Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2's Avida Kept CD Projekt Red's Unusual Original Design

One of the more distinctive new faces connected to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 nearly came with an expectation attached: CD Projekt Red assumed Studio Trigger would want to redesign her. Instead, the Japanese animation studio reportedly embraced Avida's look immediately, preserving an internal concept that stood apart from both the franchise's usual Night City excess and many conventional female anime character designs.

The detail emerged during an AnsweRED stream, where CD Projekt Red executive producer Saya Elder discussed the development of Avida, a character described as King's former flame. Avida was one of a limited number of characters created in-house by CD Projekt Red rather than originating from Studio Trigger's design process. The team had expected that initial proposal to be adjusted toward a more traditionally anime-styled presentation. That did not happen.

Instead, Studio Trigger accepted the proposal as presented. For Elder, that swift approval was a welcome surprise, particularly because the details that made Avida different were retained. Her tall frame, broad shoulders, formal suit, practical sensibility, and blue lipstick all remained part of the character's identity.

A design built around personality rather than familiar expectations

Avida's visual concept sounds deliberately unlike the type of character audiences might immediately associate with an anime tied to a futuristic game world. Night City is famous for extreme fashion, cybernetic body modification, neon spectacle, and personal image-making taken to dramatic limits. Meanwhile, the first season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners featured memorable silhouettes and bold personalities across its cast, including characters such as Rebecca and Talia.

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Avida was conceived with a different priority. The design emphasizes a woman in a suit who values being comfortable over making a fashion statement. That choice does not mean she lacks style; rather, it gives her a kind of confidence that does not depend on loudly competing for attention. In a setting where people frequently wear their identity on the outside through chrome, clothing, and exaggerated alterations, understated practicality can become a striking statement of its own.

Her broad-shouldered build is especially important in that regard. Animation, games, and other popular media have often relied on narrow templates for women characters, particularly when a design is intended to be immediately glamorous or conventionally attractive. Avida's shape and wardrobe create a different impression. She appears designed as a person with her own history, work, habits, and tastes--not as a variation on a pre-established visual mold.

Elder explained that she liked the initial design, but assumed Studio Trigger might reinterpret it into something that more closely matched typical anime conventions. The studio's decision to keep the concept intact therefore became an important moment of validation for the CD Projekt Red team. Elder specifically celebrated Avida's blue lipstick, a small but vivid visual feature that helps the character's face remain memorable without needing a far more elaborate look.

Studio Trigger's approval suggests a collaborative balance

The first Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was widely recognized for how effectively it combined the wider world of Cyberpunk 2077 with Studio Trigger's animation sensibilities. The series did not merely copy the game's models or translate its missions directly to television. It used the setting's technology, social divides, violence, music, and visual atmosphere as a foundation for a story with its own cast and emotional trajectory.

That kind of adaptation requires both sides of a partnership to bring something meaningful to the project. CD Projekt Red has the deeper internal knowledge of Night City, its history, and the broader Cyberpunk universe. Studio Trigger brings an established animation identity, along with experience in expressive movement, sharply defined character silhouettes, intense action, and heightened emotion.

Avida's accepted design is a small but revealing example of that collaboration. CD Projekt Red did not simply impose a character without expecting discussion; the team seemingly anticipated that Studio Trigger would have its own perspective and potentially request a substantially different direction. Studio Trigger, meanwhile, was comfortable recognizing that the original concept already had a strong fit for the story and screen.

That does not mean every character or production element will necessarily follow the exact same route. Animation is a process of constant revision, with designs needing to work from multiple camera angles, across action scenes, under different lighting conditions, and within the practical demands of episode production. Yet the fact that Avida survived the early design handoff without a major stylistic overhaul indicates that the partners found common ground quickly.

Why Avida can stand out in Night City

Night City has always supported contrasting approaches to character design. The world can accommodate a visibly chromed mercenary, an executive in expensive formalwear, a gang member with a heavily coded look, or someone attempting to disappear into the crowd. Even so, the strongest designs tend to say something clear about who a character is before they speak.

Avida's comfort-first approach can communicate a great deal. A suit suggests control, professionalism, or a willingness to project authority. A more practical cut and a solid physical frame can suggest someone who does not dress to satisfy another person's expectations. The blue lipstick provides an intentional splash of color and individuality, preventing the design from reading as merely restrained. Together, those elements create a character who can plausibly occupy the same heightened universe as the more flamboyant residents of Night City while still feeling distinct.

There is also narrative value in avoiding a uniform aesthetic. Cyberpunk stories are often concerned with commodified bodies, manufactured identity, class performance, corporate power, and the pressure to turn oneself into a product. A character whose look is not immediately aligned with the most obvious version of beauty or fashion can add another texture to that conversation. The important point is not that one kind of design is inherently better than another. It is that a world becomes more convincing when its people do not all appear to have been filtered through the same assumptions.

For viewers, this makes Avida a character worth watching before more details of her role are known. The connection to King gives her a place in the story, but the design already signals that she may bring a perspective unlike that of the series' more familiar archetypes.

The wider Cyberpunk world continues to connect games and animation

The discussion of Avida arrives while CD Projekt Red continues to support Cyberpunk 2077. The game's new 2.5 update includes references and nods connected to the Edgerunners 2 crew, offering another bridge between the game and animated sides of the franchise. Such references can be especially meaningful for players who came to Night City through the show, as well as for longtime players interested in seeing how new screen characters fit into the wider setting.

Crossovers between a game and an animated adaptation can easily become superficial promotional gestures. At their best, however, they make a shared universe feel more lived-in. A reference in a game does not need to explain every event from the series to be effective. Sometimes a name, item, message, location detail, or passing acknowledgement is enough to imply that these stories exist beside one another in the same complicated city.

CD Projekt Red has previously shared another example of the creative give-and-take behind the adaptation: the team rejected a request from Studio Trigger to destroy Night City entirely. That decision makes practical sense for a setting expected to remain central to the wider franchise, including the planned Cyberpunk sequel. It also illustrates how a partnership can welcome ambitious ideas while maintaining boundaries needed for the long-term future of the universe.

A promising sign for the second season

Avida's preserved design does not reveal every major detail about Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, nor does it establish exactly how large her role will be. It does offer a useful glimpse into the project's priorities. The production appears willing to let a character look unusual, mature, practical, and highly specific rather than pushing every visual choice toward the safest or most familiar interpretation of anime appeal.

For a franchise rooted in individuality, rebellion, and the tension between self-expression and social pressure, that is an encouraging instinct. Avida does not need to resemble other characters to belong in Night City. Her blue lipstick, suit, broad-shouldered silhouette, and no-nonsense presentation are precisely what make her feel capable of occupying her own space within it.

As more of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is revealed, viewers will learn whether Avida's story matches the immediate strength of her visual concept. For now, the fact that Studio Trigger saw no need to dilute or conventionalize CD Projekt Red's original idea is a notable early sign of confidence in the character--and in the creative partnership bringing her to animation.