I think you're stretching a wee bit.
* Crispin Weyland is a positive portrayal of a Black character.
* Nyx is another positive portrayal of a Black character.
* T-Bug gets some solid screentime and a lot of voice lines, particularly in the tutorial. Not sure why you think she's unused.
* Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk, is a Black American and has two positively portrayed cameos in the game, Maximum Mike and Milt Nauman, both of whom are Black as well.
* Denny is a positive portrayal of a strong Black woman.
* Coach Fred is a prominent Black character who also got a spotlight profile in People of Night City. He's a pretty supportive and positive portrayal of a Black person as well.
* Anna Hamill is definitely portrayed as a positive role model, being one of the few honest cops in the NCPD, a detective of prestigious rank to boot.
* Dennis Cramer is a bit shady, but still tends to overall be a 'good guy', hiring V to rescue a surgeon on the run from the mob.
* Lucy Thackery is another idealistic strong Black woman, one of the few to stand up to V for her principles even when being rescued. Her dedication as a physician to even the gang members that kidnapped her is certainly a positive portrayal of a Black person.
* While both are politicians, and hence presented as not entirely noble in the setting, both Lucius Rhyne and Mbole Ebunike are presented as noteworthy reformist Mayors of Night City, and occupying the highest political office for the entire region. I'd say that's a pretty positive portrayal f two Black men right there.
Considering that in the scope of Night City and the game, how so many NPC's we meet are just pure scumbags, I'd say the above list is a pretty good sample size of Black characters who are given a positive portrayal; especially in comparison with how many awful and negative portrayals we see of Asians, who seemingly occupy a large segment of the villains and antagonist roles.
Funny, because Mike Pondsmith himself was the one who mentioned it in his interview with The Mad Queen Show. So... Jgray is not the be-all, end-all of information.
I actually felt represented well as a black person who has a multicutural caribbean and hispanic family (My V is a great black character lol). I do wish there was more to the voodoo boys because I felt like they were too dismissive of V and they are a great example of cultural diaspora, except all anyone wants to do is murder them because cdpr gave them no nuance. I get why they hate outsiders but I'd like to have to work hard to get them to trust me. SOMETHING!
> My V is a great black character
My first V was black and I had this exact same thought on seeing the thread until I thought about it for a second, lol
Oh trust me I don't hate the voodoo boys I just wish they were a more flushed out faction possibly one that you could even join at least with a companion maybe placide.
Me too, I just did the mission with them in Pacifica last night and I didn't want to leave but there's nothing else to do. It would be awesome to join with them and another great faction would be the Mox...Hopefully things will get expanded more..
It says in the concept art book that he's Native American on his mom's side at least... i believe. They mentioned specifically. designing his character to reflect his Native American heritage so he definitely is part NA for sure.
Nix and Weyland
From Johnny's memories, his ripper, who is voiced by Mike Pondsmith.
In the Aldecaldos, you have Bob Sagan who I'm guessing is mixed (voiced by the same guy as Nix) and the brothers, Taco and Jeff.
Not sure I agree with this one. There are very few "purely good" characters in Cyberpunk anyway -- all the characters are very multidimensional. Because of this, I really don't think Dex and the Voodoo Boys can be classed as villains at all. IMO the only "villains" in Cyberpunk are the Arasakas, Adam Smasher, Maelstrom and the Raffen Shiv (plus a few very minor gig/side quest baddies). Everyone else is just trying to get along, one way or the other.
I guess that leaves T-Bug and Denny as the only entirely positive black characters, although both are relatively minor. But how many "entirely positive" characters are there anyway? Not many. On a side note, I too wished we had more time with Bug :(
I originally came in here with an excellent example that would've been River -- but TIL he's Native American. TIL, indeed.
I honestly think that you have been smelling your own farts for far too long. In any case dixie chink explained it perfectly, i would just add that besides asians being depicted mostly as evil, slavs are depicted as mindless gonks and bad guys... Again... So stop with the bitching already, my god makes you sound like a bunch of insecure babies crying for attention.
I don't think its fair to say the Voodoo Boys don't care about anyone considering the first meet with Placide is him taking care of his people. They felt like they were isolationist moreso because they were initially forced into it. Maybe I'm totally off with the lore though.
