River Ward: the NCPD Detective Who Wants to Do Things Right

River Ward is a detective with the NCPD in Night City, and one of the few cops in the city who still believes the job is about justice. V meets him while digging into the mayor's death, then helps him hunt for his missing nephew in a side story that's grim even by Cyberpunk standards. A feminine V can romance him. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Who is River Ward?#

River is a Night City detective whose childhood decided his career. His parents ran a small farm until bigger agricultural corps drove them out of business, then a grocery store with the family living above it. One night drugged-up thugs broke in looking for cash. One of them killed River's father, then forced a gun into the boy's hand and told him to shoot his mother. River froze, so the man did it himself. River and his sister Joss went to an orphanage and the killers were never found. He blamed the NCPD for that and joined it to fix it. (Cyberpunk 2077)

The reality was different. His first partner, Jamie Sheen, killed himself in disgust at bosses who cared more about bribes than cases. River kept going anyway. His game database entry describes a man for whom every day on the job is a moral fight between playing along and losing part of himself. (Cyberpunk 2077)

He's close to Joss and her three kids, Randy, Dorian and Monique. Joss married an Aldecaldo, and with her husband not much of a father, River stepped in. After the husband died he bought the family a new trailer. By 2077, though, he and Joss had fallen out over his obsession with work. (Cyberpunk 2077)

The mayor's death (I Fought the Law)#

River first shows up in "I Fought the Law". Earlier in 2077 he stopped a cyberpsycho going after Mayor Lucius Rhyne and was hailed as a "super cop", but Rhyne died of a supposed heart problem the same day. River didn't believe in the coincidence. His boss and his partner, Harold Han, both told him to drop it. (Cyberpunk 2077)

When V comes asking on behalf of the Peralez family, the pair trace Rhyne's last night to a private sex club called the Red Queen's Race. They find he died from a braindance spiked with a virus, and that Deputy Mayor Weldon Holt had Han bury it. River takes it to his superiors and gets suspended for his trouble. (Cyberpunk 2077)

The hunt for Randy (The Hunt)#

Still suspended, River calls V about his nephew. Randy has been taken by Anthony Harris, the "Peter Pan" kidnapper, who is now in a coma after an NCPD shooting and can't tell anyone where his victims are. River doesn't mention the suspension. (Cyberpunk 2077)

They break into an NCPD lab in the Glen where braindances are recorded from dreams. Dr Yawen Packard, River's ex, tells them Harris isn't dreaming. So they search Randy's room for clues and anything that might make him dream. A cartoon Randy downloaded from Harris's site does the trick, and the resulting braindance points to a farm outside the city. (Cyberpunk 2077)

What happens next depends on V:

• Right farm, V stays. They fight through Harris's defences at Edgewood Farm and find Randy and other victims being force-fed like livestock. River later goes to Harris's hospital bed to kill him, remembers the gun in his hand as a boy, and walks away. (Cyberpunk 2077)
• V walks away. River goes to Edgewood alone and is killed. A niche in the city's columbarium later carries his name. (Cyberpunk 2077)
• Wrong farm. V and River check another farm first and reach Edgewood too late. Randy is dead. River blames V and swears to kill Harris. He later texts V that the deed is done, then ends up in a cell after a bar fight. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Romance and Following the River#

If Randy lives, River invites V to a family dinner in "Following the River". Joss and the kids tease him about V, and he rescues V from the "ambush" by taking them up the water tower. There he hands V his revolver, Crash, saying it carries too many bad memories. (Cyberpunk 2077)

A feminine V can kiss him there to start the romance. A masculine V who tries just gets a startled reaction. Either way, River decides his police career is over and starts again as a private investigator, specialising in kidnappings so other families don't go through what his did. (Cyberpunk 2077)

With only three side jobs and none in the main story, his is the shortest romance in the game. The other partners are Judy Alvarez, Panam Palmer and Kerry Eurodyne. (Cyberpunk 2077)

What happens to River in each ending#

River's ending depends on whether he's romanced and how V deals with the Relic. The endings guide has the full picture. (Cyberpunk 2077)

• The Sun (going in alone or with Rogue): a romanced River wakes up beside V in their penthouse months later and promises to wait while V takes one last job. (Cyberpunk 2077)
• The Devil (taking Hanako Arasaka's deal): V can call River from the orbital station. A romanced River tells V not to trust Arasaka and promises to find them. Unromanced, he cuts the call short. (Cyberpunk 2077)
• The Star (leaving with Panam's family): a romanced River comes to the Aldecaldo camp to say goodbye. He won't leave Joss and the kids, and says they both knew there'd be no happy ending. (Cyberpunk 2077)
• Temperance (Johnny Silverhand keeps the body): River's message in the credits says he can't find V anywhere, like V's a ghost. (Cyberpunk 2077)

Phantom Liberty adds The Tower, where V wakes from a two-year coma after the Relic is removed. If V calls River, he first thinks it's a sick joke. He then admits he sold classified NCPD files to Trauma Team to pay for Randy's rehab, is now wanted, and is too ashamed to meet. See the Phantom Liberty story guide. (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty)