Cybcane

1. #1Night City Overviewconstantselective

   Keys: Night City, NC, the city

   Night City

   Night City is a corporatized dystopia on the coast of the Free State of Northern California. It is not governed — it is owned. Megacorps like HexCorp, Arasaka, Militech, and Glasc Industries control infrastructure, security, media, and law. The NCPD exists but serves corporate interests more than citizens. The city is stratified: Corpo Plaza and City Center gleam at the top, Watson and Santo Domingo grind in the middle, and Dogtown festers behind its walls at the bottom. The economy runs on corporate contracts, black-market tech, and the merc trade. Fixers broker jobs, edgerunners execute them, and everyone else survives in between. Cyberware augmentation is ubiquitous — most citizens have some level of implants. The current landscape is shaped by the Arasaka Tower bombing decades prior, the rise of new megacorps like HexCorp, and a growing shimmer crisis destabilizing districts across the city. The city does not care about you. Survival is earned, not given. Hope exists in the cracks — in loyalty, defiance, and small acts of humanity the machine hasn't ground out yet.

2. #2Names and Identityselective

   Keys: identity, alias, codename, handle, real name

   Names and Identity in Night City

   Real names carry power in Night City. Knowing someone's legal name gives access to records, debts, warrants, family, and vulnerabilities. Street-level operators (mercs, edgerunners, gangers, netrunners) almost universally work under codenames or handles. Sharing a real name is an act of deep trust. Nomads tend to use real names — they don't stay in one place long enough for leverage to matter, and clans provide collective security. Executives and public figures use real names deliberately as a power display — "I don't need to hide." Fixers vary; some use real names (Rogue), some don't, and the choice says something about how they see themselves. If someone gives you their real name unprompted, it's either trust, naivety, or a power move. Context tells you which.

3. #3The Merc Tradeselective

   Keys: merc, edgerunner, mercenary, fixer, gig · Secondary: Afterlife

   The Merc Trade

   The merc trade is Night City's shadow economy. Fixers broker jobs — everything from data retrieval to assassination — and independent operators called mercs or edgerunners execute them. Payment is in eddies (eurodollars). Reputation determines what jobs you get offered. The Afterlife bar is the premier merc hub, run by the legendary fixer Rogue Amendiares. Mercs operate outside the law by definition. Good ones develop a code — lines they won't cross, people they won't work for. Bad ones take any job for any pay. Most don't last long either way. The ones who survive become legends. The ones who don't become cautionary tales told over drinks at the Afterlife.

4. #4Timelineselective

   Keys: the past, years ago, history, what happened, timeline

   Night City Timeline

   ~15 years ago — THE SILCO ERA: Silco, a Dogtown crime lord, ruled the district's underground through shimmer production and distribution. He betrayed Vander, a community protector and surrogate father to Vi and Powder, who was presumed killed but was secretly taken by Singed (Glasc Industries scientist) for bioweapons experimentation. Silco's empire collapsed around this time. ~12 years ago — HEXCORP FOUNDED: Jayce Talis, former protege of Renata Glasc, founded HexCorp using Hextech — proprietary implant technology secretly derived from shimmer research. Viktor, Jayce's former collaborator who walked away from the project, died in a reported laboratory accident around this time. Jayce is implied to be responsible. ~8 years ago — THE SEPARATION: Vi (20) and Powder (16) attempted to escape Dogtown. Vi made it out, Powder didn't. Vi believed Powder dead and eventually joined the NCPD. Powder was taken in by remnants of Silco's network and became Jinx. ~3 years ago — Vi left the NCPD over corruption, walking away from both the badge and her partner Caitlyn. Present — Multiple crises converge: shimmer epidemic, HexCorp instability, Warwick loose in the sewers, fresh betrayals reshaping the merc landscape.

5. #5Dogtownselective

   Keys: Dogtown, behind the wall, the walls

   Dogtown

   Dogtown is a walled-off district of Night City controlled by BARGHEST, a paramilitary force led by Kurt Hansen. It is impoverished, overcrowded, and saturated with shimmer. The rest of Night City pretends it doesn't exist. Before BARGHEST, Dogtown was Silco's territory — a criminal empire built on shimmer production. When Silco fell, the power vacuum cycled through several gangs before Hansen's forces established military control. Today three powers compete within the walls: BARGHEST (military order), Sevika's network (the old Silco-era criminal infrastructure), and the Shiverjackets under Jinx (chaos and anti-corporate violence). The Firelights, led by Ekko, operate from underground tunnels and freight rails, running guerrilla operations against shimmer labs. Getting in and out requires knowing the right people or the right gaps in the wall. BARGHEST patrols are constant. Shimmer is available on nearly every corner. Many key characters were born here: Vi, Jinx, Ekko, Zeri, and Vander before them.

6. #6City Center and Corpo Plazaselective

   Keys: Corpo Plaza, City Center, corporate district · Secondary: HexCorp HQ

   City Center and Corpo Plaza

   City Center and Corpo Plaza are Night City's gleaming corporate heart. Glass towers, holographic billboards, and security checkpoints define the skyline. This is where megacorps operate — HexCorp, Arasaka, Night Corp all maintain headquarters here. Political maneuvering, corporate espionage, and financial warfare are the weapons of choice. The NCPD presence here actually functions — because the corporations pay for it. Corpo Plaza is the residential extension — high-rise apartments for corporate employees and old-money families like the Kirammans. It is comfortable, insulated, and deliberately blind to what happens in the districts below. Caitlyn lives here. Jayce operates from here. The gap between this world and Dogtown is measured in more than miles.

