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Cyberpunk

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Cyberpunk is a literary genre encompassing a wide variety of visual aesthetics, but it is primarily recognized by its overarching theme of "high tech, low life." This genre gained prominence in the 1980s, largely due to the works of authors such as Philip K. Dick, Roger Zelazny, J. G. Ballard, Philip Jose Farmer, William Gibson, Harlan Ellison, and even earlier authors like Thomas Pynchon and William S. Burroughs. These authors examined the impact of drug culture, technology, and the sexual revolution, while diverging from the utopian tendencies of earlier science fiction.

Settings within the cyberpunk genre vary, ranging from the richly (neon) colored, rough urban environments depicted in Akira (1988), to the hyper-futuristic, neon-lit cityscapes and desolate wastelands of Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA manga (1982) is considered the first work in cyberpunk fiction, while William Gibson's novel Neuromancer (1984) is often credited as another defining masterpiece of the genre.

Cyberpunk narratives frequently incorporate a sense of hopelessness or nihilism, typically set against a gritty and violent backdrop. Central themes include crime, artificial intelligence, class conflict, governmental and corporate corruption, anarchy, gang warfare, and transhumanism. While the thematic range is broad, the combination of these elements in the cyberpunk aesthetic is often used to convey deeper meanings and provide commentary on modern society, sometimes offering predictions of future society.

Cyberpunk served as partial inspiration (or anti-inspiration) for Solarpunk, an aesthetic that also envisions the future but with a significantly less nihilistic perspective. It also played a role in inspiring Vaporwave, as both appear to share a disdain for mainstream capitalism, although Vaporwave adopts a more sarcastic and mocking tone compared to Cyberpunk's more overt criticism of corporate dystopia. In fact, many online aesthetics arguably owe their existence to Cyberpunk and its rebellious stance against the status quo of the 1980s, from the Steampunk and Dieselpunk of the past to various micro-genres that may emerge in the future.

Philosophy[]

Transhumanism[]

Transhumanism is an international political movement that advocates for the transformation of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellect and physiology. This very philosophy has very close ties to the Cyberpunk aesthetic in that, what's more Cyberpunk than becoming part human/part machine? There have also been numerous examples of protagonists in Cyberpunk fiction that are transhuman in their own right (most famously, Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell is an example of Transhumanism in Cyberpunk). Cyberpunk media discusses the morals of this philosophy and how it could blur the lines between human and machine and invoke potential ethical and social inequalities.

Cybersecurity and Hacker Culture[]

Cybersecurity (also known as information security or infosec), is the practice of protecting computer systems and data from security hackers, cybercriminals, spies, or other bad actors.[1] "Hackers" are now generally understood to be bad actors, but hacker culture reclaims the label for people who see programming and computer systems as a medium of freedom and creativity.[2]

The "high tech, low life" nature of cybersecurity is often reflected in the offensive and defensive security operatives of cyberpunk fiction and media. In Neuromancer, the protagonist Henry Case is a security hacker working to penetrate corporate computer networks. In Ghost in the Shell, Motoko Kusanagi is referred to as a hacker as short hand for her programming ability which she uses to investigate and prevent cybercrime.

Many characters in cyberpunk fiction and media embody hacker culture and the hacker ethic, which asserts that all information should be free.[3] The protagonists of The Matrix embody the late 1990s self-image of hackers attempting to free humanity from corporate dominiation of technology.[4] Today, many advocates and users of free and open source software adopt a cyberpunk aesthetic, as demonstrated by the r/unixporn subreddit.

