The Duality of Doc | Cyberpunk Edgerunners Character Analysis

TODAY, we tackle the creepy ripperdoc, only known as Doc. Although his role in edgerunners is small, he does have a bit more to him than just dwindling his fingers and annoying David. He's not at all an evil character, but he is quite the clever devil. He's quite fun! Just a shame that he's not in the game. Would've been cool!.
Huge thanks to Ch0om for literally the only Doc scene compilation on KZbin. IT WAS A LIFESAVER!
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All Edgerunner's footage belongs to its creators and copyright holders. This video is for analysis purposes only. All music is from Epidemic Sound, except for V's Theme from the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack. All rights belong to the respective copyright holders.
Huge thank you to Marcin Przybyłowicz, Paul Leonard-Morgan, P.T. Adamczyk, for composing the soundtrack to Cyberpunk 2077. Absolute gem.
Many thanks to the people who make Edgerunner's scene compilations, such as Ch0om, Anime Clipper, and Jellydose. Makes it so much easier to get footage for these videos.
#edgerunners #cyberpunk2077 #cyberpunk #character #analysis #writingcommunity #cdprojektred #characterstudy #writing #lucy #davidmartinez #character #characterdevelopment #writing #cyberpunkedgerunners #explained #videoessay

[@lydiscott]

Thank you so much for watching! Let me know what you think of Doc/the opinions presented in this analysis! Huge thank you for all your comments, I genuinely do learn things from you all. I'm also an indie writer, with a published work available for purchase on Amazon and my own website. "Caesaria: Book I", is a post apocalyptic novel, written in a style not unlike a novelized manga. You can find links to it below. Thank you! :D Standard Edition: amzn.to/3JQm3p7 Signed Edition With Postcard: www.lydiscott.com/works

[@TheMecoolerest001]

I just finished your book. It was a lot of fun! I would have to say the best scene was the boat blast. It reminded me of the tense horror of Saving Private Ryan’s Omaha beach scene or the Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones. Not sure where you fall on the wanting feedback spectrum but if you want some I would be happy to provide. I look forward to the sequel.

[@darkspire91]

Doc is the drug dealer who sees his regular overdosing and administers narcan. And then charge for the narcan.

[@ljb4192]

Gotta love capitalism

[@sgtsaltstick2729]

Well, better have that guy, than the one who'll set you up with an on-call tripsitter who'll clean your house if you Overdose.

[@maximodubs4189]

"I don't care what you do, you're free to do whatever, if i have to save your ass, I'll charge you, resources are finite"

[@ZeallustImmortal]

Very good comparison lol

[@BlaxkSun]

Gotta respect it

[@user-zn3eq9tl6v]

Despite rippeedoc being probably the cushiest gig you can have in Night City, there's definitely a tragedy in seeing the edgerunners that you've built a connection with over time eventually succumbing to either violence or cyberpsychosis. You can see it in the game with Viktor too.

[@lydiscott]

He’s such a nice guy. Like I would hope V stays friends with Vik even in the phantom Liberty ending.

[@Octavia-882]

Didn't he say that he skipped town?

[@TheMecoolerest001]

@@Octavia-882 nope he works for zetatech and misty skips town. V sticks around to become a fixer most likely.

[@Lunam_D._Roger]

​@@TheMecoolerest001V would a fair amount of connections to get started with, too. And probably a lot of eddies to sit on and work with. Especially if your V is Corpo origin. You don't get into Arasaka Counter-intelligence at the age of 23 without being smart enough to do some investing and play the stock market to some degree. And V is sitting on a metric fuckton of eddies if most people's endgame wallets are anything to go by. Definitely enough to set V up for life it they invest intelligently, and definitely more than enough to begin setting up a good network. And V will have a really good idea of what mercs can handle what jobs, given their experience as a merc themselves, a merc that no one, V included, knows could have taken on Smasher in their prime, if they had only gone down a different path. That's a lot of experience and knowledge about how gigs work, and if your V has 20 Tech, a lot of both technical knowledge, and the personal experience, with what Cyberware would be required for a job.

[@Valtremors]

Imagine being a ripper with a exceedingly good memory. And you start at one point (probably through a cyber psychosis of your own) remembering the serial numbers of various cyberware. And you keep keeping a list how many times a cyberware has managed to change hands. That would proper mess you up mentally.

[@diandradraws4822]

Fun fact, Doc gets even more sympathetic in the German dub. When he gives David his final dose of meds, he actually says that HE'S the one who will tell David's story. To make sure people will remember him after his death.

[@__-tp4tm]

It isnt generally so? Mist, I thought it was simply because David did appear quite special to him. Handling the Sandevistan over a longer period as a teen and starting to make a name of himself, I thought part of the Doc really was impressed enough to remember in his stead.

