‘BioShock Infinite’: Elizabeth Explained [Video]

BioShock Infinite is really about Elizabeth, and a recent video explains her.

Sure, the game has you playing the guy with the gun on in the cover art, but you actually get to know Elizabeth a lot more in BioShock Infinite. In order to make her a tolerable presence, the game’s developers had to go the extra mile in her creation.

The video starts with Ken Levine, the creative director of BioShock Infinite, sitting in a room with nondescript blue décor. Ken says, “If we were to have a mission in the gamespace, it’s that we wanna bring the player, to make them a participant in the narrative.”

We then see Elizabeth in a room with an antique-looking staircase and an extensive library, looking at us. Beneath her red-brown hair, her blue eyes ring of concern. She appears to have her pinky finger severed halfway down with something like a thimble capping it off.

Ken Levine continues, “By bringing this character into the game, by having her with you for pretty much the entire game, we knew that if we didn’t get her right, the game wouldn’t be right, and she really is the emotional center of the game.”

A picture of Elizabeth is shown once again, with a line drawn to her throat, labeled, “Voice.”

Ken Levine comments on Elizabeth’s backstory, “This character Elizabeth, she comes from a pretty dark place … but she’s also got an incredible amount of enthusiasm for her life, and when we found Courtnee, I think we found somebody who could do her well.”

We then see Elizabeth acting in a split-screen alongside voice-actress Courtnee Draper as she says, “This is wonderful! Oh come dance with me…!”

The protagonist replies, “I don’t dance, let’s go.”

Elizabeth (Courtnee Draper) responds, “Why? What can be better than this?”

The rest of the video is below.

What do you think about the video’s explanation of BioShock Infinite‘s Elizabeth?