In Cyberpunk 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 of Cyberpunk 2077. It's all actually very reminiscent of Game of Thrones, if with one major flaw.
Game of Thrones didn'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 the Red Wedding, Game of Thrones is a surprising murder after murder, bloodbath after bloodbath. Although some characters' deaths are cheered for or expected, Game of Thrones never really did stop surprising fans. The same "death for nearly every character" approach also works for Cyberpunk 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 of Cyberpunk 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 potential romances like Cyberpunk 2077's Judy Alvarez, Panam Palmer, and Kerry Eurodyne, but several characters who wouldn't normally die in a game like this actually do.
Whether very heavily advertised pre-release, serving as main characters, or the like, here are the ways several characters die in Cyberpunk 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.
- Royce – A foe seen in marketing material before Cyberpunk 2077's release, V will kill him during the All Foods Incident. Can live.
- Meredith Stout – A contact during the prologue, also seen heavily in the pre-release marketing, can die and be replaced due to a "unsuccessful investigation. Can Live.
- Saburo Arasaka – Killed by his son Yorinobu, kickstarting the events of Cyberpunk 2077.
- T-Bug – Killed by Arasaka.
- Jackie Welles – killed by Arasaka.
- V – Killed by Dexter Deshawn but saved thanks to the relic rebooting them.
- Dexter Deshawn – Killed by Takemura.
- Johnny Silverhand – Killed by Arasaka in 2023 with his psyche placed into an engram, can die again dependent on the events of Cyberpunk 2077.
- Alt Cunningham – Physically killed by Arasaka in 2023.
- Evelyn Parker – Will commit suicide due to abuses by the Tyger Claws
- Placide and Brigitte – V can turn on the Voodoo Boys in numerous ways, resulting in a couple potential deaths by Netwatch or V. Can live.
- Takemura – Killed by Arasaka if not rescued by V in Search or Destroy, or he will commit Seppuku based on V's final choices. Can live.
- River Ward – The only LI who can die, it depend on if V drops the mission at a certain point. Can live.
- Saul – Depending on V's choices, he can die to Adam Smasher. Can live in other endings.
- Rogue – Depending on V' choices, he can die to Adam Smasher. Can live in other endings.
- Adam Smasher – Can be spared or killed by V.
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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 in Cyberpunk 2077, the cyberpsychos if they are just killed, and more. Overall, V covers the streets of Night City in 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 how Cyberpunk 2077 DLC handles V's impending doom still, 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 in Cyberpunk 2077.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrades are in development.
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