Cyborg

Origin

Victor Stone grew up surrounded by science. As the only son of research scientists Silas and Elinore Stone, Victor was pushed and trained to follow in his parents' footsteps. While experimenting on ways to boost human intelligence, they used Vic as a subject, which bestowed him with an IQ of 170. Silas and Elinore Stone's pursuit of science unfortunately blinded them to their son's need for a normal childhood.

Young Vic got into trouble when he began hanging around with the wrong crowd, which included a youth named Ron Evers, who got Vic into trouble several times. Victor remained Ron's friend because he had no one else, his actions stimulated by his loneliness and lack of attention from his father.

Thanks to Elinore's persuasion, Silas allowed Vic to attend public high school, where he immediately began making friends and showing great athletic potential. Vic met his first girlfriend, Marcy Reynolds, and trained very hard in the hopes of going to the Olympics. Silas was angered by Victor's athletic plans because he wanted his son to pursue a career in the sciences; he did not think in terms of what Victor might want. This disagreement created a large rift between Vic and Silas and laid the groundwork for future tensions.

One day Vic happened to visit his parents at S.T.A.R. Labs. They were working on two projects: a long-range inter-dimensional study and observation project, and the development of cybernetic body parts for physically disabled soldiers. While observing another dimension, Silas accidentally let a blob-like creature slither through the dimensional barrier. The entity killed Elinore and critically wounded Vic before Silas could activate the recall button and send it back.

Determined not to let his son meet the same fate his wife did, a desperate and unauthorized Silas used the untested cybernetic technology to rebuild Vic's body with a frame of enforced molybdenum steel, special polymers and plastics. Vic survived, and Cyborg was born.

The New Teen Titans

 
Angry at his father and bitter about his fate, Vic ostracized himself from society by moving to Hell's Kitchen, a bad part of town where he felt a freak such as himself would fit in. It was here that Raven found Vic and asked him to join the New Teen Titans.

In appreciation of Vic's new friends and the feeling of purpose they gave to his son, Silas Stone built Titans' Tower. Several months later, Silas died of radiation poisoning, but Vic, having reconciled with his father, stayed with Silas until the end.
During his time on the team, Cyborg forged a close friendship with Garfield Logan (Beast Boy). He also met Sarah Simms, who works with handicapped children with prosthetics. The children looked up to Vic, who had his own ‘metal prosthetics,' of a sort. Vic and Sarah Simms remained close friends. Although each of them danced around the idea of a romantic relationship, this would never come to pass.

There have been a few attempts to upgrade Cyborg's body using Promethium, and one project even attempted to cover his metallic parts with an artificial skin; unfortunately, Victor's body rejected the new additions. It was at this time, however that Vic met Dr. Sarah Charles of S.T.A.R. Labs. There was an instant attraction between the two, and it soon blossomed into a full-blown romance.

It was also at this time that Vic's grandparents, Tucker and Maude Stone, reentered his life. Vic harbored some resentment towards them; They worked the vaudeville circuit and were rarely around when he was growing up. Also, they neglected to attend his father's (their son's) funeral. After a long talk, they mended fences. Vic's grandparents became a strong, supportive element in his life.

Soon, Dr. Sarah Charles received a job offer to work in S.T.A.R. Labs' West Coast branch. This put a major strain on her relationship with Vic. Regardless, she took the job as she and Vic continued a long-distance relationship.      

Titan hunt and upgrades

 
Shortly after this, current and former members of the Titans (including Cyborg) were hunted and captured by the Wildebeest Society. Deathstroke, Nightwing, Troia, Pantha, Phantasm, and Arella joined forces to track them down. Upon locating the captured Titans, the heroes were shocked to learn the identity of the leader of the Wildebeests was their own teammate, Jericho (Joe Wilson)! During the conflict, a rocket was launched containing Victor Stone, and it crash landed in Russia.

The remaining Titans tracked down the rocket and found their ally, Red Star. It seems Victor was badly damaged in the crash; A group of Russian scientists did their best to rebuild him, but were unable to restore his mind. Cyborg was built a bulkier robotic body with enhanced abilities, but was a silent, brain-dead storm-trooper. The Titans traveled back to the United States to find a cure for Vic's state and save their other teammates from the Wildebeest Society.

The Titans were able to defeat the Wildebeest Society (at the expense of the lives of Arella, Danny Chase and Jericho) and save their teammates - but they were unable to return Vic to his true form.

