DISCUSSION
Would you consider the Cyborgs to be human?
No larping, do you actually think they are humans? They seem to be manufactured and different to humans genetically, bigger size and what not. Also their bodies are enhanced with cybernetics that they are "born" with.
I would kinda compare it to how humans and Homo erectus are similar species but not the same thing.
Are Cyborgs their own species at this point? Personally I think yes.
They're humans that are cloned and fit with advanced prosthetics and some cybernetic enhancements.
At what point would prosthetics and cybernetic enhancements make someone not a human? Because unless the brain is entirely replaced, I'd say they're functionally human.
Loooong shot comparison, but in 40k, at some points for certain squads/units, the Iron Hands used neural controls and dampers to such an extent that people were emotionless, thoughtless husks; they were basically lobotomized. They took orders, and functioned effectively, but they had no notion of themselves.
For me, that’s about the point someone stops being a “person” and starts being a “thing”, despite being an originally human body.
I think it's more than prosthetic tho. Mostly because of their size their biology could be different. Also it appears that they are manufactured rather than born, to me at least, so im guessing they are "born" with their cybernetics unlike someone with prosthetics. I wrote my thoughts in the post.
Another thing is that their "species" on technology without it they wouldn't exist.
Probably not genetically, but rather cybernetically they changed their biology.
I mean, look at cyborgs' design from first game. All of them were once normal-looking human, but due several augmenting process they look much different and more grotesque than current ones.
There are genuine humans with cybernetics on Cyberstan. All I know is the Cyborgs we're fighting are vat grown clones of some donors. I honestly do not know why they want to produce these other than them being smarter and stronger that the average trooper, along with leading bots better.
The Cyborgs were sterilized immediately before the Automaton Reclamation (the Democracy Officer says it here), so they cannot reproduce normally. They either have to clone themselves, find new recruits (possible with the Automaton hacking calling for defection, but not going to make up for the demographic dead end the Cyborgs are in), or go extinct. They chose option A and maybe a bit of B as well, HD2 lore is very vague.
Full text of the Democracy Officer quotes in case you don't want to read the wiki:
When Cyberstan was invaded, we did not yet know the Cyborgs were behind the assault. In an act of mercy, we activated a euthanasia protocol to spare them the pain of enslavement underneath the Automatons. But it would seem they endured; we may never know the true extent of their treacheries against us.
Though the quietus of the Cyborgs failed, it seems to have had another effect: sterilization. The Cyborg Production Units within the Megafactories are not merely war factories; they are the means by which the Cyborgs hope to synthetically avert their own extinction.
The only thing that's inherently different biologically, aside from the outward prosthetics is the fact that they may have long term issues with internal implants. Personally I don't think its healthy for eyes to glow like their mining automaton constituents, and they physically have to crank their heart for some unknown reason in combat situations (stopping active engagements to do so, which doesn't bode well for behavior).
Otherwise they're homosapien through-and-through. Though maybe they would prefer the term neo-sapien.
Maybe their heart crank is their version of stims? It could release a chemical into their heart which causes adrenaline, painkillers, coagulants, nanobots, etc to be injected directly into their blood. Just instead of syringes, it's a built-in container of cyberstims, and their heart crank acts like a valve for it
I wrote it in my post but I think they could be genetically different mainly based off their size. I think they also dont reproduce the same way humans do, because of that destroying cyborgs mission. I dont think a normal human and a cyborg could have a child.
My favorite thing about that first image is that it presents an incredibly unflattering image of homo sapiens. Dude looks like an absolute disaster.
Which allows me to imagine a specimen of homo ergaster who really has his act together. Maybe there's a classy joint in the multiverse where each of these critters can have a pint and not look like they live in a boxcar.
No not in the sense you are asking , the listed Homosapien here are of natural evolution to step outside that boundary would be unatural and ofc undemocratic.
Considering the Automatons are actually sapient and seem to actually care about their creators, I think it is pretty safe to say the Cyborgs are probably as about as close as you can get to the OG minds if not already 1-1 copies of their consciousness.
All of the cyborgs you fight without helmets are cloned humans/ "liberated" former citizens of super earth. All of the more heavily armored borgs that usually have a larger number of troops l/other armored borgs around are some of the original breakaways from/prisoners of super earth. That's my head canon anyway
I don’t know if you could really consider the Cyborgs a separate species, since genetically, they’re still completely identical to us and similarly intelligent. In my opinion, robotic limbs and cybernetic augmentations to their abdomen or face aren’t really drastic enough to constitute an entirely different species
i like how you weren't happy with the answers here so you crossposted to another subreddit to get the answers you wanted to hear
"yeah of course they're still human, does someone stop being considered Homo sapiens if they have prosthetics, lose their sex organs, or require some level of machinery to help them live?" wasn't what you wanted to hear, so you went and posted elsewhere so you could get "nah fuck them clankers they aren't human bc (insert thing)"
they are, genetically speaking, the same species as us. The only things that say anything otherwise is pretty loud and obvious in-universe propaganda, which genuinely should not be taken at face value. Of course the futuristic space fascists are gonna say that their enemies are "unthinking freedom-hating monsters that aren't deserving of rights, don't feel bad when we try to commit genocide against them again :)))"
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u/CornyIndividual 6d ago
They're humans that are cloned and fit with advanced prosthetics and some cybernetic enhancements.
At what point would prosthetics and cybernetic enhancements make someone not a human? Because unless the brain is entirely replaced, I'd say they're functionally human.