Eleanor Lamb

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"Father... it's me, Eleanor. I know you're awake in there -- I can feel it. Mother won't be able to...to toy with you like that, ever again."

- Eleanor Lamb

"Love is just a chemical, no matter the origin. We give it meaning by choice."

- Eleanor Lamb

Eleanor Lamb is the daughter of Sofia Lamb, and is a previous Little Sister. Roughly ten years after the 1958 New Year's Eve Riots she contacts Subject Delta, beginning the events of BioShock 2. Eleanor still remembers Delta after ten years and knows he is searching for her. Throughout the course of the game, she will leave him gifts and messages written on the walls of the city. In the story of BioShock 2, her behavior is highly influenced by Delta's actions towards the Little Sisters and NPCs.

Early Life


Eleanor was raised by her mother, Sofia, in isolation from the other children of Rapture. Sofia lectured her daughter on philosophy and psychology, hoping to raise her to uphold her own altruistic ideals. As a young girl Eleanor was highly intelligent, and taught herself how to take apart and reconstruct electronics. However, she disobeyed her mother on numerous occasions, sneaking out to see other kids, and disabling the security systems her mother installed. At first Eleanor was stand-offish towards the other children, whimsically referring to them as "dog-eaters" since her mother told her they were "raised on a diet of dog-eat-dog." (Her mother actually meant they were taught to uphold ideals of ruthless competition.) During one of Eleanor's frequent escapes she met a boy named Amir and got into a fight with him, making his nose bleed in the process, but eventually became his friend. In a later Audio Diary, Eleanor mentions that she had a childhood crush on him.



When Eleanor was about seven years old her mother, Sofia Lamb, was arrested by Andrew Ryan and taken away to Persephone. Eleanor was entrusted into the care of one of her mother's patients and close follower Grace Holloway who had long wanted a child, and Eleanor lived with her for a time in her apartment at The Sinclair Deluxe in Pauper's Drop. This arrangement proved short-lived, because Eleanor quickly discovered that Stanley Poole was Ryan's spy who had gathered information on her mother's political activities, and he was now bankrupting Dionysus Park through overspending and mad parties. Eleanor eventually confronted Stanley and threatened to tell her mother what he was doing with her home, fortune, and followers. In fear of reprisal, Poole had Eleanor kidnapped and sold to the Little Sister's Orphanage.

Eleanor spent time in the orphanage in Siren Alley before she was transferred to the care of Dr. Gilbert Alexander. Dr. Alexander, who was ignorant of her true identity, turned her into a Little Sister and partnered her with Subject Delta. However, Eleanor's time as a Little Sister did not last very long, because Sofia Lamb escaped from prison and tracked her daughter down on New Years Eve, 1958. With the help of a gang of Splicers, Sofia managed to abduct Eleanor, and used a mind control Plasmid on Subject Delta to command him to shoot himself. Sofia then retreated back to Persephone, taking Eleanor with her. Since then, Eleanor constantly thought of Delta and still dreamt about him.

Life After Sisterhood
Sofia worked with Dr. Alexander over several years to rehabilitate Eleanor. Eventually they were able to undo her Little Sister conditioning, but they could not remove the sea slug that had been implanted within her. Sofia then began her plans to create a perfect altruist by using ADAM to experiment on Gilbert Alexander, who volunteered to become "the first utopian". During this time Eleanor was confined to Persephone and the Fontaine Futuristics building, but she was horrified at seeing the changes Dr. Alexander went through as the experiment began to fail. She became more rebellious, seeing the hypocrisy in her mother's altruistic ideals (e.g. Dr. Lamb forced her own will on others, just as Andrew Ryan did before her, only while she wanted to force her ideals to eliminate "the self", he wanted to take control to eliminate the "parasites", both becoming what they despised), and wanted to escape.

