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Cyborgs (Videogames)

There are a lot of videogames that feature robots, androids and AI, but some of them really touch the subjects of gendered and non-gendered identity, their relationship with humans and their heroic role in society.  While going beyond limits of human ability and imagination, cyborg characters in videogames are personalized and their mechanical and cybernetic modifications are customized to suit the humanized nature of modern sci-fi game mechanics.

Matthew Kane (Quake IV)

Originally a human marine, Matthew Kane is the protagonist from Quake IV, fighting a warring and technologically-advanced alien race. Kane is forced to undergo extensive medical surgery against his will, to receive cyborg body parts and neural upgrades. The result is superior strength that ultimately aids his mission in life.

The Combine (Half-Life 2)

The Combine blend human, alien and mechanical elements to form artificially-intelligent beings capable of merciless assaults in many physical dimensions. Their facelessness masked non-existent identities, and as such the Combine remain one of the most notably mysterious examples of a transhuman army in a video game.

Jack (BioShock)

Like many cyborgs in a videogame, Jack did not intend on becoming a cyborg. He was plunged by a plane crash into the underwater steampunk city of Rapture, which has suffered a complete societal collapse. A remaining civilisation is being torn apart by an addiction to extreme genetic modification, and Jack turned to altering his own genes in order to survive.

Barret Wallace (Final Fantasy VII)

Representing the J-RPG cyborgs is Barret, the man with a gun for an arm in then - Suqaresoft's 1997 epic, Final Fantasy VII.  Barret's original lower arm was shot off by soldiers during a literal cliffhanger moment. Handless, the ecoterrorist did what any sane rebel would do.   He grafted a machine gun into the vacant extremity.

Works cited:

 “Top Five Cyborgs in Modern Videogames.” Lanxon, Nate, WIRED, 8 Sep 2012, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/cyborgs-in-videogames.

Final Fantasy Advent Children Barret goes Hard.” YouTube, uploaded by Dick Nickles, 13 Dec 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE6Q7HNaIZE.

Images:

Final Fantasy Wiki.” Found, Fandom,finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Barret_Wallace.

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