Cypher is the fifth Agent to join the VALORANT PROTOCOL. Originating from Morocco, he uses his surveillance tools to keep tabs on everyone and everything.
The Moroccan information broker, Cypher is a one-man surveillance network who keeps tabs on the enemy's every move. No secret is safe. No maneuver goes unseen. Cypher is always watching.
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Lore[]
Personality and Character[]
Cypher has a long past as an information broker, dealing in carefully-buried secrets and hidden truths, which gives him a uniquely mysterious and dark theme. Contrasting to this is an unusually playful and mirthful attitude, frequently cracking jokes, although his sense of humor has a tendency to be rather morbid at times.
An example of this impish behavior is how Cypher frequently 'borrows' small items from his fellow Agents, and generally tampers with the gadgets and abilities of other tech users on the team. This includes him stealing transmitters and condenser cables from Killjoy, and taking servos from Breach's arms, then bugging them with microphones to listen in on his actions. This attitude apparently extends to borrowing Radianite from the other Agents as well.
However, while it is often disguised under his usual demeanor, Cypher does let some of the darker aspects of his character show on occasion (this can be heard most frequently in his voicelines addressing the enemy team). Examples of this include almost 'reveling' in his history as a killer, or threats to go after the enemy's families.
Another major part of Cypher's character that he lets shine through is his considerable experience in the world of information-gathering, and obvious pride in his prowess. He has built up a name for himself as a master in his art, who can dig up even the most well-hidden secrets with ease when he has a mind to... or when he's been paid the right price.
Cypher's abilities primarily deal with this aspect of his character - being the man behind the monitor, gathering invaluable information through a sprawling self-made network of technology laced across any given map.
All of Cypher's various bits of gadgetry and tech are hinted to be self-made at his own workshop to aid him in this. As stated before, Cypher shows pride in his devices, and is always eager to test out new ones on the field.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Cypher's personality is his insistence on remaining anonymous. Cypher is, much like Omen, a living enigma to us: only for him, the secrets of his past were hidden on intention, meticulously and painstakingly so. Cypher heavily emphasizes the need for him to protect his own secrets, and hesitates in revealing any personal information: he refrains even to show his own face to the rest of the PROTOCOL, his colleagues and siblings-in-arms.
As demonstrated by Fade in her Dossier about him, her 'vision' of him in The Sting (the mission in which she was captured), and during her social media campaign, Cypher's deepest fear is having this veil of anonymity ripped off - being revealed to the world as who he is, and being watched intently by everyone, just as he's watched them for so long.
Cypher's Network[]
It is hinted that Cypher's network extends far beyond just the parlor tricks that he brings with him to missions. Cypher has an international presence, and clearly is capable of handling surveillance of a lot more than just an in-game map by himself (Sova once unhesitatingly trusted him to keep track of an entire city[1]).
It is implied from a voiceline[2] that Cypher is also responsible for detecting "incursions" into their world - likely another description for LEGION teleporting in for an attack. This goes to show the sheer scale and importance of Cypher's network, and the immense value that it brings to the team.
Cypher's Office, a small room located in the Range, is considered to be our representation of this. It serves as a 'listening station', allowing for him (and, by extension, us) to keep tabs on everything collected by his network from the comfort of a single room. Unlike Brimstone (whose own office is located just below), Cypher doesn't bother with any personal memoirs or pictures, focusing on function over appearances.
Family[]
The most sensitive aspect of Cypher's personality and backstory is his family. He has a wife, Nora, and an unnamed child. While it is clear that he holds them dear to his heart, almost every mention of them comes with a some implication that he also 'lost' them somehow. While the exact capacity of this 'loss' is unclear, it's evident that it has had a pivotal role to play in his history[3].
The loss of his family is one of the most prominent aspects of his character, and it shows up so often and with such tragic connotation that many assume directly that it means they are dead, or at least died at some point. While many voicelines seem to imply this as well, there are also some hints that seem to blatantly contradict the assumption.
