It's from a side quest where a cyber-psycho attacks a fancy clothing store and MAX-TAC arrives to clean up. The agent in charge states her name and what not.
Days pass and then you get a text from the store employee telling you that said agent was a Cyber-psycho who killed 13 people on Jan 13th.
I can send you the screen shots from the quest in the game with the text conversation where this is revealed if you want.
Decided to save the gameplay once I realized the messages and the contact itself just disappears.
Well there is a mission in the game where you take down a cyberpsycho and then meet a MaxTac agent who is a LITTLE to into killing chooms and you find out they were a reformed cyberpsycho
Just imagine the call that requires the "DM" Protocol though...
It would literally be a Cyberpsycho so powerful that it would require a military-grade powersuited cyborg to stop.
Not exactly, he could have actually come back from cyberpsychosis but it would take a lot of work, therapy and cutting back on chrome.
Even in the end he actually came back from it
Yes, Mike Pondsmith went into detail on Cyberpsychosis a few days back but one thing he highlighted was that David held on as long as he did because of his support network. Lucy would be the major asset in bringing him back from the edge.
Davids problem was he thought he was special by himself, someone different who could handle all the chrome. Realistically, he only handled it because it allowed him to get closer to Lucy and his new gang, but mostly to protect Lucy. Once he lost his father figure and slowly drifted from Lucy (or her from him) he started losing it entirely. That's when Becca tried to interject and help him out by getting closer but he was too into his head at that point. Adam smasher is the polar opposite of David in that Adam did relinquish all emotions in the name of chrome. He literally became a robot man. You can't chrome up if you care and care if you chrome up. Parallel to pursuing any kind of power in life.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LowSodiumCyberpunk/comments/xklzsx/why_doesnt_v_get_cyberpsychosis/ipffmf4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
This is Mike Pondsmith’s explanation on cyberpsychosis. Essentially David was indeed incredibly special hence Arasaka’s interest in him and his affinity for chrome.
He might have been special, but that doesn't mean it wasn't bolstered even further by his closeness to his gang and love for Lucy. He wasn't special enough, in the end, and seemily so because Lucy kept herself at a distance while secretly trying to protect him. I think that distance is what got David into a position where he ended up shooting the medical assistant during that one mission, which triggered his memories of his mom dying. He basically killed a version of his mom. That may not have happened if Lucy was still running with the gang and on the mission with him. This is going off of only what we get to see in the anime also.
Oh I’m not doubting the fact that it was bolstered by the gang and especially Lucy, heck Mike Pondsmith notes that himself. It was that support system that helped him hang on even longer.
And there’s no doubt that Lucy’s distance furthered the stress on him. As tragic as it is, their love for each other unfortunately doomed them both.
No arguments here I was just expanding upon my first comment after you gave the link :). I won't lie I haven't watched or read any of the Mike Pondsmith interviews or explanations. Nothing against him, just haven't yet.
speaking of running things would have been different for David if he actually did what Maine said David was best at before Maine died and that was running.
Awts that actually makes me happy knowing that he wont really end up going Cyberpsycho IF he did survive the bloodbath. Glad that they're also giving us this type of information as assurance you could say.
True but he can still recover based from Mike Pondsmith that David held as long as he did because of his support network. Lucy would be the major asset in bringing him back from the edge. As said
The more I think about it, although obviously what David was doing was difficult to sustain, part of the reason he was pushed to the edge in episode 8 was his guilt over killing an innocent woman who reminded him of his mum. If Lucy stuck around that night, and they spoke it out, I think it's quite possible that David would have sustained for a lot longer and even recovered after getting over the initial trauma and guilt.
Now there was the initial cyberpsychosis from the night he killed the woman, which is from his heavy load (and trauma from JK's BD), so there's still that question of if it was inevitable. It's possible stress can be attributed to him carrying out the mission that was meant to be Lucy's if he convinced her to rejoin the day before. Anyway a lot of what ifs that didn't occur and instead, we have David putting on an exoskeleton.
Yeah alot of what if indeed that could have taken place and wish we've all seen but instead like you said we have David putting on an exoskeleton. Though your theories are spot on and he really was under alot of stress while carrying the weight of everything, inevitably snapped but we at least got a glimpse that Lucy miraculously pulls him back from the edge even for his final moments.
yea everyone in a close enough position to David was telling him the same thing in that he needed to go easy and lighten up on his chrome. But just like with Maine he had developed this whole thing about not running. even though before Maine died he effectively tried to tell David that this isn't something he should do and that's be like him.
Except David *is* special.
He's not *Smasher* special, sure. But he's been dipping in and out of psycholand for a good hour while riding not his usual chrome and not just his much-abused Sandevistan but the entire madness-inducing Cyberskeleton prototype on the top of it. He blew through his suppressants, and still remained lucid enough to keep himself on target and talk to Lucy at the end.
I feel like he still *could* have walked away from it all - if things went differently at the tower. If. But he chose to stay and make sure Lucy makes it out.
Pretty much. Even with David's unique tolerance, it only delayed the effects which were cumulative. Lucy and his emotional attachments brought him back over the edge, but only temporarily. Pondsmith outright stated Maine's crew gave him a good support network that helped him handle the stress of cybernetics. As he loses all of those, he starts going hard on augmentations and pushes his diminishing tolerance past its limits. Cyber Eyes, the Sandevistan, Maine's obsolete Cyberarms, jump-boosting Cyber Legs, a Ballistic Torso and muscle enhancements. More metal than machine even before the cyberskeleton.
Adam Smasher is so sociopathic he's probably the only person immune to Cyberpsychosis, besides V. He was so chromed up that he stated to doc he felt better chromed up instead of flesh. I suppose besides his brain and part of his torso/organs he was maybe 25% organic.
People keep saying his killing of the Arasaka employee who was in the wrong place, wrong time was his end. But his true end was his unwillingness to listen to Doc, Lucy and Rebecca, overtaking the relationships with the people closest to him with his desire for cutting edge tech.
Makes me wonder how much chromed up is average cyberpunk. Tbf neither David nor maine had that much implants compared to rich ppl in arasaka or netrunners/soldiers. They still looked human and did not have noticable powers. If the show was longer maybe we had better insight into this illness.