However, Sofia Lamb changed the focus of her experiments to Eleanor when she realized that Gil Alexander would not succeed. Lamb realized that Eleanor's condition as a Little Sister protected her from the genetic damage that would be caused by using ADAM. Thus Dr. Lamb began injecting Eleanor with massive doses of ADAM, and glorifying her as a holy vessel for her loyal followers in The Rapture Family.

As a result of her mother's experiments and plans for her, Eleanor started to think of escape. Eleanor had formed a bond with the new Little Sisters kidnapped from the surface, and she could control their actions outside of Persephone. Using them she was able to carry out her plans around the city, even though her mother had her trapped in confinement. Part of Eleanor's rebellion against her mother was remembering her time with her bonded Big Daddy, Subject Delta. Thus, Eleanor sent out the Little Sisters to find samples of Delta's genetic sequence, planning to revive him at a Vita-Chamber. With the help of Brigid Tenenbaum she succeeded in removing Delta's Big Daddy conditioning, and brought him back to life.

Events of BioShock 2


In her bid for freedom and escape to the surface, Eleanor instigated the events of BioShock 2 by using the new Little Sisters to resurrect Subject Delta, more than ten years after his original death. Due to the powerful and potentially lethal bond they share, Delta is forced to journey through Rapture and seek his former Little Sister. Eleanor aids him whenever she can by leaving him gifts and messages from the Little Sisters, and she tries to hide her contact with him from her mother. Eleanor observes the way Delta interacts with the Little Sisters, choosing to save them or kill them, and the way he gives mercy or vengeance to the people he meets. Delta then begins to learn more about himself and Eleanor as he goes through Pauper's Drop, Siren Alley, and Dionysus Park. However, during this time her mother is not deceived, and she begins to accelerate Eleanor's treatments as Delta draws nearer.

Eventually Delta arrives in Persephone to find Eleanor imprisoned in a quarantine chamber. Eleanor is in a deep sleep as he approaches, but as he tries to enter the chamber Sofia smothers Eleanor with a pillow, stopping her heart long enough to sever the pair bond and put Delta in a coma. Eleanor recovers and tries to salvage her connection with Delta, sending him a Little Sister to control and helping him escape from his bindings. Eleanor gets him to bring her an incomplete Big Sister suit for her to wear so they can escape together. Eleanor then joins Delta to fight against the remnants of the Rapture Family in Persephone to reach Augustus Sinclair's escape pod to the surface.

When she fights Eleanor uses the Big Sister powers that she has accumulated from all the ADAM she absorbed over the years. The player's choice of whether to harvest or save Little Sisters affects Eleanor's personality in her battles. If Delta saved all Little Sisters then her personality will be good. If Delta harvested one or more Little Sisters her personality will be bad.

The explosion charges rigged by Lamb's followers cause the chamber holding the lifeboat to fill with water. Thinking quickly, Eleanor forms a plan to use the other Little Sister's to help her boil off the water. Depending on the player's choice to either harvest or save the Little Sisters throughout the game Eleanor will either use the Little Sisters completely, draining them of their energy and killing them in the process, or be gentler with them, eventually bringing them with her into the escape pod and saving them.

Endings
Depending upon Delta's choices in dealing with the Little Sisters and NPCs (Grace Holloway, Stanley Poole, Gilbert Alexander) good, neutral, and bad endings are possible.

As the final bombs in the level detonate Eleanor races with Subject Delta to reach the elevator to the escape pod. A set of charges goes off directly in their path, forcing Eleanor to teleport them to the rising escape craft. Delta is stranded on the outside of the pod, while Eleanor makes it safely inside and finds her mother there. Sofia is drowning due to the flooding inside the escape craft, and Delta's choices of whether to save or kill the adults and Little Sisters he met earlier in the game affect whether Eleanor takes pity on her mother and gives her oxygen to keep her alive, or whether she pulls her down to suffocate her. The events after they reach the surface depend purely upon the player's choice to save or harvest Little Sisters.

