It used to be that being a 'Solo' meant something. You were a breed apart, a lone hunter in the depths of nighted city streets. Now, every gonk with a big gun and a chipped-in attitude thinks he's a Solo.
— Morgan Blackhand, Solo of Fortune 2
Morgan Blackhand is a solo with an anodized black-chrome cyberarm, defined by the fact that he is a pragmatist. Blackhand is able to survive because he is street-smart and is constantly looking out for his own best interest. His reputation as a top solo is partly due to the fact that he is able to capture targets alive, rather than simply killing them. Basically, Blackhand is considered to be a "Solo's Solo," with years of experience and ops under his belt.[3] Morgan considered Kenichi Zaburo his rival, though he also had some enmity against Adam Smasher.
Morgan goes for the highest bidder, he has no agenda and no aspirations to be anything more than he is. Instead he only takes the jobs given to him and accomplishes them however he sees fit.
Biography[]
2000s[]
As an 18-year old rookie soldier and the second-in-command, Morgan once had to take lead of his special cyber-soldier unit after the commander went psycho during a mission in the Second Central American War. This caused the commander to strongly hate him.[4]
One time, Morgan and his squadmates at the 102nd cyber-soldier unit spent the night drinking and relaxing. One of them accidentally shot his firearm, and another one from the unit caught the bullet with his hand thanks to his boosterware. Despite destroying his hand, he wasn't worried as he could always replace it with cyberware. Morgan found this story quite amusing.[5]
In 2008, Morgan's unit managed to rescue Brenda Melendes from the massacre that took her family's lives. Ever since, Morgan vowed to make sure she would always have work when she needed it.[6]
In 2009, Morgan lost his right arm in the war and his shattered stump was amputated by field medic Mike McRae. Morgan never forgot his deed, and maintained occasional contact with him throughout the years.[6] After leaving the Army, Blackhand returned to the United States, but he felt misplaced. He was a highly trained killer with a background in demolitions and not many people wanted to hire him for a mundane desk job. After surviving on the streets of New York City for a few months, Morgan fortuitously ran into a notorious boostergang leader who apparently took a strong dislike to him. Morgan promptly dispatched that man with such finesse that it impressed a Militech recruiter who happened to observe the scene. The recruiter made Blackhand an offer he could not refuse and subsequently, Morgan became a mercenary who took care of problems for Militech and other clients.[5][7]
2010s - 2021[]
At some point, Morgan became the bodyguard of Dexter Dobbs, a young genius who worked on revolutionary applications in technology. While on the work, Blackhand taught him a little in self-defense. Ever since, Dexter maintained contact with the solo, assisting Morgan from time to time and helping him fine-tune his gear. Morgan also befriended Dexter's new bodyguard and tech assistant, Race Chapel.[6][8]
Mercenary Andrew "Boa Boa" Weyland, while working for Petrochem, was brought into conflict with Blackhand more than once. That Boa Boa managed to survive those encounters spoke of his notable combat skills.[8][3] At some point, Morgan had a brief romantic relationship with Rogue Amendiares, though it was not known by many.[3]
Morgan earned his street cred over the years by teaching many professionals all the tricks he knew, and by resolving high profile incidents, such as the attempted kidnapping of Kerry Eurodyne in 2019; a former member of Johnny Silverhand's Samurai music band. In this particular scenario, all five of the kidnappers were captured by Morgan alone and turned over to Federal Authorities. While bruised, battered and beaten, they were still alive. Anyone could have killed them, but only someone as skilled as Blackhand could eliminate a threat and embarrass the group's sponsors at the same time.[3]
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. Adam repeatedly tried to challenge Blackhand to a face-off, but he would only ignored the borg at every possible confrontation.[6] For Morgan, his rival was Kenichi Zaburo, an Arasaka bodyguard and one of the best solos in the world.[R 2][R 3]
In 2020, Blackhand was rated as the number one solo professional in the business by the "Solo of Fortune Annual 2020 Awards." Morgan had also written "The Enforcer's Handbook", which sold over one million copies audited in that year. The entire solo profession was improved by its release.[3] Blackhand was a well-known customer of Eran Malour, owner of Malorian Firearms.[9][8]
2022 - 2023[]
In January 2022, during the Fourth Corporate War, Militech coaxed Morgan into the fray to lead its "Ocean War Special Ops" team, although no details were provided of his missions other than he had to oversee the security operations of OTEC. His funding from Militech allowed Morgan to subcontract a group of highly skilled and motivated freelancers, making them answerable only to him: Dexter Dobbs, Race Chapel, Fade, M&M, Dash Panther and the Faceless Man. Most of them had worked with Blackhand in the past in some way or another. Additionally, Militech SpecOps agent Anastasia Luccessi was placed under his direction. While she was not officially part of Morgan's covert operations team, she worked closely with him, keeping an eye on him at all times in case she had to eliminate the solo if he threatened Militech's campaign in any way. Due to the nature and dangers of the assignment, Anastasia decided to try a different approach and seduce him. It's unknown whether this worked out or not.[10] It was during this war that Eran Malour gave Morgan one of his finished prototype projects, the Malorian Arms Assault Cannon.[6]
