Booker DeWitt (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dewittinvestigations) wrote2015-03-03 11:33 pm
dewittinvestigations) wrote2015-03-03 11:33 pm
Ataraxion app
P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Buttercup
OOC Journal:butteredcups
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: no
Email + IM: butteredcups [at] gmail (both email & aim)
Characters Played at Ataraxion: none
C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Booker DeWitt
Canon: Bioshock Infinite
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: After Songbird takes Elizabeth at the gates of Comstock House.
Number: 077
Setting: Booker DeWitt at the Bioshock Wiki
Columbia at the Bioshock Wiki
Zachary Hale Comstock at the Bioshock Wiki
History: Booker DeWitt was born on April 19th, 1874. At 16 years of age, in December of 1890, he took part in the Battle of Wounded Knee, where - upon being (truthfully) accused of having Native American heritage by his fellow soldiers - he flew into a rage, killing women and children and taking the scalps of the Sioux natives as trophies. Booker felt regret and a deep guilt for his actions. As many people do, he turned to religion to seek solace, eventually going to be baptized in the river in an attempt to absolve himself of his sins. However, at the last moment, he found he could not go through with the baptism, fighting off the preacher and abandoning the idea of redemption through God.
In 1892, he began working at Pinkerton National Detective Agency, breaking up labor strikes through use of extreme violence. Though never stated outright, it is likely based on both timing and Booker's own description of his work that he was present at the infamous Homestead Strike of that year.
Also in 1892, his daughter Anna was born, his wife dying in childbirth. Booker was dismissed from Pinkerton due to his overly violent nature; the loss of his job combined with the loss of his wife led him to begin drinking heavily as well as develop a gambling addiction, running up significant debts. He opened a private detective agency, but the drinking, gambling, and debts continued. At this point, Booker was living and working out of a small two-room office/apartment - one room with a cot and desk for himself, the other a bare nursery for his infant daughter.
In 1893, a man named Robert Lutece visited Booker, offering him a deal: give Lutece his daughter, and he would take care of Booker's gambling debts. Desperate, and perhaps hoping that by doing so he was giving his daughter a chance of a better life, Booker agreed. He almost immediately regretted his decision, running after Lutece to reclaim his daughter. He caught up to him in an alley, where Robert handed the baby over to another man, Zachary Comstock. Booker and Comstock struggled for the baby, but Comstock managed to pull her away, disappearing with her through a portal, or "tear," into a parallel universe. Anna stretched out a hand through her father at the last moment, and the tip of her pinky finger was severed as the tear closed.
Booker returned to his office and spent the next nineteen years in much the same way, falling further into debt as well as a a deep self-loathing and depression. He branded his right hand with the initials "AD" as a way to punish himself for what he had done. In 1912, Robert Lutece returned, offering Booker a chance to retrieve his daughter. Booker agreed, and followed Robert through the tear into the universe into which Anna had been taken.
As a result of his passage between universes, Booker quickly forgot the details of what he was doing and who he was with. The game opens with Robert Lutece and his "sister," Rosalind, his alternate-universe counterpart, rowing Booker through a storm to a lighthouse in order to send him on his way.
"The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist..." ―R. Lutece, Barriers to Trans-Dimensional Travel, 1889.
Unable to remember his initial conversation with Robert, his passage to another universe, the fact that he is going to retrieve his daughter, or, indeed, that he has a daughter at all, Booker follows the Luteces' directions and makes his way to Columbia, a floating city high in the clouds. Without any memory of who sent him to the city or why, he begins his quest focused on one goal: find the girl, and wipe away the debt - conflating his current mission with the agreement of nineteen years prior.
His first impression of the city is of a distinctly religious flavor. The Welcome Center of the Church of Comstock is full of psuedo-Biblical quotes, candles, and stained glass. New entrants are even required to accept “baptism” before leaving the Welcome Center and entering the city proper. After begrudgingly accepting the baptism, Booker enters into a seemingly idyllic world: it's July 6th, and the annual fair celebrating the city's leader and "Prophet," Father Comstock, is going on. But things soon turn ugly when Booker wins the annual raffle and discovers his 'prize': first throw of a baseball at an interracial couple. Before he can throw the ball - at either the couple or the announcer - the local police recognize the brand on his hand. "AD:" the brand of the "false shepherd." Threatened for the first time since entering Columbia, Booker lashes out, violently forcing one officer's skyhook into the face of another. He claims the skyhook for himself and proceeds to fight his way through the policemen who appear to stop him.
With that, Booker is on the run. He makes his way through Columbia, killing anyone who gets in his way without hesitation, until he reaches his destination: the tower where Elizabeth - the girl Booker had come to rescue - is locked up. Comstock has claimed Elizabeth as his own daughter, the "Seed of the Prophet" or "Lamb of Columbia," though she has spent her whole life in the tower. Booker frees Elizabeth, though not easily. The tower is guarded by Songbird, a giant, mechanical bird-like creature that acts both as Elizabeth’s protector and her warden. They flee the tower, barely escaping Songbird in the process, and make their way through the city, fighting Comstock's men. Rather than needing to protect the girl at every turn, Booker quickly finds that she is a useful ally with a unique ability: she can open windows to alternate universes, or “tears,” and either pull supplies through or move between universes at will. As useful as her abilities are, they are not all that they could be: the major part of Elizabeth's tower is taken up with a siphon that drains and greatly dampens her powers.
