CYBORG (Victor Stone)
Created By: Marv Wolfman & George Perez
First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #26 (Oct. 1980)
Role: Angry Black Man, Angry Freak, Permanent Status-Quo Guy
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans, The Justice League
PL 10 (184)
STRENGTH 8
STAMINA 6
AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10
DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 4
AWARENESS 1
PRESENCE 2
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+12)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 2 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 3 (+7)
Expertise (Sports) 4 (+8) (Uses Agility)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 7 (+8)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Technology 8 (+12)
Vehicles 9 (+12)
Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Equipment (Minor Tech Tools), Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Ranged Weapons), Improved Hold, Jack-of-All-Trades, Ranged Attack 9, Set-Up, Startle, Teamwork
Powers:
"Molybdenum Steel Body Parts"
Power-Lifting 1 (12 tons) [1]
Protection 2 [2]
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
"Boot Jets" Leaping 5 (250 feet) [5]
"Computer Interface" Communication (Technological) 2 [8]
"Telescopic Eye & Sound Enhancer" Senses 5 (Extended & Infravision, Extended & Ultra-Hearing, Radio Sense) [5]
"White Sound Generator- Loud Setting" Dazzle Hearing 10 (20) -- [24]
- AE: "White Sound Generator- Blaster" Blast 10 (Diminished Range -1) (19)
- AE: "White Sound Generator- Wide-Angle Blast" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cone +1/2) (15)
- AE: "Finger Laser" Blast 8 (Feats: Accurate) (17)
- AE: "Grappling Hook" Movement 1 (Swinging) (2)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
White Sound- Dazzle +10 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
White Sound- Blaster +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
White Sound- Wide-Angle Cone +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Finger Laser +12 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4
Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +8, Fortitude +7, Will +8
Complications:
Motivation (Helping Out On the Streets)- While his parents were well-off, Vic hung around with a bad crowd in his rebellious days, and recognizes the struggles of those who live on the streets of New York. He watched a lot of friends die because of addictions as well. His time on the streets gave him a near-permanent slang ("lissen" for "listen", "mebbe" instead of "maybe", etc.), but he rejected the gang he used to hang out with.
Relationship (Parents)- Silas & Elinor Stone were Victor's scientist parents, who were often strict and overly-obsessed with their own research. Victor rebelled early and often, and when he was injured as a result of his parents' experiments (and his mother killed), then turned into "a freak" by his father, Victor was enraged ("I HATE you, old man! I HATE YOU!"). It took him years to get over his hatred for his father.
Relationship (Garfield Logan, aka "Changeling")- Though Vic was frequently annoyed by his teammate the "talking salad", he & Gar grew into best friends, making fun of each other out of love, rather than sheer annoyance.
Relationship (Sarah Simms)- It was love at first sight for Victor, when he first met the pretty blonde who cared for children with prosthetic limbs (Vic could relate). However, her heart belonged to another, and Vic learned to love her as a friend instead.
Relationship (Dr. Sarah Charles)- The other Sarah in Vic's life was a black scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs, who helped him recuperate after he had his cybernetic parts replaced with human-looking versions (they soon broke down). They dated for some time, but split up when he lost his humanity as "Cyberion".
Relationship (Grandparents)- Victor's ever-amusing grandparents are a couple of old fossils from the Chitlin Circuit of travelling vaudeville performers ("you couldn't knock them off with nukes"). They boss him around effortlessly, and don't put up with any of his lip (or his whining about his looks).
Prejudice (Freak)- Victor cannot pass for an ordinary human- his cybernetic limbs and head make him easily stand out in a crowd. He draws fear and disgust from some, and cannot maintain a secret identity.
Responsibility (Losing Humanity)- Vic occasionally gets lost in the fact that he is not entirely human- at times his body is much more mechanical, causing him to shut himself down from humanity. In the '90s run he was almost entirely mechanical, and later he became a full robot in the "Technis Era". A search to become human often motivates him.
Weakness (Magnetics)- As a cyborg, Victor is prone to being frozen or trapped by powerful magnets. Seriously, this happened to him quite a bit.
Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 47 / Defenses: 16 (184)
Cyborg- Oddly DC's Biggest Black Character:
-Cyborg was your standard "angry black man" in the initial part of Wolfman's Titans run- intentionally so, as he would give a reason for his rage and bitterness (his father turned him into a scary metal man), and then immediately redeem him as a running storyline in the '80s, as Victor Stone made friends (including Sarah Simms, a great character who sadly never got to hook up with Victor because Wolfman felt it was too generic to gave the "black man/white woman" plot device), helped the Titans through some tough times, and became overall one of the greatest black characters comics ever produced. Though he often talked a BIT too "street" by modern sensibilities (he always says “lissen” instead of “listen”, for instance-it probably fit more in the '80s, and let's be honest- that whole "Tough-talking" thing came from SOMEWHERE so it's not like they just made it up), they avoided the whole "Jive-Talkin'" thing that hampered the '60s Titans. All in all, Cyborg is one of the most-iconic members of the most-popular era of the Titans.
-Victor Stone grew up the child of two scientific geniuses. Though intelligent himself, he resented then using him as an experiment in the IQ-growing projects, and rebelled by focusing on athletics instead, and hanging out with the wrong crowd. Silas, his father, even raged back, pissed that his son would waste his potential, and openly worry about his future (“You ever look at him? All that coiled-up energy, waiting to explode”). However, he pulled back from his friend’s attempts at racially-motivated terrorism, eventually stopping him. His hatred of his parents only grew when an interdimensional teleportation experiment by his parents went awry, fatally-injuring his mother and leaving him mostly disintegrated. Only the quick actions of Silas Stone saved Victor, who was horrified to discover himself a freakish man of metal. “I HATE YOU, OLD MAN!! I HATE YOU!!”
Cyborg- A Marvel Character in the DC Universe:
-The whole “rough life; looks horrible” thing is SO Marvel Comics, which is part of why he fit in so well with the Wolfman/Pérez Titans, and why I now think he fits in so poorly with the Justice League (which is usually supposed to be “The Most DC” characters). In any case, his athletic career in ruins, and a volatile relationship with his father (always called “Silas” after a point), Victor eventually falls in with the other outcasts on the Titans. He is, in many ways, the least-utilized member of the team other than Kid Flash- no huge story arcs, no events centred around him, etc.- it was all good stuff, but he had no equivalent to what the others had. But still, it was good stuff, and none of the fans hated him. Honestly, he kind of centered the rest of the team, with his more down to earth personality and his more “hard science” powers instead of alien stuff or magic. He and Silas eventually reconciled, just as the old man was dying.
-It was cute how this outcast found his place with a group of kids who were in a class for those with amputated limbs (the “I have a prosthesis too” but was so iconic that the CARTOON used it, completely intact). He also had a fun argumentative thing with “that walking salad”- a perfect rip-off of the Johnny Storm/Ben Grimm relationship. His biggest arc is probably how he finally got his dream- prostheses that actually resembled human limbs, thus making him not a freak. He gladly walked away from the Titans, but had a great training montage showing just how hard he had to work to get his body used to the new parts. His relationship with the STAR Labs scientist in charge of his physical therapy was hilarious, too- he whined the entire way while she yelled at him and shamed him, and ultimately they OF COURSE fell in love and got him fixed... but then, in a moment straight out of Marvel, he ruined his chance at normalcy in order to save his friends, as the parts couldn’t hold up to a superhero fight.
-Victor didn’t get up to much afterwards, however, being reduced to the backgrounds. In the “Titans Hunt” arc, he was brutalized further, being transformed into the cold, inhuman “Cyberion”. A horrible, ‘90s-style move that left him ruined- he ran off with the Technis aliens- robots that wanted to Learn What It Is To Be Human. He vanished for most of the 1990s.