The Cyberpunk community has a strong interest in privacy and cybersecurity.[5] Members of the community advocate improving personal privacy and security by using tools like open-source operating systems, secure browsers and VPNs.[6]

Fashion[]

Main Article: Techwear

Cyberpunk fashion is heavily influenced by films like Johnny Mnemonic, Blade Runner, and The Matrix and could be interpreted as being "futuristic gothic fashion" and involves trench coats, boots, shiny black clothing, colored "dreads" that women might wear, etc. Although, Techwear is not the only notable fashion influence when it comes to Cyberpunk. Warcore and Darkwear also heavily inspire the idea of Cyberpunk fashion. Warcore takes war-like / associated motifs like utility vests, cargo pants, and maximalism in its abundance of buckles, straps, and other utility accessories. Darkwear on the other hand is more minimalistic. Darkwear takes streetwear silhouettes and flips them into darker, usually monochrome, pieces and outfits. It's similar to Warcore, but as if you've taken away the maximalism aspect.

Brands[]

While every brand listed may not be dedicated to one aesthetic, each brand has a notable amount of products that can be incorporated into Techwear, Warcore, and Darkwear, which are often associated with the cyberpunk aesthetic as a whole.

These are also only bigger brands. Platforms like Etsy and Depop are great for finding pieces that match this aesthetic with just a quick search.

Media[]

Cyberpunk has been very influential to film and television, inspiring the aesthetics of movies, television shows, and anime. There just seems to be something encoded into the DNA of cyberpunk that makes it incredibly compatible with a lot of future-themed speculative media, even that aimed for children (an argument could even be made that the Sonic SatAM series from the '90s is something of an example of cyberpunk since it involves a group of freedom fighters fighting back an oppressive technologically-based regime run by Dr. Robotnik).

Movies[]

  • Blade Runner (1982)
  • Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future (1985)
  • RoboCop 1/2/3 (1987-1993)
  • The Running Man (1987)
  • Back to the Future Part II (1989)
  • Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
  • Circuitry Man (1990)
  • The Lawnmower Man (1992)
  • CyberTracker (1994)
  • Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
  • Hackers (1995)
  • The Matrix (1999)
  • Metropolis (2001)
  • Pinocchio 3000 (2004)
  • Idiocracy (2006)
  • Babylon A.D. (2008)
  • TRON: Legacy (2010)
  • Total Recall (2012)
  • Snowpiercer (2013)
  • Ghost in the Shell (2017)
  • Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
  • Next Gen (2018)
  • Hardware (1990)
  • Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension's 2nd Dimension segments (2011)
  • Elysium (2013)
  • Alita:Battle Angel(2019)

TV Shows[]

  • Altered Carbon (2018-2020)
  • Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
  • Black Mirror (2011-)
  • TRON: Uprising (2012)
  • Motorcity (2012-2013)
  • Infinity Train (2019-2021)
  • Reboot (1994-2002)
  • Almost Human (2013-2014)
  • Love, Death & Robots (2019-)
  • Captain Lazerhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix (2023)
  • Cowboy Bebop (1998, 2021)
  • Snowpiercer (2020)

YouTube Series[]

  • Meta Runner (2021-2022)
  • Amor de otro Mundo: Ɖxtasis (2023-)

Anime[]

  • Bubblegum Crisis (1987)
  • Neo Tokyo (1987)
  • AKIRA (1988)
  • Appleseed (1988)
  • AD Police Files (1990)
  • Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990)
  • Ɔon Flux (1991)
  • Battle Angel Alita (1993)
  • Ghost in the Shell (1995)
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
  • Armitage III (1995)
  • Blame! (1997)
  • Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
  • Jin-Roh (1999)
  • Heat Guy J (2002)
  • Baldr Force EXE Resolution (2002)
  • Project .hack (2002)
  • Mardock Scramble: The First Compression (2003)
  • Texhnolyze (2003)
  • Parasite Dolls (2003)
  • Sky Blue (2003)
  • Paranoia Agent (2004)
  • Psycho-Pass (2012-)
  • Ergo Proxy (2006)
  • Pale Cocoon (2006)
  • Vexille (2007)
  • Eve no Jikan (2008)
  • Exaella (2011)
  • Akudama Drive (2020)
  • Night Head 2041 (2021)
  • Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)

Games[]

The cyberpunk genre has spurred the creation of various cyberpunk-themed video games such as Cloudpunk, Va-11 Hall-A, and most notably Cyberpunk 2077.

