InCyberpunk 2077, Night City is depicted as the worst of the worst, where heroes who are reckless, challenge corpos, and eventually die become legends. This is made clear time and again, especially with CD Projekt Red’s emphasis on death. In fact, while some are unavoidable and others depend on choices, several major characters die during the events ofCyberpunk 2077. It’s all actually very reminiscent ofGame of Thrones, if with one major flaw.
Game of Thronesdidn’t really protect many characters with “plot armor,” as several members of the Stark family still die, and there are surprising events in nearly every book/season of the show. From Ned Stark to Daenerys Targaryen and Hodor to everyone at theRed Wedding,Game of Thronesis a surprising murder after murder, bloodbath after bloodbath. Although some characters' deaths are cheered for or expected,Game of Thronesnever really did stop surprising fans. The same “death for nearly every character” approach also works forCyberpunk 2077, although intentionally or otherwise, the sheer amount of character death becomes less surprising.
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It seems safe to say that the entire prologue is a real shock during a first playthrough ofCyberpunk 2077, as many characters die who were heavily advertised and likely believed to live longer. The sheer amount of death that follows though takes away the surprise, and perhaps that was intentional. Night City was a place where death is common. At the same time, there are characters with plot armor, namely potentialromances likeCyberpunk 2077’s Judy Alvarez, Panam Palmer, and Kerry Eurodyne, but several characters who wouldn’t normally die in a game like this actually do.
Character Deaths in Cyberpunk 2077
Whether very heavily advertised pre-release, serving as main characters, or the like, here are the ways several characters die inCyberpunk 2077. It should be noted that this list is not meant to be exhaustive and doesn’t include minor, side gig-oriented characters, but it gives a good overview how few character survive the events of the game and how many lives ride on V’s shoulders.
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Cyberpunk 2077 Still Has One Body to Account For
Again, this is only a sampling of the major deaths in the game, but there’s a ton more that goes around. Smaller, less impactful death’s like Nash at the hands of V and Panam Parker, Scorpion by the Kang Lao mercenaries, Tom and others in Judy’s quests, and more all can happen. Then, there’s considering the fodder V fights through inCyberpunk 2077, the cyberpsychos if they are just killed, and more. Overall, V coversthe streets of Night Cityin blood, becomes a Legend of the Afterlife (figuratively and potentially literally), and typically has next to nothing to show for it.
After all, nothing is more certain than death in Night City, and V comes with a timer. While there are endings that see Johnny Silverhand live on in V’s body and V’s conscious survive in Mikoshi, perhaps the best ending see V return to Night City (or the Aldecados) with 6 months left to live. It’ll be interesting to see if and howCyberpunk 2077DLC handles V’s impending doomstill, perhaps they’ll even survive it, but it seems the cards are as stacked as V as ever. It only seems like a matter of time in these endings before V’s second and final death happens, and they join the above list of major deaths inCyberpunk 2077.
Cyberpunk 2077is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrades are in development.
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