Masks are important items in the narrative of the BioShock series. Most Splicers encountered wear masks to cover the moderate-to-severe facial deformities they've experienced from splicing.
As Plasmids became more prevalent in Rapture, so too did ADAM abuse. More and more people began to experience the harsh side effects of splicing, with the most visible of which are lesions, tumors and facial deformations. In an attempt to save their faces, affected citizens sought to cover their disfigurement via surgery or other means. The theme chosen for the 1958 New Year celebration was a masquerade ball, and thousands of ornate animal-themed masks were created in the Venetian style for the event and distributed throughout the city to the revelers.
During and after the Rapture Civil War, when Splicing intensified in magnitude, masks continued to be worn by an increasingly desperate populace, looking to hide their worsening deformations and war scars. The most prevalent mask seen is the Rabbit Mask.
Various masks are worn by the Splicers to hide their facial deformities. Atlas even mentions this as Jack enters Worley Winery. Despite the year-long fighting, the masks continue to be in very good shape. The player can remove Splicer's masks using Telekinesis and hurl them at enemies for damage.
The Cult of The Saturnine wear improvised masks made from natural materials for ceremonial purposes. Fastened using twigs and straw, these masks are only found in Arcadia.
Surgical Masks[]
All Dr. Grossman model Splicers wear a surgical mask, but it's a part of the model's texture and thus cannot be removed or interacted with like the other masks.
Veil[]
Some of the hats worn by Lady Smith model Splicers have a dark veil attached which covers her face.
Welding Masks[]
Rosebud and Waders model Splicers can wear industrial welding masks in the up or down position. Other models can wear welding masks, but only during Scripted Events when they're breaking down a door.
Mark Meltzer found a crate of masks while searching through Orrin Oscar Lutwidge's basement and needed help to analyze them. With the help of Speedy Brothers Telegrams, he sent masks to people who had contacted him about his studies. The people that received the masks were fans that sent mail to Meltzer's P.O. Box during the viral advertising of There's Something in the Sea.
BioShock 2[]
Wealthy citizens seen wearing masks at a New Year's party.
Eight years after the events of BioShock, masks are still worn by Splicers to hide their even more deformed faces. The masks have taken severe damage with time, so cheaper ones have been used to replace them. Unlike in the first game, these masks cannot be removed using Telekinesis, but they will fall off when the Splicer dies.
Some of masks are seen in pristine condition in the opening cinematic and through the eyes of a Little Sister.
Butterfly Mask. Similar to the one from BioShock only green, damaged, and slightly smaller.
Cat Mask. Similar to the one from BioShock only black, damaged, and slightly smaller.
Grinning Devil Mask. A black and white mask with 1/3 of the face broken off.
Plague Doctor Mask.
The Rapture Family Mask. These "moretta"/"servetta muta" style masks are plain white with a blue butterfly painted on them.
Rabbit Mask. Identical to the one from BioShock except large pieces have broken off from the face and left ear. The filigree is now gold instead of grey.
Red Feathered Mask. Seen on many upper class citizens during the game's opening cinematic.
Four of the multiplayer characters have unique cosmetic options that are not masks but are labeled as them. Concept art reveals that Danny Wilkins would have had a traditional Football helmet but it was cut.
In the Challenge Rooms mission A Shocking Turn of Events, the "Fish Mask" was originally designed but not present in BioShock can be found. It is seen sitting on a counter on the second floor of Rapture's Grand Carnival. The Rapture Metro Pack for Bioshock 2 Multiplayer includes seven new masks: the Fancy Rabbit, the Crab, the Fish, the Starfish, the Seahorse, the Bucket, and the Golden Bucket.
Some of the soldiers in Columbia wear face guards to cover their faces. The male ones have goggles with eyes that glow, while the females wear porcelain masks with glowing eyes and metallic masks in the likeness of the Statue of Liberty. Unlike all other games in the BioShock series, the masks in Infinite are purely for protection or to intimidate opponents, rather than hiding unsightly deformities.
Advertisements. These masks are simply the torn faces from various advertisements around Fontaine's, with eye holes cut out.
Crates. These masks work as both a means to hide the Splicers deformity and as an impromptu helmet. The two crates used are for Hop-Up Soda and Circus of Values.
Paper Mâché. The female Splicers have made these masks using newspapers and make up, which can cover just the left, or both of their eyes.
The masks make a return in this episode as well, worn by the Splicers trapped in Fontaine's and later back in the city during the start of the war, on followers of Atlas who are starting to suffer deformities. A single black Bunny Mask is worn by one of Atlas' followers and a white one on a statue in one of Sander Cohen's artworks, Regardèrent et Furent Observés.
Crates for the Child Pacification Bolts are worn as masks by some male prisoners during Elizabeth's journey.
Porcelain face. Likely taken from a mannequin and painted with makeup, this mask is heavily cracked. One version appears to resemble a woman, with two eye holes broken out, while the second resembles a man with a moustache, its right eye still present.
Video[]
All Splicer Masks in BioShock.
All Splicer Masks in BioShock 2.
All Splicer Masks in BioShock 2 Multiplayer.
Gallery[]
Concept Art[]
A collection of concept art showing the evolution of the Splicer masks.
Concept art for the masks in BioShock 2.
Concept for several unused masks.
Concept art for the masks in BioShock 2 Multiplayer. The Demon, Sun God, Tragic Comedy, Moon, Octopus, Rabbit, Indigo Feather, Peacock Feather, and Pink Feather mask.
Concept art for the masks in BioShock 2 worn by a Crawler Splicer.
Dummy with Rabbit Mask in Burial at Sea - Episode 2.
Real-World Images[]
The NECA "Bunny" Splicer Mask.
The NECA Welding Mask.
A Grinning Devil mask.
A Demon mask.
A Kelpie mask.
A welding mask.
A damaged "Bunny" mask.
A Plague Doctor mask.
BioShock-themed real-world stickers, featuring a bunny mask, just above the northernmost Big Daddy.
Spirit Halloween's "Splicer Mask".
Splicer masquerade mask pins.
Behind the Scenes[]
Before the idea of the New Years masquerade party was thought up, the splicers would have worn simple, crude masks, made from pieces of metal and fabric with holes punched through them.
Concept art by Robb Waters of the original, colored masks.
Early promotional images reveal that masks in BioShock were originally going to be colorful. In the end, only the ones worn by Sander Cohen and his confidants are colored.
A fish mask, seen in concept art, hangs as a piece of decoration at the Kashmir Restaurant in BioShock and appears as a normal mask in the Challenge Rooms location Rapture's Grand Carnival in A Shocking Turn of Events. None of the Splicers ever wear this model. A bat mask is also seen in concept art (seen in the gallery above), but never in-game.
In BioShock: The Collection, the two fish masks featured in the game has been given a red/yellow color scheme.
The bird mask from BioShock, with its long, exaggerated beak, is based off the Venetian "medico della peste" or "plague doctor" mask. The black mask from BioShock 2 is a more classical version of this mask.
The dancers outside of Cohen's club all wear the same black rabbit mask with gold filigree worn by Cohen himself in BioShock. Some of the guests inside the club also wear this mask.
Concept art for the female prisoners at Fontaine's show two more designs for the Paper Mâché masks. One that covered the right eye, and one that was worn like a dust mask. Since none of the models have serious deformities on those parts of their faces, the designs were never used.