The Technis Imperitive

 
The Titans later encountered an alien race called Technis -- a cyber-alien collective that explored and cataloged data throughout the galaxy. The race was dying and in need of a humanness - a soul - to survive. Vic Stone elected to be the one to save the dying race, and he merged his consciousness with the Technis.

In exchange, they gave him a new body and a new name: Cyberion. Cyberion became their protector as they traveled throughout the galaxy. Some time later, Cyberion was reunited with his former teammates and engaged in an interstellar conflict which resulted in the destruction of Tamaran. But there was triumph to be found in tragedy: The Titans were able to restore Raven - who was reborn in a golden spirit form.

Following that, Raven, Minion and Garfield Logan elected to remain in space as traveling companions to Cyberion. Frightened by Cyberion's total embrace of technology, Gar left his friend and returned to earth. Jarras Minion also had doubts about Cyberion's new attitude and decided to leave as well. Jarras, a sworn pacifist, made Victor a gift of his Omegadrome war suit before he left. The Omegadrome allowed Victor to try to carry out his Technis Imperative: To recreate the planet Technis at all costs.     
  

Golden Cyborg

 
Having collected a planet-size assortment of technological debris, Cyberion journeyed to Earth to turn its moon into a new Technis world and populate it with his Titans allies.
The JLA and the Titans first clashed, then united, to prevent Cyberion from destroying the planet while saving Vic's soul and downloading it into Minion's morphing battlesuit, the Omegadrome. The original five Titans then decided to re-form the team. Cyborg was asked to join, and he accepted.

Vic's time with the new team was fraught with bad luck. He reacquainted himself with his girlfriend Dr. Sarah Charles only to learn she had begun a relationship with fellow lab technician, DeShaun. During a battle with Tartarus and the H.I.V.E., Vic was offered a human body if he would help Vandal Savage harvest Addie Kane's immortal blood. Before he could make a decision, Starfire destroyed Addie's body, thus robbing Vic of the chance to make a choice. Also, Vic had to remain a member of the team, per a deal that Nightwing made with Batman; Following the events of his Technis Imperative, the JLA only trusted Vic to remain free if the Titans kept a watchful eye on him.

Back to basics

 
Feeling like he owed his old friend a debt, Dick Grayson worked feverishly to find a cure for Vic's condition. With Jesse Quick's help, his idea was successful. Victor was given a new lease on organic life with a body cloned from cell samples harvested by the Russian scientists who once spared him.
 
Though his mind and cybernetic abilities were still encapsulated in the Omegadrome, Victor inhabited a truly biological body. And for the first time in years, Cyborg knew what it is to live and feel and breathe unaided by mechanized parts. Embarking on a new life, Victor Stone left the Titans for the West Coast.

Vic Stone later aided the Flash during the "Our Worlds At War" crisis. At that time, Vic started using the golden Omegadrome to morph into a cybernetic form. Cyborg decided to return to adventuring and settled in Keystone City, home of the Flash. But when Vic Stone linked with the evil computerized Thinker in an attempt to stop him from taking over the city, his body became mechanically paralyzed - reverting him to his silver cyborg form.

Shortly afterward, a mysterious android from the future known as Indigo attacked the Titans and Young Justice, resulting in the apparent deaths of Troia and Omen. At Troia's funeral, Nightwing disbanded this version of the Titans. Meanwhile, members of Young Justice, especially Wonder Girl, felt responsible for the tragic deaths. This led Wonder Girl, Robin, Impulse and Superboy to form a new group of Teen Titans under the guidance of the more experienced Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy. Cyborg, who was damaged in the battle caused by Indigo, has since received an upgrade in his cybernetic parts.

Titans Together!

 
After reclaiming Titans Island on the East River, Cyborg set out to create an East Coast Titans team. But the team was brutally massacred by an unseen evil force. Soon, Titans members past and present were attacked by demonic entities across the globe. Raven, sensing Trigon's presence once again, called upon her former Titans allies to defeat her fiendish father.
But after investigating, the Titans learned that Trigon himself was not behind the attacks.

The bestial assaults were actually orchestrated by Raven's three half brothers – Jacob, Jared and Jesse. Working together as a team, the Titans thwarted the Sons of Trigon and prevented Trigon's invasion plan. Following this adventure, Cyborg decided to join his former teammates - and the Titans were together as a team once again!

One Year Later

After the Infinite Crisis the DCU skipped one year. During this missing year Cyborg was fused to Firestorm and entered into a coma.

When he finally woke up he learned that the Teen Titans had dramatically changed. Wonder Girl, Speedy, Kid Flash, Raven and Beast Boy had left the team, Starfire was lost in space and Superboy was dead.

