Boy of Silence



The Boys of Silence are young people fitted with large metal helmets which give them a wide range of hearing, although preventing sight. Booker DeWitt encounters them in Columbia during the course of BioShock Infinite.

Overview
Boys of Silence are outfitted in blue suits that are reminiscent of a school uniform, and their most noticeable feature is their large metal helmets. These helmets are styled to look like an eyeless face with a gaping mouth, and each has large funnel-like tubes protruding from the left and right sides that amplify the wearer's sense of hearing. The main purpose of the Boys of Silence is to provide surveillance within Columbia. They usually appear strategically, forcing the player to decide whether to attempt to sneak past them or engage them directly. If one spots Booker or is otherwise harmed or alarmed, they may call for backup. Ken Levine compares them to the Security Cameras of BioShock, except with the ability to move and consciously hunt the player. IGN commented on their Rewind Theater that the Boy Of Silence seems to be "Draining the color from the room" while demonstrating his ability in possibly Fink Theatre, as a fog-like wave surrounds the environment, while a bright aura surrounds him. When the Boy of Silence spots the player, his mouth opens up and emits a red glow inside his mouth, then a bright aura surrounds him and releases a heavy impact of sound.

If Booker is noticed by them, a gang of insane children will attack and will be immune to attacks.

Behind the Scenes

 * At Pax East 2012, Ken Levine and Nate Wells mentioned that the Boy of Silence originally had a different purpose, which was to wait and attack the player after it collected every sound from them, such as gunshots and footsteps, and that it was meant to compel the player to choose more silent weapons. They found that this became too problematic, both from a gameplay aspect as most players wouldn't understand what was happening, and the technical aspect of removing ambient sounds from the environment, since this enemy would collect those as well.
 * Balthrop, one of the sound team members, mentioned that the Boys of Silence went through months of different sound changes. One of these sounds was from female Heavy Metal singers, Malika, to rasp out the harshest and roughest screams, to later be blended by the sound team with machine sounds that were described as a rev of a factory belt starting after years of disuse. The sound file was even played at PAX East 2012, where the audience was visibly affected by it. As granting as it was, both Balthrop and Levine felt it sounded like a "wet" noise that didn't sound like it would come out of the Boys of Silence, and changed it to a more boot-up noise, and adds in the scream with the grinding ting-tings of metal gears and power.
 * On the back of the NECA figurine of the Boy of Silence is the following nursery rhyme: "Watch where you step! Don't say a word! You'll be in trou-ble if the Boys have heard!"