Sofia's Fate




Death
If Delta has saved all of the Little Sisters and killed every NPC then Eleanor will drown her mother. Sofia also drowns if Delta has harvested at least one Little Sister and killed at least one NPC. Depending on how the Little Sisters have been treated Eleanor says different things during this sequence.
 * Saved every Little Sister: "You taught me that Justice is a contract. Once broken, it can never be mended. You sacrificed so much to protect the innocent, but to the guilty, you offered no mercy. I loved my mother, and I never wanted to hurt her. But with what she did to us, she gave up the right to exist. My hands were shaking when I did it, but you were there to steady them."
 * Harvested at least one Little Sister: "And then father, the Rapture dream was over. You taught me that innocence is chrysalis, a phase designed to end. Only when we are free from it, do we know ourselves. You showed me that my survival, my joy, are all that matter. I Indulge, nothing else exists."

Life
As Sofia Lamb struggles to reach a pocket of air, Eleanor will swim in and hand her mother a small air tank to breathe from, allowing her to live. If Delta has saved all of the Little Sisters and been merciful towards at least one of the NPCs, then Sofia Lamb will be saved from drowning by her daughter. If Delta has harvested at least one Little Sister but spared all the NPCs Eleanor will also let her mother live. Depending on how the Little Sisters have been treated Eleanor says different things during this sequence.
 * Saved every Little Sister: "And then father, the Rapture dream was over. You taught me that 'evil' is just a word. Under the skin, it's simple pain. For you, mercy was victory. You sacrificed, you endured, and when given the chance, you forgave. Always. Mother believed this world was irredeemable, but she was wrong, Father. We are Utopia, you and I, and in forgiving, we left the door open for her."
 * Harvested at least one Little Sister: "And then father, the Rapture dream was over. You taught me that right and wrong were tidal forces, ever shifting. To survive in Rapture, Father, you took what you needed from the innocent. But... when the guilty posed no further threat, you simply walked away. I wanted Mother dead, but broken as she was, how could she hurt me? Now, she will grow old and die, knowing that I rejected her."


 * }

Best Ending
If Delta saved every Little Sister, then on the surface he will breathe his last breaths in Eleanor's arms and she will lovingly extract his ADAM, allowing him to become a part of her. Eleanor and the rescued Little Sisters will then gather together under bright warm weather. One of the Little Sisters hands Eleanor the doll of subject Delta she made years ago, which she takes and drops into the sea.

"The Rapture dream is over, but in waking I am reborn. This world is not ready for me, yet here I am. It would be so easy to misjudge them. You are my conscience father, and I need you to guide me. You will always be with me now, father, your memories, your drives. And when I need you, you'll be there on my shoulder whispering. If Utopia is not a place, but a people, then we must choose carefully, for the world is about to change, and in our story, Rapture was just the beginning."

Choice Endings
If Delta saves at least one Little Sister and harvests at least one Little Sister, he gets a choice ending. In this scenario he can choose to either live or die.

"You made a monster of me, father, but I wondered why you saved the others. You left me in doubt. Didn't you want me to be like you? I knew I could save you; but if you felt regret, if you wanted me to choose for myself I would have to let you go, to let you die."





Sacrifice Choice
On the surface Eleanor moves to extract ADAM from the dying Delta, but he grabs her wrist at the last second, preventing it. Eleanor then drags the dying Delta to the edge of the water, and he spends his last moments staring at his reflection while Eleanor cries and contemplates the loneliness ahead of her but thanks him for securing her freedom. The weather and the mood is calm, yet dark and gloomy.

"The Rapture dream is over, and in waking I'm alone. Mother, I left behind and you chose to die rather than have me follow you. But you gave me the greatest gift of all, something I have never had. My freedom. There is no name for what I am, but the world is about to change. I thought we would seize it together, yet as I sat there with you I wondered if even I could be redeemed. Your sacrifice gave me hope. But father, wherever you are...I miss you."

