Character Spotlight: Booker Dewitt

“There’s always a lighthouse. There’s always a man. There’s always a city.”

These words and the game that came along with them is from one of the best single player experiences I’ve ever come across. In honour of that, I’ve decided to make my first Character Spotlight about the man that made Bioshock Infinite so enthralling to me.

That man is Booker DeWitt.

**I will say that for anyone out there that hasn’t played the game and is reading this article, I’m going to keep the spoilers to a minimum. I truly believe the best way to experience that game is to go in as blind as possible.**

Booker is the main protagonist, and the character you control, in Bioshock Infinite. As Booker, you are tasked in the game with finding and rescuing a young woman named Elizabeth in order to wipe out your mysterious debts. This of course proves to be a huge undertaking as Elizabeth is kept on the floating city of Columbia; a huge city in the sky that is more technologically advanced than the rest of the world. Throughout the story, you begin to uncover and unravel a lot of the strangeness that is usually found in Bioshock games. And the ending is one of the best endings I’ve ever had the fortune of experiencing.

Let’s talk about Mr. Dewitt. Booker was born on April 19, 1874. When he was the ripe age of 16, he took part in the Wounded Knee Massacre. During this time, he committed a ton of atrocious acts, including scalping his enemies and burning teepees with people still inside. Although his comrades praised him for these acts, he felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for his actions. He tried to deal with his guilt in various ways, such as toying with the idea of adopting religion and being baptized, but decided against it as he did not feel he could be washed free of his sins.

Fast forward several years, and Booker is tasked with rescuing Elizabeth. As you find out in the beginning of the game the exact details of his mission are kept shrouded, shown by his utter surprise at getting launched out of a lighthouse to a floating city in the sky. Upon arrival, Booker does his best to blend in and gather information about the whereabouts of Elizabeth. Unfortunately, he is found out and has the entire city’s police force tasked with killing him. Booker must use his skills as a soldier, as well as learning to use Vigors (odd potions that give you certain powers), to overcome his enemies and make his way to Elizabeth and try to escape to New York City.

I love Booker as a character because throughout the entire game you really get to see him grow. The Booker you get in the beginning and the Booker you see in the end are two very different people. You start off with a crass, abrasive man who is going on a mission he really doesn’t want any part of just to clear a debt. He lies to get what he wants and hurts anyone who opposes him. However, the more he learns about what is going on the more it stops being something he was strong-armed into doing and becomes something he’s doing of his own volition. The whole movement that takes place on Columbia stops being something he actively avoids, and becomes something he chooses to take part of. He starts to make it his fight.

When it becomes his fight, you start to see the walls come down. You start to really see the man that Booker is, and honestly it’s so different than I would have guessed. He has done such terrible things in the name of fighting and war but when it comes to this one fight, over something he doesn’t really have stake in, he doesn’t turn into the monster you learned he was. Instead you see him become an extremely protective person, who fights tooth and nail to make sure those he cares about are protected. You watch him make very hard decisions that you know can come back and hurt him, but he makes them selflessly. Then when he starts to lose the things he is trying to protect, you watch him panic and go through hell to get them back.

Booker very gracefully goes from a character you kind of hate, to a person you love and would want to have watching your back. The transition happens at such a slow, methodic pace that I honestly couldn’t tell you the moment I started to like him. I feel I would have to play the game a few more times through to really be able to pinpoint it. But watching the walls come down one by one until you see exactly what Booker is, will stay at the top of my list for best gaming experience I think for years to come.

Characters like this, that leave such a lasting impression on you, can be fairly hard to come by. Bioshock Infinite isn’t a game that I would come back to multiple times due to its mechanics or art-style. I’m not saying neither are good (because they both really are, actually) but the story and characters shine so much brighter to me than the game itself ever could. This is one of those games that could have subpar gameplay, and people would still want to come back to get to go through the journey with Booker. He makes this game an insanely fun experience, and seeing Booker through to the end of Bioshock Infinite is a definite must for anyone out there who likes a game with a story.

If you want to experience Booker, you can follow his journey through Bioshock Infinite available on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC, and the DLC that followed, titled Burial At Sea.