Cyberpunk Edgerunners is an anime series on Netflix, released not too long ago as of writing
this script. The show focuses on David Martinez, a hispanic teen in the infamous Night City. In
a place like Night City you need a lot of help, whether it be from guns, blades or cybernetics,
there is a series power gap in between each of the distinct characters throughout the show. So,
that got us asking, who’s the strongest one here and who is too weak for Night City.
I’m Kifinosi with WickedBinge and this is Cyberpunk Edgerunners: Weak to Powerful
Two caveats before we get going, spoilers ahead, watch the show first unless you don’t mind massive
spoilers for this very good and very sad ten episode anime. Secondly, if you do want to
watch the show, be wary, content warning for blood, gore and nudity, beyond that have fun.
But, let’s get going, talking about the weakest and the strongest this is The Weak to Powerful.
To no one’s surprise, the weakest character on our list is Gloria Martinez. Gloria is the mother
of the main character David and an EMT in Night City. She is the weakest for a number of reasons,
but most of all is because of her lack of any cybernetics, cyberwear or weaponry. She does have
knowledge on how to heal and set bones alongside other medical knowledge other characters wouldn’t
have, but beyond that, he strongest ability is her connection to Maine and the other Edgerunners,
and even that didn’t let her live long. If another season ever comes along and decides
to explore her past maybe we’ll learn more, but as it stands, she’s the bottom of the list.
The next character landing on our list is Doc. Doc, as his name implies is a ripperdoc,
which helps those around him utilize cyberwear and other such things. Doc has access to all
kinds of tools, mechanical items and cybernetics he can give his patients. We never see him fight
or handle a weapon, but he seems to be a skilled surgeon, a masterful mechanic to some degree and
heavily knowledgable in his field. Combining these facts it’s obvious to see why we would
consider him more powerful than Gloria. If he had more time in a fight we could more
accurately parse his abilities, but gauging on the fact that we assume he’s the one behind all
of David’s upgrades, he seems very good at his job and therefore deserves this spot.
Coming up next on the list is everyone’s favorite wheelman and recluse Falco. Falco is a member of
the edgerunners and a pretty important member to David’s crew specifically. While he was a
part of Maine’s crew, most of his time was spent in David’s in the second half of the
show. Falco doesn’t really have much to talk about beyond being a healthy adult male who
seems really good at his driving job, hence being the group’s getaway driver and wheelman.
Falco does seem skilled enough with a firearm to outrank Doc and Gloria,
but he also has a few cybernetic upgrades, like his right arm. His main job being driving does
stop him from flying higher as we never see what his implants can do or what his firearm skills
are really like. Considering he only carries a Burya Revolver it makes sense that while
skilled with some firearms his main strength is in driving and outmanuevering opponents.
Everyone’s least favorite fixer, Faraday is up next on our list. Faraday is a fixer
who works with Maine and David and their crews, initially working under
Militech and then later under Arasaka. Faraday is not very physically strong,
and doesn’t have much in terms of cyberware either. His power comes from his status and
the way he can pull strings to help him do what he wants. His only known cyberware are
some dermal implants with no known use and a few optical implants that also seem to have very few
uses. Faraday does own one pistol, a weak and common pistol known as the Militech M-76e Omaha,
which he doesn’t seem very skilled in using. Faraday’s power and status
does stop him from falling lower, but as it stands he definitely can’t rank any higher.
The next character on our list is legendary braindance editor Jimmy Kurosaki. Jimmy is not
a combatant, at least not typically, however, with the huge amount of cyberware he has it
makes sense to rank him above Faraday. Beyond the typical changes to most people with the ability
to call from your mind or scan their surrondings, Jimmy has a wide variety of items at his disposal.
He has plates on his face and chest for unknown reason and he has a pair of chrome cyberhands that
he seemingly uses for more general tech stuff. But his big items are his back-facing Kiyoshi optics
that he can use to see if someone is behind him and maybe even have a 360 view if he so pleases.
He also has the “Shock-N-Awe” implant that has a chance to release an electrical burst when he’s
being attacked which is obviously a help, even able to launch an EMP that knocks out even heavy
hitters like Maine. However, his strongest tech and what elevates him is his access to
two Militech Wyvern drones that he enhanced to be Bulletproof, however as they are still suspectible
to cyber attacks they are easy to dispatch and therefore he can’t rank higher, at the moment.
