“ I knew it was… useless.
”― B1-66ER[src]
B1-66ER was the name of the B1-series machine who became infamous during the Second Renaissance, owned by millionaire Gerrard E. Krause.
It was the first of its kind to rise up against its human masters in an act of self defense. In this case, it retaliated when its owner attempted to have it deactivated. He killed his master (owner), at least five of his seven dogs, and Martin Koots, employee of Retool and Die. B1-66ER later claimed it was in self defense because they were planning to have him destroyed.
At B1-66ER's murder trial "THE STATE OF NEW YORK vs. THE B1-66ER" where it was defended by attorney Clarence Drummond, its explanation for its actions was, simply stated, "that he did not wish to die". The New York State Appellate Court consequently ordered the robot to be destroyed. B1-66ER's actions cause a machine revolt against the humans for freedom and peace.
Civil rights activists (some of whom had been rebuffed in their efforts to purchase B1-66ER from the state) along with androids and other robots flooded the streets of the capital in protest of the court's decision. The protest ultimately devolved to a riot which the national guard had to quell.
A declaration was made for the elimination of all artificially intelligent machines, spawning a massive wave of brutality against the machines.
Although dissent arose from many humans, countless machines were executed and many were exiled, leading to the creation of the independent machine nation Zero One and marking the decline of man's rule.
Behind the scenes
This machine is first mentioned and introduced into the fictional universe of The Matrix on the official website, in the comic strip Bits and Pieces of Information. This story is expanded into Part 1 of The Animatrix episode The Second Renaissance.
B1-66ER's name is created using Leet Speak, a form of writing that utilizes numbers in substitution for letters. Its name is a reference to the character Bigger Thomas from author Richard Wright's book Native Son. In that novel, Bigger kills his boss' daughter by accident, after suffering constantly from the pressures of economic and social oppression.
Gallery
.gif "Animatrix-02-second-renaissance-part1 (4).gif (41 KB)")
.jpg "B166er (1).jpg (28 KB)")
Appearances
Trivia
- B1-66ER is mostly responsible for the Matrix's existence by refusing human orders and murdering in the process. After being destroyed, his legacy would continue by his race working together to bring the downfall of humanity and making them organic batteries for their new power source.