BD.07: Kiwi - "Trust no one." The final sight seen by the betraying Netrunner

Introduction: The Lethal Poison Named “Trust” in Night City and the Value of Consumed Lives

Night City is a metropolis where megacorporations build skyscrapers that pierce the heavens, while countless lives are consumed like dust at their feet. In this dystopia that embodies “High tech, low life,” the value of a human life is equal to the market price of the cyberware they possess, or the amount of data a corpo can exploit from their death. The original animation Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is an ensemble drama of young people being swallowed by this ruthless ecosystem, with an undercurrent constantly swirling with the “fear of being consumed” and the “illusion of being special.” While the protagonist David Martinez wears the dreams of others and sprints toward self-destructive heroism, standing at the exact opposite pole—grounded entirely in self-preservation and absolute nihilism—is the highly skilled netrunner, Kiwi.

Her story ruthlessly depicts just how powerless “hope” is in this city. Her catchphrase, “Never trust a soul in Night City,” is not merely a cynical pose or nihilism born of youthful indiscretion. It is the very survival strategy of this city, written in blood, violence, and thorough exploitation, and the crystallization of the painful memories carved into her own flesh.

In this article, the seventh installment of a 14-part research project, we will unravel the full picture of Kiwi, the character who executed the most multi-layered and tragic “betrayal” in the story. By integrating the true motives behind her actions, the metaphors presented by Studio TRIGGER’s unique visual direction, and the philosophical meaning of the music that colored her final moments, we will deeply discuss how the “consumption of humans by a stratified society (High tech, low life)” in Night City stripped “trust” from one person’s heart, and what it ultimately left behind.

1. Fact and Lore: The Past of a Joytoy and the Capital Curse of “Beauty”

Indispensable to analyzing the deep psychology of the character Kiwi is the logical distinction and integration of the “facts” depicted in the main animation, the “official lore” revealed in TRPG rulebooks and setting materials that expand the worldview (such as the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit), and the “theories” discussed within the community. In the anime itself, her past is only told in fragments, but the setting materials clearly show the “tragedy of the consumption structure” that explains why she fell into such profound misanthropy.

1.1 Depictions in the Main Anime (Facts)

In the anime, Kiwi is a veteran netrunner belonging to the edgerunner crew led by Maine, and she appears as a mentor to Lucy, who joins later. She covers her face from the jaw down with a massive metallic cyber mask, constantly maintains a cynical attitude, and draws a clear psychological boundary between herself and others. In the latter half of the story, when David begins to show signs of cyberpsychosis and the crew is on the verge of collapse, she conspires with the fixer Faraday and betrays her longtime comrades. She kidnaps Lucy, hands her over to Arasaka, and schemes to “retire” from Night City with a massive payout. This is the entirety of her actions presented to the viewers within the visual medium of animation.

1.2 The Gruesome Past Based on Setting Materials (Background Analysis)

Her past, as told in official settings like the Edgerunners Mission Kit, embodies the “bottom-tier exploitation” in Night City, demonstrating that her misanthropy is the ultimate culmination of an acquired survival instinct.

This record of a gruesome past poignantly demonstrates that she never possessed the “illusion of being special” from the very beginning. While David believed “I am special” and headed toward ruin like a Malrauxian hero, Kiwi had the cold reality that “humans are merely parts to be consumed” beaten into her very bones since childhood. To her, beauty was a “curse,” and goodwill or favorable treatment from others was nothing more than a “trap to be exploited later, with interest, at the cost of one’s life.” This rule of thumb was the very root of her obsession to “trust no one,” and her sole religion in Night City.

2. Visual Metaphor and Corporeality: What the Purple Smoke Through the Mask and the Spiderweb Tell Us

Studio TRIGGER expresses Kiwi’s psychological barriers and isolation on screen through outstanding visual storytelling. Every aspect of her character design and behavior in the animation functions as a metaphor for her “rejection” and “surveillance.”