[@gamerboi9561]

He generally says the same in English just more implied, by saying “another tale for the next dreamer” as in he’ll tell about knowing David to the next young merc looking to chrome up in his shop

[@TheUltimoSniper]

To support this, the in-game quest where you find the XBD from the anime, it directly mentions David Martinez. Thus Doc most likely sold that XDB.

[@thegoose8663]

His story will make good advertisement for people who want to believe that they are "special" like him)

[@HauntingSpectre]

Doc definitely tried to stop David, in the very beginning, in his own way. Both during the Sandevistan surgery, and then the lung implants, it's very clear that David is not under anesthetic. This could potentially be because David simply could not afford the medication -- but since Doc was installing it for free (and David paid for the lungs), one would think the Anesthetic would go with it. Considering the amount of pain and shock caused by the surgery could outright kill David. Later we see David is perfectly relaxed. Even the toughest of people don't just go through surgery unmedicated like it's no big deal. One could argue it's just that David was more metal than human at that point. But I think down the road he had anesthetics provided during his surgeries and tune ups. By not dampening the shock and pain in the first two Surgeries, Doc was probably hoping he would scare David, the pain would be too much, and that David would tap out and quit. It could have been a business ploy, just to scam him out of the Sandevistan earlier, but the lungs were bought and paid for, there was no reason for another scene of David in excruciating pain during installation. I think after the first little bit, Doc actually started to believe David was in fact, special. He even comments about his affinity for cyberware, and how he could be the next smasher. It's not until we start to see David crack, that Doc realizes he's not as special as they both believed, but a naïve child, whom doc has basically sentenced to death. Despite all the easter eggs, and connections to the show, Davids Ripper Doc is completely missing. You can actually go to Docs Shop in the game, and the new owner states Davids Doc packed up and left after David died. I think it weighed heavily on his conscience, and he quit out right after the fact. After all, who wouldn't want to be worked on by the very same Ripper doc who sent David Martinez skyrocketing into fame and fortune. A lot of people would seek him out, hoping to be the next big thing, that maybe his cyberware was better, or he had hidden techniques or secrets that helped David along, since he was a nobody 16/17 year old at the start, and a Night City legend by 18, in part, thanks to Doc.

[@TheOldestPrimordial]

When he gets his sandy he probably was on anesthesia, but since it was his spine removed which is like the center of ur nerves or smth the anesthesia can only do so much

[@_GeneralMechanics_]

The Doctor's Oath: "First do no harm." Doc's oath: "First, cash."

[@thetaorobertshow265]

Idk, lately doctors all around the world go on the "cash first" road

[@Khornecussion]

@@thetaorobertshow265 Well, ya' kinda need to be able to afford the drugs that are needed to save lives and without a barter system, our use of such resources would skyrocket and thus we'd use them all up. Unfortunately, the system sucks, but it keeps us functional. Our resources are finite and in a way, imperfect healthcare... as dark as it is... is a form of population control that disincentivizes having kids without thinking, or just pumping out 10 kids like what happens in rural Africa and third world countries as a whole.

[@_GeneralMechanics_]

@@thetaorobertshow265 It's the business of medicine. Private practices are being bought out into for-profit hospitals. My father was a general surgeon for 40 years and retired a few years ago, I watched it happen in real time.

[@_GeneralMechanics_]

@@thetaorobertshow265 Business of Medicine. My father is a retired general surgeon, closed his private practice when the hospital turned into a for-profit Institution.

[@obolstudios5154]

“David could go to another ripper” If by some slime chance it was V’s ripper the whole story would have changed differently.

[@lydiscott]

IMAGINE THAT! Geeeez gotta wonder

[@obolstudios5154]

@@lydiscott well considering V’s ripper was much more openly caring to V im assuming he’d be like the second dad to David (if he found said ripper after Maine died) and unlike doc V’s ripper would actually confront David’s constant consumption for cyberware. This would drastically change the story since there would be someone trying to protect David and not in Doc’s way where he subtly tells it to David or Lucy who would say in a different way but David didn’t talk either of their languages he’s straight forward something V’s ripper is good at and I think that V’s ripper would finally get to David and say to his face not Doc’s “you need to chill choom or you’ll have a diet of immuno blockers” or Lucy’s “you need to slow down on your cyberware” V’s ripper would just go “you are going to DIE if you keep this up David and your not going to make it to the moon with Lucy if you keep swallowing all this fucking cyberware” I do believe that V’s ripper would have shot David in the perfect direction to either safely build up the money to go to the moon or just get out of Night city all together and aside from V’s ripper if David had Rebecca as his girlfriend the whole show would have been over by episode 8. (She would have dragged David out of night city literally.)

