Motorized Patriot



"The MOTORIZED PATRIOT is a testament to the technical prowess and power of Columbia."

- Fink Manufacturing advertisement "Tin men, Booker! That's what Comstock will turn us into! Wires and gears to replace heads and hearts!"

- Cornelius Slate, about the Motorized Patriots

The Motorized Patriot is an automaton built in Columbia to the likeness of a major figure in American history, and is a part of the "Heavy Hitters" class of enemies in BioShock Infinite.

Overview
The Motorized Patriots were originally built to be tour guides for the city of Columbia, representing the system of beliefs of The Founders. With the war between factions, they were reprogrammed by different factions to be destructive foes. Wearing flags, a presidential facade, and shouting propaganda, this clockwork enemy is unwavering and brutal. Ken Levine, co-founder of Irrational Games says, "Unlike most of the enemies, he's completely fearless. He doesn't have a sense of self-preservation, so he'll just keep coming at you and coming at you and coming at you." As the player deals damage to the Motorized Patriot, the porcelain-like rubber Washington mask will fall off, revealing the skeleton-like metal and wooden frame behind the mask.

The player first encounters the Motorized Patriots in a non-combat situation within the Hall of Heroes, similar to the Hall of Presidents in Walt Disney World. Later on, the player will be forced to fight them. Unlike other enemies encountered in the game, the Motorized Patriots lack a self-preservation instinct, so they never seek cover under the player's fire. They also tend to be slow turning, giving the player the advantage of being able to outmaneuver and outflank them. The Patriots all share the same vulnerability, which is the protruding gears in their backs. However, despite their seemingly slow and cumbersome appearance, the Motorized Patriots are well equipped to fight on or against enemies on the Sky-Lines. The Motorized Patriots' lights work exactly like the Big Daddies' helmets in BioShock, except that they only have to spot the player to become hostile. After taking some damage, the Motorized Patriots will charge if Booker is within a certain distance and deliver a melee attack.

The Motorized Patriot has three varieties of its skin: a cracked porcelain George Washington mask, an Abraham Lincoln devil mask with a complete change of clothing used by the Vox Populi and the final form representing Zachary Hale Comstock in a Confederate-style dress uniform. Friendly George Washington variants can be brought through Tears, and have green lights instead of red, and fly normal American flags in place of Columbian ones. This is the only occasion where Motorized Patriots have green lights, apart from under Possession.

Behavior
The developers simply defined the Motorized Patriot as "completely fearless" and "will keep coming". In-game, the Motorized Patriot is exactly that, choosing to relentlessly charge forward with its Pepper-Mill blazing rather than attempting to take cover, stopping only to reload its gun. If attacked from up close, it will attempt to bash its assailant with its Pepper-Mill Gatling Gun, throwing them back several feet. When firing, the Motorized Patriot's speed is slowed down to a sluggish walk, but when it stops firing (such as when Booker is out of sight or behind cover), it picks up the pace and sprints forward with loud, metallic stomps. Despite its mass and lack of grace, the Motorized Patriot can also leap over gaps and small barriers.

Weapon
The Motorized Patriot features a new heavy weapon, the Pepper-Mill Gatling Gun, known simply as the Crank Gun in-game. The Pepper-Mill is usable by the player character, Booker DeWitt. Outside of rare environment Tears, they can only be found on a Motorized Patriot. The weapon can carry 200 rounds, and has 100 bullets in each magazine.

Strategy

 * With sufficient Shield (5 infusions or more) directly confronting them with a Crank Gun will often work. The Patriot will shoot at you, but because of your Shield you will keep the upper hand, killing the Patriot in about 50 shots. This way, you also get your bullets back.
 * At range, a Sniper Rifle is optimal for engaging the Motorized Patriot (given sufficient cover). The player could safely headshot the Motorized Patriot (headshots are still critical hits) during the breaks in the Pepper-Mill's fire.
 * The player should avoid staying behind cover too long, as the Patriot may decide to sprint toward the player if out of sight for too long.
 * Shock Jockey and the Shotgun make a superb combination against the Patriot. Due to Shock Jockey's low Salt consumption, the player can simply disable the Patriot, fire at its gears, and repeat when the Patriot snaps out of the shock.
 * If one has Electric Punch, it is possible to continiously punch a Motorized Patriot and them never fight back as the Gear immobilizes them, much like Shock Jockey. This is especially useful if one has Executioner.
 * If the player uses Undertow, the Patriot will be shocked for a brief time. You can also combine both Undertow and Shock Jockey for a longer duration.

