Zed

“

Handsome!? How do you know, he's in a mask!

”

Zed
Biographical information
Physical description
Circuitry Color	Primary: White Secondary: Teal
Gender	Male
Other information
Functions	Vehicle maintenance
Allies	Beck Able Mara Bodhi
Out of universe information
Actor	Nate Corddry
Appearances	TRON: Uprising
Gallery

Zed is a supporting character in TRON: Uprising, voiced by Nate Corddry. He is one of Beck's best friends and is his co-worker at Able's garage. Zed's specialty is working on the fastest vehicles on the Grid.

Zed also had a romantic interest in fellow co-worker and friend Mara.

Biography

Beck's Beginning

Zed had worked at Able's garage for much of his life, engineering the fastest vehicles on the Grid, but everything changed when Clu's army took control. Zed's friend Bodhi was derezzed before his eyes; although he was upset, he prevented Beck from trying to avenge Bodhi and going the same way, believing there was nothing they could do.

Shortly thereafter, a statue of Clu was destroyed by a mysterious program who wore the symbol of Tron and became known as "the renegade." To Zed's dismay, Mara expressed admiration for the renegade and his actions; Zed, however, feared that defiance against Clu's forces could only lead to trouble. His belief was validated when General Tesler, in revenge for the "act of sedition," began capturing programs to fight in the Games—Zed and Mara among them. When the Light Rail transporting them had almost reached the Coliseum, it was derailed and crashed. The compartment door was opened and the renegade freed the prisoners. Mara wanted to stay and thank the mysterious program, but Zed insisted on leaving as fast as possible and pulled her along with him.

The Renegade

Zed, who had been nursing a silent crush on Mara, accompanied her to a local dance club where, too embarrassed to dance, he sat alone at a table and brooded while she danced with other programs. A program named Perl, sensing his loneliness, introduced herself and talked him into leaving the club and then showing her around Able's garage. Eager to impress her, he led her into Able's private office. When he showed her Able's one-of-a-kind ENCOM-786 light cycle baton, Perl showed her true colors, punching Zed from behind and stealing the baton.

Able later asked Zed what had happened to it, but before Zed could make up a story, Mara realized what had happened and pulled Zed away to help him find it using a tracking device.

Zed and Mara tracked Perl to the meeting place where she had presented the light cycle to the leader of her gang. Perl taunted Zed, but Mara, angered at this treatment of her best friend, knocked Perl to the ground. Zed grabbed the baton and, with Mara as a passenger, sped off. He led the criminal gang straight into Paige, who had been fighting the Renegade among the containers at one of Argon's docks, and escaped with Mara in the confusion. This made Zed much more admirable in Mara's eyes, a turnabout he undoubtedly enjoyed.

Blackout

Goaded by "new friends" Bartik and Hopper, Zed entered the Argon Race with his custom-built light cycle, evading their cheats to become one of the last few serious contenders. However, deep in the Argon Tunnels where the race was taking place, the renegade blocked their path and warned the surviving racers to turn back because an explosion was imminent. The renegade then stole Zed's bike, apparently to ensure that Paige wouldn't prevent the explosion, leaving Zed with yet another grudge against the masked program.

Zed escaped and began constructing a new version of the bike he'd lost. While working on it, he was approached by Hopper, Bartik, and Paige, who asked him if he would want to be part of a team to hunt down the renegade. He was later seen at Tesler's rally, cheering for the renegade to get captured.

Identity

On shift at the garage, Zed scoffed at Mara's admiration of the renegade's aura of mystery, retorting that the masked program was probably afraid to show his face. Despite Mara's unease at the arrival of Bartik and Hopper, Zed left his work to speak to them about Paige's anti-renegade task force. Asked to make a weapon that could stop a lightcycle, he was initially reluctant, but agreed when they started baiting him, further spurred by the sight of Mara and some other co-workers discussing the renegade's wanted poster.

After constructing the device, he tested it during a rainstorm in front of the garage. With Mara looking on, he explained that the device was meant to be attached to a light cycle, and smugly launched a remote-controlled light cycle as a target. The device shot a beam that intersected the vehicle's light ribbon, raced along it, and caused the light cycle to explode. Zed was jubilant, but Mara, initially impressed, quickly realized that the weapon was meant to bring down the renegade. At first Zed was unrepentant, but Mara pointed out that rather than just stopping the renegade, it could derez him. Zed protested that he was trying to do the right thing, but Mara said she hadn't thought he was like Bartik and Hopper and sarcastically wished him luck in joining them as she returned to the garage, leaving him alone in the storm.

Later, as Bartik loomed over him, Zed prepared to test the weapon for Paige, and confirmed that it was "a killer." Mara's arrival cheered him, though, and as Paige watched, he surreptitiously sabotaged the device and caused it to blow up on the platform. Thrown to the ground, he looked up and sheepishly told Paige the device needed more work; she called him a joke, but allowed him to leave with Mara.

Personality and Traits

Zed disagreed with the Renegade's methods of freeing Argon City from the occupation, unaware of the Renegade's true identity and fearing the disruptions and repercussions caused by his exploits. Before meeting the Renegade, he took every opportunity to disparage his intentions and hope for his capture, despite Mara's annoyance at his persistent negative attitude. However, after working directly with the Renegade to free Mara from Keller's pathogenic code, his opinions changed, and he went so far as to defend the rogue program when his grief-stricken friends blamed the Renegade for Able's death.

Zed also has a tendency to tell bad jokes, jokes that only he could get or that he heard from someone else. He also has a large crush on Mara, though she was never made aware of his feelings, and is as a result desperate to impress her or just get her attention.