Rinzler

• Rinzler
• Gameplay

This article is about Rinzler. You may be looking for Tron from Space Paranoids.

"That's the thing about programs. Mess with the code just a little, and their whole nature and memory can change."

—Kevin Flynn

Rinzler is an antagonist who appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. A villainous copy of Tron, he serves as an enforcer for CLU and helps him keep his iron grip on The Grid. Despite being a different Tron than the one Sora knew from Space Paranoids, Sora still recognizes him and seeks to return him to his true state. He originated in the Disney film Tron: Legacy.

Story

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Sora first encounters Rinzler on a bridge, where they prepare to fight. However, upon seeing Sora's Keyblade, Rinzler soon leaves without attacking. He returns to CLU, showing him Sora through his disk, giving CLU an idea.

Soon, Sora and Quorra encounter Rinzler in CLU's headquarters. Sora attempts to get Rinzler to remember his past, but fails. Rinzler sends his disks towards Sora, but Quorra manages to block the attack for him. Quorra proceeds to engage Rinzler, but is defeated and seemingly captured. However, it turns out that Sora indeed managed to get through to Rinzler to an extent, causing him to hesitate long enough for Quorra to escape.

CLU later offers Sora to release Rinzler in exchange for the Keyblade, which Sora refuses. CLU then makes Rinzler and Sora fight, with Sora winning. Sora manages to free Rinzler by stabbing him with the Keyblade, allowing Rinzler to remember his past as Tron and his previous encounter with Sora in Space Paranoids. This angers CLU, who then attempts to murder Sora with his disk, but Tron manages to push Sora away and take the attacks, one of which hits the floor, causing it to derezz. Tron then falls, despite Sora's attempts to save him. CLU goes after him.

Rinzler, now back under CLU's control, later captures Quorra, though Riku and Sam are able to save her. Rinzler is thrown off the Rectifier by one of Riku's attacks, leaving his fate unknown.

Development

Rinzler was revealed to appear, along with The Grid, in the Jump Festa 2012 trailer. He appears to play out the same role as in Tron: Legacy, except for his interactions with Sora and Riku. Following Claude Frollo, and the Beagle Boys, he is the third Disney villain confirmed for the game, and the first Disney Boss.

According to Masaru Oka, scenario and cutscene director for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Rinzler was originally intended to be a boss for Riku's side of the story.

Appearance

Rinzler wears black body armor with orange circuitry, with four orange squares arranged in the shape of a "T" on his chest and lines on his fore and middle fingers. His face is covered by a black helmet similar in structure to the one worn by Vanitas. Like Tron, he wields an Identity Disk, though this one is a black chakram-like weapon with a white outer border and an orange inner border, that can split into two disks.

Personality

After his reprogramming, Rinzler is obedient to CLU, carrying out his orders. He is also reserved, never speaking unless necessary. Once regaining his memories from his time as Tron, he is very courageous and protective of his friends, specifically Sora, whom he protected from CLU.

Origin

"I...fight for the Users!"

—Rinzler defies CLU 2

Following the defeat of Sark and the Master Control Program, Kevin Flynn copies Tron from the ENCOM server onto his new Grid and also creates CLU 2 so that the two of them will oversee the Grid's maintenance.

One day, however, while Tron is escorting Kevin Flynn to the portal to the real world, they are ambushed by CLU 2 and four Black Guards. Tron tells Kevin to run as he fends them off, leaving him to fight and ultimately lose to CLU 2. Tron is then repurposed to serve him as Rinzler.

In Tron: Legacy, Rinzler makes his first appearance as the final opponent of the Disk Wars, fighting Sam Flynn until he bleeds, identifying him as a User. Throughout the rest of the film, he is brought into conflict with Kevin, Sam, and Quorra. Ultimately, during a high-speed Light Jet battle, he overcomes CLU 2's programming and flies straight into his former master. The attack fails, however, and Rinzler falls into the sea of simulation, where his circuitry returns from orange to white.

In the film, Rinzler is portrayed by martial artist/stuntman Anis Cheurfa, and voiced by Bruce Boxleitner.

Trivia

• Rinzler has no lines in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. In the film, he had only three.
• Despite wielding both disks in battle, Rinzler's model still has a disk attached to his back.
• Sora continually says that he knew Tron before he became Rinzler, but in fact the Tron Sora met was part of the copy of the Grid created by Ansem the Wise, so in truth, Tron/Rinzler of "The Grid" has never had any prior relationship with Sora.