The Rapture Family



"Sofia Lamb teaches us: What is in common is good. What is irreducible is right. She guides us all to the indivisible, along a river of ADAM. Rapture's Daughter, Eleanor, shall be our vessel, in her we shall be reborn!"

- Father Wales

The Rapture Family is a religion created by Father Wales, used by Sofia Lamb to recruit more Splicers to her cause. Its primary teacher is also Father Wales, who resides in Siren Alley.

History
The Rapture Family had its genesis in the philosophies of Sofia Lamb. She gained many supporters for her collectivist ideals through her attention to the troubles of the poor citizens in Pauper's Drop. During the economic depression she offered free counseling sessions there, and she encouraged any of the patients who were interested in her ideas to wear a butterfly pin. This would become one of the most revered symbols of the Rapture Family.

Simon Wales was one of the down-on-their-luck citizens who attended these sessions. He was dramatically affected by Lamb's counseling and adopted the name "Father Wales." He began to conduct services in Siren Alley, initially with the promise that all faiths and creeds were welcome. However, as the Civil War in Rapture developed the Family became more powerful, and it began to persecute other faiths. The bodies of nonbelievers in Siren Alley were often left next to their bibles under the scrawl "Nonbelievers are not welcome here anymore."

After Jack's journey through Rapture in 1960, Father Wales adopted him into the religion as a god-like figure who punished the wickedness of Andrew Ryan. It was also after 1960 that Sofia Lamb began to present her daughter, Eleanor Lamb, as a savior.

Philosophy
The Rapture Family was made very simple, so that the Splicers could comprehend it. Many of their beliefs are heavily modeled on Christianity, including the reverence for a single god, but the cult also draws upon Gnosticism, especially its concept of the "Demiurge."

The core belief of the religion is that every citizen of Rapture owes each other a sense of unity and brotherhood. This is a stark contrast to Andrew Ryan's objectivist philosophy which extolled the virtues of one's own happiness or rational self-interest. This religion promotes a cult of personality, dedicating shrines to Sofia Lamb, as well as putting emphasis on the theme of rebirth, using butterfly imagery as well as evangelical graffiti on the walls of Rapture. To the Rapture Family, the Blue Morpho butterfly represents rebirth. The people of the Cult strive to be released from the self, and be reborn as a selfless being in service of the family, ultimately leading to the salvation of Rapture and its inhabitants.

The Rapture Family also reveres Jack Ryan, viewing him as an incarnation of their god. Simon Wales preaches that this god "smote down the false Father, Andrew Ryan -- who tempted us away from (his) radiant graze." Throughout Rapture there are numerous shrines with murals depicting the events of Jack's travel through Rapture, including his chain tattooed wrists in the act of injecting a hypo, and the plane crash at the Lighthouse.

Another main theme is the worship for Eleanor Lamb, who is revered as a holy vessel by members of the cult. Throughout Siren Alley, the central location of the cult, there are sealed cases holding items allegedly belonging to Eleanor, including a Big Daddy plush toy, an ADAM extraction needle and a white dress. On many of these cases is the inscription "By which we are saved." Murals of a woman in a flowing dress with a butterfly for a face can be seen prominently throughout Rapture, showing the Splicer's worship of her as a holy vessel of their salvation.

Members of the Rapture Family revere all Little Sisters and often decorate the Little Sister vents like sacrificial altars. Members of the cult that wish to sacrifice themselves for the greater good go to these vents and offer themselves up to the Little Sisters, who harvest their ADAM, thereby returning it to the great cycle.

BioShock 2
The Rapture Family largely dominates much of Rapture by the time of Delta's resurrection in 1968 and several of its leaders play roles as mini-bosses (usually being in possession of codes/keys necessary for Delta to proceed onto the next area) at the end of various levels such as Pauper's Drop (Grace Holloway) and Siren Alley (Father Wales). During his journey to locate Eleanor Lamb, Subject Delta encounters and eliminates many splicer adherents to the cult (generally identical to 'normal' splicers apart from their butterfly pins) and also has the option of killing Sofia Lamb as well as her lieutenants. After Eleanor and Delta's escape from the city, the Rapture Family is likely finished. Deprived of much of its leadership (especially that of Doctor Lamb) and of its followers after the devastating final battle in Persephone, the Rapture Family is plunged into anarchy once more.

Interestingly enough, despite the fact that industrial production had long ceased, the Rapture Family, largely consisting of mentally unstable splicers, seemed to command impressive weaponry and technical skills. They were able to detect and annihilate anyone who attempted to leave Rapture with powerful weapons such as torpedoes, and even transformed both Mark Meltzer and Augustus Sinclair into Big Daddies in a relatively short amount of time.

Members of The Rapture Family

 * Grace Holloway
 * Father Wales
 * Sofia Lamb
 * Stanley Poole (Only as a sleeper agent.)
 * Gil Alexander
 * Augustus Sinclair (After his transformation into an Alpha Series)