Along with Robin, Kid Devil, Ravager and Wonder Girl (who had just rejoined) he started a quest for Raven

Powers

Victor was very badly wounded in the accident and had many electronic parts fused to him.

With his arms, Victor can lift massive amounts of weight. Victor can bench press about 30 tons and has great stamina.

Victor's right hand can be remotely controlled by him and has a camera built into one of the fingers.

Victor can transform his left arm into a sonic cannon. This powerful weapon can easily punch a hole through concrete. A downside of using his sonic cannon is that it drains his battery rapidly.

Due to the robotics, Victor has limits to what he can accomplish. Under very rare situations, Victor can use the human in him to go beyond 100%. In a fight against Atlas, Cyborg was reaching 100% quickly while Atlas was still getting warmed up. In the final fight with Atlas, Victor's readout screen cracks and he uses 130% of his strength to defeat Atlas. in a fight with his team against Plasmus, he lifted an entire building.

Weaknesses

Due to the machinery, Victor needs recharging. He can run for 24 hours on a single charge. Each charging takes 15 minutes. If Victor cannot find an electrical plug in he will shut down, and if he is not treated to quickly he will die.

In Other Media

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Super Friends

Cyborg appeared in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians from 1985 to 1986. He was voiced by Ernie Hudson. Cyborg's origin was told via a medical journal read by Dr. Martin Stein saying Cyborg was a promising decathlon athlete until an accident destroyed most of his body and his father replaced part of his body with machine parts. Also, he is not a Titan. He becomes fast friends with fellow teammate Firestorm. He is an affiliate of the Justice League of America under Superman. In the introductory episode to Cyborg, "The Seeds of Doom", Cyborg's abilities save Earth from Darkseid's seeds, but as Superman warns, make Darkseid a dangerous enemy to Cyborg, so Cyborg joins the League.

Teen Titans
 
Cyborg appears in the Teen Titans animated series, voiced by Khary Payton. This version of Cyborg is very similar to his comic book counterpart. His nickname is "Cy", and like his teammates, in the animated series Cyborg is never referred to by his given name; however, he does take the alias "Stone" (based on his real last name) in the Season 3 episode "Deception." The two main differences are his design and that he is more easygoing than his comics counterpart. His head is considerably more rounded and bald (based on his Titans Hunt counterpart), and his mechanical parts are bulkier. His primary weapon is a sonic cannon housed in his forearm; initially he uses only his right arm to fire, but later episodes reveal that his left arm has an identical cannon built into it as well. Other onboard weapons and tools, such as an acetylene torch, a remote-operated video camera, and several missile launchers, can be deployed as needed, and his arms and legs are detachable.

Cyborg is the Titans' chief technician and gadgeteer. He is responsible for the construction of the Titan Tower's electronic and security systems and the team's main vehicles, the T-Car and the T-Ship. His most dominant personality faults featured in the series are his enormous appetite and a tendency to be overly vain about his work as a result, he fosters a special dislike for those who abuse his devices irresponsibly, especially Gizmo and Brother Blood. On occasion, Cyborg acts as the team's second-in-command, but he tends to butt heads with Robin on rather trivial matters. In "Cyborg the Barbarian" he was sent back to 3,000 B.C. There, he met a woman named Sarasim and fell in love with her. The relationship ended when Cyborg was brought back to his own time.    
 
Cyborg's age is never specified, but he mentions in "Deception" that he never had a chance to finish high school due to circumstances that made him what he is. The only time Cyborg's personal history has been discussed is in "Deception", in which he discusses his involuntary cyborg status with Starfire, and in the 4th season episode "The End: Part 2." In this episode, Trigon creates duplicates of Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy. These duplicates reflect the dark side of each character. During the fight between Cyborg and his duplicate, the dark duplicate says harmful things about Cyborg’s mother and her death.

Smallville

Cyborg appeared in the 15th episode of the fifth season on the 16th February 2006  and is played by Lee Thompson Young. In this version, Victor is a former Metropolis High School football star. He is involved in a car accident that kills him, supposedly, and the rest of his family. However, he is secretly rebuilt by Cyntechnics scientists including Dr. Alistair Krieg, who experimented on a group of test subjects. Victor was the only test subject to survive the experiments. Cyntechnics was bought up by LuthorCorp shortly before Victor's escape. Lex denies any knowledge of Cyntechnics' secretive activities.