Save yourself Choice
In the selfish ending Eleanor extracts Delta's essence calmly. She watches as the bodies of dead Splicers rise to the surface. The corpse-filled ocean crashes violently as a powerful thunderstorm rages overhead, foreshadowing the bloody future the world might face, as it may now have to confront the might of Rapture's godlike genetic technologies wielded by Eleanor.

"You may not have wanted me father, but you defined me. You chose to survive, no matter the cost. and I will not let your instincts go to waste. The Rapture dream is over, and in waking I am reborn. You'll always be with me father, your memories, your drives. When I need you, you'll be there; whispering over my shoulder. There is no name for what I am, but the world is about to change. And with your help, they will never see me coming."
 * }

Worst Ending
If Delta harvested every single Little Sister then Eleanor takes Delta's essence against his will. She watches as the bodies of dead Splicers rise to the surface. The corpse-filled ocean crashes violently as a powerful thunderstorm rages overhead, foreshadowing the bloody future the world might face, as it may now have to confront the might of Rapture's godlike genetic technologies wielded by the genius and cruelty of Eleanor.

"The Rapture dream is over, and in waking I am reborn. You may not have wanted me father, but you defined me. You chose to survive, no matter the cost and I will not let your instincts go to waste. You'll always be with me father, your memories, your drives; when I need you, you'll be there whispering from my shoulder. There is no name for what I am, but the world is about to change. And with your help they will never see me coming."

Powers And Abilities
After years of gene therapy and perfected versions of the large-dose ADAM treatments that turned Gil Alexander into a colossal amphibian, Eleanor is gifted with the abilities of dozens of people and Splicers, with seemingly none of the usual negative side-effects. Powers she is capable of include:
 * Telekinesis powerful enough to move live Splicers through the air.
 * Superhuman Strength and Agility rivalling that of a legitimate Big Sister.
 * Pyrokinesis in the form of explosive, ranged fireballs launched from her hands.
 * Teleportation in a much cleaner form of the Houdini Splicers' signature ability, causing a bright purple glow when used.
 * Compounded Intellect from many other citizens of Rapture, including their memories, skills and "essence".
 * Little Sister Possession, allowing her to remotely enter the minds of Little Sisters and use them to perform various tasks. She is also able to temporarily endow others with this power through a special Plasmid.
 * Extrasensory Perception. In addition to her deep-seated psychic bond with Subject Delta, Eleanor seems to have a "sixth sense" for danger, and she will instinctively attack any enemy as soon as they spot her or Delta during combat.

Quotes
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Attacking in general

 * "I am not your bloody messiah!"
 * "Oh, the girls remember you! We all remember."
 * "Stay away from my Father!"
 * "That's right, we're on the same side... Now what?"
 * "This one's mine!"
 * "Tell mother I'm coming for her!"
 * "Father likes you!"
 * "I'll send you a post card from the beach."
 * "Just try and keep me away from my sisters. Please, try!"
 * "What's that, Father? Teach them about fire. Well, if you insist."

Exiting Combat

 * "Make up your mind you bastards."
 * "They'll be back, Father."

Watching Target Die

 * "This one died alone and afraid. Stand in our way and you'll get the same."
 * "Done and dusted, Father."
 * "Who's next?"

Watching Target Flee

 * "Where are you going? You know that I could outrun you underwater."
 * "Yes, run back to Mother!"
 * "Run! Where are your people, now?"
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Attacking in general

 * "When Rapture drowns, think of me! Dancing in the sun!"
 * "Everyone else has been reborn, they left you behind."
 * "You can only die once, but I promise to make it funny."
 * "Father says you're all mine."
 * "Oh the heavens... the messiah is angry."
 * "Go on, run! I'll give you a head start."
 * "Learned this trick from dear Papa!"
 * "*Laughs* I can see you trying not to cry."
 * "Tedious.(?) Come back with some friends."
 * "Father said to kill the ugly one. But I suppose you'll have to do."

