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ReBoot Character
Phong
Phong
Format System Administrator, Keeper of the Core, Sprite
First Appearance The Tearing
Hobby Playing Pong, dispensing wisdom
Catchphrase "My Child"
Voice Actor Michael Donovan
List of ReBoot Characters.

This is a Featured Article

"Phong, the wise one. It is an honor to finally meet you." - Daemon

Phong is the oldest sprite living in Mainframe and is the city's benevolent leader. He lives in the Principal Office where he serves as the System Administrator and Keeper of the Core. He is somewhat evocative of Confucius, often dispensing advice in the form of confusing and vague philosophical quotes gleaned from old README files. Very fond of Pong, he used to have a rule that one must defeat him at the game to be considered worthy of his knowledge. As Read-Only Memory, Phong is immune to infection by most viruses.

Phong is the only permanent resident of the Principal Office because of his special status. He is the only person allowed access to the Core Control Chamber, and his mind is the only place the access codes are stored. Phong has an Office in the Principal Office where he can counsel others, give out information, and work on administrating the city. Sometimes when people need his advice Phong will see them at his podium in the Entrance Hall.

Phong's icon is a Chinese Yin/Yang symbol instead of the usual diamond shape. He is one of the few people to have a different design of icon from the traditional triangles.

Phong hates viruses, having encountered several over the years. He rarely uses their names when he must talk to them, simply calling them Virus.

Years ago, a Code Master named Talon came to Mainframe and asked Phong for refuge there. Phong agreed to his terms and reformatted Talon to be a binome, he took the name Mr. Pearson. Phong swore to secrecy about the identity of Talon. Years later when a Code Master named Lens came looking for Talon, Phong upheld his oath and denied that anyone named Talon lived in Mainframe, even at the risk of his own deletion. (High Code)

Phong Codemaster

Phong and Code Master

After the destruction of Mainframe's Twin City and the arrival of two viruses, Megabyte and Hexadecimal, Phong gladly welcomed Bob to Mainframe to help defend the city.

When the Medusa Bug was activated, Phong evacuated as many people as he could to the Principal Office and put up its shields. Unfortunately, Phong and everyone else was infected by the viral bug, and were thus turned into solid stone. (The Medusa Bug)

After software pirates looted Mainframe and kidnapped Bob Phong authorized Dot to commander a sailing yacht to chase them down. (The Crimson Binome)

Phong Megabyte

Phong and Megabyte

Phong Dot

Phong ordering Dot to safety

When the User uploaded an upgrade into Mainframe, Phong was surprised that it arrived early. He was proven correct about this since Megabyte was hiding inside a fake upgrade created by Hexadecimal. Megabyte severely injured Phong and copied his read-only memory so that he could use the pass codes and take over the Core Control Chamber. In a rare show of his authority, Phong gave Dot and Bob a direct order to leave the chamber for their own safety. (Infected)

This was interesting because Phong usually only requests people to do things and will even take orders from some others, such as Dot. In the end he does have authority over anyone in Mainframe.

After they had left the Chamber, Phong contacted Bob using a hologram, telling him to use Megabyte's greed against him. His message was cut short when Megabyte grabbed the old sprite and looked the frail old man in the face, telling him that the Core was his domain now. Then he admitted that sprites like Phong do fight bravely, right to the bittersweet end.

Phong Game

Phong in a Game

During one of Megabyte's attacks on the Principal Office an incoming Game Cube became very unstable when he removed the Core Energy. The Game landed on the Principal Office and Phong was caught in the Game. He rebooted as a gyrocopter pilot. This was the first time Phong was seen in a Game since he rarely leaves the Principal Office. (Bad Bob)

Phong was even prepared for a monster made of Nulls destroying Mainframe. He had constructed several large robots to combat the creature. (Nullzilla)

Mainframe's peace and stalemate with the viruses eventually came to an end. It was discovered that a Web Creature had made its way to Mainframe. It managed to gain access to a tear and form it into a portal to the Web. Phong was forced to prepare Mainframe for war. To prepare for the Web War, Phong quickly mobilized the entire CPU defense force, armed all citizens, and asked Dot to become his military adviser and second in command.

