History NightmareFuel / BioshockInfinite

[[caption-width-right:350:"Booker, are you afraid of God?" "No. But I'm afraid of you."]]

* In one of the random videos stations scattered about Rapture you'll get the chance to experience a short artistic film produced by none other than Sander Cohen himself! What does this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WcJZSrzIFU film]] consist of, you ask? It begins with a message stating "Please Stand By" in large, bold letters across the screen, only for the image to start slowly rotating as static noises, ethereal wailing, and deranged laughter begin to play in the background. Then a deep, almost demonic voice begins to speak: [[spoiler:'''WHY DO YOU STAND THERE... WHEN SOMEONE IS... RIGHT BEHIND YOU.''' [[ShmuckBait You'll never guess what happens once the video ends and]] [[JumpScare you turn around!]]]] You see [[spoiler:[[http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/3281178331528955926/47816380F0E55B847BB5BC073E9EEAF9E8EC0C53/ this lovely chap, just sitting there.]]]] [[spoiler: And he does ''absolutely nothing.]]'' Even worse? [[spoiler: ''That isn't a man.'' That's one of Cohen's plaster statues.]]

--->'''Comstock:''' The Lord forgives, but I'm just a prophet... [[{{Hypocrite}} So I don't have to]]. Amen.\\

* Another creepy moment from Comstock House. When you first get to the room where you fight the Boys of Silence you can clearly hear Elizabeth screaming her lungs out in the other room. [[spoiler: it's actually coming from a tear, you discover upon returning to the area later in the level. Which arguably makes it ''worse.'']] Her dialogue will even show up in the subtitles if you haven't started the fight. It's horrible to listen to especially since you've been doing everything you can to ''protect'' her the whole game, but some of the things she says made my blood run cold.

* After rescuing Elizabeth from the scientists you sit her upright [[spoiler: to find a plug put ''directly'' into her spine]], for an added bonus the scientists are revealed to have not put her under during all of this, meaning she felt the whole process. [[spoiler: Now remember the BadFuture where Booker ''couldn't'' save her... yeah.]] And Booker has to take it out under the same circumstances. Just try not to wince in sympathy during that scene. You will fail.

** I've studied American history of the period at university, and the religion of "Comstockism", the mercantile philosophy of Fink and the chaotic mindset of the Vox Populi are all '''dead-on''' representations of late 1800s-early 1900s US imperialism, capitalism and anarchism/early-Communism. It is somewhat of a comfort that while such people actually existed, they had no access to tonic-induced superpowers or murderous clockwork automaton presidents, but still...

* Early in the game's developement, 2K games considered making Bioshock Infinite in the style of Art Nouveau, you can even find a good amount of their early artwork for the game done in this style on TheOtherWiki: https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/BioShock_Infinite_Removed_Content , we bring this up because the sight of Colombia done in Art Nouveau style and the atmosphere it gives out makes even the sight of seemingly unimportant buildings look at best surprisingly creepy and unnerving and at worst hauntingly ominous. Part of you may wonder what the game would be like if the Art Nouveau style and atmosphere made it in every visual of the final game, but to partially quote [[VideoGame/Bioshock2 Sofia Lamb]]; Ask yourself; '''Do you really want to know?'''

*** Just about all of Sander Cohen's silent films in all their TheRing-esque glory are this. Most of them are a series of [[SurrealHorror disjointed, incredibly creepy images]]. It makes you realize just how truly screwed up this guy was even before the Fall of Rapture.

*** Furthermore, when you walk into the area, people are acting... off. A hotdog vendor is unsure of what he has "Sauerkraut? uh... I guess. That'll be uh... one Silver Eagle." Beyond this there are people talking and a violinist playing beautifully, but when you make it to the counter everyone STOPS WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND STARTS STARING AT YOU. It doesn't help that there's three violin cases, only one of which is open, and one violin. What are they storing in them? Then suddenly, [[spoiler: everyone has a weapon. Oh, [[Senseless Violins that's what that is]].]]

*** Furthermore, when you walk into the area, people are acting... off. A hotdog vendor is unsure of what he has "Sauerkraut? uh... I guess. That'll be uh... one Silver Eagle." Beyond this there are people talking and a violinist playing beautifully, but when you make it to the counter everyone STOPS WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND STARTS STARING AT YOU. It doesn't help that there's three violin cases, only one of which is open, and one violin. What are they storing in them? Then suddenly, [[spoiler: everyone has a weapon. Oh, that's what that is.]]

