Victor Stone, also known as Cyborg, is a member of the Teen Titans and one of the five main protagonists of Teen Titans Go!. Enhanced with high-tech upgrades and weapons, he's an enthusiastic asset to the team...sometimes.
The voice actor for Cyborg in the original cartoon, Khary Payton, reprises his role in this series.
History
Before his career as a cybernetic superhero, Victor Stone was a gifted football athlete. By far the best player on his high school team, he had a nonstop drive and was always striving for better.[1] Unfortunately, after getting involved in street gangs, Victor took a turn down the wrong road.[2]
As seen in the episode "Flashback", Victor desired a more fulfilling life, a life of heroism. Although he lacked any superpowers, his strenuous diligence finally landed him an audition for the Teen Titans, a new team of heroes in Jump City. Victor's initial attempt to join failed miserably, and during the tryouts, he was gravely injured in a combat exercise. However, after a quick trip to the hospital, Victor was rebuilt with a high-tech robotic exoskeleton. Although parts of his humanity were lost, Victor, now known as Cyborg, gained unbelievable upgrades and powers. Eventually, he and a bunch of other misfits led by Robin were able to overcome their deficiencies and become members of the Titans.
Since then, Cyborg has been a somewhat lazy yet still invaluable component of the team. He's often one of the big guns when saving the city, as well as some big fun, too.
Personality
"Cyborg is a laid-back, half-teen, half-robot who's more interested in pizza and video games than in fighting crime."[3]
Even though he's entrusted with the extremely important job of protecting Jump City, Cyborg usually takes a lazy, lethargic approach to his assignment. Nothing in the world pleases him more than pizza, burgers, pie, and kicking back with Beast Boy. In fact, in the episode "Double Trouble", Cyborg and Beast Boy spent a solid month playing video games and eating pizza. For him, the word "responsibility" itself is scary, as seen in "Staring at the Future".
Although he's constantly getting on the Titans' nerves with his unbearable shouting and slothfulness, Cyborg often comes in clutch for the team in times of danger. His technological intellect is invaluable, providing the team with vehicles and weapons galore. Even more priceless are Cyborg's extensive combat/tactical skills. So, as long as he's got the motivation to fight, like he did when confronting the Brain in "40%, 40%, 20%", Cyborg is an absolute unit on the team.
Apart from that, Cyborg is the primary source of energy and fun on the team (the polar opposite of Raven). He's constantly starting parties and having a blast with his team members. Of course, he can get a little annoying at times, but for the most part, the other four often see him as an older brother to look up to in their lives.
Physical Appearance
Due to the gruesome mutilation he suffered, most of Cyborg's human features have been replaced with metal plates and circuits. His entire torso is covered in white and gray armor, and rarely are his organic insides ever shown (most of him is hallowed out). Sadly for Cyborg, his arms and legs are completely mechanical, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks; his appendages can transform into lasers, rocket launchers, flame throwers, confetti cannons...and a whole bunch of other stuff. The only exposed flesh on Cyborg is on the right side of his face—the other side is covered in metal, and half of his brain has been replaced with a cyan-colored supercomputer. Having lost his left eye, Cyborg now has a red, artificial photoreceptor, a defining characteristic of him. In addition, Cyborg is by far the tallest Titan.
Starting from Season 5, his blue circuits became darker.
Outfits
To see the multiple outfits of Cyborg throughout the series, click here.
Powers and Abilities
Besides looking super rad, the robotic suit that Cyborg's encased in grants him an extensive laundry list of superpowers, skills, and transformations. Below is a list of Cyborg's main abilities; to view a complete list of his powers, visit this page.
Cybernetic Physiological Abilities
- Superhuman Strength: The metal limbs of his suit make Cyborg the physically strongest on the team; he has been seen lifting up a plane engine with only one arm.
- Superhuman Durability: Armor surrounds Cyborg's body, making him much more impervious to damage.
- Transformation: His body can transform into a wide assortment of objects and vehicles, some of which include:
- a toilet ("Tower Power")
- a truck ("40%, 40%, 20%")
- a catapult ("The Academy")
- a missile ("Colors of Raven")
- a bowling ball ("Power Moves")
- a shopping cart ("Black Friday")
- a drink machine ("Hot Salad Water")
- Flight: Cyborg uses a jetpack, jet boots, or other aviation accessories to easily overcome gravity.
- Electronic Eye: The artificial receptor of Cyborg can scan objects for info, deploy lasers (as seen in "BBSFBDAY!"), take photos, and use X-ray among other things.
- Body Part Extension: Cyborg can easily extend the length of his arms, legs, neck, and fingers.
- Wired Body: Cyborg can detach his head from his body he used in various of episodes.
- Substance Emission: Multiple chemicals and molecules can be released from Cyborg's body, including toxic gas, water, water vapor (from "Secret Garden"), and farts (from many episodes).
Weapons and Equipment
- Cannons: At will, Cyborg can transform his arms into cannons and shoot a wide variety of projectiles, from lasers to HEAT shells to meatballs.
- Missile Launchers: Multiple missile magazines are stored in his shoulders and back, capable of firing many rockets (as seen in "Legendary Sandwich").
