It was announced earlier this year that CD Projekt Red would be developing a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, prompting the idea that some characters could make a return. Cyberpunk 2077 has a great roster of characters. It is a good mixture of big names from Cyberpunk 2020, like Rogue or Johnny Silverhand, and fully original characters. Even early on, when Cyberpunk 2077 was still experiencing major issues, players were still able to enjoy the game thanks to its engaging story and cast of characters.

Deciding which characters from Cyberpunk 2077 should show up in the sequel, currently called Project Orion, is a little tricky, since many of the major characters’ storylines are determined by individual choices made by players. This means that including them in a sequel would require some way for players to input the choices they had made in the previous game, or else establishing a canon ending for each character. That said, if CD Projekt Red could manage to turn Cyberpunk 2077 around after its disastrous launch, the studio is likely capable of finding a way to make this work.

10

Delamain Is An Easy Choice For A Cyberpunk Sequel

Night City’s AI Cab Company

Delamain is an AI that runs an upscale taxi service in Night City. Being able to travel in one of Delamain’s vehicles is considered a bit of a status symbol in Night City, especially if customers pay for a higher service package. In Cyberpunk 2077, Delamain brings the player to their first major mission and also has a few dedicated side missions to retrieve rogue taxis. Players are also able to call Delamain for a car once they have finished his missions.

Delamain is a Night City institution, and his business doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at the end of the first game. It would only make sense for the Delamain service to still be around in the game’s sequel. Delamain wouldn’t necessarily need to have as close of a relationship with the new player character as he has with V, but his presence would help make Night City feel familiar and like a real city with established businesses.

9

Rogue Can Continue Her Role As A Night City Fixer

Owner Of The Iconic Afterlife

Rogue is a character who goes all the way back to the original Cyberpunk role-playing game. Originally a solo, Rogue appeared in Cyberpunk 2077 as the owner of the Afterlife and one of Night City’s best fixers. Throughout the first game, Rogue helps V track down some information and can have some personal moments with Johnny Silverhand using V as a proxy. A younger Rogue can also be seen in Johnny Silverhand’s flashback sequence, giving a glimpse at her days as a mercenary.

There has yet to be a Cyberpunk game that doesn’t include Rogue, so it would be a shame for Project Orion to break this trend. Rogue survives most endings in Cyberpunk 2077, meaning there’s a good chance most players wouldn’t question her presence. Since she featured pretty heavily in the first game, it would be okay to keep her role to a minimum, maybe having her contact the player remotely with job opportunities like other fixers. This would allow CD Projekt Red not to have to go into too much detail about which of her endings was canon.

8

Hanako Or Yorinobu Arasaka Should Return In Some Form

Heirs To The Arasaka Corporation

Hanako and Yorinobu Araska are the children of Saboru Arasaka. Depending on the ending of Cyberpunk 2077 that players get, one of them ends up in control of the Arasaka corporation. Hanako Arasaka is a skilled netrunner, but not much else is known about her. She has done her best to keep her dealings private and silence anyone who spreads rumors about her.

Yorinobu Arasaka is more of a known quantity than his sister, though what there is to know isn’t very good. Yorinobu killed his own father in an attempt to seize control over Arasaka. Depending on the ending, he may also kill the entire Araska board, and unintentionally, his sister along with them. This allows him to seize control of the company.

Arasaka has a huge influence over Night City, so it would only make sense that the person in control of the company would be a major player in the next game. How CD Projekt Red determines who that is will be interesting to see. Previously, RPGs have allowed players to tell the game what choices they made in previous installments and incorporated those choices into the game. However, those games didn’t have as many varied endings as Cyberpunk 2077, so it may just be easier for the sequel to ignore what’s going on at Arasaka.

7

Goro Takemura’s Honorable Personality Is Rare In Night City

Sabouro Arasaka’s Former Personal Bodyguard

Goro Takemura starts out as Saboru Arasaka’s bodyguard in Cyberpunk 2077. Following Saboru’s death, Takemura seeks out his supposed assassins. Takemura rescues V and becomes one of their first allies following the botched heist at Konpeki Plaza. What sets Takemura apart from many of the other characters in Night City is his sense of duty and honor. While Takemura and V may not always get along, Takemura is always upfront and honest about his goals and where he stands, which is a nice change of pace in a city where so many people have ulterior motives.

Throughout Cyberpunk 2077, Takemura stays loyal to Arasaka. However, in a specific ending from the Phantom Liberty DLC, Takemura is on the run after being framed for the death of Hanako Aarasaka. This forces Takemura to have a crisis of faith and no longer be loyal to Arasaka, despite all his years of service. Getting to see this new side of Takemura would be exciting, and it would be very interesting to see how he decides to uphold his values now that he no longer has Arasaka guiding his motives.

6

Judy Alvarez

Braindance Editor & Mox Member

Judy is a braindance editor and a member of the Mox. She is introduced to V in Cyberpunk 2077 through their mutual acquaintance Evelyn Parker. When Evelyn goes missing, Judy tracks down V for their help and the two form a friendship or possible romance from there. Judy is extremely skilled with technology, but too idealistic to work for a corporation. She believes that the Mox can make positive changes for the people of Night City, and attempts to do so by liberating the workers at Clouds from their abusive manager.