* At the very end of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvX0D3j4gbE Lamb of Columbia]] trailer, Elizabeth and Booker are standing in the middle of a wheat field as a gigantic tornado creeps closer and closer... and Elizabeth just stares at you, motionless, no expression on her face at all. Just try to imagine the possible context for that.
** Now we know the context: [[spoiler:she's torn open a tear just after Booker's freed her from [[BodyHorror the medical procedure intended to keep her from using her powers]], and is daring Booker to stop her from killing Comstock.]] Oh, and before that, she allowed that same tornado to sweep up the doctors that were operating on her.
*** Subverted by Booker answering firmly: "I'm going to do it for you,"

* Just after throwing the switch [[spoiler:to try and rescue Elizabeth from the [[EldritchLocation snow-covered wasteland]], the player turns around to see one of the Boys of Silence [[JumpScare right behind them]].]] This is also a callback to the first game when you headed into the basement of an area to retrieve something only to find a splicer behind you.

* Columbia may be a horribly racist society that clings to the most insane, outdated theories to try and justify themselves, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world is any better off. The early 20th century was a popular time for Eugenics, a movement that attempted to "improve" the human gene pool by removing undesirable elements through methods such as compulsory sterilization. Some traits were fairly logical targets, like schizophrenia and congenital blindness, while others weren't (this was a time when prostitution, alcoholism, and being a wanderer were all considered genetic). The sterilizations weren't always performed with patients' consent, sometimes [[ParanoiaFuel not even with their knowledge]]. By the way, this was all funded and supported by people such as the Carnegies, Rockefellers, and even [[WhatTheHellHero Winston Churchill.]] This practice would persist in most of the world until the 1940's, when it fell out of favor. For [[ThoseWackyNazis obvious reasons.]]
** [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Alcoholism is probably heritable.]]

* The leader of Columbia, a gentleman named Comstock, is heralded in posters as being the 'Hero of the Battle of Wounded Knee.' Go ahead and look up exactly how that "[[YouKeepUsingThatWord battle]]" went.

** [[spoiler:The entire final cinematic is just one gruesome scene after another - the zombie-like Little Sister Sally presumably dropping down the red-hot ventilation shaft, the sheer contempt with which Elizabeth and the Luteces treat Comstock, and Elizabeth's face getting spattered with blood as the Big Daddy's drill impales Comstock from behind. Talk about a PlayerPunch.]]

** Keep in mind that you are given the choice to [[spoiler: throw the ball at Fink, do nothing, or start the execution]] right before the action starts. If you chose the first one [[spoiler: the couple will show up later [[BreatherEpisode during a lull from combat]] and thank you with some gear,]] if you chose the third choice, [[spoiler: Fink's assistant will reward you,]] leaving you to wonder what happened to [[spoiler: [[FrideHorror the condemned couple.]]]]

* The Siren, yet another enemy, is apparently a nod to late 19th century Spiritualism, which works a lot better in the game world, if this is anything to go by. The Siren, who very much may be the ghost of a vocalist, is able to bring dead enemies back to life after you've gone and killed them once. Resurrection! Always fun.

** However, [[spoiler:that universe was Burial!Elizabeth visiting the past, as can be seen from Infinite!Elizabeth and Booker running about while you avoid contact or arrive to places just before OR after they went past. Which means it was before the Comstocks got eliminated or that the MAIN universe that Booker and Elizabeth traveled through in Infinite is a constant (as undoing it would undo them undoing all the Comstocks... err..). Since Booker visited Old!Elizabeth who sent him back to save an alternate path version of her, this means at least one Elizabeth lays waste to the Earth before winking out of existence when Elizabeth drowns Booker.]]

* The '[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8FUZTNpfhc Columbia:]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zin6aKnJM5Q A Modern-Day Icarus?]]' trailer, which is done in the style of a trailer for a cheap yet ''really'' creepy early 1980s educational[=/=]conspiracy-theory TV show in the style of ''InSearchOf...'' channeling the spirit of {{Creepypasta}} in how mundane yet just subtly ''off'' it is. Apparently, in the world of the game what happened to Columbia became an unsolved mystery[=/=]urban legend along the lines of Atlantis, the ''Mary Celeste'' and the Bermuda Triangle, and while the other trailers have presented the horrors that are lurking around on Columbia when the player arrives there, this one is done from the perspective of the people on the ground who, left only with a few hints and fragments that fell out of the sky (including a building that ended up somewhere in the Alps), even decades later were left wondering precisely where it went, what the hell happened up there, and [[ParanoiaFuel whether it's still flying around up there...]]

** The scare morphs a bit if you are GenreSavvy about scares in horror games. When you see the woman praying, it's almost a given that she's going to attack you, especially with the perfect opportunity of her boss pontificating outside. What you don't expect is the aforementioned self-immolation, and the entire airship going up in flames around you.

** Now we know the context: [[spoiler:she's torn open a tear just after Booker's freed her from [[BodyHorror the medical procedure intended to keep her from using her powers]], and is daring Booker to stop her from killing Comstock.]]

