This will be an evolving list of conventions, archetypal characters, plot points, obligatory scenes, characterization, and plotlines of the cyberpunk genre. With the intent of finding a true definition of cyberpunk..
Definition of Cyberpunk: An anti-hero protagonist uses technology to fight against a ruthless corporation in a near-future dystopian society.
Hi-Tech, Low Life: the main trope. Focusing on the criminal element of a high tech near future society.
Hard-boiled Protagonist: an anti-hero who has become cynical because of the violent culture and corrupt legal system that surrounds them. A better description: tough, unemotional, cynical, brooding, sexually obsessive, sardonic, disillusioned and insecure loners.
Tyranny: total corporate control, invasive surveillance, police state, informants are everywhere..
Transhumanism: using technology to evolve human intellect and physiology. Humans that have cybernetic body parts or virtual reality interactions.
Cyberspace: a virtual reality internet, that people explore and interface with. Post-internet.
Post-apocalyptic: story occurs after humans have mostly destroyed the planet..
Hackers: people who use technology to cause trouble are shown sympathetically.
Corporate Governance: corporations take over after the collapse of the government.
Invasive Advertising: because of the corporate rule, restrictions on advertising are lifted
Social Realism: works that ādraw attention to real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique of the power structures behind these conditions.ā from wiki.
Artificial Intelligence: a.i. programs are characters in the story. A.I. characters have the ability to kill humans..
The Nature of Reality: Do androids have souls? Can we lose ourselves in a virtual reality? Can technology takeover our lives?
Morally Ambiguous: no one in a cyberpunk story is innocent. They all dwell within a grey scale between bad and good. The good guys are a lesser evil than the completely evil bad guys they face.
Drug Use: altered states of consciousness are common in cyberpunk. Illicit substances, mood altering, steroid-like power boosters, any kind.
Punk Aesthetic: leather. Mohawks. Hostile attitude. Vulgarity. Tattoos. Body Modification. Mirror shades (dunno if that is punk).
Japanese Aesthetic: someone has brought it to my attention that the use of Tokyo-like cityscapes could have racist motives. Because of post WWII fears. In 1968, this may have been the case. But I doubt it. I will read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, to see if there is any reference to Japan whatsoever, but it is set in San Francisco. There likely wonāt be. Often people who try to accuse others of having bad intentions havenāt read the literature.
I think that it was film directors that chose the Japanese aesthetic. It is because neon pops on the screen. Also, because Japan is a symbol of corporate power, our associations make it likely for directors to choose Tokyo.
INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE
Decentralization is a major cyberpunk value. That is why corporations that control information are the antagonists of cyberpunk novels. And hackers are the protagonists..
Not every story that is considered to be ācyberpunkā has every single one of these tropes. Some stories may minimize or ignore certain tropes. A story could reverse all of the tropes, and still be considered cyberpunk. Cyberpunk itself is a rebellion against science fiction.
Commonalities with Film Noir
Film noir arose because of the loss of faith in american values after World War II. Cyberpunk arose for the same reasons in the post-industrial era.
Hard-boiled Detective: this was literally the case in Blade Runner
Femme Fatale: the female lead that double-crosses the Detective. Sexually attractive and provocative. Clever and witty manipulators.
Corrupt Cops: to accentuate the idea of tyranny.
Gangsters/Thugs: there is a difference between gangsters and thugs. Gangsters have style and finesse. Both will smash your head.
Corrupt Millionaires: the only type of Millionaire really lol.
Film Noir Style: Trench coats. And cigarettes. Lots of cigarettes.
Bad Guys Get Punished: often justice is served. The bad guys lose in the end. Sometimes, the Detective loses, like in Double Indemnity.
Crime Is Solved: if it is from the point of view of a Detective that is.. Sometimes the main character is a criminal, or a writer..
Bar or Nightclub: in Film Noir it tends to be high class. In Cyberpunk not-so-much..
Rainy Streets: Because wet streets look better on camera.
Warehouse or Industrial area: violence often takes place in secluded industrial districts.
Dark and Moody: German Expressionism is used to make the audience uneasy.
Venetian Blinds: cast shadows that look like bars on windows. Cyberpunk uses actual bars on windows. Subtle.
Neon Lights: visual appeal, and futuristic looking. A part of the Iconography of noir.
Labyrinthine: streets feel like a maze.
This will be an ongoing list. This is just the first iteration. I will update and rewrite as I learn more about the genre..
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