Common misconceptions

This is the page documenting those pesky common misconceptions for the Cybersix series, both old and new alike. Noticed a widely believed yet incorrect statement? Write that down here!! So let's get to it!

The definition for "common misconception" is: An erroneous belief that is held by many people.


 * See also: Frequently Asked Questions and Questions and Answers

Cybersix is gender-fluid/transgender
Cybersix is a woman and identifies as such, she is not gender-fluid or transgendered.
 * See also: Trans vs not trans

Cybersix is often perceived as being either 'gender-fluid' (she identifies as male or female) or as being 'transgender' (she identifies as male) because she presents herself as a woman during the night and as a man during the day. This misconception mainly stems from the animated series where this aspect of her is purposely kept vague, it is what her voice actor believed, and it is what prevented the show from airing in Italy. It is what makes the show praised for being LGBT-friendly. However, the comics gives us a definitive explanation for why Cybersix would cross-dress as a man, it is explained that as a child she came across the remains of a deceased boy, Adrian Seidelman, and had decided to take his identity so she could remain in hiding from her evil creator. Add to this, the comics is often seen as being LGBT-hostile and a thing to refrain from.

Cybersix is a robot/android/cyborg
Cybersix is a human being and is not a robot, android or cyborg.

Cybersix, and thus the Cyber Series, are described as being "genetically-engineered" super-soldiers, they have great strength and acrobatic abilities, because of this Cybersix believes she isn't human but is more machine than anything else. This has confused a great number of people even up to this day, but it is certain that Cybersix is a human and not a robot, android, or a cyborg (a combination of a human and machine). The Cyber Series were created from the egg of a female human acrobat with the DNA of von Reichter so as to birth and raise a whole generation of soldiers with natural superb agilities. Perhaps the largest and only biological difference between the Cybers and humans is that the Cybers (like all of von Reichter's creations) were created with a dependence to Sustenance/Substance, a mysterious life-sustaining green liquid. Von Reichter, a geneticist, also has a foil in the villain Werner Schneider, who creates robots such as Tristan 0.

Data-7 is a black panther jaguar
Data-7 is a black panther, specifically, a leopard. Not a jaguar. According to the official websites, Data-7 is a leopard.

Black panthers are big cats with melanism that causes their skins or coats to be black (the opposite of albinism that causes a white skin or coat), it is not its own species. Assumptions may have been made as its never explicitly stated in the series, it is only mentioned on the official websites, which may have taken from the animated series' production Bible.

The series is hand-drawn
The animated series is computer animated, not hand-drawn.

Many fans still believe the animated series was animated using the tedious-yet-reputable method of hand-drawing it, since the series looks gorgeous even by today's standard, however the series was animated using the computer animated method. This is a great example of using this method right, it does not look like the notorious flash animation that we know of today. Using a computer to animate the series meant the animators had greater flexibility and freedom, they were able to re-use animated sequences and change the backgrounds, to changing colours of a given scene afterwards (this could be seen on the TMS comparison video).

Each episode had cost 1 million dollars
The episodes from the animated series did not cost 1 million dollars.

It is still sometimes believed that the animated series was so expensive to produce that each episode had cost 1 million CAD to make, the source of this misconception may be even older than Fundock's website on which he repeats this statement. However, the earliest source confirms that this simply isn't true, each episode had cost 360,000 USD to create, making the entire series cost 5 million USD.

There was never a home release before Discotek (2014)
Cybersix had several official home releases, starting as VHS tapes in both Canada and France.

Before Discotek/Eastern Star licenced Cybersix to DVD and released it in 2014, many people believed the only way to watch the series was through online sources. Of course there were people who knew of the French DVDs, but little knew of the various VHS tapes releases, and probably even then believed these to be illegal/unofficial/bootlegs, but the official Telecom website indicates they were aware of these home releases in France and Canada. Even after Discotek's release, we'll sometimes still see the odd "first ever home release of Cybersix".

Fox Kids edit
There were quite a few misconceptions of the Fox Kids edit of Cybersix, and had the edit not resurface online, we would have been at their mercy as to what was actually altered. According to a few websites, the Fox Kids edit was cut down to 10-15 seconds, had sped up warped vocals, and the song had consisted of a single verse.

But thankfully, we are now able to see for ourselves, and though not as dramatic as first recorded, it is still a butchered form of the show

There were 5/11 episodes
Some online sources will say there were around 5 to 11 episodes of the live-action series, the numbers sometimes vary. Since we have no way of actually seeing the series for ourselves sometimes these misconceptions persist, but reliable sources have consistently stated there are 8 episodes

The series ends without a conclusion/open-ended/on a cliff-hanger
Cybersix conclusively ends on the 45th monthly issue by her original and longest-running publishers, Eura Editoriale from Italy in 1999. The series does end inconclusively in French and Spanish, however.

The ending most people are familiar with is where Cybersix cries in the rain and later sits sadly on a rooftop overlooking the city after her newly born son had been kidnapped, while Lucas is still lost in the jungle, their fates forever left unknown. This is, however, not the actual ending for Cybersix. After the Argentine creators, Carlos Trillos and Carlos Meglia, had disagreements with the French publishing house, the French publishers canceled the series in France and leaving 12 volumes, the 12th volume containing the aforementioned ending.

Cybersix also ended prematurely due to lack of success in Argentina, the creator's home country, and in Spain. Argentina would only release about 7 volumes until 1995, volumes which did not follow a chronological story and had seemingly taken random issues from Italian. Spain had ended with the introduction of José in 1998, an introduction that had already happened in Italy in 1992, a whole 6 years prior.

Cybersix would continue her story with the ongoing publication in Italy until there too, disagreements would cancel the series, leading to a rushed but conclusive 45th issue in 1999. In Final Challenge, Cybersix is eventually reunited with her son, Gengis, and Lucas. She also obtains the recipe for sustenance while von Reichter and José finally decide to give up on Meridiana and of their hunt for Cybersix, leaving the city once and for all. Cybersix is shown to be unsure of her place in Meridiana, but surrounded by her friends, they reassure her that this is her home.

Due to the availability of the 12 French volumes as opposed to the 45 Italian monthly issues, this may have been the reason many thought the series ended inconclusively.

Lori is a teenager and attends a high school
Although this is true of the animated series where Lori attends Meridiana High School, this is not the case for the comic series.

We learn in the sixth French volume, by an investigator sent by Abraham Seidelman, that Adrian works as a professor at a college. The students should be around late teens to early twenties. The age difference between Lori and Adrian isnt as drastic here as the animated series, with Adrian being 24 years old at the start of the series.