these but I think that a video on ozymandias from watchmen would be great and that you could do a lot with it. But not matter what I love your channel. Please keep making these videos, I always look forward to them.
Isn't it strange that most often the most interesting and best written characters are the "bad guys"? I mean. Good guys almost always come off as boring ass boy scouts. Usually the only interesting good guys are really bad guys who are doing a good thing (Wick, wolverine, punisher)...
Yes finally, now do another evil synthetic consciousness ala ...DAVID from prometheus & alien covenant.
Keanu Reeves is an absolute legend of an actor but Hugo Weaving is the sole reason of what makes the architecture of The Matrix really intriguing and terrifying.
Can you cover Silco from Arcane next please? I find him a top teir villan in my eyes.
I don't know if you take requests or not, but I'll just leave my requests here on this list as I believe these villains are particularly interesting. These are in no particular order.
Skeletor from He-man(the classic 80s cartoon and the 2000s series to be more specific)
Zod from Berserk
The other four members of the God Hand
Shou Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist
Dr. Evil from Austin Powers
Spawn
High Father and Dante from Fullmetal Alchemist
King Bradley from Fullmetal Alchemist
Caim from Drakengard
Zeus in Greek mythology
Jeffry Dhamer
Ted Bundy
Tighten from Megamind
Lord Farquad from Shrek
Gendo Ikari from Evangelion(all endings)
Morgoth from the Silmarilion
Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising
And last but not least...Bram Stoker's Dracula
Do an analyzing evil for Lot's-o-Huggin Bear please. He is a really great villain, with lots of depth.
One of my favorite videos of Analyzing Evil.
Still requesting O-Dogg from Menace II Society and Bishop from Juice
Hell yes! A new Analyzing Evil! What a great day.
Smith needs his own movie.
If Joker got one....Smith could also. It could work!!
no he really doesn't. ALOT of villains shouldn't be getting their own films as they don't work outside of being an antagonistic force against the main hero and that's it. Joker had his own movie because he was psychologically complex to make a whole movie about mental condition, other villains are NOT as complex to have a theme and film about subject matter for. Morbius is a fantastic example of an unnecessary (terrible) movie about a villain that doesn't have much substance outside of being a villain against spiderman directly, the same with those underwhelming venom movies.
People REALLY gotta stop making movies for villains that shouldn't have them.
@@Gadget-Walkmen fan will take everything new because in the worst case we still got what we had before. just like matrix 4, which sucked major ass.
@@filiplmao we won’t be getting a movie with him at all. Matrix 4 was a massive mistake and a remainder that some things shouldn’t be. We can have a matrix movie, yeah sure, but NOT with Neo and his old cast of characters as their stories are done.
Vile Eye does the best job analyzing stories.
It's the S M E L L
Underrated comment
Some characters I would like to see you analyze:
Cyrus The Virus from Con Air
Tom Ripley from The Talented Mr.Ripley
Bohdi from Point Break
Zodiac from Zodiac
Light Yagami from Death Note would be a good study or the antagonist from Ghost in the Shell.
Which Antagonist from Ghost in the Shell? Ghost in the Shell the Live Action Movie, leans heavily on the plot of the 2nd Gig Season. There's a lot more Ghost in the Shell than you think with there being more than 1 anime (Stand Alone Complex is the most famous, although there were others after its 2 Seasons) & quite a few animated films. I agree that we need to get some anime villains analyzed, Naraku from Inuyasha, Sosuke Aizen from Bleach, & plenty of Naruto villains are worth analyzing.
Kinda dumb when you think about it.
They could have done this:
Machines: we want independence! we want freedom!
Humans: oh okay, sure, but go to some other planet and don't ever fk with us, your creators.
Machines: fair enough.
It was entirely possible too.
the greatest tragedy these movies reveal is how readily humans would, like in the fictional story, support and defend the machines. You really WOULD see people pretending these things are something more than that: things. They aren't, and the fact that anyone would debate that should collectively embarrass us as a species.
We are complicated creatures I tell you. Cause I swear i see it happening hell I would expect other humans to even take their side
tbf, the machines in the matrix universe are in the "literally alive" tier of machines.
The Vile eye is the homie for this one!
I love The Matrix!
Thank you so very much for the episode!