[@ohmygoditisspider7953]

@@obolstudios5154 do you have some sort of aversion to saying the character's name? It's even really easy to remember. Viktor Vektor.

[@obolstudios5154]

@@ohmygoditisspider7953 no I just didn’t know his name. Lots of the videos I watched with Vicktor in it just said “V’s ripper” so I just assumed that was the slang or norm.

[@peterthor9940]

He wouldn't be hanging out with Viktor because Viktor was too much of a good guy to let some kid sell BDs. David's first reason was to just sell BDs.

[@beetle149]

One of the lines of thought of people like this is "he's gonna dope/chrome up anyway, at least my stuff is clean" even though his clean product is still killing someone.

[@n2sry405]

Doc makes an appearance in one of the Cyberpunk comics, there we see him how he just listens to requests from customers and doesn't care a bit on consequences it could have. Customer: "do your **, no anesthesia" Doc:"heheheeh wid pleasuuuure..."

[@Issa.nicholas]

“Go on become that legend or whatever the fuck you mercs do. Another tale for the next dreamer…” *flash forward to when we stumble into Vics clinic and having no idea how we got there because the rockerboy in our head got us there after we blacked out*

[@filipvadas7602]

The thing to understand is that all Ripperdocs fundimentally understand the moral hangups of their profession and they deal with it in different ways. Some try to care about their customers, almost like a doctor, like you see with Viktor in the game But then you have people like Doc who have resigned themselves to being the equivalent of drug dealers. The fact that he warns David that he's gone too far and that he should start taking implants *out* is just that little bit of empathy peaking through

[@Khornecussion]

In a way, it's the trolley problem as well. Do you not install this chrome, cost yourself a massive payday, but buy this kid... what? A month? A week? MAYBE a year if he's lucky being that weak and that over ambitious? Or do you cash out now, let him burn out the way he wants to and you just... send him on his way? It was just " Yeah he's gonna die, but when? " - and that's most likely how he justified it to himself.

[@ExtantPerson]

Doc is the voice of the audience, in a way. By the middle of the show, us viewers are starting to see where it’s going. We can tell that David is going to risk losing himself, and we want to tell him to stop before it’s too late. Doc is the one that tells him for us, and David’s response confirms to the audience that it’s already too late for him.

[@lydiscott]

Ohhhh I really like this!!

[@Sasuke81a]

Love the analysis of Doc. Since I started playing Cyberpunk 2077, I was cautious of getting implants because of Cyberpsychosis. In my own Cyberpunk story my OC had witnessed a Cyberpsychosis episode which destroyed his family and Maxtec did save him but he spent the rest of his childhood in Foster Care. He was very anxious about seeing a Ripperdoc because of his anxiety of Cyberpsychosis.

[@Gyrokaenzo212]

fascinating character, i can only imagine what kind of deep internal struggle they'd have to upgrade or even get repairs to survive the city.

[@Sasuke81a]

@@Gyrokaenzo212 Thank You, my OC did first meet David Martinez through Gloria who he was close friends with. He's not much older than David but just after Gloria lost her life, he was made redundant by the Corpos so he joined Maine with David to survive the city. Maine's Cyberpsychosis episode did traumatised him though since that's exactly how my OC lost his parents. David was able to convince him to start chipping after he starts to learn Netrunning with Lucy and Kiwi. His struggle of how much is too much is the focus of my OC and unlike David who he sees him as a Brother to him, he's very cautious and gradual to Chipping and often seeks Viktor for a Second Opinion.

[@Gyrokaenzo212]

@@Sasuke81a That's really cool, My OC was a choom of Maine's back during their militech days, but unlike Maine he went corpo and became a fixer even having minor age reduction to stay in his 20's, but he got in trouble for "losing" too much property, so he put in his advanced notice, cleared out his desk and left militech. before they could terminate him and exposed several others on his way out to buy time as he went into hiding. became a merc not long after, chipping a stolen QianT "Warp dancer" Sandevistan and eventually linked with Maines crew before david and even helps david utilize his sandy without over exerting himself, when maine died he warns David he's not special and that he needs to stop but david refuses to listen to him since he's also chromed the hell out and still fine. when the cyber skeleton battle is happening, He's on an AV watching with his Corpo sister who managed to help him escape Arasaka's wrath as thanks for selling out Faraday's scheme and collecting the data for her. She could only save him. He laments David since they had a similar origin, street kids with dead dads and struggling moms trying to raise them above this life, the difference is that he saw the end his mother wanted and it wasn't as bright. He also thought he was special for a while since he kept winning, but after his choom was butchered by Scavs he snapped and killed them all before snapping back, he got lucky and after that he started scrolling XBs of his gangoon massacres and selling them to their victims. as he did this his psychotic episodes began to slow down and the immuno blockers were working. turns out his constant killing actually numbed his mind to the guilt and made him special in the same way smasher is a Functional Cyber psycho, or so he says. truth is he's constantly numbing his mind with XBDs and joy toys to avoid thinking about it and maintains his cheery cool guy personality so he has a mindset to cling to. He's a bass swimming up stream acting like he's a koi in a pond.

