So apparently, Smasher and Blackhand has a rivalry based on Smasher thinking metal is better than meat. From the wiki:
Adam Smasher, another notorious solo merc from NYC usually employed by Arasaka, developed a quiet rivalry with Morgan, seeing him as a threat to his metal-is-better-than-meat worldview.
I don't get it. Blackhand is far from all organic or "meat". His nickname is a nod to a fully prostethic arm… In fact, he has quote the list of shiny chrome.
Neural processor, Sandevistan boost, smartgun and vehicle links, interface plugs, chipware socket, nasal filters, two cyberoptics (w/ targeting scope, low-lite, infrared, anti-dazzle), right cyberarm ([w/ rippers, custom 12mm heavy SMG (MAC 14, ammo 20), microwave/EMP shielding, hydraulic rams), muscle & bone lace, nanosurgeons
Now, it might be that Smasher doesn't think that Blackhand is metal enough, but he's pretty far from being an example of non chromed "meat" mercs. Certainly, there are plenty of other non chromed out mercs in NC to have as rivals. Jackie would have made a way better rival, for example.
Does anyone have any more insight into this rivalry?
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Blackhand has chrome that augments himself not that replaces his body so he’s pretty meaty still.
Smasher has a rivalry with Blackhand, Blackhand probably doesn’t think about Smasher until they cross paths.
There was no rivalry. If there was one, it was only in Smasher’s head. Just how Silverhand belived he was Smasher’s rival.
I’m pretty sure that’s an image of Solid Snake…
There was no rivalry. Or say it was a “one sided rivalry”
It’s very simple:
* Smasher loves cybernetics a little bit too much. Like he is addicted to cyberwear.
* Morgan doesn’t. Morgan is old school and hates the over reliance on cybernetics and smart tech weapons
* Smasher is a bigot and declares a one sided grudge against Morgan for not liking cybernetics.
* Morgan just doesn’t give a fuck. He’s a chill no nonsense guy. Just does what he does. Gigachad
Also, the reason why morgan has the cyberarm was because he lost his real arm in a war. It was needed for him to function. What Morgan hates is the over reliance on cyberwear. This is based on his experience in a war where int he 1980s, he was a rookie soldier. He was enlisted to be a part of an experimental unit where one of the soldiers went full cyberpsycho. Based on that experience, the cons of depending on cyberwear outweigh the pros so he hates the over reliance of cyberwear.
Smasher is a narcissist. He thinks he’s the peak. He also thinks full borgs are the peak. It infuriates him that somebody that isn’t him *and* isn’t a full borg is literally the peak.
> I don’t get it. Blackhand is far from all organic
To quote the Malestrom doorman when he met my chromed-out V:
“I like your style; minimalist.”
It’s all a matter of perspective. Besides that, I don’t think Smasher’s beef with Blackhand was because Blackhand used less cybernetics. His issue was that Blackhand used less cybernetics *and could still keep up with him*.
Blackhand’s very existence was antithetical to Adam Smasher. If after all those augmentations and FBCs, Smasher couldn’t keep up with someone kitted out with rudimentary cybernetics every merc in Night City has, then what does that say about him?
Wouldn’t you hate it if you were a walking behemoth of a machine and some guy with the average amount of cybernetics for a human shows up and is able to hold his own against you?
If this infuriated him it must’ve been even worse when V tore him apart at the end, especially in Don’t Fear the Reaper
Blackhand is the number one solo and is known for using minimal augmentations.
No matter how much destruction he causes, no matter how much money is spent on his kit, Smasher will never *compare* to Blackhand, and that drives the narcissistic psychopath up the wall.
It’s important to note that Blackhand does not give a single fuck about Smasher. He doesn’t even see him as some particularly evil part of the world. Smasher is nothing but a Corpo-Bitch chip jockey. He’s a merc with a payroll. This rivalry is a one-sided obsession on Smashers part.
Backhand has a Boxer dog? All I needed to know that he is a good guy.
it was more some kind of cyber dissing tbh, despite being him self a well known legend already, smasher was just jealous of morgan since everyone considered him the best american solo, so he tried to challenge him in order to kill him and prove he was the best one for years but morgan who never really gave a shit of that stuff, simply ignored adam, until they faced at the top of the arasaka towers where adam revealed to be the best american snowboard at least.
The only equal rival morgan blackhand probably ever had was kenichi zaburo.
It’s not really a rivalry. Blackhand straight up doesn’t care about smasher.
Smasher whole thing is Metal is better than Meat. Dude’s rocking a full body conversation and is like the most chromed person ever. He gave a quote for a magazine telling people to get FBC’s or they’ll get wiped out. He thinks flesh will become obsolete.
Then here comes some guy who’s not half as chromed out as him yet is better. He constantly challenges Blackhand and just gets ignored.
For a dude that’s already crazy that’s pisses him off even more.
I think it’s less the Metal Over Meat thing as it is Morgan Blackhand is THE top Solo and formerly one of the faces of the Cyberpunk franchise. Smasher wants to take Blackhand’s place and finds that Blackhand can consistently beat him despite having less implants. Meanwhile Blackhand really just thinks of Smasher as an annoyance he has to deal with.
It comes down to a clash of opposing ideology, yet still remains rather one sided on Adam’s part. Adam exists on one extreme which is chrome above all else. While Morgan is leaning toward the other with minimal chrome. Morgan’s rather legendary merc career opposes Adam’s ideology and in his eyes the only way to cement his belief as superior is to take out Morgan. While Morgan couldn’t care less about any of it until some pays him to zero Adam.