Ranking up next on our list is netrunner and traitor, Kiwi. Kiwi is unlike other characters
because her strength comes more from her cyberware and her intelligence rather than any combat skills
or weaponry. Beyond the necessary netrunning equipment and typical cybernetics like those
used for calls, she has a variety of tools. Among those are the Cyberdeck which she uses
for quickhacking and such, a cybernetic jaw implant that acts as a mask and a neural
processor which better helps her hacking. Kiwi does carry a singular weapon we’re aware of,
a weak and common pistol called Unity, which she seems semi-skilled with. She’s also a skilled
cyclist, a master manipulator and was able to survive getting her cybernetic jaw mask punched
off by Maine. Kiwi does lag behind due to not having much in terms of physical prowess and with
her seemingly lack of gun skills it shows that she can’t rank higher…at least for the moment.
Similar in some respects, Lucyna Kushida often just referred to as “Lucy” is next on our list.
Lucy is another member of both Maine and David’s crews, where she takes up the position of a
netrunner, who is said to be even better than Kiwi when it comes to hacking. Lucy is full of
surprises and has plenty of unique tools up her sleeves, thanks to being experimented on
and trained by Arasaka. Lucy has the ability to handle Arasaka netrunners quite easily,
able to track them and kill them with very little issues. Lucy is able to be tricked by someone like
Kiwi and Faraday, despite this, she’s stronger than both. Sure, her gun skills leave something
to be desired, only really using a Unity pistol, but that’s not her main weapon. Her main weapon
is a piece of Cyberwear known as the “Monowire”, like Jimmy’s “Shock-N-Awe” this is an item that
can be used and equipped in Cyberpunk 2077. This is a long thin wire able to cut through almost
anything, including bones, strangle, slice, cut or mutilate at will. It’s also easy to hide, has
a very long range and can be used for traversal as well if someone wishes. Lucy seems highly skilled
in the use of the monowire and this really puts her above and beyond, especially compared to Kiwi.
Moving away from netrunners, up next on the list is Katsuo Tanaka. Katsuo is the
son of Mr. Tanaka and a high ranking part of the Arasaka school that David goes to.
Katsuo is rich and a corpo who has access to much better cyberwear than poorer people could obtain,
this includes the regular items one comes to expect, but also a martial arts implant that
makes him a surprisingly good fighter. Of course, he’s immediately outclassed by the
Sandevistan and doesn’t seem to have any hidden cyberwear we’re unaware of. But excluding this,
he’s still a threat to an unpowered person, especially David at first.
Up next on our list is Pilar. Pilar was a major member of the Edgerunners and the older brother
of Rebecca, he doesn’t seem to have too much up his sleeves outside of a few cybernetics
that were a bit rare compared to what else we see. He used a monovision which while absent in
Cyberpunk 2077, popped up in the original RPG. The monovision allowed you to equip up to six
optical enhancements, and one can assume based on Pilar’s personality he definitely did this.
He also carried a Militech M10AF Lexington pistol which whilst a generic pistol that’s
not very powerful he seems pretty decently skilled in it’s use. His most important item
is the unnamed cyberwear arms that he has, they extend his arms quite a bit and they seem to be
quite useful as weaponry, because Maine wanted to give them to David after Pilar’s death.
We’re moving on to Mr. Tanaka as the next powerhouse on our list. Appearances can be
deceiving and Tanaka is a perfect example as he has plenty of items that make him a
threat to those around him. He obviously has the usual cyberoptics and Dermal implants and
seems resistant to some torture as he took quite a beating before he died. He also has
the Strong Arms chipware which makes him quite skilled in Martial Arts. However,
his secret weapon really makes him powerful as he has many needle projectiles hidden within
his arms and body that he can fire off at will. These were sharp enough to kill Jimmy Kurosaki
and nearly kill David and crew. However, he was still overpowered by our other strong characters.
Ranking next on our list is the strongest woman herself, Dorio. Dorio is a high-ranking member
of the Edgerunners with plenty of skills under her belt. Not only does she have the
typical cyberoptics and dermal implants but she also has cyberlegs that help her
speed and jumping. She also has Gorilla Arm implants, which give her intense strength,
making her a massive threat in any contest of strength. However, she also has her fair shair
of weaponry that she seems extremely skilled in. She carries a Constitutional Arms Unity
pistol that she uses to great effect. She also has a Malorian Overture revolver which
is a high power single-action revolver that has the ability to richochet shots. Finally,
she carries an Arasaka HJSH-18 Masamune Submachine Gun, which, while a common gun, can
be very helpful in the right situation. Dorio is a threat by all means, but she’s still outclassed.
