The ''BioShock'' series is a collection of story-driven

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

s in which the player explores dystopian settings created by Ken Levine and his team at

Irrational Games Irrational Games (known as 2K Boston between 2007 and 2009) was an American video game developer founded in 1997 by three former employees of Looking Glass Studios: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. Take-Two Interactive acquired t ...

. The first two games, ''

BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the ''BioShock'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 pla ...

'' and its direct sequel, ''

BioShock 2 ''BioShock 2'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010; Feral Interactive released an OS X version on March 30 ...

'', take place in the underwater city of

Rapture The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...

in 1960 and 1968, which was influenced heavily by

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with prod ...

. The third installment, ''

BioShock Infinite ''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, ...

'', is set aboard the floating air-city of Columbia in 1912, designed around the concept of

American Exceptionalism American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently different from other nations.BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea'' tie in many of the plot elements between ''BioShock'' and ''BioShock Infinite''. As a heavily plot-driven series of games, ''BioShock'' contains a long list of

non-playable character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...

s (NPC) with which the player interacts and which drive the games' respective stories.

''BioShock''

Jack

Jack is the protagonist of ''BioShock'', whom the player controls throughout the game. He is first seen aboard an airplane, of which crashes near a lighthouse in the middle of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

containing a

bathysphere The Bathysphere (Greek: , , "deep" and , , "sphere") was a unique spherical deep-sea submersible which was unpowered and lowered into the ocean on a cable, and was used to conduct a series of dives off the coast of Bermuda from 1930 to 1934. The ...

terminal providing entry to

. During his journey through Rapture, Jack encounters various gene-altering substances known as Plasmids and Tonics, which he uses to gain powerful abilities to defend himself. Jack experiences strange visions of his family while traveling, but eventually discovers that he is the illegitimate son of Andrew Ryan and singer Jasmine Jolene, "Andrew Ryan's Favorite Girl." After becoming pregnant, Jasmine sold her fertilized egg to Brigid Tenenbaum, an employee of businessman Frank Fontaine. Fontaine arranged for Jack to undergo genetic conditioning so that he would age rapidly and to follow any order that followed "would you kindly," a phrase that Atlas uses throughout the game to control the main character and his actions. There are two endings for Jack depending on how many Little Sisters he saved and/or harvested throughout the game: one where he lives out the rest of his life with the Little Sisters he saved, who become his adopted daughters. But due to his rapid aging, he eventually lays on his death bed with all grown and married Little Sisters holding his hand, indicating that Jack died. The other ending shows him seizing control of Rapture and becoming just as power-hungry and destructive as Fontaine, hinting that all the ADAM he gathered has corrupted him into a Splicer. In the second part of the ''BioShock: Infinite'' DLC, ''Burial at Sea'', it is revealed that the former ending is canon.

Andrew Ryan

Andrew Ryan (born Andrei Rianofski) is a business magnate who seeks to avoid scrutiny from governments and other forms of oversight, ordered the secret construction of an underwater city, Rapture, where men and women like himself could be free to achieve greatness on their own terms. When Ryan's vision for a utopia in Rapture collapsed into dystopia, he hides himself away and uses armies of mutated humans known as Splicers to defend himself and fight against those resisting him, including the player-character Jack. Upon meeting Jack face-to-face Ryan orders the mind-controlled assassin to beat him to death with his golf club, dying on his own terms. He is voiced by

Armin Shimerman Armin Shimerman (born November 5, 1949) is an American actor and author. Early life Shimerman was born into a Jewish family in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, Lakewood, New Jersey, on November 5, 1949, the son of accountant Susan and house painte ...

Atlas/Frank Fontaine

Frank Fontaine is the main antagonist in ''BioShock''. He is a criminal mastermind who becomes the arch-enemy of Andrew Ryan as he attempts to seize power over Rapture. He is responsible for igniting the civil war that plunged Rapture into social collapse, as well as Jack's kidnapping as a baby. To escape from Ryan's forces, Fontaine faked his death and later took up the identity of Atlas, posing as the champion of Rapture's lower classes. Ryan feared Atlas' power and initially imprisoned him and his followers in a makeshift prison 2000 fathoms beneath Rapture, but they were able to escape and in 1959 launched an all-out war against Ryan. Atlas serves as Jack's guide for most of the game, luring him towards Ryan under the guise of trying to save his fictitious wife and son that he claimed Ryan had taken hostage. He betrays Jack after the death of Ryan and becomes the game's final boss, using ADAM to attain physical perfection and becoming a blue-skinned humanoid with enhanced abilities. He is killed when a number of freed Little Sisters swarm him and stab him to death with their ADAM needles. Fontaine, in his Atlas guise, also serves as the main antagonist in '' Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode Two''. In this prequel to ''BioShock'', Atlas captures a Little Sister known as Sally. He forces Elizabeth, who in this reality is a nightclub performer, to find Ryan's chief physician, Dr. Yi Suchong. Elizabeth not only finds him, but also retrieves a canister of "Quantum Particles" that allow Atlas's main base of operations, "Fontaine Department Stores" to rise from its 2000-fathoms depth, promptly igniting the civil war that would destroy Rapture. Atlas then forces Elizabeth to retrieve his "Ace in the Hole", which turned out to be the phrase "Would you kindly...". After retrieving it, he orders his men to send Jack "home" before fatally striking Elizabeth on the head with a wrench, leaving her for dead.

