Film Theory: The Dark Plot to H̷̼̭̒̀̈̈́̋͜ͅÂ̴̳̩͔̙̇C̴̭͐͝Ķ̴̤̪̬͘͝ Your Mind! (Cyberpunk Edgerunners)

Fun Fact: In the original Cyberpunk TTRPG, the Cyberpsychosis mechanic was going to be corporations taking ownership/control of your body after you replaced a majority of it with their tech. It was changed to "you go crazy" because the publishers thought the message was too anti-corporate. EDIT: For context, the original TTRPG came out right at the end of the cold war (in the 80s) so the publishers likely feared something so obviously anti-corporate would be seen as communist propaganda.

6:10 Lore wise, the reason V doesn’t go cyberpsycho is because of the Relic in her head. Johnny Silverhand bears the mental weight of any implants. This has been confirmed by the series creator

Actually, V and Adam are both cyberpsychos. V's is just negated by having 2 minds to split the load with because of Johnny and Adam is explicitly a high-functioning cyberpsycho

Ironically, if 2077 game wasn’t an epic fail at the start you won’t see how many ppl actually give the game a second chance just because of this anime. Absolutely a miracle.

7:08 There is a theory that the reason Adam Smasher seems so unchanged from his former self after his rebuild, is that he was already a deranged psychopath and enjoyed mindless violence. I mean, he literally stipulates in his contract with Arasaka, that he will only take missions from them where heavy civilian casualties are expected. Now, doesn't that sound Cyberpsycho to you?

David saying “I’m built different”, and having it be an actually cool line was the best thing to come out of this show.

Apparently people who get mechanical hearts sometimes have a problem feeling emotions because so much of our feelings are felt throughout our body. So replacing too many body parts makes it easier for you to dissociate from your bodymind (because there's not as much separation as people think), and the software replaces that felt sense (basically your intuition and basic nature and connection with the world). Peter Levine's writing on somatic experiencing is where I'm getting a lot of these concepts. It's an actual thing but it's a relatively new concept.

4:06 He's built different guys

Fun fact: cyberpunk initially started as a table top rpg, among the ranks of DnD. Cyberpsychosis in the ttrpg can be caught in the game, where if you get it you have to turn in your sheet to the game master, and the game master control your character. They can do anything, from murder, self-termination, or anything else the gm wants your character to do against their will.

So it was confirmed that V is practically immune to cyberpsychosis due to the relic chip in their head that houses Johnny, with Johnny helping take off the mental load and helping keep V grounded. Adam Smasher is suggested to have already have a level of psychosis/psychopathy long before he became so heavily modded, he loves violence innately so he didn't suffer a loss of self identity like most due with cyberpsychosis, he is even mentioned to maintain a high level of control and able to hold professional relationships and his missions are his chance to unwind his stress. A part of the cyberpsychosis lore is that people can be conditioned to be more heavily modded, such as having mods installed over a long period of time and mental conditioning. Maine was ex military and he had most of his cyberware added over the course of his career, he was built from the ground up over a long time and likely had special mental training to help him handle the load. Its mentioned therapy and downgrading cyberware even helps alleviate symptoms.

We can't forget the Words of Mike Pondsmith (the creator of Cyberpunk) He says that it is also based on your Mental Stability. David started with a stable environment, but then it all crashed down. Making his psychosis worse

One thing he forgot to mention about the Maxtech agent who was featured in that trailer - specifically what made her go cyberpsycho was her mantis blades. Those blades were taken off market because installing them (and presumably their software) made people exceptionally prone to cyberpsychosis. So more than just the amount of cyberware, certain faulty software can instantly make someone go cyberpsycho. We know it's the software here, too, because she still has the arms installed. Presumably, it was just the software cleaned out that helped her to function again

Cyberpunk Edgerunners was one of the best short animes of all time. It had everything and the end message of one's dreams towards a walking death city highlighted the Edgerunners crew

MatPat may not be pregnant, but he never fails to deliver

6:30 you did NOT just call maelstrom friendly 💀

I had a theory of my own when I was playing the game, I thought maybe Cyberpsychosis was just their way of covering up every other mental illness, like Regina's quest said, whenever you find a psycho they have some kind of tragic past, like drug addiction or ptsd.

The worst part about this show is the post-depression that you develop after watching. This show made me cry. Such an amazing anime, the idea of how they told such a tragic and happy story in just a 10 episode show is god tier. They definitely have done the best of the best with it.

There was one detail I learned some time ago after I watched Edgerunners that felt very thematic. Cyberpsychosis is stated to have a stronger effect on people who have a weakened mental state than a healthy one, love is the literal natural medicine for cyberpsychosis but not a permanent cure. We saw how Main’s relationship went when he went psycho and how long David lasted in that giant death machine to rescue Lucy. My only hypothesis for why other people who are classified as cyber psychos is because they’ve been detached from all emotional connections and fully embraced the corruption which made them easier to control.

"I'm built different" - David Martinez, 207X

I have to point out that the reason V can't suffer Cyberpsychosis is that the Humanity mechanic they were planning was removed for the sake of a cohesive gameplay and story experience.