Rinzler
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 copy of Tron reprogrammed to be villainous, he serves as an enforcer for CLU and helps him keep his iron grip on The Grid. He originated in the Disney film Tron: Legacy.
Story
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Side: Sora
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 derezz 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.
It's currently unknown if Rinzler survived the fall or got derezzed, though since CLU went to retrieve him, it's implied that he survived.
Side: Riku
After finding themselves at the Solar Sailer dock Sam, Kevin, Quorra and Riku noticed Rinzler patrolling the area with Quorra allowing herself to be captured by him and taking her to the Rectifier. Sam and Riku knowing that they can't leave her behind insists that they should rescue Quorra and steal back Flynn's disc, as they both head off to the throneship.
After they managed to steal back Flynn's disc, they are interrupted by Rinzler who pushes Quorra aside, and prepares to fight them, but Riku performs a Flowmotion leap and knocks him off in a nearby ledge, 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.[1]
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.
Despite wielding both disks, Rinzler's model still has a disk attached to his back during the battle with him.
Personality
After his reprogramming, Rinzler is obedient to CLU, carrying out his orders. He is also reserved, never speaking unless necessary. When he sees something of unique that CLU may take an interest in, Rinzler immediately makes informing him top priority; this is evidence when he sees the Keyblade and reports back to CLU. 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. Tron again, he is willing to accept help from his friends, such as when Sora held out his hand to prevent him from falling.
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.
Notes and references
- ^ Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Ultimania: Q. Where there any rejected cutscenes? A. Not rejected as such, but in the beginning we planned the battle with Rinzler in The Grid to be Side: Riku. Before the start of that battle they announce the ‘thirteen combatants’, and though we didn’t consciously choose the number ‘13’, changing it to Side: Sora gave it an unexpected deep meaning.
Disney antagonists |
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Introduced in Kingdom Hearts |
Maleficent | Queen of Hearts | Card Soldier | Hades | Cerberus | Rock Titan | Ice Titan | Clayton | Sabor | Jafar | Iago Oogie Boogie | Lock, Shock, and Barrel | Monstro | Ursula | Flotsam and Jetsam | The Shark | Captain Hook | Mr. Smee | Chernabog |
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts II |
Maleficent's Raven | Pete | Shan-Yu and Hayabusa | Pain and Panic | Hydra | Captain Barbossa | Undead Pirates | Scar | Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed | MCP | Sark |
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep |
Maleficent's Goons | The Queen | Lady Tremaine | Anastasia and Drizella | Lucifer | Gantu | Experiment 221 |
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance |
Claude Frollo | CLU | Rinzler | Black Guards | Beagle Boys | Julius |
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts χ |
Gaston |
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Union χ |
Cy-Bug | King Candy |
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts III |
Lava Titan | Tornado Titan | Mother Gothel | Randall Boggs | Hans | Davy Jones | Kraken | Cutler Beckett |