Kevin Flynn

THIS PAGE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Kevin Flynn was a gifted computer programmer who, in 1982, created some best-selling video games for ENCOM which included Space Paranoids, Matrix Blaster, Vice Squad, and Light Cycles.

Biography
SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Background
Flynn's hometown is Paramus, New Jersey, where he was born near the end of the 1940's. Flynn got his doctorate from Caltech before joining ENCOM in 1979. As an up and coming young programmer, Flynn began developing new video games in secret. A competing Encom programmer named Ed Dillinger learned what Flynn was doing and stole Flynn's games. Three months later, Dillinger unveiled the games to the company without even bothering to change the names. Dillinger was quickly promoted, eventually rising to senior executive VP. When Flynn protested, Dillinger fired him. In 1981, Flynn founded his own establishment - appropriately named Flynn's Arcade - and filled it with his own creations as well as several other classic arcade machines. Flynn saw the arcade as the only way he could profit from the games that were stolen from him.

TRON
In 1982, Flynn made several attempts to hack into the ENCOM mainframe via the terminal at his arcade, using his best hacking program - Clu - to try and obtain the evidence that would prove Dillinger's fraudulence.

By this time, Dillinger had developed the Master Control Program from a chess program, to administer the ENCOM mainframe. The MCP found the data that Flynn wanted and attempted to hide it from him, even to the point of blocking him from accessing the system. Flynn's actions led Dillinger to enforce additional security by shutting down all access to the mainframe, including access for ENCOM's programmers. Among those affected was Alan Bradley, who was barred from working on his security program, Tron.

Unable to uncover the plagiarism personally, Flynn asked for help from his former lover Lora Baines and her new boyfriend Alan, who decided to help Flynn get direct access to computer systems that may hold the incriminating evidence. Their plan was to have Flynn forge a Group 6 access so that Alan could gain access to Tron again. Then Alan would command Tron to shut down the MCP, which would in turn release Flynn's stolen file.

Lora took Flynn to her terminal in a laboratory where she had been working on an experimental laser technology that transported matter. Kevin proceeded to access the terminal, located directly in front of the laser, but was spotted by the MCP almost immediately and fired upon. As his body was broken down into digital information, Flynn found himself transported into the Game Grid, where the MCP notified his forces of Flynn's true nature and tasked Commander Sark with killing him in the games.

Shortly afterwards, Flynn met a program named Ram and was told all about the Master Control Program's rules, eventually discovering that captured conscripts were forced to play in the games. Initially unaware that he was participating in "gladiator" games, Flynn realized the danger of his situation when he refused to kill a fellow conscript, Crom, in a ring game. Flynn was later transported to the Light Cycle Staging Pit to play a Light Cycle game alongside Ram and also Tron, the best program on the Game Grid. He exploited his knowledge of the game program to their advantage, forcing one of the MCP's gladiators to crash into the Game Grid's wall and opening up an escape route. He set off with Ram and Tron, with Ram and Flynn being separated from Tron due to a light tank blast.

Flynn gradually discovered that as a user, he possessed far-reaching abilities within the system, enabling him to manipulate the environment around him at will. He managed to reassemble and reactivate a destroyed Recognizer, redirected an energy transport beam after it had been sabotaged by the MCP, and even saved Yori and himself from being derezzed along with Sark's ship after Sark departed for the MCP. Although his understanding of this newfound power was still rudimentary, Flynn courageously engaged the Master Control Program in person and diverted its attention long enough for Tron to disable it permanently. Its destruction returned Flynn to the real world and allowed him to access the incriminating evidence he needed to depose of Dillinger, which in turn saw him promoted to the position of ENCOM CEO, and enabled him to promote Alan and Lora to the board of directors.

TRON Evolution
In 1983, one year after his adventures in the ENCOM System with Tron, Ram, and Yori, Flynn created his own personal "Grid" and formally called it the Tron System. He moved Tron over from the old system and gave him an upgrade. Flynn made this Grid to be his own personal creation, and hid the entrance to it in the basement of his arcade behind a TRON machine (which he created after his adventures with Tron). Flynn created a utopia, and named the main city Tron City, after Tron's heroic actions in the ENCOM system. Sometime between 1983 and 1989, Flynn also created a second version of CLU, to help create the perfect system, and run it while Flynn was away dealing with his increasingly more important personal life. Also during this time, a new species of programs manifested called ISOs, and were not created by Flynn or anyone else. They had free will and special abilities. Flynn began to study them, and was planning on presenting them to the world as a gift, saying that they would change science and medicine.

