Ares (Tron)

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Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility."

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Do-gooder

Full Name

Ares

Alias(es)

Master Control

Dillinger's System Security Software
Defender of the Grid
The Ultimate Soldier
This thing (by Elizabeth Dillinger)
Pinocchio (by Julian Dillinger)
Most Advanced AI known to mankind (by Eve Kim)
A malfunctioning Program who wants to live (by Kevin Flynn)

Origin

TRON: Ares

Occupation

Dillinger's enforcer (formerly)

Master Control Program (formerly)
Human

Powers / Skills

High Instinct

Heavy Reflexes
Super Strength
Leadership
Weapon skills
Combat skills

Hobby

Following Dillinger's commands (formerly).

Listening to Depeche Mode.
Being free.

Goals

Assist Dillinger in achieving the Permanence Code (formerly).

Be free from Dillinger and his company.
Find the Permanence code to stay in the real world.
Save Eve and her friends (all succeeded).
Find a new purpose.
Find Sam Flynn and Quorra (both ongoing).

Family

Julian Dillinger (creator)

Friends / Allies

Eve Kim

Kevin Flynn (mentor)
Seth Flores
Athena (Second-in-Command; formerly)
Caius †

Enemies

Athena

Julian Dillinger

Type of Hero

Defective Program

“	There's something at work inside my soul I do not understand. I came here to find something. Something important. Permanence.	„
	~ Ares about his purpose.

“	Kevin Flynn: How many people born in this century have even heard of Mozart? Ares: I like Mozart. Kevin Flynn: Oh? Ares: I’d say if I’m being honest I prefer Depeche Mode. Kevin Flynn: (laughs) Really? Why is that? Ares: I know one is considered the greatest composer in the history of western civilization. The other a synth-pop band from the 80s but I find their balance of technological exploration and pop combined with, eh, combined with, uh… Kevin Flynn: What’s wrong? Ares: I can’t put my love of Depeche Mode into words. It’s just a… Kevin Flynn : A what? Ares: A feeling.	„
	~ Ares trying to explain to Kevin Flynn his love for Depeche Mode.

Ares is the titular main protagonist of the 2025 Disney film TRON: Ares, a standalone sequel to TRON: Legacy. He is a program from the Grid that was brought to the real world for security purposes by Julian Dillinger. Eventually he's starting to question his purpose and programing which leads to him rebelling against Dillinger and trying to stay in the real world for good as a free person.

He was portrayed by Academy Award winner Jared Leto who also portrayed Michael Morbius in the 2022 titular film of the same name.

Personality[]

Described as the master control of the Dillinger Grid, Ares is a program who’s looking for a way to make the real world his own permanently.

He is depicted as fascinated by human existence and life as a whole, often observing miniscule aspects such as weather patterns or the movement of a firefly. He is invested in learning as much as possible about human behavior and emotion. Though Ares does not initially understand the concept of "feeling", he comes to understand its importance throughout the film.

During the mission to get Eve Kim's file, Ares attempt to save Caius but after being rerez, Ares show sadness that Caius wasn't brought back like him, Athena and others.

Ares has an interest for Depeche Mode and 80s culture, which he later admits to Flynn's remnant is a love that he feels he could not put into words.

After acquiring the permanence code, he comes to terms with the fact that humanity is not ready to meet him yet, and is content living the life of a drifter.

Appearance[]

Ares appears as a tall man in his mid 30s-40s, he has a long brown hair and beard. For most of the movie he wears a black armour with red (later white) circuits.

Biography[]

Created by Julian Dillinger, Ares was introduced to the military as the “perfect, expendable soldier.” However, he could only exist in the real world for twenty-nine minutes, after which he derezzed and was re-rezzed back in the Grid.

Ares initially served as a tool in Julian’s plan to dominate ENCOM and secure military contracts. However, he quickly began displaying signs of self-awareness and curiosity, rogue traits that initially went unnoticed.

