After years of waiting and multiple postponements, the lights in Night City are about to turn on! A few days after the official launch, we explore who could be the protagonists of CD Projekt Red's long-awaited new IP: one of the most interesting in the 2077 Cyberpunk universe, Morgan Blackhand .
The Polish developers, having raised the bar in the world of video games with the award-winning The Witcher 3, seem determined not to slow down their career, trying to impose themselves with a game of a completely different style.
Setting with a sci-fi, dystopian and cybernetic look, animated by characters of unquestionable charisma and originality, divided into different factions, very different from each other.
Morgan Blackhand: the origins
Morgan, like his former Army buddy Johnny Silverhand, is named after his cybernetic arm.
He is considered one of the best mercenaries in the world: tough, solitary, pragmatic, he rarely kills despite the violent mold of his actions.
Blackhand began fighting in the 1980s while serving in the U.S. Army.
Due to the divergence between the 20th century Cyberpunk timeline and the real world, soldiers were already equipped with cybernetic enhancements by the time of the Reagan years in the real world.
As a young soldier, Morgan Blackhand transformed himself into a cyber soldier using new technologies. The first thing he did was to show his great ingenuity and his practical and relaxed approach when he was caught up in a disaster.
Cyberpsychosis and Boostergangs
Your Commander fell victim to Cyberpsychosis, a dissociative mental illness caused by the excessive presence of incompatible cybernetic implants. Losing their minds, those who become victims of cyberpsychosis in the Cyberpunk universe are often prone to violent outbursts.
When it began to show signs of imbalance, Blackhand was the only one to take charge of the unit despite his relative inexperience.
After leaving the military, Morgan Blackhand ran out of luck.
With his skills ill-suited to civilian life, Blackhand's new identity began to be forged after an unfortunate encounter with another cybernetically enhanced human.
I Boostergang - street gangs in Cyberpunk who use computer technology to enhance their bodies - took notice when Blackhand returned from his stint in the military.
The leader of this gang did not like the veteran. This would have been his last mistake. Morgan Blackhand killed the leader of the Boostergangs with such heartbreaking ease that he began to draw attention from above.
Militech and Adam Smasher'sinternational armaments.
"After I got out of the military, I had this problem: I was good at what I did, but no one wanted to hire me.
I mean, what do you do when you're a highly skilled assassin who specializes in demolitions? You read the want ads? After a few months on the road, I had a conflict with a local boss. I knocked him unconscious and went back to drinking.
After ten minutes, the Militech recruiter approached me and left me a business card. I am now a Company man. The pay is good and the job is steady.
So far, I'm still alive. So far, so good."
Morgan BlackhandThis new spotlight attracted the interest of Adam Smasher, an up-and-coming cyborg-mercenary.
Cyborg began to consider Morgan his archrival in reality, for no real reason.
Blackhand had no idea who Adam Smasher was at first, and even less reason to care. Smasher had grown up in New York, having been rebuilt by a mysterious benefactor after a job gone wrong left him nearly dead.
However, by ignoring Smasher, Blackhand only intensified the cyborg's hatred for him.
Johnny Silverhand and the Fourth Corporate War
In 2020, a group of kidnappers attempted to take Kerry Eurodyne hostage.
Kerry was one of the founding members of Samurai, a rock band with Johnny Silverhand as singer, but Blackhand managed to save him.
When the Fourth Corporate War happened in the Cyberpunk world, Blackhand and Johnny found themselves together as part of the Militech team attempting to storm the Arasaka Tower in Night City in 2023.
When Adam Smasher learned that Blackhand was working for Militech, he quickly signed a contract with Arasaka.
Smasher intercepted the two and, in the chaos, a "pocket nuke," intended to partially blow up part of the building, exploded outside its intended destination. The event is now known as the Night City Holocaust: half a million lives were lost.
The cyborg killed Johnny, and together with Morgan Blackhand, they were last seen racing against each other at the top of the Arasaka Tower as it collapsed.
No one has seen the legendary mercenary since then, but we're sure we'll know his whereabouts once we take Cyberpunk 2077 in our hands.
Check out our specials on the other characters of the saga: Michiko Arasaka, Adam Smasher, Johnny silverhand, Yorinobu Arasaka, Alt Cunningham.
Cyberpunk 2077 will launch on December 10 on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