For example, Cypher's dossier ends with a comment on how Cypher is unable to even show his face to his family. On the surface, this can be considered a barb from Fade about how Cypher's family is dead, and he could do nothing to help it. However, if you think about the larger message about the dossier, it almost seems to imply that his family is alive, but Cypher still can't meet them because of his insistence on maintaining secrecy - being unable to meet his family is the sacrifice he made for his life of anonymity.
"[...] but no, too risky. The mask stays on. Because what's another year without Nora seeing your eyes, or sharing a smile with your little one?
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— Fade's Dossier on Cypher (see below)
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In this situation, it is important to realize that despite how popular a theory 'Cypher's family is dead' is, it is still not confirmed to be true. Indeed, on some analysis, it quickly becomes apparent how some hints or contextual clues can interpreted in different ways to create wholly different conclusions.
An example of the opposite situation can be found in Cypher's though-provoking revival voiceline, "For a moment... I saw them!". Given that it plays on revival, the 'obvious' interpretation is that Cypher's family (the 'them' mentioned here) are dead, and he saw them in the afterlife. However, you can just as accurately interpret it as Cypher recalling his life 'flash before his eyes' as he died, and since his beloved wife and child were a prominent part of that life, he glimpsed them before passing.
A good analogy would be to compare Cypher's family to 'Schrödinger's cat', the famous thought experiment about a cat subject to poison named after its creator, Erwin Schrödinger. Both possibilities of the fate of Cypher's Family, dead or alive, are equally possible. Because of the highly speculative and interpretive nature of their situation, neither option can be considered to undeniably be 'false', so we can't say that either is true (even though both may seem to be 'more likely' in specific situations).
Bind[]
Cypher's hometown is the city of Rabat, which he has a deep and personal connection to, along with several strong comments to make about its current situation under Kingdom.
Cypher lived in Bind before its 'redevelopment' by the mega-corporation, which ruined much of the old culture and history from the city in pursuit of scientific progress and to achieve Kingdom's own agendas. Cypher has a strong and deep-set hatred for the company because of this.
Omega Cypher[]
Cypher's counterpart on Omega Earth hasn't had much of a role to play in recent events. The last time that he was seen was in the RETAKE cinematic, where he was working with Ω-Viper and Ω-Jett to try and plant the Spike down in Icebox, set up as a sniper positioned over the site. However, he was taken out at the start of the cinematic by Yoru.
As the RETAKE cinematic was the first time that we had seen Agents 'die' in combat canonically, it was unclear for some time whether he was to be considered 'permanently' dead. It was confirmed later[4][5], in two separate QnA sessions, that Cypher (and the rest of his team) was afterwards revived by Ω-Sage.
Dossier[]
Fade released a dossier about Cypher in Patch 4.05:
Cypher's Dossier, found in Bind
The Blackmailer's dossier on Cypher cracks into his insecurities about the nature of his work, creating discomfort and distress with great effect. They start off casually listing some of Cypher's 'secret' safehouses, no doubt causing great unrest in the information broker's mind.
They think on how Cypher will react to learning that his safe-houses are no longer secure, suggesting that he will go underground, and lie in secrecy.
They talk on Cypher's unwillingness to share even the basic elements of his identity with those he holds close. To date, apparently, Cypher hasn't even shown his face to the others.
They describe the toll doing this takes on Cypher, and the sacrifices he must make: because of his secretive actions, he hasn't been able to show his face to even his family. At the very least, the dossier confirms that he does has a family, consisting of Nora (his wife) and a child.
Appearance[]
Cypher's appearance is, in some capacity, based on the traditional expected look of a spy or gumshoe. His main piece of apparel is a large white coat that extends from his shins up to his neck. He wears dull grey pants, which go down to extended (and unusually flat) black shoes. Aside from the predominant black and white, colors such as gold, brown, and blue are present in numerous places on his clothing.
