WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Marvel’s Cyber 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lammin. This is The Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters. In time, We're

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<v Speaker 2>going to return once more here to the world of

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<v Speaker 2>Marvel Comics with a character that I exclusively know from

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<v Speaker 2>the nineteen ninety four video game Wolverine Adamantium Rage, a

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<v Speaker 2>typical side scroller of the era that I think is

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<v Speaker 2>mostly notable for its selection of villain battles, has some

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<v Speaker 2>neat villains in it, and, at least in the case

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<v Speaker 2>of this supers version, an excellent proto Grime original score,

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<v Speaker 2>which is currently available on vinyl and digital from the

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<v Speaker 2>UK's Sneakers Social Club record label, so if you're into

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<v Speaker 2>that sort of thing, check it out. The Wolverine adversary

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<v Speaker 2>in question from the game is Cyber, a hulking humanoid

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<v Speaker 2>mercenary with the physique of a silverback gorilla and the

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<v Speaker 2>jaw line of a Dick Tracy villain. The character was

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<v Speaker 2>created by I believe Peter David and Sam Keith back

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<v Speaker 2>in nineteen ninety one, and as you'd expect for a

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<v Speaker 2>comic book character with a now thirty five years of

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<v Speaker 2>life on the page, his origin, his timelines, his powers,

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<v Speaker 2>it all gets a bit convoluted, So I'm going to

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<v Speaker 2>attempt to boil things down to the essentials here. Like

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of Wolverine adversaries, and like Wolverine himself, Cyber

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<v Speaker 2>is a mutant augmented with adamantium enhancements, so he naturally

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<v Speaker 2>possesses enhanced strength, enhanced healing factor, which is always helpful

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<v Speaker 2>if you want to actually survive those grotesque adamantium upgrades

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<v Speaker 2>that scientists are doing to you, as well as a

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<v Speaker 2>mild psionic ability that aids him in tracking his targets.

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<v Speaker 2>His artificial gifts, however, are the most noticeable, impenetrable adamantium

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<v Speaker 2>skin and retractable adamantium claws on all of his fingers

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<v Speaker 2>and thumbs that are coated in a potent hallucinogenic toxin. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>this last part made for a very memorable boss battle

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<v Speaker 2>in Adamantium Rage, because you actually battle Cyber inside the

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<v Speaker 2>trappings of an hallucinogenic nightmare, Wolverine can't actually pierce Cyber's skin.

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<v Speaker 2>The only way to defeed him is to somehow turn

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<v Speaker 2>his venom against him. So pretty fun stuff. Cyber's nature

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<v Speaker 2>then is defined by his born mutant abilities as well

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<v Speaker 2>as his acquired Sci Fi enhancements. But it's still, I think,

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<v Speaker 2>a rewarding exercise to compare him to evolve natural world organisms.

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<v Speaker 2>Looking at him through this lens, it's interesting to consider

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<v Speaker 2>how Cyber boasts both incredible armor and a potent toxin

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<v Speaker 2>for a natural world organism. The former is an excellent

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<v Speaker 2>defensive investment, of course, and the latter can go either

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<v Speaker 2>way as an act of predation aids such as most

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<v Speaker 2>snake venom, or as a defensive deterrent as in poisoned

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<v Speaker 2>dart frog toxins. The poisoned dart frogs are actually in

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<v Speaker 2>an attractive comparison here, because, much like Cyber, they don't

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<v Speaker 2>produce the toxins in their own bodies, but they've evolved

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<v Speaker 2>the means of sequestering these toxins from the toxic arthropods

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<v Speaker 2>that they feed on. Not a direct one to one,

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<v Speaker 2>but still interesting to think about. But evolutionarily speaking, adaptations

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<v Speaker 2>like this are expensive, and you generally see more of

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<v Speaker 2>an investment in one area than another Armadillos and panglins,

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<v Speaker 2>for example, have exceptional armor, but they are not venomous.

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<v Speaker 2>They're not poisonous. Venomous snakes don't have shells. There would

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<v Speaker 2>have to be a compelling reason for evolution to select

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<v Speaker 2>for two heavy weapons investments like this, and as luck

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<v Speaker 2>would have it, we do have a couple of examples

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<v Speaker 2>that we can turn to here that may help us

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<v Speaker 2>understand cyber which both came up in recent episodes of

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<v Speaker 2>Stuff to Blow Your Mind. First of all, the HeLa monster,

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<v Speaker 2>which we did a three parter on, does pack a

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<v Speaker 2>combo of armor and venom. The bony osteoderms and the

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<v Speaker 2>flesh and fuse to the skull of this nest rating

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<v Speaker 2>lizard provide physical protection against other Helo monsters, would be

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<v Speaker 2>predators and any nest defenders that might run run into.

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<v Speaker 2>But they also boast a complex venom which they administer

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<v Speaker 2>via their bite. Largely thought to be purely defensive, you

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<v Speaker 2>could argue that the venom is a much bigger investment. Certainly,

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<v Speaker 2>it's complex venom, as we discuss in the core episodes

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<v Speaker 2>of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, but the armor and

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<v Speaker 2>venom have seemingly served this creature well together, enabling it

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<v Speaker 2>to thrive virtually unchanged since the death of the non

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<v Speaker 2>avian dinosaurs. The armor protects the helas against other helo

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<v Speaker 2>monsters who are immune to helo monster venom. The armor

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<v Speaker 2>and bite provide real time deterrence to predation, and the

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<v Speaker 2>venom arguably serves to instruct other organisms about the dangers

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<v Speaker 2>of hun in creatures that look like it. So anything

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<v Speaker 2>that survives a dose of this venom is maybe more

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<v Speaker 2>likely to remember, and that memory could be sustaining. And

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<v Speaker 2>then there are the marine cone snails, gastropod mollusks that

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<v Speaker 2>boast both an incredibly durable shell as well as some

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<v Speaker 2>of the most potent venom in the natural world, which

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<v Speaker 2>they use to hunt and sometimes in self defense. I

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<v Speaker 2>guess it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>times something that is defensive can that is offensive can

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<v Speaker 2>be defensive as well. But they administer this toxin at

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<v Speaker 2>range by firing a tethered harpoon like radular tooth. So

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<v Speaker 2>armor and weapon here come with very high metabolic costs

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<v Speaker 2>for the cone snail, but these investments enable these slow

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<v Speaker 2>moving organisms to dominate their niche in a very very

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<v Speaker 2>competitive marine environment. Their enemies are few in an ocean

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<v Speaker 2>typically teeming with predators for invertebrates of their size, and

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<v Speaker 2>I suppose we might apply all of that back to

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<v Speaker 2>cyber In order to stand out and have a chance

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<v Speaker 2>in the crowded rogues gallery of evil Marvel mutants, he

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<v Speaker 2>absolutely needs more than just armor or just psychedelic toxins.

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<v Speaker 2>As such, his own enduring enemies, which we might compare

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<v Speaker 2>to natural predators, are a narrow but incredibly dangerous roster

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<v Speaker 2>of individuals, with the main emphasis on Wolverine himself as

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<v Speaker 2>well as Wolverine adjacent characters. Tune in for additional episodes

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<v Speaker 2>of The Monster Fact, The Artifact or Animalist to Pendium

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<v Speaker 2>each week. As always, you can email us at contact

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<v Speaker 2>as Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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