Booker DeWitt

"One thing I've learned; if you don't draw first, you don't get to draw at all."

- Booker DeWitt

Booker DeWitt, a thirty-seven year old male, is the main protagonist of BioShock Infinite, whom the player controls throughout the game. Through his vocalization, the player comes to understand DeWitt's past experience and his ability to make decisions for himself. Unlike the other BioShock protagonist characters, DeWitt has his own identity, and the player is aware of it from the start.

History
DeWitt was a former Pinkerton Agent who was disgraced due to his use of extreme methods on the job. As a member of the Pinkerton Agency, DeWitt had been tasked with breaking up union strike efforts. At one point he was also an Indian fighter, and was present at the battle of Wounded Knee. His experiences at Wounded Knee mentally scarred him, which would lead to his future alcoholism and addiction to gambling. Following his discharge from the Pinkerton Agency, he became a private investigator.

Before the events of BioShock Infinite, DeWitt was going through a low point in his life, one of which was a wife who died while giving birth to their child, who also died.

Events of BioShock Infinite
When he was contacted by a man who offered DeWitt a mission that would help pay off his gambling debts. The client gave DeWitt information about the location of Columbia and commissioned him to find and rescue Elizabeth, a young woman who was held captive within the city, to bring her back to New York. Upon his arrival in Columbia, DeWitt hears explosions and gunfire in the distance, revealing the civil turmoil in the city. In Columbia, Booker gains access to extraordinary abilities in the form of Vigors.

As Booker progresses through Columbia he is antagonized by Father Zachary Hale Comstock, the city's founder and leader, who is seemingly gifted with foreknowledge, and predicts Booker's future actions. He also experiences strange lapses in consciousness, always accompanied by a bleeding nose.

It is eventually revealed that Booker and Comstock are, in fact, the same person, but from different realities; after the battle of Wounded Knee, Booker DeWitt attempted to cleanse himself of his past through a baptism&mdash;in one reality, he accepted the baptism, and became Zachary Comstock&mdash;but, in the other reality, Booker was unable to follow through, and rejected the ceremony, eventually falling into a life of alcohol, gambling and debt. To wipe away the debts, he made the decision to give up his child, Anna, to Comstock, via Robert Lutece. However, Booker immediately regretted this decision, and chased after Lutece to get Anna back. In an alleyway, he came across Lutece, a young Comstock, holding Anna, and a woman, who stood within a unnatural hole in a wall&mdash;this hole, or portal, was a passage between Comstock's reality and Booker's. As he grappled with Comstock for Anna, Comstock and Lutece entered the portal, and Comstock ordered it to be closed; ultimately, Comstock was able to take Anna through the portal, as it closed, leaving Booker alone, with Anna's pinky finger lying on the ground&mdash;it had been severed as the portal closed.

After languishing in remorse for nearly twenty years, Booker reencountered Robert Lutece, who, along with Rosalind Lutece, offered him the chance to travel to Columbia, and retrieve her. Booker then entered Comstock's reality, but the effects of entering a new reality wiped his memory&mdash;thus, his mind created new memories; he believed that retrieving a girl named Elizabeth from Columbia and brining her to New York would wipe away his debts&mdash;these false thoughts are reenforced by materials given to him by the Luteces, one of which is a picture of Elizabeth, with the words "Bring to New York Unharmed" written on the back.

Booker managed to rescue Elizabeth, and the pair journeyed across Columbia, facing the conflict between Comstock and the Vox Populi, as well as attempting to discover the source of Elizabeth's powers to create holes in dimensional time and space, and each of their connections with Comstock himself.

Discovering that Elizabeth was subject to experiments&mdash;which led to her gaining the power to create tears, and that those powers have been limited by the siphon on Monument Island&mdash;and that she neither Comstock's daughter, nor Lady Comstock's, despite previous indication.

In light of all this, Elizabeth is captured by Songbird, and Booker goes after her; coming across a hospital-of-sorts, Booker encounters Elizabeth&mdash;from the future&mdash;who gives him a note to give to the Elizabeth from Booker's present, which Booker does after rescuing her.

Together, they head to the Hand of the Prophet, Comstock's zeppelin, where they confront him, in his cabin. There, Comstock laments his actions, realizing that the truth would have been better than sending armies after Elizabeth and Booker. He grabs Elizabeth, and demands that Booker tell her the truth about her missing finger, but Booker kills him in anger. Elizabeth believes that Booker does know the truth about what happened to her finger, but he doesn't remember it. They both decide to destroy Elizabeth's former home, where the siphon is located, which would remove the restrictions on Elizabeth's powers.