  • 2064: Read Only Memories (2015)
  • Ɔon Flux (2005)
  • Akira (1988)
  • Anachronox (2001)
  • Angel Devoid: Face of the Enemy (1996)
  • Blade Runner (1997)
  • Chaos Overlords (1996)
  • Cloudpunk (2020)
  • Cruelty Squad (2021)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)
  • deSPIRIA (2001)
  • Half-Life 2 (2004)
  • Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (1997)
  • Cytus II (2018)
  • Deus Ex (2000)
  • Dislyte (2022)
  • Edgerunners inc. (1995)
  • E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy (2011)
  • Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013)
  • Frame City Killer (Cancelled)
  • Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors (1995)
  • Gemini Rue (2011)
  • Ghost in the Shell (1997)
  • Ghostrunner (2020)
  • Ghostrunner 2 (2023)
  • G-String (2020)
  • Hard Reset (2011)
  • .hack//G.U. (2006)
  • Hover (2017)
  • Huntdown (2020)
  • Hypnospace Outlaw (2019)
  • I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1995)
  • Ingress: The Animation (2013)
  • Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (2010)
  • Limbus Company (2023)
  • Mirror's Edge Catalyst (2016)
  • Neocron (2002)
  • Neuromancer (1988)
  • Observer (2017)
  • Paradise Cracked (2002)
  • Primordia (2012)
  • Raid 2020 (1989)
  • Remember Me (2013)
  • Rez Infinite (2016)
  • Rise of the Dragon (1990)
  • Ruiner (2017)
  • Saints Row IV (2013)
  • Shadowrun (2007)
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Nine (2002)
  • Snatcher (1988)
  • State of Mind (2018)
  • Starfield (2023) (Neon city and Ryujin Industries faction)
  • Stray (2022)
  • Syndicate (2012)
  • System Shock (1994)
  • Technobabylon (2015)
  • The Ascent (2021)
  • The Red Strings Club (2018)
  • The Last Station (2016)
  • The Solitaire Conspiracy (2020)
  • The Spectrum Retreat (2018)
  • Transistor (2014)
  • Uplink (2001)
  • Va-11 Hall-A (2016)
  • VirtuaVerse (2020)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X (2015)
  • Neon District (Roblox) (2011)
  • Cybermage: Darklight Awakening (1995)
  • William Shatner's TekWar (1995)

Literature[]

Authors[]

  • Katsuhiro Otomo
  • Pat Cadigan
  • William Gibson
  • Rudy Rucker
  • Lewis Shiner
  • Bruce Sterling
  • Ernest Cline
  • T. R. Napper

Books[]

  • AKIRA (1982), by Katsuhiro Otomo
  • The Demolished Man (1953), by Alfred Bester
  • Ready Player One (2011), by Ernest Cline
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), by Philip K. Dick
  • Agency (2020), by William Gibson
  • Neuromancer (1984), by William Gibson
  • Pattern Recognition (2003), by William Gibson
  • Altered Carbon (2002), by Richard Morgan
  • Snow Crash (1992), by Neal Stephenson
  • Accelerando (2005), by Charles Stross
  • 36 Streets (2022), by T. R. Napper
  • City of Shattered Light (2021), by Claire Winn
  • City of Vicious Night (2023), by Claire Winn
  • One last Midnight (2023), by Claire Winn

TTRPG[]

  • Cyberpunk (1988)
  • Shadowrun (1989)
  • Rifts (1990)
  • GURPS Cyberpunk (1990)
  • Cyberpunk Red (2019)
  • Violet Sheep Happy Hunting (2022)

Music[]

While Cyberpunk itself is not a genre of music (nor does it have one genre associated with it), there are some characteristics of music that tend to make it sound Cyberpunk. These characteristics include the use of synthesizers, Cyberpunk themes, and sounding dark without being Darkwave. Synthwave and Synthpop music tends to sound Cyberpunk.[7]

It can be argued that many futuristically influenced 80s synthpop and New Romantic bands influenced the music and aesthetic of what would later be dubbed Cyberpunk.