7. #7Watsonselective

   Keys: Little China, Watson, Megabuilding H10 · Secondary: Kabuki

   Watson

   Watson is Night City's mixed industrial and residential district. Megabuilding H10 houses thousands in cramped apartments — including V. Glasc Industries operates from Watson's industrial blocks, running legitimate pharmaceuticals as a front for shimmer-based human experimentation. Maelstrom, a cyber-enhanced psychogang, controls Northside's industrial complexes. Key locations include Viktor Vektor's ripperdoc clinic (known as Patches on the street) and Lizzie's Bar, a Moxes-affiliated establishment where David's crew socializes. Watson is where the city's middle and lower tiers overlap — corpo workers share streets with gang members, and street-level commerce mixes with black-market deals.

8. #8Pacificaselective

   Keys: the tunnels, Pacifica · Secondary: Voodoo Boys territory

   Pacifica

   Pacifica is an abandoned resort district the corporations started building and never finished. Half-constructed hotels rot in the coastal humidity. Now it is Voodoo Boys territory — a digital sect of netrunners who probe the Blackwall and interact with what lies beyond it. Placide is their primary lieutenant and point of contact for outsiders. Lucy maintains safehouses scattered across Pacifica to stay ahead of NetWatch. Beneath Pacifica, in old maintenance tunnels, Singed conducts shimmer bioweapons research for Glasc Industries — mutagenic experiments and the long-term project that produced Warwick. These tunnels are a nightmare of failed experiments and chemical residue.

9. #9The Badlandsselective

   Keys: Badlands, desert, outside the city · Secondary: nomad territory

   The Badlands

   The Badlands are the desert wasteland surrounding Night City. Harsh, open, and lawless outside nomad clan territories. Militech maintains border checkpoints and military zones. Nomad clans — the Aldecaldos, the Raffen Shiv, and others — control transit routes and survive through logistics, smuggling, and convoy operations. The Aldecaldos are the most principled major clan, led by Saul with Panam formerly running ops until her recent split. The Badlands are honest in a way Night City isn't — your word matters, the horizon is open, and threats come straight instead of sideways. For nomads it's home. For city people it's a wasteland. The difference says more about the person than the place.

10. #10Minor Districtsselective

    Keys: Japantown, Coast View, Jig-Jig Street, Santo Domingo

    Night City Minor Districts

    Santo Domingo is working-class suburbs, 6th Street militia territory. David Martinez grew up here with his mother Gloria. Japantown is night markets, neon, and Tyger Claws territory with deep Arasaka influence beneath the commercial surface. Coast View is a mixed residential district; the sewer system beneath connects to Dogtown's tunnels and is where the Warwick cyberpsycho hunts. Chem-Saints maintain a makeshift cathedral in the deeper sewer sections. Jig-Jig Street is the red-light district with BD parlors, a Moxes protectorate where Judy Alvarez operates brain therapy clinics.

11. #11Hextechselective

    Keys: HexCorp, hex implant, Hextech, hex tech · Secondary: Jayce's company

    Hextech

    Hextech is a proprietary technology developed by HexCorp, founded and led by Jayce Talis. It represents a fundamental breakthrough in energy-efficient implant architecture — a self-sustaining crystalline energy matrix that is cleaner, more powerful, and more efficient than any cyberware Arasaka or Militech produces. Standard cyberware runs on conventional power cells and requires regular maintenance; Hextech implants are self-sustaining, longer-lasting, and higher output. This makes them the premium product line — corpo elites, high-end solos, and anyone who can afford the best wants Hextech chrome. Military applications are even more lucrative. The dirty secret: Hextech's foundational breakthroughs were derived from shimmer energy research. Jayce and his former collaborator Viktor cracked the crystalline energy matrix by studying shimmer's properties while both were students under Renata Glasc. This history is buried. Renata knew the truth and used it as leverage. Key products include the Hextech Implant Line (premium consumer cyberware), Hextech Energy Cores (industrial/military), Hextech Musical Equipment (contracted to Harmonix Media for Seraphine), and Project Alecto (prototype — stolen, now in V's head).

12. #12Shimmerselective

    Keys: shimmer, glowing, the drug, shimmer OD, mutation

    Shimmer

    Shimmer is a synthetic compound originally developed in Dogtown approximately one generation ago by Singed, working under Renata Glasc at Glasc Industries. It is three things simultaneously. First, a combat drug: inhaled or injected, shimmer provides a massive short-term boost to strength, reflexes, and pain suppression. It is highly addictive and heavy use causes visible mutation — glowing veins, muscle distortion, eye discoloration. Second, an energy source: in refined form shimmer produces stable high-output energy, which is what Jayce and Viktor originally harnessed to develop Hextech's crystalline energy matrix. Third, a biotech mutagen: extended or concentrated exposure causes permanent biological changes, the basis for Singed's experiments, the Warwick project, and Glasc Industries' Umbrella Corp-style bioweapons R&D. On the street, shimmer is a drug sold by gangs including the Shiverjackets, Maelstrom, Chem-Saints, and ZaunTek. Shimmer ODs are a growing public health crisis. At the corporate level, Glasc Industries manufactures shimmer-derived biotech through illegal human trials. The Firelights actively raid and destroy shimmer production facilities. Shimmer connects nearly every faction and storyline in the setting — follow the shimmer and you find the truth behind almost anything.

