Thomas A. Anderson is a fictional character from the movie The Matrix and its sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He is sometimes referred to as The One and has powers beyond machines. In all three movies he is played by Keanu Reeves.

Mr. Anderson, who later prefers to go by his hacker alias "Neo", is invited to enter the "real world", where he finds himself as the "chosen one" to save humankind from the empire of intelligent machines in the year of 2199 (approximately). The Matrix is an illusory construct of the world of 1999 (similar to Plato's allegory of the cave) developed by the machines to keep the human population docile and under control. Some humans break free and the " Rebels" free them. This is necessary because humans are now used by the machines as their primary energy source, after humanity blocked out the Sun by contaminating the atmosphere.

The character's names are viewed by many to have intentional plot-related meanings; Neo- is a Greek prefix meaning new, and Neo is also an anagram of one and eon. The coming of "the one" marks the end of an eon in the Matrix. The name Anderson literally means "son of man", the preferred self-title of Jesus (the Messiah in Christianity). The name Thomas can be viewed as a reference to Thomas, a disciple of Jesus, who was famous for his doubting. Also, "Thomas" literally means "two", and he is indeed living a double life as Mr.Anderson/Neo. Religion often comes up in The Matrix, not just in names, for dialog and the film's metaphors are all religiously influenced.

Neo starts off The Matrix Trilogy (plugged into the giant computer simulation known as The Matrix) as Thomas Anderson, described by his nemesis Agent Smith as a programmer for a respectable software company. He pays his taxes and helps his landlady carry out her garbage. However, he also has another life, a life lived in computers. He is a hacker and goes by the alias Neo and is guilty of virtually every computer crime for which there is a law. Morpheus, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar (a ship in The Real World), believes Neo is The One, a person who will end the war between man and machine.

See also

• Messiahs in fiction and fantasy