The Twins (played by identical twins: Neil and Adrian Rayment) are fictional characters in the 2003 film ''

The Matrix Reloaded ''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science-fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is a sequel to ''The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laure ...

''. Henchmen of

the Merovingian This is a list of characters from ''The Matrix'' franchise universe. Many of the characters listed here have names reflecting certain aspects of them, such as their status, personality, or role. Introduced in ''The Matrix'' Apoc Apoc (played b ...

, they are "

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

s", or rogue programs believed to be older versions of Agents from a previous iteration of the Matrix. The Twins have the power of intangibility: they can take on a translucent state in which they pass through physical objects such as floors or gunfire, float through the air, and instantly reset any physical damage to their bodies or clothing. They are also the 'ghosts' the

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

explains while talking to Neo before the 'Burly Brawl'. In other words, their abilities as programs were still usable in exile.

Story

The Twins are first seen with the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

smoking a

hookah A hookah (Hindustani language, Hindustani: (Nastaleeq), (Devanagari), IPA: ; also see #Names and etymology, other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco ...

in his restaurant in ''

''. They smirk at the fact that neither

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, nor

Morpheus Morpheus ('Fashioner', derived from the grc, μορφή meaning 'form, shape') is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' he is the son of Somnus and appears in dreams in human form. From the Middle Ages, the name b ...

, nor Neo appear to have the same intellect as does the Merovingian. The Twins rarely speak, but when they do so, it is with a slow-paced English accent, and when one speaks to the other, they usually say "we", as opposed to "I". Later, when Morpheus and crew free the

Keymaker The Keymaker is a fictional character, portrayed by Korean-American actor Randall Duk Kim, in the 2003 film ''The Matrix Reloaded''. He is a computer program that can create shortcut commands, physically represented as keys, which can be used b ...

, the Merovingian sends the Twins to kill the '

Redpill The terms "red pill" and "blue pill" refer to a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill. The terms are associated with ...

s' and recapture the Keymaker. They encounter Morpheus and Trinity in a parking garage and quickly demonstrate both their skill in hand-to-hand combat (using a

straight razor A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors. The predecessors of the modern straight razors include bronze razors, with cutting edges and fixed handles, produced b ...

) and their ability to become incorporeal, passing through bullets and walls harmlessly and healing injuries that they sustain while in corporeal form. Morpheus, Trinity, and the Keymaker flee in a

Cadillac CTS The Cadillac CTS is an executive car that was manufactured and marketed by General Motors from 2003 until 2019 across three generations. Historically, it was priced similarly to cars on the compact luxury spectrum; but it has always been size ...

, but they are pursued first by the Twins, then by police and by agents. Eventually, after a long chase along the freeway and firing upon Morpheus and company with an

HK UMP The Heckler & Koch UMP (''Universale Maschinenpistole'', German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a lighter and cheaper successor to the Heckler & ...

, the Twins are dispatched by Morpheus when he causes their

Cadillac Escalade EXT The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV engineered and manufactured by General Motors. It was Cadillac's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to competition from the Merc ...

to overturn and explode. The explosion sends them into the air and they are last seen turning intangible. They are not seen in ''

The Matrix Revolutions ''The Matrix Revolutions'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, released six months following ''The Matrix Reloaded''. The film stars ...

''. Following Smith’s takeover of the Matrix, the Twins might have been assimilated by Smith along with everyone else in the Matrix, and after Neo sacrifices himself to get rid of Smith, and the machines rebooted the Matrix, the Twins most likely returned to their service of The Merovingian.

Video game

In the ''

Enter the Matrix ''Enter the Matrix'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. It was the first game based on ''The Matrix'' film series. Its story is concurrent with that of ...

'' video game, which chronicles the events leading up to ''The Matrix Reloaded'', the twins are shown attempting to stop

Niobe In Greek mythology, Niobe (; grc-gre, Νιόβη ) was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Her father was the ru ...

and

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

from escaping the Merovingian's mansion via a car chase in the multi-leveled garage. In this incarnation of the characters they do not wear their trademark glasses. Their smoking, overturned vehicle can be briefly seen on an overpass at one point during the highway chase level.

Online

In ''

The Matrix Online ''The Matrix Online'' (abbreviated as ''MxO'') was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) initially developed by Monolith Productions and later, a few months after launch, by Sony Online Entertainment. It was advertised as a ...

'', synthesised cheat codes based on those drunk by the Unlimit officer Beirn allowed the Merovingian to retrieve and reforge the fragmented and heavily dissipated RSIs of the Twins. His operatives were tasked with finding the partially reconstructed pieces, which were successfully secured and combined, returning the Twins to fully functional states.

Controversy

At the time of the release of ''

'', there was some controversy from people who saw the Twins as emblematic of Hollywood's negative portrayal of characters with albinism. Several major media outlets (e.g. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'',

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

) reported on the story, and it was mentioned in a joke by late-night talk show host

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

: "When is the establishment going to give the ''really'' white man a break?" Film studio

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

responded to the controversy, with a spokesperson saying, "It's not our intention to single out any group of people as villains", and "It was never our intention to position these characters as albinos", noting that the Twins have black eyebrows.

References

{{Matrix Film characters introduced in 2003 Fictional artificial intelligences Fictional henchmen Fictional twins Fictional characters who can turn intangible The Matrix (franchise) characters Male film villains Film supervillains cs:Seznam vedlejších postav v Matrixu#Dvojčata

Story

Video game

Online

Controversy

See also

References