Everything about Cyborg Comics totally explained
Cyborg is a
superhero that appears in the fictional
DC universe. The character was created by writer
Marv Wolfman and artist
George Pérez, and first appears in
DC Comics Presents #26 (
October 1980). Cyborg is best known as a member of the
Teen Titans.
Fictional character biography
Victor Stone was the son of a pair of scientists who decided to use him as a test subject for various intelligence enhancement projects. However, Victor grew to resent this treatment and struck up a friendship with a young miscreant who led him into trouble with the law. This was the beginning of a struggle where Victor strove for his own life engaging in pursuits his parents disapproved of, such as
athletics. In addition, Victor still kept bad company that led him into incidents such as when he was talked into participating in a street gang fight in which he was wounded. For the most part however, Victor still had a largely normal life under the circumstances where he also refused to follow his best friend's grandiose plans of racially motivated
terrorism.
All that changed one day when he visited his parents at work at
S.T.A.R. Labs. Coincidentally, an experiment in dimensional travel went horribly awry when a massive gelatinous monster crossed over an experimental portal and killed Victor's mother. The creature then turned on Victor and severely mutilated him before his father managed to force the creature back through the portal.
To save his son, Victor's father outfitted him with experimental prosthetics of his own design. However, the equipment couldn't be worn inconspicuously, and thus Victor was horrified to see much of his body, including part of his face, replaced with sheer metallic limbs and implants.
Although Victor wanted to die at this shock, he eventually adjusted enough through his resulting physical therapy to control his implants with suitable skill.
However upon release from medical care, he found his life was seriously inconvenienced with the fearful reactions of the public at his implants; even his girlfriend rejected him. In addition, he was also disallowed participation in athletics not only for his implants but for his poor grades which were further exacerbated by his long convalescence. However, when his old friend attempted to use Victor's troubles to manipulate him into attempting a terrorist attack on the
United Nations, Victor found a new purpose as he equipped his weapons attachments and stopped his friend in a pitched battle on top of
United Nations Headquarters.
Teen Titans
He joined the
Teen Titans, initially for the benefit of a support group of kindred spirits and outsiders and has remained with that group ever since. In addition, Victor found new friends who saw past his disfigurements to his own nobility, such as a group of children who were adjusting to their own prosthetics and idolized Victor with his fancy parts and exciting adventures as well as their beautiful teacher,
Sarah Simms, who has often assisted him. Cyborg and Sarah have a deep relationship that's considered by some fans to be Cyborg's one
true love, although writer
Marv Wolfman insists it's a deep, caring friendship.
Another person who saw past the cybernetic shell was Dr. Sarah Charles, a
S.T.A.R. Labs scientist who helped him to recuperate after having his cybernetic parts replaced. Cyborg and Dr. Charles dated for some time, and, along with Changeling, she kept trying to reach him when he was seemingly mindless following a plane crash.
Deaths and rebirths
Although Cyborg's body was repaired after the plane crash, albeit with more mechanical parts than previously, his mind was not. Eventually, his mind was restored by an alien race of computer intelligences called the Technis. Cyborg, however, had to remain with the Technis both to maintain his mind and because, in return for restoring him, he'd to teach them about humanity. He took the name
Cyberion, and gradually started becoming less human in outlook, connecting entirely to the Technis planet.
Eventually, Cyberion returned to Earth. With Vic's consciousness dormant, but his desire for companionship controlling the Technis planet's actions, it began kidnapping former Titans members and plugging them into virtual reality scenarios, representing what he believed to be their "perfect worlds"; for example, Beast Boy was back with the
Doom Patrol,
Damage was spending time being congratulated by the
Justice Society, and
Nightwing was confronted by a
Batman who actually smiled. Although the Titans were freed, there was a strong disagreement between them and the
Justice League over what action to take; the League believed that there was nothing left of Victor to save, whereas the Titans were willing to try, culminating in a brief battle, where the
Atom and
Catwoman (who had followed the Justice League to investigate) sided with the League while the
Flash fought with the Titans. While Vic was distracted trying to aid his friends, a Titans team consisting of Changeling and the original five Titans were sent by Raven to try making contact with Vic's human side, while
Superman,
Wonder Woman,
Green Lantern, the
Martian Manhunter,
Power Girl,
Captain Marvel and
Mary Marvel moved the moon back to its proper place. Eventually, thanks primarily to Changeling's encouragement, and
Omen and
Raven holding Vic together long enough to come up with a plan, Vic's consciousness was restored, and "downloaded" into the Omegadrome, a morphing war-suit belonging to former Titan
Minion. In the wake of this event the Titans reformed and Vic was part of the new group. However, he felt less human than ever before.