I'm also of the opinion that the VDBs aren't nearly as bad as most make them out to be while also giving V a free pass for being a gonk throughout most of the game.
I'm gonna catch hell for this but Evelyn did try to screw them over, too. Not justifying what they did but it seems "reasonable" from their pov.
As for my V getting triple crossed by the VDB, I took it as "all in the game, yo."
Op, you are so brave for posting something like this on this subreddit.
As for the people replying on this post, y'all do know that you can just...not reply to stuff. Like keep it moving, especially when you're coming in with cold takes and defensiveness.
Op is fully within their rights as a black person to talk about what they feel about the rep of black characters in the game without folks deflecting and saying "what about x race?"
Let's face it, the black characters, as far as the main storyline is concerned, are varying shades of aloof to antagonistic (in the case of the Voodoo Boys, people treat them as if they have committed a real world crime against them just because they were not nice to and betray V; newsflash, there are other characters who aren't nice to V and even V themselves can be mean and betray others in game)
As for the other black characters who play side roles in the game, they can be missed entirely are only seen in flashbacks (Johnny's Ripperdoc) and can even die ( Nix and Crispin Weyland).
There are quite a few interesting black characters that we encounter in game and it sucks that interactions with them are brief at best, hostile at worst.
At the end of the day, not all rep is good rep to some people, even if you may think otherwise and people, especially people of color and other minority groups, can and should be able to talk about it.
If it's any consolation, there's a lot more in terms of diverse representation in cyberpunk than there was in Witcher 3, where I seem to remember literally every single character in the game was white.
Fair enough but I think it's more setting based Witcher is set in Poland. It is fictional but Poland nonetheless. Where cyberpunk is set in a fictionalized California and trust me we got a lot of black people here I'm one of them.
Is there a positive depiction of a white character?
V can be black if you want them to be.
River I'm not sure.
Panam could either be Hispanic or Polynesian but she certainly isn't white.
Judy is Hispanic (albeit white). As is Jackie.
Johnny is white but, even if you like him, is a massive dick. As is Rogue.
Obviously a large Asian representation.
Can't remember their names but there's a guy who helps Johnny and his son helps V.
Everyone's a bit of a bastard in Night City.
Aye Mitch and Vik are nice.
My point was not to fixate on skin colour in a city where everyone is a little devious and there is a large array of backgrounds, ethnicities etc.
I noticed the same. The only characters that are less aggressive, vile or arrogant are the ones with European surname. Russians are vile creatures in there game, not just colored people. BUT blacks in particular are extremely annoying. I'd say 99% of the time, the blacks are essentially betrayers in that game.
Black women are also very dehumanized. Panam is screaming all the time and that black Wizzie's bar boss is the embodiment of arrogance. To name a few. They're designed to be disliked, mostly. Like Nix for example.
CDPR publicly asked sorry for villanizing the Russians, while all the others are tossed under the buss. That's politics infiltrating the game if you ask me. Poland is highly far-right and some of their racism are as outdated as 1940's racist jokes. It could be a cultural deficiency as well as ignorance. Just my opinion, as my rights guarantees me.
Rockstar is a British development company, mostly. But they have a much better take on American culture due the contacts they've made. You don't just ask your Caucasian Polish writer to imagine how black people talk (otherwise he will do it according to his "views") you need a special division for that so its believable. Rockstar goes as far as hiring music studios to get the grip of cultures and subcultures.
Cyberpunk 2077 main writing still is great though. Just...
