So, in a chat about that last post regarding Dillinger taking the credit for Flynn’s game development, I found myself saying: “He’s got what it takes to write the ‘doing our business is what computers are for!’ kind of software. It’s just hard to imagine him writing the fun kind.”
…Which got me thinking about, more generally, the programs in Tron 1982, and how “fun” I’d say each one is.
in order of appearance:
—
SARK
User: Ed Dillinger, the guy who somehow convinced people he wrote some fun games.
Function: “command program”– presumably some sysadmin software that’s on shaky ground at the moment, largely being replaced by the MCP. Not a fun role.
Personality: Generally serious and angry– but more capable of enjoying himself than you might think. Looks very grim during his introductory Lightcycle match, but afterwards genuinely excited about the potential challenge of future matches. Seems to be feeling pleasure and satisfaction of a sort, whenever he’s at the podium with Master Control– until, of course, MCP decided to “slow down his power cycles” as torture.
Fun: 4/10. Better than expected.
—–
CROM
User: Mr. Henderson (a full branch manager!) We don’t know anything about him, except that his program thinks this software theft is gonna make him “very angry.”
Function: Compound Interest Program. Works at a Savings and Loan. Practically the definition of a stuffy, un-fun job.
Personality: Alternates between nervous and blustering in introductory scene; definitely not having fun there, although there’s a bit of lightness in the way he protests at first. By the time he faces Flynn in combat, he’s clearly gotten some sort of confidence boost. He’s genuinely smiling and laughing in that fight, up until it kills him.
Fun: 6/10. Also managed to surprise me there.
—-
RAM
User: Popcorn Coworker (named Roy Kleinberg in later canon). Seems like a fun enough guy in later years, in the Next Day short, although also kinda scared at that moment. As of 1982, the only thing we knew about him was he asked Alan for some popcorn. I guess popcorn is pretty fun.
Function: Actuarial program at a big insurance company. Another stuffy math-nerd job– although he describes it with an optimistic helping-people spin.
Personality: The most adorably friendly and personable program in there. So many smiles and laughs. Uses his death-weapon/personality backup as a drinking cup, and shares it with Flynn. Having fun even the one time we see him kill someone (“so long, sucker!”) Smiling even when he’s dying.
Fun: 9/10. Just the best little guy.
—
CLU
User: Kevin Flynn. We all know him. Fun to a fault.
Function: I guess spyware, injected into Encom system to find a file. Could be a fun job– looking for stuff, exploring.
Personality: For the on-Grid avatar of the indisputably most “fun” human in this movie, this guy is serious as HECK. Monotone, ultra-formal “yes sir” responses to everything Flynn says. Notably the only program shown to shed actual tears, which is achieved through extreme torture. Closest he comes to smiling is in the very last moment when it is 100% clear he is doomed.
Fun: 1/10 WTF.
TRON
User: Alan Bradley, serious programmer. So serious about work that he “doesn’t even balance his checkbook on downtime.” Does a fair amount of smiling and making jokes when off the clock, although the jokes tend towards the cynical (“more bugs than a bait store”; “can it send me to Hawaii?”)
Function: Security program to monitor connections between systems. Troublingly close to cop. Anyone with that job who didn’t take it seriously and tried to have fun with it would become a downright menace, really fast. Tron, however, takes it super seriously.
Personality: Serious as death when at work or trying to get back to work. Love and friendship can bring out a softer side, though. Capable of fun but has to be REALLY talked into it. (Yori only manages to seduce him into a circuit-touching session by making it into roleplay about his job.)
Fun: 5/10 but he’s got the potential to be so much more
YORI
User: Lora Baines, laser scientist. Dedicated, smart, intense, gets things done. Brains of the whole break-in operation. Definitely has a wild fun side. Parked her van without paying because she wanted to use her coins for arcade games.
Function: Driver for the laser scanning hardware. Could be fun. Probably the first program who got to see an orange. I bet she tried to taste it.
Personality: As good at planning and getting things done as her creator. Definitely the brains of Tron’s mission, the one he goes to for help operating all the machinery and navigating all the systems involved in reaching his goal. But ALSO super fun at the same time! Treats the slope down to the I/O dais like an amusement park slide, and jokes that she wants to go again. They made their plans in her quarters, which she illegally decorated in wild rainbow colors just for the fun of it, and then she dressed up in a sexy sparkle cape to convince Tron that circuit makeouts can be part of the planning.
Fun: 10/10 the FUNNEST. I wanna be best friends with her.