Shortly after this,
Nightwing revealed he'd cloned Vic's body, and by flowing the Omegadrome through the clone, Vic regained his human form, but still had the abilities of the Omegadrome. He often used the drone to recreate his original look in battle. With his newfound humanity, Vic took a leave of absence, moving first to
L.A. with
Beast Boy and then to Central City. While in Central City Vic was involved in one of the
Thinker's schemes. The Thinker froze the Omegadrome's morphing powers and left him in his original cybernetic appearance.
Mentor
Vic mentored the new incarnation of the Teen Titans, consisting mainly of sidekicks, most of whom have taken over the identities of former members (for example
Tim Drake, the third
Robin, instead of
Dick Grayson, the original Robin and Titans leader), as well as stalwarts such as
Starfire,
Raven, and
Beast Boy, where they've fought enemies such as
Deathstroke,
Brother Blood,
Doctor Light, The
Titans Tomorrow, and a brainwashed
Superboy and
Indigo during a team up with the
Outsiders in the
Insiders storyline. In the end, Cyborg was the only one capable of standing up to Dr. Light thanks to his solar shields.
Infinite Crisis and beyond
During
Infinite Crisis, Cyborg joined
Donna's New Cronus Team that went to investigate a hole in the universe that was found during the
Rann-Thanagar War. He left
Beast Boy in charge of the
Titans while he was gone. They arrived at the re-set center of the universe and with the help of an assorted heroes aided in the defeat of Alexander Luthor, who was attempting to re-create the multiverse and build a perfect Earth from it.
According to the fifth issue of
52, Cyborg was fused together with
Firestorm after returning to Earth. This was caused by the energy ripples caused by Alexander Luthor Jr. which altered the Zeta Ray Beams the heroes were going to use to return home.
After being severely damaged during the events of
Infinite Crisis, Cyborg was rebuilt over time in thanks to Tower caretakers
Wendy and Marvin. He awoke
a year later to find a wholly different being led by Robin, the only member from the team he formed prior to going into space. He is still a member of the team, but feels that
Kid Devil and
Ravager are hardly worthy Titans, and thus is attempting to find a way to re-form "the real Titans".
After the team along with the Doom Patrol defeated the Brotherhood of Evil, Cyborg asked Beast Boy to rejoin the Titans, but Gar refused saying that his skills were needed with the Patrol. After returning to Titans Tower, Cyborg began reviewing the security tapes during the last year, in which it appears that he was looked to by all the Titans of the past year for a shoulder to lean on, despite being in a coma-like state.
It appears that although Cyborg has returned to the team, the role of leader is now in the hands of Robin. He does however retain the position of statesman amongst the team and occasionally plays second-in-command.
In
Justice League of America (vol. 2), #3, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman agree that Cyborg should be offered membership in the new Justice League. However, following a battle against Amazo, Green Lantern and Black Canary take over the formation of the JLA, and Cyborg isn't amongst the roster.
In the
Teen Titans East one-shot, Cyborg gathered together a new team of Titans. During a training exercise, the group was attacked by
Trigon, and Cyborg was blasted by a giant energy beam. He was last seen in a crater, with only his head and torso remaining.
Titans
Cyborg is set to be a main character in the upcoming comic book Titans which focuses on a new team of Titans coming from the old veteran Titans Cyborg, Nightwing, Troia, Flash (Wally West), Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Red Arrow. The story takes place immediately after the events of the Titans East one shot. In the aftermath of Trigon's assault, Cyborg has been placed into a special hoverchair while he recuperates.
In other media
Television
Super Friends
Cyborg appeared in (the final incarnation of
Super Friends) from 1985 to 1986. He was voiced by
Ernie Hudson. Cyborg's origin was changed to the more simplified story of him being injured in an automobile accident as opposed to being attacked by an extraterrestrial creature.
Justice League pilot promo
When
Justice League was pitched to the
Kids' WB network, the lineup originally included three young members as proteges for the League. The members would have been
Robin,
Impulse, and an original character described as a "teenage female version of Cyborg"(Cyborgirl). The promo is viewable on the fourth disc of the
Justice League Season 1 boxset.
Teen Titans (animated series)
Cyborg appears in
Teen Titans animated series, voiced by
Khary Payton. This version of Cyborg is very similar to his comic book counterpart. His nickname is "Cy". The two main differences are his design and that he's more easygoing than his comics counterpart. His head is considerably more rounded (and bald), and his mechanical parts are bulkier. In the
Titans Tomorrow storyline a future version of Victor Stone is shown having similar plating as the animated Cyborg.