Attacking

 * "The Lord judges, I act."
 * "For Fatherland."
 * "For the glory of Columbia!"
 * "Reap what you sow."
 * "My aim is true, as my eye is the Prophet's."
 * "Vengeance is mine, saith the Prophet."
 * "By such light of Faith, grim anarchy cannot take root."
 * "Our enemies mistake the patient for the humbled!"
 * "Be vigilant, citizens of Columbia! For liberty, once lost, is lost forever!"
 * "Rejoice, for death has no sting."
 * "Mercy belongs to the Lord."
 * "We hold these truths to be self-evident."
 * "He gives me His vision, but not His heart."
 * "What is anarchy if not a knife in the back of our Prophet?"
 * "HEATHEN!"
 * "Fear not the Prophet's love, nor his judgment."
 * "Rejoice, because we have escaped the Sodom below."
 * "How can we escape if we refuse salvation?"
 * "For Faith!"
 * "You shall not escape His judgments!"
 * "What is a life compared to a fate?"
 * "But Men had let their Eden become corrupted by the children of Ham!"
 * "Do not mistake compassion for wisdom; only God's mercy is pure!"
 * "WE ARE THE SAVED!"
 * "Fear not apprehension! Fear Judgment!"
 * "The seed of the Prophet shall sit the throne and bathe in flame the mountains of man!"
 * "We all sit under the watchful eye of the Prophet."
 * "Strike down the heathen with great force, so that he may act as a caution to all the wayward nations of men."
 * "The Prophet is not without mercy."
 * "Those who sow discord are no better than the Great Apostate, the cause of the nation's great fall."

Abraham Lincoln Variant

 * "Red...is the price of liberty."
 * "The People's voice will be heard!"
 * "We shall not be silenced!"
 * "United by rage, bound by blood."
 * "For Daisy!"
 * "For Fitzroy!"
 * "The revolution is at hand."
 * "The False Prophet will fall."
 * "There is no mercy for the merciless!"
 * "There shall be no mercy!"
 * "The cowardly have no use in war!"
 * "It is time for the downtrodden to rise up! It is time for the mighty to be laid low!"
 * "The Tree of Liberty must be watered with blood!"
 * "Our cause is just."
 * "Hide, because the world is no longer yours."
 * "Who is this Prophet? Who is this fraud, this charlatan, this salesman of snake oil?"
 * "Remember those who died for our cause. Remember the martyr Booker DeWitt!"
 * "Empty the jailhouses, burn down the mansions!"
 * "The farm is now run by the pigs!" [Reference to Animal Farm]
 * "If they will not have us in their city, then there shall be no city!"
 * "Remember Finkton!"
 * "No negotiation, no surrender, no forgiveness!"
 * "Your day of reckoning is nigh!"
 * "Farmer, flee your farm, because it belongs now to your chattel!" [Reference to Animal Farm]
 * "The Prophet who loves not all his people is as cruel as a mother who loves not all her sons."
 * "The Prophet of some is the Prophet of none!"
 * "Those who run once will run always!"
 * "We are the scythe!"
 * "The master fears nothing but the lash."
 * "The old order must burn for the new order to grow."
 * "Warn the others that the mighty have fallen!"

Comstock Variant

 * "Mercy belongs to The Lord."
 * "The Lord judges, I act."
 * "Reap what you sow."
 * "For Fink!"
 * "For the glory of Columbia!"
 * "The False Prophet shall fall!"
 * "Rejoice, because we have escaped the Sodom below."
 * "Be vigilant, citizens of Columbia! For liberty, once lost, is lost forever!"