[@Sasuke81a]

@@Gyrokaenzo212 Your OC is awesome too. In the Adam Smasher episode, he saw the Nightmare before him, after losing His parents, Gloria, Maine and now David. He saw the writing on the wall too. He was close proximity to Rebecca when Adam Smasher crashed onto her and despite he had tried all his Netrunning skills as well the equipment he had on hand and at that time he's proficient with blades and rifle training, he was no match for Adam Smasher and lost his Right Eye and Right Arm but David did intervene and saved his life. My OC was smart enough to invest in Medtech insurance so he was taken to the hospital and passed out. He awoken later when Lucy visited him to tell him what happened but to say goodbye too. Afterwards he was forced to see Viktor to get chipped to replace his eye and arm. He does meets V through Jackie Welles and joins V and Jackie on the Hiest organised by Dexter which he Warned them both about Faraday.

[@drysoup3017]

What a cool convo. 2 dudes talking about their OC's and stuff.

[@thegreatestpepe]

To put Doc in a nutshell, he's a "caring" meth dealer. He doesn't want his clients to OD, that's bad for business, so he cautions them on overusing it. But he's still gonna sell his product regardless.

[@bmo5852]

It's worth noting that Doc doesn't use anaesthetic. I mean, getting your spine, lungs, and presumably everything else removed while under no anaesthetic would be unimaginably painful. I mean, the sheer physical trauma of that, is probably enough to send most people directly into Cyberpsychosis. Hell, Doc was probably hoping David would go Psycho so he could kill him and take the Sandevistan.

[@milkman2040]

Honestly, good luck on doc if he's going against a cyberpsycho with a sandy 🙏

[@twinodoom]

He was probably hoping David would ask him to stop when the pain was too much, but David never did.

[@thedoc7184]

Love him or hate him. The way doc has interchangeable arms is cool

[@UNYEILDING]

Doc is Nightcity in microcosm: a gateway to taboo power with zero safeguards beyond your judgement and it takes a part of you with every interaction.

[@IAmNumber4000]

I get the impression that in NC, if you find a high paying job, you really don’t have the luxury of worrying about its ethics because you’ll quickly be replaced

[@senatorarmstrong1233]

I think out of all the characters Doc is my favorite edgerunners character. That scene where he switches his arms is so cool.

[@Animated_Narrator]

This really helped me understand the more complex parts of Doc so thank you for this video It was enjoyable as always

[@lydiscott]

So happy to hear it! Thank you for watching. :D

[@shinrugal]

Wow i was pleasantly surprised that my comment was used in the video.

[@lydiscott]

it was a great comment!!!! 😄😄😄😄😄 thank you for making it!

[@rennac3152]

Way to go bruv

[@MrGreene-kf8ve]

Sucks that he's not in the game or maybe he is maybe there's a shard somewhere telling us that he retired after David spent so much money at his shop

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

His clinic is still there but with a different ripper. As peaceful deaths are uncommon in NC, someone might have put extra lead components into his body or tested their new gorilla arms on a live subject.

[@lockeproposalsbigdayout2904]

Brilliant analysis, as usual.

[@lydiscott]

Aw thank you, Locke! 😄

[@lockeproposalsbigdayout2904]

​@@lydiscottYou're welcome!

[@aidsbutlikethegoodkind2336]

Been loving this analysis series! It honestly couldn’t have come at a better time given how I only finally watched edgerunners after putting it off for so long. Doc is one of the most interesting characters in the show for me, and I love how they animated him

[@brendanweller2003]

V got a good ripper Vic David got a pos enabler

[@roryrousseau111]

“Watch out Daveyboy it’s gonna scramble ya brain”

[@GhostEchoX17]

Just found this channel a few days ago and I gotta say this was my favorite video so far. I've seen a lot of people mentioned characters from edge runners but not many mentioning doc. I found him very interesting and this video help shed some light on why. Awesome video

[@lydiscott]

Thank you so so much! Glad you enjoyed! He’s much more interesting than he seems. Certainly a character with lots of sad implications.

[@GhostEchoX17]

@@lydiscott I agree and your very welcome. I look forward to your next video!

[@wintersibrun768]

I feel like this could 100% be a podcast within the world and its so immersive.

[@manicmig7787]

Great analysis on this character. I really enjoy your videos and your breakdowns keep up the good content!