Then, in 1989, Flynn made a video to document events on his basement computer, saying that a war was breaking out between ISOs and basics. He stated that the leader of the ISOs named Jalen was murdered in the Disc Arena by a group of rogue basics, and that "it was genocide." Flynn then created a new System Monitor named Anon to help Tron in monitoring the system. On a historic day in the Grid, an installation ceremony was about to begin. Kevin had negotiated a peaceful alliance between the Basics and ISOs. He picked Radia, a female ISO leader to be installed as Co-Systems Administrator along side Kevin's original System Administrator CLU, who would continue to represent the Basics. Thousands of programs had gathered in Tron City to witness the historic event. Meanwhile, Anon had just arrived in the middle of Tron City. He met up again with Tron to assist in protecting the installation ceremony, and was ordered to follow Quorra, who said she knew Radia well but was denied access and said she would get in anyways. After a speech from CLU announcing Radia as the Co-Systems Administrator, followed by a speech from Radia reflecting Jalen's death, the ceremony was attacked by a corrupted program named the Abraxas virus.

After attacking some citizens, Abraxas started heading towards CLU to attack him. As Abraxas neared CLU, he was interecepted by Anon, and the two started to battle. During the fight, Abraxas's identity disc got partially shattered, with a piece of it left on the floor. Abraxas ran off as Flynn and Tron arrived. CLU returned as well and picked up the shattered Identity Disc and proceeded to tell them that he believed the Abraxas virus had evolved from ISOs and implied that they were a danger to The Grid. Flynn didn't believe CLU, saying that he trusted the ISOs and thought that there was another origin to the virus. Tron suggested that Flynn leave the grid because it was too dangerous to stay. Before Tron escorts Flynn to the portal, he orders Anon to follow the virus.

While Anon was off following the virus, Tron escorted Flynn back to the portal. But before they could make it, they were intercepted near the Grid replica of Flynn's Arcade by CLU, who was now wearing a gladiator outfit with anti-user circuitry. Anon arrived on an encased see-through bridge just as this happened to witness it. CLU asked Kevin "Am I still to create the perfect system?" When Flynn responded cooly with "Yeah", CLU stepped back with his mask engulfing his face and then sent his Sentry guards to surround and attack Tron and Flynn. Tron told Flynn to run and attempts to take on the Sentries. As Flynn ran off Tron was assumed to be derezzed. CLU then spotted Anon, and ordered his guards to attack him. Anon got past them and rendezvoused with Quorra, who informed him that she saw what happened as well, and that Flynn was killed along with Tron.

Anon and Quorra met with a program named Zuse who owned the End Of Line Club. Zuse upgraded Quorra's disc to have Solar Sailer priveledges and suggested they take it to Arija City to meet Radia. Once there, they hid while CLU talked with Radia and lied to her, telling her that Anon killed Tron and Flynn. Afterwards, Quorra told Radia the truth, and Radia accessed Quorra's memory to verify it. With her special abilities she was able to see that Kevin was actually not killed but escaped, and fled the city with the help of a program named Gibson. Radia told them to find said program. The events continued to unfold, resulting in Gibson being infected by Abraxas and Anon being forced to Derez him, Abraxas Derezzing Radia, and then a duel between Anon and Abraxas. Anon defeated Abraxas, as a pile of wreckage fell on the virus. Just then, CLU's Regulator bombed all of Arija City, completely destroying it.

Anon awoke somewhere outside of Tron City with Flynn's Cycle in view, and heard Flynn speak to him. Kevin (now clad in robes) had pulled Anon from the city wreckage and reprogrammed him. He told Anon how he still couldn't believe that CLU had become a genocidal maniac and how he blamed himself for the flaws in CLU's program. He told Anon that he saw Quorra getting onboard CLU's Regulator. He asked Anon to do one final task for him. Flynn wanted Anon to help Quorra and get her back. He told Anon "She's special. More special than you know. Our last hope." He then told Anon that he upgraded his disc, making him stronger, and that it should make him a better match for CLU's army. Anon then climbed up some rocky structures and jumped onto a recognizer, which took him on board CLU's Regulator. Anon battled his way through the ship, searching for Quorra. After racing through a section on his Light Cycle, Anon found Quorra being held hostage by CLU. She told Clu that she will tell the truth to everyone, and as he is about to derezz her Anon knocked CLU's disc out of his hand with his disc. CLU grabbed Quorra and sent black guards after Anon.