In order to get Elizabeth to cooperate with him, Booker promises to take her to Paris, a city Elizabeth has dreamed of visiting. In reality, he has no intention of taking her to Paris; in his muddled mind, he believes that he must take her to New York, where a man he "owes a lot of money to" waits - bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt. When Elizabeth realizes his deception, she grows angry, knocking Booker out with a wrench and escaping into the industrial area of the city.
When Booker wakes, he's not alone, and his life grows ever more complicated. Not everyone is happy with their lot in the Prophet's city; he wakes face to face with Daisy Fitzroy, the leader of the Vox Populi, a growing movement fighting against the xenophobic, classist, and racist ideals of Columbia, and demanding better working and living conditions for the city's lower classes. Booker insists that he has no interest in getting involved, but Daisy refuses to let him go on his way. She makes him a deal: make contact with a gunsmith in the factory town of Finkton to secure weapons for the Vox Populi, and she will return Booker's airship to him, so that he and Elizabeth can escape Columbia.
Booker tracks down Elizabeth, who is still angry with him, running from him and throwing up tears of everything from balloons to rushing trains to delay his pursuit. But when Booker is attacked by one of Comstock’s men and is knocked off the city, Elizabeth opens another tear, creating a blimp to catch him and bring him safely back to the city. Booker pleads with her to work with him, and she agrees, admitting that though he is a “liar and a thug,” he’s also her only means of reaching Paris.
Naturally, things still aren’t nearly as straightforward as they appear. When Booker and Elizabeth find Chen Lin, the gunsmith - taken and tortured by Comstock’s police force - he’s already dead. Booker is ready to give up and find someone else to supply the guns, but Elizabeth finds another solution: she opens a tear into another world, one where Chen Lin is still alive. Booker and Elizabeth step through, and go to find Chen Lin’s confiscated tools in order that he might use them to create weapons for the Vox. They discover the tools in the basement of police headquarters, and make the decision to step through another tear, one where the tools are not in the basement. Logically, they conclude that the tools in this new universe, if not in police custody, must be with Chen Lin - in this third universe, the gunsmith will be able to supply their weapons.
Once they step through the tear, Booker and Elizabeth emerge into a different world. The Vox are no longer an underground insurgency movement: this world is one of open warfare between the Vox and Comstock's followers. This world’s Booker is dead, a martyr to the Vox Populi cause.
Their mission completed, Booker and Elizabeth make their way back through Finkton to their airship. Before they can depart for either New York, or Paris, however - or even discuss where to go - the ship is attacked by Songbird and forced down. Booker and Elizabeth must travel to Comstock House to find a way to stop Songbird before they can escape the city.
Unsurprisingly, they run into more roadblocks along the way: this time in the form of Elizabeth’s dead "mother," Lady Comstock, brought back to life as a vengeful “Siren” by Comstock to keep them away. They defeat the Siren temporarily, but in order to defeat her for good, must search the nearby market district to discover certain clues that she had left concerning the mysterious conditions of her death. In searching, Booker and Elizabeth discover some important information: Comstock is not Elizabeth’s father at all: being sterile and believing that Columbia must be led by his heir, he had taken her to the city through a tear with the help of Rosalind Lutece. Lady Comstock believed that the child was a bastard born of Comstock and Lutece; afraid that she would reveal to his followers that Elizabeth was not the “miracle child” Columbia believes her to be, Comstock had had his wife murdered, along with Rosalind Lutece and her “brother”/counterpart Robert.
Armed with this new knowledge, Booker and Elizabeth return to confront the Siren; after Elizabeth explains the truth about her death to her mother, the Siren throws open the gates of Comstock House, and Booker and Elizabeth enter. Before they can reach the house, however, they are attacked by Songbird once more. Booker is knocked temporarily unconscious, and wakes to find Elizabeth pleading with Songbird not to hurt him, finally apologizing for leaving and begging for Songbird to take her back home and leave Booker alone. Songbird does so, and Booker runs after them both, dashing across the bridge towards Comstock House.
This is the point at which I will pull Booker into Ataraxion. However, there is one important reveal that occurs after this point in the game, one that occurs after the siphon in Elizabeth's tower is destroyed and she regains the full use of her powers. At this point, Elizabeth gains a kind of omniscience, able to the myriad possibilities that occur in every different reality. By this point, Booker has killed Comstock, but Elizabeth explains to him that doing so wasn't enough: there are still a billion different Comstocks in a billion different worlds, and the only way to truly stop him is to kill him before he starts. Booker swears to "smother him in his crib" if he has to, and so Elizabeth takes him to the place where Comstock was born: a very familiar river.
It turns out that Comstock and Booker are one and the same, with one catalyzing difference in their personal history. Whereas "our" Booker rejected baptism and returned to New York, Pinkerton, and marriage, a different one embraced it. He took a new name, Zachary Hale Comstock, and left his old persona of Booker DeWitt on the riverside.
Personality: Booker DeWitt grew up quickly: he was a soldier by age sixteen, and a father and widower by 19. Though he is still in his 30s, he has lived a lifetime’s worth of regret.
He is a violent man, as noted by various characters throughout the game; Comstock remarks that “It always ends in blood [with you]." The first time Elizabeth sees Booker kill, she is horrified and runs off, forcing him to pursue her. When he does catch up to her, he does not apologize for his actions, instead pointing out that escaping the city will not be as easy as walking out: that people are going to try to stop them, and that "if you don't draw first, you don't get to draw at all." He sees what he does as a necessity, and fails to display any sort of hesitation or uneasiness when he is forced to kill. This does not mean that he is entirely unaware of the moral implications of his actions, however. He seems to think of himself as already corrupted or tainted, and as a result is willing to do what must be done so that others don't have to; on multiple occasions, he insists - or tries to insist - on doing something questionable for Elizabeth (killing Comstock, desecrating her mother's grave) in order to keep her from getting her hands dirty or being corrupted himself.
