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I have never really read anything about Cyborg until I began this whole redesign exercise. Never read the old Teen Titans, only caught few episodes of the TV series and never bought anything ever related to his character.

So when I read the Wikipedia page on his origin I think DC has done this character an immense disservice by making him look like a glorified Go-bot. This characters origin is incredibly tragic when you think about it - although I hate to "teenify" classic literature there is an enormous amount of opportunity with this guy.

Think about it - if you became so radically disfigured from an accident that almost your enire body had to be reconstructed, you lose your girlfriend, your parents turn out to be something you thought they weren't and your life becomes something that resembles those Phantom of the Opera tragedies you used to only read about. You are now something of a monster.

OK I am blowing things way out of proportion, but the reasoning for my redesgin is simple - I think the DC universe has this guy figured very wrong.

I took the cues from reconstructive prosthetics rather than the Terminator in my redesign and the reasoning is simple - if he is largely mechanical, then everything becomes a feature - need stronger limbs? Attach them. Need weapons? Bolt them on. Need night vision? Strap it to your head. But the main architecture I think would be something closest to what medical grade components are necessary to be a normal person. You don't need super strong limbs to flush the toilet or make toast. So just like Batman doesn't suit up until it's time to go out and play, Cyborg would likely not augment until he was called outside either.

I went around with this character a few times. I think the all chrome look is sort of a cop out - medical prosthetics have taken cues from athletic gear using attractive graphics and sporty colors. I think a young man would choose his cybernetic appointments a lot like choosing a new car - nice graphics, good features, lots of horsepower etc. The chicks would dig it - or not.

It also made me think of the extent of the injuries - I intesified the extent of them, as if the only thing which really survived were his most vital organs. I wanted to drive the point home that saving this guy's humanity was like the famous Star Wars quote - he is now more machine than man ..." But he's not twisted and evil.

Description
I have never really read anything about Cyborg until I began this whole redesign exercise. Never read the old Teen Titans, only caught few episodes of the TV series and never bought anything ever related to his character.

So when I read the Wikipedia page on his origin I think DC has done this character an immense disservice by making him look like a glorified Go-bot. This characters origin is incredibly tragic when you think about it - although I hate to "teenify" classic literature there is an enormous amount of opportunity with this guy.

Think about it - if you became so radically disfigured from an accident that almost your enire body had to be reconstructed, you lose your girlfriend, your parents turn out to be something you thought they weren't and your life becomes something that resembles those Phantom of the Opera tragedies you used to only read about. You are now something of a monster.

OK I am blowing things way out of proportion, but the reasoning for my redesgin is simple - I think the DC universe has this guy figured very wrong.

I took the cues from reconstructive prosthetics rather than the Terminator in my redesign and the reasoning is simple - if he is largely mechanical, then everything becomes a feature - need stronger limbs? Attach them. Need weapons? Bolt them on. Need night vision? Strap it to your head. But the main architecture I think would be something closest to what medical grade components are necessary to be a normal person. You don't need super strong limbs to flush the toilet or make toast. So just like Batman doesn't suit up until it's time to go out and play, Cyborg would likely not augment until he was called outside either.

I went around with this character a few times. I think the all chrome look is sort of a cop out - medical prosthetics have taken cues from athletic gear using attractive graphics and sporty colors. I think a young man would choose his cybernetic appointments a lot like choosing a new car - nice graphics, good features, lots of horsepower etc. The chicks would dig it - or not.

It also made me think of the extent of the injuries - I intesified the extent of them, as if the only thing which really survived were his most vital organs. I wanted to drive the point home that saving this guy's humanity was like the famous Star Wars quote - he is now more machine than man ..." But he's not twisted and evil.