2.1 The Mouthless Smoker and the Mechanical Void

One of the most distinctive visual expressions in the anime that catches the viewer’s eye is the sight of her inserting a cigarette directly into a port opened in her jaw mask and inhaling the smoke. Why does she, who has replaced everything from her lower jaw to her neck with massive metal parts and possesses neither an organic mouth nor a tongue, go out of her way to obsess over the act of smoking? While physical questions like “how does she get the smoke into her lungs?” and speculations such as “she must be living on a liquid diet” are exchanged within the community, in a literary context, this act is a profoundly important metaphor.

A cigarette is a symbol of “gradual self-harm,” obtaining temporary mental tranquility while polluting one’s own lungs and chipping away at one’s vitality. At the same time, the purple smoke exhaled from her mechanized, inorganic face is a trace of the “breath as an organic human” faintly remaining within her—in other words, an assertion of self that “I am still alive.” In the middle of the story, when subjected to an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attack, a scene depicts her removing her mask and vomiting violently. At that moment, the lower half of her face has no organic flesh; only a pitch-black mechanical void and a grille spread out. This “absence of a face” is the material manifestation of her defense instinct in Night City, completely concealing her identity and never showing her true intentions (her true face) to anyone. By physically sealing off her “mouth,” the window for communication with others, she is rejecting dialogue with the world.

2.2 The Spiderweb Tattoo and the Predator’s Paradox

Furthermore, as a notable fact mentioned by TRIGGER’s director Hiroyuki Imaishi in a community Q&A session, there is a setting where on some days, a “spiderweb” tattoo is carved onto Kiwi’s body (presumed to be a visual effect such as skin discoloration caused by cyberware functions).

The spiderweb is a symbol that straightforwardly indicates her abilities as a netrunner. It is a metaphor for her as a “predator,” lurking in the abyss of the network, laying invisible traps to entangle her prey. But at the same time, the spiderweb is also a metaphor for restraint, meaning “she herself cannot move from that fixed position.” A spider can only be the master of its world within the confines of the threads it has spun. She survived by outsmarting and deceiving others, but ultimately, she was destined to be entangled in the “web” of a greater power (predator) named Faraday, to be ruthlessly consumed. It can be said that this visual irony hinted at her final moments in an extremely cold, yet beautiful manner.

2.3 The Colors of Surveillance: The Contrast of Red and Blue

Even in TRIGGER’s color design, Kiwi’s presence is unique. In the work of Edgerunners, while David’s yellow (his jacket) and Lucy’s neon colors (the glow of her hair and cyberware) symbolize the “passion of youth” and the “radiance of dreams,” the light surrounding Kiwi always carries an artificial, cold tone. The inorganic red when she dives into the information space (the Net), and the chilling light emitted by her cyberoptics, represent the perspective of a bystander who constantly “observes, evaluates, and discards” the world. She never sought to shine at the center of the story; she always stood at the edge of the screen or in the shadows, coldly watching as others were burned by the light.

3. The Mirror Relationship with Lucy: The Slight “Humanity” Shown by a Cold-Blooded Mentor

Indispensable to discussing Kiwi’s complex psychology is her relationship with another netrunner, Lucy (Lucyna Kushinada). The two had a master-apprentice relationship as netrunners, and after Maine’s death, they were the core supporting David’s crew. Through the existence of Lucy, the conflicting struggle between “misanthropy” and “empathy” that paradoxically coexists within Kiwi is brought into sharp relief.

For Lucy, who had escaped from Arasaka’s inhumane facility, knew not how to trust others, and harbored only the empty dream of “going to the moon” all alone, Kiwi was a mother who taught her how to live (how to walk) in Night City, and a figure like a cold older sister. The most important lesson Kiwi imparted to Lucy was the oft-repeated warning: “Never trust a soul in Night City.”