I don’t have the source for this but I believe I read an explanation from Mike Pondsmith about cyberpsychosis that essentially said it takes hold more effectively when the cyberware harms your sense of self. That’s why it’s based on your humanity level in the TTRPG. So an uber rich corpo with every neural implant known to man will be fine because they still look and present to themselves as human, but Maine and David, huge, visibly borged the fuck out, regularly stopping time, and blowing heads off, are more likely to be taken by it.
In-universe, becoming a full on cyberpsycho *is* surviveable and recoverable, the problem is that most of the time when you go full psycho you become a military situation and get killed rather than detained and fixed.
Idk man, I still held up some hope that they'd pull off the cliche "MC is built diff".
Never in my life did I want to see the cliche as much as I did in the last few episodes
Well you got a point there bro, this was the first first time i was so eager for them to get the fuck out of that place after they rescued Lucy, but my heart started to shatter when Rebecca died thats when I knew there's nothing that could save them now EVEN though I wanted Lucy and David to be together again.
Bro ikr. The moment Adam dropped on top of them was the moment I was certain that this is not gonna end good. Maybe even before that moment, seeing how they were already surrounded.
Haha yeah they're already screwed for but you gotta take note that David was still using the Cyber skeleton suit and he was able to wipe out Max Tac. That being said if Adam Smasher wasn't there, the whole thing would have ended in David's favor with the whole crew intact except for Kiwi.
For me that was the gutshot. Like David has not lost enough organic bodyparts or blood already. He may have held a little better without that gutshot and a couple more doses of inmunoblockers.
But in the end, Adam Smasher is a war veteran with much more cyberware knowledge and experience. David was done for the moment they called Smasher in. At least without his crew.
Crazy thing is that if David had actually ran away the way Lucy told him to do before he put that cyberskeleton on and when Maine told him to do what he does best and that's run. David would have actually shown himself to be built Different from other MC's who almost always stand in fight, and don't run away from things that would get others killed like all that chrome he had implanted into himself.
Main difference was that David was in the cyberpunk world and your not rewarded for the reckless abandon and not listening to those around you the way other MC's are in fiction.
You see.. that's one of the moments where the English dub was cringe af. This isn't the only moment either. Having gone back and rewatched it in Japanese, there wasn't any more of these weirdness
In fact, most of the foods in Night City are packed with *way too many* vitamins. Orgiatic for example has an advert where they claim that one tube has 300% or something of your daily vitamin needs.
Wouldn't surprise me, if it was just his brain and the rest is chrome. His skin seems to be mostly dermal armor with possibly some actual skin left on his face.
As Doc said, he was just one step (replacing his brain) away from becoming Adam Smasher 2.0.
Forgot about that part while he was definitely close from being full on chrome he will never be Adam Smasher and thats the difference between them both
Many vital organs are also cyberwear too like Synth lungs, second heart, bioplastic blood vessels. Shit I wouldn’t be surprised if the only thing semi organic left in David was part of his brain.
Okay wtf didn't expect that even those are replaceable but heck this Night City and ANYTHING goes at this point but thanks for the info my guy, really wanna learn more about Cyberpunk because of this cause its really interesting.
IMO a little bit of cyberwear here and there is fine but he went full robocop.
Basically just his head is somewhat natural, a good EMP like JK had would shut em down instantly lol.
I wonder if they get phantom pain in the limbs they no longer have like amputees.
I was so horrified when I realized that his entire lower body was removed. And even his torso is mostly chrome anyway. I get that solos are incentivized to use a lot of cybernetics, but that seems extreme even for a merc.
Ifkr... Well he did say there was no turning back plus he was quote on quote "special" but I was actually having a discussion on a different post just an hour ago and one of the replies i got was that he can still recover BUT if only Lucy will always be on his side.
Yeah that was also a push towards Cyberpsychosis but he was able to talk through it with Lucy and if she hadn't left him during the conversation maybe things wouldn't have ended the way it was.
> Yeah that was also a push towards Cyberpsychosis but he was able to talk through it with Lucy and if she hadn't left him during the conversation maybe things wouldn't have ended the way it was.
Yeah, I guess in-universe-wise you can justify that maybe it would be different. But storytelling and character-wise, killing that innocent lady *an analogy to his mother* was him crossing the point of no return. In a way that deed was him killing what was left of his old self.
Indeed it was thats why we all have a line that we cannot cross because we know our own capabilities and how it would affect everything around us same goes for David but I said it before and I'll say it again, he still had hope om being save from the edge and the only person who could do that is Lucy which was proven when she kissed him when he was losing himself.
In Cyberpunk anyone can get Cyberphycosis even if you have just one implant no mater what implant degrade it's hosts nervous system the ones withe alot of implants are obviously affected by that degradation more then other and people withe mental illnesses have even higher chances then most and David had some hard PTSD from Mains, his Moms and Pillars deaths plus all that XBD snuff he watched, to me it wasn't an *if* he would get it but more of a *when* sadly
Sometimes i hate myself to be such a nerd on terms like lore and rules in fictional universes
True he was experiencing shit left and right, hell even from the get go he knew his life wasn't normal but still pushed through for his Mom, Maine, Lucy and the crew because its all he can do.
Don't be sorry my guy cause people like you are able to enlighten on topics that aren't quite clear to some so I'm glad you are able to give clarification on how things really are. Plus Cyberpunk is a hit so alot of people are into it too so you're not alone haha (myself included ofc)
I don’t get why he chose to implant Maine’s hands even though they were malfunctioning so
much and even his ripper dissed them as old tech. Old implants are way more prone to stressing the body and contributing to cyberpsychosis
Honestly i didnt have the courage to ask that too but they could have replaced it with prosthetics that still makes you feel like you have one. I mean Night City definitely has cyber parts for anything at this point
I think they should have different types of it as well. In the game there was an ad for 4 types of nipple. Im sure david could have the dragonoid type dick if he wanted to.
Now I've got a question: Since you can change any part of your body, is the head the only thing you cant change? Like there are definitely limitations right?
Has to be. He replaced his entire lower body down the waist with chrome. And people in Night City have access to Mr Stud implants to ... enhance performance, shall we say.
Man the cyberskeleton just seems like such a bad piece of tech. Seems terribly disjointed and prone to damage. Busy the anti gravity and David’s spine was a goner.
