Has anyone else noticed this? So far, in both Bioshock games, parents and parent figures are always—or almost always—monsters in their own right.
Andrew Ryan:This, really, seems a bit self-explanatory, though he is the least paternal of the male figures in Bioshock, really. Ryan helped make Rapture what it is in the game thanks to his enormous ego (no gods or kings, huh?) and his rather odd philosophies. However, his purpose is more to satirize Ayn Rand—notice the name similarities?—than to be a parent-figure to poor Jack. However, the fact remains that he is this sort of satan figure…to be dramatic…throughout the game. His echoes remain in Bioshock 2, as well—this sort of twisted, goblin-like figure with messianic delusions. Well, ‘messianic’ may not be the best one, but he still tried to give himself godlike status (note the huge Ryan head over his ‘No Gods or Kings’ banner, and then the ride dedicated to him and his philosophies…and narrated by him, even).
Frank Fontaine:Now Fontaine is more of the parental figure for Jack, as his de facto creator and all. Not only does he control Jack body and mind (‘Would you Kindly’ ; Code Yellow), but he plays all sorts of psychological games with Jack/the player by stringing the poor guy along. In the end, he even becomes the uber-Splicer and is a really annoying boss battle, actually. However, he’s still Jack’s ‘father’ moreso than Ryan—and I don’t think you can get any more monstrous than a New York gangster with complete control over the main character, even to the point of making Jack’s body self-destruct.
Grace Holloway: Now, eventually, you do feel sorry for her, and she does eventually help Delta if you don’t kill her. However, when she’s telling the Splicers that Delta’s there to steal their ‘babies,’ she starts to sound a bit like someone who would rather burn you at the stake. She, it seems, is the only ‘monstrous parent’ that turns around in-game.
Sofia Lamb:Let’s see—she forces her daughter to stay away from other children in order to have complete control over Eleanor’s life and what she learns, pumps Eleanor full of drugs, keeps her locked up, forces Delta to kill himself in front of Eleanor just to make a point, smothers her daughter just to get what she wants, brainwashes the entirety of Rapture (save for Gil and, conceivably, Cohen if you didn’t kill him). I’m not sure if there is anything I’m missing, but even that list shows how twisted this character actually is. Granted, if you get the good ending, Eleanor saves her mother and we can assume Eleanor makes sure her mother doesn’t get out of hand on the surface, but unlike Grace she doesn’t do an about-face.
Now, in Infinite, I would imagine this theme continues, but I’ll have to wait to see that one. Considering the Bioshock stories are the exact same every time, I would imagine that a ‘monstrous parent’ is present in that game as well.
This isn’t the entire argument, I should add—merely an observation pre-gaming.
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Prelude to Bioshock and Philosophy: The Monstrous Parent (Abridged)
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