(as a linguist and someone who, on all levels except physical, is a pattern recognition program)
…how the name Rinzler gets used in fandom
specifically how it seems to get broken up into prefix and suffix
when we talk about the duality of Tron and Rinzler, of course, we speak of Tronzler, which I suppose makes the same sort of sense that portmanteau ship-names do
(and wouldn’t it be interesting to imagine that it is a ship-name! that Tron and Rinzler are two personalities sharing a body and having a deeply toxic enemies-to-lovers-and-back-to-enemies romance in there)
but the direction fandom seems to go from there… is very intriguing
i.e. when we imagine scenarios where the same rectification process happens to Beck, we say Beckzler
I have also seen a few mentions of Ramzler, and even Flynnzler
the linguistic split seems to be the development of suffix -zler
…indicating rectification to that which came before
now
if we were to picture an in-universe, Watsonian instead of Doylist history for this same etymology.
if the -zler suffix meant in canon what it has come to mean in fandom
we would have to find explanations for some things
like: why was the result of rectification to Tron originally called Rinzler, and not Tronzler
one possibility: Tron was an experimental case, in which another previously rectified program was merged with him
this program was the original Rinzler
who was made from a program called Rin
but…
as this is my own brain
and an exercise in utterly ridiculous pattern recognition…
i am not going to simply make up this character
…I am going to ask a search engine who Rin is
and go with the first result I get
and perhaps
perhaps, perhaps the life story of Rin, the origin of Rinzler, may give some hints
to what are the defining characteristics of a “zler” type rectification
here goes
ALT
…
…fuck
ok so
my brain will not leave this as just a one-shot joke
(yes brain, what else is new)
I GUESS a zler-type rectification requires merging with another entity.
the original program Zler, I imagine, was some kind of virus who was used in rectifying these victims
(who, yes, I’m gonna draw as a Grid-style Three Tails Isobu because why the hell not)
but Zler’s ultimate flaw is that its self-preservation instinct never outweighs the honorable drives of the host
so all Zler rectifications do end up sacrificing themselves.
…I further hypothesize that the first Zler-type rectification was of a nameless program, identified solely by his status as the first one.
i.e.
the Onezler
Did you just end that with a fucking Lorax joke?
not only did I do that, I am now solemnly ruminating on whether the Onceler’s self-isolation and final gift of the last Truffula seed constitutes a Zler-typical self-sacrifice within this headcanon
Then who is the Lorax there?
well, the Grid Lorax would have to be an entity who somehow speaks as the voice of Conscience and tries to convince the Zler-rectified programs to do the right thing…
my pattern recognition does NOT come at these things with logic.
it always starts with puns and builds from there.
which is why of all things, I decided this entity must be an imported copy of Ma3a from Tron 2.0
who, recognizing the origin of her own inner duality… chose the name LORAx
ALT