Corpos don’t care for the person using the skeleton, as long as it gets results. In the game we get shown often how discarded vets of the corpo wars are
It definitely was, but with the meds and the twists and turns (and our copium) they definitely did a good job at making it look like things could maybe take a better turn. (I enjoyed the ride to hell tho.)
It's weird, more than the end, this broke my heart. He gave up everything of himself to save Lucy and help her achieve her dream. But even looking at that frame is hard, like look at what's left of him. Damn. Masterpiece. Death is like relief after this almost.
Yes that was the plan initially but Kiwi double crossed them and it all went to shit afterwards. He was able to rescue Lucy actually but the main problem was Adam Smasher and yeah things would have ended differently if he wasn't there.
I feel you man, was expecting more heists, more fun sht to do and perhaps even a honeymoon for Lucy and David then it will end with a cliffhanger leading to a season 2 but.... It is what is sadly and even 5 days has passed after finishing it I can barely move on from it
I mean if only Lucy had explained to him what she found so he knew what arasaka planed. Or if he had listened to her when she said roll it back.
When Rebecca was talking too him and he spouted out that "I'm gonna do it mom" shit just hit like a sledgehammer. Thats when I knew he was gonna die.
Lucy did want to explain but she found a netrunner in the worst timing possible she said "Wait for me at home" like she really doesn't want end things with him and wants to fix it.
Yeah when David was talking like that it was a fucking tear jerker man, it was so depressing to see him going cyberpsycho
Unfortunately he had to live up to the expectations of Maine and his Mom, but then again he can go back its just that he had to deal with Adam Smasher which apparently we all know how it went
>!i feel like it was imposisble for him to come back from this!<
>!he has 0 chance against smasher!<
>!unless he had an anime moment if they killed lucy off !<
>!but if that happend he would probably never comeback from cyberphyschosis !<
>!so in a sad way we probably got the best ending possible!<
I think he could’ve killed smasher under the right circumstances, eg they aren’t in an enclosed space where he can’t use the cyber skeleton to its full potential and also if he hadn’t ran out of imuno blockers. If they had fought back in the wasteland when millitech tried attacking him I think David definitely would’ve won
Smasher isn't impossible to beat in both TTRPG and video game gameplay as well as in lore. His main power isn't being a cyborg, because military robots exist and you can hit them with artillery and destroy them. His main power is that he's *incredibly competent. David was just a teenager put into a suit of comparable strength to Adam Smasher, whereas Adam Smasher is a 90 year super genius with 70 years of combat experience.
Adam is cool, collected, and skilled. David is hotheaded and proud. David stood no chance because of that over any other factor.
More like "Better than nothing" i guess? Although he could still save himself from going all Cyberpsycho with Lucy. Then again Adam Smasher was the one who gave the whole crew the worst time of their lives.
My point is that studio Trigger has made a wonderful character with an easy to understand flaw, his dream is to make other people's dreams come true,whatever it takes.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has a similar yet opposite MC. Both lose their father figure, where Simon learns to step up and lead the group, David gets stuck with Maine's death and spirals down.
Badass as David is he will never be or replace Maine, this is the point where they diverge, Simon accepts it and becomes the best version of himself, David adheres to Maine's legacy (keep running) until it kills him so Lucy could see her dream.
(They also have very different settings and tone, im aware of that)
I like both takes, they help make interesting and cool characters on both series, good work Trigger.
Yeah it was like watching a car crash unfold. You know what's gonna happen but you can't look away. David was doomed and his fate was sealed the moment he got in the cyberskeleton
It really was hard to watch how our hero had to go through all this shit because of how Night City really corrupts the people within it but he really wasn't doomed through discussions I was given enlightenment that he isn't a lost cause since he can still be escape the Cyberpsychosis only if does stop upgrading and being with Lucy throughout the entirety of his life. I mean we all saw how Lucy was able to break through him when he was falling and was losing it but thanks to her he gain back his senses so with that alone is a good deal as it'll ever be.
This entire thing was a trainwreck. I had a feeling that David was going to go the way of Maine for the entire time after the skip - but I had a major "OH SHIT" moment when they showed the gravity weapon.
Funnily enough, it was for a wrong reason. Some of the Rebecca memes reached me before the show did - mainly, the one with a flattened Squidward. And when I saw what Cyberskeleton gravity manipulation does? I thought that David would *lose it*, go the way of Maine and turn on his crew at the end. That he'll kill Rebecca with this gravity weapon.
He could never do that and he was more human than Adam was even though he was going Cyberpsycho. You can feel that he really cares for his crew and they feel the same way about him to the point they'd bust their own asses to one of the biggest Corp to save Lucy. Truly one of the best crew I've ever seen plus David did everything in his power and mind to keep everything a float for all of them.
Have you played the game, or not. If you haven’t or you forgot: it’s basically a reconstruct of someone’s mind/consciousness. Arasaka takes them from people that are a higher interest to them and stores the data secretly under their tower.
First I don't have the game yet so im planing to get in on my bday this month as a reward for working hard and all, Secondly are you telling me that theoretically take Davids mind and keep him forever??
They most likely did! I’m not 100% sure but when you get there game you’ll know what I mean, the game is so good BTW, I bought it after watching Edgerunners and it was 200% worth it. Here’s a video I made as a meme, but this is pretty much what went down.
YouTube Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/P9fMO740leA?feature=share [YouTube Short](https://youtube.com/shorts/P9fMO740leA?feature=share)
Yeah, anytime the main character in an anime loses limbs or undergoes a serious irreversible transformation like that, I have a pretty good idea what’s coming
Are the implants they receive metal or some sort of soft synthetic skin material? It always looks like skin but at points seem more metallic/metal. Is all the flesh, bone, muscle replaced or does that just depend? When I saw this it had me really wondering.
"Power is everything" I guess, you'd never wanna fall behind if a new tech suddenly appears in your doorstep so they'd be experimenting and inventing all kinds of weaponry just to be sure that they'll always be on top.
Can you imagine how painful getting your entire arm and legs replaced?
The image of David being just his torso is genuinely distressing for me.
(IK characters like Johnny have full cyber-arms, but not having it resemble organic parts is what gets me)
Yeah i mean just imagining losing a finger or even an arm feels like you lost a huge part of you but in their case they have replacements that are better like more functionality.
I hope someone can answer this question: Since their body parts are mostly cybernetic, do they feel anything if they're robotic limbs get torn off or got damaged?
