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Is there any content from the extended world of The Matrix that suggests if Cypher was initially suspected to be The One?

When Cypher and Neo have a conversation, this is what he says:

So can I ask you something? Did he tell you why he did it? Why you're here? Jesus! What a mind job. So you're here to save the world. What do you say to something like that? A little piece of advice. You see an agent... you do what we do. Run. You run your ass off.

This makes me wonder if Cypher was told the exact same thing and it turned out that he was pulled out by mistake. He didn't turn out to be The One and hence Cypher wants his life back? Is there any material that talks about this?

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    What? How does his dialogue suggest he was pulled out because he was suspected to be The One. Most of the people were pulled out because their mind rejected The Matrix.
    – HBhatia
    Commented Mar 2, 2017 at 8:11
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    See this: scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/31249/… for more details
    – HBhatia
    Commented Mar 2, 2017 at 8:19
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    @HBhatia, in case you may have missed, later on Neo says, he's just another guy. Which means that this has happened before. So no, a mind rejecting the Matrix is not the only reason people are pulled out. That is a way to identify a prospect. But there has been a hunt for The One for many years and mistakes have been made in the past. Question is, is Cypher one of those mistakes?
    – John
    Commented Mar 3, 2017 at 18:35
  • imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary "Meanwhile, as the phone rings, providing Trinity's exit, she confides to Neo that everything that the Oracle has told her has come true, except for one thing." reddit.com/r/AskScienceFiction/comments/30vxjs/… "The Oracle told Trinity that she would fall in love with a dead man, and that the dead man would be the One."
    – wonderich
    Commented Nov 14, 2020 at 6:31
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    "She fell in love with Neo and not Cypher. Cypher was the first person Morpheus decided was The One while she was on board. Despite Trinity's efforts she could not love him as predicted by the Oracle. Trinity lost faith in Morpheus due to a mistake he made."
    – wonderich
    Commented Nov 14, 2020 at 6:32

2 Answers 2

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The short answer to this one is "maybe". The actor who portrayed Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) certainly thinks so, but his opinions seem to be based on his representation in the earlier (1996) version of the script, not the later shooting script. It's certainly possible that he was told one thing, but then not updated.

Note that the '96 version of the script is one in which numerous potential "the One's" have been rescued and have died, with Neo merely being the latest possible match.

JP: ... In The Matrix, Cypher is the most human character in the story because he has doubt. Cypher was born of Morpheus. Cypher didn’t just show up. He was allegedly “the one.” If you look at the movie again, Morpheus had picked Cypher as “the one” even though he was not the one. By the time Morpheus finds Neo, Cypher says “six guys, he thought, and they always die.” Cypher explains his whole attitude when he says “I know this steak isn’t real, I know that it’s not real, but when I put it in my mouth, it’s juicy and delicious.” Cypher tells the story of The Matrix from his perspective when he says “ignorance is bliss.” Your question is born out of ignorance. Cypher scares you, so you label him as a scumbag so you don’t have to be afraid of him.

An interview with Joe Pantoliano

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    I also got the impression from the movie that Cypher still had a thing for Trinity - he claims he loved her once, inferring he no longer does, but it shows in his passion/anger when he's talking to Trinity and tells her that Neo can't be The One, otherwise some miracle would have to save him. It sounds like it's coming from a personal place, and we know the Oracle claimed Trinity would fall for The One, so it feels like maybe Morpheus once thought Cypher was The One, but Trinity's disinterest dissuaded him, and Cypher blames her for that.
    – delinear
    Commented Mar 2, 2017 at 14:42
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Cypher seems to be very interested in what trinity thinks of neo which leads me to believe he knows whoever she falls in love with is the one. Deep down he wishes it was him like Morpheus may have told him in the past.

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  • I think that information was given to Trinity by the Oracle. And only Trinity knows that information. She doesn't share it with anyone till the end, when she tells Neo.
    – John
    Commented Jul 13, 2018 at 8:48

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