Though not stated outright in the game, Booker is clearly suffering from a deep depression. He is described by Comstock as “self-destructive,” and this much is certainly true. He has made more than his fair share of mistakes, and awful, possibly unforgivable ones at that: the massacre at Wounded Knee, his work with Pinkerton, agreeing to sell his daughter to pay off his debts. He spends the years after losing Anna in a haze of drinking and gambling, and punishes himself by branding his daughter's initials onto his hand, ensuring that he would be reminded of his sins every day.
It would be impossible to discuss Booker DeWitt’s personality without also touching on the personality of his counterpart, Zachary Comstock. Comstock is the game’s main villain, a racist, xenophobic man who keeps his daughter locked away in a tower and has his wife murdered. While Booker is hardly a saint, he doesn’t go near Comstock’s level of pure evil. The game does not offer any explanation as to their differences, beyond the fact that Comstock agreed to be baptized and "born again" while Booker did not, and while I’ve read and discussed a lot of theories reconciling how the game’s (anti)hero and its despicable villain could be the same person, the one most intriguing to me - supported by various character recordings (or "voxophones" in-game) - is a matter of simple mindset. Comstock believes that he was truly “born again,” as a new man, and goes so far as to take a new name and refuse to discuss his history pre-baptism. He never learns to accept responsibility or repent for his prior sins, and so goes on to commit even more horrific acts as the Prophet of Columbia.
Booker, however, rejects the baptism and never becomes Comstock. When Elizabeth brings him back to the river at the end of the game and Booker steps forward to undergo (and ultimately reject) baptism, he says to her, “You think a dunk in the river’s gonna change the things I’ve done?” He refuses the idea of salvation and redemption through religious rituals, instead choosing to live with the choices he’s made. Whereas Comstock believes he has found “redemption” and forgiveness in the river and is free to turn a blind eye to his past mistakes, repeating them and ultimately believing that he is beyond reproach, Booker does the opposite: he drowns himself in guilt over his past. While Comstock builds himself up as the “hero of Wounded Knee,” Booker is still haunted by his actions there twenty years later. He spends the years after losing Anna as a broken man, full of regret and self-loathing.
However, it is this refusal to take the easy way out, to “wash away his sins” and therefore shirk responsibility for them, that allows Booker to finally at least begin to change and grow as a person. He accepts Robert Lutece’s offer to go to Columbia not for money or any physical reward, but simply to be with his daughter again. Of course, once he steps through the tear he forgets the true purpose of his journey, believing quite sincerely that he is there merely to retrieve Elizabeth and deliver her to an unknown client to “wipe away his debt,” but even so, by the end of the game, Booker has reversed his thinking; the quote on the Comstock House level loading screen, which allows us some insight into Booker’s thoughts, reads “There’s a debt I owe the girl, and if it means paying her and not the man in New York, so be it.” Though he is still far from perfect, or even a good person, he has begun to show some attempt to begin to redeem himself - to truly pay his debts.
Booker is a gruff, often sardonic man, stoic in contrast to Elizabeth’s more animated personality. He occasionally displays a sort of sarcastic wit, but is more often humorless and often exasperated or annoyed. Though he still uses violence ruthlessly when necessary, he is (at least by this point) not the type to kill without reason; unlike Comstock, he is not without a conscience.
He does occasionally show a softer side, playing the guitar and attempting - awkwardly - to comfort Elizabeth when she is upset. Overall, though, he is a jaded man, in contrast to Elizabeth's wide-eyed wonder at the world around her. While Elizabeth feels sympathy for the people of Finkton's Shantytown, Booker worries that her feelings may be "enough to get her killed." He says repeatedly that the conflict between the Vox and the Founders is not his (or Elizabeth's) fight, and tells Elizabeth that she is not responsible for the death and violence that result from their securing weapons for the revolutionaries. While he undeniably cares about Elizabeth by this point in the game, his empathy for other people is still sorely lacking.
Booker is resourceful and resilient, with a certain determined, goal-focused determination and practicality. Although he is baffled when first entering Columbia, he soon adapts to life in the floating city, quickly mastering and becoming used to new ways of travel, new weapons, and a host of unfamiliar sights, objects, and concepts. He even accepts Elizabeth's ability to open portals to alternate universes fairly quickly - rather than expressing disbelief or fear when he sees Elizabeth open a tear for the first time, he first considers the practical use of her ability ("I don't suppose you've got an airship in there,") and then, when Songbird nearly flies through, rejects any sort of curiosity about this new power in favor of keeping them both safe: "I don't really understand what I just saw back there, but it sure as hell looks like a shortcut to getting us killed."
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: By this point, Booker has collected a number of Vigors, basically drinkable superpowers. Booker utilizes his Vigors by firing them from his hand. In-game, Booker has collected eight Vigors by this point. I have reduced this to three, all of which are required for him to progress in the game. The others are optional powerups that he picks up throughout his journey through Columbia. While it would make more sense, canonically, for Booker to possess all of his Vigors upon arrival - he’d be unlikely to pass them up in Columbia when he’s basically having to fight an entire army - they would also make him far overpowered in-game. If the mods are concerned that even limited Vigors would overpower Booker, I am of course open to him not possessing any, or finding that they do not work aboard the ship (however, see discussion of "salts" below for discussion of how else to limit his use of Vigors).
