In the Neon Web: Cyberpunk

Into the Neon Web: Cyberpunk

This time around, I'm going to talk about the Cyberpunk sub genre of Science Fiction. While this may be mostly of interest to science fiction fans, some elements can be used in fantasy settings. In this installment, I will go over the traditional cyberpunk norms and look at what cyberpunk stories typically contain. In the next installment I intend to provide some ideas on how cyberpunk can be adapted to fantasy settings, as has been done in the past.

While cyberpunk is usually credited to William Gibson, author of Neuromancer, it actually predates him. Gibson himself is quoted as saying that the vision of Los Angeles was a very close match to the city style he envisioned while writing Neuromancer. The origin of the term can be found with author Bruce Bethke who wrote a short story called Cyberpunk in 1980, although it was not published until 1983. The term was adopted to define the works of several authors.

Cyberpunk stories are usually set in the near future, where governments have lost a great deal of their power, and the world is controlled, either obviously or behind the scenes, by various mega corporations The settings are usually dark futures of urban decay, and general hopelessness. Into these worlds come the protagonists of the stories, who are generally not the heroic characters of High Fantasy, Space Opera and the like. The main characters of the stories are often disenfranchised, frequently criminals or linked to criminal activities and organizations, and usually fairly antisocial, except possibly within a small group of colleagues. Despite these characteristics, the characters often do exhibit more traditionally heroic traits and are frequently cast as the only thing standing in the way of the corporate elite's complete take over of the world. Some are true anti-heroes, though, who care only about getting the job they set out to do done, and removing any obstacles that get in their way.

The action of the stories typically takes place in the concrete jungles of big cities. Usually the cities are much bigger than those we see today, often containing several of the modern world's large cities. Sometimes they are completely enclosed, forming huge domed constructs that keep the devastated environments of the world outside. Sometimes they are just normal, if huge, cities. There are almost always enormous regions of slums and alleys, where the protagonists usually come from or at least hide out in. Generally the city dwellers are divided into the poor and desperate, who live in these regions, and the wealthy and powerful, who live in more comfortable and protected surroundings, sometimes going so far as to create smaller walled cities within the city proper. The action frequently revolves around the gap between rich and poor, and money is often a motivating factor for both protagonist and antagonists.

High technology is the rule, and it comes in many forms. Weaponry is usually conventional, guns and bullets, but more powerful than the modern day. Some more advanced weaponry is sometimes seen in the hands of the corporations and their agents, and hence sometimes stolen by the heroes of the underclass. Archaic weapons can also often be seen among the 'Knights of the Streets' but again they are often upgraded from their original forms, using advanced materials and technological advancements, although never as advanced as the weaponry seen in Space Opera and other far future stories. Medical technology is variable. In some settings it has advanced a long way, with replacement organs and other parts common. Cybernetic replacement and enhancement of the body is common, and other biological and genetic advancements often make appearances too.

One common, although not necessary, aspect of Cyberpunk technology is the advanced form of the world wide web. Often stories take place as much in virtual as actual reality. Normally hackers, the protagonists by and large, use computer technology that is wired directly into their brains, leading to enhanced speed, storage capacity and security, but also resulting in electronic counter measures that can cripple or kill them rather than just damaging their machinery. The virtual world is usually depicted as a huge "Cyberspace" (A term William Gibson is credited with coining), where different databases and websites take on an almost physical reality. Programmers, workers and hackers must enter this computer world with a three dimensional avatar and work as though they were in the real world. All these things, of course, are merely symbolisms for what the computers and their operators are doing in the real world.

Within cyberspace, in some stories and settings, there is a second awareness. While humanity are visitors to the cyberworld, AIs (Artificial Intelligences) are its natives. These entities sometimes help humanity, sometimes work to control it, and sometimes just want to destroy it. The nature and motivations are as numerous as stories that contain them. They typically are fully fleshed out characters with motivations and goals that affect the story and move it along, and not just obstacles to be avoided or destroyed. Whatever they are and whatever they want, however, they are typically portrayed as alien beings whose minds we cannot hope to truly understand.

This is the cyberpunk sub genre, in a nutshell, as it is typically presented. Of course like any style of writing, most authors deviate from the norm in someway, and some do so in grandiose fashion. Next time, I'll go over some ways these themes and conventions can be, and in fact have been, used in fantasy or other sorts of science fiction worlds and stories.