Johnny Silverhand
| Johnny Silverhand | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type | Main Character |
| Affiliation | Samurai |
Johnny Silverhand is a legendary rockerboy, the frontman of the band Samurai and a sworn enemy of the corporations, above all Arasaka. He died during the bombing of Arasaka Tower half a century before the game, but a copy of his mind survived on a prototype biochip called the Relic. When the Relic ends up in V's head, Johnny comes with it, and he spends the rest of the story as an unwanted voice and face that only V can hear and see.
Biography
The Rockerboy
Johnny was born Robert John Linder in Texas. As a teenager he lied about his age to join the army and was sent to fight in a war in Central America that the government had built on lies. He lost his left arm there and deserted, and the silver cybernetic arm that replaced it gave him his new name. In Night City he founded Samurai with his friend Kerry Eurodyne, and the band rose from backstreet clubs to the top of the charts. Their songs, among them Chippin' In and Never Fade Away, turned the rockerboy into a symbol of rebellion.
Samurai broke up, but Johnny kept fighting the system as a solo artist. When a label tried to blackmail him over his desertion, he released an album confessing it and exposing what the army had done. He loved fiercely and badly: his relationships with Rogue Amendiares and Alt Cunningham ended in betrayal and grief.
Alt and the First Raid
Arasaka kidnapped Alt Cunningham, a gifted netrunner and Johnny's former girlfriend, to force her to rebuild her Soulkiller program, which copies a human mind into data. Johnny led a raid on Arasaka Tower to save her while Samurai played a free show outside as a diversion. The raid failed: Alt's mind was torn from her body and trapped in the corporation's network, and Johnny carried away only her lifeless body. He never stopped blaming Arasaka for her death.
The Bombing of Arasaka Tower
Years later, Johnny joined a Militech strike on Arasaka Tower with Rogue, Spider Murphy and others. The plan was to set off a small nuclear bomb in the tower and end a war between the corporations, but Johnny also wanted to find Alt. In the fight he was cut down by Adam Smasher, the cyborg who serves Arasaka. Arasaka took him away, Saburo Arasaka had him questioned, and his mind was copied with Soulkiller before his body died. A niche in his name still stands at the North Oak Columbarium, though his body was never laid there.
In V's Head
Decades later his copied mind was loaded onto the Relic, which Yorinobu Arasaka stole and hid at Konpeki Plaza. After the failed heist, the chip saves V's life but begins to write Johnny over V's mind. At first he tries to take V's body by force. As the story goes on, the two are forced to work together to find a cure, and Johnny shows V his memories of the past. His old friends, Rogue and Kerry, can learn that he is back.
Johnny Silverhand Map
The map shows the places of the story of Johnny Silverhand: Arasaka Tower and North Oak Columbarium.
Johnny Silverhand map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Personality
Johnny is charismatic, rebellious and quick with an insult. He is also selfish, reckless and manipulative, and he uses the people around him to get what he wants. He drinks, smokes and mocks anyone who disagrees with him. His hatred of Arasaka is the one thing in his life that never changes.
Sharing a body with V forces him to look at himself. Depending on V's choices, he can come to regret how he treated his friends and lovers, and he can learn to care about V as a real friend. If V stays cold to him, he stays bitter and hostile to the end.
Relationships
Kerry Eurodyne is his oldest friend and his bandmate in Samurai. Rogue Amendiares is his former lover, and she still has feelings for him decades later. Alt Cunningham is the woman he failed to save, and her mind now lives beyond the Blackwall. Adam Smasher killed him, and Saburo Arasaka is the man who had his mind copied. He despises Goro Takemura and everything the bodyguard believes in.
Jobs
Johnny is part of almost every job in the second and third acts. Chippin' In is his own side job: it brings back his old car and his gun and digs into what happened to his body. Blistering Love and Holdin' On follow from it, and A Like Supreme puts Samurai back on stage with Kerry Eurodyne. Never Fade Away replays his old raid on Arasaka to save Alt Cunningham. In Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Johnny takes over V's body and storms Arasaka Tower with Rogue.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| The Nomad | Main Job |
| Love Like Fire | Main Job |
| Playing for Time | Main Job |
| Double Life | Main Job |
| Transmission | Main Job |
| Never Fade Away | Main Job |
| The Killing Moon | Main Job |
| Tapeworm | Main Job |
| Last Caress | Main Job |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls | Main Job |
| Knockin' on Heaven's Door | Main Job |
| Where is My Mind? | Main Job |
| New Dawn Fades | Main Job |
| Don't Lose Your Mind | Side Job |
| Raymond Chandler Evening | Side Job |
| Love Rollercoaster | Side Job |
| There Is A Light That Never Goes Out | Side Job |
| A Cool Metal Fire | Side Job |
| Blistering Love | Side Job |
| Chippin' In | Side Job |
| Human Nature | Side Job |
| The Prophet's Song | Side Job |
| Second Conflict | Side Job |
| Violence | Side Job |
| War Pigs | Side Job |
| A Like Supreme | Side Job |
| The Ballad of Buck Ravers | Side Job |
| Holdin' On | Side Job |
| Scrolls before Swine | Gig |
Endings
How Johnny ends depends on V's choices in Nocturne Op55N1 and on how close the two have become. If V sides with Arasaka, Johnny refuses to help and leaves V with bitter words about betraying everything they stood for. If V asks Panam and the Aldecaldos for help, he cheers them on as they storm Arasaka Tower.
If V trusts him, Johnny takes control of V's body and storms the tower with Rogue. Adam Smasher kills Rogue during the attack, and Johnny destroys Smasher in revenge. In Mikoshi, Alt tells them that V's body cannot survive much longer with V in it. V can return to it and live out the remaining months, or give it to Johnny and follow Alt beyond the Blackwall.
If V gives up the body, Johnny visits Jackie's grave, says goodbye to the people V knew and leaves Night City to start a new life. If V keeps the body, Johnny says goodbye in cyberspace and fades away.
Notes
Johnny's Malorian Arms 3516 pistol, his Porsche 911 and a copy of his samurai jacket can all be won in Chippin' In. The Iconic Items page lists every piece of his gear.
In some jobs Johnny takes control of V's body for a short time, and his abilities replace V's own.
The epitaph on his niche at the North Oak Columbarium uses his real name, Robert John Linder.
All Main Characters