After Anon defeated Clu's black guards, a recognizer crashed into the side of the Regulator, and Abraxas emerged from the wreckage. Clu threw Quorra down to the deck, followed by Anon and Abraxas having a final showdown. Abraxas used energy cores to multiply his power. When Abraxas entered the central core, Clu yelled that he would overload the core, and the ship. Anon destroyed the core with Abraxas in it, finally derezzing him. Clu ran away while Anon went over to Quorra, picking her up. As the ship was exploding, Anon dove off the side of the ship and grabbed onto a Recognizer.

The blast from the explosion malfunctioned the Recognizer causing it to fall. When it hit the floor, Anon and Quorra were thrown to the ground, but the recognizer was still tumbling toward them. Anon threw Quorra out of the way following Flynn's last command to protect her and The Recognizer crushed him. Quorra woke up to see Anon fading under the Recognizer, watching him derezz right in front of her. Alone in the middle of the wasteland, she collapsed, expecting to run out of energy and derezz. Just when she thought all hope was lost she opened her eyes and saw Flynn standing above her. She then reflected on how both Flynn and Anon saved her.

TRON Legacy
After about three decades of living in exile in the Outlands, Flynn was surprised out of his meditations by Quorra bringing a guest to him. His now-adult son Sam had been lured into the system and captured by Clu's forces, later to be rescued by Quorra, and now stood before him. During their reunion Kevin told the story of Clu's betrayal and how Sam's arrival had opened the portal again for a millicycle (about 8 hours). When Sam suggested that they leave for the portal, Kevin disagreed. The elder Flynn knew that such a move would play into Clu's plan and insisted that remaining in hiding was the safest option.

With the dispute still unresolved, father and son retired for the night. When Kevin awoke, Sam was already gone, heading back to Tron City in Kevin's old Light Cycle. Kevin had no choice but to follow his son.

When Kevin and Quorra finally caught up to Sam at the End Of Line Club, Sam was fighting for survival in the midst of a pitched battle with Clu's Black Guards. Kevin and Quorra intervened, however Quorra was left critically injured, and worse; Kevin's own Identity Disc was snatched from his back as they fled.

Pondering their options, Kevin decided that Sam's earlier idea of racing for the portal would have the best merits, and so he and Sam stole aboard a Solar Sailer that was headed in the direction of the portal. Once on board, Kevin set about repairing the damage to Quorra's code. He spoke at length of the complexity of the code, explaining Quorra's status as the last of the ISOs. He also used the opportunity to exchange stories of the years that he had been unable to spend with his son.

The journey to the portal was cut short however, when their transport docked with a huge Carrier Ship that had unexpectedly appeared in their path. They hid and watched as hundreds of programs were unloaded into the bowels of this colossal craft. Clu's plan to create an invasion force soon became apparent.

Before they could do anything more, they saw Rinzler moving towards them. Quorra handed her identity disc to Kevin and broke from cover in a bid to lead Rinzler away. Kevin recognized Rinzler as Tron, corrupted into serving Clu. Helpless to aid Quorra, Kevin and Sam retreated to formulate a new plan. Sam would recover his father's identity disc, while Kevin procured a Light Jet fast enough to escape in. Kevin was relieved when they rendezvoused at the captured Light Jet, that Sam had also rescued Quorra along the way.

The trio were making good progress in escaping to the portal when they found themselves pursued by Clu, Rinzler and a quartet of Black Guards in small personal Light Jets of their own. During the protracted dogfight that ensued, Kevin and Rinzler caught sight of each other at close range, sparking Rinzler to remember his mission as Tron. Tron eventually shook off the shackles of Clu's dominance altogether and turned his attack on Clu, allowing Kevin and his younger allies to escape. Out of Sam's view, Kevin secretly switched his identity disc to Quorra.

Upon reaching the portal they discovered Clu had survived Tron's attack and found his way to the portal before them. Kevin and Clu confronted each other, with Kevin trying to explain that he'd been wrong, and Clu still arguing in favor of system-wide perfection. Then Clu attacked, sparking another brief conflict.

With Clu blocking Kevin's way to the portal, and Sam and Quorra close to escape, CLU turned to Kevin to retrieve his prize — the identity disc that would unlock the way to the real world. When CLU learned that Kevin in fact possessed Quorra's disc, he ran to the portal to stop the younger pair from escaping. Although Sam tried to turn back for his father, Kevin insisted that he go and take Quorra with him, hopeful that her existence would change the outside world.

Kevin then tapped into his power and started the reintegration process to prevent CLU from reaching Sam and Quorra. Kevin pulled the CLU back into himself by the energy circle he created, in order to finally destroy him. Reintegrating CLU, Kevin sacrificed himself in order to save his son and Quorra. A huge blast erupted from the reintegration, consuming the portal and destroying the carrier ship that was drawing close overhead.