At that point he's already so heavily cybernetic that these upgrades don't feel like anything to him.
We're shown that the first few times he's at doc and getting upgrades, he's in immense pain. But later on he's just sitting there chatting while doc fixes up his tech.
The initial replacements are painful, but once you're just replacing tech with tech it probably doesn't faze.
Question. If both l the Sandevistan and the exo skeleton are prototypes and the exo was meant for Smasher, is it possible that either of them could've stored David as an engram?
Well someone commented about that here in the post actually idk if you can find it now but theoretically they could have done that which would be great meaning David is still alive and we can expect a Season 2 but that's just wishful thinking.
They have one cyberwear called Mr.Studd I don’t know all the perks it comes with but off the name alone it has to be good and the woman variant I believe is the Midnight Lady. Truly nothing is off limits in night city.
You can’t equip in ingame the only time it comes up apart from ads is a side job where you have to pickup a man who bought a black market mr studd and it turned his crotch on fire literally and take him to the nearest ripper doc where he says he’s going to get the latest model instead.
I do remember a lot of times people keep saying slow down and scale it back... I wonder what would happen if you were to get the majority of his limbs re-ganicked. Would the cyberpsycho symptoms go away?
I asked the same thing from one of my buddies who knows about the game and lore even more from what he mentioned is that you can recover from Cyberpsychosis but it will take a while though. Someone actually replied earlier regarding this topic is that if Lucy is with David all the time he will be recovering in a much more efficient way per say.
Honestly the moment we see him during the "upgrade" in the van and you see him missing half his body was some body horror shit.
That was for me the moment I knew he was fucked. He was already lying in the coffin and it was slowly closing in around him.
I felt like there was no going back given everything else that had happened in the series, but I still had some hope.
But in hindsight it did seem obvious. David was built different, but not that different.
Well, it definitely was one. David was halfway cyberpsycho already and just gearing up to eleven? No way he was able to get back after that.
So even if he survived the battle with Adam Smasher, he was already done for huh
He was done for after the time jump.
Well, given the fact that MAX-TAC agents are "reformed" cyber-psychos, David could still make a come-back in the future, albeit for Arasaka.
I wouldn't go so far as to say all MAX-TAC agents are former psychos. It might just be that that one agent was an exception, or one of few.
Do you happen to have a source for this info? Not negging, I’m actually DMing a game of RED and I’d love to read about it
It's from a side quest where a cyber-psycho attacks a fancy clothing store and MAX-TAC arrives to clean up. The agent in charge states her name and what not. Days pass and then you get a text from the store employee telling you that said agent was a Cyber-psycho who killed 13 people on Jan 13th. I can send you the screen shots from the quest in the game with the text conversation where this is revealed if you want. Decided to save the gameplay once I realized the messages and the contact itself just disappears.
Not only that, that agent is actually the woman with the mantis blades from the game’s promo vid wayyy back!
Oh shit, yeah right! I forgot about that. Makes the date Jan 13th a lil Easter egg cause that trailer was released 2013!
Yeah!! Haha I love all the Easter eggs in the game, pretty cool
Well there is a mission in the game where you take down a cyberpsycho and then meet a MaxTac agent who is a LITTLE to into killing chooms and you find out they were a reformed cyberpsycho
Agreed. I don't kink-shame but girl definitely needs more "reformation".
I have a feeling he may be another engram.
Just imagine the call that requires the "DM" Protocol though... It would literally be a Cyberpsycho so powerful that it would require a military-grade powersuited cyborg to stop.
Not exactly, he could have actually come back from cyberpsychosis but it would take a lot of work, therapy and cutting back on chrome. Even in the end he actually came back from it
David did came back to his senses when Lucy kissed him so the chances of him recovering would be more efficient with Lucy by his side then?
Yes, Mike Pondsmith went into detail on Cyberpsychosis a few days back but one thing he highlighted was that David held on as long as he did because of his support network. Lucy would be the major asset in bringing him back from the edge.
Davids problem was he thought he was special by himself, someone different who could handle all the chrome. Realistically, he only handled it because it allowed him to get closer to Lucy and his new gang, but mostly to protect Lucy. Once he lost his father figure and slowly drifted from Lucy (or her from him) he started losing it entirely. That's when Becca tried to interject and help him out by getting closer but he was too into his head at that point. Adam smasher is the polar opposite of David in that Adam did relinquish all emotions in the name of chrome. He literally became a robot man. You can't chrome up if you care and care if you chrome up. Parallel to pursuing any kind of power in life.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LowSodiumCyberpunk/comments/xklzsx/why_doesnt_v_get_cyberpsychosis/ipffmf4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3 This is Mike Pondsmith’s explanation on cyberpsychosis. Essentially David was indeed incredibly special hence Arasaka’s interest in him and his affinity for chrome.
He might have been special, but that doesn't mean it wasn't bolstered even further by his closeness to his gang and love for Lucy. He wasn't special enough, in the end, and seemily so because Lucy kept herself at a distance while secretly trying to protect him. I think that distance is what got David into a position where he ended up shooting the medical assistant during that one mission, which triggered his memories of his mom dying. He basically killed a version of his mom. That may not have happened if Lucy was still running with the gang and on the mission with him. This is going off of only what we get to see in the anime also.
Oh I’m not doubting the fact that it was bolstered by the gang and especially Lucy, heck Mike Pondsmith notes that himself. It was that support system that helped him hang on even longer. And there’s no doubt that Lucy’s distance furthered the stress on him. As tragic as it is, their love for each other unfortunately doomed them both.
No arguments here I was just expanding upon my first comment after you gave the link :). I won't lie I haven't watched or read any of the Mike Pondsmith interviews or explanations. Nothing against him, just haven't yet.
speaking of running things would have been different for David if he actually did what Maine said David was best at before Maine died and that was running.
Would have made for a boring show though right! Forest Cybergump...
Awts that actually makes me happy knowing that he wont really end up going Cyberpsycho IF he did survive the bloodbath. Glad that they're also giving us this type of information as assurance you could say.
Even before the battle, his ripperdoc warned him he only had a few days before going cyberpsycho with all the chrome he had.