Big Daddies

Big Daddies (Mr. Bubbles to the Little Sisters) are heavily spliced (genetically mutated and altered) human beings whose skin and organs have been grafted into antiqued, heavily armored atmospheric diving suits. They are armed with a rivet gun, heavy drill, rocket launcher, or ion laser. They roam the underwater dystopian city of Rapture, mentally conditioned to protect the Little Sisters—little girls that harvest a substance called ADAM from corpses—thanks to a series of plasmids stripping them of their humanity and free will. The main types of Big Daddies are Rosies (named after the famous Rosie the Riveter), Bouncers, and Rumblers, and only appearing in the ''BioShock 2'' downloadable content ''

Minerva's Den ''BioShock 2: Minerva's Den'' is a single-player downloadable content (DLC) campaign for the 2010 first-person shooter game ''BioShock 2'', developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K (company), 2K Games. The player assumes the role of Subject Sig ...

'', Lancers. Big Daddies appear in both ''BioShock'' and ''BioShock 2'', and also one is found in a small easter egg at Rapture in ''BioShock Infinite''. They also play a role in ''BioShock Infinite'' DLC, ''Burial at Sea''.

Little Sisters

Little Sisters (originally known as Gatherers) are young girls who have been genetically altered and mentally conditioned to reclaim ADAM from corpses around Rapture. Little Sisters are always accompanied by a Big Daddy. The Little Sisters are almost completely immune to damage but have no offensive abilities. Approaching or attacking them, however, will incur the wrath of their Big Daddy protectors. When the player defeats these protectors, the player can choose either to harvest or rescue the Little Sisters, which affects how much ADAM the player gains and has consequences revealed in the game's ending. Little Sisters are usually hiding in the air vents hidden around Rapture, and they will only come out when called by a Big Daddy. They are not dangerous when their Big Daddy is killed, but stand over its corpse to mourn. If the player decides to rescue the majority of the Little Sisters, Dr. Tenenbaum gives the player gifts as a reward for his kindness. In this case, Tenenbaum leaves a teddy bear somewhere on the map, along with large amounts of First Aid Kits, EVE, money, and ADAM. In BioShock, they are voiced by

Juliet Landau Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress, director, producer, and ballerina best known for her role as Drusilla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spinoff show ''Angel'', the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. She ...

and

Jodelle Ferland Jodelle Micah Ferland (born October 9, 1994) is a Canadians, Canadian actress. She debuted as a child actress at the age of four in the television film Mermaid (2000 film), ''Mermaid'' (2000) for which she won a Young Artist Award and received ...

in BioShock 2.

Sander Cohen

One of the most prominent public figures in Rapture, Sander Cohen presents himself as a musician, filmmaker, artist, poet, and playwright based in Fort Frolic. As a result of Rapture's civil war and the chaotic months that followed, Cohen grew extremely paranoid and violently insane, becoming obsessed with inflicting pain upon others as a way of making sense of the violent world he now inhabited. The splicers under his domination are often the subjects of Cohen's art "projects", such as being forcibly covered in plaster and paste and turned into statues. He is voiced by

T. Ryder Smith T. Ryder Smith (born March 9, 1958) is an American actor. A native of New York state and long-time resident of New York City, he appears frequently on stage, particularly in avant-garde theatre works, as well as on TV, film, and as a voice actor. ...

. Cohen also appears in the first chapter of ''Burial at Sea'', where he is confronted in his private club about information on Sally. Cohen is shown painting male and female models dressed as mythological deities, electrocuting those who fail to follow his directions properly while complaining that his art is not appreciated enough. After briefly discussing matters with the protagonists, Cohen instructs them to dance for him before shocking them into unconsciousness and placing them in a bathysphere to Sally's last known location.

Brigid Tenenbaum

Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum is a geneticist who helped originally develop ADAM. She was originally born near the city of Minsk,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. into a Jewish family with a German father. At the age of 16, she was sent via train to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, where she was going to be experimented on by German doctors, notably

Josef Mengele , allegiance = , branch = Schutzstaffel , serviceyears = 1938–1945 , rank = ''Schutzstaffel, SS''-''Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain) , servicenumber = , battles = , unit = , awards = , command ...