A profound contradiction exists here. If Kiwi truly believed that “no one should be trusted” and that “all others are enemies who will exploit me,” why did she bring Lucy, a lonely fugitive, into the crew, teach her advanced netrunning skills, and spend time with her akin to communal living? It is none other than because, even within her—who had installed an implant to suppress her emotions for self-defense in the past—the humanity of “empathy” toward a deeply wounded, lonely girl exploited by a massive power (a corpo) just like herself, remained like an inerasable noise.

3.1 The Foreign Body Named David and the Transformation of the Relationship

However, the existence of David Martinez decisively transforms the fragile yet stable relationship between these two. David was a “boy who wore the dreams of others,” shouldering his mother’s dream and Maine’s dream, and substituting them for his own meaning of life. He gave Lucy a new dream (or perhaps a curse) that he would “absolutely take her to the moon,” and Lucy, in turn, began to engage in dangerous solo actions, secretly continuing to erase Arasaka’s data to protect David from Arasaka’s pursuers.

From Kiwi’s perspective, the sight of Lucy placing excessive trust in an “other” named David and chipping away at her own life solely to protect him must have appeared as an absolute taboo (a death flag) in Night City. Those who sacrifice themselves for others will inevitably die in this city. For Kiwi, whose youth and beauty were once exploited by others and whose body was destroyed, it was the most detestable folly.

Kiwi’s betrayal can be interpreted not merely as being for monetary gain or self-preservation, but as the final activation of a self-defense mechanism to “sever herself” from David and Lucy, who were being swept away by emotion and completely losing their capacity for rational judgment. She could not stand by silently and watch Lucy be swallowed by the “illusion of being special” that was David, sinking together with him. That is precisely why she chose to drag Lucy back to reality (the truth that others will betray you) in the most cruel manner, and to step off that chain of ruin herself.

4. The Collapse of a Reliable Leader and the Curse of “Others’ Dreams”: The Dynamics of Betrayal

In the final stages of the story, Kiwi falls for the sweet talk of the fixer Faraday, traps and kidnaps Lucy, and drives David and the others into a desperate predicament. The direct background to her choosing the last resort of betrayal lies in the intense trauma of the “collapse of a leader” and the fear of David’s mental instability.

4.1 Maine’s Self-Destruction and the Fear of Cyberpsychosis

In Episode 6, Kiwi witnessed up close the process in which Maine, the absolute pillar of the crew, developed cyberpsychosis, lost his beloved Dorio, and self-destructed amidst hallucinations. She herself suffered unreasonable assault and severe injuries at the hands of Maine during his episode. The moment Maine struck her, what crossed Kiwi’s mind might have been the image of the customer with Gorilla Arms who beat her and tore off her jaw back in her joytoy days. No matter how close a comrade may be, a person easily transforms into an assailant in the face of madness. This incident was a decisive event that reaffirmed her belief to “trust no one,” accompanied by blood.

4.2 The “Curse” of David’s Heroism

As time passed, David, who became Maine’s successor, also integrated the massive cyberware (dream) left behind by Maine into his own body, precariously wandering the borderline of cyberpsychosis. For her, who was about to witness a reenactment of the nightmare that was the “collapse of a reliable leader,” it was only a matter of time before the ship led by David sank.

David was completely trapped by the omnipotence of “I am special” and the obsession that he “must fulfill the dreams of others (his mother’s expectations, Maine’s dying wish).” Kiwi accurately saw through this spirit of self-sacrifice as an extremely dangerous “curse.” At the bottom of a stratified society, a hero who risks their life for others is nothing more than the most convenient “consumable good” for a corpo. That is exactly why, before the ship completely sank and everyone died, she chose to board a lifeboat alone (to contract with Faraday, obtain a massive payout, and flee the city). This was an extremely cold-blooded and legitimate survival tactic that made perfect sense in Night City.

4.3 The Miscalculation Regarding the Apex Predator, Faraday

However, there was exactly one fatal error in her meticulous calculations. While preaching “trust no one” to those around her, she ended up trusting that the higher power (fixer) named Faraday—that is, the logic of the Corpo—would “honor the contract.”

