Elizabeth
Elizabeth | |
---|---|
First Appearance | BioShock Infinite |
Sex | Female |
Nationality | American |
Age | 20 |
Paraphernalia | Sky Hook, Planar Tearing |
Allies | Booker DeWitt, Songbird |
Enemies | Zachary Comstock, Songbird |
Notable Features | Invulnerable to enemy gunfire. Creates something from nothing. |
Voice Talent | Courtnee Draper |
The female protagonist of BioShock Infinite, Elizabeth is freed by the player on Monument Island, where she has been held captive for most of her life. Elizabeth was previously monitored by Songbird, who pursues her and Booker as they attempt to leave Columbia.
While she was imprisoned, Elizabeth loved to read, learning skills such as lockpicking, codebreaking and more. As a result, she helps Booker DeWitt access areas he'd otherwise be unable to visit throughout the story. She also helps the player by providing money, health, ammo and more.
According to creative director Ken Levine, "when we saw the reaction to Elizabeth at E3 last year, 2011, it was so strong that we really wanted to give her even more of a role as your partner, not just Tears and narrative, but really to spin her into every aspect of that journey. You know, from the narrative stuff and from the environmental stuff that she does, she’s always aware in the world. Always present and always observing things and paying attention to things and commenting on things, looking at things, interacting with things. But in combat, we really wanted to expand her role and we thought that there’s a bunch of things. People would say ‘oh, give her a gun,’ and I never wanted to do that.”
“I never wanted to do that because that’s just what the player does, and I don’t want someone kill stealing from me,” he elaborated. “Why even have that AI there? Why don’t I just do that, you know? I’m already doing a pretty good job with it, I think. So we really wanted to make sure all the things she did for you are quite different from things you do. So in combat, she’s constantly scrounging for resources for you. For money and ammo and health and Salts that power your Vigors. And she’s sort of scrounging, and oftentimes in clutch moments she’ll hook you up with just what you need. And I think that also makes a bond between the player and Elizabeth. You feel that she’s not just along for the ride. And then in the world itself, she has use. When you first meet her, you kind of see her environment that she lives in, and she’s a bit of a nerdy girl. The 1912 version of the nerd girl, you know? She’s interested in lock picking and painting and cryptography and things like that because she was locked in this tower.”
“We really wanted to pay those things off in the sense that she can pick locks for you, and there are these cryptograms you come across that she can help you figure out once you find the ciphers. She can help you figure out what leads to some good loot for you. We really just wanted to weave her into every aspect of the game, but we never wanted her to do the things that you do. We wanted her to do totally different things.” [1]
Elizabeth's appearance in much of BioShock Infinite's promotional art is based on Russian cosplayer Anna Moleva. Irrational was so impressed with her cosplay of the character that they invited her to be involved in BioShock Infinite's box art, key art and television ad, making her "the official face of Elizabeth." [n
Here is a collection of spoiler free scenes from the game that profile Elizabeth.