Gilbert Alexander

"Alex the Great?! Oh hell, that has to be Gil Alexander, same man who left that message we’re followin’. He sounds mad as a March hare now."

- Augustus Sinclair

Dr. Gilbert Alexander was a scientist who worked for Frank Fontaine and later Andrew Ryan. He worked with Augustus Sinclair and Dr. Yi Suchong on the Vita-Chamber and was influential in the creation and upkeep of Big Daddies, modifying their suits with electronics. Alexander developed the bond between the Big Daddies and Little Sisters, starting with Eleanor Lamb and Subject Delta, in whose creation he was also heavily involved.

History
Alexander was an ambitious young researcher in the early days of Fontaine Futuristics, specializing in mechanical and robotic engineering. At the height of his career, he designed much of Rapture's automated security system, including the ubiquitous Security Bots. He constructed the mechanism which implanted ADAM slugs into Little Sisters, and ultimately, even assisted with the creation of the bond which links Subject Delta to Eleanor Lamb.

Alexander has the distinction of being both a helper and the antagonist on the Fontaine Futuristics level. Originally highly committed to his job, he came to regret his actions, siding with Sofia Lamb and her Rapture Family, and volunteering to become the first "Utopian". Based on Jack's mental conditioning (as Sofia believed it to be), the subject of the operation would be imbued with the entire collective genius of Rapture via ADAM infusion, suppressing his own personal identity. The plan failed and Alexander was heavily mutated by the enormous amounts of ADAM he was imbued with and, most likely, because of too much genetic material from the people injected into him. By the time the player meets him, Alexander has become heavily spliced and deeply insane, calling himself "Alex the Great" and controlling most of the functions of the level with a heavily-modified Security Bot, which he manipulates through four hijacked Bot Shutdown Panels. The Bot itself is marked by its added television monitor (displaying Gil's manic eye) and distinctive violet running-lights. Now, Alex the Great spends most of his time "running" the Fontaine Futuristics business, controlling his spliced "employees" and usually sadistically punishing them.

BioShock 2
Before losing his mind, he recorded audio logs with instructions for gaining access to the inner areas of Fontaine Futuristics. In these logs, he asks whoever finds them to enter and kill him. However, the post-mutation Gil uses his modified Security Bot (and surprisingly operatic singing) to prevent Delta from accessing a Security Office where one of the messages had been left for him, as well as the controls to enter the secret laboratory where his heavily-mutated form resides, being kept in a large glass tank.

Subject Delta is forced to destroy Gil's control over the Security Bots, and later find Gil himself in his containment tube. Delta manages to lure Alex close enough to the glass wall of his lair, so a sample of his DNA could be taken by a mechanism operated by the control panel. Having access to Persephone now, the player is left to decide Gil's fate.

Gilbert's Fate (Choice)
Following Alexander's guidance, the player is ultimately given the choice to electrify Alex's holding chamber through its sample disposal system, fulfilling Gil's wish to die, or spare him, for which his ADAM-produced alter-ego, Alex the Great, now begs. Towards the conclusion of the game, Sofia detonates the bombs which brings down Persephone and Fontaine Futuristics into a deep trench, potentially killing Alexander. However, it is possible that he escaped into the ocean (as he promises when begging for mercy). For the purposes of the ending, killing Alexander appears to be treated the same as any of the other NPCs.

Subject Delta's encounter with Dr. Alexander is represented by a statue in the hallucinatory version of Outer Persephone. If the player chose to kill Gilbert, the statue depicts Subject Delta battling a giant serpent (representing Alex the Great). If the player chose to let Gilbert live, the statue depicts Subject Delta pulling a man (presumably Dr. Alexander) out of the mouth of the giant serpent (again representing Alex the Great).

Audio Diaries

 * Atlantic Express
 * Improving on Suchong's Work


 * Ryan Amusements
 * A Father's Love


 * Siren Alley
 * The Rumbler
 * The Pair Bond Mechanism


 * Dionysus Park
 * A Secular Saint
 * Growing Up


 * Fontaine Futuristics
 * Agnus Dei
 * Source of Volunteers
 * Prototype
 * Abort the Experiment
 * Solving for X
 * Outlived Usefulness
 * Big Sister


 * Removed Audio Diaries
 * Alpha Series
 * Not Nigh Enough

Behind the Scenes

 * Gil Alexander's name was a tribute to Stephen Alexander, an FX artist at Irrational Games who was influential in the making of BioShock.
 * Alex the Great, Gil's alias, is based on Alexander the Great, a famous Macedonian king.
 * It is possible to see Gil's true form inside the tank with the use of console commands.
 * As seen in concept art images from Deco Devolution artbook, Gilbert's tank would have originally been a giant sphere with large blue-lit portholes covering its metal surface.
 * Gil's Audio Diary, Agnus Dei, is a reference to the Latin phrase "Agnus Dei" meaning "Lamb of God". It refers to Jesus' sacrificial offering to atone for the sins of humanity.
 * During development of BioShock 2, before Gilbert Alexander was given an official name, employees at 2K Marin referred to him as the "The Guilt Navigator" - a pun referencing the Dune novels.
 * According to the subtitles' file of BioShock 2, the Audio Diary "Alpha Series" was removed from Fontaine Futuristics and not Dionysus Park as it was said on Cult of Rapture.