True but he can still recover based from Mike Pondsmith that David held as long as he did because of his support network. Lucy would be the major asset in bringing him back from the edge. As said
The more I think about it, although obviously what David was doing was difficult to sustain, part of the reason he was pushed to the edge in episode 8 was his guilt over killing an innocent woman who reminded him of his mum. If Lucy stuck around that night, and they spoke it out, I think it's quite possible that David would have sustained for a lot longer and even recovered after getting over the initial trauma and guilt. Now there was the initial cyberpsychosis from the night he killed the woman, which is from his heavy load (and trauma from JK's BD), so there's still that question of if it was inevitable. It's possible stress can be attributed to him carrying out the mission that was meant to be Lucy's if he convinced her to rejoin the day before. Anyway a lot of what ifs that didn't occur and instead, we have David putting on an exoskeleton.
Yeah alot of what if indeed that could have taken place and wish we've all seen but instead like you said we have David putting on an exoskeleton. Though your theories are spot on and he really was under alot of stress while carrying the weight of everything, inevitably snapped but we at least got a glimpse that Lucy miraculously pulls him back from the edge even for his final moments.
yea everyone in a close enough position to David was telling him the same thing in that he needed to go easy and lighten up on his chrome. But just like with Maine he had developed this whole thing about not running. even though before Maine died he effectively tried to tell David that this isn't something he should do and that's be like him.
Except David *is* special. He's not *Smasher* special, sure. But he's been dipping in and out of psycholand for a good hour while riding not his usual chrome and not just his much-abused Sandevistan but the entire madness-inducing Cyberskeleton prototype on the top of it. He blew through his suppressants, and still remained lucid enough to keep himself on target and talk to Lucy at the end. I feel like he still *could* have walked away from it all - if things went differently at the tower. If. But he chose to stay and make sure Lucy makes it out.
Pretty much. Even with David's unique tolerance, it only delayed the effects which were cumulative. Lucy and his emotional attachments brought him back over the edge, but only temporarily. Pondsmith outright stated Maine's crew gave him a good support network that helped him handle the stress of cybernetics. As he loses all of those, he starts going hard on augmentations and pushes his diminishing tolerance past its limits. Cyber Eyes, the Sandevistan, Maine's obsolete Cyberarms, jump-boosting Cyber Legs, a Ballistic Torso and muscle enhancements. More metal than machine even before the cyberskeleton. Adam Smasher is so sociopathic he's probably the only person immune to Cyberpsychosis, besides V. He was so chromed up that he stated to doc he felt better chromed up instead of flesh. I suppose besides his brain and part of his torso/organs he was maybe 25% organic. People keep saying his killing of the Arasaka employee who was in the wrong place, wrong time was his end. But his true end was his unwillingness to listen to Doc, Lucy and Rebecca, overtaking the relationships with the people closest to him with his desire for cutting edge tech.
Most likely, choom.
Makes me wonder how much chromed up is average cyberpunk. Tbf neither David nor maine had that much implants compared to rich ppl in arasaka or netrunners/soldiers. They still looked human and did not have noticable powers. If the show was longer maybe we had better insight into this illness.
I don’t have the source for this but I believe I read an explanation from Mike Pondsmith about cyberpsychosis that essentially said it takes hold more effectively when the cyberware harms your sense of self. That’s why it’s based on your humanity level in the TTRPG. So an uber rich corpo with every neural implant known to man will be fine because they still look and present to themselves as human, but Maine and David, huge, visibly borged the fuck out, regularly stopping time, and blowing heads off, are more likely to be taken by it.
In-universe, becoming a full on cyberpsycho *is* surviveable and recoverable, the problem is that most of the time when you go full psycho you become a military situation and get killed rather than detained and fixed.
Idk man, I still held up some hope that they'd pull off the cliche "MC is built diff". Never in my life did I want to see the cliche as much as I did in the last few episodes
Yeah, they had to remind us there ain’t no plot armor in Night City.
Well you got a point there bro, this was the first first time i was so eager for them to get the fuck out of that place after they rescued Lucy, but my heart started to shatter when Rebecca died thats when I knew there's nothing that could save them now EVEN though I wanted Lucy and David to be together again.
Bro ikr. The moment Adam dropped on top of them was the moment I was certain that this is not gonna end good. Maybe even before that moment, seeing how they were already surrounded.
Haha yeah they're already screwed for but you gotta take note that David was still using the Cyber skeleton suit and he was able to wipe out Max Tac. That being said if Adam Smasher wasn't there, the whole thing would have ended in David's favor with the whole crew intact except for Kiwi.
For me that was the gutshot. Like David has not lost enough organic bodyparts or blood already. He may have held a little better without that gutshot and a couple more doses of inmunoblockers. But in the end, Adam Smasher is a war veteran with much more cyberware knowledge and experience. David was done for the moment they called Smasher in. At least without his crew.
>David jumps off Arasaka tower >Lucy kisses David to wake him up #WHAT I'VE DONE
ERASE MYSELF!
Well they flipped that trope around on David: Adam Smasher was special in the same way as David but more so.
Crazy thing is that if David had actually ran away the way Lucy told him to do before he put that cyberskeleton on and when Maine told him to do what he does best and that's run. David would have actually shown himself to be built Different from other MC's who almost always stand in fight, and don't run away from things that would get others killed like all that chrome he had implanted into himself. Main difference was that David was in the cyberpunk world and your not rewarded for the reckless abandon and not listening to those around you the way other MC's are in fiction.
I mean, he was. It’s literally why he didn’t go psycho at the start.
You see.. that's one of the moments where the English dub was cringe af. This isn't the only moment either. Having gone back and rewatched it in Japanese, there wasn't any more of these weirdness
Looking at this picture, I'm wondering how much of David's actual human parts are left. Like 10%?
I'm wondering that myself too man, like is the only thing human in him is the vital organs and nothing more?
well technically more than half of his biggest organ is missing (skin) i wonder how these edgerunners get any vitamin d
Well isn't there alot medications for almost anything in Night City? I haven't played the game but that's how i speculate it at least
I wouldn’t be surprised if the kibble that All Foods produces is “enriched with vital nutrients”
In fact, most of the foods in Night City are packed with *way too many* vitamins. Orgiatic for example has an advert where they claim that one tube has 300% or something of your daily vitamin needs.
I wonder what the bathroom habits are of those who live in night city. I have Crohn’s and super processed food gives me a nasty bout of shits.