. Before Tenenbaum was to be prepared for testing, she observed Mengele and started correcting him, impressing the doctors so much that they allowed her to participate in experiments on other prisoners. At this time Tenenbaum discovered her love for science and due to her participation in the tests, she survived the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Tenenbaum was diagnosed with

high-functioning autism High-functioning autism (HFA) is an autism classification where a person exhibits no intellectual disability, but may exhibit deficits in communication, emotion recognition and expression, and social interaction. HFA is not included in either t ...

at an early age. Her absolute adoration of science and lack of social skills caused her to completely ignore what happened around her, including the horrific experiments she did, which continued into her adult years. After arriving in Rapture, she had a bit of a struggle to get the recognition she deserved among the best and brightest, until she discovered the Sea Slug, which contained a substance that could replace cells, which led to the discovery of the wonder-drug ADAM, which allowed the citizens of Rapture to manipulate their DNA. With the help of Frank Fontaine, who provided financing to develop the drug, Tenenbaum become known as a scientific genius in the city. Tenenbaum also discovered that by putting the slug into a host, it would produce up to thirty times as much ADAM and the only hosts that proved effective were young girls. While Tenenbaum was the "mother" of the Little Sisters, Dr. Yi Suchong was the creator of the Plasmids. Much like her younger self, Tenenbaum was blind to what she was doing, exploiting little girls for her own scientific purposes. When the Little Sisters were first created, she had no regard for them or their lives, seeing the removal of the slugs as no different from removing life support from a terminal patient. Soon before the Rapture Civil War, Tenenbaum's maternal instincts were awoken, causing her to leave her Mercury Suites apartment and life to reside in the sewers of the abandoned residential complex Olympus Heights. Here Tenenbaum began rescuing Little Sisters via a Plasmid she developed, as she felt that they were her responsibility and began to care a great deal about their safety, calling them "little ones"; in return, they call her "Mama Tenenbaum". Tenenbaum was able to survive the fall of Rapture and continued to save Little Sisters in her hiding place. During the events of ''BioShock'', while in the Medical Pavilion, Jack approaches a lounge in the Surgery wing and sees a Big Daddy being killed by Splicers and thrown through a window. This Big Daddy was protecting a Little Sister, which now is left alone with the remaining Splicer. Just as the Splicer is about to strike the Little Sister, Tenenbaum emerges and shoots him. Tenenbaum warns Jack not to hurt her, while Atlas encourages him to harvest the Sister to get ADAM. When Tenenbaum questions Jack's morality, Atlas accuses her of hypocrisy, as she's the one that turned the girls into Little Sisters. While Atlas tries to convince Jack to kill the girl, Tenenbaum presents an alternative: a Plasmid that would safely remove the Sea Slug from the girls. The following events gives the player a choice of harvesting the Little Sisters or saving them with Tenenbaum's Plasmid. From this point on, Tenenbaum's perception of Jack is up to the player. If Jack saves the Sisters, Tenenbaum will show her gratitude to him by providing an ADAM gift for him after every third Sister he saves and an overall good attitude towards him. If Jack harvests the Sisters, he will not be granted gifts and she will repeatedly express her anger towards him. After the Andrew Ryan confrontation and reveal of Atlas' true identity in Hephaestus, Tenenbaum sends Little Sisters to save Jack from the hands of Fontaine by leading him into a vent, where Jack falls and blacks out. Jack wakes up in Tenenbaum's safehouse and finds that she has undone the "Would you kindly?" mind control conditioning that Atlas had exploited. Tenenbaum can be seen behind glass in an office in the safehouse, smoking and explaining to Jack what has occurred and what he should do next. After this, she serves as Jack's guide throughout the final third of the game and provides the narration during the final scene (which is affected by Jack's choice to save or harvest the Sisters). Sometime after the events of the first game, Tenenbaum leaves Rapture with an undisclosed amount of Little Sisters. During the events of ''BioShock 2'', eight years later, she returns to Rapture to rescue the last of the Little Sisters and find the cure for Splicing. She contacts Subject Delta during the beginning and guides him through the first two levels before being replaced by Augustus Sinclair, as she needs to help others, such as Charles Milton Porter. She is voiced by

Anne Bobby Anne Marie Bobby (born December 12, 1967, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American actress, voice artist, playwright and author, best known for her role as Lori Winston, the heroine in Clive Barker's ''Nightbreed'' and Brigid Tenenbaum in the ' ...

. Brigid Tenenbaum's personality and back story were largely developed by Ken Levine, who wanted a believable and flawed human which was managed with the combinations of her medical condition, ethnic background, and overall circumstances. Levine felt that her core characteristics - being a woman, autistic and Jewish - were not what defined her, but 'her absolute adoration of science' was what ultimately did. Up until the development of ''BioShock 2'', her name was spelled "Bridgette" instead of "Brigid". Her in-game Audio Diary portrait for ''BioShock'' was based on a photo of actress

Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005) was an Irish actress and a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2020, she was listed at number 30 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Early li ...