The Mox are one of the newer factions in Night City, so exploring them in more depth would be an interesting new route for a Cyberpunk game. Judy would be the perfect window into this world, not just because she is a familiar character, but because she also seems to be one of the gang’s most ambitious members when it comes to creating positive change in Night City. Judy is the perfect character to introduce questlines for players who want to stick it to the establishment of Night City.

5

Viktor Vektor’s New Circumstances Drive Home Cyberpunk’s Commentary On Corporations

Charming Ripperdoc

Viktor, usually called Vik, is one of Night City’s most honest ripperdocs. He’s down to earth and runs an honest business. He’s close with V, and always willing to extend a line of credit to them, even if it seems unlikely he’ll get paid back. At the end of Phantom Liberty, it is revealed that Vik has been forced to start working as a ripperdoc with Zetatech instead of continuing his independent practice. It’s a disappointing end for a great character, but one that is poignant in the world of Cyberpunk.

Seeing Vik go from an ethical small business owner to an unwilling corpo would be depressing, but it would also be a great way for Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel to continue the series’ critique of capitalism. Big corporations absorb independent entities and force them to lose the identity that made them appealing in the first place is one of the worst features of unregulated capitalism, and the exact type of thing that would be perfect to explore in a Cyberpunk game. Because Vik is such a likable character, the critique would land better as players would lament his previous independence.

4

Songbird Deserves More Time In The Spotlight

Personal Netrunner To The President

Song So Mi aka Songbird is an extremely talented netrunner working for the New United States of America or NUSA. Her time as a freelancer before working with the government gave Songbird a strong sense of independence and sometimes made working for her bosses difficult. She eventually seeks revenge on the president of NUSA as the missions Songbird had been assigned were now killing her. Songbird enlists V to help her find a cure for both their ailments and escape capture by the government. Her similar situation to V makes Songbird one of the game’s most relatable figures.

Songbird is a very interesting character and one whose story players would likely be invested in seeing more of. She is also a newer addition to the game, only appearing in the Phantom Liberty DLC, not the base game. It would be nice to get more time to explore her character in more depth and learn more about the type of netrunning she does. Of course, her presence would need to be explained for players who got a Phantom Liberty ending where she didn’t go free.

3

Mr. Hands Is Likely Looking To Make Big Moves In Night City

Night City’s Most Mysterious Fixer

In the base game for Cyberpunk 2077, Mr. Hands is a faceless fixer that largely remains a mystery to the player. He was only revealed to be a man named Wade Bleeker in the Phantom Liberty DLC, when he finally meets with V face-to-face. Mr. Hands tries to get V to help him install a puppet ruler as the new Colonel of Dogtown, so he can begin making moves to control Pacifica. Mr. Hands is cunning and ambitious and seems to want more control than the average Night City fixer.

Mr. Hands does not seem like the type to stop trying to seize power where he can. That said, his exact endgame is something that is never really revealed in Cyberpunk 2077 or its DLC. That makes Mr. Hands a perfect candidate for Project Orion. Players already know that Mr. Hands is ambitious and has plans in the works, so seeing those plans start to get carried out later on in Night City’s history would be a logical next step to take this character.

2

It Would Be A Shame Not To See More Johnny Silverhand

Legendary Rockerboy

Like Rogue, Johnny Silverhand is a Night City legend who has been around since the early years of Cyberpunk. Johnny plays a major role in Cyberpunk 2077, as his consciousness is essentially stuck inside the player’s head. This means he is a constant presence and basically the game’s second main character. Johnny was a hardcore rockerboy who was determined to take down corporations, especially Arasaka, when he was alive. However, once he became a passenger in V’s head, he was much more determined to regain his personal autonomy.

Johnny plays a big role in Cyberpunk 2077, so there’s no need for him to be a main player again in the sequel. However, Keanu Reeves’ performance as the character is incredible, so it would be a shame not to at least get a little bit more of him. If the sequel decides to introduce another Night City legend, Johnny could easily appear in a flashback sequence. Alternatively, he could appear as an engram or in some other digital form for a brief part of the new game.

1

Including V As An NPC Could Be A Major Draw For A Cyberpunk Sequel

Cyberpunk 2077’s Main Character

V is the player character from Cyberpunk 2077. They are a mercenary who bites off more than they can chew, and ends up with a relic stuck in their head that is slowly killing them. V doesn’t really have one distinct personality trait, because how they act is largely determined by the player’s choices. That said, V is likely to be one of the player’s favorite characters, like any player character from an RPG.

Having the player’s character from Cyberpunk 2077 appear in the sequel as an NPC could be a huge risk, but it could also be the type of innovation that sets the game apart. If CD Projekt Red could somehow find a way to include V in the canon of the next game that respects the player’s choices and unique ending from the first game, then Project Orion would get a ton of positive attention for fulfilling a promise players have been wanting since the Mass Effect series pretended that their choices mattered.

Given the rough launch that Cyberpunk 2077 had, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see CD Projekt Red try to play things safer with the sequel. Still, taking a big gamble like this could really pay off, and if it works, make players forget all about the previous game’s initial flaws. Players will likely have to wait a little while to see what the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel has in store, but hopefully it can be as revolutionary as players expected the first game to be.