Cyberpunk 2077 has an unusually strong bench of female characters, and the main story only introduces about half of them properly. Several of the best-written ones appear in side content that is easy to finish the game without ever touching.
Short answer
Judy, Panam, Rogue, Alt and Evelyn are the ones the plot turns on. Judy and Panam are also romance options, gated by V's body type. Phantom Liberty adds Songbird and Alex, and the expansion is where the writing is at its sharpest.
The ones the story turns on
- Evelyn Parker — the reason the plot happens. Her arc is short, brutal, and the game's clearest statement of what Night City does to people who try to get out.
- Alt Cunningham — a netrunner who stopped being a person some time ago. She is the closest thing the story has to an authority on what is happening to V, and she is characteristically unhelpful about it.
- Rogue Amendiares — the fixer at the Afterlife, and one of the few people who knew Johnny when he was alive. Her presence reframes most of what Johnny tells you about himself.
- Hanako Arasaka — the corporate axis of the endgame, and the character whose offer costs you the most to accept.
- Rosalind Myers — the NUSA president, and the reason Phantom Liberty exists.
See also: Cyberpunk 2077 Freedom — another Cyberpunk answer people look up right after this one.
Judy Alvarez
A braindance technician who is very good at her job and not at all good at letting things go. Her questline starts as technical support and becomes the most personal chain in the base game, taking you through Clouds, the divers, and eventually the lake.
Judy is romanceable by V with a feminine body type and voice. The romance is one of the better-written ones in the genre, largely because it is allowed to be inconvenient — she wants things the story cannot give her, and the writing does not pretend otherwise.
See also: Cyberpunk 2077 Fashion — the closest Cyberpunk answer to this one.
Panam Palmer
Nomad, permanently furious, and the most reliable friend V can make. Her questline is the one that most changes what your endgame options look like, and it is worth doing regardless of romance.
Panam is romanceable by V with a masculine body type. Her chain is also the most action-heavy of the companion arcs, which makes it the easiest to enjoy without caring about the romance at all.
See also: The Witcher 3 Characters — the same question, but for The Witcher 3.
Side characters worth the detour
| Character | Why she is worth meeting |
|---|---|
| Misty Olszewski | The only person in the game with a moral centre, and Jackie's anchor. Her scenes reward patience. |
| Claire Russell | The bartender at the Afterlife and the entry point to the racing questline, which has a much sharper ending than it sets up. |
| Meredith Stout | A corporate contact from the first act whose thread can be picked up later, if you handled the Militech deal a particular way. |
| Wakako Okada | The Westbrook fixer. Small screen time, large influence on what work reaches you. |
| Regina Jones | The fixer behind the cyberpsycho questline — the most cohesive side chain in the game. |
| Lizzy Wizzy | One gig, one conversation, and one of the game's most memorable ideas about what money does to a person. |
Phantom Liberty's additions
Songbird is the expansion's central figure and its best-written character, in a story that is explicitly about whether you should trust anyone in it. Alex is the other standout — a spy in a bad position, whose competence is the only thing holding the plan together.
The expansion's cast is written with noticeably more confidence than the base game's, and both characters are involved in endings that reach back and change what the main story means.
Playing as female V
Body type and voice are chosen separately at character creation, and they control different things: the voice determines several romance options, the body type determines others. If a specific romance matters to you, decide that at creation rather than discovering the gate forty hours later.
Beyond romance, the choice changes surprisingly little in dialogue — the world reacts to V's reputation far more than to V's appearance, which is either a strength or a missed opportunity depending on what you wanted from it.
Cyberpunk 2077 FAQ
Who can female V romance?
Judy and River, with the gate depending on the voice and body type selected at creation.
Who is the most important female character?
Alt Cunningham for the plot, Judy or Panam for the emotional weight, depending on which questline you commit to.
Can I romance more than one character?
Not without consequences — the game tracks it and the characters respond, which is more than most games in the genre bother with.
Is Songbird romanceable?
No. Her relationship with V is central to Phantom Liberty and deliberately not a romance.
Do Judy's and Panam's questlines even on a run where you are not romancing either one — they are two of the three best things in the base game.