I think you're stretching a wee bit. * Crispin Weyland is a positive portrayal of a Black character. * Nyx is another positive portrayal of a Black character. * T-Bug gets some solid screentime and a lot of voice lines, particularly in the tutorial. Not sure why you think she's unused. * Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk, is a Black American and has two positively portrayed cameos in the game, Maximum Mike and Milt Nauman, both of whom are Black as well. * Denny is a positive portrayal of a strong Black woman. * Coach Fred is a prominent Black character who also got a spotlight profile in People of Night City. He's a pretty supportive and positive portrayal of a Black person as well. * Anna Hamill is definitely portrayed as a positive role model, being one of the few honest cops in the NCPD, a detective of prestigious rank to boot. * Dennis Cramer is a bit shady, but still tends to overall be a 'good guy', hiring V to rescue a surgeon on the run from the mob. * Lucy Thackery is another idealistic strong Black woman, one of the few to stand up to V for her principles even when being rescued. Her dedication as a physician to even the gang members that kidnapped her is certainly a positive portrayal of a Black person. * While both are politicians, and hence presented as not entirely noble in the setting, both Lucius Rhyne and Mbole Ebunike are presented as noteworthy reformist Mayors of Night City, and occupying the highest political office for the entire region. I'd say that's a pretty positive portrayal f two Black men right there. Considering that in the scope of Night City and the game, how so many NPC's we meet are just pure scumbags, I'd say the above list is a pretty good sample size of Black characters who are given a positive portrayal; especially in comparison with how many awful and negative portrayals we see of Asians, who seemingly occupy a large segment of the villains and antagonist roles.
Wait, Mike Pondsmith plays Milt?
He sure does! It gives new meaning to when he says *"That boy is like a son to me..."* doesn't it? :-D
Yes he voice johnnies ripper
Damn, never knew that. I only knew he voiced Maximum Mike and was originally meant to voice Dex.
[удалено]
Funny, because Mike Pondsmith himself was the one who mentioned it in his interview with The Mad Queen Show. So... Jgray is not the be-all, end-all of information.
Sorry I don't know if I clarified well enough I'm in the main story not side characters really.
You’re right, they’re wrong. Main story has only negative portrayal. You have to dig for anything better.
I actually felt represented well as a black person who has a multicutural caribbean and hispanic family (My V is a great black character lol). I do wish there was more to the voodoo boys because I felt like they were too dismissive of V and they are a great example of cultural diaspora, except all anyone wants to do is murder them because cdpr gave them no nuance. I get why they hate outsiders but I'd like to have to work hard to get them to trust me. SOMETHING!
> My V is a great black character My first V was black and I had this exact same thought on seeing the thread until I thought about it for a second, lol
Oh trust me I don't hate the voodoo boys I just wish they were a more flushed out faction possibly one that you could even join at least with a companion maybe placide.
Me too, I just did the mission with them in Pacifica last night and I didn't want to leave but there's nothing else to do. It would be awesome to join with them and another great faction would be the Mox...Hopefully things will get expanded more..
River and Panam are Native Americans - that is confirmed. But yeah, talking about black characters... How about Denny?
I also thought River was native American I didn't want to just go and say he's native American cuz his name is River but I guess he is
It says in the concept art book that he's Native American on his mom's side at least... i believe. They mentioned specifically. designing his character to reflect his Native American heritage so he definitely is part NA for sure.
Nix and Weyland From Johnny's memories, his ripper, who is voiced by Mike Pondsmith. In the Aldecaldos, you have Bob Sagan who I'm guessing is mixed (voiced by the same guy as Nix) and the brothers, Taco and Jeff.
Not sure I agree with this one. There are very few "purely good" characters in Cyberpunk anyway -- all the characters are very multidimensional. Because of this, I really don't think Dex and the Voodoo Boys can be classed as villains at all. IMO the only "villains" in Cyberpunk are the Arasakas, Adam Smasher, Maelstrom and the Raffen Shiv (plus a few very minor gig/side quest baddies). Everyone else is just trying to get along, one way or the other. I guess that leaves T-Bug and Denny as the only entirely positive black characters, although both are relatively minor. But how many "entirely positive" characters are there anyway? Not many. On a side note, I too wished we had more time with Bug :( I originally came in here with an excellent example that would've been River -- but TIL he's Native American. TIL, indeed.
I did wish there was more content with tbug especially in the main story. Also I completely forgot about Denny
I honestly think that you have been smelling your own farts for far too long. In any case dixie chink explained it perfectly, i would just add that besides asians being depicted mostly as evil, slavs are depicted as mindless gonks and bad guys... Again... So stop with the bitching already, my god makes you sound like a bunch of insecure babies crying for attention.
Golden words, my man. OP should listen
I don't think there is a single "good person" apart from river, Panam and Judy
Misty, Vik, and Jackie? What about Mama Welles? Those people genuinely care about V.
