Tronis a security computer program developed by Alan Bradley, and in 1982 was taken prisoner by the self-aware Master Control Program and forced to play on the Game Grid. His legendary skills and devotion to the users turned him into a formidable warrior and Disc Arena master.
A prototype of Tron was completed in January 1980 by ENCOM programmer Alan Bradley as a self-monitoring security program. The full name of this program was TRON-JA-307020. Work continued on Tron until 1982, but when the program was almost complete, Alan discovered that his access to Tron and the ENCOM computers had been suspended as a security measure against a hacker, who turned out to be Kevin Flynn. Due to this only suspension, Tron was held captive under Sark and the MCP, and forced to play gladiator video games on the Game Grid, winning battles with up to four enemy programs at once and gaining a reputation as a program who fought for the users.
Dillinger asked if Tron was part of the MCP; Alan denied it, and added that the program could "watchdog the MCP as well." Privately, the MCP scolded Dillinger for allowing Tron to be developed, since its illegal appropriations were exactly the kind of activity Tron had been created to combat.
Flynn and Alan conspired with Lora to break into ENCOM so that Tron could be unleashed to shut the MCP down and release evidence of Dillinger's perfidy. During the ensuing hacking attempt, Flynn was digitized by the MCP, who ordered him thrown into the same gladiator video games that Tron was trapped in. Tron was astonished and suspicious when Flynn called him by his user's name, but Flynn gained his trust by claiming to be a program from a user who knew Alan and revealing that he too was out to destroy the MCP.
Tron, Flynn, and another conscript, Ram, were forced to play a gladiator game of light cycles against three programs from Sark's army. Tron's first gambit caused one of the programs to crash into a wall of the game grid, leaving a deep fissure in the wall. While he and Ram systematically entrapped another enemy, Flynn used the hole to break out of the confines of the game, leading Tron and Ram in a wild flight from pursuing tanks and recognizers until they were able to hide out in a canyon, recharge, and locate their next destination.
To destroy the MCP and change the system, Tron needed data from his user, "Alan-One" (Bradley), to be encoded on his identity disc. He could sense Alan's summons from the canyon, but to communicate with him, he would need to reach an I/O Tower whose use by programs was strictly forbidden by the MCP. While on the way to the I/O Tower, the three conscripts were spotted by one of the pursuing tanks, which fired, hitting Flynn and Ram's light cycles. When Tron looked back to see if they were still alive, there was no trace of life and no response. Upset with the loss of his friends, Tron evaded the rest of the tank armada and continued toward the I/O Tower.
Before reaching the Tower, Tron made a detour to free Yori, his lover; her friendship with the Tower Guardian, Dumont, got him the time he needed to communicate with Alan-One. His conversation with his user was brief and characteristically task-oriented, but left him rejoicing with the information he needed to destroy the MCP. Dumont was captured by Sark, but Tron escaped with Yori by stealing a Solar Sailer simulation and flying it towards the heart of the ENCOM system, where the MCP was located.
While traveling towards the MCP, Tron was reunited with Flynn, who had survived the tank attack after all. Tron was delighted to see him alive, but grieved that Ram had not made it through as well. He introduced Flynn to Yori, but was dismayed by Flynn's interest in her resemblance to Lora.
As the Solar Sailer progressed, Flynn thwarted an attempt by the MCP and Sark to stop it from reaching its destination, and was revealed to be a user. Tron, sceptical, asked him if everything he'd done so far had been according to a plan; Flynn laughed at the idea, and Tron found it strange to think that users could control their own lives as little as programs could.
Sark finally rammed his carrier into the Solar Sailer, derezzing it. In the chaos, Tron was cut off from Yori and Flynn, who were flung into a landing bay of the Carrier, slated to be derezzed along with the ship when Sark disembarked to bring Dumont and his other prisoners to the MCP program.
Unbeknownst to Sark, Tron had survived the crash, clinging to the outside of the carrier; unaware of Flynn and Yori's predicament, he hung on to the skin of its escape pod as it traveled from the derezzing carrier to the MCP's vast mesa. Sark's lieutenant remained with the pod to guard it, but Tron waited until Sark had left with his prisoners, killed the soldier with a disc throw from his hiding place, and then followed.
Tron's presence distracted the MCP from its attempt to absorb Dumont and the other Tower Guardians. Sark, dispatched to deal with the warrior on the mesa, recognized Tron, and the two dueled with their identity discs, avoiding the crevasses in the mesa while attempting to catch one another off guard. Sark taunted Tron, calling him a slave and at the same time criticizing him for not joining him, as they "would have made a great team." With one mighty throw, Tron smashed Sark's disc in half, dealing a mortal wound to Sark's head; as Sark fell, dying, Tron raced past him into the MCP's citadel.