Victor Returns:
-Cyborg would return for the JLA/Titans Story, having given over his mind completely to the Technis, who tried to make him happy by reuniting him with his friends. However, their methods for doing so led to the abduction of every single living past Titan, whether or not Vic knew them personally. An act that led to a planet-size amalgamation of machines ENCIRCLING THE MOON and causing a huge fight between the “let’s go kick some ass” JLA and the protective Titans. Eventually, the original five Titans would talk him down (though annoyingly, this included Tempest and Arsenal, who barely knew him), along with stowaway Changeling, who knew him best and of course saved the day. Victor willingly let the Technis go, then had Raven attach his soul to the shapeshifting war vessel the Omegadrone.
-In this form, Victor rejoined the Titans (however, he’d later learn that he had no choice; the JLA demanded Nightwing keep a close eye on him). This version of Cyborg was more like the Plastic Man in action- changing shape and stretching. Eventually, after a story where villains teased him with his humanity, he got his original body back- fusing the Omegadrone with a clone of his human body. He would leave the Titans with this happy ending, but lose his Omegadrone powers in an issue of
The Flash, stopping The Thinker.
Back to Basics Syndrome:
-But, of course, this is comics. And with a new reboot of the comic came Victor back in his original appearance, this time acting as a mentor to the new Titans team. He largely went through a series of brutal injuries, being one of the few heroes who could sustain them. Though at least they ramped up his scientific know-how (Wolfman rarely ever touched on it).
-All of this eventually leads to Cyborg just casually leaving the Titans, having been recruited for the JLA. This ends up being a fairly obvious “minority hire”, as Victor was DC’s highest-profile black character other than John Stewart (both owing their status to recent cartoons). And this leads to his do-nothing Leagues (during a forgettable turn on the book), and finally a spot on the new Big Seven in the “New 52”, which even led to him being in THE MOVIE. This run sees his origin as the same, but he is MUCH smarter and more powerful, thus fitting the JLA.
-Thanks to him being one of DC's most-notable black characters, Cyborg has received roles in a lot of high-profile media. He got to be on the
Super Friends show in its later years. And he's served on both the Robinson Justice League, AND the modern Johns-led incarnation in the Nu52, pretty much for the same reason he was on
Super Friends. But he's no mere filler or Token Character (like Black Vulcan/Lightning ended up being, and like how Avengers-related media always has to shoehorn in The Falcon if they don't want to use Black Panther)- Cyborg's actually EARNED his place, and isn't like Hawkgirl, who was shoehorned into the later
Justice League cartoon because A) they wanted another chick, and B) Bruce Timm thought her mask was cool (not that Shayera didn't EVENTUALLY prove her worth, mind you)- Cyborg could easily be transferred to the big leauges. The only tricky thing is that his original form is a tad too "Seventies" in style- the wide collar part of the uniform, headband and thigh-high metal bits that resemble boots kind of making him look dated, so most modern artists mess with the dynamics of it to create a more modern character.
Vic’s Stats:
-For 2nd Edition, I had to try REALLY hard to get Vic down to PL 10 (150); thank God I don't bother with all that noise in 3e. The guy's a natural athlete, but also smart (his intellect was added to a LOT in later years, making him probably INT 7-8 or something), fast and with plenty of super-powers hidden in that cybernetic body of his. A summation of his powers is pretty hard to find, as they upgraded him from time to time, but this is as good as any for the 1980s era of Cyborg, I think- he tended to just run up, use his limbs to block some enemy fire, and blast 'em "with a couple zillion decibels o' white sound!", generally a closer-range Damage effect. Plus he's got a more accurate Laser, movement powers and more.
-As the Fuller-Conversion Cyborg, Vic was left being less defensive, but tougher (likely Toughness 10-11 total), with Multiattack Blasts on him. Of course, he had pretty much no Presence left by that point, and his Skills probably took a nosedive, too. During the era where he was a Golden Shapeshifter, he attains a kind of low-level Variable/Shapeshift that makes him act more like Plastic Man with some varied tools. JLA-New-52-era Cyborg is likely a PL 12 Blaster with Boom Tube (Interdimensional Teleportation) abilities and more.