To Faraday, an excellent netrunner like Kiwi was also nothing more than a disposable pawn (consumable good) to curry favor with Arasaka. Having handed over Lucy and outlived her usefulness, Kiwi, far from receiving her reward, is mercilessly gunned down by Faraday’s underlings.

This ironic conclusion highlights the cruelty of the absolute stratified society that is Night City. No matter how cleverly one maneuvers in the lower class (the streets), earns points by betraying comrades, and poses as a cold-blooded realist, from the perspective of the upper-class Corpos and the power brokers connected to them, edgerunners are equally nothing but “replaceable parts meant to be consumed at any time.” The hope Kiwi dreamed of—“getting a massive payout and escaping (retiring) from Night City”—was also, essentially the same as the heroism David harbored, nothing more than the “illusion that I alone might be special enough to get away,” which this city shows to its bottom-tier workers.

5. The Acoustic Philosophy of the End: The Loyalty and Loneliness Indicated by the Insert Song “Żurawie (Cranes)”

Kiwi’s final moments in Episode 10 are a beautiful yet gruesome death sequence that will likely go down in anime history, transcending the mere karmic retribution of a traitor. Betrayed by Faraday and fatally wounded, she flees, bleeding, into a garbage dump in a dim alleyway of Night City. It is a symbolic place of the “bottom-tier world (Lowlife),” entirely disconnected from the neon-lit upper layers—the very place where she once guided and mentored Lucy, and where David and the others lived huddled together.

At this time, while staining the ground with her own blood, she transmits the location (coordinates) of Faraday and Lucy to David and Falco. It was not a transaction seeking her own survival or a reward, but a completely “selfless act.” The visual direction and acoustics of this moment define the literary meaning of her character, bringing a profound sense of loss to the viewers.

5.1 The Semantics and Metaphor of the Insert Song “Żurawie”

Playing in the background of the scene where she breathes her last in the alleyway is the ambient/noise track “Żurawie” by the Polish band Ugory. This song is an extremely important leitmotif in this work, having also been used in Episode 6 during the scene where Maine dies in the flames at the end of his cyberpsychosis.

The fact that this song, which means “Cranes” in Polish, was used commonly for the deaths of Maine and Kiwi—two individuals with completely different behavioral principles and ways of meeting their end—contains a powerful philosophical and cultural metaphor.

Kiwi, who betrayed her comrades and coldly declared “trust no one,” entrusted David and the others with the unconditional trust (or perhaps atonement) of “providing the coordinates” for the first time only when standing on the brink of death. She bore the risk that “David might doubt the last words of the woman who betrayed them as a trap and not believe them,” yet she still burned the remaining fire of her life to press the send button.

Immediately after, the pursuers unleashed by Faraday find her and mercilessly shoot her through the head. Her field of vision as she collapsed into a pool of blood (the final scenery seen by the traitorous netrunner) was neither the glittering neon of Night City nor the moon, the symbol of freedom, but the cold, dirty ground of a grimy alleyway. Unlike Lucy, who aimed for the sky, or David, who tried to become a legend, Kiwi was a gritty realist who crawled on the “ground” until the very end.

However, at the moment of her death, as “Żurawie (Cranes)“—a song of loyalty and the soul’s departure—quietly echoes, the viewers come to hear the scream of the hidden humanity sealed within her: “I truly wanted to trust someone,” “I wanted to live together with someone.” The paradox-filled fact that what the traitor ultimately reached was the purest “service to her comrades.” That itself is a part of the true nature of the heart-wrenching, profound sense of loss left behind by the work Edgerunners.

6. The Epitaph in the Columbarium: The Left Behind “Sense of Loss” and Asymmetrical Mourning

The ripples left by Kiwi’s death can be confirmed as quiet traces even in the world of the game Cyberpunk 2077 (in 2077, about a year after the anime’s conclusion) after the end of the main anime. In the Columbarium, a communal cemetery for the wealthy located in the North Oak district of Night City, there are epitaphs (memorial niches) for the members of the edgerunners, presumably placed secretly by the surviving Lucy.