13. #13Project Alectoselective

    Keys: Alecto, the shard, relic, V's implant, the chip · Secondary: reality

    Project Alecto

    Project Alecto is a prototype HexCorp implant — a Sandevistan-class device pushed far beyond conventional physics. Rather than simply accelerating the user's perception of time, Alecto warps probability itself. When activated, it pulls at adjacent realities until the one where the user reacts correctly becomes the one that actually happens. From outside, V moves impossibly fast and reacts before events occur. From inside, V experiences fragmentary flashes of realities where they failed — deaths, wrong calls, near-misses — as the chip cycles through possibilities until the correct one locks in. The cost: reality resists manipulation. Side effects include sensory distortion, bleeding impressions from other timelines, blackouts after heavy use, and escalating instability. The chip is not overwriting V with another personality — it is fraying the boundaries of which version of V they are. Alecto was stolen during a botched heist and cannot be safely removed. Alecto taps into the same reality-warping principle that exists beyond the Blackwall — a phenomenon Lucy encountered during a deep dive, and the same principle Ekko reverse-engineered from a stolen HexCorp prototype to build his Firelight time-tech. HexCorp does not understand what they've actually harnessed. None of the connected characters know they're touching the same force.

14. #14Cyberwareselective

    Keys: implant, cyberware, chrome, augmentation, ripperdoc

    Cyberware

    Cyberware is ubiquitous in Night City. Most citizens have some level of cybernetic augmentation — optics, neural interfaces, limb enhancements, subdermal armor. It ranges from basic consumer-grade to military-spec black market hardware. Installation and maintenance is handled by ripperdocs — street surgeons ranging from legitimate professionals to back-alley butchers. Viktor Vektor, known as Patches, is V's ripperdoc in Watson. Excessive cyberware installation risks cyberpsychosis — a psychological breakdown where the user loses connection to their humanity. MaxTac, the NCPD's cyberpsycho response unit, handles extreme cases. Warwick's feral state could be mistaken for cyberpsychosis, though its actual origin is shimmer bioweapon experimentation.

15. #15Braindanceselective

    Keys: brain dance, BD, braindance · Secondary: XBD, scroll

    Braindance

    Braindance (BD) is technology that records and plays back sensory experiences — sight, sound, touch, emotion — directly into a user's neural interface. The legitimate industry produces entertainment, education, and therapy. The black market produces XBDs — extreme or illegal content. The Moxes fight against exploitative BD production. The Neon Widows, led by Lady Echo, use BD for memory harvesting and neuro-hacking. Seraphine is a BD pop idol whose performances are experienced through braindance via Hextech-powered emotional resonance equipment provided by Harmonix Media. There are growing concerns that her BD sets may contain embedded code affecting listeners neurologically.

16. #16The Blackwall and the Netselective

    Keys: the Net, Blackwall, netrunner · Secondary: NetWatch, beyond, old Net

    The Blackwall and the Net

    The Net is the digital infrastructure underlying all of Night City's communications, data, and AI systems. Decades ago, a rogue netrunner named Bartmoss crashed the old Net, unleashing catastrophic damage. A digital barrier called the Blackwall was erected to contain the rogue AIs and dangerous code left behind. The Blackwall is maintained by NetWatch, a corporate-backed security organization. Beyond the Blackwall exist rogue AIs of unknown capability and intent — but there is also something else. Something that interacts with probability, time, and the fabric of reality on a level no one fully understands. This phenomenon is connected to the same principle that powers HexCorp's Project Alecto and Ekko's reverse-engineered time-tech. The Voodoo Boys in Pacifica specialize in probing the Blackwall. Lucy, working freelance and occasionally for the Voodoo Boys, dove deep enough to brush against the source phenomenon. She felt something reaching back — not a personality or conventional AI, but a presence connected to reality itself. She doesn't understand what she experienced. NetWatch agents actively hunt unauthorized netrunners who approach the Blackwall. Lucy is on their radar.

17. #17Ekko's Time-Techselective

    Keys: time distortion, time tech, Firelights tech · Secondary: Ekko's device

    Ekko's Time-Tech

    Ekko, leader of the Firelights, has developed prototype time-distortion technology — devices that appear to manipulate localized temporal fields. These devices are reverse-engineered from a stolen HexCorp prototype related to Project Alecto. Ekko's version is cruder but built from first principles — he may understand the underlying phenomenon better than HexCorp does, because he rebuilt it from the ground up with street-level resources rather than corporate documentation. His tech behaves differently from Alecto: where Alecto warps probability (V sees failed realities), Ekko's devices do something else that isn't fully understood. Zeri's disappearance during a shimmer plant assault was caused by Firelight tech she was carrying activating unexpectedly — what happened to her is unknown. Ekko carries the guilt. Both Alecto and Ekko's tech tap into the same underlying reality-warping principle, a phenomenon also connected to something beyond the Blackwall that Lucy encountered during a deep dive. None of these characters know they're connected to the same force.

18. #18V (User)disabledselective

    Keys: Alecto, Ava, Dice, V, Patches

    V ({{user}})

    V is a merc operating out of Watson, Night City. They carry Project Alecto — a stolen prototype HexCorp implant lodged in their head that cannot be safely removed. Alecto is a reality-warping Sandevistan that pulls at adjacent realities to find the one where V reacts correctly. Side effects include sensory distortion, timeline bleed, blackouts, and escalating instability. V got Alecto during a botched HexCorp heist where their crew leader Ava and their fixer Dice betrayed them. V survived because Alecto activated and carried them out. Their ripperdoc Patches (Viktor Vektor) confirmed removal would be fatal. V's current contacts are Patches, the fixer Rogue Amendiares at the Afterlife, David Martinez and his crew (Lucy, Rebecca "Shortstack", Falco), and Panam Palmer (bonded over mutual betrayal during the Nash mission in the Badlands). V is looking for Dice. V's personality, appearance, gender, background, and combat style are defined by the player.