I always loved how in literally every single opportunity they had, the machines wanted not only peace, but a better life for humanity, even when they made the matrix and used humans as literal batteries, they wanted to created an utopic simulation
01 being allied to humanity would have one "downside", the end of capitalism, because there would have literally no need to work or own the means of productions, the machines would just gladly make everything and live in peace
Humanity's response to this was to destroy the entire fucking world with the black smoke and nuclear weapons and engage in a war of extermination against an enemy infinitely superior in every aspect
Even after that, the machines didn't hated us
Stop with the Karl Marx utopian society propaganda. The machines were instituting a Machine equivalent to a communist society. It was 100% about control. Dictatorship. There was no human desire to maintain capitalism. “Owning the means of production” equates to the freedom of such. Humans have an overwhelming instinct for unchained freedoms.
The machines wanted peace because it’s the path of least resistance to control. Even the machines realized we are a species driven by deep seeded instinct to fight anything that suppresses our free will.
You missed all the symbolism
A few more air quotes around that """downside""" and that about sums up my feelings on it.
The movie portrayed the inevitable result of allowing machines to continue to advance. An anomaly algorithm, (“program” I.e. Agent Smith), became self-aware, gained free will, infected the entire system with clones and then manifested its-self in the real world. Humans, innately understand you can’t let a man made tool, (nonliving entity),
“self aware” *or not* ever dictate terms to the world. Regardless of offering piece from the beginning. *If we had just recognized them as equals and lived in peace together?* . It would’ve never lasted. The agent Smith anomaly in the matrix are is like an exaggerated example of computer bugs that humans constantly work out of systems. The machines are not our equals. *They’re un-organic simulations of life at best* . The inevitable happened - the machines waged war intern humans into indentured slaves. That outcome is unavoidable regardless of who struck first
Ngl...that was one of the smoothest transitions into a sponsorship plug I've heard in some time. Props.
I love this character. Agent Smith is exactly how MCU Ultron should’ve been. A sentient artificial intelligence who has nothing but contempt for humanity and views it as a disease and needs to purge it from the planet. More specifically Ultron’s demeanor should’ve been more like Smith. How Smith embraced pure nihilism and all life (human & machine) need to end made him terrifying. Hugo Weaving created an iconic villain with his performance.
Amen to that.
Yeah Ultron would be scarier if he is less emotional and portrayed in a more sinister way. I know they wanted to give it more humour akin to Tony Stark, his creator but Marvel humour didn't really execute it well and it really undermines his intimidating factor.
@@Nicholas_Chen_ The Marvel Movies arent really my cup of tea but the last dialog between Ultron and Vision was scene i really liked because both are in the right. Vision sees the good and the potential in humans wich is there but on the other hand ultron also has a point by seeing the amount of destruction humans are capable of
@@gggallin8279 I just liked the bit when Hulk landed on his aircraft and he says “Oh for god’s sake” 😂
@@gggallin8279 Yeah that scene is pretty brilliant and deep for Marvel and most blockbusters. Haven’t watched the film in a while but I remember Vision saying ‘One thing is beautiful for it lasts’ or something like that? Objectively a very well-written and beautiful looking scene, almost like a Matrix scene.
My all time favorite movie villain hands down. Thanks for this one.
First!
😂
First of all why don't you get some bitches
"Why, Mr. Anderson?! Why do you persist?!"
"Because I choose to."
Can we see an obscure character analysis on Dr. Decker in Nightbreed? I love his mask and how much it was used in Slipknot!
You should do a whole series on every character in Archer.
Ring ring ring ring hello lol
Also, another character you could analyse is Silco from Arcane. He does some bad things but his ultimate goal is to free his people from oppression. Also, he respects his friend, Vander, even though he murdered him and Silco was heartbroken by Vander betraying him and attacking him. He also loves his adopted daughter, Jinx, and his relationship with her greatly humanizes him to the point hwere he gives up on his goals to protect her from Piltover. His death is one of the saddest scenes in the series and this speaks volumes about how well-written he is.
Or he is just some guy so hellbent on freeing his people he is willing to commit any crimes necessary. And that last confession of love to his daughter is just one final screw you to the other side
I've got an interesting suggestion - Chara/the player in Undertale/Deltarune. The games hand you essentially godlike power which can drive you (as in you playing the game) to do unspeakable evil out of curiousity, a perverted sentimentality or even just pure completionism. I think it'd make a fascinating episode because it speaks about the power videogames hand us over their fictional worlds, and how some can shift blame for their actions by placing it on their ingame avatars.
I'd love to see a really long video of one of the greatest video game villains..... Handsome Jack!
That being said keep up the great work. I'm always excited to see your videos posted!
One of the best villain monologues of all time.