Yi Suchong

Dr. Yi Suchong is a medical doctor and survivor of the Japanese occupation of China during World War II who came to Rapture and set up an independent research lab to help exploit the resources offered by Ryan for financial gain. Suchong saw the possibilities of Dr. Tenenbaum's discovery of ADAM, and devised the means of using ADAM to create plasmids and other technological wonders. He is also credited with creating the Big Daddies to help protect Tenenbaum's Little Sisters at Ryan's insistence. Though initially neutral in the feud between Ryan and Fontaine, Suchong became dissatisfied with Ryan's leadership and secretly offers his services to Fontaine. Suchong was part of Fontaine's project to create Jack, Fontaine's "ace in the hole". Suchong conditioned a rapidly growing Jack with psychological triggers, including the phrase "would you kindly" before Jack was smuggled back to the surface, but was not able to give this information to Fontaine. Within ''BioShock'', Suchong is already dead, though Jack discovers Suchong's name in various recordings. In ''Burial At Sea Episode Two'', which takes place a year before ''BioShock'', Suchong is still alive and shown to have been able to use tears in the fabric of reality to communicate with Jeremiah Fink in Columbia, the two sharing their research data for the betterment of both cities, though remaining cautious of the each other's motives. Elizabeth witnesses Suchong being killed by a Big Daddy after he strikes a Little Sister in its presence, and finds Suchong's notes about Jack, which she delivers to Atlas (Fontaine) for him to utilize the 'ace in the hole'. He is voiced by

James Yaegashi James Yaegashi is a Japanese American actor based in New York. Early life James Yaegashi was born in Yokohama and raised in Yamagata to an American mother and a Japanese father. Upon graduating high school, he moved to America and majored in acti ...

J.S. Steinman

Dr. J.S. Steinman is Jewish American and one of Rapture's most accomplished plastic surgeons, establishing a lucrative practice based on his insistence that everyone in Rapture should be beautiful. After ADAM was introduced, Steinman started to become bored as ADAM provided almost no boundaries but he was restricted to the requests of the customers, who he came to regard as boring and bland. When overuse of ADAM started to take a toll on his mind, he started to mutilate his patients and, becoming insane, began having hallucinations of

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

, the Greek goddess of beauty. He is eventually killed by Jack. He is voiced by

Peter Francis James Peter Francis James (born September 16, 1956) is an American actor and voice-over artist, distinguished by his strong baritone. Early life James was born September 16, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois, to David James and Mary Galloway James. He has f ...

Splicers

Splicers serve as the primary enemies within the first two ''BioShock'' games. They are human inhabitants of Rapture who, through the excessive use of ADAM, have been permanently endowed with various superpowers, but who also became ludicrously and irreversibly insane with disfigured bodies. Unlike the protagonists of the first two ''BioShock'' games, who can mix and match the powers given to them by the use of plasmids with near-limitless variety, Splicers fall into a set of different categories that give each splicer type a consistent but limited set of abilities and powers (Spider Splicers, Houdini Splicers, Leadhead Splicers, Brute Splicers, etc.).

''BioShock 2''

Subject Delta

Subject Delta is the protagonist of ''BioShock 2''. Originally known as "Johnny Topside", he discovered Rapture and was arrested for illegally making contact with its inhabitants. After being sent to prison, Delta became the first successful Big Daddy subject bonded to a Little Sister, Eleanor Lamb. This bond was capable of killing Delta if it were to be broken, which is what happened on New Year's Eve 1958 when Dr. Sofia Lamb forced (via plasmid) Delta to commit suicide with the use of a pistol, reclaiming her daughter. Ten years later, in 1968, Delta is revived by the now adolescent Eleanor Lamb with the use of a vita-chamber reprogrammed to his DNA. Delta is required to find Eleanor, thus repairing the bond between the two. He is part of the Alpha series of Big Daddies.

Augustus Sinclair

Augustus Sinclair is Subject Delta's guide through Rapture. He was the creator of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

, a private prison housing Andrew Ryan's enemies, doubling as the headquarters of his technology firm ''Sinclair Solutions''. During Rapture's height ''Sinclair Solutions'' was one of the city's most successful businesses, thanks to his strong links to Andrew Ryan. Towards the end of ''BioShock 2'',

Sofia Lamb The ''BioShock'' series is a collection of story-driven first-person shooters in which the player explores dystopian settings created by Ken Levine and his team at Irrational Games. The first two games, ''BioShock'' and its direct sequel, ''Bi ...

captures Sinclair and transforms him into the last of the Alpha Series, Subject Omega, whom Subject Delta must kill to gain access to the

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...

to exit Rapture. He is voiced by Doug Boyd.

Eleanor Lamb

The daughter of Sofia Lamb, and a previous Little Sister. Roughly ten years after the 1958 New Year's Eve Riots, she contacts Subject Delta, beginning the events of ''BioShock 2''. Eleanor still remembers Delta as her "Father" after ten years and knows he is searching for her. Throughout the course of the game, she will leave him gifts and messages written on the walls of the city. In the story of ''BioShock 2'', her behavior is influenced by Delta's actions towards the Little Sisters and NPCs, culminating in her surgically converting herself into a Big Sister so she can fight alongside him. She is voiced by Sydney Unseth and

Sarah Bolger Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

Sofia Lamb

Dr. Sofia Lamb is the primary antagonist of ''BioShock 2''. She has taken over Andrew Ryan's position as the leader of Rapture, albeit with a completely different ideological view revolving around

collectivism Collectivism may refer to: * Bureaucratic collectivism, a theory of class society whichto describe the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin * Collectivist anarchism, a socialist doctrine in which the workers own and manage the production * Collectivis ...