Smasher is really the only one with beef. He desperately wants a rivalry with Blackhand, but Blackhand really doesn’t care about Smasher lol.
Smasher basically wants to prove “Metal beats Meat”
This is going to be a little historic on the development of the 2 characters.
Adam Smasher was a narrator for an article that Benjamin Wright wrote in the R Talsorian Games’ Solo of Fortune 2 supplement. This was a throwaway character by Benjamin and wasn’t a character/non-player character in any game at the time, just a voice to write the article “Destroy all flesh!”. It was to present to the Cyberpunk 2020 players/referees the view point of a full borg solo and cyberpyschosis (though Adam was a psychotic prior to going full chrome according to Benjamin). The article tries to present Adam’s mind. Adam’s stressed that all flesh is weak. Full conversions are the superior way of being, not just a cyberlimb here, an implant there, some cyberopitcs. He wanted all done. Though the irony is he still needs some organic to be him. Adam stats reflect he isn’t too smart.
Forward a few years to when Mike Pondsmith wanted to change the cyberpunk world and move the story line along. Introducing the fourth corporate war and the trilogy of supplements: Firestorm: Stormfront, Shockwave, Aftershock (this last supplement never was produced or published). During the development of this series, Mike wanted a rival for Blackhand. Blackhand was an established non-player character that Mike had around to demonstrate what the ultimate Solo would be. The legend that all Cyberpunk 2020 players would want to be.
Mike, Benjamin, David Ackerman (RTG writer, artist, editor, etc), and Deric Quintanar (RTG’s editor in chief at the time) brainstormed about who Blackhand’s enemy should be. Adam’s name came up. They also (I don’t know who came up with the idea) to make it that Adam hated Blackhand with a passion, but Blackhand had no clue who he was. I assume it was for some humor as Cyberpunk world had a lot of ironic elements.
Mike continued to use Adam in various games he would run at gaming conventions throughout the decades. One game was when Adam hooked up with Michiko Arasaka. I was in one of his con game back in 2013 in which Smasher was present at a bar. As a veteran Cyberpunk 2020, I avoid him and told the rest of the party to not go near him as he would have slaughter all of us. That game also had us give Michiko aka “Danger Gal” a tour of Night City night life. the tour ended with us escaping the cannibal gang, The Gilligan’s, in Lake Park. Was a fun game.
Next comes CDPR looking to pull in the original lore of characters to be used in Cyberpunk 2077. I am sure they wanted to have Blackhand in the game, but Mike still controlled the character and want to do more things with him as he was in parallel developing Cyberpunk Red, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2020. But Adam was available and integral to Arasaka as he was the weapon of choice to use against Militech during the 4th corporate war. CDPR wanted to bring all those character into the story. Now that CDPR has taken stewardship over the Pondsmith universe starting 2060s, Smasher and Blackhand I’m sure will change with their motivations and attitudes.
I interviewed Benjamin, David, and Deric on my podcast about all of the above a year or 2 ago. It has been several years for them, but the above is background they remember.
I think it’s more of a surface level. You take one look at Morgan and you just see a prosthetic arm and that’s it, but in actuality he has a BUNCH of chrome hidden in that body.
It’s quite easy to believe that Morgan just has 1 piece of chrome and just think he’s a beast at everything else, because you quite literally need to open up his body to find his other pieces of Chrome
He may have implants but not that much compared to the rest or to smasher himself
Smasher thinks that since blackhand is at his level and he isn’t near his levels of implants that his view of metal>meat is wrong which caused smasher to develop hatred towards him and set his goal to prove that his view is the right one
All that just to be used as a ski by blackhand
1. There is no rivalry. Blackhand *doesn’t give two shits* about Smasher. Smasher *wants* there to be a rivalry, but there isn’t one.
2. Smasher’s an FBC, Blackhand is still a normal human, just with some implants. That’s the “meat vs. metal” they’re talking about. Blackhand still has internal organs and bones.
It’s one-way rivary that is similar to how Johnny sees Adam.
Adam has always believed that metal is better than meat, and didn’t like how Morgan Blackhand who is Chrome minimalist was so good. Adam challenged to him on 1v1 but every time, Morgan brushed it off or ignored.
one time they fought was on top of crumbling Saka tower in 2023, and they were “equal” in the fight.
and by “minimalist” it’s I think about aesthetics. the way he is described is only VISIBLE chrome is a pair of black arm. so it’s more of him being cut back on cyberware but more so that he is like “normal level” chromed for solo vs Adam who is barely a human at that point.
It’s similar to how Maelstorm guy at Totentanz says to V, regardless of if you are chromed to the brim, you are not more, how do I say it, making it visible.
Its a pretty one sided rivalry, I think it just drives Smasher nuts that Blackhand is better than him despite his minimal cyberware augmentation vs Smasher’s metal being superior to meat philosophy.
For starters they are both way older than v and Jackie. And there “rivalry” is one-sided. Blackhand has far more meat then anything. As smasher is full borg as in the only thing that’s still smasher is his brain.
It’s mostly just because of Militech vs Arasaka rivalry since those guys are they’re top mercs.
Smasher has the same relationship with Blackhand that Jhony has with Smasher.