- Miniguns: Cyborg is able to transform his arms into miniguns, which can rapidly fire sonic lasers (as seen in Legendary Sandwich and Island Adventures).
- Mega Cannon: When desired, Cyborg can unleash a massive cannon blaster from his back, capable of obliterating anthying in its path.
- Tools: Huge amounts of equipment and supplies are housed in Cyborg's body. To name only six out of dozens:
- a chainsaw ("Breakfast Cheese")
- a tissue box ("Body Adventure")
- a revolver ("Flashback: PT 2")
- a flyswatter ("Croissant")
- scissors ("Hot Garbage")
- a fork ("Mas y Menos")
Skills
- Inventing: Cyborg has created many inventions for the Titans, including:
- the T-Car ("Road Trip")
- the Titan Robot ("The Left Leg")
- a time machine ("Staring at the Future")
- Fixing/Maintenance: In addition, Cyborg is also proficient in repairing gadgets.
- Hacking/Coding: Computer skills are also part of Cyborg's résumé... he hacked the HIVE in "Mouth Hole" and interrupted signals in "Operation Tin Man".
- Tech Knowledge: The mind of Cyborg is unsurpassed on the team when it comes to technology.
- Martial Arts: In "The Art of Ninjutsu", Cyborg was shown to be an excellent ninja (忍者).
- Extreme Laziness: Along with Beast Boy, Cyborg has mastered the skills of loafing around, eating pizza and playing video games.
- Music: He can play the harmonica ("Lazy Sunday"), the stand-up bass ("How's This for a Special? Spaaaace"), the drums ("And the Award for Sound Design Goes to Rob", "Throne of Bones") and bass guitar ("Slapping Butts and Celebrating for No Reason", "EEbows", “Jump City Rock”) skillfully.
Weaknesses
If the song "The Night Begins To Shine" is not being played, Cyborg will become powerless ("40%, 40%, 20%", but also probably all the time.)
If Cyborg runs out of battery he will be incapacitated and powerless, and will go unconscious.
His cybernetic body makes him prone to being electrocuted, if he is splashed with water then shocked, he will be incapacitated.
After using his "Final Core Blast", which is to use up all the power in the tower and in his power cell to launch a huge cannon blast, he will be incapacitated and powerless until re-charged.
Alternate Forms
Throughout Teen Titans Go!, Cyborg has taken on quite a few personas and different forms. Featured below are only his most notable versions—a complete list can be found by following this link.
Photo | Name | Appearances |
"Flashback" | ||
"Arms Race with Legs" | ||
"The Day the Night Stopped Beginning to Shine and Became Dark Even Though it Was the Day" "Justice League's Next Top Talent Idol Star: Second Greatest Team Edition" | ||
Miscellaneous
For more info about Cyborg, check out a few of these articles:
- Episodes Focusing on Cyborg
- Songs Sung by Cyborg
- Relationships
- Quotes
- Death Experiences
- Voices In Other Languages
Trivia
- DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) marked Cyborg's first ever appearance.[4]
- Cyborg's voice actor, Khary Payton, also voiced him in the original Teen Titans series, DC Super Hero Girls, Justice League Action, LEGO DC Comics works, and in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
- In "Body Adventure", Cyborg is confirmed to be 18, making him the oldest Teen Titan.
- It's also revealed in the episode "Thanksgiving" that his birthday is on June 29.
- In fact back in Season 1, the crew members had a calendar background that said Cyborg's birthday was June 29, but nowadays they always change that depending on the needs of an episode.
- It's also revealed in the episode "Thanksgiving" that his birthday is on June 29.
- Throughout the series, Cyborg's origin story has been hinted at several times, but some of variations contradict each other:
- In "Dog Hand", Cyborg claimed he was half-human, half-toaster.
- This probably might reference a Persona 3 meme, in which the character Aigis (who is also a robot) is seen as a toaster.
- During both "Tower Power" and "Man Person", he recalls getting his robotic parts from his father after a horrible accident. This is the one that is faithful towards the comics.
- In "Flashback", Victor is enhanced with cyborg armor after a battle with Kid Flash's sparring robot.
- Because this two-part episode's focus was on the Titans' origins, this is considered his legitimate backstory.
- In "Dog Hand", Cyborg claimed he was half-human, half-toaster.
- The episode "Tower Power" depicts Cyborg appreciating his robotic enhancements when plugged into the main Tower computer. In the original Teen Titans, he always wanted to be fully human again.
- As opposed to the original series, Cyborg's head is shown to be detachable in Teen Titans Go!, such as in "Laundry Day". While separated from his body, some loose wires act as his arms and legs.
- Despite numerous episodes implying that his head is the only organic part of his body remaining, there's been several instances where other organic parts of Cyborg have been revealed:
- His legs ("Ghostboy")
- His feet ("You're Fired")
- His stomach (many episodes)
- Although Cyborg gratefully retains these appendages and organs, none of them are actually attached to his organic nervous system; his spinal cord has been completely replaced with an artificial circuit board.
- Despite numerous episodes implying that his head is the only organic part of his body remaining, there's been several instances where other organic parts of Cyborg have been revealed:
- Cyborg's love for meat in the original series has been kept in Teen Titans Go!, but his disgust for tofu apparently hasn't; in "Double Trouble", he joyfully ate tofu chips with his best friend, Beast Boy.
- In the original series, Brother Blood could mind control any of the Titans except Cyborg because he is part robot. However, as seen in "Baby Hands", this perk is no longer available to him.
- Night Begins To Shine is revealed to be his favorite song in the episode "40%, 40%, 20%".
- As seen in "Two Parter", Cyborg has always dreamed of joining the Justice League.
- This is a reference to the DC Extended Universe's Cyborg, who is a founding member of the team.
- When he briefly jests about joining the Justice League in "Two Parter", his new suit is based off of the New 52 design (the New 52 revamp of the franchise is where Cyborg was first included in the Justice League).[5]
- Five other superheroes have been portrayed by Cyborg so far, including:
- In "Yearbook Madness", he is revealed to be a left handed individual.
- Cyborg is shown to be extremely afraid of the dark in "Slumber Party".
- Cyborg has a somewhat similar personality to Jake from Adventure Time and Grizz from We Bare Bears.
- Coincidentally, in the Brazilian Portuguese dub, he and Jake are voiced by the same voice actor, Eduardo Borgerth (who is known for being Cyborg's official voice actor in animations (including movies and series) and video games for DC Comics in Brazil).
- "Brobots" reveals that he is in debt due to overusing his credit card.
- It is revealed in the episode "Staring at the Future" that the reason he and Beast Boy are so irresponsible is because they both suffer from hypengyophobia (fear or extreme phobia of taking responsibility): they are so afraid of having responsibilities that they begin to get extremely anxious, panic, and take irrational actions, such as jumping from a great height only to assume no responsibility for them.
- A hypothesis that explains this fear of responsibility is revealed in the episode "Some of Their Parts": of the five Cyborg's Emoticlones, two of them represent negative traits of his personality (more specifically those that cause his phobia):
- The Gray Cyborg (represents his Fear and is very fearful and scared).
- The Orange Cyborg (represents his Laziness and is extremely lazy and relaxed).
- A hypothesis that explains this fear of responsibility is revealed in the episode "Some of Their Parts": of the five Cyborg's Emoticlones, two of them represent negative traits of his personality (more specifically those that cause his phobia):
- Cyborg now has the ability to fly, unlike in the original series.
- There was once a running gag in Season 1 about Cyborg providing exposition on random 80s things that none of the other Titans knew, which was applied to reinforce his fervor for the 80s media.
- Although this running gag has long gone, Cyborg still retains his love for the 80s in many episodes.
- Also in the early episodes, Cyborg was known as being dramatic, sarcastic, and silly towards about his love and commenting of 80s sitcoms, video games, and movies. However, in later episodes, he seems to be less dramatic whenever he describes his beloved 80s media.
- Although this running gag has long gone, Cyborg still retains his love for the 80s in many episodes.
- Ask The Titans revealed some facts about him:
- He likes the Tennessee Titans.
- He is unaware he is the only member who doesn't wear clothes.
- Although he loves The Night Begins to Shine, his favorite song is the Waffles Song.
- He wants Batman to be his sidekick.
- The food he likes on his pizza is meatballs.
- His favorite dance move is the Robot.
- If he can choose a person to replace Robin as his "leader", he'll pick a character played by the late famous actress Angela Lansbury.
- In early episodes, Cyborg's voice was low-pitched and deeper throughout the first season. From the second season onwards, his voice has become a little bit more high-pitched and younger.
- In "Kryptonite", it is revealed that he can get overly sentimental over scenes from the film Steel Magnolias.
- "Jinxed" reveals that Cyborg can tamper with the tower's security, such as the crime alert, via a control room within his body.
- "Cy and Beasty" reveals that he dislikes raisins as they tend to clog his gears.
- He was absent in “That's What's Up!”, “Crab Shenanigans”, “Brain Flip”, “Magic Man”, “Jam”, “A Doom Patrol Thanksgiving”, “A Holiday Story”, “Our House”, “Beard Hunter”, “Elasti-Bot”, “New Chum”, “Ship”, “Catpin Freak”, “50% Crew”, “Five Bucks”, “Wild Card”, “Azarath! Metrion! Bookstore!”, "The Great Azarathian Face Off", “Bookyman” and “Original Idea”.
- He and his teammates only appeared during the beginning of "A Sticky Situation" and didn't reappear until the end of said episode. They were also absent in Part 1 of "The Brain of the Family".
Gallery
The image gallery for Cyborg may be viewed here. |
References
- ↑ Official DC Comics bio, https://www.dccomics.com/characters/cyborg
- ↑ DC Database bio, https://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Victor_Stone_(New_Earth)
- ↑ Official CARTOON NETWORK bio, https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/shows/teen-titans-go/characters/index.html
- ↑ Official DC Comics bio, https://www.dccomics.com/characters/cyborg
- ↑ DC Database info, https://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Justice_League_Vol_2_1