Not a single inch of Cypher's skin is directly visible. Aside from the 'standard' coat and pants, Cypher wears a pair of blue gloves and his characteristic mask. The gloves have a blue magnet at the center of the palm, which allows for Cypher to recall any of his abilities back to his hand at will. The eye holes in the mask are hexagonal and glowing blue (which has been confirmed to be a form of vision-enhancing tech that Cypher uses[6])
Cypher's abilities have all share a similar design, being largely black with blue, gold, and red accents. The only real exception to this rule is Neural Theft, which is because it also doubles as Cypher's hat when not in use.
Relationships[]
Viper is fully aware of Cypher's prowess in information-gathering, and often looks to him for direction and intel regarding the enemy. Cypher often acts rather impish with her, but knows not to overstep his bounds, wary of her wrath and easily-stirred anger.
Cypher seems to be aware of some important information concerning Omen's past, which he uncovered on his request. However, Cypher had to use "more than just his usual bag of surveillance tricks"[7] to procure this information, and refuses to divulge any of it until Omen first pays him the 'price' he's asked for. What exactly this information that Cypher managed to find, and what he requested from Omen in return, remains unclear.
Cypher and Killjoy are on good terms with each other and coordinate together, continuously sharing information. As stated earlier, Cypher has a tendency to 'borrow' items that he needs from the other Agents, and Killjoy is a frequent victim of this. Cypher often exhibits an oddly 'father-like' attitude towards her, such as wanting to protect her youthful innocence from the world.
While Cypher doesn't seem to have any particular issues with Sova, Sova harbors a heavy distaste for the information broker. Sova prioritizes "honesty and openness"[8], which Cypher's methods of secrecy and confidentiality directly conflict with. Indeed, Cypher is one of the few Agents that Sova seems to have genuine dislike for.
Cypher takes great interest in Sage's ability to revive people. Most interpretations of this point towards him seeking her help to revive his family (going with the assumption that they are indeed dead), although this is unconfirmed. Sage acknowledges Cypher's skills, but doesn't say much else about him.
Fully aware of the ease with which Cypher could uncover his dark past, Chamber is wary of the information broker. He frequently comments on the value of Cypher's knowledge, especially the secrets that he knows about him.
Phoenix and Cypher do enjoy a friendly relationship. They often enjoy complimenting each other during battle and the two are known to practice and play chess time to time with Phoenix taking note of how Cypher reminds him about how winning takes sacrifice.
Of all the Agents, one of Cypher's strongest relationships is with Fade. Just like him, Fade shows a prowess in information-gathering, through which she has gained his respect and admiration. While he was assigned to capture her during the Sting operation, and later conducted her interrogation, Fade's powers and obvious skill caused him to flip his opinions on her. Following the interrogation, it was Cypher himself who suggested Fade's recruitment to Brimstone[9].
Cards[]
The VALORANT Cypher card is a generic portrait of Cypher.
The Redeemer's Folly card is a shows Cypher standing alone in an archway with a blinding light in the background.
The VERSUS // Sova + Cypher card displays the rivalry between Sova and Cypher, highlighting Sova's dislike for the information broker.
The DUALITY card celebrates the release of the DUALITY cinematic, and was released during the VCT 2021: Reykjavik Grand Finals. It shows Ω-Yoru, Ω-Jett, Ω-Viper, Ω-Phoenix and Ω-Cypher passing through a Rift.
The Home Again // Cypher card shows Cypher at a house in Rabat, enjoying a cup of tea. Humorously, his mask hasn't been lifted up to uncover his mouth.
The WARM UP // Maxbot card shows the promotional poster for the WARM UP cinematic as an in-game playercard. It includes all of the Agents who were present in the cinematic (with the sole exception of Brimstone), one of whom was Cypher.
