Possession

"With POSSESSION, the free will of your enemies matters no more. Make your foes blindly fight and die for you."

- Fink Manufacturing advertisement

Possession is a Vigor featured in BioShock Infinite, granting Booker DeWitt the ability to control machinery, causing vending machines to spit out a bounty in Silver Eagles and combat automatons to temporarily fight for Booker. Though initially ineffective on organic enemies, Possession can be upgraded to turn humans into temporarily allies, causing them to commit suicide upon breaking from the Vigor's effects. With this upgrade, Possession can also be charged and deployed as a stationary trap at double the cost, possessing an enemy and forcing the others to kill themselves. Motorized Patriots, Firemen and Zealots of the Lady will not kill themselves at the end of the Vigor's effects, and Possession is entirely ineffective on Handymen and The Siren.

BioShock Infinite


Possession is the first Vigor the player obtains in the game: at the Columbia 1912 Raffle and Fair, in order to pass through an automated gate Booker needs to take a sample of the Vigor from the nearby vendor.

Official

 * Igniting a possessed enemy with Devil's Kiss will infuse them with fire, causing them to ignite all other enemies around them for increased damage.
 * Shocking a possessed enemy with Shock Jockey will infuse them with electricity and cause them to electrify all other enemies around them, damaging them, stunning them and temporarily doubling their damage intake.

Combat Strategy

 * Only a single enemy of any type can be possessed at a time, meaning that one must choose their victim carefully due to the Vigor's relatively high usage cost unless Possession for Less is acquired.
 * Following the above, possessing a new target while the previous one is still under the Vigor's effects will cause the latter to commit suicide if they're human, allowing for a quick kill.
 * Though Possession traps can only possess only one enemy at a time, they will cause all other victims to commit suicide if they are liable to do so.
 * The duration of Possession is highly variable:
 * Fighter automatons (save for Motorized Patriots) will remain possessed for the full duration of Possession's effects.
 * Standard enemies and Beasts will be possessed for half the above time and will commit suicide at the end of the Vigor's effects.
 * Firemen, Zealots of the Lady and Motorized Patriots will remain possessed for only a quarter of the standard time. Moreover, they will not kill themselves at the end of Possession's effects.
 * Handymen and the Siren are completely immune to the Vigor's effects.
 * Possessed enemies are seen controlled by a ghostly female figure, which will disappear as the effects fade, as indicated by a sound effect. However, enemies will still remain possessed for a few seconds after the ghost disappears, and will continue glowing green.
 * When casting Possession, the player sends out a ghost which travels out to whichever target the player aimed at when casting the Vigor. The ghost will home in on the target, which can be used to possess moving enemies over long distances. However, the ghost will disappear if it hits a portion of the scenery beforehand.
 * Possession is extremely useful on Beasts, as they will inevitably kill themselves at the end of its effects. If Possession is fully upgraded, this is by far the cheapest way to dispose of them. Furthermore, they are capable of downing several enemies before taking their own life.
 * Despite the drastically shorted duration of Possession on Firemen, it is still a viable choice, as they are capable of decimating groups of enemies in the short time they remain possessed. Zealots and Patriots, on the other hand, will break out of the Vigor's effects before they can actually attack.
 * Using Possession on a machine anywhere other than the Columbia 1912 Fair will count as a hostile act.
 * As enemies increase both in health and damage on the higher difficulties, Possession does not lose any of its effectiveness, making it a very palatable choice in most fights.
 * Possession will wear off prematurely if the player attacks the possessed target for too much damage.
 * Possession Aid, for its extremely low cost and huge added functionality, is essentially a mandatory upgrade to Possession, especially when playing on the higher difficulties.
 * Possession for Less is one of the most expensive upgrades in the game, but also one of the most useful, as it will halve the cost of Possession. On the higher difficulty levels, where Possession plays a more important role, this can save the player a great deal many Salts refills.
 * Here is a list where you need to possess.
 * Baton-users - Not recommended, as they can only engage their former allies in melee.
 * Pistoleers - Not really recommended, as their Pistols only do minimum damage.
 * Hand Cannoneers - Recommended, their Hand Cannons are surprisingly accurate.
 * Machine Gunners - Optional. They are best possessed when combat begins.
 * Carbiners - Optional, but their Carbines are useful when it comes to taking out enemies at medium to long range.
 * Shotgunners - Recommended, can one-shot nearby enemies. They are best possessed at the start of a fight, though, as they will close in on the player.
 * Snipers - Recommended, useful to snipe their ex-allies from distance. However, they can be difficult to hit with Possession due to the extreme distances they are usually encountered in.
 * Beasts - Highly recommended, their heavy weaponry is very effective against their allies, and the suicide effect is incredibly useful due to their extreme durability and damage.
 * Handymen - Immune to Possession. Not recommended.
 * Firemen - Recommended, can be used set groups of enemies to fire. However, Possession has a reduced duration and will not make Firemen commit suicide.
 * Motorized Patriots - Not often worth it, but it can withstand a large amount of hits to destroy an Motorized Patriot unless its gears are shot.
 * Siren - Immune to Possession.
 * Boys of Silence - Immune to Possession.
 * Lunatics - Much like the Baton-Users, they can only engage others in Melee range, but due to thier tendancy to bunch up if the alarm is raised, a single trap can cause a mass scuicide of the entire pack.