Vigors
* Possession - Temporarily overtakes machines. Possession basically makes the machine work for the user; the first time Booker uses it, he forces a machine refusing him entry through a locked gate to “recognize” him as having bought a ticket and let him through. Booker also uses Possession to make automated weapons fight for him and make vending machines spill money onto the floor. While this is certainly a useful ability to have, it does have a downside - the "possession" of the machine is short-lived, and once the effect wears off, any automated weaponry immediately turns back onto its original enemy. Possession is also an 'expensive' Vigor, draining half of Booker's maximum salts with one use.
* Devil’s Kiss - Discharges a flaming fireball that explodes shortly after it lands, burning all within (a short) range. By targeting the ground rather than an enemy, the user can also create a “trap” that will set aflame enemies who trigger it.
* Shock Jockey - Releases a bolt of electricity. This can be used to stun or maim enemies, but it can also be used to charge up electrical generators. This Vigor can also be used to create a “trap” by targeting the ground and creating an electrical field.
The vigors are fueled by “salts,” a drinkable substance found throughout Columbia. Small amounts of salts can also be found in cigarettes, soda, and coffee. I believe that the lack of access to considerable amounts of salts will serve as their own power limitation: Booker will save what scarce salts he can find to use only when absolutely necessary. In order to prevent him destroying the place, he can enter the game with low or completely drained salts, if necessary. Drinking alcohol also drains salts, which might create an interesting struggle between Booker's efforts to conserve his salts and his desire to drink.
Booker is a veteran of the US Calvary, and has experience with a variety of guns, from pistols to rocket launchers. He is also experienced in hand-to-hand fighting. He has a temper and a tendency to “solve his problems with his fists,” resorting to excessive violence on a regular basis. He speaks fluent Sioux.
After his time with the army and Pinkerton’s Detective Agency, Booker obtained his private investigator license and opened his own office. Judging by the state of his office, he was never a great success, but he also somehow managed to stay open and get by (if barely) for twenty years despite heavy drinking and a near-crippling depression. Comstock describes Booker, accurately, as having “self-destructive tendencies,” (and Comstock would know).
He’s also an addict, with both gambling and drinking problems; his office/apartment is littered with empty bottles and cards from the racetrack. He has racked up extensive gambling debts and is never shown seeking any kind of treatment or attempting to put a stop to either his gambling or drinking. However, he does manage to keep himself together and focused on his goal of getting Elizabeth free while in Columbia. While having a clear goal (and being conveniently freed of the memory and therefore the guilt of selling his daughter) does keep him away from the bottle or the tracks, it's certainly not out of the question that he may fall back into his old patterns at some point aboard the Tranquility.
Apart from his Vigors, Booker has no superhuman strength or ability; when his salts run out, he is as vulnerable as any other six-foot-tall former soldier.
Inventory:
Private detective license
pistol
picture of Elizabeth, with the words ”Bring to New York Unharmed” written on the back
Appearance: Picture
Booker has a brand of the initials "AD" on the back of his right hand. He is 6'1" and has dirty blond/light brown hair and green eyes.
Age: 38
AU Clarification: n/a
S A M P L E S
Log Sample: Too much. He’d had too much again, and he knows it. The world’s tilting and swimming before his eyes, and he’s vaguely aware of Elizabeth hovering at his side, watching him anxiously.
“You sure you’ll still be able to shoot straight like that?”
Her tone is bright and teasing, but even Booker can hear the faint thread of unease underneath. He shakes his head, trying to resolve his double vision into one.
Not his fault. The Graveyard Shift ain’t exactly high class, but it’s also the first place he’s been able to catch his damn breath in who knows how long. And while the citizens of Shantytown aren’t quite the friendly sort, they’re also not trying to kill him. It’s a nice change. Can’t blame a man for wanting to sit a spell...
He takes another swig, against his better judgement. Cheap whiskey, but Booker’s known cheaper. And there’s plenty here - the poor bastards working for Fink may be low on food and medicine and every comfort of home, but they’ve no shortage of liquor. It’d be so easy to while away the afternoon here, the evening, nursing whiskey and beer and letting the familiar sounds of a bar envelop him. If ever he’s deserved a drink, it’s now. Elizabeth wouldn’t stop him. The girl’s got a spirit, but she still looks to him to lead, when she’s not playing the fool and running off.
Elizabeth. Booker sighs deeply, and regretfully pushes the bottle away. Now’s not the time. She’s waiting on him, and they’ve still got to get the gunsmith’s tools. Got to arm this damn fool revolution so they can get out of here.
He stands, swaying for a moment before he steadies himself, and looks to Elizabeth. Her worried expression immediately melts into a bright smile, and Booker feels his own lips twitching up in response as he nods at the door.
“Come on. We’ve got a job to do.”
Comms Sample: [ The feed opens, eventually, on a man who looks more frustrated and pissed off than anything else. He’s a mess; though he’s wearing the standard crew jumper, his hair is mussed and unwashed, and his face is dirty, dark circles under his eyes. Is that blood on his cheek? Probably. In any case, he's not smiling, and the hard look in his eye is one that belongs to the kind of man who makes you pull your children closer when you pass him, not the kind who helps old ladies cross the street.
He starts speaking, cautiously, but doesn’t quite look at the camera as he does. Someone doesn’t realize that there’s a video function. ]
Uh - hello?
[ A pause, as if waiting for a reply. ]
I’m looking for a young girl. About twenty years old, dark hair, last seen wearing a blue dress. Name of Elizabeth.
[ Something changes when he says the name: the look on his face changes from annoyed to angry, mouth tightening as his eyebrows draw down. ]
I...need to find her. Anyone with information, I'll make it worth your while.
