History Fridge / BioshockInfinite

* A sign near the beginning describes Comstock as the prophet leading people to Eden, not Heaven. Eden is ultimately a place of ignorance, devoid of knowledge, and a fable metaphorically describing childhood. Becoming an adult means leaving ignorance behind, and the price is accepting death.

* One of Rosalind's voxophones states, "Our contraption shows us the girl is the flame that shall ignite the world. My brother says we must undo what we have done. But time is more an ocean than a river. Why try to bring in a tide that will only again go out?" Made more chilling by the Fridge-Brilliant ocean metaphors, it is likely that the Luteces helped lead you willingly to slaughter, only to have Ryan break ground for Rapture a few decades later...''And knew it the whole time,'' but were only interested literally undoing their part in such events, nothing more. [[spoiler: This would explain their absence from Burial at Sea: Episode 2. With the last Comstock dead, they no longer cared what Elizabeth got up to. Without their seemingly superior abilities at subtle manipulation of the worlds, she was forced to manifest in Rapture Prime and become mortal.]]

* [[spoiler: Did baby Anna suffer from Tear Sickness? And if she did... HOW BADLY WAS SHE '''BLEEDING'''?! And that doesn't even account for her newly-severed finger...]]

* Sure the ending renders this moot, but more than a few of us would shudder at the realization that [[spoiler: [[https://sites.google.com/site/sprage39/video-game-thoughts/bioshockinfinite/whyagoodchunkofthegametakesplacein1914 the Elizabeth we save isn't the one Songbird takes away]]]]. Along the same note, in an earlier segment of the game, is the Elizabeth that stepped through a tear and got grabbed by the police the same Elizabeth that we saved shortly thereafter? It is assumed to be, but can we really be sure that is the case?

* Something to consider. The Songbird was built using techniques gained from Rapture through a tear about Big Daddy construction. So what if the technique(s) they were using to turn Elizabeth into a FallenHero that attacked NYC in Rapture? [[spoiler: Specifically, to make a Little/Big Sister]]?

* Remember the coin flip? [[spoiler:Count the tallies. Booker's (or rather ''Bookers'') flipped the coin over a hundred times. And that's assuming the Luteces are still on the first set of chalkboards]]. The exact number of the coin flip tally (at least, before ''your'' Booker's result is tallied) is 122. Now, recall the numbers on the bell code that got you into Columbia at the start of the game.
* Whenever you die, and Elizabeth is not there to revive you, you return to your apartment. [[spoiler:You then step back out, creating an alternate universe where you did not die. The tick marks on the chalkboard, and the alternate, battered, bloody Elizabeth you see at the end? They come from all the times you came to Columbia and FAILED]].

* You know the BadFuture? [[spoiler:The New York, and then possibly the planet? Given who Comstock is, who's to say he'd be satisfied with redeeming ''one'' universe? Elizabeth ''outright says'' in that millions of other universes await their judgement once she's dealt with one]].
* Bit of Real Life Fridge Horror: [[spoiler:Comstock purely going evil because of his religion, while his presumably agnostic or at least lapsed alternate universe counterpart Booker seems like it would be making religion into a strawman...and then you read up on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Theology dominion theology]], and other Christian movements towards theocratic government, particularly in the US. '''There are real people like him''']].

* More on the subject of Booker. Ever wonder why the Battle of Wounded Knee is called the ''Massacre'' at Wounded Knee? [[spoiler: It's implied Booker ''himself'' might be the reason why. It's revealed that Slate's soldiers gave him the ''nom de guerre'' of "The White Injun" because he collected so many grisly trophies from the dead, while Comstock's Voxaphone recordings reveal that after he was (correctly) accused of having Indian blood, he decided to prove them wrong by burning tepees down with the inhabitants (women and children) still inside. Since this took place before the point of divergence that turned Booker into Comstock, then Booker is guilty of this as well. [[TeensAreMonsters Bear in mind, that was all when he was sixteen]]]]...Furthermore, one Voxophone confirms that Booker Dewitt speaks Sioux. It's no jump to know which tribe that his Indian blood comes from. Now, what tribe was at Wounded Knee? [[spoiler: Booker slaughtered his own people.]]

* The Lutece Twins from the main game are clever foreshadowing to the fact that [[spoiler:Comstock is Booker]] as the two are [[spoiler:different enough to survive in the same universe together, unaffected, while other universe parallels cannot. This cleverly hints to Booker surviving in the same universe that Comstock.]]

* [[spoiler: Did baby Anna suffer from Tear Sickness? And if she did...HOW BADLY WAS SHE '''BLEEDING'''?! And that doesn't even account for her newly-severed finger...]]