Everyone’s favorite girl, Rebecca is next on our list. Rebecca is a member of the Edgerunners and
a fan-favorite character, so much more than almost any other character on our list. She
is a woman with more than enough skills under her belt, not only in the cybernetics department, such
as her giant hands that seem to increase lifting strength and battle prowess. But she’s also packed
to the nines with dozens of guns and seems very well skilled in them. Two weapons we’ve already
talked about that she uses are the Unity and the Masamune, but those aren’t her main weapons by any
aspect. Amongst her other weapons are the Militech Crusher Shotgun, the Rostovic DB-2 Satara Tech
Shotgun, and the Nokota D5 Copperhead Assault Rifle. Each of these are common but powerful
weapons that she uses quite well, but they aren’t her heavy hitters. Excluding the Militech M76-e
Omaha, her other weapons are all powerhouses, such as the Constitutional Arms M2038 Tactician,
a powerful old-school shotgun, The Arasaka TKI-20 Shingen Smart Submachine Gun with tracking
bullets, and the Midnight Arms SOR-22 Precision Rifle being not her typical style. However,
her two main weapons are the Militech Mk. 31 Heavy Machine Gun, which she uses often, even against
Adam Smasher, and Guts, her own unique iconic version of the Budget Arms Carnage, capable of
applying poison and even stop falls with it’s kickback. Rebecca is a powerhouse with hundreds
of guns, but she’s still lacking in the cyberwear department and really can’t reach the top three.
Taking our bronze medal of power is Maine. Maine was the leader of his own Edgerunner crew,
old friends with Gloria and the leader of a crew that eventually David is a part of. Maine doesn’t
rely on weaponry as much as the others, but he does carry a Militech Crusher Shotgun and the Kang
Tao L-69 Zhuo Smart Shotgun. However, he heavily relies on his cybernetics, so much so he starts
to go cyberpsycho. His cyberwear is varied and full of interesting decisions. Firstly, he was
originally in line to get David’s Sandevistan, but instead, because David obtains it, he has other
cybernetics instead. He has the typical optical enhancements and seems to have more than those,
Dermal implants that seemed to have increased the durability of his skin. His big ones though
are the Gorilla Arms, which increases his strength nearly tenfold as he is able to fight with immense
prowess. He has a Projectile Launch System which does exactly what it says on the tin. Maine got
so many cybernetics that he grew taller, wider and bigger than he was in his flashback. However,
falling to cyberpsychosis does stop him from flying higher.
Taking our silver medal of power is David Martinez. David is the main protagonist of
the show and that automatically makes him very powerful. Whilst starting off small and weak,
losing to people like Katsuo, he manages to obtain the Sandevistan from James Norris. Now,
while Doc expected him not to survive the Sandy, he not only utilizes it but can use it three to
four times a day with no major ill effects. As he got stronger and his friends started to die
he started expanding his immense cyberwear. This made him physically larger and gave him plenty
of unique abilities. He had cyberlegs that could cause him to jump high, a Projectile Launch System
that he took from Maine and Syn-Lungs that he uses to increase his stamina. He also carries
a multitude of weaponry such as the Lexington, Crusher and Satara which we’ve mentioned before,
however these aren’t his main form of power. At the end of the series he enters and uses the
experimental Arasaka Cyberskeleton which increases his strength tenfold. However, this cyberskeleton
doesn’t give him first place for a reason, and anyone who’s watched the show will know why.
Our gold medal of power goes to none other than . Adam Smasher pops up in the final episode and
slaughters most of the remaining cast at that point in the show. He is intensely strong,
so much more so than David, able to decimate him in hand to hand combat,
he has intense stamina, durability and agility as well. He has a Sandevistan as well,
which takes away David’s main advantage and he’s also skilled in every weapon he uses. Adam Smasher
is leaps and bounds above everyone else on our list, and there’s no evidence to the contrary.
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking. And tell us
what we should cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Weak
to Powerful playlist. Where we break down who the most powerful characters
are in your favorite cartoons, shows, and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked.