Cyberpunk 2077 is loaded with memorable characters. It is a shame most of them are hard to appreciate underneath the plethora of bugs and glitches populating the experience. Hopefully patches will make the game smoother, highlighting the numerous personalities populating Night City.
One of the most notable souls within Cyberpunk 2077 is Rogue, a complicated woman who V meets in the Afterlife, a bar she runs as a fixer. We say complicated because as cool as she is, some things about her elicit a negative reaction. To be fair, no one survives in Night City so long without getting a bit mean or nasty once in a while. Be wary of spoilers ahead.
10 Love: Old, But Still Kicks Butt
Rogue’s age is unknown, but she was already an active participant in the story in 2013 Night City. Since she had to at least be in her early 20s then, this would make her well over 80 years old by Cyberpunk 2077’s present day. Despite this, Rogue has not slowed down one bit and is something of a living legend. It should not be too surprising, since life expectancy in Night City is high unless you catch a bullet first.
9 Can’t Stand: She Only Thinks Of Herself
Rogue often criticizes Johnny Silverhand for being an egoistical narcissist despite touting virtuous ideals. It is not like Rogue is a saint, though. She shows through her actions that she mostly cares about her own wellbeing. The main difference is she readily admits it. Fortunately, even she grows throughout the course of the campaign, and you see the culmination of her arc if you raid Arasaka headquarters with her by your side.
8 Loved: She Forgives Johnny
It takes real strength to try and become a better person after a history of selfishness. It takes a similar amount of grace to accept someone’s apology and attempts at redemption. The interaction between Rogue and Johnny pays off in a side quest where the two go on a date to a drive-in movie. She acknowledges the change he has gone through during his time with V and forgives him. We appreciate Rogue for her openness in this scene.
7 Cannot Stand: Her Relationship With Panam
V meets Panam through Rogue, and the former nomad turns out to be one of the best characters in Cyberpunk 2077. After working with Panam for a bit, it really made us despise Rogue for the way she treats your new companion.
Panam is one of the few honest people in Night City and seeing her get the short end of the stick mars our opinion of Rogue. We get that Rogue is all about business, but she should have cut Panam a break after failing to deliver the cargo after her car was stolen by a partner.
6 Loved: Makes The Adam Smasher Boss Fight Easier
Sadly, Rogue bites the dust if you choose to assault Arasaka headquarters with her. While almost at the Mikoshi access point Adam Smasher ambushes you and Rogue, killing her. Fortunately, before the monstrosity is able to eliminate Rogue, she sets off a grenade, destroying his armor and making the boss fight significantly easier. We would take a harder boss fight with Adam Smasher any day if it meant keeping Rogue alive.
5 Cannot Stand: May Have Compromised Her Ideals For Survival
Rogue turned her back on the cause after Johnny’s death. Details remain vague on how she managed to secure the Afterlife and avoid persecution from Arasaka. It is implied that she may have made some kind of deal with a corporation, but it is never confirmed. It is difficult to blame her if you have never been in a similar place; people do what they need to survive. Don’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.
4 Loved: She’s Complicated
Like the best characters in any medium, Rogue is complicated. She is not wholly good or bad. Rogue was in it for the money at first, then fell in love with Johnny only to become disillusioned with any ideology and became focused on survival.
Live as long as she does and you are bound to go through some changes. After all, few people are truly bad or evil and usually land somewhere in the middle.
3 Cannot Stand: She Took Part In Terrorism
While Arasaka absolutely deserved a reckoning, Johnny Silverhand detonating a bomb inside the tower might have gone overboard. Plenty of innocent janitors and service workers who had nothing to do with the corporation were in the building, yet they had to pay for the corporation’s indiscretions. Rogue is side by side with Johnny during this attack and bears some responsibility for the damage. Whether she redeemed herself or not is up to the people she killed on that day.
2 Loved: She Doesn’t Go All The Way With Johnny
We respect Rogue’s integrity while on the date with Johnny Silverhand. As Johnny, you can make a move on her and they start to get really frisky, but she stops the whole thing and leaves. We appreciate her reluctance to engage in the activity with Johnny, because Johnny is in possession of V’s body at the time and it would not be ethically right.
1 Cannot Stand: She Was A Hitman
Before getting involved with Silverhand, Rogue was a gun for hire. While it is difficult to fault someone for making a living in Night City any way possible, we do take issue with someone completely ignoring morals for a buck. As a hitman, Rogue no doubt had to take any job available to pay the bills. The job is not as glamorous as Agent 47 from the Hitman series makes it out to be, and most probably do not have the luxury to pick and choose their contracts.