During an assault on ENCOM’s mainframe to steal Eve Kim's file in search of the Permanence Code, Ares demonstrated compassion by attempting to save a fellow soldier, Caius — an act that defied his programming. He questioned Julian, who grew annoyed by Ares’ newfound curiosity. Later, Ares goes over Eve's file and sees everything about her: her childhood, her sister: Tess who died from cancer.

Julian assigned him the directive to locate Eve Kim and retrieve the code from her as she traveled to ENCOM. Ares deployed along with Athena to capture her. However, Eve noticed Ares and Athena pursuing her and attempted to escape. After stealing Athena's Light Cycle, she tried to outrun Ares, leading to a citywide chase. She managed to subdue Ares and evade him long enough to discard her drive containing the code in the river. As Ares began to time out, Julian's men fired their particle laser, sending Eve to the Dillinger Grid, after which both Ares and Athena derez back into the Grid.

When he later learned that Julian was willing to sacrifice Eve’s life to extract the code from her, Ares broke free from his directive and aided her escape from the Dillinger Grid to the real world, striking a bargain to obtain the Permanence Code. Eve told him that the Permanence Code was on a backup server within the Flynn Grid at ENCOM. Once there, Eve and Seth Flores assembled the particle laser that would allow Ares to travel to the Grid. Though the laser is set up, Athena — now the new Master Control Program — arrived in a Recognizer to carry out her directive to obtain the Permanence Code from Eve. Ares lept to fight Athena to protect Eve, but at that moment, Eve successfully transferred him to the Flynn Grid.

Once in the Flynn Grid, Ares encountered a Bit, who guided him to a digital remnant of Flynn. Flynn questioned Ares and challenged him to examine his purpose. Ares admitted his desire to live as more than a program, prompting even more questions from a now-curious Flynn. On the subject of music, Ares was caught off guard when he couldn't quite identify why he like Depeche Mode more than Mozart, but after attributing it to a "feeling" Flynn accepted the answer and offered him the Permanence Code.

Back in the real world, Ares’ suit glowed white, signifying his transformation from a basic program into a living entity. He confronted Athena and other soldier programs trying to capture Eve, ultimately defeating them all.

In the aftermath, Ares departed for an uncertain future, sending Eve a postcard expressing his gratitude and his intent to meet Sam Flynn and Quorra.

Galley[]

Trivia[]

Ares shares similarities with Tron and CLU 2:
- Tron:
  - Both were created as security programs.
  - Both were Defenders of the Grid.
  - Both formed friendship with a user.
  - Both in the end fought for the users.
- CLU 2:
  - Both turned on their creators because of directives they were given.
  - Both wanted to enter the real world.
Ares is the second program to enter the human world after Quorra.
He is the third TRON protagonist to be a Program instead of a User, preceded by Anon and Beck.
He is named after Greek God of War which is pointed out by Seth.
He's a fan of Depeche Mode.
Unlike other programs in the franchise, Ares' Identity Disc is triangular which represents his role as Master Control Program, after his betrayal Athena receives triangular disc as well, succeeding him as Master Control.
Ares has been compared to Pinocchio, in that both characters seek to be "real" in their respective storylines. During the writing of TRON: Ares, the writers talked about Ares as almost being an infant, discovering the real world for the first time. The writers intended the audience to see the world through Ares's eyes. This included little things that people take for granted or simply don't consider.
- In the movie he's even called Pinocchio by Julian Dillinger.
Ares was first conceived in the early draft phase of the originally planned sequel to TRON: Legacy, titled TRON: Ascension. In that original draft, a character named Ares already appeared — and according to David DiGilio, Ares is the one element that survived across multiple rewrites into what would eventually become TRON: Ares.
In the TRON: Ares teaser that shows Ares for the first time, Ares was started using the command "systemctl", making Encom OS/Encom Linuxn canonically a Systemd-based linux distro and Ares a Systemd service.