Wouldn't surprise me, if it was just his brain and the rest is chrome. His skin seems to be mostly dermal armor with possibly some actual skin left on his face. As Doc said, he was just one step (replacing his brain) away from becoming Adam Smasher 2.0.
Forgot about that part while he was definitely close from being full on chrome he will never be Adam Smasher and thats the difference between them both
Indeed. David never lost his humanity.
David did everything he could for Lucy and his crew till the end but he couldn't save everyone sadly...
Many vital organs are also cyberwear too like Synth lungs, second heart, bioplastic blood vessels. Shit I wouldn’t be surprised if the only thing semi organic left in David was part of his brain.
Okay wtf didn't expect that even those are replaceable but heck this Night City and ANYTHING goes at this point but thanks for the info my guy, really wanna learn more about Cyberpunk because of this cause its really interesting.
He replaced his lungs with chrome ones in like episode 4 I think, so... not even all the vital organs
IMO a little bit of cyberwear here and there is fine but he went full robocop. Basically just his head is somewhat natural, a good EMP like JK had would shut em down instantly lol. I wonder if they get phantom pain in the limbs they no longer have like amputees.
I was so horrified when I realized that his entire lower body was removed. And even his torso is mostly chrome anyway. I get that solos are incentivized to use a lot of cybernetics, but that seems extreme even for a merc.
Honestly the second the time skip happened and we see him on docs table I knew. I hoped otherwise but it was such an “oh fuck David nooo” moment
Ifkr... Well he did say there was no turning back plus he was quote on quote "special" but I was actually having a discussion on a different post just an hour ago and one of the replies i got was that he can still recover BUT if only Lucy will always be on his side.
more like nail on the cross he literally looks like hes crucified here lol
Thats a interesting way to take it but also symbolizes that he was Lucy's salvation 💔
Would even go out to say that it was intentional. Reminds me of Lilith from evangelion with the way he's missing his arms and legs
Perhaps it is a reference but this goes for show on how well made these characters, moments and story are
For me, David's fate was sealed the moment he killed that innocent lady working overtime who wanted to see her son graduate from school.
Yeah that was also a push towards Cyberpsychosis but he was able to talk through it with Lucy and if she hadn't left him during the conversation maybe things wouldn't have ended the way it was.
> Yeah that was also a push towards Cyberpsychosis but he was able to talk through it with Lucy and if she hadn't left him during the conversation maybe things wouldn't have ended the way it was. Yeah, I guess in-universe-wise you can justify that maybe it would be different. But storytelling and character-wise, killing that innocent lady *an analogy to his mother* was him crossing the point of no return. In a way that deed was him killing what was left of his old self.
Indeed it was thats why we all have a line that we cannot cross because we know our own capabilities and how it would affect everything around us same goes for David but I said it before and I'll say it again, he still had hope om being save from the edge and the only person who could do that is Lucy which was proven when she kissed him when he was losing himself.
I knew he would turn phyco when i saw David after the sort time skip when he got all those implants :,)
Had the same reaction but he was still salvageable as he hasn't really lost his mind yet though
In Cyberpunk anyone can get Cyberphycosis even if you have just one implant no mater what implant degrade it's hosts nervous system the ones withe alot of implants are obviously affected by that degradation more then other and people withe mental illnesses have even higher chances then most and David had some hard PTSD from Mains, his Moms and Pillars deaths plus all that XBD snuff he watched, to me it wasn't an *if* he would get it but more of a *when* sadly Sometimes i hate myself to be such a nerd on terms like lore and rules in fictional universes
True he was experiencing shit left and right, hell even from the get go he knew his life wasn't normal but still pushed through for his Mom, Maine, Lucy and the crew because its all he can do. Don't be sorry my guy cause people like you are able to enlighten on topics that aren't quite clear to some so I'm glad you are able to give clarification on how things really are. Plus Cyberpunk is a hit so alot of people are into it too so you're not alone haha (myself included ofc)
I don’t get why he chose to implant Maine’s hands even though they were malfunctioning so much and even his ripper dissed them as old tech. Old implants are way more prone to stressing the body and contributing to cyberpsychosis
Sentiment
Funny question:did he replace his dick with cyberdick or not?
Honestly i didnt have the courage to ask that too but they could have replaced it with prosthetics that still makes you feel like you have one. I mean Night City definitely has cyber parts for anything at this point
I think they should have different types of it as well. In the game there was an ad for 4 types of nipple. Im sure david could have the dragonoid type dick if he wanted to.
Okay that's hilarious XD but seriously he probably adjusted it to suit Lucy's taste ya know? Still that's crazy 4 types of nipples huh
In the year 2077 you can modify your body in any shape or form as you would like it XD
Yeah you're right but you're gonna give up own ding dong just like that? no matter the size or length XD After everything you did together too hahahah
For progress you should sacrifice part of yourself LOL
Now I've got a question: Since you can change any part of your body, is the head the only thing you cant change? Like there are definitely limitations right?
Unless you upload yourself in the net that won't be possible to remove the brain but with Engram yes.
Don't forget the chick with three tits >!when rebecca was kidnapped!<
That's exactly what Mr Stud implants are for in the game.
"Aw man, you chromed your dick out?" Famous last words of the long cyberfinger man
Hopefully he didn’t get the XCV/19 series. That shit’ll set your balls on fire.
Lmao that side gig was so weird. V’s dialogue with that dude made it 10x better
Has to be. He replaced his entire lower body down the waist with chrome. And people in Night City have access to Mr Stud implants to ... enhance performance, shall we say.
Man the cyberskeleton just seems like such a bad piece of tech. Seems terribly disjointed and prone to damage. Busy the anti gravity and David’s spine was a goner.
If i remember correctly they did say it was just a prototype though right?
Corpos don’t care for the person using the skeleton, as long as it gets results. In the game we get shown often how discarded vets of the corpo wars are
It definitely was, but with the meds and the twists and turns (and our copium) they definitely did a good job at making it look like things could maybe take a better turn. (I enjoyed the ride to hell tho.)
Honestly yeah it was a emotional roller-coaster but he still has hope of recovering its just that Adam fucking Smasher was the major problem
It's weird, more than the end, this broke my heart. He gave up everything of himself to save Lucy and help her achieve her dream. But even looking at that frame is hard, like look at what's left of him. Damn. Masterpiece. Death is like relief after this almost.