Bob had Mainframe form an alliance with the viruses to save the city. Megabyte agreed to build a device to close the portal, Phong was downloading the software to run it, and Hexadecimal agreed to power the device. Megabyte betrayed Bob and threw him into the portal before closing it. Dot and Mouse fled to the Principal Office. Megabyte and Hexadecimal contacted the War Room and informed them of their loss of Bob, and the beginning battle between the ABCs and CPUs. Megabyte ordered Phong to lower all defenses on the Principal Office. Phong told the virus that they would fight him to the last person. (Web World Wars)

Viral Wars

Phong was faced with a new challenge, the Viral Wars started after the CPU force was decimated by the Web. Only nine CPU cars survived the slaughter. The city's forces were outnumbered and required creative leadership from Phong and Dot.

Phong enzo

Phong counseling Enzo

When Dot didn't believe her little brother Enzo could take Bob's place as the city's Guardian Phong comforted and encouraged him. (To Mend and Defend)

Phong and Mouse eventually came up with the idea to create a firewall around Giedi Prime sector to imprison Megabyte and Hexadecimal inside. Their plan was a success, and for a time both viruses were no threat to anyone in Mainframe. (Firewall)

Phong was invaluable to Dot as a counselor after the loss of Enzo and AndrAIa to the Games.

Phong waits for Megabyte

Phong waiting for Megabyte

After Hexadecimal broke free of her brother's control, she destroyed the Tor and overloaded the firewall. The two viruses engaged in a huge battle. Much of the ABC attack force was destroyed and Hack and Slash were blown to pieces by Hex. Phong found their remains and rebuilt the two robots. They became his loyal bodyguards.

Needing a new place to set up shop, Megabyte gathered his remaining forces and attacked the Principal Office. The building fell to the ABCs quickly. Phong had Dot order the evacuation of the Principal Office but stayed behind to delay Megabyte. He sent Hack and Slash with Dot to be her bodyguards. The virus decapitated him and had data extracted from his mind so that he could use all the Principal Office's equipment. Phong tried to fight him, but Megabyte extracted the portal command codes so he could leave Mainframe. (Showdown)

Phong prison

Phong in a jar

When the Mainframers retook the Principal Office, Phong was finally freed by Dot Matrix's rebellion and eventually reattached to his body, which Hack and Slash found in the trash. But the city had already been badly damaged and began to shut down. While the Mainframers were evacuating to the Principal Office from the collapsing city, he explained that Mainframe's remaining sectors would have to be powered down for Mainframe to be saved. With the Core Control Chamber destroyed, Phong concluded that it would have to be done manually, from inside the Core. Bob completed the task while Phong helped the other Sprites fight off the User avatars that Mainframe's instabilities had released into the system. When Bob returned, he asked Phong of Mainframe's status. Phong replied that they survived Megabyte's bane, but Mainframe was still doomed. (System Crash)

Phong informed the others that no matter what they did, the city was too far gone to save. Bob suggested they let the city crash and hope the User would restart the system and restore the city. Phong hated it but agreed, quickly registering every active PID with the city. Just as he finished, Hexadecimal appeared, and Bob asked that she be registered with a PID so that she would be backed up as well. At first, Phong refused, but after Bob begged him to save Hex, he reluctantly gave Hex her own icon. When the city crashed, Phong was visibly the one taking it the hardest, having been the city's caretaker and leader for many years. During the System Restore, he was overjoyed and amazed as the city came back online. (End Prog)

Net War

Phong led Mainframe in the fight against the Super virus Daemon. Phong relied heavily on Dot for her military expertise to defend the city. They used portals to leave Mainframe and travel the Net. That way they didn't have to open the entire system to the Net, making it vulnerable to attack. Phong would access the Core and divert energy to the portal generator in the Sub-Sphere to create a tear. Then Bob would stabilize them into portals. (Daemon Rising)

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Phong's scans of Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal was transformed into a white, smaller version of herself during the war. Dot asked Phong to find out what happened to the virus. His scans revealed that Hexadecimal was now a sprite.