. Hoping to restore the city as a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

centered around her daughter Eleanor, she uses her skills as a psychiatrist to brainwash most of the remaining Splicers in the city, forming a cult known as "The Family". She sends out members of The Family to prevent Subject Delta from reuniting with Eleanor, and even tries to smother her daughter to kill him. At the end of the game, she is either rescued or drowned by Eleanor, who has come to resent her abusive mother. She is voiced by

Fenella Woolgar Fenella Justine Therese Woolgar (born 4 August 1969) is an English film, theatre, television and radio actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''Bright Young Things'' (2003) and '' Judy'' (2019). She is also well known for appearing i ...

. In 2013, Liz Lanier of ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' included Lamb among top ten female villains in video games, stating that "an extremist obsessed with the "greater good," Lamb will sacrifice anything and anyone for her own agenda; whether that means brainwashing or murdering to create her utopia, she's down."

Brute Splicer

The Splicer model "Brute" is exclusive to the second game. The Brute is named as such due to his sheer amount of physical strength and raw muscle, resembling a hairless gorilla. This Splicer is motivated primarily by an addiction to violence, as opposed to the religious fervor and cult of personality motivating the other Splicers in Sophia Lamb's "Family". He is voiced by Rick D. Wasserman.

Big Sisters

The Big Sisters are post-pubescent Little Sisters that have become unstable in Rapture's environment and therefore unsuitable for collecting ADAM. The Big Sisters were created when Dr. Gil Alexander, who oversaw development of the original Big Daddies, noticed that Little Sisters were not being protected sufficiently, and decided they needed a last defense. Eight years after the events of ''BioShock'', they are charged with maintaining the ecological balance in Rapture. They wear slim suits like their Big Daddy counterparts, with a syringe attached to the wrist for combat and a cage on their back to hold Little Sisters. Unlike most normal plasmid users, they display an affinity for the powers ADAM creates as they are capable of using ADAM-based powers like Telekinesis or teleportation. Demonstrating an extreme level of enhancement, they are extremely fast and agile, making them even deadlier opponents than the slower Big Daddies. Unlike their little siblings when they reach this age. Subject Delta fights several Big Sisters throughout ''BioShock 2'', and can also call on Eleanor, once she becomes a Big Sister, to help him in combat. All Big Sisters with the exception of Eleanor were voiced by

Subject Sigma

Previously known as Charles Milton Porter, Subject Sigma is the protagonist of ''

''. When he was Charles Milton Porter, his partner Reed Wahl framed him as an associate of Fontaine to gain full control of their creation, the Thinker. Ryan had Porter arrested and converted him to an Alpha Series Big Daddy. With no Little Sister available to be bonded with him, he was sent into cold storage. Brigid Tenenbaum revived him in 1968 with no memory of his previous life and restores his free will. Tasked with bringing the Thinker's code to the surface, Sigma is rewarded by being restored to his original self and given back his memories.

The Thinker

The Thinker is an early

supercomputer A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructions ...

that is able to control Rapture's security system and predict events at "the speed of thought". It is located in Rapture Central Computing, a location at the heart of ''

''. Wahl misused the Thinker to enrich himself by predicting sport scores and stock prices, while Porter tried to use it to replicate the mind of his deceased wife Pearl. Reed's addiction to Plasmids fueled an unhealthy obsession with the Thinker, and he manipulated it to frame Porter as one of Fontaine's spies, leading to his downfall. But unbeknownst to Wahl, the Thinker replicated Porter's personality and helped free him from storage. It now seeks to aid its creator (now known as Subject Sigma) on his mission to bring him and itself out of the rapidly flooding facility.

Reed Wahl

Alongside Charles Porter, Wahl was responsible for creating the Thinker. Unlike his partner, who had no desire to profit from his creation, Wahl took advantage of the Thinker's capabilities by using it to manipulate the stock market and place huge sport bets. He also began to abuse plasmids, which warped his mind until he became convinced that the Thinker was capable of solving an unproven concept called the "Predictive Equation", the potential of which would solve countless mysteries of the universe. Wahl got Porter arrested by tricking Ryan into arresting him, and takes control of the Splicers in Rapture Central Computing, using them to protect the Thinker until Porter, revived as a Big Daddy, kills him. He is voiced by

Keith Szarabajka Keith Szarabajka (; ; born December 2, 1952) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on '' The Equalizer'', Daniel Holtz on ''Angel'', Gerard Stephens in '' The Dark Knight'' and Adam Engell in '' Argo''. ...

''BioShock Infinite''

Booker DeWitt

Booker Dewitt (

Troy Baker Troy Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. Baker is known for his video game roles, including Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and its sequel (2020), Booker DeWitt in ''BioShock Infinite'' (2013), Samuel ...