Exiting Combat

 * "Ugh... I gotta get all dressed up."
 * "That's... Yes, I'm disappointed."

Watching Target Die

 * "Eyes open, now. I want to watch you slip away."
 * "Ugh... Always over so quickly."
 * "Ha... Can almost smell the old roses."

Watching Target Flee

 * "Yes! Make it last!"
 * "Aw, but you were doing so well!"
 * "Where are you going?"
 * }

Audio Diaries

 * Atlantic Express
 * Mr. Tape Recorder


 * Ryan Amusements
 * Eat Dog


 * Pauper's Drop
 * Barbarism


 * Siren Alley
 * Misbehaving
 * My Name is Eleanor


 * Fontaine Futuristics
 * Life After Sisterhood
 * Goodbye, Dr. Alexander


 * Outer Persephone
 * Blessing in Disguise
 * Behind Mother's Back
 * Freeing Father


 * Inner Persephone
 * Destructive Learning

Videos
Video:Killing Eleanor bug. Video:Eleanor Lamb - Audio Diaries|Eleanor Lamb Audio Diaries Video:Eleanors First gift to you/ Eat Dog Audio-Tape|Eleanor is pretty generous, isn't she?

Video:Bioshock 2: Eleanor Lamb - Audio Diaries|Eleanor's Diaries

Bugs/Glitches

 * When Eleanor offers the Summon Eleanor Plasmid to the player in Outer Persephone, the player may instead freeze her with Winter Blast then hit her with the Drill. This will cause her to fall over, frozen in her previous pose. The Plasmid will still be in her hand, and she will be susceptible to amusing attacks. Taking the Plasmid from her hand will make her body disappear as per normal and allow the player to continue with the level.

Trivia

 * Originally, Eleanor was meant to be the main Big Sister the player must deal with through the game, but the concept was scrapped at the last minute. Creative Director, Jordan Thomas, found that not only was the twist too predictable, but the character would have done too many terrible things for the player to emotionally connect with her, especially after the multiple encounter battles. This would explain her appearance from the Outer Persephone quarantine chamber is that of the suitless Big Sister from the BioShock 2: Sea Of Dreams teaser trailer, especially with a last minute alteration to her head that doesn't match the skin of the original model.
 * Although her real father is never mentioned in-game, a removed message from Eleanor would have revealed that Delta was her biological father. This file was eventually left dormant by the developers, but it would have stated that Sofia Lamb got Delta's DNA from the archives of DNA, presumably at Fontaine Futuristics. Sofia did not explicitly choose Delta; she simply needed the seed by which she could make Eleanor.
 * The memory vision seen after dealing with the second Little Sister in Dionysus Park is flawed. It starts showing a regular Little Sister, supposed to be Eleanor, and ends using Eleanor's actual child model.
 * As quoted in Deco Devolution Artbook by Jeff Weir, Animation Supervisor, 2K Marin: "In the beginning I was just told to design a Big Daddy doll. The Bouncer seems to be the most iconic Big Daddy, so I started thinking about different objects I could cobble together to make a Big Daddy doll. As the story started to become more and more solidified, we realized this doll is supposed to represent you, the player. If it looks like a Bouncer, there's a huge disconnect there. So I changed it to the final version we have in the game now." This explains the differences between the original doll and the final doll.
 * After donning the Big Sister Suit Eleanor becomes slightly taller than Subject Delta.
 * Since Eleanor's Big Sister suit was composed of just essential parts lying around Outer Persephone, it is incomplete and, therefore, different from real Big Sisters. This may have been an aesthetic choice by the developers to help the player tell her apart from regular Big Sisters when the player is in battle and too preoccupied to give attention to her light or where her voice is emanating.
 * In the Quarantine Chamber cutscene, the necklace that Eleanor wears has an 'ethel' rune. The rune traditionally means inheritance, and it may symbolize Eleanor inheriting her mother's work and goals, or how Eleanor's personality changes based upon Subject Delta's actions in events of BioShock 2.