In “Neuromancer,” the protagonist hacker is Case.
Case is a talented but disgraced “console cowboy” living in Chiba City, Japan. After stealing from an employer, he is punished by having his central nervous system damaged, leaving him unable to enter the virtual reality data space known as the matrix.
Molly, an augmented mercenary, and Armitage recruit Case for a dangerous cyberspace operation. The mission eventually brings him into conflict with Wintermute and Neuromancer, two artificial intelligences whose planned merger drives the novel’s central plot.
A common mix-up is Wintermute, because it is one of the story’s most important characters and the force behind Case’s mission. Johnny is associated with Gibson’s earlier story “Johnny Mnemonic,” while “cowboy” is Case’s occupational nickname, not his name. Published in 1984, the novel helped define cyberpunk and popularized its distinctive vision of cyberspace.