WOPR
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WOPR (pronounced "Whopper") is a fictional military computer featured in the feature movie WarGames. Its name is an acronym for War Operation Plan Response.
It is programmed to play numerous war games, including one called Global Thermonuclear War, the purpose being to be able to optimally respond to any possible enemy nuclear attack. WOPR may be a pun on "whopper," meaning a big lie or gross untruth, but according to the trivia section of the IMDb entry on WarGames it is a pun on the name of the real NORAD computer of that time, BURGR.
A computer hacker breaks into the military computer system, makes contact with WOPR and gives the command to play the Global Thermonuclear War scenario, unaware of the computer's real use. When he finds out, the young hacker, his girl friend and the computer's designer barely manage to gain access to NORAD headquarters Cheyenne Mountain and persuade the military that the data WOPR is presenting is fictitious. However, the efforts by the military to stand down from DEFCON 2 are misinterpreted by WOPR as an attempted subversion of the defense system and it attempts to proceed with a full nuclear attack on its own. The situation is particularly dire considering that cutting power to the computer is not an option as the computer is programmed to interpret a sudden power loss as the destruction of NORAD and it is instructed to automatically launch its full arsenal in response.
The young hacker and the designer are only able to persuade WOPR to stop when they trick it to play tic tac toe against itself, which almost instantly creates a long string of stalemates. This concept of futility in a unwinnable game extends to WOPR running through all the possible scenarios of nuclear war, which all end in stalemates as well. In the face of this data, WOPR concludes that nuclear war is a pointless exercise and stands down.
Presumably, WOPR is later safely disconnected from the NORAD system to prevent a repeat of this crisis.
Quotes
- "David, does this have anything to do with what you did with my grade?" – Jennifer
- "Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks." – Gen. Jack Beringer, from the movie
- "I'd piss on a sparkplug if I thought it would do any good."– Gen. Jack Beringer, from the movie
- "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play." – WOPR, on Tic Tac Toe (and also Global Thermonuclear War)