Adam Smasher: Arasaka's Full-Borg Killer From 2020 to 2077
Adam Smasher is the Arasaka cyborg who killed Johnny Silverhand, David Martinez and Rebecca, and the final boss of Cyberpunk 2077. Here's his full history across the tabletop games, Edgerunners and 2077, and whether you can actually kill him.
Adam Smasher is a full-body cyborg who works as Arasaka's killer, and by 2077 its head of security. He's the one who killed Johnny Silverhand at Arasaka Tower in 2023, David Martinez and Rebecca in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and he's the final boss of Cyberpunk 2077. He has been a villain in the setting since the 1990s tabletop books. (Cyberpunk RED; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners; Cyberpunk 2077)
Where did Adam Smasher come from?#
Smasher's origin comes from the Cyberpunk 2020 books, where he writes his own article for the in-universe magazine Solo of Fortune. He grew up tough and mean in the South Bronx, led his gang until the army wiped it out, then enlisted and spent six years in the Marines before being discharged for insubordination. Back in New York he became a merc who took the nastiest jobs going. (Solo of Fortune 2)
In 2015 Arasaka hired him for a raid, and two rocket-propelled grenades turned him into what his own account describes as something his team carried out in a backpack. Arasaka offered a deal: a full-body conversion in return for a long service contract. He took it and never looked back. His Solo of Fortune piece, "Destroy All Flesh!!", tells readers that anyone who doesn't convert will be wiped out. (Solo of Fortune 2; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit)
Smasher and Morgan Blackhand#
Smasher saw Morgan Blackhand, the most respected solo of the age, as living proof against his "metal beats meat" belief, and kept trying to pick a fight. Blackhand kept ignoring him. When the Fourth Corporate War broke out, Smasher signed up with Arasaka partly because Blackhand was working for Militech. He spent the war leading strike teams that killed Militech staff and their families. (Firestorm: Shockwave; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit)
How did Adam Smasher kill Johnny Silverhand?#
On 20 August 2023, during the raid on Arasaka Tower, Smasher's squad caught Johnny's team in the Soulkiller labs. Johnny tried to draw his fire so the others could get away and was cut down by shotgun fire. Smasher then climbed into DaiOni power armour, met Blackhand on the roof holding a captured teammate's biopod, and the two charged each other as the nuclear device went off. In the tabletop version the nuke belongs to the Militech-backed operation under Blackhand, and Cyberpunk RED never says who won the duel. (Cyberpunk RED; Firestorm: Shockwave)
Cyberpunk 2077 tells it differently. In Johnny's memory of the raid, Johnny arms the bomb himself, then Smasher shoots him down and he's captured alive. Arasaka copies his mind with Soulkiller, which is how his engram ends up on the Relic. Smasher also held on to some of Johnny's things: his lieutenant Grayson carries Johnny's Malorian Arms 3516 pistol, a gift from his boss. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Adam Smasher in Edgerunners#
In 2076, Arasaka brings Smasher in to deal with David Martinez, who is rampaging through the city in a prototype cyberskeleton. At Arasaka Tower he blasts David, Lucy and the fixer Faraday out of the building. He drops into the plaza after them, crushing Rebecca as he lands, swats Falco aside, shrugs off Lucy's hacks, and keeps pace with David's Sandevistan, calling it a rudimentary implant. He tears the cyberskeleton apart, says David could have made an interesting construct, and shoots him in the head. (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)
The Mission Kit's adventure carries on from there: an Arasaka executive who wants David's jacket sends Smasher after anyone who won't hand it over. (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit)
What does Smasher do in Cyberpunk 2077?#
In 2077 Smasher is Yorinobu's bodyguard. He's in the Konpeki Plaza penthouse when Yorinobu kills Saburo Arasaka, and he hunts V and Jackie Welles as they escape. Yorinobu then makes him head of security. He ignores Oda's warning about the parade, then leads the strike team that takes Hanako Arasaka back from Takemura. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Can you kill Adam Smasher?#
Yes. In Cyberpunk 2077 V fights Smasher on every ending route that goes into Arasaka Tower:
- With the Aldecaldos. Smasher meets the team at the Mikoshi access point and kills Saul before V and Panam take him down. (Cyberpunk 2077)
- With Rogue. He kills Rogue, who blows a grenade against his chest, then fights Johnny in V's body and Weyland. (Cyberpunk 2077)
- With Hanako. He makes a last stand outside the CEO's office to protect Yorinobu. (Cyberpunk 2077)
- Alone. On the secret solo run, V meets him without help. There's no reload on this route: if V dies anywhere on it, Smasher fight included, the credits roll and that's V's ending. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Once he's down, V can finish him or walk away. Leave him and he sneers that sparing him was very human, and that mercy is disgusting. Nobody gets the better of him in Edgerunners, and in the tabletop history his fight with Blackhand ends in the blast with no recorded winner. (Cyberpunk 2077; Cyberpunk: Edgerunners; Cyberpunk RED)
Frequently asked questions
- Can you kill Adam Smasher?
- Yes. V fights and beats Smasher on every Cyberpunk 2077 ending route that goes into Arasaka Tower, and after the fight V can finish him off or leave him. Nobody beats him in Edgerunners, and his duel with Morgan Blackhand in the tabletop history has no recorded winner.
- Who is Adam Smasher?
- A full-body cyborg who has worked for Arasaka since a rocket attack destroyed his body in 2015. By 2077 he is Yorinobu Arasaka's bodyguard and the corporation's head of security.
- Is Adam Smasher still human?
- Barely. His brain is about all that's left of his original body, and Cyberpunk 2077's database says what little humanity he had was questionable to begin with.
- Who killed Johnny Silverhand?