* In some ways, Rapture and Columbia are counterpoint to one another, and not just the obvious ways. Both are ultimately brought to ruin by excessive greed (Fontaine and Fink/Comstock's respectively), but in different ways. In Rapture the unchecked development of ADAM and Frank Fontaine's unscrupulous empire starts a war between him and Andrew Ryan, while in Columbia it's the vicious oppression and exploitation of the working class that creates the Vox Populi, who given the chance start a war with the founders. This plays very naturally into the idea of constants and variables.

* Early in the game, the folk song "Goodnight Irene" can be heard playing. John Mellencamp had a song of the same name based on the folk song. The name of the album that song was on? '''Big Daddy'''.

* In some ways, Rapture and Columbia are counterpoint to one another, and not just the obvious ways. Both are ultimately brought to ruin by excessive greed (Fontaine and Fink/Comstock's respectively), but in different ways. In rapture the unchecked development of ADAM and Frank Fontaine's unscrupulous empire starts a war between him and Andrew Ryan, while in Columbia it's the vicious oppression and exploitation of the working class that creates the Vox Populi, who given the chance start a war with the founders. This plays very naturally into the idea of constants and variables.

* The song ''Goodnight Irene'' is sung at the start of the raffle. And one of the lines is "Sometimes I get a notion to ''jump in the river and drown.''" How does the game end again?

* The Lutece Twins from the main game are clever foreshadowing to the fact that [[spoiler: Comstock is Booker]] as the two are [[spoiler: Different enough to survive in the same universe together, unaffected, while other universe parallels cannot. This cleverly hints to Booker surviving in the same universe Comstock.]]

* When Elizabeth bargains with the Songbird for Booker's life, why does it take her to Comstock House instead of Monument Island when she says that she'll let it take her home? Because you're still in the world where Elizabeth was moved to Comstock House and Booker was a martyr of the Vox Populi.

* The realization that the reason why Booker knows how to play the guitar and Elizabeth knows that song by the starting tune. [[spoiler:Booker used to sing it to her as a baby]].

** Another reason from a story perspective is that, compared to Rapture, there really isn't anything or anyone ''worth saving'' in Columbia for Booker and Elizabeth to care. After seeing the city for what it is, they ultimately find it pointless to save it without destroying the whole thing. Rapture at the very least had people who deserved to be rescued, such as Tenembaum and the Little Sisters. But neither the Founders nor Vox Populi offer anything really to justify Columbia's continued existence, let alare worth salvaging for the rest of the world. All they care about by that point, as mentioned, is to simply ''leave.''

** Firstly, Elizabeth and Booker don't really seem to ''care'' anymore. Think about it; Booker was in awe of Columbia (for more reasons then just the positive) because it was totally new to him and he's never heard of or seen anything like it before. Elizabeth is much the same, having spent her whole life cooped up in a cage with nothing but books and lockpicks, and is at first excited and later disturbed by how wondrous and massive the city is compared to what she's always known. By the time Songbird ruins their escape, the initial curious wonder has worn off. They've seen more then enough of Columbia, for what it wants to be seen as and for what it actually is underneath, and now they just want to '''leave''' and get to Paris. From that point on they're focused more on their own internal drama then whatever the ruin of a city is still putting itself through, because that's what will actually matter when it comes to them finally escaping.

** Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants To Rule The World". Comes up a few times from a cameo, Elizabeth singing it, and a Fink record. It's fair to say that this could be considered representation of Comstock's desires to rain fire from the skies with Elizabeth. It could also be [[spoiler: interpreted that, at some point in space and time, everybody has a desire to rule or reign. Comstock is Booker, it's clear he wants to rule. Eventually Elizabeth gives in and follows up to Comstock's wishes, and Daisy went mad while ruling the Vox Populi and now wants to take over everything for herself]].

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in BioShockInfinite some things that seem possible never end up materializing because there are some multiversal constants which in reality make them impossible). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some things in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in BioShockInfinite some things that seem possible never end up materializing because there are some multiversal constants which in reality make them impossible). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in BioShockInfinite some possibilities never end up materializing because there are some multiversal constants which neutralize them). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in BioShockInfinite some possibilities never end up materializing because there are some multiversal constants which contradict them). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in BioShockInfinite some possibilities never end up materializing because there are some multiversal constants). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in BioShockInfinite some possibilities never materializing because there are some multiversal constants). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true; the exception in BioShockInfinite is that of the constants, theorical possibilities that never materialize. So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be true in this game. According to this interpretation, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true. Each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be true in this game. According to this interpretation, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true. Each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one to which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be true in this game. According to this interpretation, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true. Each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world she would be creating a new universe in which she does just that. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (such as the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world).

* When you finally get to Fink's office, you find a voxophone of Songbird. In it, Fink talks about a new process he discovered that fuses man and machine and is irreversible. The context is mainly toward the creation of Songbird...but what else in [=BioShock=] does that create? The Big Daddies. Apparently, [[spoiler:he saw, using Elizabeth's tears, how a Big Daddy is constructed and how it operates]]. They even have similar traits: both are assigned as guardians to females (Elizabeth for Songbird, a Little Sister for a Big Daddy) and have lights that display their current status (green = peaceful, yellow = alert, red = hostile).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be true in this game. According to this interpretation, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true. Each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world she would be creating a new universe in which she does just that. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one (such as the Monument broken).

* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to another worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be true in this game. According to this interpretation, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true. Each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world she would be creating a new universe in which she does just that. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some characteristics in common with the old one (such as the Monument broken).

* Thematically and progression-wise, [=BioShock=] Infinite is the exact opposite of the original game. The initial levels of [=BioShock=] seem to be nothing more than just an exceptionally good sci-fi horror game, but as you get deeper, and start collecting more and more audio logs, the curtain peels back and the game becomes a fascinating and twisted study on scientific morality, the practical viability of objectivism, class inequality and how the exceptionalist attitude projected by most in the city would ultimately lead to their demise. Throughout the game, you are allowed to make morality choices that ultimately affect your ending, and while the decisions you are given seem very black or white, in the context of the story, there's a lot of room for grey. On the other hand, Infinite seems to be making very obvious but superficial negative commentaries on Columbia's social dissonance (i.e. racism is obviously bad, social inequality is obviously bad, etc.) and the choices in this game are much more cut and dry in terms of "right" and "wrong". However, as you move deeper into the game, the layers peel back and reveal the time travel and dimension-hopping elements of the game which become more important than the social commentary. The choices you make in this game ultimately don't affect your ending. [=BioShock=] Infinite, at its core, is just an excetionally good sci-fi game that disguised its true nature by heaping on deliberately heavy handed morality early in the game.

** Second, from a meta perspective, we as players don't care about Columbia anymore. Not really. We've seen the city as tourists, we've seen the seedy underbelly, and we've seen it reduced to a battlefield in civil war. What's left for us to see...but what we've ''already'' seen elsewhere. [[VideoGame/BioShock1 In Rapture]]. We know how the story of Columbia ends, so there's no reason to keep reading along.

* Why do the people of Columbia not practice ethnic slavery even though they openly idolise it? Because Jeremiah Fink controls the city's industry, and he's figured out that he's getting a better deal out of wage-slavery -- he can hire and dismiss workers as he pleases with no owner's obligations towards them and make them compete with each other for who will do the same work in the shortest amount of time for the smallest pay. This way, he also won't be responsible for the actions of the malcontents like he would if they were considered his property. Some analyses have shown that urban factory workers in the Gilded Age North were treated worse than Southern slaves for this very reason. Slaves were expensive, but workers were dispensable. You could always hire a new child to run the lard machine (and get [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer free lard out of it]], or at worst be out a batch), but a working slave would set you back several hundred dollars, and the outlawing of the slave trade meant that breeding was the only way to replace lost stock. Of course, the rise of unions and labor laws changed those economics dramatically...which is precisely why Fink, ''et al.'' crack down so hard on such "infringements" on their power.

* In the beginning of the game, the Luteces barely acknowledge Booker and ignore his questions in favor of talking to each other (or pursuing cryptic, barely related banter with him in defiance of his questions). As you learn more about the Luteces, you assume that's because [[spoiler: they're adrift in space-time and might not even be completely capable of addressing Booker/acknowledging him as real]]. So it becomes jarring when, at the end of the game, they begin looking at Booker directly and giving apropos responses to his statements...until you realize [[spoiler: that they're bothering to address him properly now because this Booker has succeeded in his mission, and they barely acknowledged him in the beginning because they didn't plan to get their hopes up over a man who would likely die]].

* The very first "choice" you make in the game has only : be baptized, or wander around the room forever. You MUST go through the baptism, even insincerely, to enter Columbia. [[spoiler:Columbia only EXISTS in those universes where Booker went through a baptism and rechristened himself Zachary Comstock, not to actually better himself but to simply assuage his guilt, which is an insincere reason for baptism. At which point another universe's Booker was brought in to stop him, who had to insincerely be baptised to enter]]...It's a ButThouMust moment crossing over with a StableTimeLoop. Which feeds into Fridge Brilliance part two: the thing about loops is that they're (more or less) circular. And what's the name of the song that Elizabeth sings to the scared child, with Booker backing her up on the guitar?

* Near the very end of the game, [[spoiler: Elizabeth explains that, despite there being "a million million" worlds, there are constants and variables. "There's always a lighthouse. There's always a man, there's always a city..." It's easy to dismiss how similar these constants might be, but you were just on a bathysphere in Rapture. So, how is this significant? While in Rapture you can observe a familiar sign from the first game, where surface travel and bathysphere use was restricted...And only those who have genetic makeup similar to Andrew Ryan could use them.]]

* Early in the game, the folk song "Goodnight Irene" can be heard playing. [[{{Music/JohnMellencamp}} John Mellencamp]] had a song of the same name based on the folk song. The name of the album that song was on? '''Big Daddy'''.