Deprived of his protector, the MCP channeled all of his functions into reviving Sark, summoning him repeatedly as Tron threw his disc at the weak point his user had designated. At first, Tron's disc was unable to penetrate the MCP's shields, and he was further beleaguered as Sark - enormous and invulnerable due to the MCP's power - appeared and attempted to squash him.
Seeing Tron's plight, Flynn, who had preserved himself and Yori due to his user abilities and was approaching on the deck of Sark's half-derezzed carrier, jumped into the citadel's beam, disorienting both the MCP and the giant Sark enough for Tron to cast his disc through the shields. Tron watched the MCP derez, and guided Dumont and the other Tower Guardians away from the mesa just before its citadel exploded. Yori and Tron reunited and shared a kiss (which Tron found both pleasing and surprising, since kissing had not been customary for programs), and stood with Dumont to watch the system restore itself and all of the i/O Towers light up again.
During this time, Tron was upgraded and copied over to Flynn's personal server in order to help protect the Grid, and had a city named in his honor. He was also present when the ISOs began emerging. When Clu gradually started to effect his rule over the Grid, Tron became suspicious of his friend's actions and - on at least one occasion - managed to save a program that had been defeated in the games from being derezzed on Clu's orders.
Tron assisted a prototype system monitor program named Anon to prevent system-wide infection by the viral program Abraxas. When the virus attacked the ceremony of peace between ISOs and Basics, Tron arrived just as Anon fended the virus off. After a brief discussion about Abraxas, Tron decided that Kevin should leave the Grid, due to it being too dangerous. Deciding that he would escort Flynn to the portal, Tron ordered Anon to track down the virus, promising to return and assist him after Flynn was back in the real world. Then on the way to the portal, Tron and Flynn were attacked by Clu. After telling Kevin to run, Tron was forced to fend off Clu's elite Black Guard. During the conflict, Tron acquired one of the guard's identity discs and proceeded to use this in tandem with his own to help finish the fight. He then turned to Kevin who had fallen under attack from Clu. Tron attacked Clu, buying time for Kevin to escape, but ultimately fell to a blow from Clu's identity disc. With Tron out of commission, Anon was forced by the circumstances of the situation to take up his superior's duties.
Tron was captured by his former friend, Dyson. Severely damaged and imprisoned along with programs who were repurposed by Clu, Tron was spared as Dyson wanted him to join Clu willingly. For this he tortured him, severely injuring his code. His torture caused the sympathy of one of the guards, Cyrus. When Tron was to be carried on a recognizer, Cyrus caused an explosion and the recogniser fell in the Outlands, allowing Tron to escape.
Tron went into hiding in the Outlands near Argon City. Tron's sudden disappearance led most programs on the Grid to believe that he was derezzed in the crash, and Clu encouraged this rumor, using Tron's apparent demise as leverage in his takeover of the Grid. Tron meanwhile kept watch from his hideout, using a device of his own to keep his injuries at bay, but was unable to enter action himself.
Beck's actions in rebelling against General Tesler drew Tron's attention, and, disguised with red circuits and a jet black helmet, Tron tracked down the young program and took him under his wing. Unable to lead a revolution himself due to the injuries he had sustained, he wanted Beck to become his successor as protector of the Grid. Initially sceptical, Beck agreed and, under Tron's guidance, began the training that would set him on a path to "become the next Tron."
When Beck lost his identity disc, Tron guided him to Purgos in order to buy a stolen one. They were ambushed by Kobol who intended to deliver Beck to Clu's forces. After their fight, Tron had to unmask himself before Lux who had a change of heart and sacrificed herself to buy time for Beck and Tron to escape from the army.
When Dyson came to Argon for inspection and report, Tron was enraged and ordered Beck to capture him for interrogation. However Tron actually wanted to derezz Dyson for revenge to his treachery. Tron's rage made him neglect himself, and his injuries once more expanded. Beck noticed Tron's change of character and was reluctant to cooperate with him. When Tron went off to hunt Dyson, Beck attempted to stop him, and the two eventually fought. However a memory of Cyrus who rescued him, echoing something Beck had said earlier -- "I can't let the revolution end before it has a chance to start--" changed his mind, and let him live only to deliver a message. Dyson informed Clu that "Tron lives."
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