- Adam Smasher, during the 2023 attack on Arasaka Tower. Cyberpunk 2077 adds that Arasaka then used Soulkiller to copy Johnny's mind, which is how his engram ended up on the Relic.
- Does Adam Smasher die in Edgerunners?
- No. He kills David Martinez and Rebecca at the end of the series and walks away. He is still working for Arasaka a year later in Cyberpunk 2077.
Sources
- GameCyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, 2020
- VideoCyberpunk: Edgerunners, Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red, Netflix, 2022
- BookCyberpunk RED, R. Talsorian Games, 2020
- BookSolo of Fortune 2, R. Talsorian Games, 1994
- BookFirestorm: Shockwave, R. Talsorian Games, 1997
- BookCyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit, R. Talsorian Games, 2024
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
David Martinez: the Edgerunner From Santo Domingo
David Martinez is the street kid at the centre of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, who went from Arasaka Academy dropout to Night City legend in about a year. Here's his story, why he could take so much chrome, how he died, and where he turns up in Cyberpunk 2077.
Hanako Arasaka: Saburo's Daughter and the Face of Arasaka
Hanako Arasaka is Saburo's sheltered favourite, a gifted netrunner and the woman who offers V a deal at Embers. Here's her story from the tabletop books to Cyberpunk 2077, what her offer really means and what happens to her in every ending.
How Did Johnny Silverhand Die?
Johnny Silverhand died during the raid on Arasaka Tower on 20 August 2023, but the two versions of the story disagree on how. The tabletop books have Adam Smasher kill him in the tower. Cyberpunk 2077 has him captured and run through Soulkiller. Here are both.
Jackie Welles: V's Partner and the Heart of Cyberpunk 2077
Jackie Welles is the big-hearted Heywood merc who becomes V's partner and dies after the Konpeki Plaza heist. This covers who he was, how the heist killed him, and the choice V makes about his body.
Johnny Silverhand: the Rockerboy Who Nuked Arasaka
Johnny Silverhand is the frontman of Samurai, the man who attacked Arasaka Tower twice, and the engram living in V's head in Cyberpunk 2077. Here's his life in the tabletop game and the video game, where the two tell it differently, and what happens to him in each ending.
Lucy (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)
Lucy is the netrunner at the heart of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an Arasaka escapee who dreamed of leaving Night City for the Moon. Here's her backstory, her relationship with David Martinez, what she was hiding, and how the series ends for her.
Mentioned in40 entries
Arasaka: the Japanese Megacorp That Runs Night City in Cyberpunk
Arasaka is the security, banking and arms giant at the centre of almost every Cyberpunk story. Here is its history from the tabletop books to 2077, the family that runs it, and what happens to it in each of V's endings.
Cyberpunk 2077 Story Explained: the Heist, the Relic and Johnny Silverhand
The whole story of Cyberpunk 2077 in order, from V and Jackie's job at Konpeki Plaza to the race to get Johnny Silverhand out of V's head before he takes over. Every act, every main thread and how the endings come together.
Cyberpunk Characters: Every Major Character in 2077, Phantom Liberty and Edgerunners
The major characters of Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, from V and Johnny Silverhand to Songbird, Solomon Reed, David Martinez and Lucy. Each entry says who they are, what they want and where their story ends.
Cyberpunk Games, Books and Shows in Order: Release Order and Story Order
Every Cyberpunk game, tabletop edition, anime, novel and comic in release order with exact dates, then the same works in story order from 2013 to 2077 and beyond. Plus where to start before Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 arrives on 20 October 2026.
Cyberpunk Timeline: From the Collapse to 2077 and Beyond
The history of the Cyberpunk world in date order, from the Collapse of the 1990s and the founding of Night City through Johnny Silverhand's war on Arasaka, the nuke of 2023 and the Time of the Red, to V, Phantom Liberty and Edgerunners in the 2070s. Grouped into eras, oldest first, with the source for every entry.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2: Release Date, Story and Everything Confirmed
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 arrives on Netflix on 20 October 2026: ten episodes, a standalone story and a new crew of characters. Here's everything Netflix, CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger have actually confirmed, from the cast and crew to the music, and what's still unknown.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Characters: the Whole Crew and Who Survives
Every major character in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, from David and Lucy to Maine's crew, the fixer Faraday and Adam Smasher. Who they are, who voices them, how each one's story ends, and which of them are still alive when the credits roll.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Episode Guide: All 10 Episodes Explained
All ten episodes of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners came out on Netflix on 13 September 2022. Here's every episode in order with its official title, what happens, and the moment that matters most, from David's first Sandevistan rush to the last scene on the Moon.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Explained: Story, Ending and How It Connects to 2077
Edgerunners follows David Martinez from a dead-end Arasaka Academy scholarship to the top of Arasaka Tower in ten episodes. Here's the whole story, what the ending means for David and Lucy, and every way the anime ties into Cyberpunk 2077, from Rebecca's shotgun to David's jacket.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Story
Twelve questions on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, from David's Sandevistan and Maine's crew to Lucy's secret and the fight at Arasaka Tower. Every answer comes with a short explanation and a link to the page that covers it.
David Martinez: the Edgerunner From Santo Domingo
David Martinez is the street kid at the centre of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, who went from Arasaka Academy dropout to Night City legend in about a year. Here's his story, why he could take so much chrome, how he died, and where he turns up in Cyberpunk 2077.
Evelyn Parker: the Doll Behind the Konpeki Plaza Heist
Evelyn Parker is the woman who hires V and Jackie to steal the Relic in Cyberpunk 2077, and one of the game's most tragic characters. Here's what she was really planning, who she was working for, and what happened to her after the heist.
+ 28 more
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.