Gary Numan, whose music was heavily inspired by the work of Phillip K. Dick, was one of the major purveyors of this early iteration of the genre. His album Replicas is a perfect example of what Cyberpunk should sound like.

Artists[]

  • Vangelis (Blade Runner)
  • Atari Teenage Riot
  • Gary Numan
  • Japan (Gentlemen Take Polaroids)
  • John Foxx
  • Ministry/PTP (Show Me Your Spine)
  • Notre-Dame of Tokyo
  • Sigue Sigue Sputnik
  • Scandroid
  • Perturbator
  • Neon Neon
  • Health
  • Essenger
  • Kraftwerk
  • Daniel Deluxe
  • Excision
  • KITCALIBER
  • Daft Punk (Human After All)
  • Celldweller (Wish Upon a Blackstar and End of an Empire)

Podcasts[]

Cyberpunk podcasts include podcasts that are related to cyberpunk interests, including science, technology, privacy, and cybersecurity.

  • Defense One Radio (2018-)
  • Inside Skunk Works (2018-)
  • Omega Tau (2008-)
  • Moonshot (2017-)
  • Planetary Radio (2002-)
  • Robohub Podcast (2009-)
  • The SynBioBeta Podcast (2019-)
  • This Week in Microbiology (2011-)
  • Titans of Nuclear (2018-)

Subgenres and Derivatives[]

Biopunk[]

Biopunk is a subgenre of Cyberpunk that focuses on biotechnology. It is strongly linked to companies like Monsanto, Reaper Genetics and the American healthcare insurance industry.

For more information, see Biopunk.

Sandalpunk[]

Sandalpunk, or Bronzepunk, takes Greco-Roman aesthetics and puts them into a pseudo-modern world. The name comes from the use of bronze-age (and era when walking in sandals was the primary "mobility") technology, albiet with modern twists.

For more information, see Sandalpunk.

Ironpunk[]

Ironpunk adds traits of Cyberpunk to an Iron Age setting. Usually involves magic as a substitute for technology, causing slight overlap with the Fantasy-Horror genre.

Solarpunk[]

Solarpunk is the opposite of cyberpunk. It features an optimistic view of the future, emphasizing renewable energy, handcrafted wares, and anti-capitalism. However, a common theme between the opposites is the power of corporations being inherently abusive to the world around them.

For more information, see Solarpunk.

Lunarpunk[]

Lunarpunk is closely related to Solarpunk with its emphasis on nature and renewable energy, with an addition of witchcraft.

For more information, see Lunarpunk.

Neo-Cyberpunk (Revival)[]

"Neo" Cyberpunk, or Cyberpunk Revival, refers to works with a cyberpunk theme made between 2008 to the first half of the 2020s. However, such works were rare prior to 2020, when a combination of the CoViD-19 (Coronavirus Disease Pandemic, first reported in 2019) Global Quarantine Lockdown and the release of Cyberpunk 2077, at a point when most people were a captive audience to the internet for the first time in history and very little new media content was being produced, led to the game's aesthetic being generalized.

Neo Cyberpunk's hallmarks are it's color scheme and its ties to Vaporwave.

The Neo Cyberpunk genre makes heavy use of subtractive colors (cyan, magenta, yellow) and the color contrast of red and black. It also commonly features more down-to-earth portrayals of the respective dystopia than traditional cyberpunk. For example, in Cyberpunk 2077 the explosive nature of the fuel used in cars ("CHOOHĀ²", likely an in-universe brand name rather than a chemical formula) dates back to the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2013, making that aspect one of traditional, 'this is the wacky awful future you're leading us to!' cyberpunk of the 1980s. However, a more sobering aspect of the game is the quote (paraphrased) "It has been said often that you can pacify any populace with easy access to bread and circuses. In the 20th Century, easy access to an automobile was added to that list." which evokes 2020s viewpoints of the downsides made prevalent due to a focus on private vehicle road traffic that simply did not exist in the 1980s (and which might even feel out of place in a tabletop campaign in earlier additions such as 2013 and 2020).