Your Name: Buttercup
OOC Journal:
butteredcupsUnder 18? If yes, what is your age?: no
Email + IM: butteredcups [at] gmail (both email & aim)
Characters Played at Ataraxion: none
C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Booker DeWitt
Canon: Bioshock Infinite
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: After Songbird takes Elizabeth at the gates of Comstock House.
Number: 077
Setting: Booker DeWitt at the Bioshock Wiki
Columbia at the Bioshock Wiki
Zachary Hale Comstock at the Bioshock Wiki
History: Booker DeWitt was born on April 19th, 1874. At 16 years of age, in December of 1890, he took part in the Battle of Wounded Knee, where - upon being (truthfully) accused of having Native American heritage by his fellow soldiers - he flew into a rage, killing women and children and taking the scalps of the Sioux natives as trophies. Booker felt regret and a deep guilt for his actions. As many people do, he turned to religion to seek solace, eventually going to be baptized in the river in an attempt to absolve himself of his sins. However, at the last moment, he found he could not go through with the baptism, fighting off the preacher and abandoning the idea of redemption through God.
In 1892, he began working at Pinkerton National Detective Agency, breaking up labor strikes through use of extreme violence. Though never stated outright, it is likely based on both timing and Booker's own description of his work that he was present at the infamous Homestead Strike of that year.
Also in 1892, his daughter Anna was born, his wife dying in childbirth. Booker was dismissed from Pinkerton due to his overly violent nature; the loss of his job combined with the loss of his wife led him to begin drinking heavily as well as develop a gambling addiction, running up significant debts. He opened a private detective agency, but the drinking, gambling, and debts continued. At this point, Booker was living and working out of a small two-room office/apartment - one room with a cot and desk for himself, the other a bare nursery for his infant daughter.
In 1893, a man named Robert Lutece visited Booker, offering him a deal: give Lutece his daughter, and he would take care of Booker's gambling debts. Desperate, and perhaps hoping that by doing so he was giving his daughter a chance of a better life, Booker agreed. He almost immediately regretted his decision, running after Lutece to reclaim his daughter. He caught up to him in an alley, where Robert handed the baby over to another man, Zachary Comstock. Booker and Comstock struggled for the baby, but Comstock managed to pull her away, disappearing with her through a portal, or "tear," into a parallel universe. Anna stretched out a hand through her father at the last moment, and the tip of her pinky finger was severed as the tear closed.
Booker returned to his office and spent the next nineteen years in much the same way, falling further into debt as well as a a deep self-loathing and depression. He branded his right hand with the initials "AD" as a way to punish himself for what he had done. In 1912, Robert Lutece returned, offering Booker a chance to retrieve his daughter. Booker agreed, and followed Robert through the tear into the universe into which Anna had been taken.
As a result of his passage between universes, Booker quickly forgot the details of what he was doing and who he was with. The game opens with Robert Lutece and his "sister," Rosalind, his alternate-universe counterpart, rowing Booker through a storm to a lighthouse in order to send him on his way.
"The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist..." ―R. Lutece, Barriers to Trans-Dimensional Travel, 1889.
Unable to remember his initial conversation with Robert, his passage to another universe, the fact that he is going to retrieve his daughter, or, indeed, that he has a daughter at all, Booker follows the Luteces' directions and makes his way to Columbia, a floating city high in the clouds. Without any memory of who sent him to the city or why, he begins his quest focused on one goal: find the girl, and wipe away the debt - conflating his current mission with the agreement of nineteen years prior.
His first impression of the city is of a distinctly religious flavor. The Welcome Center of the Church of Comstock is full of psuedo-Biblical quotes, candles, and stained glass. New entrants are even required to accept “baptism” before leaving the Welcome Center and entering the city proper. After begrudgingly accepting the baptism, Booker enters into a seemingly idyllic world: it's July 6th, and the annual fair celebrating the city's leader and "Prophet," Father Comstock, is going on. But things soon turn ugly when Booker wins the annual raffle and discovers his 'prize': first throw of a baseball at an interracial couple. Before he can throw the ball - at either the couple or the announcer - the local police recognize the brand on his hand. "AD:" the brand of the "false shepherd." Threatened for the first time since entering Columbia, Booker lashes out, violently forcing one officer's skyhook into the face of another. He claims the skyhook for himself and proceeds to fight his way through the policemen who appear to stop him.
With that, Booker is on the run. He makes his way through Columbia, killing anyone who gets in his way without hesitation, until he reaches his destination: the tower where Elizabeth - the girl Booker had come to rescue - is locked up. Comstock has claimed Elizabeth as his own daughter, the "Seed of the Prophet" or "Lamb of Columbia," though she has spent her whole life in the tower. Booker frees Elizabeth, though not easily. The tower is guarded by Songbird, a giant, mechanical bird-like creature that acts both as Elizabeth’s protector and her warden. They flee the tower, barely escaping Songbird in the process, and make their way through the city, fighting Comstock's men. Rather than needing to protect the girl at every turn, Booker quickly finds that she is a useful ally with a unique ability: she can open windows to alternate universes, or “tears,” and either pull supplies through or move between universes at will. As useful as her abilities are, they are not all that they could be: the major part of Elizabeth's tower is taken up with a siphon that drains and greatly dampens her powers.
In order to get Elizabeth to cooperate with him, Booker promises to take her to Paris, a city Elizabeth has dreamed of visiting. In reality, he has no intention of taking her to Paris; in his muddled mind, he believes that he must take her to New York, where a man he "owes a lot of money to" waits - bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt. When Elizabeth realizes his deception, she grows angry, knocking Booker out with a wrench and escaping into the industrial area of the city.