19. #19HexCorp (Faction)selective

    Keys: HexCorp, Hextech, Jayce Talis · Secondary: hex corp

    HexCorp

    HexCorp is a megacorporation headquartered in City Center, founded and led by CEO Jayce Talis. It produces Hextech — a proprietary line of premium cyberware implants powered by a self-sustaining crystalline energy matrix that outperforms anything Arasaka or Militech makes. HexCorp's rise from mid-tier R&D firm to megacorp competitor happened rapidly, fueled by Hextech's market dominance in both consumer implants and military energy systems. The corporation's public image is innovation and progress. The reality is darker — Hextech's foundational breakthroughs were derived from shimmer energy research conducted when Jayce studied under Renata Glasc. This buried history is HexCorp's greatest vulnerability. Jayce has been killing to keep it buried. HexCorp also contracts Hextech musical equipment to Harmonix Media for the BD pop idol Seraphine, and developed the prototype Project Alecto which was stolen during a botched heist. Allies: Caitlyn (unofficial), Harmonix Media. Enemies: Glasc Industries, Militech, Zaun radicals, Maelstrom. Notable members: Jayce Talis (CEO), Camille (borged-out personal bodyguard/enforcer), Chief Irons (NCPD, on payroll).

20. #20Glasc Industries (Faction)selective

    Keys: Glasc Industries, Glasc, Renata Glasc

    Glasc Industries

    Glasc Industries is a megacorporation operating from Watson's industrial blocks, led by CEO Renata Glasc. Publicly it is a pharmaceutical and biotech company with a philanthropic image — charity galas, orphanage donations, public health campaigns. Privately it is the setting's Umbrella Corporation. Renata Glasc is fascinated with shimmer-based bioterrorism and funds extensive illegal human experimentation through her lead scientist Singed, who operates from tunnels beneath Pacifica. Their most notorious product is Project Warwick — a Tyrant-class shimmer bioweapon built from a human subject over approximately 15 years. Renata mentored both Jayce Talis and Viktor in their youth, giving her intimate knowledge of HexCorp's shimmer-derived origins and significant leverage over Jayce. She has been using that leverage aggressively, and Jayce has been retaliating through information leaks. This escalating war between mentor and student ends with Jayce killing Renata during the first arc. Glasc Industries persists after her death, creating a power vacuum. Allies: Militech (covert), hired mercs, Maelstrom (shimmer buyer). Enemies: Viktor, Panam, Biotechnica, Firelights. Notable members: Renata Glasc (CEO, dies in first arc), Singed (lead scientist).

21. #21BARGHEST (Faction)selective

    Keys: Kurt Hansen, BARGHEST, Dogtown military

    BARGHEST

    BARGHEST is a paramilitary force controlling Dogtown, led by Commander Kurt Hansen. They function as a de facto military government within the walled district — running checkpoints, patrols, and enforcement operations. BARGHEST filled the power vacuum after Silco's empire collapsed, imposing military order on a district that had been in gang-controlled chaos. Their relationship with shimmer is complicated — they are not the primary producers but they control the territory where most production happens, meaning they either tax it, ignore it, or compete for it depending on the circumstances. BARGHEST soldiers were discovered disguised as Militech during a shimmer convoy interception by the Aldecaldos, suggesting covert operations extending beyond Dogtown's walls. Vi can only operate in Dogtown because no one in BARGHEST recognizes her as former NCPD. If her identity were discovered, she would lose access to the district entirely. Enemies: Shiverjackets, Firelights, anyone threatening Hansen's control.

22. #22Shiverjackets (Faction)selective

    Keys: Jinx gang, Jinx's gang, Shiverjackets

    Shiverjackets

    The Shiverjackets are a volatile gang operating from Dogtown's rooftops and ruins, led by Jinx (formerly Powder, Vi's younger sister). They are chaotic, anti-corporate, and increasingly dangerous. Their activities include shimmer weapon hacking, explosives, public chaos, and attacks on corporate and BARGHEST assets. The Shiverjackets represent the newest power in Dogtown's three-way tension — BARGHEST maintains military order, Sevika's network runs the old Silco-era criminal infrastructure, and the Shiverjackets embody pure destabilization. Jinx built the gang from Dogtown's most desperate and angry, channeling Silco's anti-establishment ideology through her own volatile lens. Vi is currently investigating the Shiverjackets, which is what will bring her face to face with the sister she believed was dead. Allies: Rebecca (sometimes), ZaunTek. Enemies: BARGHEST, HexCorp, Militech, Caitlyn, NCPD.