The Legion card shows an issue from the comic series, 'The VALORANT LEGION'. This issue's cover shows us five Agents; Brimstone, Viper, Omen, Killjoy, and Cypher. It can be found in-game at the Hi-Tide Comics shop in Pearl, near Defender Spawn
Voicelines[]
Find all of Cypher's voicelines here, compiled by Kingdom Archives
Notes[]
- In various cinematics, Cypher is shown using both his left and right hands to hold objects. Therefore, it is implied that he is ambidextrous.
- Cypher's insistence on protecting his anonymity and hiding his face behind a mask has made people speculate that he doesn't have one at all - that he's just a machine or a robot. This has, of course, been proven false[10][11].
- The blue lenses over the eyes of Cypher's mask are vision-enhancing technology, but unlike some speculation, they are not prosthetics (and Cypher is perfectly capable of seeing without them)[6].
- Cypher repeatedly makes references to gambling and casinos, which could imply that he has history with them.
- Cypher has had a trend of dying at an abnormally high rate in the cinematics and trailers for the game, so much so that 'Cypher Dying' has become a meme in the community.
- Cypher is plugged into Moroccan tea culture[12], and enjoys drinking a very expensive variety[13] of the beverage.
- Some of Cypher's voicelines (especially the ones played on winning a 'thrifty' round) imply experience with poverty in the past, however, this remains unconfirmed.
- Despite how dark and morbid Cypher can get, he still seems to force himself to conform to a self-imposed limit; for example, he expressly stops himself before he ever goes after the enemy's families.
- His voiceline about keeping weapons fingerprint-clean for 'good crime scene etiquette' could further imply that, despite his line of work, Cypher still does hold himself to some base standards as well.
- Cypher's expertise in tracking people down means that he usually plays a big part in the process behind finding and recruiting new Agents[14].
- There is apparently a lot of 'cool mystery'[15] behind Cypher's identity that was teased in the Reddit Lore AmA organized on 3rd June, 2021, but no more information about it has been provided since.
- As with every other Agent, Cypher has a Spotify playlist:
Sources[]
References[]
- ↑ This was Sova's incentive for having Cypher on the Strike Team sent to apprehend Fade, as he described in his voicemail in Patch 4.05
- ↑ "I detect an incursion into our world. Ah, no! laughs The other team is just very noisy." - Archived by Kingdom Archives Go
- ↑ The loss of his family is a "tragic loss that is an integral part of Cypher's backstory" - Discord QnA with Creative Director, Riot KingKut Go
- ↑ While each fight that the Agents are shown in is definitely 'life-or-death', the PROTOCOL still has 'backup plans' to ensure that Agents will get revived Go
- ↑ Sage and Skye helped to revive and revitalize the Agents who died in RETAKE Go
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The lenses on Cypher's mask are "vision-specific tech", but are not prosthetics - Discord QnA with Narrative Lead, Riot ParmCheesy Go
- ↑ "[...] Omen's searching for some pretty hard to find answers, and Cypher may be uniquely situated to provide a little light on them... more than just his usual bag of surveillance tricks." - Discord QnA with Narrative Lead, Riot ParmCheesy Go
- ↑ Some context on Sova's opinions of Cypher - Reddit AMA with Narrative Lead, Riot ParmCheesy Go
- ↑ Cypher voiced his opinions on the subject in a voicemail, audible in Brimstone's Office in Patch 4.08
- ↑ Cypher is not a robot - Discord QnA with Creative Director, Riot KingKut Go
- ↑ Cypher is not a robot - Reddit AmA with Narrative Lead, Riot ParmCheesy Go
- ↑ "you can bet that Cypher is more plugged into Moroccan tea culture" - Discord QnA with Narrative Lead, Riot ParmCheesy Go
- ↑ As evidenced by his comments about it in his Voicemail from Patch 4.10
- ↑ Some information about what goes into hiring new Agents - Discord QnA with Narrative Lead, Riot ParmCheesy Go
- ↑ "It seems there's a lot of interest in [Cypher's] backstory. There is actually a lot of cool mystery behind his true identity, why he remains hidden [...] - Reddit AmA with Creative Director, Riot KingKut Go