In March of that same year, Arasaka completed their research on Soulkiller 2.5. When Militech found out, they tried to contact netrunner Rache Bartmoss to help them destroy the new Soulkiller. Bartmoss was not only against helping a corp, but he had to be stopped by Morgan when he wanted to retaliate against Militech. The American corp then asked Alt Cunningham, who accepted and convinced Rache to join her team alongside Blackhand. In the following month, Rache managed to find the location of the master program.[10][8] In May 6th, Arasaka managed to locate Bartmoss and proceeded to send a strike team in order to eliminate the netrunner. Blackhand found out, sending a team to intercede them and protect Rache. Unfortunately for Morgan, Arasaka managed to complete their objective.[10]
In mid-August of 2023, Militech gathered together a team consisting of the best operatives, including Morgan Blackhand and Johnny Silverhand. The mission was to assault the Arasaka Towers of Night City to eliminate any information on Soulkiller and retrieve or destroy the Reliquary Database Project of Arasaka. For this last one, a small tactical-nuclear device was brought. Morgan's role was to lead Strike Team Omega (which also included his covert operations team) alongside a group of Militech's elite soldiers and a combat borg unit. They were supposed to act as support if Strike Team Alpha — Johnny's — and Beta failed in their objectives. Morgan knew that Johnny's team was a decoy, but was unaware that General Eddington was planning on destroying the building as well, though he had some suspicions.
No one knows what role Morgan played in the end, though he was last seen by Strike Team Alpha while going down into the building's staircase with a heavy suitcase. During the assault, Morgan realized the enemy had figured out their positions and were moving to intercept them. While warning the rest of the teams about it, Morgan also led a strike force to the rooftop to deal with the laser uplink and prevent Arasaka from creating a backup of the database.
After Alpha's objective was completed, they began their evacuation process, soon after joined by some of their allies, including Blackhand. Once they were boarding the evac AV on the top of the Towers, Adam Smasher appeared inside an Arasaka DaiOni power armor, waving at Morgan with the biopod head of Shaitan, still alive. This took solo by surprise, who stepped down from the AV to confront the borg. Smasher provoked Blackhand by mentioning that Silverhand was dead, and Shaitan would soon be as well unless Morgan recovered the biopod from Smasher's hands. An angry Blackhand ordered his people to evacuate without him, making sure Spider and the rest of the team made it out safe and sound. Once the AV had lifted off, he turned to the borg with a remark about testing Smasher's "meat vs. metal" philosophy for itself shortly before the two launched themselves at each other in a last desperate attempt to kill the other, while trying to rescue Shaitan at the same time. The outcome of the duel was never known, and soon after the building began to shake from the detonation of a nuclear device.[11][6]
2023 - 2040s[]
Morgan Blackhand's status was unconfirmed after the Night City Holocaust, as well as who was truly responsible for it. In the following years, people started to pin the blame on Militech, the United States government, Arasaka, Johnny Silverhand, Morgan Blackhand or other parties present in the assault.[12] Rumors began to circulate that Blackhand had returned to President Kress to report the failure of the mission and continued work as a secret government asset.[13]
Between the 2030s and 2040s, more rumors persisted that Morgan Blackhand had been spotted in several First Wave cities — places that needed little reconstruction and resources to rebuild after the Fourth Corporate War.[13]
2070s[]
Despite being decades away, people in Night City in the 2070s still shared their own theories of what must have happened in the Arasaka Towers more than fifty years ago.[12]
By 2077, according to Claire Russell, Blackhand's fate remained a mystery and for that reason he did not have a drink at the Afterlife named in his honor.[14] However, a news report posted on the World News Service's netsite mentioned a shootout in Japantown where several Lazarus agents were found dead, with the only survivor of the massacre describing the attacker as "a portly man with a black cyberarm."[15]
Bibliography[]
| Title | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Enforcer's Handbook | Prior 2020 | A guide for solos. |
| The Solo's Manual | ? | Another guide for solos. |
| Blackhand's Street Weapons | 2020 | A detailed guide about weaponry. |
| Street Iron | ? | Another guide about weaponry. |
Stats & Equipment[]
| Stats | Source(s): Firestorm Stormfront (p.114), Firestorm Shockwave (p.33) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INT | 9 | REF | 10/13 | DEX | — | TECH | 3 | COOL | 10 | ||
| ATTR | 5 | LUCK | 9 | MA | 9 | BODY | 10/12 | EMP | 8/5 | ||