* [[spoiler:Atlas' torture of Elizabeth]] is one of the most brutal appliances of the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique ever seen in a video game. You get to witness the horror of [[spoiler:''a transorbital lobotomy'' (which involves inserting a metal pick just above the eyeball) from a ''first person perspective''. Then Atlas brings a hammer into play.]] And it gets even worse from there when [[spoiler:Elizabeth remains defiant and dares Atlas to lobotomize her, prompting him to lose his cool and attempt the same procedure on '''Sally'''!]]

** And then Burial at Sea comes around to turn her into [[spoiler:AlasPoorVillain]].

* One brief moment in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpdgtlHuKpw trailer]] for the Rapture-based "''Burial At Sea''" DLC-- during the montage of various people walking around a pristine, happy Rapture, there's one shot of a stern, schoolteacher-type lady holding up a sign and seemingly lecturing a group of Little Sisters. They look completely identical to one another, and they all move in unison, at one point turning and staring ''right'' at the camera. There's a subtle but distinctly creepy air to the scene, even without context.

** Even worse if you consider what happens after the tear closes - Comstock was only left with the head, and the Booker in that universe was left ''with the entire body''. Whatever happened to Booker following this can only be left to the player to decide.

-->Elizabeth: "What do you think Cohen's Customers do with the children? Do they-"
-->Booker: "Sometimes. But those types lack the capitol of Suchong and Ryan."
-->Elizabeth: "That's a blessing."
** Yep, that is Elizabeth asking in a not-so-subtle way - and Comstock confirming - that Cohen sells little girls to people who sexually abuse them. All the horror of Rapture just got taken UpToEleven.

* There are in-game radio ads that make use of the sound of Security Bots attacking. It instinctively makes anyone familiar with the sound want to run, hide, and look for [[{{ParanoiaFuel}} a bot that's not there.]]

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RL4BOXGJzI 2:15 of this trailer for Burial At Sea Episode 2.]] [[spoiler:Elizabeth]] has gone a long way... but if the {{Chiaroscuro}} lighting is any indication, things are about to go to hell.

** [[spoiler: The lottery itself is horrific, with the unfortunate couple being tied to stakes on a stage against a backdrop of [[DarkestAfrica "untamed African jungle"]], with African caricature-faced monkeys as ring-bearer and flower-girl and an equally caricaturish "Witch Doctor" as preacher, all while cheerful, happy crowds look forward to beating them to death with baseballs.]] Now, you think that this is supposed to be [[UpToEleven exaggerated for dramatic impact]], right? Well, guess what? You're ''wrong''. [[spoiler: Lynchings could and often ''did'' have an almost carnival-like atmosphere, with otherwise decent white folk treating the hanging, rape, castration, burning and other brutal tortures of African-Americans as jolly good fun for the whole family. If you've the stomach for it, these two links showcase [[http://historicpork.tumblr.com/post/48450937661/the-lynching-of-jesse-washington-washington-was both the horrors of a lynching]] and [[http://blackourstory.tumblr.com/post/88493884899/smiling-faces-because-it-happened-because-were just how nonchalant the participants were]]. '''That''', more than anything, is the ''real'' NightmareFuel here; that the horrors of the Founders are actually nothing that wouldn't have been been done by the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan, and similar scenarios actually ''did'' happen in the American South of the time period.]]

* In that actual scene, when Comstock!Booker and Elizabeth are dancing, they talk about why Cohen is trafficking little girls.

-->Comstock/Booker: "Sometimes. But those types lack the capitol of Suechong and Ryan."

** And keep in mind, this is the same [[spoiler:Atlas persona that played you for a sentiment in the very first Bioshock. No, this is not the attitude of the family man Jack knew, this is one of a desperate, ruthless arse, I.E. Frank Fontaine.]]

** However,[[spoiler:that universe was Burial!Elizabeth visiting the past, as can be seen from Infinite!Elizabeth and Booker running about while you avoid contact or arrive to places just before OR after they went past. Which means it was before the Comstocks got eliminated or that the MAIN universe that Booker and Elizabeth traveled through in Infinite is a constant (as undoing it would undo them undoing all the Comstocks... err..). Since Booker visited Old!Elizabeth who sent him back to save an alternate path version of her, this means at least one Elizabeth lays waste to the Earth before winking out of existence when Elizabeth drowns Booker.]]
* The cut [[http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Jockey_Splicer Jockey splicers]]. Even though this is the early years of the Rapture Civil War, these freaks look like something out of ''Bioshock 2''. Deformed from excessive Shock Jockey drinking, their bodies are covered with huge crystals bristling with electricity and they look even worse than Crawler splicers. It's difficult to express how badly Fink's and Suchong's vigors have mutated them.