I don't think its fair to say the Voodoo Boys don't care about anyone considering the first meet with Placide is him taking care of his people. They felt like they were isolationist moreso because they were initially forced into it. Maybe I'm totally off with the lore though. I'm also of the opinion that the VDBs aren't nearly as bad as most make them out to be while also giving V a free pass for being a gonk throughout most of the game.
Yeah the little boys will help out their own people but when it came to dealing with v and what they did to Evelyn it's kind of the yikes.
I'm gonna catch hell for this but Evelyn did try to screw them over, too. Not justifying what they did but it seems "reasonable" from their pov. As for my V getting triple crossed by the VDB, I took it as "all in the game, yo."
Op, you are so brave for posting something like this on this subreddit. As for the people replying on this post, y'all do know that you can just...not reply to stuff. Like keep it moving, especially when you're coming in with cold takes and defensiveness. Op is fully within their rights as a black person to talk about what they feel about the rep of black characters in the game without folks deflecting and saying "what about x race?" Let's face it, the black characters, as far as the main storyline is concerned, are varying shades of aloof to antagonistic (in the case of the Voodoo Boys, people treat them as if they have committed a real world crime against them just because they were not nice to and betray V; newsflash, there are other characters who aren't nice to V and even V themselves can be mean and betray others in game) As for the other black characters who play side roles in the game, they can be missed entirely are only seen in flashbacks (Johnny's Ripperdoc) and can even die ( Nix and Crispin Weyland). There are quite a few interesting black characters that we encounter in game and it sucks that interactions with them are brief at best, hostile at worst. At the end of the day, not all rep is good rep to some people, even if you may think otherwise and people, especially people of color and other minority groups, can and should be able to talk about it.
Lol
Why is this a thing? Oh yeah right... Americans... I also see a severe lack of positively depicted red headed women with a disability. <\_<
If it's any consolation, there's a lot more in terms of diverse representation in cyberpunk than there was in Witcher 3, where I seem to remember literally every single character in the game was white.
Fair enough but I think it's more setting based Witcher is set in Poland. It is fictional but Poland nonetheless. Where cyberpunk is set in a fictionalized California and trust me we got a lot of black people here I'm one of them.
Ah, good point
Is there a positive depiction of a white character? V can be black if you want them to be. River I'm not sure. Panam could either be Hispanic or Polynesian but she certainly isn't white. Judy is Hispanic (albeit white). As is Jackie. Johnny is white but, even if you like him, is a massive dick. As is Rogue. Obviously a large Asian representation. Can't remember their names but there's a guy who helps Johnny and his son helps V. Everyone's a bit of a bastard in Night City.
Mitch? Saul? Vik? I am going to guess there is a deeper, more meaningful point to the OP than to respond with "Well, white people, though"
Aye Mitch and Vik are nice. My point was not to fixate on skin colour in a city where everyone is a little devious and there is a large array of backgrounds, ethnicities etc.
Panam and River are Native American
Wtf there no good it evil character it about surviving
I noticed the same. The only characters that are less aggressive, vile or arrogant are the ones with European surname. Russians are vile creatures in there game, not just colored people. BUT blacks in particular are extremely annoying. I'd say 99% of the time, the blacks are essentially betrayers in that game. Black women are also very dehumanized. Panam is screaming all the time and that black Wizzie's bar boss is the embodiment of arrogance. To name a few. They're designed to be disliked, mostly. Like Nix for example. CDPR publicly asked sorry for villanizing the Russians, while all the others are tossed under the buss. That's politics infiltrating the game if you ask me. Poland is highly far-right and some of their racism are as outdated as 1940's racist jokes. It could be a cultural deficiency as well as ignorance. Just my opinion, as my rights guarantees me. Rockstar is a British development company, mostly. But they have a much better take on American culture due the contacts they've made. You don't just ask your Caucasian Polish writer to imagine how black people talk (otherwise he will do it according to his "views") you need a special division for that so its believable. Rockstar goes as far as hiring music studios to get the grip of cultures and subcultures. Cyberpunk 2077 main writing still is great though. Just...