Rose (Flower)

A simple rosebud.

For the Splicer of the same name, see Rose.

A Rose is an important flower found in Rapture. The plant is a quest item, a collectible item, and a narrative item in various games in the BioShock series.

History

Blossoms in bloom.

Roses were brought to Rapture when the city was first established. Like other plants, they were useful in generating oxygen for the underwater city. While researching the effects of genetic enhancement in plant species in Arcadia, acclaimed botanist Prof. Julie Langford studied a specific rose cultivar Rosa gallica officinalis.

Just as on the surface, roses maintained special emotional symbolism in Rapture. A rose was an intended present from Billy Parson to one of the Little Sisters he had seen. While most of Rapture's populace believed the girls were unnatural, he still saw her as human. Despite his efforts the rose never reached the Little Sister in question, as it appears the Big Daddy who tried to bring it to her was crushed by falling debris while the park was flooding.

BioShock

A botanical illustration of the Rosa Gallica, found in Langford Research Laboratories.

Main article: BioShock

Roses are worn as accessories by Baby Jane Splicers, Sander Cohen and by Cohen's disciples (Hector Rodriguez, Kyle Fitzpatrick, Martin Finnegan and Silas Cobb).

After Andrew Ryan spreads a foliage-killing toxin throughout Arcadia, Langford discovers a possible breakthrough to her research on reanimating plant matter. To test her new-found theory, she needs a blossom from a Rosa Gallica. After finding Jack at the entrance to her laboratory, she instructs him to retrieve a bud from a nearby bush in the Waterfall Grotto. While most plants withered away from the airborne poison, the Rosa Gallica survived. After receiving the rose, she confirms her theory and makes a note of the ingredients the solution would require.

Challenge Rooms

Main article: Challenge Rooms

Two dozen roses appear in the Challenge Rooms DLC for BioShock. Finding the multiple roses hidden in each of the unique stages will award the player the "Collector" Trophy/Achievement.

The 'I' in Team

Main article: The 'I' in Team

There are four Roses hidden throughout the Rapture Firing Range. Their locations are:

1. On the desk in the Reception.
2. Hanging from the ceiling in the Machine Room; once one has Winter Blast 3 lure the Bouncer close to one of the elevated areas, freeze him, and jump on top of him. From here, the player should be able to reach the Rose if they jump.
3. Inside the central RPG Turret; once the Bouncer guarding the Little Sister is dead, search his corpse for a Grenade Launcher and ten Frag Grenades. Destroy the middle RPG Turret and knock it down to the ground, where the player can search it for the third Rose.
4. Behind a secret door in the Machine Room; it opens when the Bouncer in the Pressure Plate Room stands on the pressure plate. Lure him onto the plate using Target Dummy and run towards the Machine Room as quickly as possible. Grab the Rose before the Bouncer can move off the plate.

A Shocking Turn of Events

Main article: A Shocking Turn of Events

There are ten Roses hidden throughout Rapture's Grand Carnival. Their locations are:

1. On top of the elevator shaft; from the uppermost level of the Ferris Wheel room, jump on top of the rising elevator as it comes up the shaft to reach the Rose. This is best accomplished when one first enters the area. If the player is trying for it later, send the elevator to the bottom floor and commit suicide. The player will respawn in the Vita-Chamber at the top of the stage, allowing them to try again.
2. From where the player found the first Rose, hit the switch to send the elevator down. Step off at a hidden level between the third and second floors containing a corpse and the second Rose.
3. Inside the men's bathroom, on top of a large billboard saying "Pick your Plasmid and evolve!".
4. Behind the gate towards the back of Rapture Records.
5. Inside the Little Sister Vent just inside the entrance to the Grand Carnival.
6. Inside the pneumo tube in the freezer room; stay on the lower level and look up into the pipe to see the Rose.
7. In the right-most barrel in the stall game where one can toss the balls into the barrels.
8. Pop the balloon to the lower-right of the corpse in the balloon-popping game to expose the next Rose.
9. Hanging from the light in Zimmermann Chardonnay—jump to reach it.
10. Inside a Ferris Wheel gear; after turning the wheel seven times, the Ferris Wheel's motor will catch fire and expose a Rose inside one of the gears close to the Ferris Wheel Switch.