[@lydiscott]

Thank you so so much! 😄

[@msaad_xd9472]

We love this thank you so much for sharing this with us ^_^

[@lydiscott]

Thank YOU for watching Msaad! :D Hoping you're well!

[@tophatgeo]

First video I've seen from you! Really awesome stuff. I really like how Doc (and society as a whole) treats Cyberpsychosis. They view it as this inevitability which will happen to those who think they're special. Doc sees this and thinks to make a profit. I do think I agree that he has some feeling of personal responsibility but it's clearly never going to be enough for him to ever stop doing what he's doing. Having a conscience is too pricey when there's so much profit to be made.

[@tittumsmcsprinkles9020]

Eddies are everything. If not Doc, someone else will. At least Doc is going to warn you that you're screwing yourself over choom.

[@bendits6156]

love the channel!

[@lydiscott]

Aww thank you!!!!

[@futuristicbus61]

I love cyberpunk lore analysis videos!

[@zlosov5817]

Cutting down this video to a phrase: "I was chasing the bag" "But what if Hippocratic Oath?" "It's a discount"

[@KaiserAfini]

Doc's tragedy is that he lives to see the ruins of dreamers.

[@tripps3631]

Watching David deal with Doc makes me glad that V had Vic to look after them.

[@NuttsnBolts]

Doc reminds me a little of Stein from Soul Eater. Both are a little bit crazy but want to help push the main character forward in the story.

[@wll2104]

fuck yeah new edgerunners content

[@nobodyimportant4778]

The no anesthesia scene was so stupid though lmao. Like no, i get anime has a hard time comprehending what an injury is, but you CANNOT just survive the removal of your spinal column with no anesthesia. Even if bleeding out was totally off the table with sci fi magic, the pain and shock will send involuntary electrical disruptions through your nervous system that will drop your blood pressure and stop your heart. At what point are you spending so much money on space age medical tech to even make this possible that an anesthetic is pennies by comparison

[@lydiscott]

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my spine hurts after reading this YOURE NOT WRONG

[@Ale-dd3ek]

My theory Is that the doc used some kind of anesthetic able to numb the pain enough to keep you alive bit not enough to make It painless

[@a2izo]

You understand it's a cartoon? You can suspend your disbelief at moving in slowed time due to Sandy but unrealistic surgery is too much? 😭

[@data_5674]

I'm not sure if you can survive getting your spinal column ripped out even WITH anesthesia, wouldn't that stop everything connected to it?

[@jingbot1071]

Painkillers? What are you, a corpo millionaire?

[@thegoose8663]

The longer David lives, the more impressive the story of a "special boy" will be. A kid who chromed to the bones and admirably stood against the corps, dying heroically using the MOST advanced tech there is, before he went crazy (well, thats how the story goes, at least)

[@louisonsad772]

loved the vid

[@kennethportola6461]

Great content

[@lydiscott]

Thank you! 😄

[@DynomitePunch]

Ripperdoc and edgerunner is like crocodile and the bird it's an ecosystem built on survival and trust the first few rips they don't care cuz yournnot really giving them anymore than what they get from every other choose, but once you become a regular ripperdocs rely on you for funding and lively hold just as you do them, creates a twisted sort of brotherhood

[@jamaldee2355]

Another great video I honestly cannot wait until you take on more video game characters like songbird,reed, river ward,V, Kerry,Johnny,rogue and my personal favourite Panam

[@lydiscott]

Aww thank you! Me too, I’m looking forward to covering all of them!

[@jamaldee2355]

@@lydiscott thank you so much can’t wait for those videos loll good luck 🤞🏽

[@bloodbrothers6556]

I know doc only exists within the show, and not in the games because he wasn’t even thought up before them; but it is intriguing to know that his joint is straight up gone. Theorizing, this could pretty much mean, after David died, no one else did business with him or he just died afterwards. It’s interesting to at least think about.

[@SkyTowerKurogane]

You know I never even noticed how Doc is a devil in a Faustian bargain.

[@SarcasticPossum]

To me he's just another ripper doc who knows the consequences of what these implants can do, but doesn't truly care as long as the money keeps coming.

[@kishinasura1989]

The interesting thing about those blockers they where made for people who had borg bodies and on top of that the dose was high enough to make them OD and david canonicaly went through enough for a platoon of them. There was a splate book in the day that talked how in night city the most cases of od are from blockers

[@lydiscott]

Oh damn! That explains a lot! WOW!

