Cyberpunk Clichés

Cyberpunk Clichés

Jacked-in 'cowboys' defying death-dealing electronic countermeasures to surf virtual waves of data; multinational corporations defending their 'intellectual property' by any means necessary; corrupt officials in the pockets of the megacorps; soulless AI's plotting the downfall of mankind—this is the near future world of cyberpunk.

These clichés are divided up into some of the popular sub-categories.

Cowboy Clichés

• Deck Cowboy: Jacked in, jacked up, known to his friends as 'Jack'.

• Chip Dealer: Vendor of illegal head-chip implants containing forbidden knowledge, like cryptography. 'Chip' is his street name.

Corp Clichés

• Tokyo Magacorp: Builds everything you use, owns everywhere you live.

• NorMerican Corp: Controls all energy and consequently, all people.

Government Clichés

• Senator Sleazebag: In the corp's pockets. Of course.

• Cop With a Conscience: Hates his job more every day, but he can't just let chaos reign... can he?

AI Clichés

• Orbital AI: Plugged into telecommunications satellites, this AI listens, watches, and waits.

• Megacorp AI: Loyal, obediant servant of the magacorp - for now.

RisusTalk submitted clichés (Cyberpunk)

• Netrunner - Illegal fun with computers; living on Jolt and pizza

• Street Op/Merc - Killing people for money; playing with martial hardware, not thinking too deeply about morality

• Creepy Doc - Scavenging cyberwear, scoring the good drugs, removing implanted bombs, creeping people out

• Cyborg - Sparking instead of bleeding, chipping in abilities, scavenging radio-repair parts from your thigh.

• Vagrant/Drifter/Runaway - Street-level survival and information-gathering, blending in in the smellier crowds, surviving on really cheap wine

• Thief - Second-story jobs, bypassing security measures, fencing goods

• Techie - Repairing and modifying gizmos and toys, understanding strange found equipment; scrounging batteries

• Geisha/Joygirl - Vamping and influencing, knowing stuff about high-dollar marks, social engineering

• Corporate/Prep - Wearing much nicer clothes than the rest of the party