| Skills | Combat Sense 10, Aikido 8, Athletics 10, Awareness 10, Basic Tech 7, Demolitions 8, Driving 8, Education 3, Endurance 9, Tactics 7, Fencing 6, First Aid 7, Handgun 10, Heavy Weapons 9, Hide/Evade 7, Intimidate 8, Melee 10, Pilot Boat 6, Pilot Gyro 8, Pilot Fixed Wing 7, Pilot Vectored Thrust 9, Rifle 10, Shadow/Track 7, Stealth 9, Strength Feat 5, SMG 10, Swimming 6, Tae Kwon Do 9, Weapons Tech 10, Wilderness Survival 7 | ||||||||||
| Cyberware | 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 | ||||||||||
| Armor | SP 24 vest, SP 18 bodysuit (total EV -4) | ||||||||||
| Weapons | Militech Viper SMG (smart, 4 clips), Colt AMT 2000 (smart, 3 clips), smartchipped Militech M31a1 (with 3 extra clips, 24 mini-grenades), Malorian Arms Assault Cannon | ||||||||||
| Gear | Hand grenades (3 HE & at least one of every other kind), headset radio, first aid kit | ||||||||||
| Stats | Source(s): Solo of Fortune 2 (p.63) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INT | 9 | REF | 10 | DEX | — | TECH | 8 | COOL | 10 |
| ATTR | 8 | LUCK | 10 | MA | 8 | BODY | 12 | EMP | 4 |
Development[]
Morgan Blackhand (my archetypical Solo character), is not alive because he's the best around. He's the best because he's alive. Simple. Even though I wrote the rules, I don't have to bend them to play Morgan. I just play him smarter; I always play him as though he were a personal character I've nurtured for years and that I really don't want to lose. [...] Morgan, for all of his now formidable abilities, would never think of taking the sharp end for a bunch of wet-eared squeeb Players. He wouldn't have lived this long if he just acted as a hired gun. He's far more likely to let the players walk into the sharp end first, see how many fall, and then make his judgements accordingly. He might save them if there was some reasonable chance it fit into his agenda. He might walk out on them just as easily.
Notes[]
- In Cyberpunk 2077, Jackie Welles mentions Morgan Blackhand as one of the most notorious solos alongside Andrew Weyland and Susan Forrest,[16] with Blackhand being the most famous solo. If V starts the Path of Glory or All Along the Watchtower epilogue quests, the reputation stat will mention V has become a new NC legend, and that people prefer to talk about them rather than old legends like Morgan Blackhand.
- According to Mike Pondsmith, Blackhand has lost weight since 2023 and is thinner than ever.[R 4]
- According to the Cyberpunk 2077 game files, Mr. Blue Eyes' hair is labeled as Morgan Blackhand, but nothing else indicates if the two are somehow related.
Trivia[]
- Blackhand was Mike Pondsmith's archtypical Solo player-character in Cyberpunk 2020.[4]
- Pondsmith mentioned that Morgan Blackhand looks similar to George Clooney.[R 5][R 6]
References[]
- ↑ MACDONALD, M. Home of the Brave. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1992. (pp.110–111)
- ↑ PONDSMITH, M. CyberGeneration (Non-Canon). Berkeley CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1993. (p.208)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 TAYLOR, S. Solo of Fortune 2. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1994. (p.63)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 PONDSMITH, M. Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1994. (pp.57,98)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk 2020 Core Rulebook. 2nd ed., Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1990. (pp.9,81,111)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 ACKERMAN-GRAY, D. Firestorm Shockwave. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1997. (pp.22,33,128–140,143)
- ↑ Heavy shock-absorbent solo jacket
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Countdown to the Dark Future (#81,#243,#302,#305)
- ↑ PONDSMITH, M. Night City Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1991. (p.163)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 SEVILE, A. Firestorm Stormfront. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1997. (pp.81–83,114–116,124–125,134–135,143)
- ↑ The Fall of the Towers
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit - Edgerunner's Handbook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2024. (pp.5,16)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2020. (pp.241,293,312)
- ↑ The Heist
- ↑ CD Projekt RED. Cyberpunk 2077. Video Game, Multi-Platform. Poland, CD Projekt S.A., 2020.
- ↑ Cyberpunk 2077 (After accessing the Afterlife during The Heist)
Reddit[]
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit: "Word of God: Morgan has grey eyes."
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit: "...Her bodyguard (Kenichi Zaburo, Morgan's rival as the ultimate Solo) warned..."
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit: "...It involves the granddaughter of Saburo (Kei's youngest daughter) leaving the Arasaka compound on her 18th birthday in the company of her personal bodyguard, the super solo Kenichi Zaburo (Morgan's Arasaka nemesis)..."
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit: "Morgan hasn't gained weight--in fact, he's thinner than he's been in a long time. No more fancy dinners on the corporate expense account will do it."
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit: "2020 Era Morgan looks just like Clooney in 3 Kings."
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit: "2040's Morgan looks like Clooney in The American. But with more cyberware."