When Booker wakes, he's not alone, and his life grows ever more complicated. Not everyone is happy with their lot in the Prophet's city; he wakes face to face with Daisy Fitzroy, the leader of the Vox Populi, a growing movement fighting against the xenophobic, classist, and racist ideals of Columbia, and demanding better working and living conditions for the city's lower classes. Booker insists that he has no interest in getting involved, but Daisy refuses to let him go on his way. She makes him a deal: make contact with a gunsmith in the factory town of Finkton to secure weapons for the Vox Populi, and she will return Booker's airship to him, so that he and Elizabeth can escape Columbia.
Booker tracks down Elizabeth, who is still angry with him, running from him and throwing up tears of everything from balloons to rushing trains to delay his pursuit. But when Booker is attacked by one of Comstock’s men and is knocked off the city, Elizabeth opens another tear, creating a blimp to catch him and bring him safely back to the city. Booker pleads with her to work with him, and she agrees, admitting that though he is a “liar and a thug,” he’s also her only means of reaching Paris.
Naturally, things still aren’t nearly as straightforward as they appear. When Booker and Elizabeth find Chen Lin, the gunsmith - taken and tortured by Comstock’s police force - he’s already dead. Booker is ready to give up and find someone else to supply the guns, but Elizabeth finds another solution: she opens a tear into another world, one where Chen Lin is still alive. Booker and Elizabeth step through, and go to find Chen Lin’s confiscated tools in order that he might use them to create weapons for the Vox. They discover the tools in the basement of police headquarters, and make the decision to step through another tear, one where the tools are not in the basement. Logically, they conclude that the tools in this new universe, if not in police custody, must be with Chen Lin - in this third universe, the gunsmith will be able to supply their weapons.
Once they step through the tear, Booker and Elizabeth emerge into a different world. The Vox are no longer an underground insurgency movement: this world is one of open warfare between the Vox and Comstock's followers. This world’s Booker is dead, a martyr to the Vox Populi cause.
Their mission completed, Booker and Elizabeth make their way back through Finkton to their airship. Before they can depart for either New York, or Paris, however - or even discuss where to go - the ship is attacked by Songbird and forced down. Booker and Elizabeth must travel to Comstock House to find a way to stop Songbird before they can escape the city.
Unsurprisingly, they run into more roadblocks along the way: this time in the form of Elizabeth’s dead "mother," Lady Comstock, brought back to life as a vengeful “Siren” by Comstock to keep them away. They defeat the Siren temporarily, but in order to defeat her for good, must search the nearby market district to discover certain clues that she had left concerning the mysterious conditions of her death. In searching, Booker and Elizabeth discover some important information: Comstock is not Elizabeth’s father at all: being sterile and believing that Columbia must be led by his heir, he had taken her to the city through a tear with the help of Rosalind Lutece. Lady Comstock believed that the child was a bastard born of Comstock and Lutece; afraid that she would reveal to his followers that Elizabeth was not the “miracle child” Columbia believes her to be, Comstock had had his wife murdered, along with Rosalind Lutece and her “brother”/counterpart Robert.
Armed with this new knowledge, Booker and Elizabeth return to confront the Siren; after Elizabeth explains the truth about her death to her mother, the Siren throws open the gates of Comstock House, and Booker and Elizabeth enter. Before they can reach the house, however, they are attacked by Songbird once more. Booker is knocked temporarily unconscious, and wakes to find Elizabeth pleading with Songbird not to hurt him, finally apologizing for leaving and begging for Songbird to take her back home and leave Booker alone. Songbird does so, and Booker runs after them both, dashing across the bridge towards Comstock House.
This is the point at which I will pull Booker into Ataraxion. However, there is one important reveal that occurs after this point in the game, one that occurs after the siphon in Elizabeth's tower is destroyed and she regains the full use of her powers. At this point, Elizabeth gains a kind of omniscience, able to the myriad possibilities that occur in every different reality. By this point, Booker has killed Comstock, but Elizabeth explains to him that doing so wasn't enough: there are still a billion different Comstocks in a billion different worlds, and the only way to truly stop him is to kill him before he starts. Booker swears to "smother him in his crib" if he has to, and so Elizabeth takes him to the place where Comstock was born: a very familiar river.
It turns out that Comstock and Booker are one and the same, with one catalyzing difference in their personal history. Whereas "our" Booker rejected baptism and returned to New York, Pinkerton, and marriage, a different one embraced it. He took a new name, Zachary Hale Comstock, and left his old persona of Booker DeWitt on the riverside.
Personality: Booker DeWitt grew up quickly: he was a soldier by age sixteen, and a father and widower by 19. Though he is still in his 30s, he has lived a lifetime’s worth of regret.
He is a violent man, as noted by various characters throughout the game; Comstock remarks that “It always ends in blood [with you]." The first time Elizabeth sees Booker kill, she is horrified and runs off, forcing him to pursue her. When he does catch up to her, he does not apologize for his actions, instead pointing out that escaping the city will not be as easy as walking out: that people are going to try to stop them, and that "if you don't draw first, you don't get to draw at all." He sees what he does as a necessity, and fails to display any sort of hesitation or uneasiness when he is forced to kill. This does not mean that he is entirely unaware of the moral implications of his actions, however. He seems to think of himself as already corrupted or tainted, and as a result is willing to do what must be done so that others don't have to; on multiple occasions, he insists - or tries to insist - on doing something questionable for Elizabeth (killing Comstock, desecrating her mother's grave) in order to keep her from getting her hands dirty or being corrupted himself.