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Phong and Bob in the examination room

Bob fell ill during the war and Phong performed a complete compile on the guardian. When he was finished, they found that the merge with Glitch didn't work. Bob's form was breaking down. Phong also told Bob that the continued use of his Glitch powers would result in total fragmentation. Phong did agree to Bob's request that they not tell Dot. (What's Love Got To Do With It?)

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Welman and Phong

During the war, Dot realized that the null, Nibbles, was actually her father, Welman Matrix. With the help of Hexadecimal, they allowed Welman to remember who he was and to speak. Phong was very happy to be reunited with his old friend.

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Dot and Phong waiting for Daemon

Dot came up with a plan to try and destroy Daemon. She asked her father to rebuild his Gateway Command and asked Phong to help him. Her plan was to have the Gateway in front of the entrance to the Principal Office to put together part of Dot's plan to stop Daemon when she arrived in Mainframe. Bob stood as bait at the Gateway Command, and Dot and Phong stood at the steps to greet their 'guest'. Phong was very worried and nervous at meeting Daemon.

Phong infected 2

Phong being infected by Daemon

Daemon eventually breached Mainframe's defenses. When Daemon arrived at the Principal Office, she referred to Phong as "The Wise One", treating him with reverence and telling him it was an honor to meet him. He gave her a scowl, crossed his arms and did not talk to the virus. Despite his read-only memory, Daemon had little trouble infecting Phong.

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Phong infected

Phong was cured by Matrix's pure Guardian code. Hexadecimal demanded Phong stop Daemon's countdown to destruction, but he was forced to tell her there was no way to spread the cure in time. Welman suggested that a benign virus could spread fast enough, but Phong realized that it would completely fragment the virus to do it. Hexadecimal still did it, in order to save Bob and everyone. Her sacrifice saved the entire Net, defeating Daemon.(Sacrifice)

The Return

Phong presiding

Phong officiating at Dot's Wedding

A second Bob came to Mainframe and Phong became a counselor to Dot when she had to decide which Bob to marry. She eventually chose the second Bob and Phong officiated at the wedding. The second Bob was really Megabyte in disguise. He was exposed by the real Bob during the wedding. Phong tried to stay out of the way during the fight between Megabyte and Bob. (Null Bot of the Bride)

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Phong and Megabyte at the wedding

Megabyte eventually broke into the Principal Office and attacked everyone in the War Room, almost hitting Mouse and AndrAIa with his new tubules. Phong jumped between them and Megabyte to keep his tubules from hitting them. (Crouching Binome, Hidden Virus)

Once in control, Megabyte announced to everyone that he was there for revenge, and to prepare themselves for the Hunt.

It is unclear if Phong was actually infected by Megabyte's tubules like the binomes were. Megabyte was never able to infect Phong before. It is possible Phong was simply injured and is being held captive in the War Room.

Alternate Timeline

PHong infected

Phong infected and insane

During an effort to free one of Megabyte's sectors, Dot became disillusioned and lost confidence. To help, Phong used a device on Dot called a Reality Distortion Engine. It made it so she could see what would happen to Mainframe if she did nothing to stop Megabyte. In this horrible future Megabyte ruled what was now Megaframe, Bob had been nullified, and Phong was living in a box in an alley. The events since Megabyte's take over and being infected by a virus drove him mad. Fortunately, despite his condition, he was able to give Dot one small piece of encouragement through his insanity. (Identity Crisis, Part 2)

"Chance has nothing to do with it child, the future is not determined by a throw of the dice, it is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me." - Phong's advice through his viral insanity.

References

  • Although some people believe that Dot Matrix took over leadership of Mainframe after season 2, this was never explicitly said on screen. Because of this it is most likely that Phong remains Mainframe's leader and Dot is his military Command.com.
  • Phong has recognizable audio music which plays on numerous occasions whenever he says something of value or appears for the first time in an episode. It is two tones echoed with an East Asian style flute.
  • His name is a reference to Phong shading.
  • Phong's voice is played by Michael Donovan. He also plays the voices of Mike the TV, Al, and Cecil.
  • Phong has a picture of Dot, Bob, (young) AndrAIa, Enzo, himself and an overhead view of the Principal Office in his office.
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