Tour Variants

 * "Too rare is the man who takes a stand, for God and sweetest Fatherland. But here's the place we revere the heroes of our city dear."
 * "Against savage man or foreign horde, 'tis Comstock who takes up the sword. He puts himself in way of danger, between Columbia and barbarous stranger."
 * "Long before his prophecies, he led his men at Wounded Knee. With faces black from muskets' breath, they laughed together. They laughed at death."
 * "To the sky, Comstock bent his knee, and saw with holy prophecy: An Eden floating in the mist, by man forsworn, by Heaven kissed."

When Player Is Hiding

 * "The innocent have nothing to hide."
 * "There is nothing to envy, because the Prophet will provide!"
 * "What is hidden shall be revealed."
 * "Hide if you must, but a cold wind is blowing!"

When Possessed

 * "For family!"

Seeing the Player Run

 * "Why would you run if you were not guilty?"

Clash in the Clouds

 * "Such manly test of fortitude is not for all. Be it for you? Will thou prove thyself in battle? Or be found no more than chattel..."
 * "This is no minor undertaking before you, pilgrim. You will be named hammer or anvil. Which of those -- is up to you..."
 * "Are thou burly enough for the coming battle, pilgrim? Only the Great Prophet may foretell what the future holds..."

Behind the Scenes

 * As stated by Nate Wells, art Director at Irrational Games: "...I came up with this idea of this creepily, motorized- like Hall of Presidents animatronic George Washington. It was specifically the face. Specifically, this weird-like porcelain child doll's, you know, poor rendering of George Washington. That kind of clinched it". Wells also stated that: "Despite the fact that you face many different kinds of enemies in this game, you clearly can't reason with this one. He's just gonna keep coming forever. You know, he's sort of a clockwork Terminator."
 * One of the quotes spoken by the Patriot (We hold these truths to be self-evident) originates from the Declaration of Independence.
 * Originally, the Motorized Patriot evolved from the concept of the Automatic Gentleman. The initial idea was inspired by 20th century fascination with exploring technology into the field of early robotics and complicated machinery, which Irrational Games felt that for Columbia, they would consider their scientific hive-mind imagination to create a servant for the society. As Nate Wells mentions, "There's this fantasy that people of the time wanted these automatons to do things for them. We don't start with a gun. We set the vibe first." Eventually, multiple concepts of the Motorized Patriot's appearance and its Pepper-Mill weapon were conceptualized before being finalized, such as one version had a small altered version of the Pepper-Mill attached to its torso, another had its upper torso mounted on a wheeled platform, and another version was modeled after Abraham Lincoln, bearing his signature "stovepipe" hat.
 * Ken Levine mentioned that the idea for the cracked porcelain face was a reminiscent of his mother's doll from the 1900s that was displayed in his childhood home, which disturbed him, even giving him nightmares; one where the doll flopped its head around on its own, and a follow-up dream where it killed his mom.
 * In The Art of BioShock Infinite, concepts for the Motorized Patriots as Benjamin Franklin and an unused Thomas Jefferson would have been more distinct from the George Washington version. Both had concepts for their own distinct damaged faces, such as Franklin having no glasses, and the right side of the face and eye missing. Jefferson would have had missing eyes, a broken jaw, no face, and burned hair. In addition, both would have worn their own variant colored coats (purple for Franklin and green for Jefferson), similar to those seen on the Founding Father balloons.
 * Although a Motorized Patriot of Thomas Jefferson was not seen in the game, its mask still exists in both levels of Comstock House and The Hand of the Prophet, either worn by enemies, or on piles of other Motorized Patriot masks and heads.
 * Before Booker is baptized, there is a basket of toys containing a miniature toy patriot.
 * A Motorized Patriot appears in the Clash in the Clouds DLC, in the Columbian Archeological Society.
 * In Episode 1 of Burial at Sea, after Sally's cries summon a Bouncer Big Daddy, a Motorized Patriot can be summoned through a Tear - one that sports Columbian flags and recites pro-Comstock propaganda phrases.
 * The use of normal American flags on the Tear-Patriot may be due to the Tear version of the Motorized Patriot being based on an older model, as older previews showed Motorized Patriots with similar, if not the same, flags in place of Columbian ones. This may have been updated in Burial at Sea, as the Tear-Patriot there now has Columbian flags.