Concept of a Merged citizen.
The Merged are a removed concept for BioShock Infinite. Some Citizens of Columbia would appear severely deformed after being exposed to Tears.
The concept of the Merged deals with Infinite's themes of alternate universes and quantum physics, similar to the way BioShock's Splicers are used to examine the dark side of advanced genetics and drug abuse.
Concept[]
According to The Art of BioShock Infinite, Citizens would have crossed open Tears, either to see an alternate world or their alternate selves. The long term effects of these Tears caused Citizens to mutate, either having Art Nouveau styled scars from merging realities, or being merged with their alternate selves. Examples of the latter category include an older man's face merged with his infant self or another citizen having a horizontally extended body. Although this never appeared in the finished game, the artwork reveals that most of their clothing appeared on the finished game's Citizen models. There were also early sketches that revealed the Handyman would be included in this concept, from the early "Claw Daddy" exoskeleton concept sketch to a sketch of a unique designed Handyman featured in Pax East 2012, though only the head appears along with these Merged Citizen sketches in the artbook.
BioShock Infinite[]
- Main article: BioShock Infinite
- “I hate ONE of ME... WHO-DO-I-HATE?! Can't tell WHICH ONE... Two-in-here... WHO-is-the-I?! Which ONE hates WHICH?!”
- ― Fink Security Guard, phasing in and out[src]
Since the Merged are a cut concept, none of the physical mutations represented in the concept are seen in the final game. The closest thing to the original idea is the debilitating and possibly lethal effects individuals can experience after entering a new reality through a Tear. Subjects with this affliction experience crippling confusion from remembering two or more contradictory memories at the same time.
When Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth cross into a different reality during the game, Elizabeth is actually merging two different realities together into a single one. In one reality, some citizens were dead and in the other they are still alive, but they can remember being both dead and alive in the new merged reality. These conflicting memories leave these people's minds shattered, unable to know which of their memories are correct. Subsequently, they are often disoriented, suffer hemorrhages from their nose or ears, and their bodies can phase in and out. Booker, Elizabeth (Burial at Sea - Episode 2), Chen Lin, Scofield Sansmark, a woman in Parker & Co. Excelsior Brand Canned Meats, various Soldiers, and the Lunatics in Comstock House are all seen suffering in this way.
Gallery[]
Concept Art, Models and Pre-Launch Images[]
In-Game Images[]