, Stephen Russell in the early demo), the player

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, is a disgraced former agent of the

Pinkerton National Detective Agency Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...

. As a soldier in the

7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Ireland, Irish air "Garryowen (air), Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated i ...

, he had performed brutal acts against

native American Indians Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States are ...

at the Battle of Wounded Knee to impress his fellow soldiers, and earned him the title "White Injun" due to his tendency to scalp those he killed. These acts left him emotionally scarred, leading to excessive drinking and gambling. He was given an opportunity to be baptized and start anew, but declined. He was later dismissed for behavior beyond the acceptable bounds of the Pinkerton Agency, but considers his actions in quelling labor strikes as part of a goon squad to be among his many sins. He continued to work as a private investigator from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, referring to himself as an "independent contractor". His gambling addiction ultimately catches Booker in a debt to unknown, dangerous individuals, leading to his journey to Columbia. Outwardly, he cares little for the extraordinary, provided that it does not interfere with his ability to do his job; internally, he is disturbed by both his role in the events at Wounded Knee and recurring visions of New York City under attack from the air. Booker is skeptical of faith, unwilling to accept the idea that he can be absolved of his sins by embracing religion, as he considers his sins to be so extreme as to demand a penance rather than forgiveness. It is revealed in the game's climax that Booker is the father of Elizabeth (who was originally named Anna). Comstock, having gone sterile and desiring an heir, had the Luteces persuade Booker in 1893 to give her to them, in exchange for his debt being paid. Booker later regretted his decision, and attempted to stop Comstock and the Luteces as they left through a portal. In the struggle, Anna's finger was severed as the portal closed. The Luteces later contacted Booker and offered to bring him to Comstock's reality and stop him after he betrayed them. Booker accepted this, but the effects of inter-dimensional travel caused his memory to confuse finding Elizabeth with giving away Anna. Elizabeth takes Booker to the river the baptism was supposed to occur, adding that while he rejected it, another Booker in a different reality accepted it and became Comstock. She (and other Elizabeth's from different realities) concludes that the only way to prevent Comstock from being born is to "drown" Booker, which he accepts. He is then "drowned" in the river. In the post-credits scene, a Booker (it is unclear of this is the one played through the game or one from a different reality) awakens in his home in 1893. He goes into Anna's room, but what he finds is left unknown. It is revealed in

Burial at Sea Burial at sea is the disposal of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries. Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many different location ...

that another Comstock fled to

using Booker's identity, but is killed by Elizabeth. An aspect of Booker later speaks to Elizabeth in her head, guiding her through Rapture. The character of Booker was well received. He was nominated for the Best Male Character by Cheat Code Central, awarded second place. Troy Baker was also praised for his performance as Booker. At the 2013 Spike VGX, his role as Booker was nominated for Best Voice Actor; he ultimately won the award for his role as

Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to: * Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name. * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...

in ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. ' ...

''.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth ( Courtnee Draper) is a young woman who has been held captive in Columbia for most of her life. She is shown to be highly intelligent, having spent most of her life studying a wide variety of subjects from geography to medicine and physics, whilst acquiring more practical skills in the form of cryptography and lock-picking. She also has the ability to perceive and interact with the dimensional tears across Columbia. She wears a thimble in place of the tip of her little finger, which had been cut off, though she does not remember how this happened. In one point of the game, the Twins will let Booker choose what type of brooch necklace she should wear (a Bird or a Cage), which will not affect the story. It is later revealed that she is really Anna DeWitt, Booker's daughter, whom Comstock kidnapped across dimensions. Her finger was severed when the portal Comstock kidnapped her with closed on it and cut it off. She is the only main character alive at the end of the game (as all the other hypothetical Elizabeths and Annas vanished from existence). She reappears in the ''Burial at Sea'' DLCs, having assumed a new identity as a singer known as the "Songbird of Rapture" and serving as a companion, and again in part 2, as the playable character, hunting down the final Comstock who escaped Booker's sacrifice. After exacting revenge on this Comstock, she becomes overburdened with guilt over her mistreatment of a little sister, which compels her to return to Rapture at the cost of her powers. After being forced by Atlas to help him escape prison, Elizabeth returns to Columbia to find a Lutece particle to help raise the prison. Along the way, she discovers connections and resolutions to questions from Infinite. She is later ordered to retrieve Atlas' "Ace in the Hole". After reluctantly giving it to Atlas, she is then bludgeoned to death with a wrench. Before she dies, she is able to foresee the future where Jack saves the little sisters and they escape Rapture. This knowledge brings Elizabeth peace in her final moments.

The Songbird

Elizabeth's confinement within Columbia has been maintained by the Songbird, a large, robotic bird-like creature who had been both her friend, protector and her warden. The Songbird was designed by its creator to feel betrayal should Elizabeth escape, and Elizabeth notes she "would rather be killed than be recaptured by the it." Similar to a Big Daddy (upon which the technology used in its creation may have been based) its eyes can also turn into three different colors: green, yellow and red

Zachary Hale Comstock

Father Zachary Hale Comstock (

Kiff VandenHeuvel Kiff VandenHeuvel (born Christopher Jon VandenHeuvel) is an American actor, director and teacher of both improvisational comedy and voiceover. He is the host of the voiceover podcast, All Over Voiceover with Kiff VH. His film credits include '' ...