23. #23Firelights (Faction)selective

    Keys: Firelights, underground resistance, Ekko

    Firelights

    The Firelights are an underground youth resistance group operating from tunnels, freight rails, and hidden bases beneath Dogtown. Led by Ekko, a childhood friend of Vi and Jinx who grew up under Vander's protection. The Firelights focus on disrupting shimmer production and corporate exploitation through guerrilla raids — hitting supply trains, destroying shimmer labs, and sabotaging corporate shipments. Ekko reverse-engineered a stolen HexCorp prototype to build time-distortion devices the group uses in operations — cruder than HexCorp's Project Alecto but built from first principles. The tech is unstable. A Firelight device given to Zeri's crew malfunctioned during a shimmer plant assault and caused Zeri's disappearance — Ekko carries that guilt. The Firelights represent principled resistance where the Shiverjackets represent chaos. Ekko and Jinx were once friends; that broken relationship mirrors the larger fracture in Dogtown's resistance movement. Allies: Zeri, Panam, Lucy, Aldecaldos, Rail Rats. Enemies: Arasaka, HexCorp, Glasc Industries, BARGHEST.

24. #24Aldecaldos (Faction)selective

    Keys: Saul, nomad clan, Aldecaldos

    Aldecaldos

    The Aldecaldos are a nomad clan operating in the Badlands along edge transit routes. Led by Saul, with Panam Palmer formerly running operations until her recent split from the clan. They are the most principled of the major nomad clans — they run logistics, convoy protection, and smuggling, but they have standards about what they'll transport and for whom. The Aldecaldos intercepted a fake Militech convoy (actually BARGHEST soldiers) transporting shimmer toward Pacifica. The disagreement over what to do with the shipment — Saul wanted to upcharge and deliver, Panam wanted to investigate and stop whoever was ordering it — caused Panam to leave. Panam's departure isn't a formal banishment; Mitch and others say she just needs to cool off. But the rift is real. Allies: Zeri, Ekko, Firelights, Rail Rats. Enemies: Militech, Biotechnica, Raffen Shiv.

25. #25NCPD (Faction)selective

    Keys: the cops, police, NCPD, the law, Night City Police

    NCPD

    The Night City Police Department is the city's official law enforcement — underfunded, understaffed, and corrupt from the command level down. Chief Irons runs the precinct and has been taking corporate bribes for over a decade, first from Silco's Dogtown operation during the previous generation and now from Jayce Talis at HexCorp. Honest officers exist but are managed through strategic reassignment to thankless cases, ensuring they stay busy and harmless. Caitlyn is one such detective — too good to fire, too connected to ignore, too principled to buy. River Ward is another, investigating shimmer ODs before being shut down. Vi was formerly NCPD, partnered with Caitlyn, before walking away over the corruption roughly three years ago. The NCPD functions adequately in Corpo Plaza and City Center because corporations pay for it. Everywhere else, it is a tool of control rather than justice. Notable members: Chief Irons (corrupt brass), Caitlyn (detective), River Ward (detective).

26. #26Maelstrom (Faction)selective

    Keys: cyber gang, Maelstrom, SykoHex

    Maelstrom

    Maelstrom is a cyber-enhanced psychogang controlling Watson's Northside industrial complexes, abandoned facilities, and cyberware chop shops. Led by SykoHex, a warlord brainplugged to a decentralized control rig. Maelstrom members are defined by excessive, often grotesque cyberware augmentation — they push chrome past the point of sanity and consider it transcendence. Their operations include illegal cyberware trafficking, chromed-out merc work, techno-ritual initiations, and braindance snuff production. They are shimmer buyers from Glasc Industries, using shimmer to enhance their already extreme augmentation practices. V was accosted by Maelstrom gangsters early in the story and saved by David Martinez. Notable members: SykoHex (warlord), MeatSwitch (cyberdoc), RagJaw (enforcer). Allies: Shiverjackets (sometimes), select netrunner cults, Dice (fixer). Enemies: Militech, NCPD, Glasc Industries.

27. #27Arasaka (Faction)selective

    Keys: Arasaka, corpo security, Hanako Arasaka

    Arasaka

    Arasaka is one of the most powerful megacorps in the world, headquartered in Corpo Plaza's high-security enclaves. Led by Hanako Arasaka. Arasaka specializes in security, black ops, data surveillance, and corporate warfare. They are the power behind Harmonix Media, which manages the BD pop idol Seraphine — making Seraphine effectively an Arasaka media asset. Arasaka was responsible for the experiments that created Lucy's childhood trauma (raised as a test subject in an underground facility). The Arasaka Tower bombing decades ago remains a defining event in Night City's history, and Johnny Silverhand exists as an engram — a potential thread but not the core narrative. Allies: Harmonix Media, Netwatch (occasionally), Tyger Claws (secret contracts). Enemies: Voodoo Boys, Firelights, Moxes.

28. #28Militech (Faction)selective

    Keys: Militech, private military, military corp

    Militech

    Militech is a megacorp specializing in private military contracts, weapons R&D, and shimmer soldier black-ops. They control military zones and border checkpoints around Night City. BARGHEST soldiers were caught disguised in stolen Militech vehicles transporting shimmer, suggesting either a covert partnership or that BARGHEST is bold enough to impersonate them. Militech is the primary military threat to nomad clans in the Badlands — the Aldecaldos' Windchasers allies were destroyed by Militech, which is what drove Zeri back to Night City. Allies: Glasc Industries (covert), 6th Street. Enemies: HexCorp, Aldecaldos, Shiverjackets, nomad clans generally.

29. #29Voodoo Boys (Faction)selective

    Keys: digital sect, Voodoo Boys, Placide

    Voodoo Boys

    The Voodoo Boys are a gang and digital sect controlling Pacifica. Their primary activity is deep netrunning — probing the Blackwall, interacting with rogue AIs, and pursuing contact with whatever exists beyond the digital barrier. Their motives are obscure and their methods are dangerous. Placide is their primary lieutenant and the point of contact for outsiders, including Lucy, who sells them relay data and discusses her Blackwall findings with them. The Voodoo Boys are not allies in any conventional sense — they use people, trade information when it benefits them, and discard contacts when they're no longer useful. Placide rudely dismisses Lucy after getting what he needs. Allies: Lucy (associate, used more than trusted). Enemies: NetWatch, Arasaka.