[@kishinasura1989]

@@lydiscott yeah they are a lot like morphine plus they're not ment to stop cyber psychosis just help your body cope with having the foriegn bodies in it it's more a pain reliever and immune suppressant. Plus it's very addictive it was originally for soldiers when cybernetics was just starting out to help there bodies deal with the extra strain of cyberware but over time or large doses it can cause hallucinations or cause psychological issues such as irratsion and manic episodes in some cases full blown Schizophrenia depending on the patient. It's why most ripper docs tell there clients to take it easy and don't over do the meds after surgery. At least the self respecting and up front ones. But the doc was not that type of guy

[@kishinasura1989]

@@lydiscott they where originally made for soldiers when cybernetics started out to help there bodies not reject the cyberware but the drugs and heat and strain on there brain led to some of the first cases of cyberpsychosis. It's more like morphine in a way numbs the pain and relaxes the muscles. But In high doses hallucinations and delirium is common place

[@draochvar9646]

Yeeeeea, you could supply a full squad of Dragoons or Daioni for a protracted combat operation with the amount of blockers David had coursing through him.

[@kishinasura1989]

@@draochvar9646 yeah and it didn't help that a symptom of blocker OD is hallucinations plus the amount of heat for that chrome would be firing his brain big time especially with no ice to help cool down

[@KhunShawn]

Shout out to the Hotdog Man

[@remuvs]

While Doc is a character made after Cyberpunk 2077 was released, it makes for an interesting head canon that he leaves the clinic after realizing the consequences of enabling David. When you find Doc's clinic it in game, it's being run by a different Ripper. While enabling addictions is bad, it's a whole different tier when it's to minors like David who wasn't a bad kid before becoming an Edgerunner. Doc seemed pretty remorseful after he inadvertently triggered David and was attacked- no longer horsing around, trying to con David out of eddies- even giving him high grade neuro-blockers on the house as a final gift. He knew David wasn't going to be back or even be breathing for much longer. He robbed David of his innocence as a teen, and basically handed him the rope to cut his life short at 18. That kind of thought can really change a person, no matter how sleezy they are.

[@remygallardo7364]

I like to think that Doc sees David as a work of art, much as David saw his body as himself. To Doc the tragedy is every time he finds someone truly remarkably capable of handling modifications on the order of David or Adam Smasher, inevitably it will be an exercise in pushing that creativity and intensity until it goes too far. He has the unique pain of working with his masterpieces and seeing them crushed by society in turn. And then getting to sell their final moments, the only surviving legacy of the great work he accomplished, as fetish material for other potential artworks.

[@PapaGLive]

Man. I was so confused on what the videos about at first. I thought it was about ripper docs in general so I was very confused at why we were only talking about 1 😅

[@blar2112]

As i see it, Doc knows David will go to another Ripper if he refuses, so he rather do it himself, so can keep him close and keep trying to convince him to slow down and genuinely help.

[@51anomalies54]

I see this as more of a icarus story, doc is denalis, chrome is the wax wing, and choom is icarus The sky represents the hopes and dreams, the wax wings melting are the immuno blockers failing/ the gravity suit, and the sea is adam smasher

[@JrFFoo]

Doc is a real big man from Jamaica 🇯🇲

[@AlexisTheDragon]

Docs just a doctor trying to get his own. People gotta have their own freedom in life. Davids shorter life was miles better than his longer one woulda ever been without that power.

[@kekero540]

It's also important to point out that David didn't pace himself it's likely Cyberpsychosis very much so has to do with the level of stress you experience as well as the speed at which you augment yourself not giving it time to adapt to the new hardware. David likely COULD have handled just the Sandevistan, but that on top of the myriad enhancements he has added as well as him not having time to recover from some extremely invasive surgery could just mean he had a regular ass psychotic break, nothing original to the setting, people just do that sometimes due to extreme emotional distress and long term drug abuse. the concept of Cyberpsychosis is interesting because it's likely a myth. It's just that Night City is just that stressful and they don't have any regulations on augmentation so people don't get more augmentations during their recovery

[@gaiusdevil5481]

I kinda like to imagine that doc used to be passionate about his work and wanted to help people but was disselusioned over the years in night city with all the Solos just not listening

[@KP-lq2ux]

David’s inability to choose a much better ripperdoc after becoming a big deal always confused me, like why keep going to the guy who doesn’t even use proper anethesis?

[@5thdog]

Could just be a familiarity thing. David seems the sentimental type.

[@DwarfDaddy]

It’s very much a Devil you know vs one you don’t sort of thing

[@holzwurm_hd7029]

I mean id love a set of Mantis Blades tbh.

[@goldenshoggoth2143]

It's almost like he was trying to make money and David was just too weak to say no

[@lefdee]

they know the risks but so do you. they''re not gonna say no. the funny thing is that rippers are almost more humanitarian than things like trauma team or any medical corp. also remember that v's ripper will almost always be on your side no matter what. he's a primary care giver

[@hab0272]

Ripperdoc's face and voice reminds me of a warcraft troll. Rokhan in particular.

