Big Daddy

The Big Daddies are gargantuan defenders of the Little Sisters. They are outfitted in enormous diving suits and carry a large drill or a rivet gun. They are extremely powerful, but will not attack the player unless provoked. They are called Mr. Bubbles and Mr. B by the Little Sisters.

There are two types of Big Daddy; each variety must be photographed and researched individually. Each Big Daddy also appears as an "Elite" variety late in the game. Only one type of Big Daddy appears on each level. The order in which the different types appear is Bouncer, Rosie, Elite Bouncer, Elite Rosie.

Big Daddies are human beings who have had their skin and organs grafted into an enormous diving suit. The candidates also go through voice box modulation and pheromone application. This pheromone is what attracts the Little Sisters to the Big Daddies. They are then injected with a plasmid that effectively turns them into mindless drones with only one purpose: to protect the Little Sisters.

The Big Daddy was the brainchild of Dr. Yi Suchong. Knowing that the Little Sisters would be at great risk if they were out on the streets gathering ADAM with no protection, Suchong sought to rectify the problem. Suchong presented his idea to Andrew Ryan, but with trepidation. Knowing that becoming a Big Daddy would be a "one way street" Suchong was worried about finding candidates. Andrew Ryan assured him that this would be no problem.

Big Daddies are outfitted with the gear they where designed and programmed to wear. A log declares that Ryan was so cheap, he told the scientists to re-use the Big Daddy suits even though it was impossible to remove the skin from the suits of expired Big Daddies (seeing as the suits are steam-sealed to the flesh, this is illogical from a scientific standpoint, but very plausible from a business view as, during the war, steel production was probably halted or severely limited). Using various plasmids, the humans inside the suits were outfitted with strength and agility, but with no humanity (or sanity) to lose. They're able to lift heavy weights with ease, seeing as their suits are made mostly of steel and various other machinery to keep them alive during their duties - and to resist pressure six miles beneath the ocean. Bouncers are subjected to far more splicing then the Rosies, and as such their heads have deformed to the point of grotesqueness, while Rosies wear a somewhat normal dive helmet. Both variations of the Big Daddies communicate by haunting sounds similar to that of a whale's call, and for easier understanding lights were added inside the helmet to display what state the Big Daddy is in (most likely for the protection of civilians, as they could easily avoid Big Daddies with a yellow or red light on). Big Daddies have three known light colors, each for their current state. Green is completely passive and unalarmed; this is mostly for civilian cases, such as repairing. Yellow is the color most often seen in the game; it refers to the fact the Big Daddy is highly aware of his environment (looking out for danger, traps) and is on a mission to find a Little Sister to protect or because he is protecting one at that very moment. Red is only seen when the Big Daddy is threatened or engaged in combat. Obviously each of these three light patterns can be compared to that of a street light (go, caution, stop).

It is hinted that Big Daddies have a variety of equipment, including steam-powered cutting tools, detachable drills (seen in game, both attached and detached), rivet guns, proximity mines, and rock-grabbing fist attachments, but most of these are never seen in-game, only through concept art, pre-release pictures, demos, and the diaries left behind by the citizens.

Rosie
Rosie carries a Rivet Gun, a reference to Rosie the Riveter. In addition to their powerful ranged attack, they occasionally throw proximity mines; as with all projectiles, these can be caught and thrown back with Telekinesis.



Bouncer
The Bouncer is the iconic Big Daddy of BioShock, with his many tiny portholed eyes. They only have melee attacks, but can charge the player at high speed. They are first witnessed in the Welcome to Rapture level, where the player views one killing a Splicer attempting to assault a Little Sister, and first seen during normal gameplay in the Medical Pavilion level, when a Splicer attempts to harvest ADAM from a Little Sister, only to be killed by Dr. Tenenbaum.