The other major factor, Vaporwave, has introduced a curveball to the equation. While CD Projekt Red codified the prevailing look of Neo Cyberpunk with Cyberpunk 2077, it was preceded by Ubisoft's Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which was a combination of traditional cyberpunk, vaporwave aesthetics, and alternate history. Many vaporwave and cyberpunk-vaporwave works released after the release of Cyberpunk 2077 lean into this nostalgic feeling provided by 1980s action movies and teen dramedies, including VA-11 HALL-A, ENA and Moony, VirtuaVerse and Sunset Mall.

Criticisms[]

Techno-orientalism[]

Cyberpunk often incorporates elements of Asian culture, particularly from Japan and Hong Kong, into its visual and narrative motifs. Critics argue that this can sometimes result in a shallow and appropriative portrayal of Asian cultures, reducing them to exotic and fetishized stereotypes.

Technological determinism[]

Cyberpunk often portrays technology as the driving force shaping society, sometimes overlooking the complex interplay between technology, politics, and social dynamics, or the harsh facts of what is and isn't a reliably-crafted nationstate (see Sovietwave controversy). Critics argue that this deterministic perspective can oversimplify the complexities of societal change and overlook other factors influencing the future.

Anti-escapism backlash and Anti-anti-escapism[]

Neo Cyberpunk is a relatively recent realignment of the cyberpunk genre. In spite of this, prior to 2020, the marketplace of new fiction was already oversaturated with both horror and dystopian fiction (Mascot Horror, Young Adult Dystopian Literature, Zombie Apocalypse fiction, Anti-Escapist rhetoric in American media). Some claim to have been severely traumatized by that trend during or shortly prior to the CoViD-19 lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 (when most individuals were under preventative quarantine lockdown, and thus a captive audience to whatever media was available in their homes), and resent the shift of tone being contextual rather than necessarily substantial, requesting a return to escapist fiction by force of pen if not by force of violence due to PTSD-like symptoms caused by the situation, such as extreme anger about the deaths of characters with no story relevance (usually done with a very young, vulnerable character in cruel and gruesome ways for shock factor) seen as a trope in many works in the late 2010s.

Anti-Capitalism and Cyberpunk[]

Cyberpunk of the 1980s viewed itself, in its contemporary period, as a warning flag of the horrors that a capitalist society can bring. Many in the 2020s would say they were right to be worried, however there is a significant difference between the values and vices of the 1980s (healthy masculinity, defending one's own freedom, contributing to society meaningfully on society's terms) and the 2020s (self-expression of each person, universal justice, thinking for one's self) and both eras contradict their own values in different ways (freedom vs. generosity, justice vs. independence). Many concepts have the same meaning but different contexts, including capitalism, socialism and the balance between the two. While cyberpunk is dystopian, it's focus on late stage capitalism is only as old as the phrase "late stage capitalism" entering common vernacular, and socialism was near-universally considered an enemy in the vocabulary of 1980s cyberpunk. Critics claim that Neo Cyberpunk (though the name is rarely used specifically) is an oversimplification born of nostalgia and an unnoticed generational divide, and that few in 1989 would be pleased by homoerotic imagery in ads or the idea that the USSR "might be right". Whether or not an individual would agree with their predecessors or past self, in general the genre has very different reasons to despise corporations than it did 40 years before, and it might not be accurate to equate the original cyberpunk to it's modern incarnation as "one and the same".

Resources[]

Black-cyber-punk-outfit

Cyberpunk Fashion

External links to help get a better understanding of this aesthetic.

Communities[]

Vendors[]

Playlists[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ā†‘ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_security
  2. ā†‘ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture
  3. ā†‘ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic
  4. ā†‘ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar
  5. ā†‘ https://cyberpunkforums.com/viewtopic.php?id=3160
  6. ā†‘ https://cyberpunked.org
  7. ā†‘ https://www.reddit.com/r/Cyberpunk_Music/comments/5xmtwu/how_would_you_define_cyberpunk_music_in_terms_of/
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