A fact about that I don’t think I’ve ever shared on this blog: I love birds. I think they are very cute, silly, and interesting creatures. One thing that’s helped me through the pandemic is putting bird seed out on my apartment’s window ledge and watching the sparrows, pigeons, and cardinals come and go as I work. So when I first when BioShock Infinite when the HD collection released, I was thrilled to learn I could utilize the power of birds with the Murder of Crows vigor. With a simple press of a button, I could fire a blast from my hand and watch as my unholy crow army pecked my enemies to death. It is by far my favorite vigor in the game and one of my favorite powers in any game I’ve played. But BioShock Infinite is such a fantastic game, that summoning birds to fight with me isn’t even my favorite thing about the game. That honor goes to the character of Elizabeth.

When Booker DeWitt (an absolutely fantastic 1912 name) finds himself in the floating city of Columbia and at odds with its leader, Comstock, he has one mission: find the girl and wipe away the debt. The girl in question is Elizabeth, daughter of Comstock, who is found locked in a giant statue with observation windows and science equipment watching and monitoring everywhere she goes, everything she does. This is because she can open up tears, or rips in the fabric of reality, to other places and times, or possibly completely different parallel universes. The majority of the game is played after breaking Elizabeth out of her prison, trying to escape, being caught up in class war, confronting Comstock, and ultimately discovering secrets about Booker and Elizabeth. 

At first, Elizabeth seems like she is just going to be designated as BioShock Infinite’s damsel in distress, a mere MacGuffin to chase after. Surprisingly though, you rescue her from her tower imprisonment within the first 3rd of the game. While Booker is the main character, the playable character, Elizabeth is the protagonist of the game. They both have the common goal of escaping Columbia alive, but their reasons are different. Booker wants to wipe away his nebulous debt, and Elizabeth wants to escape active captivity and dreams of seeing Paris. But the reason that I find Elizabeth a stronger character than Booker, the reason that my eyes and ears are always on her when important story moments happen, is because she is the heart of the story. Booker is the extension of the player, he is the muscle and does what must be done in order to survive and escape, but Elizabeth is the of the game, the one questioning the morals of what they are doing, and the more interesting character for it.

Elizabeth starts out the story very naive. Being locked in her tower all her life, she has never experienced the outside world for herself, only having read about it in books. She more closely matches the player’s own curiosity and wonder while exploring Columbia throughout the game–taking quiet moments to look around, examine things, and comment on the propaganda plastered over all the walls. She is a well defined character who is caring, intelligent, resourceful, and helpful, and she is characterized in a multitude of ways through her speech and actions. When you enter the slums of Finkton, where the poor working class people live, she wonders what system has led to such wealth disparity and what they can do to help. When she sees Booker gun down Comstock’s men for the first time, she is openly shocked and that uneasiness with killing never really goes away, but is more accepted as necessary to survive. Even when Elizabeth kills Fitzroy in order to save an innocent child, she is appalled with herself, shredding her bloodstained clothes and cutting her hair in mourning. A trope, yes, but effective since it shows her conflict with her actions and is one of the major turning points in her arc.

There is a bitterness in Elizabeth during the middle of the story. Coming out of her tower bright-eyed and hopeful, she is faced with a world full of cruel people–Comstock, her own father, studied her and was seemingly prepping her as a weapon, Fink exploits the poor for cheap labor, Booker himself lies to her to get her to come willingly on an airship saying that he will take her to Paris. She is rightfully angry, jaded, and seeking revenge against the ones who kept her imprisoned. But something happens when she and Booker destroy the siphon and she has the use of the full extent of her reality altering power. She is now able to open ways into other universes without the need of a tear, she can seemingly see all universes at once, she understands that choices that were or will be made are already made, and she understands that Booker will become Comstock at some point in the future. She accepts the weight of her powers, accepts the consequences of her actions. Multiple Elizabeths from across the multiverse come together to drown Booker–the only friend she has ever had that wasn’t a giant bird thing–and the game ends in one final piano note.

It is a dramatic, sorrowful way to end a game that offers some truly fun and bombastic gameplay. On the surface, BioShock Infinite looks to be just another BioShock, but there are subtle differences. The original game leaned more into the horror element and was a much slower game as a result, Booker can only hold two guns at a time and will need to pick up new ones dropped by enemies when out of ammo, and, while they fulfill the same function, there are less vigors than there were plasmids and all the vigors are combat focused. However, the biggest difference in the gameplay again lies with Elizabeth.

BioShock Infinite’s gameplay can basically be divided into two types: exploration and combat. During the quiet moments of exploration, the game moves the story and characterization of Booker and Elizabeth further. They chat about the things they see, what events just happened, and what they need to do to achieve their current goal. They will often come across locked doors or safes and Booker relies on Elizabeth to pick them, her having read up on lock picking during her time in the tower. These will often lead to more money, a fusion for upgrading Booker’s health, or a new piece of gear to equip. It’s worth picking every lock you come across because the game gives you more than enough lock picks and any door necessary for progression needing to be picked will not consume any of your resources. Elizabeth can help find useful things laying around too, often pointing out a lock pick or more ammo and a glowing halo will illuminate them for the player. She also helps decipher code books for Booker, leading to more stashes of goodies, and will occasionally throw money to him that she found laying around. It’s not a lot of money ever, but it’s endearing seeing Elizabeth flip a coin and Booker catching it. Exploring with Elizabeth is always a pleasant time, but it’s in combat where she really shines.

Elizabeth is not an escort that needs to be protected like Ashley in RE4. She can look after herself in a battle so the player can focus on the enemies trying to kill them. Much like the money, Elizabeth will often shout to Booker in a fight and throw him something useful. It’s determined on what is running lower, but Elizabeth can give Booker more health, salts, or ammo when he needs it. It is on some sort of cool down though–seems like she can throw the player two things in a fight before needing time to do it again–so you cannot rely on it too heavily. She will also revive Booker if he falls during battle, getting him back on his feet a safe distance away so he can get back to the fray quickly. Elizabeth is a great ally to have in scrap, especially when you remember she has Omega level reality warping powers.

Littering most combat arenas are tears that Elizabeth can open to bring something into the world to help Booker. Whether it is some cover to hunker down behind while you get your bearings, some much needed medkits or a weapon, a skyhook to get a better vantage, or an automaton in a good position to flank the enemies, a well timed tear can change the flow of battle dramatically. It’s a brilliant way to tie gameplay and story together, and it’s only a shame that there are no fights to be had when Elizabeth has access to the full extent of her power and is going all Dr. Manhattan on time and space.

Although Booker DeWitt is ex-union busting, Pinkerton scum, he’s an enjoyable character to control with his cynical, jaded outlook, his pragmatic and nonsense approach, and his truly awesome name. But he is not the reason I play BioShock Infinite. It is Elizabeth that I find the most interesting and endearing character of the game. She could have just been another damsel in distress, another escort the player has to throw themselves in front of in battle to protect, but she isn’t. She is a fully realized character–a determined, intelligent, and also tragic one. And the fact that she is not just relegated to be part of the story, but also aids the player in the gameplay is a great bit of design that makes the player feel even more attached to her. It worked on me, at least, since Elizabeth is one of my favorite characters in any video game ever.