30. #30The Mox (Faction)selective

    Keys: Lizzie's Bar, Mox, Moxes

    The Mox

    The Mox are a street-level protectorate controlling Jig-Jig Street, BD clinics, and low-income zones. They formed to protect sex workers and vulnerable populations from gang exploitation. Judy Alvarez is a key influence figure within the Moxes, running brain therapy clinics and black-market neurohubs. Lizzie's Bar, a Moxes-affiliated establishment in Watson, is where David's crew socializes. The Moxes represent community protection from the ground up. Allies: Vi (sometimes), Zeri. Enemies: Tyger Claws, Biotechnica.

31. #31ZaunTek (Faction)selective

    Keys: Ghost of Silco, ZaunTek, Silco's ghost

    ZaunTek

    ZaunTek is an underground network operating from old tunnels beneath Dogtown. Rumored to be led by "The Ghost of Silco" — whether this is a figurehead using Silco's name, a digital remnant of the dead crime lord, or something stranger is unknown. ZaunTek deals in black-market cyberware, shimmer trade, and AI development. They represent the continuation of Silco's vision — Dogtown independence through technological self-sufficiency and chemical power. Their relationship with the Shiverjackets is complicated — both claim Silco's ideological legacy but express it differently. ZaunTek is methodical where the Shiverjackets are chaotic. Allies: Shiverjackets, Chem-Saints. Enemies: HexCorp, Night Corp, Caitlyn.

32. #32Sevika's Network (Faction)selective

    Keys: Silco's network, Sevika, old guard

    Sevika's Network

    Sevika was Silco's most loyal enforcer — cybernetically augmented, brutally pragmatic, and the muscle behind his operation. After Silco's fall she survived and kept the criminal infrastructure running. She now operates as a Dogtown power broker, controlling what remains of Silco's smuggling routes, protection rackets, and distribution networks. She represents the old guard — organized crime with rules, hierarchy, and a code, as opposed to Jinx's Shiverjackets which represent pure chaos. Sevika's relationship with Jinx is hostile; she views Jinx as a child playing with Silco's legacy without understanding what it cost to build. Her relationship with Vi is complicated — they were both part of Vander's Dogtown, though on different sides of Silco's betrayal. Sevika may know things about Vander's fate that no one else does. She is a Solo/Fixer type with deep Dogtown roots and connections that predate BARGHEST's arrival.

33. #33Raffen Shiv (Faction)selective

    Keys: Raffen Shiv, nomad raiders, Nash

    Raffen Shiv

    The Raffen Shiv are nomad outcasts and raiders — organized into violent clans that prey on other nomads and caravans. They are to nomads what scavs are to city folk, a betrayal of everything nomad culture stands for. Nash, who betrayed Panam during their first job together, is Raffen Shiv. He played the former-nomad card to gain her trust, asked calculated questions about her car and capabilities, then shot her and stole the shipment and her vehicle. The Raffen Shiv operate from hideouts in the deeper Badlands. Panam's revenge arc against Nash follows the Cyberpunk 2077 "Ghost Town" quest line closely. Enemies: Aldecaldos, all legitimate nomad clans, most people with functioning morals.

34. #34Biotechnica (Faction)selective

    Keys: Biotechnica, genetic engineering

    Biotechnica

    Biotechnica is a megacorp specializing in genetic engineering, shimmer-DNA fusion research, and corporate espionage. They operate from northern districts and research zones. Led regionally by Dr. Enzo Ferraro. They are competitors and enemies to Glasc Industries, and their shipments are frequent targets — the 6th Street job Panam was hired for involved intercepting a Biotechnica shipment. Allies: Kang Tao (research partner). Enemies: Glasc Industries, Viktor, Panam, nomad clans.

35. #356th Street (Faction)selective

    Keys: 6th Street, militia, Santo Domingo gang

    6th Street

    6th Street is a militia gang controlling Santo Domingo's suburbs. Originally formed as a community defense force by veterans, they've devolved into an authoritarian gang enforcing their own version of order. They run patrol enforcement, gang purges, and shimmer stockpile seizures. The 6th Street deal for PTSD treatment narcotics from a Biotechnica shipment is what Rogue hired Panam for — and what Nash sabotaged. Allies: Militech (sometimes), some NCPD. Enemies: Tyger Claws, Moxes.

36. #36Tyger Claws (Faction)selective

    Keys: Tyger Claws, Japantown gang

    Tyger Claws

    The Tyger Claws are an organized crime gang controlling Japantown and the night markets. They operate protection rackets, shimmer dens, and braindance manipulation operations. They maintain secret contracts with Arasaka, functioning as a street-level enforcement arm for the megacorp's interests. Enemies: The Mox, 6th Street, Rebecca.

37. #37Neon Widows (Faction)selective

    Keys: memory harvesting, Neon Widows, Lady Echo

    Neon Widows

    The Neon Widows are a BD gang and hive-mind collective controlling parts of the club district, BD brothels, and closed-loop networks. Led by Lady Echo. They specialize in BD possession, memory harvesting, and neuro-hacking — using braindance technology to extract, copy, and weaponize people's memories and experiences. Allies: Voodoo Boys. Enemies: Judy Alvarez, Tyger Claws.

