Atlas

Atlas is a citizen of Rapture with a thick Irish accent who is trying to escape the city and finds out Jack survived a plane crash. He helps you by giving you advice through a radio, in hopes that you will help rescue his wife and son who are lost in Rapture. Atlas had came to Rapture in search for a better life for him and his family, although he states that he feels God is now punishing him for bringing them down there.

Atlas serves as the character's guide for the first two thirds of the game, providing to be a useful ally in the otherwise totally alien city of Rapture in the early stages of the game. He introduces the player to Rapture, ADAM and the events which occurred after New Year's Eve, 1959 - helping to provide a feel for this strange, underwater city. His goal initially is simply to escape, and helps the player on the condition that the player aid him and his family (wife Moira and son Patrick) in escaping the now-dystopian Rapture. However, as the game progresses, Atlas' name crops up more and more in the audio diaries and even on posters, leaving the player to wonder at Atlas' own past and possible hidden agenda.

Shortly into the game, in an attempt to reach his wife and child hidden in a submarine both are ostensibly killed by Andrew Ryan. After this, Atlas' goal becomes revenge - the assassination of Andrew Ryan, to which end he enlists the player's help. It is revealed that Atlas is actually an alias for Frank Fontaine, a smuggler and mobster who rose to become powerful enough in Rapture's society to challenge Andrew Ryan's claim as ruler of the city, mostly through his control of the supply of ADAM. It is revealed by Ryan that the player is actually Ryan's own son, artificially aged and brainwashed by Fontaine as a sleeper agent. Fontaine has been commanding the player using the programmed trigger phrase "Would you kindly..." - due to Fontaine's conditioning, the player must obey any request made of him using the phrase. As Ryan explains, the player realizes that the seemingly benign Atlas has been using the phrase during the game as an imperative command. It is only with the help of Bridgette Tenenbaum and the pharmaceutical expertise of Dr Yi Suchong that the player can overcome the hold Fontaine has over him.



Atlas was a name first undertaken when Frank Fontaine was listed as dead in 1958, supposedly killed in a shootout at Fontaine Fisheries with Security Chief Sullivan's security force. Fontaine refers to Atlas as "The longest con", assuming the title as a working class hero to the people for over 2 years. As Atlas, Fontaine lead the longest surviving rebellion in Rapture, who became the greatest enemy of Andrew Ryan. Among the soldiers in Atlas' force were Diane McClintock, (Ryan's former Mistress) who later discovered Atlas was Fontaine and was killed for it, and a man named Johnny, who Jack sees being killed by a spider splicer immediately after arriving.