Although Victor's cybernetic enhancements are entirely on the inside [under his skin] instead of exoskeletal as they are in the comics and other media, a shot of Clark Kent's X-ray vision reveals that Victor's cranial armor covers the same-shaped area as it does in the comics. He also bleeds a dark fluid as he does in the comics. Smallville never uses the name "Cyborg" in his first appearance. Instead, Victor refers to his enhancements as bionic.

Lee Thompson Young reprised his role of Cyborg in the season 6 episode "Justice", episode about Green Arrow gathering together a group of individuals to combat Lex Luthor and his experiments. The episode premiered on January 18, 2007. In this episode, Victor has finally taken the name "Cyborg", as Green Arrow's team uses code names. Also on the team are Aquaman and Impulse. While Victor was last seen with a girlfriend named Katherine, he explains that his mechanical parts put a strain on the relationship. After their eventual break up, Victor states that it was Green Arrow who kept him from committing suicide. The episode also shows Cyborg wearing a stylized silver vest and black pants, and utilizing further enhancements Green Arrow gave him. One of his new functions allows him to hack into and disable security systems. While connecting to machines, Cyborg's left eye glows red.

What people think of Cyborg

Marv Wolfman, the man who made the Teen Titans great again gives his thoughts on Cyborg.

"I always like Cyborg because I knew he was going to get the most negative comments because of the way we began him. He was very negative and embittered and all that, but I knew we were going to change him. The mail went exactly the way I expected it to, so he is a personal favorite for that reason." - Marv Wolfman
 
Decker: I guess not. Moving along, it seems like you're possibly kind of edging toward an interracial romance with Cyborg and What ‘semame the girl who...
Wolfman: Sarah Simms.

Decker: Yeah.

Wolfman: Not necessarily. At first I thought of it. And then decided there was nothing wrong with a good healthy friendship that is nor based on a sexual background between them. I received a letter that sort of helped me change my mind, from a black leader who felt that we had seen a lot of interracial relationships, but we haven't seen that many good, solid black-black relationships to show that a black hero doesn't always go together with a white heroine and vice-versa. And that sort of got me thinking. That came very early in the relationship, that it made a lot more sense in terms of their needs to be very good friends. He has no girl friend who he is totally in love with in a sexual way at this time. He's just very good friends with her, And that in itself is a slightly different relationship.
Decker: I think that the scene where he was strolling through the park, and the little kid Lame up to him and asked for his ball back, and it turned out the kid had a prosthetic hand. I thought that was very touching.

Wolfman: Thank you. I have to give credit where credit is due. George and I worked out most of the scene to where he would come together with these kids and such, but George is the one who devised that particular scene. That's what I mean about George adding so much. Obviously that came out of what we had discussed and worked out together but the fact that we can work in tandem) like that adds to the book. And I thought the lack of copy in that particular scene made a lot of it work as well.

Decker: One last word on Cyborg, I've noticed that you've gotten letters thanking you for not making him a heavy-duty black stereotype.

WOLFMAN: Yeah. Intentional. All the white guys don't run around saying "Hey, I'm white. And I'm happy" or "I'm boring because I'm white." So why should every black character run around saying "I'm black and I'm angry." This person was raised in a very scientific area, his anger was at his specific situation, not the fact that he was black. He's highly intelligent in terms of I.Q. And bigotry tends to fall apart when seen through an intellectual gaze. I just wanted a straightforward character who was raised in a specific way, who views the world through his eyes and not through stereotyped eyes because he's black. The fact that he's black obviously has to have some bearing on him because it's the way other people may treat him. But it has nor affected his outlook on other people. He wasn't taught bigotry by his parents, so there would be no reason for him necessarily to believe in it.

Decker: And of course you deliberately changed him over a period of issues, you evolved his character. You didn't make certain qualities be his funny hat.

Wolfman: That was again very intentional since I knew what was going to happen, with his father coming in, and I knew where it was going to go. I wanted him to start in one way and to progress. People do progress in reality when they realize certain situations. What had happened to him was very mind-jarring in many ways. Having his body destroyed and everything else, he would naturally have some antagonism. The mini-series story showed many cases why because he wasn't given the freedom to do what he wanted or didn't understand what freedoms his father was giving him. And what finally had to result was the knowledge of why his father was doing things. There is a feeling among everybody I think, that just because their parents are parents they should be perfect. You look up at them, they're people. I'm a parent now, and I'm no different than I was before my daughter was born. She probably looks up at me thinking I could do everything perfectly, and that's false because I can't, and no one else can. And to think of your parents as people who have to be idealized and that every flaw you see in them makes you dislike that, or cringe or get embarrassed is really silly because everyone has flaws. They're people. No one goes to Parent College. [Laughter]