On the bridge, the Hand of the Prophet comes under attack from the Vox Populi fleet, but with the "Whistler" in hand, Booker is able to use Songbird to defeat the Vox fleet. He then orders the mechanical bird to destroy the statue where the siphon is. As the statue crumbles, there is a massive shockwave of energy, which renders the "Whistler" useless, and Songbird quickly turns on Elizabeth and Booker, but, Elizabeth&mdash;the full extent of her powers restored&mdash;transports them all to Rapture, where Songbird finally meets its end, since its one weakness is water.

Making their way to a Bathysphere, Booker and Elizabeth rise to the surface, where there is a lighthouse&mdash;the same lighthouse that Jack would come across in 1960&mdash;they enter to find millions upon millions of lighthouses, which Elizabeth reveals to be other realities, all different and similar.

They eventually enter a door which leads to a watershed event in Booker's life&mdash;the baptism after the Wounded Knee massacre. As he did before, Booker rejects it, but Elizabeth reminds him that Comstock was where Booker was at that time, and that they need to find him.

They then come across Booker's residence, and find that behind the door next to Booker's desk, there is a crib, and a baby inside it&mdash;Anna, Booker's daughter, whom he gave to Robert Lutece and Comstock to undo his gambling debts, which reveals the meaning behind "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt."

Elizabeth reveals to Booker that Comstock, like them and everyone else, lives in millions and millions of worlds&mdash;only by erasing him completely from existence will undo his atrocities.

After reliving his failed attempt to save Anna from Comstock&mdash;which is the reason he branded "AD" on his right hand&mdash;he finally realizes the truth; Elizabeth is really Anna DeWitt, his daughter.

Finally, Booker returns to the site of the baptism, and he is joined by many different variations of his daughter, who tell him that he must die, where they stand, for Zachary Comstock and all his sins to be erased&mdash;for Booker and Comstock are one in the same. Booker submits, and is drowned by the ensemble of Annas, and, since the baptism occurred before Anna's birth, all variations of her present vanish from existence; not only that, but with the end of Booker and Anna DeWitt, and Zachary Comstock, the events of BioShock Infinite are erased from the timeline.

Epilogue
"Anna&hellip; Anna? Anna&hellip; is that you?"

- Booker DeWitt

Possibly in another reality, Booker awakens in his residence, the date October 8th, 1893&mdash;the same date he lost Anna&mdash;and opens the door next to his desk, where his daughter's crib is, while calling out her name.

Behind the Scenes
195 POUNDS OF WEIGHT A WHITE MAN WITH GREEN EYES BEARS A SCAR OVER THE RIGHT EYE"
 * As tradition with the hands of BioShock's protagonists featuring a distinct mark or tattoo, the back of Booker's 228px-Kit-bi04.jpg hand has the scarred initials "A D".
 * These initials might've been carved by Booker himself as a reminder of his daughter Anna DeWitt (A.D.).
 * Wanted posters, first shown on the cover of EGM, list some of his specific features:"A MALE OF 37 YEARS 6 FEET OF HEIGHT

- EGM Wanted Poster


 * The scene depicting Booker with his belongings is very much resemblant of the scene featuring Jack opening his suitcase in Bioshock.
 * Before Troy Baker was hired to be the voice of Booker DeWitt, Irrational Games had Stephen Russel (the voice of Garrett in the Thief games) voice the part.
 * Booker DeWitt is stated to have been a Pinkerton agent before the events of Columbia. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency (now Pinkerton Government Services, Inc.) was founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton; throughout its history its services have ranged from security personnel and private investigations to private military contracting work
 * Booker served in the United States Army, as he owns a box engraved with his name saying that he served in the 7th Cavalry Regiment.
 * Originally, the early version of Booker's arms were seen covered by sleeves from a pin striped coat. This version remained in most of the early gameplay footage, even after the artwork debut of his appearance from the EGM cover, which had him appear with rolled shirt sleeves. It wasn't until the 2012 Beasts of America trailer that Booker was finally given rolled sleeves to match his artwork appearance, along with the initials "A D" branded over the back of his right hand.