Though not stated outright in the game, Booker is clearly suffering from a deep depression. He is described by Comstock as “self-destructive,” and this much is certainly true. He has made more than his fair share of mistakes, and awful, possibly unforgivable ones at that: the massacre at Wounded Knee, his work with Pinkerton, agreeing to sell his daughter to pay off his debts. He spends the years after losing Anna in a haze of drinking and gambling, and punishes himself by branding his daughter's initials onto his hand, ensuring that he would be reminded of his sins every day.
It would be impossible to discuss Booker DeWitt’s personality without also touching on the personality of his counterpart, Zachary Comstock. Comstock is the game’s main villain, a racist, xenophobic man who keeps his daughter locked away in a tower and has his wife murdered. While Booker is hardly a saint, he doesn’t go near Comstock’s level of pure evil. The game does not offer any explanation as to their differences, beyond the fact that Comstock agreed to be baptized and "born again" while Booker did not, and while I’ve read and discussed a lot of theories reconciling how the game’s (anti)hero and its despicable villain could be the same person, the one most intriguing to me - supported by various character recordings (or "voxophones" in-game) - is a matter of simple mindset. Comstock believes that he was truly “born again,” as a new man, and goes so far as to take a new name and refuse to discuss his history pre-baptism. He never learns to accept responsibility or repent for his prior sins, and so goes on to commit even more horrific acts as the Prophet of Columbia.
Booker, however, rejects the baptism and never becomes Comstock. When Elizabeth brings him back to the river at the end of the game and Booker steps forward to undergo (and ultimately reject) baptism, he says to her, “You think a dunk in the river’s gonna change the things I’ve done?” He refuses the idea of salvation and redemption through religious rituals, instead choosing to live with the choices he’s made. Whereas Comstock believes he has found “redemption” and forgiveness in the river and is free to turn a blind eye to his past mistakes, repeating them and ultimately believing that he is beyond reproach, Booker does the opposite: he drowns himself in guilt over his past. While Comstock builds himself up as the “hero of Wounded Knee,” Booker is still haunted by his actions there twenty years later. He spends the years after losing Anna as a broken man, full of regret and self-loathing.
However, it is this refusal to take the easy way out, to “wash away his sins” and therefore shirk responsibility for them, that allows Booker to finally at least begin to change and grow as a person. He accepts Robert Lutece’s offer to go to Columbia not for money or any physical reward, but simply to be with his daughter again. Of course, once he steps through the tear he forgets the true purpose of his journey, believing quite sincerely that he is there merely to retrieve Elizabeth and deliver her to an unknown client to “wipe away his debt,” but even so, by the end of the game, Booker has reversed his thinking; the quote on the Comstock House level loading screen, which allows us some insight into Booker’s thoughts, reads “There’s a debt I owe the girl, and if it means paying her and not the man in New York, so be it.” Though he is still far from perfect, or even a good person, he has begun to show some attempt to begin to redeem himself - to truly pay his debts.
Booker is a gruff, often sardonic man, stoic in contrast to Elizabeth’s more animated personality. He occasionally displays a sort of sarcastic wit, but is more often humorless and often exasperated or annoyed. Though he still uses violence ruthlessly when necessary, he is (at least by this point) not the type to kill without reason; unlike Comstock, he is not without a conscience.
He does occasionally show a softer side, playing the guitar and attempting - awkwardly - to comfort Elizabeth when she is upset. Overall, though, he is a jaded man, in contrast to Elizabeth's wide-eyed wonder at the world around her. While Elizabeth feels sympathy for the people of Finkton's Shantytown, Booker worries that her feelings may be "enough to get her killed." He says repeatedly that the conflict between the Vox and the Founders is not his (or Elizabeth's) fight, and tells Elizabeth that she is not responsible for the death and violence that result from their securing weapons for the revolutionaries. While he undeniably cares about Elizabeth by this point in the game, his empathy for other people is still sorely lacking.
Booker is resourceful and resilient, with a certain determined, goal-focused determination and practicality. Although he is baffled when first entering Columbia, he soon adapts to life in the floating city, quickly mastering and becoming used to new ways of travel, new weapons, and a host of unfamiliar sights, objects, and concepts. He even accepts Elizabeth's ability to open portals to alternate universes fairly quickly - rather than expressing disbelief or fear when he sees Elizabeth open a tear for the first time, he first considers the practical use of her ability ("I don't suppose you've got an airship in there,") and then, when Songbird nearly flies through, rejects any sort of curiosity about this new power in favor of keeping them both safe: "I don't really understand what I just saw back there, but it sure as hell looks like a shortcut to getting us killed."
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: By this point, Booker has collected a number of Vigors, basically drinkable superpowers. Booker utilizes his Vigors by firing them from his hand. In-game, Booker has collected eight Vigors by this point. I have reduced this to three, all of which are required for him to progress in the game. The others are optional powerups that he picks up throughout his journey through Columbia. While it would make more sense, canonically, for Booker to possess all of his Vigors upon arrival - he’d be unlikely to pass them up in Columbia when he’s basically having to fight an entire army - they would also make him far overpowered in-game. If the mods are concerned that even limited Vigors would overpower Booker, I am of course open to him not possessing any, or finding that they do not work aboard the ship (however, see discussion of "salts" below for discussion of how else to limit his use of Vigors).