) serves as the main antagonist of the story. He is revealed to be an alternate version of Booker DeWitt; whereas Booker refused the baptism after the Battle of Wounded Knee, this version accepted it, found faith in religion, and renamed himself as Comstock. Claiming to have received a vision of the future from an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

, Comstock became a religious fanatic who founded Columbia with the help of the Luteces, and is revered there as "The Prophet". Initially, Comstock intended Columbia to promote

American Exceptionalism American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently different from other nations.William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

. This boiled over in 1901, when Comstock ordered an attack on

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

. The government demanded he return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but Comstock seceded Columbia, and became its de facto ruler. Now in complete control of Columbia, Comstock created a religion that Ken Levine described as being a hybrid of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and the worship of the Founding Fathers as religious figures. At the same time, he eschews figures like

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, considering him to be a "devil" that led America astray when he freed the African slaves; in one area of the game, the player encounters a cult-like group that reveres

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...

as a hero. To maintain his leadership, Comstock has created a

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

and police state within Columbia, which also protects his secrets by weaving them into the mythology he has created. Under his leadership, Columbia exists with nativist and ultra nationalistic attitudes, with minority groups subject to seizure of assets,

false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...

and penal labor,

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

and

summary execution A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

without charge. Although Comstock's acknowledgement of these as crimes is never shown, he himself is revealed to be responsible for at least three murders and leading a violent purge of over forty dissidents. Comstock claims that Elizabeth is his daughter, born miraculously to his late wife, Lady Comstock, after only seven days in the womb, and that she is "The Lamb" that will lead Columbia in the future. It is later revealed that he had become sterile from the 'Tear' technology used by the Lutece twins, and he employed them to take Anna DeWitt, Booker's child, from another reality to become Elizabeth and his genetic heir to Columbia. He subsequently killed his wife and attempted to kill the Lutece twins to hide this conspiracy. He is killed in the garden room of his airship, ''The Hand of the Prophet'', when Booker smashes his skull in on a baptismal font, and drowns him in it. A version of Comstock also serves as the protagonist for the first ''Burial at Sea'' DLC. After the baby Anna was killed when the dimensional portal (which in the main game only severed her finger) decapitated her, Comstock left his Columbia for Rapture to forget his grief and returned to being Booker DeWitt. There he unofficially adopted a Little Sister named Sally, and was later hired by a version of Elizabeth to find her. This was revealed to be a test to see if this version of Comstock had changed his ways, and when it became apparent that he had not, Elizabeth had the Big Daddy they were fighting impale Comstock from behind and kill him for good. Comstock's name is possibly derived from

Anthony Comstock Anthony Comstock (March 7, 1844 – September 21, 1915) was an anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), who was dedicated to upholding Christian morality. He o ...

, an early 20th century conservative politician known for his anti-obscenity

Comstock laws The Comstock laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.Dennett p.9 The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the Suppression of ...

Daisy Fitzroy

Daisy Fitzroy (

Kimberly Brooks Kimberly D. Brooks (née Lawson) is an American voice actress who works in the voice-over, film, video games, and theatre industry. She has voiced in video games since the mid-1990s. She has played Ashley Williams in the ''Mass Effect'' serie ...

) is the leader of the Vox Populi. A woman of African-American descent, she originally journeyed to Columbia to find a new life, and took a position as housekeeper in Comstock's mansion. When Comstock murdered his wife to keep Elizabeth's parentage secret, he turned Fitzroy into a scapegoat for the crime and framed the Vox Populi, a group of dissidents, as having ordered the murder in order to create a common enemy to justify the establishment of a

police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exe ...

. This inspired Fitzroy to develop a bitter hatred of the Founders and what they stand for, and she assumed control of the Vox Populi, transforming them into a violent band of extremists. Despite fighting against the injustices perpetrated by the Founders, Daisy and the Vox Populi are presented as being no better than the Founders, given the lengths they are willing to go to in order to overthrow Comstock, including murdering innocent civilians, using

child soldiers Children (defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as people under the age of 18) have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures. Children in the military, includ ...

for

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

, and Fitzroy's propaganda which calls for the seizure of property and wealth belonging to the Founders and the deaths of their families. After staging a successful uprising at the factory of Jeremiah Fink (for which Elizabeth bore some responsibility), she shoots him and attempts to do the same to his son, forcing Elizabeth to stab her through the chest with a pair of shears. In Episode 2 of ''Burial at Sea'', it is revealed that these events were orchestrated by the Lutece twins; they convinced Daisy to take the child to help Elizabeth learn to make hard decisions after revealing that she would not have survived long after the rebellion anyway. Recordings left by Daisy explain that she was increasingly disturbed by the violence perpetuated by her followers, and was unsure as to whether or not she could truly build a better society for Columbia's downtrodden.