Worlds of Hurt

Main article: Worlds of Hurt

There are eight Roses hidden throughout Rapture's Combat Arena. Their locations are:

1. In Room #1 in the floor between two mechanical stations in the center of the room nearest to the broken health station.
2. In Room #2 inside a crack in the partially sunken floor near the entrance. The player must crouch to see it.
3. In Room #3 under the bench near the Power to the People machine.
4. In Room #4 buried in ice to the right of the broken Bot Shutdown Panel, where the Thuggish Splicer was waiting.
5. In Room #5 behind a sheet leaning against the wall, which is beneath the stairs to the left of the Health Station. The player must go up the stairs to the landing above it. There is an area where the railing is gone, just past the corner of the top of the section of stairs above this Rose. Get a running start and jump in order to land inside the area with the Rose.
6. In Room #6 in between the wall and the bunker to right of Little Sister vent.
7. In Room #7 behind a log next to the wall to the left side of the Little Sister vent.
8. In Room #8 against the wall on top of the second set of gears, to the left of the Power to the People machine. The player will have to time a jump to reach it.

BioShock 2

The rose never reached the girl it was intended for.

Main article: BioShock 2

As Subject Delta enters Dionysus Park, he finds a locked door in Basement Storage. The Audio Diary containing Billy's message to the Little Sister and the code to the gate is found later. Once the room is entered, Delta finds the audio diary Lamb's Time is Over, a Power to the People machine, and a gift box containing a single rose. The rose serves no purpose of its own and is more than likely just used to enhance the narrative of the game's story.

While Delta has control over a Little Sister in Outer Persephone, it is revealed that due to Suchong's mental conditioning the girls would envision piles of rubble around the city as rose bushes, and puddles of blood as rose petals, which is confirmed by Suchong in a removed Audio Diary. 

BioShock 2 Multiplayer

Rosebushes outside the penthouse suit.

Main article: BioShock 2 Multiplayer

Roses like the Rosa Gallica can be found on the maps of Arcadia, the Farmer's Market, and the Kashmir Restaurant. They can not be used as items, but can be picked up randomly among other objects with Telekinesis to be thrown at opponents. Smaller variants of Roses can be found throughout the maps of Mercury Suites and the Farmer's Market. The playable character Suresh Sheti wears a rose on his tailcoat's lapel.

BioShock Infinite

Main article: BioShock Infinite

Much like in Rapture, red roses appear in the city of Columbia as well. Rosebushes can be found throughout most levels with residential and recreational areas, like the Town Center and Downtown Emporia. Rosebuds are also present, but much rarer and only in specific locations, such as the shrine in the Gunsmith Shop or a bird cage in Comstock House. While most roses only serve as part of the environment, on two occasions they enhance the narrative in subtle ways: In the elevator going down to the Hall of Heroes, Elizabeth opens up a Tear to a windowed wall, with a rose flowerbox to get rid of a bee. While the Tear is open, she picks a rosebud and places it in her hair, where it remains for a short time. During another instance in Emporia, Elizabeth mourns over a dead Citizen and places a single rosebud on his body.

Burial at Sea - Episode 1

Main article: Burial at Sea - Episode 1

One of Sinclair Spirits' customers has given a rose as a gift to his girlfriend and sits with her at a table in the said bar. A single rose has been placed on the tables in The Gallery of the Artist's Struggle. Inside Cohen's, giant sculpted roses hang from the ceiling as decoration.

A rose as the cherry on top for a romantic New Year's Eve celebration.

Decorations in the Garden of the Muses.

Behind the Scenes

• Many locations, businesses, and other aspects of Rapture are inspired from ancient Greco-Roman mythology. The Rosa Gallica was cultivated by the Greeks and Romans and features in the legends of multiple gods and goddesses:
  • The flower was sacred to Aphrodite and served as a symbol of love.
  • It was said to have sprung or been colored by the blood of Aphrodite's dying love Adonis.
  • The goddess Persephone and her companion Nymphs were gathering rose, crocus, violet, iris, lily and larkspur blooms in a springtime meadow when she was abducted by the god Hades.
• When collecting the Rose from the RPG Turret in the PlayStation 3 version of the content, an image icon of a Rose will appear in the Turret's inventory. However, in the Xbox 360 version, the image icon will be an Apple, as seen from the EVE Upgrade slot.
• During BioShock Infinite's reveal trailer, Elizabeth is seen rescuing Booker DeWitt from falling to his death by catching him with a large amount of levitating roses she controls. This power was never seen in the game and it is unclear if it was a rose-based power or simply the use of Telekinesis.