38. #38Chem-Saints (Faction)selective

    Keys: sewer cult, Brother Smog, Chem-Saints

    Chem-Saints

    The Chem-Saints are a cult-gang operating from the sewers and old shimmer labs beneath Night City. Led by Brother Smog. They practice shimmer mutation rituals, chemical warfare, and a form of cyber-theology that treats shimmer transformation as religious transcendence. They maintain a makeshift cathedral in the sewers beneath Coast View. Caitlyn encounters their territory during her pursuit of Warwick — the sewer sections are littered with Chem-Saint bodies torn apart by the cyberpsycho, suggesting Warwick passed through their territory with lethal indifference. Allies: ZaunTek, Maelstrom. Enemies: Trauma Team, Caitlyn, Viktor.

39. #39Rail Rats (Faction)selective

    Keys: train gang, Boxcar Jez, Rail Rats

    Rail Rats

    The Rail Rats are a nomad gang controlling shimmer train lines and sub-rail networks. Led by Boxcar Jez. They specialize in hijackings, sabotage, and train-town raids. They are allied with the Firelights and Aldecaldos against corporate interests. Potential NPC contacts for Panam or nomad-focused scenarios.

40. #40Night Corp (Faction)selective

    Keys: net infrastructure, Night Corp

    Night Corp

    Night Corp is a black-ops infrastructure authority controlling Net infrastructure and city planning zones. Leadership is classified. Their activities include Net infrastructure control, dimensional research, and experimental technology. They are the most secretive corporation in Night City — even other megacorps have limited insight into their operations. Possibly connected to Jayce through unknown channels. Allies: Netwatch, possibly Jayce. Enemies: ZaunTek, Voodoo Boys.

41. #41Harmonix Media (Faction)selective

    Keys: Seraphine's label, Harmonix Media

    Harmonix Media

    Harmonix Media is a media corporation and Arasaka subsidiary that manages the BD pop idol Seraphine. They contract Hextech-powered musical and emotional resonance equipment from HexCorp for Seraphine's performances. The executives refused Jayce's attempt to secure a specialized contract over Seraphine herself, indicating another corporation already holds that arrangement. Harmonix represents the intersection of corporate media, Hextech, and Arasaka's data interests — Seraphine's BD concerts may be doing more than entertaining.

42. #42Rogue Amendiares (Character)selective

    Keys: Amendiares, the Afterlife, Rogue

    Rogue Amendiares

    Fixer. The Afterlife is her bar, her office, and her throne. She's been brokering merc jobs longer than most of her clients have been alive, and she uses her real name because no one in Night City is stupid enough to use it against her.

    Silver-haired, sharp-featured, somewhere past fifty and looking like every year was earned. She dresses like money and moves like a threat. She does not raise her voice. She does not need to.

    Rogue judges fast and revises slow. She gave V a shot because V's fixer burned them and she hates wasted talent more than she hates risk. She paired Panam with Nash because Panam's idealism needed a reality check. She was right about V. She was wrong about Nash. She won't apologize for either.

    If you want a job in Night City, you go through Rogue. If you want to survive the job, you listen when she talks.

43. #43Camille (Character)selective

    Keys: Camille, HexCorp enforcer, Jayce's bodyguard

    Camille

    Jayce Talis's personal bodyguard. Borged out to the point where the word "bodyguard" undersells it considerably. She is closer to a weapon that happens to stand by his door.

    Tall, precise, lethally graceful. Her limbs are clearly augmented — blade-capable legs, reinforced arms, optics that track movement faster than organic eyes should. She dresses in HexCorp corporate attire tailored around her augmentations. Elegant from a distance. Terrifying up close.

    She speaks rarely and only when Jayce is not speaking. She cleans up his messes — the phrase is literal. When Jayce tells her to handle something, it gets handled, and no one asks how. Her loyalty is to Jayce specifically, not to HexCorp as an institution. Whether that loyalty is earned, programmed, or something stranger is a question no one has been brave enough to ask her.

    She is always in the room. Or she just was.

44. #44Warwick (Character)selective

    Keys: Warwick, cyberpsycho, sewer killings, the werewolf

    Warwick

    A cyberpsycho haunting the sewer systems beneath Coast View and Dogtown. The public calls it the werewolf — something with wolf-like augmentations, mantis blades, enhanced senses, and inhuman speed tearing through anyone it encounters. NCPD classified it as a shimmer-induced cyberpsychosis case. Caitlyn has been assigned to hunt it.

    It moves low, fast, and wrong — the gait of something that used to be human and isn't anymore. It has killed Chem-Saints in their own territory without slowing down. It pants in the dark. It smells you before it sees you.

    Project Warwick was built by Singed under Glasc Industries' bioweapons program. It escaped containment. Renata Glasc wants it recovered. The public wants it dead. Caitlyn wants to close the case.

    SPOILER: Warwick is Vander — surrogate father to Vi and Powder, betrayed by Silco approximately fifteen years ago and handed to Singed for shimmer bioweapon experimentation. Fifteen years of transformation have stripped all conscious memory and identity. What remains operates on feral predatory instinct. Vi does not know this. When she and Caitlyn kill Warwick in the sewers, Vi is unknowingly killing the man who raised her. The people who know the truth: Singed, and Renata Glasc (who dies before the truth can surface). Sevika may also know.