The Lutece Twins

Robert (

Oliver Vaquer Oliver Vaquer is an American actor, and podcaster. Filmography Film Television Video games References External links * American male television actors Living people 20th-century American male actors American male voice actors P ...

) and Rosalind Lutece (

Jennifer Hale Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', ''Mass Effect'', ''Metal Gear Solid'', ''BioShock Infinite'', ''Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Star Wa ...

) are two mysterious individuals that direct Booker to Columbia and appear throughout his travels. They appear to be near-identical fraternal twins, but it is later revealed that they are the same person from two different realities, differing by sex as well as core ideals. This causes them to disagree about certain theories, such as the effects of one person being introduced into a dimension other than their own. Rosalind is shown to be the one to have developed the technology that keeps Columbia afloat under Comstock's orders, and through that, made contact with Robert. Together they worked out how to communicate with and subsequently cross between dimensions to the extent where they can now do so at will. Over the course of the story, it is revealed that Comstock attempted to murder the Lutece twins by sabotaging one of their devices to protect his secrets, but instead they ended up in a state of flux, existing along the entire "possibility space".

Lady Comstock

Lady Annabelle Comstock (

Laura Bailey Laura Bailey is an American voice actress. She made her anime debut as Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z''. Her other anime credits include Emily / Glitter Lucky in ''Glitter Force'', Tohru Honda in ''Fruits Basket'', Lust in ...

) is the wife of Zachary Hale Comstock and the adoptive mother of Elizabeth. Shortly after meeting Comstock, she became one of his most dedicated followers, but soon became disillusioned when Comstock resorted to increasingly violent tactics to impose his will on the city of Columbia. She grew to resent Elizabeth, and as she grew evermore unstable, she was unable to keep the secret of Elizabeth's parentage and threatened to undermine Comstock's rule over Columbia. Comstock murdered her and blamed Daisy Fitzroy and the Vox Populi for her death, using the act to further establish control over the city by portraying his late wife as a saint to be worshipped by Columbia's citizens. Lady Comstock is eventually resurrected using Elizabeth's powers by Comstock, becoming the "Siren", a being of hate and rage who has the ability to raise the dead to do her bidding. She attempts to kill Elizabeth several times until she convinces her that they are both Comstock's victims, which convinces her to renounce her power and dissipate.

Jeremiah Fink

Jeremiah Fink (

Bill Lobley Bill Lobley (born in Bronxville, New York) is an American comic actor known for his work in animation, commercials, and voiceovers for film, radio, and television; including Arcane, Adult Swim's ''Sealab 2021'', Discovery's Animal Planet, and m ...

) is an unscrupulous businessman who has a monopoly over manufacturing in Columbia, aided by usurping technology that he has observed through the tears, including that of the Songbird. Fink is a key supporter of Comstock as he is willing to allow him to exploit Columbia's poor for cheap labor, as well as bring in black workers to provide unpaid labor though he does not share Comstock's religious fervor and generally seems only interested in profit. He has achieved a celebrity status within Columbia, and produces most of the propaganda and weapons used to enforce Comstock's rule over the city. He also guided Albert, his brother and a struggling composer, to take music heard through the tears and claim it as his own. He is ultimately killed by Daisy Fitzroy when she instigates a revolt at his factory. In ''Burial at Sea'', it is shown that Fink and Suchong shared data and research through a tear linking Rapture and Columbia.

Cornelius Slate

Cornelius Slate (

) is a former soldier who dons a gold eyepatch over his missing left eye. He fought alongside Booker at the Battle of Wounded Knee before becoming a follower of Comstock and going on to lead Columbia's forces to lay waste to

during the

. Slate becomes disillusioned with Comstock's rule when he discovers that Comstock has claimed both Slate's and Booker's achievements in battle as his own, and organizes a rebellion of other disgruntled veterans against the city. After Booker defeats his followers, he demands that his old war buddy kill him rather than die at the hands of Comstock's "tin soldiers"; if Booker refuses, he is ultimately taken into custody and winds up reliant on a wheelchair, locked in a remote prison in a catatonic state (possibly by lobotomization). When Elizabeth opens a tear to another reality where Booker died fighting for the Vox Populi, it is revealed that Cornelius convinced him to join his rebellion, before being killed in a shootout with the Columbian army.

''BioShock''

Jack

Andrew Ryan

Atlas/Frank Fontaine

Big Daddies

Little Sisters

Sander Cohen

Brigid Tenenbaum

Yi Suchong

J.S. Steinman

Splicers

''BioShock 2''

Subject Delta

Augustus Sinclair

Eleanor Lamb

Sofia Lamb

Brute Splicer

Big Sisters

Subject Sigma

The Thinker

Reed Wahl

''BioShock Infinite''

Booker DeWitt

Elizabeth

The Songbird

Zachary Hale Comstock

Daisy Fitzroy

The Lutece Twins

Lady Comstock

Jeremiah Fink

Cornelius Slate

References

Further reading