The placement and content of the epitaphs in this Columbarium vividly express Lucy’s extremely complex psychological state and her mixed feelings of love and hate toward Kiwi. While the epitaphs for David, Gloria, Maine, Dorio, Pilar, and Rebecca are placed close together near the center of the Columbarium, only Kiwi’s epitaph is quietly placed in a slightly distant corner (outside section) off the main pathway.

The epitaph engraved there is as follows:

“You taught me to never trust anyone in NC.” (You taught me to never trust anyone in Night City)

No words express Lucy’s complex emotions and the cruelty of the world of Night City as concisely as this short, cold sentence. To Lucy, Kiwi is the “enemy” who trapped her, kidnapped her, and consequently created the direct cause that drove her beloved David to his death; Lucy is the clear victim. With normal sensibilities, one would never erect a grave marker for a traitor.

However, Lucy, along with the other crew members, prepared a place to house her ashes. This is because the reason Lucy was able to survive the harsh Night City was due to the survival tactic of “trust no one” drilled into her by none other than Kiwi. Kiwi ironically and perfectly proved just how correct that teaching was with her life-risking betrayal and death. Lucy engraved these words encompassing everything: her anger and hatred toward Kiwi, who took everything from her, and the inerasable sorrow for the past when Kiwi taught her netrunning and was adored like an older sister or mother.

The “asymmetrical mourning” of having the grave placed slightly away from the center indicates the decisive severance and the weight of the sin of her betraying the crew. But at the same time, the fact that it certainly exists in that place speaks to the inerasable bond that she was undoubtedly “a part of the family known as the edgerunners.” This appropriate sense of distance, and the single sentence that can be taken as either a grudge or gratitude, is the utmost respect directed from Lucy—who lost everything and departed for the moon—to Kiwi, and it is the most awkward, sorrowful form of love in Night City.

Conclusion: The Most Human Contradiction Scattered in a Cold-Blooded City

The life of Kiwi, who continuously said “trust no one,” was a perfect defense mechanism created by the massive consumption structure of Night City. Having her self-dignity and body continuously exploited by capitalists since childhood, and only able to confront the world by covering half her face with inorganic machinery, she was supposed to seal away her greatest weakness—emotion—with cyberware and carry out absolute self-preservation.

However, she could not completely become a “perfect machine.” In the days of picking up a lonely girl named Lucy, joining under Maine’s umbrella, and puffing purple smoke together with the crew, she had unconsciously come to feel a “place where she belonged.” The trauma of Maine’s death and the “fear of shouldering others’ dreams” seen in David’s rampage made her decide to betray them, but ironically, this led to the fatal self-contradiction that she “ended up trusting” the higher power named Faraday, guiding herself to ruin.

Kiwi’s death was not due to the omnipotence of youth like David’s, nor the heroism of dying for the dreams of others. Her death is an all too human, universal tragedy where an adult who tried to survive in an endlessly gritty, calculating, and cunning manner has the rug pulled out from under her by the “affection” and “thirst for trust” that she still could not completely abandon in the end.

In her final moments, in a pool of blood in a grimy alleyway, she entrusted the coordinates of her soul to her comrades along with the mournful cry of “Żurawie (Cranes).” The true face she showed in that moment might not have been that of a cold-blooded traitor concealed by a metal mask, but simply the face of a single lonely girl whose time had stopped while being exploited and robbed in factories and on street corners in her childhood, who just “wanted to try trusting someone.”

Night City mercilessly consumed their lives as mere fuel to maintain the glow of its massive neon lights. However, the small light named the coordinates she left behind at the very end was eternally engraved in the hearts of the viewers and Lucy as a momentary radiance of the human soul that will never fade, even in the darkness of the sin of betrayal. In this cruel dystopia where even human dignity is easily hacked, the contradiction Kiwi showed in her final moments is the most powerful philosophy that asks us, “What does it mean to be human?”