Johnny Silverhand, the cybernetic rocker bad boy played by Keanu Reeves won the hearts of Cyberpunk fanbase with his charisma and sorted past. While his first appearance in Cyberpunk 2077 is hostile and antagonistic, he eventually warms himself to the main character V as well as the player.
As the two characters work together on missions and confront the Corpo overlords of Night City the players learn more about Silverhand’s motivations and beliefs but not all the interesting information is well-known to the fans. Johnny Silverhand’s origins are only briefly discussed in Cyberpunk’s main story. Of course, fans can find shards of information that go into the lore more in-depth, but most fans don’t know much about where Silverhand comes from or how he became the legendary rebel rocker boy of 2077.
4 His Dog Tags
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In the aftermath of the war, many American soldiers deserted or rebelled against the corruption of the American government, Johnny being one of them. After his desertion, he fled to Night City where founded his band Samurai, and left the name Robert John Lindre behind to become the infamous Johnny Silverhand.
It is this chapter of his life that he reflects on with V in the run-down motel during the main quest line. Johnny talks about his time in the army briefly and tells the story of how he lost his best friend in the war as well as his arm. Johnny then gives V the dog tags of this supposed best friend as proof of his loyalty to V going forward. Most players will have found this to be an honest and connecting moment between the two characters as Silverhand seemingly lays everything out on the table. This is not the case however and probably goes by most players unnoticed as the tags Silverhand gives to V are actually his own. They have the name of Robert John Lindre, of course, both the players and V are unaware of this.
3 False Flashbacks
Throughout the main storyline, the player is confronted with Johnny Silverhand’s past as he and V’s memories are intertwined due to their shared consciousness. There are two flashback missions that put the player in the role of Johnny Silverhand, the first being in 2023 and the second being in 2013. Most players will take these missions at face value as a verbatim retelling of the actual events. However, this is not the case and on further inspection, the players can discover that these events are far from the truth of what actually happened.
The first flashback in Cyberpunk as well as Johnny’s introduction into the story is the more inaccurate of the two and is actually almost completely false. While Johnny Silverhand was indeed a part of the assault team on Arasaka in 2023, he was never the leader. The role that Silverhand plays in the mission was actually Morgan Blackhand’s, another Night City legend that is frequently mentioned throughout the game and who is completely omitted from Johnny’s flashback.
2 His True Demise
Perhaps the largest lie the players are told is Johnny Silverhand’s death. In reality, Johnny never made it back to the rooftop to have a showdown with Adam Smasher, he actually died on their first encounter. This rivalry between Smasher and Silverhand is also played up by the retelling, but they had little to no actual interaction before this event.
It's here as well that Johnny replaces Morgan Blackhand in the real events. Blackhand and Smasher had been rivals for years, and it was these two that actually had the showdown on the rooftop. In truth, Smasher thought very little of Johnny in 2023 and actually killed the rocker boy quite easily before he was able to escape to the rooftop.
1 Reasons For The Lies
The second flashback in 2013 of Johnny going on a mission to save Alt Cunningham with Rogue and Thompson is mostly true. However, there is a scene at the end of the mission where a grief-stricken Johnny Silverhand beats Thompson in a fit of rage over the loss of Alt. Silverhand claims to V that this incident soured their relationship and that they never worked together again. This is a lie however as his voice can be heard on the comms during the 2023 flashback as well.
The main reason for these changes in Johnny’s memories could be due to Arasaka's meddling. Silverhand’s engram had been in Corpo control for fifty years and was most likely tampered with. Arasaka is a shady and manipulative organization after all and would have reasons to suppress knowledge and hide certain information. The other reason for these changes is revealed by Alt Cunningham later in the story. She points out that what the players witness is a retelling of Johnny’s subjective point of view and not the actual truth. Johnny, like all people, omits certain details and lies about past actions. He lies to V as he does to himself.
While Johnny Silverhand is an amazing character that grows an epic bond with V throughout the story of Cyberpunk, most fans are unaware of his true past. While he is a great companion and gives advice to V and the players, he still occasionally lies or at least has the wrong information. In any case, these are things that most people did not know about the legendary rocker boy.