Who is on the Cover of System Shock 1?

[665b236eb49feTinkTink dotOrg]

Now I always thought the person on the cover of System Shock 1 was one of the mutant cyborg things you fight later in the game but now I'm starting to question if it's the player character with his mods on.

Can anybody officially clear this up for me?

Thanks

[665b236eb4d7bRocketMan]

It's an elite cyborg

[665b236eb501bEnchantermon]

I thought it was the player for the longest time until someone pointed out my folly on TTLG.

[665b236eb5185Kolya]

Never mind, same here.
But then System Shock is all about what defines humanity when the physical form is fused with technology. So mistaking yourself for a cyborg at first is excusable, possibly even an intentional blurring of the line.

[665b236eb5308icemann]

Well the player/hacker was a cyborg of sorts in a way. It all depends on your own interpretation of what is and isn't one.

Robocop back in the day was seen as a cyborg by many even though he still had a human brain in there.

[665b236eb5609ZylonBane]

This question seems to be getting asked a lot lately.

Robocop back in the day was seen as a cyborg by many even though he still had a human brain in there.

What do you mean "even though"? Cyborgs almost always have a human brain.

[665b236eb5751icemann]

Well the common perception (as I'm aware) was that Cyborgs were more your terminator variety. So a machine with living tissue, but at its heart / soul whatever you'd prefer to call it is a machine (like the agents in the game Syndicate). So cold and without emotion.

Though to me anything with both machine and living tissue = Cyborg.

[665b236eb66b0Kolya]

The Syndicate agents are abducted and brainwashed citizens (CHIIIIE!) outfitted with cybernetic implants. The intro film shows that specifically, but also during gameplay when you "persuade" citizens you can use them as agents in your next mission.

[665b236eb753dZylonBane]

Well the common perception (as I'm aware) was that Cyborgs were more your terminator variety.

Yeaah... not so much, no. There's actually some debate over whether Terminators should be considered cyborgs at all, since they operate perfectly well without their skin suit.

"Cyborg" generally just means an organism that combines both organic and machine (cybernetic) parts. So RoboCop, the Six Million Dollar Man, the Borg, Darth Vader, many characters in Ghost in the Shell, etc.

[665b236eb7658Kolya]

To muddle this up a bit more I think that machines that try to or are made to act and look human are called androids. And that fits the Terminator more than anything else.

[665b236eb773fZylonBane]

Yeah, androids are just human-shaped machines. Pretty simple definition.

[665b236eb7860Kolya]

Thinking about it, a machine that's shaped like a woman should correctly be called gynoid then. My friend Andrea would support this.

[665b236eb796fZylonBane]

That thought has been had. A Google image search for "gynoid" yields, ummmm, interesting results.

[665b236eb7a9aKolya]

You just want me to...Ah well, like I mind...Whoo, nerd porn!