The TRON Universe is about humans being transported inside a computer and interacting with humanoid computer programs in a digital world. The Universe/mythology is named after the computer program Tron, who saved ENCOM's mainframe computer system and the real world from an evil self-aware computer program known as the MCP (Master Control Program) in 1982.

Sam Flynn, son of vanished ENCOM CEO and majority shareholder, marks the anniversary of his father's disappearance with an act of sabotage against the company, usually done in such a way as to embarass the new board of directors and remind them that their decisions for ENCOM no longer reflect Flynn's vision for the company. In April of 2010 Sam crashes an outdoor ENCOM press conference by jumping out of a helicopter and releasing a parachute witih a stylized "89" on it symbolizing the year his father went missing. To Sam, that was the year everything changed.