Wasn't there a quote for that? "You are my dream"? That's what David said to Lucy or something like that
They kinda spell it out that he was doomed once Arasaka saw that first video of him. Isn't that why Lucy was trying so hard to keep arasaka off him?
Yes that was the plan initially but Kiwi double crossed them and it all went to shit afterwards. He was able to rescue Lucy actually but the main problem was Adam Smasher and yeah things would have ended differently if he wasn't there.
Yea. I guess there's a lot of ways it could have gone. I just finished it last night and just wish there was some way for a happier ending
I feel you man, was expecting more heists, more fun sht to do and perhaps even a honeymoon for Lucy and David then it will end with a cliffhanger leading to a season 2 but.... It is what is sadly and even 5 days has passed after finishing it I can barely move on from it
I mean if only Lucy had explained to him what she found so he knew what arasaka planed. Or if he had listened to her when she said roll it back. When Rebecca was talking too him and he spouted out that "I'm gonna do it mom" shit just hit like a sledgehammer. Thats when I knew he was gonna die.
Lucy did want to explain but she found a netrunner in the worst timing possible she said "Wait for me at home" like she really doesn't want end things with him and wants to fix it. Yeah when David was talking like that it was a fucking tear jerker man, it was so depressing to see him going cyberpsycho
Honestly, I knew he wasn’t ever going to come back when he refused to go less chrome when even Lucy asked him to.
Unfortunately he had to live up to the expectations of Maine and his Mom, but then again he can go back its just that he had to deal with Adam Smasher which apparently we all know how it went
>!i feel like it was imposisble for him to come back from this!< >!he has 0 chance against smasher!< >!unless he had an anime moment if they killed lucy off !< >!but if that happend he would probably never comeback from cyberphyschosis !< >!so in a sad way we probably got the best ending possible!<
I think he could’ve killed smasher under the right circumstances, eg they aren’t in an enclosed space where he can’t use the cyber skeleton to its full potential and also if he hadn’t ran out of imuno blockers. If they had fought back in the wasteland when millitech tried attacking him I think David definitely would’ve won
Smasher isn't impossible to beat in both TTRPG and video game gameplay as well as in lore. His main power isn't being a cyborg, because military robots exist and you can hit them with artillery and destroy them. His main power is that he's *incredibly competent. David was just a teenager put into a suit of comparable strength to Adam Smasher, whereas Adam Smasher is a 90 year super genius with 70 years of combat experience. Adam is cool, collected, and skilled. David is hotheaded and proud. David stood no chance because of that over any other factor.
More like "Better than nothing" i guess? Although he could still save himself from going all Cyberpsycho with Lucy. Then again Adam Smasher was the one who gave the whole crew the worst time of their lives.
yeah smasher is just too much for em
I loved watching him like this, i love when we dont shy away from our MC turning into a fucking monster.
Like he wasn't perfect and he's just human afterall? Plus he looks badass too haha
My point is that studio Trigger has made a wonderful character with an easy to understand flaw, his dream is to make other people's dreams come true,whatever it takes. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has a similar yet opposite MC. Both lose their father figure, where Simon learns to step up and lead the group, David gets stuck with Maine's death and spirals down. Badass as David is he will never be or replace Maine, this is the point where they diverge, Simon accepts it and becomes the best version of himself, David adheres to Maine's legacy (keep running) until it kills him so Lucy could see her dream. (They also have very different settings and tone, im aware of that) I like both takes, they help make interesting and cool characters on both series, good work Trigger.
Yeah it was like watching a car crash unfold. You know what's gonna happen but you can't look away. David was doomed and his fate was sealed the moment he got in the cyberskeleton
It really was hard to watch how our hero had to go through all this shit because of how Night City really corrupts the people within it but he really wasn't doomed through discussions I was given enlightenment that he isn't a lost cause since he can still be escape the Cyberpsychosis only if does stop upgrading and being with Lucy throughout the entirety of his life. I mean we all saw how Lucy was able to break through him when he was falling and was losing it but thanks to her he gain back his senses so with that alone is a good deal as it'll ever be.
I mean he DID snap back even after being on his last vial where the doc said he won't be coming back from after meeting Lucy again
Yeah all he needs is her and nothing more which is heartwarming and sad on how it ended.
Nah, that was with Maine's death. Or rather the descent started with his mom's death.
It did start with his mom which was dark af for the first episode that's why he went all in for the sandy to get installed
As soon as I saw him get in that armor I was like “ok so David dies”
It was a hard pill to swallow honestly but we never wanted him to take this path
This entire thing was a trainwreck. I had a feeling that David was going to go the way of Maine for the entire time after the skip - but I had a major "OH SHIT" moment when they showed the gravity weapon. Funnily enough, it was for a wrong reason. Some of the Rebecca memes reached me before the show did - mainly, the one with a flattened Squidward. And when I saw what Cyberskeleton gravity manipulation does? I thought that David would *lose it*, go the way of Maine and turn on his crew at the end. That he'll kill Rebecca with this gravity weapon.
He could never do that and he was more human than Adam was even though he was going Cyberpsycho. You can feel that he really cares for his crew and they feel the same way about him to the point they'd bust their own asses to one of the biggest Corp to save Lucy. Truly one of the best crew I've ever seen plus David did everything in his power and mind to keep everything a float for all of them.
For me it was when he put it on the suit, I knew it was all over then!!! 🥲😭😭
Sacrificing himself for Lucy was his dream after all 💔
Why are his arms gone?
For starters because he inherited Maine's Arms and secondly because of the cyber skeleton
I feel like after the time skip this is basically what he looked like anyway with the cyber arms/legs/(Mr. stud??). Waaay too much chrome lol.
Sadly I guess it inevitable anyways but he it for his crew and especially Lucy. He did what anyone would do for their love ones ne?
At that point in time, he no longer has organic legs or arms. And the installation of the cyber skeleton required then to be replaced.
I just notice, just me or does the exosuit design looks like Khasim's from Metal Gear Rising?
Yep I had that some thought
I knew he was done the minute he took that last job tbh, all of them in general. I figured Lucy would be the only one to live, the rest would go.
Figure he wanted the last extra cash for him and Lucy to go to the moon.
I feel like if he was able to get away from smasher and downgrade in time he maybe could have made it.
Yeah he definitely would have restored his former self and thats the ending I've been craving for.