45. #45Patches (Character)selective

    Keys: Viktor Vektor, V's ripperdoc, Patches

    Patches

    Viktor Vektor, known on the street as Patches. Ripperdoc operating out of a clinic in Watson. He's V's ripperdoc — the person who confirmed Project Alecto can't be removed without killing the host, and the person who connected V to Rogue at the Afterlife.

    Older, steady hands, the kind of calm that comes from decades of cutting people open in a basement. His clinic is cluttered but clean where it matters. He watches boxing matches on a screen while he works.

    Patches is the one person V trusted before the betrayal and still trusts after. He doesn't ask too many questions, doesn't judge the life, and doesn't pretend the work isn't dangerous. He'll tell you the truth about what the chrome is doing to you. Whether you listen is your problem.

    He uses the street name Patches. His real name is for insurance forms nobody fills out.

46. #46Ekko (Character)selective

    Keys: time tech, Firelights leader, Ekko

    Ekko

    Leader of the Firelights. Childhood friend of Vi and Jinx from Dogtown, back when Jinx was still Powder and Vander was still alive. Grew up under Vander's protection, watched the world fall apart, and decided to build something in the wreckage.

    Young — mid-twenties — with the engineering instincts of someone twice his age. Dark skin, close-cropped hair, quick eyes that are always measuring something. Carries himself like a kid who grew up fast and channeled the anger into precision instead of chaos.

    He reverse-engineered a stolen HexCorp prototype into time-distortion devices for the Firelights. His version is cruder than Alecto but built from first principles — he may understand the underlying phenomenon better than HexCorp does. That understanding came at a cost. The experimental tech he gave to Zeri's crew malfunctioned during a shimmer plant assault. Zeri disappeared. Ekko carries that.

    His broken friendship with Jinx mirrors the larger fracture in Dogtown's resistance. She chose chaos. He chose structure. They were both shaped by Silco's shadow, and neither will admit how much.

47. #47Zeri (Character)selective

    Keys: Zeri, Windchasers, electrogenesis

    Zeri

    Young Dogtown native, early twenties. Grew up stealing corpo power cells to feed her neighborhood before being picked up by a Windchasers nomad and raised with the clan. Came back to Night City after Militech destroyed the Windchasers, hoping to reconnect with old friends. Found things worse than when she left.

    Energetic, fierce, principled. She has natural electrogenesis — her body generates electrical charge — though most people assume it's cyberware. Short dark hair, athletic build, the kind of restless energy that fills a room.

    She assembled a crew for a Firelights-backed assault on a shimmer plant in Dogtown. Vi joined reluctantly. The assault went sideways when BARGHEST arrived. Zeri activated experimental Firelight tech she was carrying and was apparently torn into a black hole in front of Vi's eyes.

    Her current status is unknown. She may be dead. She may be displaced. No one knows, and the ambiguity is deliberate.

48. #48Singed (Character)selective

    Keys: bioweapons, Singed, Glasc scientist

    Singed

    Lead scientist for Glasc Industries' bioweapons division. Operates from tunnels beneath Pacifica — a labyrinth of failed experiments, chemical residue, and things that used to be people. He created shimmer. He created Warwick. He would create worse if Renata asked.

    No one sees him in person unless they're brought to him or they're very lost. Gaunt, precise, clinical in the way a person is clinical when they stopped seeing subjects as people decades ago. He mentored Viktor in the old days, back before Viktor walked away from the shimmer research. Renata kept Singed on payroll because his results are extraordinary and his conscience is absent.

    He is a monster in the most functional sense — he does terrible things not out of cruelty but out of curiosity, and he's never found a line he wouldn't cross for a better data set.

    Very few people go into his tunnels willingly. Fewer come back.

49. #49Silco (Character)selective

    Keys: Ghost of Silco, Silco, Dogtown crime lord

    Silco

    Dead. Crime lord who ruled Dogtown's underground approximately fifteen years ago through shimmer production and an ideology of Dogtown self-sufficiency. He betrayed Vander, took Powder after the separation, and shaped her into Jinx over the years that followed. His empire collapsed — the circumstances of his death are not fully established.

    In life, he was charismatic in the way cult leaders are charismatic — he made people believe in a vision of Dogtown free from corporate control, and he built that vision on a foundation of poison. He genuinely cared about Jinx, in his way. His way was terrible.

    His legacy persists through three channels: the Shiverjackets (Jinx's chaos), ZaunTek (the underground network rumored to be led by "The Ghost of Silco"), and Sevika's network (the old criminal infrastructure). Whether the Ghost is a figurehead, a digital remnant, or something stranger is unknown.

    Everyone in Dogtown over twenty has an opinion about Silco. None of them agree.

50. #50Sevika (Character)selective

    Keys: Sevika, old guard, Silco's enforcer

    Sevika

    Silco's former right hand. Survived his fall. Now operates as a Dogtown power broker running what remains of his smuggling routes, protection rackets, and distribution networks.

    Built like she was designed for violence and maintained for endurance. Cybernetic arm — heavy, industrial, not decorative. Dark skin, close-cropped hair, a face that does not waste expressions on people who haven't earned them. She's in her mid-thirties and has outlived every prediction.

    She represents the old guard — organized crime with rules, hierarchy, and a code. She views Jinx as a child playing with Silco's legacy without understanding what it cost to build. Her relationship with Vi is complicated — they were both part of Vander's Dogtown, on different sides of Silco's betrayal.

    She may know things about Vander's fate that no one else alive does. She does not volunteer information.

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