Soulkiller: the Arasaka Program That Turns Minds into Engrams
Soulkiller is the program that copies a human mind into code, and for most of its history it killed the person it copied. Here is how Alt Cunningham wrote it, how Arasaka stole it, and what it does to Johnny Silverhand and V.
Soulkiller is a program that copies a human mind into code, making a digital copy called an engram. Alt Cunningham wrote it, Arasaka stole it, and for decades it killed whoever it copied, draining their mind out and leaving the body empty. That's the "soul" it kills. (Cyberpunk 2020; Cyberpunk 2077)
Who created Soulkiller#
Soulkiller started as Alt Cunningham's project at ITS. She was building a matrix to hold artificial personalities, and found it could also store the minds of living people and move them between bodies and the machine. She saw it as a way for dying people to keep living. (Cyberpunk 2020)
ITS saw a weapon. The company took control of her work and renamed it Soulkiller. By the 2010s it was the most feared anti-personnel program in the Net, able to trace an intruding netrunner and pull their mind out in seconds. That early version was too big to move, so it only worked inside the system it was installed on. (Cyberpunk 2020)
How Arasaka got Soulkiller#
In 2013 Arasaka kidnapped Alt and made her write Soulkiller again, from scratch and better: this one could travel freely through the Net. Once it was done, her captors used it on her. They didn't know she had hidden a back door in the code. (Cyberpunk 2020)
Alt's digital self took over the program, killed her guards and seized Arasaka's systems. She was about to return to her body when Johnny Silverhand broke in to rescue her and carried her body off, unplugged from the machines. Her mind was left in the Net, and Arasaka was left holding the most dangerous Soulkiller ever written. (Cyberpunk 2020)
Cyberpunk 2077 adds Alt's verdict on that night. Her engram tells V that the real Alt died when Johnny cut the link, and that the thing speaking is an AI built from her data. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Soulkiller in the Fourth Corporate War and after#
Arasaka kept Soulkiller through the Fourth Corporate War, and the two versions of the 2023 attack on Arasaka Tower end differently for Johnny. In the tabletop books the raid was Militech-backed, the nuke was set by that operation, and Adam Smasher killed Johnny. (Firestorm: Shockwave; Cyberpunk RED)
In Cyberpunk 2077, Johnny arms the bomb himself, is captured by Smasher, and is put through Soulkiller, so the program finally caught the man who had taken Alt away. V relives the moment through his memories. (Cyberpunk 2077)
The program also fed the DataKrash. Cyberpunk RED says Rache Bartmoss built his R.A.B.I.D.S. viruses on a twisted version of Soulkiller. The same book has Hanako Arasaka working on a new version in the 2040s, going back to Alt's first idea: copying a mind so it can be moved into a cloned body. (Cyberpunk RED)
Militech wanted its own answer. Solomon Reed describes Project Cynosure as the cyberspace version of a nuke and Militech's reply to Soulkiller. (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty)
Soulkiller in 2077: Secure Your Soul#
By 2077 Soulkiller drives Arasaka's Secure Your Soul programme. Wealthy clients have their minds copied, and the engrams go into Mikoshi, Arasaka's data fortress. Netrunners who've breached Arasaka call Mikoshi a soul prison for Soulkiller's victims. (Cyberpunk 2077)
The early versions killed every time. Shards found in 2077 say the newer process leaves the client alive, apart from the occasional accident. Engrams copied from a dead brain come out as echoes of memory more than a full personality. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Arasaka's paperwork promises one engram per client, for ethical reasons. Other shards say the company makes extra copies of valuable clients, mines them for data, and treats every engram as its property, to keep or destroy. (Cyberpunk 2077)
What Soulkiller means for V and Johnny#
The Relic in V's head carries Johnny's soulkilled engram. At the end of the story, Alt offers V a deal in Mikoshi: she can use Soulkiller to separate V's mind from Johnny's. (Cyberpunk 2077)
How it plays out depends on player choice. In the Arasaka ending, V can sign a contract to have their own mind copied with Soulkiller and stored in Mikoshi until Arasaka finds a body for it, or refuse. In that same ending Hanako plans to put Saburo's engram into Yorinobu Arasaka's body. The endings guide lays out every path. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Johnny himself comes to believe the name is accurate. In some endings he says he thinks Soulkiller really did kill him, and that what's left is an echo still fighting the original's war. (Cyberpunk 2077)
Frequently asked questions
- What does Soulkiller do in Cyberpunk?
- It copies a person's mind into a digital engram. Older versions drained the mind out of the body as they copied it, leaving the victim brain-dead, which is where the name comes from.
- Who created Soulkiller?
- Alt Cunningham. She wrote the original as a storage matrix at the company ITS, and Arasaka forced her to write a stronger version after kidnapping her in 2013.
- Was Johnny Silverhand soulkilled?
- In Cyberpunk 2077, yes. Arasaka captures him during the 2023 attack on Arasaka Tower and runs Soulkiller on him, and that engram is the one on the Relic in V's head. The tabletop books have Adam Smasher simply kill him.
- Is Soulkiller still lethal in 2077?
- Not always. Arasaka shards from 2077 say the Secure Your Soul process no longer kills the client except by accident, though the earlier versions always did.
- What is the difference between Soulkiller and the Relic?
- Soulkiller makes the engram. The Relic is the chip that stores one and plays it back, or in the 2.0 prototype, tries to install it in a body.
Sources
- BookCyberpunk 2020, R. Talsorian Games, 1990
- BookFirestorm: Shockwave, R. Talsorian Games, 1997
- BookCyberpunk RED, R. Talsorian Games, 2020
- GameCyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, 2020
- GameCyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, CD Projekt Red, 2023
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Mikoshi: Arasaka's Soul Prison in Cyberpunk 2077
Mikoshi is the Arasaka data fortress where soulkilled minds are kept, and the place where Cyberpunk 2077 ends. Here is what it holds, how you get in, and what the bridge and the well mean in the final choice.
The Relic: the Arasaka Biochip Killing V in Cyberpunk 2077
The Relic is the Arasaka biochip that puts Johnny Silverhand in V's head. Here is what it was built for, why the 2.0 prototype is killing V, and what Phantom Liberty added to it.
The DataKrash: How Rache Bartmoss Killed the Old Net
The DataKrash was the 2022 collapse of the old Net, set off by viruses Rache Bartmoss left behind to fire when he died. Here is what happened, why it freed the rogue AIs, and how it led to the Blackwall and the broken Net of Cyberpunk 2077.
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.
Alt Cunningham: the Netrunner Who Created Soulkiller
Alt Cunningham was Night City's best netrunner, Johnny Silverhand's girlfriend and the first victim of the program she invented. Here's her story from the tabletop game to Cyberpunk 2077, and what the thing behind the Blackwall really is.
The Arasaka Tower Attack of 2023 Explained: Johnny, Blackhand, Smasher and the Nuke
On 20 August 2023 a Militech-backed strike team raided Arasaka Tower in Night City, Johnny Silverhand died, and a nuclear bomb levelled the city centre. Here's who was there, what each team was after, what happened to them, and how Cyberpunk 2077's flashback differs from the tabletop account.
Mentioned in28 entries
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.
Alt Cunningham: the Netrunner Who Created Soulkiller
Alt Cunningham was Night City's best netrunner, Johnny Silverhand's girlfriend and the first victim of the program she invented. Here's her story from the tabletop game to Cyberpunk 2077, and what the thing behind the Blackwall really is.
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 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.
Every Cyberpunk 2077 Ending Explained, Including Phantom Liberty
All of Cyberpunk 2077's endings in one place: The Devil, The Star, The Sun, Temperance, the secret ending, the suicide ending and Phantom Liberty's The Tower. How each one is unlocked, what happens to V, and what it all means.
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.
How Did Johnny Silverhand Get Into the Relic?
Arasaka captured Johnny in 2023, copied his mind with Soulkiller and kept the engram in Mikoshi for decades. Then Anders Hellman loaded it onto the Relic 2.0 prototype, the chip V ends up with after the Konpeki Plaza heist. Here's each step, and how the tabletop differs.
Is Johnny Silverhand Evil?
Not quite, but he is no hero. Johnny is a selfish, violent egomaniac who, in Cyberpunk 2077's version, nuked Arasaka Tower. He also really does hate the corporations that run Night City, and if V lets him, he changes. Here is the case against him, the case for him, and what the game itself says.
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.
+ 16 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.