[@lydiscott]

Absolutely see it! And hear it too.

[@hab0272]

@@lydiscott i like it, it gives me a sci-fi witch-doctor vibe

[@Dian_Borisov_SW]

Benevolent Devil really describes doc perfectly

[@libertycharissage6037]

Would be fun and funny if you did a video about Julio from edgerunners :).

[@lydiscott]

Next years April Fools lololol

[@deleteduser3455]

I kinda got the feeling doc liked David and was opposed to it but knew either he would go to doc or he would go to some other doc so mine as well insure it's installed correctly and make some cash. A little cold maybe but I don't know it's like telling a kid to not do something you can inform them that say weaving through traffic is unsafe. But at the end of the day it's up to them to decide what they were going to do. The best you can do for anyone is advise them because people are too rebellious to control

[@jinguini8001]

Love the audio update to your equipment. Might i ask what mic you got?

[@lydiscott]

Hey, thank you! It’s actually just a blue yeti. Still working out some things with settings, but it’s gettin the job done.

[@victorbressler7156]

He also plays Slider in PL

[@darkyussha]

Doc might just be Gaunter O Dimm from the Witcher series. A little Easter egg.

[@DCPTF2]

“David could go to another ripper” not likely in any way, shape or form while it might not seem it from the Video game, on Table top you don't just bounce between rippers unless you need to use one that specializes in something hardcore, most of the time a Doc or Ripper is the unofficial NPC member of your gang or party if anything the one thing Edgerunners does right is keeps David coming back to the same Ripper despite having the Eddies to go to anyone he could want. Saying he could just go somewhere else is very Videogame minded of you

[@poet8708]

I loved Doc as a character. I often wonder what would have been different if David found Viktor instead. Recommending samurai champloo

[@lydiscott]

My sister has been asking me to cover samurai champloo for AGESSSS she’s gonna be like “YESSS” when she hears you recommended it 🤣 one of these days, I must watch it! I hear it’s excellent!

[@Foogi9000]

By the way, you can visit his shop in-game and he's not there. A completely different guy is. I think he either quit after the whole David situation or he more likely just relocated and we don't get to visit him in game.

[@kennythane7037]

Doc really cared about David the only reason he installed the sandy is because he thought he'd get it for free vs paying 6 to 10 k

[@muniz9046]

the doc is a fairly common archetype in places where drug dealing is a big problem, in the favelas almost everyone knows at least one person whos envolved in criminal activities and mostly because of a lack of social support a lot of young kids run gigs for the local gangs to help meet a necessity of the household, be it food or utilities or clothing etc and usually the person who get those kids to work is a neighbor or cousin, someone whos very close to the family, and sadly, more often then not you find out that those kids end up dead instead of whoever put them in that situation, those are recruiters, just like doc they know what those kids are looking for and they weaponize it to further their agendas, almost everytime at the cost of the recrutees life, maybe what saddens me the most is that, like doc, they sometimes give a fair warning, but kids either dont fully understand or out right choose to do it anyway, all they needed was a fair chance, just like david. Military recruiters use the same method, tho a bit less violent, but keeping college behind military service is insane, but just like night city, its the war machine that keeps the city running, the promise of a better life can lead people to make some nasty stuff, especially when their are young. any how, great video, keep it up

[@dontkickmychick6076]

I don't remember where I heard it but after David happened he quit the Ripperdoc gig, you can find his shop in game but he himself is nowhere to be found. Not much info as to what he did after that though

[@PapaGLive]

So. My question that might be pretty interesting is what if he’s required to say things about the effects of cyberware but not have to disclose anything regarding medicine since he’s not a pharmacist?

[@nightsgaming4285]

I just pieced together who July reminds me of. It’s flipping Olivia Cooke from Ready Player One

[@geoshark12]

Im wondering if him being creepy is a way to drive away those who are not certain that they wanted cyberware and the risks that come with it

[@Delmworks]

My headcanon for ripper docs is that it’s the actual antihistamines causing cyberpsychosis due to withdrawal…though the theory it’s actually just trauma is probably the authorial intent

[@lydiscott]

I actually quite like the antihistamines theory lmao

[@mnk9073]

Doc is Coppola, the braindance _Apocalypse Now_ and David is 90% of the audience.

[@Darkdragon0175]

Honestly he’s my favourite character from edgerunners

[@lydiscott]

He was definitely fun AF

[@PufflePufflePuffle]

Cool

[@josephnowak6802]

There’s still doctors

[@Coach_Gaming_Today]

You should do a video on V's ripperdoc Viktor

[@lydiscott]

On the list! 😄

[@callumdavis6178]

9:33 Thanks to the order I engaged with the media he kind of was the story that inspired my V. I was only interested in cyberpunk because of David's story, up to the point of trying to use the same cyberware he did. Though fortunately my V got a slightly better outcome.

[@felipepaulo397]

I always found ripperdocks to be interesting in the cyberpunk game. Out of all the professions, they’re one of the least morally compromised in night city. Working for a more traditional “safe” job like arasaka is surprisingly more morally corrupt than a ripperdock. It’s also interesting how some people trust their ripperdocks more than their friends, and with good reason. Of course, there’s still bad ones in the game like Finn (I shot him in the face when I found out what he was doing to the dolls 😂) but take Viktor for example, he’s a homie, he cares about V’s wellbeing and even attends Jackie’s funeral to pay respects. By the end of the game when I got my ending to leave night city with the aldecados (I love that ending), Viktor even sends a message to V saying that he hopes they’re doing well. I straight up teared up a bit! 😂

[@lilflax0396]

I like the fan theory that Lucy killed this guy

[@TheMecoolerest001]

Wonderful as always. Watching your review something clicked for me. The brain dance V finds in 2077 ends with “David Martinez did not listen to the warnings, will you?” We know that doc deals in XBD and that he did warn David. We also know he no longer works out of his clinic someone else took over. I wonder if the guilt over David’s fate led him to stop being a ripper and try to get word out about cyberpsycosis.

[@lydiscott]

OOOHHHH i didn't know someone else took over! That's actually fascinating, I love your idea that he left that BD for someone who needs it. I always assumed he never stopped, but knowing this makes me feel like that's probably wrong, AND I LOVE IT. Yay for character development XD

[@TheMecoolerest001]

@@lydiscottyou can visit the same clinic in game and someone new is there so its not set in stone but seems like a logical leap.

[@elitegamer9310]

​@@TheMecoolerest001 Maybe he moved out of Night City? I was half expecting him to show up in Dogtown with the Phantom Liberty expansion.

[@TheMecoolerest001]

@@elitegamer9310 possible. Or maybe he died or maybe he retired or got new work.

[@JacksonJinn]

Doc, to me, is Charon, the Grim Reaper or any other psychopomp you want to bring up. Not in the sense of a killer who intentionally takes life, but as the last being one will meet before their life ends. There's a real sense that he's the gatekeeper who holds the doors to David's future... And in opening them, seals his fate. There's a hypothetical worldline out there where Doc denies David the Sandie installation, or offers him a better deal while David was willing to sell it up front. In either case, it'd drag David away from the world of his future Edgerunners, and no doubt denies him the attention of Lucy and Maine. (The most you'd get then is them realizing Gloria's kid has been left on his own, and there's far less chance they'd give a shit without chrome in him.) Maybe that's the world he ends up succumbing to the worst sides of Arasaka, a true test subject put through hell. Or maybe he rises through the ranks, becoming a corpo to fulfill his mother's dream of reaching the top a very different way. But neither path is real as long as Doc first denies David full price, then offers instead a devil's deal. Delivering him into the realm of the Edgerunners... And sealing his fate, one way or another.

[@user-xv6zn8fd2x]

The video longer than the actual screen time of the character

[@aaronRiver02]

Omg imagine if cosmetic surgery was like this that would be wild…. 👀

[@Fleekie]

cool vido

[@smy115]

DO VIC PLEASE!!!! I really love this stuff and haven't seen anyone who's doing it for this show and game, i also feel like a comparison of Doc vs. Vic and why V succeeded cause of Vic where David failed cause of Doc

[@lydiscott]

Absolutely!!! He’s a MUST! Such a sweet guy.

[@jeffreybromfield2279]

Unpopular request ... do Ripperdoc Fingers. Despite oozing with creepiness and sleeze, he seemed to be quite popular.

[@lydiscott]

OH hes on the list!!!!

[@alexhulea2735]

He's popular because he used to be the only guy who had legendary cyberware that everyone copy-pasted for game builds.

[@redacted7999]

Fire🎉

[@carloschocano8016]

Like you to the doc comment you made

[@ThatMykl]

Ripperdocs seem to be sort of a strange part of Cyberpunks ecosystem. They have the unique position of being spectators and witnesses of everything that happens in NC while at the same time facilitating the 'sickness' that weaves through every inch of the city. They are neutral entities and also aren't, they play a role in every major development, are connected to everything, they're indispensable and yet their entire existence is also the embodiment of what's wrong with society... If I'm making any sense here 😅

[@brodie8728]

i’d trust him with my first child

[@lydiscott]

🫣🫣🫣

[@konradklukowski1009]

As long as the kid doesn’t want chrome, he will be fine.