Recommended Gear

 * Blood to Salt will partially refill the player's Salts as possessed targets kill other foes (and themselves), amortizing the Vigor's initially exorbitant cost.
 * Betrayer is tailor-made for Possession, letting the player finish off a crowd of enemies by shooting a possessed target as the effects fade.
 * Ghost Posse/Ghost Soldier will let the player instantly summon a group of weapon allies if multiple enemies are caught by a single Possession trap.
 * Health for Salts can help compensate for Possession's large cost when low on Salts, though the health cost will be equally high.
 * Overkill will give the player a chance to shock enemies with their possessed target, especially when possessing Heavy Hitters. The resulting bursts of electricity will also either infuse the possessed foe with the effects or electrify them, making it easier to finish them off.
 * Spare the Rod can help keep enemies possessed if the effects wear off.
 * Storm will propagate the effects of Devil's Kiss and Shock Jockey if the possessed target has been infused with either of the two Vigors.

Suicides
If the Possession aid is bought, human opponents can be targeted by Possession, and will commit suicide upon the effect wearing off (assuming they are still alive). Depending on which weapon the enemy was carrying, the animation will be different.
 * Baton-users and Snipers will proceed to bash themselves to death with their weapons.
 * Pistol-users and Hand-Cannon users will raise the gun to their temple, and shoot themselves in the head (Note: unlike a normal headshot kill with the weapon, the Hand Cannon does not blow off the head of the victim)
 * Shotgun users, Heater users, Carbine-users, and Burstgun users will place the barrel of their weapon at their chin, and pull the trigger, blowing their heads off.
 * Machine Gun users and Repeater users will place the barrel of their weapon at their chests, and then fire several shots
 * Beasts will shoot their weapon at their feet. Volley Gun users and Hail Fire users will blow off their armor and fly up into the air (eventually coming back down), while RPG users will explode in a gory splash, also losing their armor.

Burial at Sea - Episode 1
Possession makes a return as a drinkable Plasmid; however, the Splicers who have been hypnotized will recover from the effects quicker and will not commit suicide.

Burial at Sea - Episode 2
Possesion make a return as a drinkable Plasmid once again in Burial at Sea - Episode 2, with the effects remaining generally unchanged. Possesion can also be used on Big Daddies, however it will only freeze them in place for a limited time. It does not function like the Hypnotize Big Daddy Plasmid, which, rather ironically, is slated for release the year after the Burial at Sea takes place.

There are two Possession upgrades found in the DLC: In 1998 Mode, Possesion have no effect, the enemy/turret that has been effected by Posssesion will still have the green glow on them but will not attack anyone/anything but otherwise will continue as normal. This is due to the fact that 1998 mode forces the player to use non-lethal methods.
 * 1) Enemies will knock themselves unconcious after the effect wears off, similar to the suicide effect from the main game.
 * 2) Possesing a Turret will cause it to become a permanent ally. This is extremely useful, as Lockpicking a Turret will only disable it, as well as costing Lockpicks to accomplish.

Behind the Scenes

 * The vigor's ad is a redesigned image from Swiss chocolate company Chocolat Klaus' iconic 1903 poster.
 * Possession is the successor to BioShock 2's Hypnotize, also blending in the hacking mechanic from the first two installments.
 * Possession's name in the E3 Demo, Mesmerize, is defined as: "to hold someone as if spellbound or hypnotized". The demo also credits the Vigor's invention to a person named Dalton.
 * The green female ghost manifested by Possession bears resemblance to "The Green Fairy", a hallucination thought to be brought about by drinking absinthe, an alcoholic beverage that can also be found in-game.
 * As evident in 'The Art of BioShock Infinite', the earliest name for 'Possession' was 'Ghost Touch' as it bears a similar color scheme to one of the early Vigor concepts which shows a small green vase attached to a bird-like module. The bottle is also marked as a Plasmid meaning the name may not have been changed from BioShock in the early development cycle of the game.
 * The whispers when using Possession Vigor is dialogue from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet being played in reverse. Romeo and Juliet Act 3, Scene 2: "Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-browed night, Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars." The quoted lines are in a different order in the whispers.
 * Despite the fact that the Possession ad depicts the Vigor being used on an Automated Stallion, using it on one in game has no effect.
 * In the Burial at Sea Episode 1 DLC, even if the "Possession for Less" upgrade isn't acquired, Possession has more uses than the Columbian variant, and Splicers won't commit suicide when it wears off. This is most likely due to the physical and mental disfiguring side effects of using ADAM.
 * In the downloadable content Clash in the Clouds, Possession can be collected as a free sample.
 * It would seem that Possession was intended -- at least in part, and perhaps for the non-military market -- to make someone fall in love with the user, judging by the adverts seen, the Kinetoscope, "Write Your Own Love Story!", in Clash in the Clouds, and simply the bottle's design and logo. However, this effect is never seen used in-game by anyone, possibly out of sensitivity. Clash in the Clouds' Kinetoscope advert is the only thing close to the love-bending effect being seen in-game. Also, the woman giving out samples will only advertise its usefulness against machines.
 * This is also evident in Burial at Sea - Episode 1, where the jingle for the Plasmid heard in Fontaine Plasmids implies just that.