Vigors
* Possession - Temporarily overtakes machines. Possession basically makes the machine work for the user; the first time Booker uses it, he forces a machine refusing him entry through a locked gate to “recognize” him as having bought a ticket and let him through. Booker also uses Possession to make automated weapons fight for him and make vending machines spill money onto the floor. While this is certainly a useful ability to have, it does have a downside - the "possession" of the machine is short-lived, and once the effect wears off, any automated weaponry immediately turns back onto its original enemy. Possession is also an 'expensive' Vigor, draining half of Booker's maximum salts with one use.
* Devil’s Kiss - Discharges a flaming fireball that explodes shortly after it lands, burning all within (a short) range. By targeting the ground rather than an enemy, the user can also create a “trap” that will set aflame enemies who trigger it.
* Shock Jockey - Releases a bolt of electricity. This can be used to stun or maim enemies, but it can also be used to charge up electrical generators. This Vigor can also be used to create a “trap” by targeting the ground and creating an electrical field.
The vigors are fueled by “salts,” a drinkable substance found throughout Columbia. Small amounts of salts can also be found in cigarettes, soda, and coffee. I believe that the lack of access to considerable amounts of salts will serve as their own power limitation: Booker will save what scarce salts he can find to use only when absolutely necessary. In order to prevent him destroying the place, he can enter the game with low or completely drained salts, if necessary. Drinking alcohol also drains salts, which might create an interesting struggle between Booker's efforts to conserve his salts and his desire to drink.
Booker is a veteran of the US Calvary, and has experience with a variety of guns, from pistols to rocket launchers. He is also experienced in hand-to-hand fighting. He has a temper and a tendency to “solve his problems with his fists,” resorting to excessive violence on a regular basis. He speaks fluent Sioux.
After his time with the army and Pinkerton’s Detective Agency, Booker obtained his private investigator license and opened his own office. Judging by the state of his office, he was never a great success, but he also somehow managed to stay open and get by (if barely) for twenty years despite heavy drinking and a near-crippling depression. Comstock describes Booker, accurately, as having “self-destructive tendencies,” (and Comstock would know).
He’s also an addict, with both gambling and drinking problems; his office/apartment is littered with empty bottles and cards from the racetrack. He has racked up extensive gambling debts and is never shown seeking any kind of treatment or attempting to put a stop to either his gambling or drinking. However, he does manage to keep himself together and focused on his goal of getting Elizabeth free while in Columbia. While having a clear goal (and being conveniently freed of the memory and therefore the guilt of selling his daughter) does keep him away from the bottle or the tracks, it's certainly not out of the question that he may fall back into his old patterns at some point aboard the Tranquility.
Apart from his Vigors, Booker has no superhuman strength or ability; when his salts run out, he is as vulnerable as any other six-foot-tall former soldier.
Inventory:
Private detective license
pistol
picture of Elizabeth, with the words ”Bring to New York Unharmed” written on the back
Appearance: Picture
Booker has a brand of the initials "AD" on the back of his right hand. He is 6'1" and has dirty blond/light brown hair and green eyes.
Age: 38
AU Clarification: n/a
S A M P L E S
Log Sample: Too much. He’d had too much again, and he knows it. The world’s tilting and swimming before his eyes, and he’s vaguely aware of Elizabeth hovering at his side, watching him anxiously.
“You sure you’ll still be able to shoot straight like that?”
Her tone is bright and teasing, but even Booker can hear the faint thread of unease underneath. He shakes his head, trying to resolve his double vision into one.
Not his fault. The Graveyard Shift ain’t exactly high class, but it’s also the first place he’s been able to catch his damn breath in who knows how long. And while the citizens of Shantytown aren’t quite the friendly sort, they’re also not trying to kill him. It’s a nice change. Can’t blame a man for wanting to sit a spell...
He takes another swig, against his better judgement. Cheap whiskey, but Booker’s known cheaper. And there’s plenty here - the poor bastards working for Fink may be low on food and medicine and every comfort of home, but they’ve no shortage of liquor. It’d be so easy to while away the afternoon here, the evening, nursing whiskey and beer and letting the familiar sounds of a bar envelop him. If ever he’s deserved a drink, it’s now. Elizabeth wouldn’t stop him. The girl’s got a spirit, but she still looks to him to lead, when she’s not playing the fool and running off.
Elizabeth. Booker sighs deeply, and regretfully pushes the bottle away. Now’s not the time. She’s waiting on him, and they’ve still got to get the gunsmith’s tools. Got to arm this damn fool revolution so they can get out of here.
He stands, swaying for a moment before he steadies himself, and looks to Elizabeth. Her worried expression immediately melts into a bright smile, and Booker feels his own lips twitching up in response as he nods at the door.
“Come on. We’ve got a job to do.”
Comms Sample: [ The feed opens, eventually, on a man who looks more frustrated and pissed off than anything else. He’s a mess; though he’s wearing the standard crew jumper, his hair is mussed and unwashed, and his face is dirty, dark circles under his eyes. Is that blood on his cheek? Probably. In any case, he's not smiling, and the hard look in his eye is one that belongs to the kind of man who makes you pull your children closer when you pass him, not the kind who helps old ladies cross the street.
He starts speaking, cautiously, but doesn’t quite look at the camera as he does. Someone doesn’t realize that there’s a video function. ]
Uh - hello?
[ A pause, as if waiting for a reply. ]
I’m looking for a young girl. About twenty years old, dark hair, last seen wearing a blue dress. Name of Elizabeth.
[ Something changes when he says the name: the look on his face changes from annoyed to angry, mouth tightening as his eyebrows draw down. ]
I...need to find her. Anyone with information, I'll make it worth your while.