Bioshock: 10 Pieces of Important Lore New Players Need to Know – CBR – Comic Book Resources

The BioShock franchise is well-regarded for its combination of complex, in-depth narratives with exploratory first-person shooter mechanics. The franchise comprises three titles: the original BioShock and BioShock 2 both take place in the underwater city of Rapture, while the third and most recent installment, BioShock Infinite, takes place in Columbia, a flying city high up in the clouds.

These iconic titles broke boundaries around the types of stories typically told in video games, especially in first-person shooters, and they have earned a reputation among the gaming community as some of the best in their genre. Due to their continued praise and acclaim, the BioShock games continue to attract new players despite their age.

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All three BioShock games take place in the past. BioShock is set in 1960, and the events of Bioshock 2 happen eight years later in 1968. Despite being a later release, BioShock Infinite's story is set even further back in 1912. Each game references real-world historical events, either subtly or explicitly, throughout their storylines.

However, these references do not mean that the BioShock games are set in the version of history that audiences are familiar with. The settings for these titles are alternate histories, where certain events happened differently than they did in reality, altering the course of time and resulting in further differences from real-world history.

Though the BioShock series is set in the past, the scientific and technological advancements available in Rapture and Columbia are far beyond even what modern real-world developments are capable of. Rapture has the gene-altering addictive substances ADAM and EVE that allow its citizens to effectively gain superpowers and capable robotics to enhance their security system, not to mention the technology it would take to construct a sustainably functional city so far underwater.

Columbia, similarly, has tonics called vigors that temporarily imbue the player with various combat abilities, such as levitating enemies, throwing flaming projectiles and creating an energy shield to block incoming attacks. In terms of technology, Columbia's police force features cybernetically enhanced soldiers known as Handymen and security automatons similar to the robots found in Rapture.

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Rapture, the setting for the first two BioShock games, was founded by Andrew Ryan, based on his ideal of a society where neither governmental nor religious influences could put limitations or regulations on the people's work. Ryan famously asked, "Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?" Rapture was his answer to that question, a laissez-faire society where one would own only what they produced and earned.

As a result, every element of Rapture ran on a strict capitalistic system. Even the police and firefighters would not work unless the citizens who needed them paid the correct fees. These policies led to a culture of extreme individualism, where everyone looked out only for themselves.

One of the more science-fiction elements of BioShock's world is the introduction of ADAM and EVE. At some point in the late 1940s or early 1950s, one of Rapture's scientists discovered that material from a previously undiscovered sea slug could be refined into a substance called ADAM.

ADAM, when used alongside its byproduct, EVE, allowed the user to rewrite their genetic code and empower them with untold enhancements or abilities. However, it had dangerous side effects of slowly degrading the user's DNA over time, forcing them to use more and more to remain healthy. Significantly prolonged use and withdrawals both led to potential mutation and insanity.

Since the sea slugs alone couldn't produce an appropriate amount of ADAM for consumer use, further experimentation was conducted. These experiments revealed when the slugs were placed in the stomachs of living hosts, the resulting amount of ADAM was exponentially higher. However, young girls were the only subjects capable of serving as viable long-term hosts.

As a result, the Little Sisters were created to produce more ADAM and to harvest it from the dead as the population's addiction worsened. They also became targets for those who turned to violence to feed their ADAM addictions, leading to the creation of the Big Daddies. These eerie young girls and their steampunk guardians are among the most memorable images from the BioShock universe.

Despite his commitment to his ideals, Andrew Ryan's utopia couldn't last forever. Although he controlled Rapture's most widespread and successful corporation, a challenger arose. Frank Fontaine, the founder of Fontaine Futuristics, took advantage of Rapture's entirely unregulated market to rise to power through funding the research and production of ADAM, alongside the suspected smuggling of goods from the surface world.

Fontaine's competition and criminal enterprises enraged Ryan, leading him to seize Fontaine's company and imprison his allies. This violation of his strongly professed belief in non-interference caused conflict among the citizens of Rapture and contributed to its social collapse. When the player arrives in Rapture, the city is nearing the end of a violent uprising, and many of its systems are in shambles.

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The flying city of Columbia in BioShock Infinite wasn't always hidden among the clouds, isolated from the rest of the world. Though Zachary Comstock supported the creation of Columbia and would eventually become its leader, he did not found it. The American government used Rosalind Lutece's discoveries to build Columbia and launch it at the 1893 World's Fair.

Columbia remained a part of the United States until the early 1900s. In 1901, Columbia's forces violently intervened in the Boxer Rebellion without orders from the government. This revelation of their combat abilities and willingness to act without orders caused outrage, and their actions eventually led to Columbia seceding from the Union in 1902.

When Columbia left the United States, Zachary Comstock took his place as its de facto leader. The people had rallied behind him during the conflicts that led to secession and followed him unflinchingly when Columbia disappeared into the stratosphere, isolated from the rest of the world.

Comstock established religious nationalism as the norm for Columbia, elevating himself as a direct connection to divinity through the veneration of the American Found Fathers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Through preaching and prophecy, Comstock made himself and his family the unquestionable, divinely appointed leaders of Columbia.

Though it's designed to appear as a neo-classical paradise, Columbia contains a violent world full of despair for those who don't meet established social requirements. Many of Columbia's values are centered on racial supremacy and classism. Part of the rift that formed between Columbia and the United States was due to the outlawing of slavery.

RELATED: 10 Best Video Game DystopiasMinorities faced a dismal fate in Columbia, forced into indentured servitude or outright slavery and dehumanized by the majority of the population. Beyond the realm of colorful Americana that is Columbia's streets lie dingy slums and sweatshop factories where the poor and oppressed suffer under Comstock's regime.

Many players, initially, don't understand how Bioshock Infinite can be a part of the same series as BioShock and BioShock 2. Though they have different protagonists, BioShock and BioShock 2 both take place in the same setting, but BioShock Infinite does not.

While there are a lot of differences between the worlds of Rapture and Columbia, the BioShock games do comprise a cohesive series, the throughline just requires a more comprehensive understanding. The BioShock series is intertwined and interconnected through a few different factors. One is the series' philosophy on alternate realities and multiple universes. This concept is part of why Bioshock and BioShock Infinite's opening sequences are so similar.

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Bioshock: 10 Pieces of Important Lore New Players Need to Know - CBR - Comic Book Resources