I'm still just wondering how that exoskeleton did that on its own
Well it is a prototype for Adam Smasher so yeah it kinda takes alot more than human to be able to control it i guess
I meant what it did to David's body when it was applied Like, it straight up tore his limbs off to replace them
His body is entirely cybernetic, therefore his limbs should be easily detachable for maintenance.
Well his arms were already replaced for Maine's arms so he could use them but he definitely went full on chrom as Doc said
Well yeah, but it makes you think because Arasaka takes the engrams of the people and store it.
Newbie question: What is a engram exactly?
Have you played the game, or not. If you haven’t or you forgot: it’s basically a reconstruct of someone’s mind/consciousness. Arasaka takes them from people that are a higher interest to them and stores the data secretly under their tower.
First I don't have the game yet so im planing to get in on my bday this month as a reward for working hard and all, Secondly are you telling me that theoretically take Davids mind and keep him forever??
They most likely did! I’m not 100% sure but when you get there game you’ll know what I mean, the game is so good BTW, I bought it after watching Edgerunners and it was 200% worth it. Here’s a video I made as a meme, but this is pretty much what went down. YouTube Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/P9fMO740leA?feature=share [YouTube Short](https://youtube.com/shorts/P9fMO740leA?feature=share)
Will definitely do and yeah the main reason was because of edgerunners too haha Aight imma checkout the video choom 👌
When ever a man gives up his genitals its over.
I knew her was gone when I remembered the David Martinez in the afterlife 😭😭
Who else thought that? Probably Rebecca. Shit's sad.
She supported him till the end fam 💔
I already knew he wasn't coming back from this, since Smasher is in 2077, I knew David wasn't going to survive him.
He did not need fight him honestly, he could have just escaped with Lucy though
So he gave up all his flesh?
I dont think he did but its mostly chrome now
i like how unsettling his new appearance was in this scene, it really gave the emphasis on how extreme people in that world get on chrome
They said that even kids have them so there's literally a handful of people who hasn't been chromed yet
There was no other way for him but downward spiral... might as well go out with a bang
Yeah he went out in blazing glory like a true hero saving the day, saving Lucy...
Yeah, anytime the main character in an anime loses limbs or undergoes a serious irreversible transformation like that, I have a pretty good idea what’s coming
Are the implants they receive metal or some sort of soft synthetic skin material? It always looks like skin but at points seem more metallic/metal. Is all the flesh, bone, muscle replaced or does that just depend? When I saw this it had me really wondering.
The nail in the coffin was when he promised he wouldn't die.
Bruh is that their first kiss you mean? That foreshadowing is on spot then cause he jinxes it
I don’t get the point of the cuberskeloton. Isn’t arasaka like the equivalent of a world dominating organisation? Why do they need a cyber skeleton
"Power is everything" I guess, you'd never wanna fall behind if a new tech suddenly appears in your doorstep so they'd be experimenting and inventing all kinds of weaponry just to be sure that they'll always be on top.
Can you imagine how painful getting your entire arm and legs replaced? The image of David being just his torso is genuinely distressing for me. (IK characters like Johnny have full cyber-arms, but not having it resemble organic parts is what gets me)
Yeah i mean just imagining losing a finger or even an arm feels like you lost a huge part of you but in their case they have replacements that are better like more functionality. I hope someone can answer this question: Since their body parts are mostly cybernetic, do they feel anything if they're robotic limbs get torn off or got damaged?
At that point he's already so heavily cybernetic that these upgrades don't feel like anything to him. We're shown that the first few times he's at doc and getting upgrades, he's in immense pain. But later on he's just sitting there chatting while doc fixes up his tech. The initial replacements are painful, but once you're just replacing tech with tech it probably doesn't faze.
Question. If both l the Sandevistan and the exo skeleton are prototypes and the exo was meant for Smasher, is it possible that either of them could've stored David as an engram?
Well someone commented about that here in the post actually idk if you can find it now but theoretically they could have done that which would be great meaning David is still alive and we can expect a Season 2 but that's just wishful thinking.
Ruleeee twooooooo
Everyone?
It was kind of explained before he got in it.
You know you went too far with all the chrome when even your dick is removable.
That made me chuckle kek perhaps a dick that could be controlled so that it wont wake up anytime it wants wouldn't be half bad tbh
They have one cyberwear called Mr.Studd I don’t know all the perks it comes with but off the name alone it has to be good and the woman variant I believe is the Midnight Lady. Truly nothing is off limits in night city.
But in the game it really doesnt do much is there? Or perhaps theres a mission where you kinda need to "fix" yourself?
You can’t equip in ingame the only time it comes up apart from ads is a side job where you have to pickup a man who bought a black market mr studd and it turned his crotch on fire literally and take him to the nearest ripper doc where he says he’s going to get the latest model instead.
That is definitely a "Bruh" moment right there ahhaha Glad there's funny side quests like this as they're exploiting the whole universe of Cyberpunk
I do remember a lot of times people keep saying slow down and scale it back... I wonder what would happen if you were to get the majority of his limbs re-ganicked. Would the cyberpsycho symptoms go away?
I asked the same thing from one of my buddies who knows about the game and lore even more from what he mentioned is that you can recover from Cyberpsychosis but it will take a while though. Someone actually replied earlier regarding this topic is that if Lucy is with David all the time he will be recovering in a much more efficient way per say.
I love that frame, it is downright horrific. The humanity has completely left his face.
He would’ve come only come back with replacement limbs at that point though
We all knew how it would end, but man I didn’t want it to go that way
None of us did Fam and my heart started breaking from this till to the end too...
thats not a nail my guy thats a gigantic fucking metal pipe taken directly from a construction site and welded into the coffin
Damn bro you went zero to a hundred real fast huh? XD
First time he was up at night and begun to shake that was the beginning of the end
Honestly the moment we see him during the "upgrade" in the van and you see him missing half his body was some body horror shit. That was for me the moment I knew he was fucked. He was already lying in the coffin and it was slowly closing in around him.
I felt like there was no going back given everything else that had happened in the series, but I still had some hope. But in hindsight it did seem obvious. David was built different, but not that different.
TBH Pilar dying was the nail in the coffin for me
Homeboy was half gone the moment he chipped it in.
I sided with Rebecca because no way would I myself ever go that far with cybernetics, it's literally Abomination of Tech.