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Cybermen were a type of cybernetically augmented humanoid. They varied greatly in design, with different factions throughout time and space. The two major groups, from which all other known versions derived, were the Mondasian Cybermen, which originated on the planet Mondas – Earth's twin planet in the Doctor's universe – and the Cybermen created by Cybus Industries, which originated on Earth in an alternate universe.
- This article is an overview of the concept of the Cyberman. You may be looking for more specific versions, including those from Mondas and those from Pete's World
Despite the different origins, there were similarities between both groups of Cybermen, and there were groups that shared the characteristics of both. For the most part, they lacked individuality or names. Cybermen had no emotions and viewed them as a weakness. They frequently attempted to physically and mentally re-engineer humans and other humanoids into Cybermen, via a process called "cyber-conversion" or "upgrade".
Cybermen of Mondas
- Main article: Cyberman (Mondas)
These Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of near-Humans who originated on Earth's former twin planet, Mondas. Mondas drifted into the outer solar system. To survive, the natives of that world adapted by turning themselves into cyborgs. (DW: The Tenth Planet) Eventually, all of the Mondasians underwent cyber-conversion. (BFA: Spare Parts). Many of them left Mondas and eventually developed into separate groups without connection to one another.
Nearly all were silver save for one black variety (for stealth) surviving in the London sewers (DW: Attack of the Cybermen). They had exposed circuitry and tubing which may have contained hydraulic fluids for motion, covering a rubber or mylar-like outer skin. The CyberMondasians which the First Doctor met on the Snowcap base in December 1986 had undergone a less radical conversion and still retained biological hands; it is possible these Cybermen were prototypes. (DW: The Tenth Planet) They were similar to design to the earliest CyberMondasians which the Fifth Doctor would later encounter on Mondas. (BFA: Spare Parts) All other Cybermen were entirely covered by their metallic suits. (DW: The Moonbase onwards)
These Cybermen had several major weaknesses. The most notable was the element gold. Gold, being non-corrosive, choked their respiratory systems. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen) 20th century guns barely phased Cybermen, though explosives and bazooka shells could take them down. (DW: The Invasion, Silver Nemesis) UNIT would develop gold-tipped rounds for Cybermen. (DW: Battlefield) In later centuries, the Cybermen would take hits from laser guns and energy weapons: at close range, this could destroy them. (DW: Earthshock)
Cybermen designed by John Lumic
- Main article: Cyberman (Pete's World)
These Cyberman originated in another universe, where they were created by John Lumic, the owner of Cybus Industries. His Cybermen believed that all people must be "upgraded" to cyber-form so that information would never be lost and that the humans' physical and emotional weaknesses were abolished.
Cyber-conversion usually involved removing the brain of the subject painfully and placing it within a suit of armour. Once complete, the new Cybermen had a special implant which prevented them from feeling emotions. If the implants were disrupted, the Cybermen entered into a traumatic state caused by the pain of the conversion. This inevitably reesulted in an agonising death from the overload of emotions. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel).
The cyber-suit was constructed from bulletproof steel. This exo-structure appeared thicker and heavier than that of the Cybermen of Mondas – though a comparison of the strengths of the two body types was never performed. A chest plate with the Cybus Industries logo housed a "heart of steel", the function of which is unclear, and the emotional inhibitor chip. The brain was contained within the head. Artificially grown nervous tissue was threaded throughout the body so the Cyberman responded like a fully biological organism. (DW: The Age of Steel) Without a brain inserted, the cyber-suit was a robot. Even when disembodied, the various parts of the suit – arm, head and torso – had sufficient processing capacity to pursue and attack a human target. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)
These alternate Cybermen showed no vulnerability to gold.
Cybermen found in the Arctic
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While no contact between the two major groups of Cybermen was known to have occurred, there were some Cybermen that shared characteristics of both. While they greatly resembled the Cybus-made Cybermen, and were said to be brains in metal shells like the Cybus creations, they had certain characteristics common to the Cybermen of Mondas. For instance, they used Cybermats, they recognised the Doctor was a Time Lord, and they had advanced spacefaring capabilities.
This unnamed group of Cybermen was buried under the ice in the Arctic Circle and had been for tens of thousands of years after being hit by a temporal storm. An excavation began to awaken the army, commanded by a Cyber-Lord, releasing Cybermats which in turn created Cyberslaves. The Eleventh Doctor arrived on May 4th 2010 and stopped their awakening. He blew up their base and returned them to stasis. (VG: Blood of the Cybermen) The Doctor acquired a chest plate from one of these Cybermen and kept it in the TARDIS drawing room. (VG: TARDIS)
Cybermen of the Cyber Legions
By the 52nd century, possibly the 51st century, these Cybermen, organized into Cyber Legions, were a major power in space, possessing at least twelve fleets. The Cybermen's Twelfth Cyber Legion was known to monitor everything within twenty thousand light years of the Church's base on Demons Run. They resembled the Cybus-made Cybermen physically, but used technology more similar to the Mondasian Cybermen.
The Eleventh Doctor and Rory Williams invaded the Legion and destroyed part of it to force the Cybermen to tell them of the whereabouts of Amy Pond – and as a message to the abductors. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)