In the animated series, Cyborg is never referred to by his given name. However, he does take the alias "Stone" (based on his real last name) in the Season 3 episode "Deception". As the Stone character, it seems that he can turn his body into stone with the help of holographic rings. He is known to have a love of
video games, and is often seen battling Robin or Beast Boy in either a fighting or racing game. Cyborg dated
H.I.V.E.'s
Jinx, but their relationship dispatched after the H.I.V.E students found out he was a Titan and was using them to learn about H.I.V.E's headquarters, and later has a brief partnership with
Sarasim, a warrior from the distant past but their important parts in their time periods ensured that a relationship could never be. A former athlete (as in the comics), his victories are often accompanied by a resounding "Booyah!".
Brother Blood was a recurring nemesis of his in Season 3. He also maintains a rivalry with
Gizmo and
Atlas. In "Titans East", Cyborg creates a theme song for himself that's set to the show's theme. He sings, "When there's trouble, you know what to do. Call Cyborg! He can shoot a rocket from his shoe! Cause he's Cyborg! Nanananana something like that (aw yeah). Nanananana big fluffy cat (that's right!)."
His abilities and offensive attacks include a Sonic Cannon, which he can project from his right arm at will, a smaller sonic blaster located in his left foot, two sets of missile launchers (one in each shoulder), super-strength, high-end sensor and communication technology, and several different tools (a saw, a welding torch, a buffer, etc.) which he produces from his arms. When Cyborg fought his darker self, he produced a second sonic cannon in his left arm. At one point, he installed a super-processor chip called the Maximum-7 to further increase his abilities, but an overload forced
Robin to remove it. Cyborg's greatest weakness in the series is his dependency on power sources to maintain not only his strength, but his very life.
It was revealed in a later episode, "The End" Part 1, that Cyborg can interface with Titans Tower and its security system, drawing power from it and using it to power two super powered Sonic Cannons that project from both arms. The power from these cannons appears to be much greater than his normal blasts. He uses these cannons to attack the then-immortal Slade and
Trigon's immortal army, but because of the immortality of his targets, the attack fails.
Teen Titans Go #45 revealed Cyborg's origin. He was an athlete who loved being faster than anyone else, and was part of the track team and enjoyed driving around constantly. He was involved in a car accident which he caused due to reckless driving, which forced his parents to save him by attaching cybernetic parts to his body. Resentful of what his parents had done to him, he chose to leave home to hide from his parents and the rest of the world, which lead into the events from the Teen Titans episode
Go. When Cyborg fights his "dark side", it says "You gonna go crying home to mommy? Oh, that's right, you don't have one!"
Smallville
Cyborg appeared in the 15th episode of
Smallville's fifth season, which was also titled "Cyborg", and premiered on
February 16,
2006. In this version, Victor (
Lee Thompson Young), is a former Metropolis High School football star. He is involved in a car accident that kills him, supposedly, and the rest of his family. However, he's secretly rebuilt by Cyntechnics scientists including Dr. Alistair Krieg (
Mackenzie Gray), who experimented on a group of test subjects. Victor was the only test subject to survive the experiments. Cyntechnics was bought up by LuthorCorp shortly before Victor's escape. Lex denies any knowledge of Cyntechnics' secretive activities.
Although Victor's cybernetic enhancements are entirely
endoskeletal instead of
exoskeletal as they're in the comics and other media, a shot of Clark Kent's X-Ray vision reveals that Victor's cranial armor covers the same-shaped area as it does in the comics. He also bleeds a dark fluid as he does in the comics.
Smallville never uses the name "Cyborg" in his first appearance. Instead, Victor refers to his enhancements as "
bionic", and the episode explicitly references the 1970s
television series The Six Million Dollar Man which also featured a cybernetically-enhanced "bionic" man.
Lee Thompson Young reprised his role in "Justice", a Season 6 episode about
Green Arrow gathering together a group of individuals to combat
Lex Luthor. The episode premiered on
January 18,
2007. In this episode, Victor has finally taken the name "Cyborg", as Green Arrow's team uses
code names. Also on the team are
Aquaman and
Impulse. While Victor was last seen with a girlfriend named Katherine, he explains that his mechanical parts put a strain on the relationship. After their eventual break up, Victor states that it was Green Arrow who kept him from committing
suicide. The episode also shows Cyborg wearing something of a costume (a stylized silver vest), and utilizing further enhancements Green Arrow gave him. One of his new functions allows him to hack into and disable security systems. While connecting to machines, Cyborg's left eye glows red, another nod to his comic book incarnation.
Cyborg is a main character in the online animated
Smallville spin-off
Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom along with the other Justice Leaguers. In episode three, he displays more additional abilities such as offensive sound wave projection.
Video games
Cyborg is a playable character in the Teen Titans video game for the Game Boy Advance.
Cyborg is a playable character in both "Story" and "Master of Games" modes in the console Teen Titans game.
External sources
- DC Database Project
Titans Tower biography
Cyborg's description on the animated seriesFurther Information
Get more info on 'Cyborg Comics'.
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