Jack

A man chooses; a slave obeys.

Jack is the silent protagonist of the original BioShock, released on August 21, 2007. He arrives in the fictional underwater city of Rapture following a plane crash, entering a world built by Andrew Ryan as a laissez-faire social environment for individuals to live and prosper away from government oppression. While initially appearing as an amnesiac stranger, the narrative reveals Jack was not a random victim but a specific tool created within this dystopian setting. His journey through Rapture combines first-person shooter mechanics with role-playing elements, allowing players freedom in how they approach combat using weapons, the environment, and superhuman abilities known as Plasmids.

Quick Facts

First appears: BioShock (2007)
Origin: Rapture, underwater city

Lore & Background

Jack's existence is defined by mind control and the phrase 'Would you kindly,' used by Atlas to issue commands he could not refuse. The story reveals that Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture, created Jack as a genetic clone specifically designed to be immune to standard mind control but susceptible to this trigger phrase. Ryan established this mechanism to ensure his own death if necessary, stating, 'A man chooses, a slave obeys,' before allowing Jack to kill him. This revelation exposes that Jack's entire journey was manipulated by Atlas (the former gangster Frank Fontaine) to reach Ryan. The narrative also introduces the moral dilemma of interacting with Little Sisters, young girls used to harvest ADAM. Jack must decide whether to save them for a small reward or harvest their ADAM for immediate power, a choice that influences his path through the city's corrupting environment.

Reader's Guide

Players control Jack as a silent protagonist in a first-person shooter with role-playing elements. Survival requires managing supplies and ammunition while utilizing a combination of weapons and Plasmids to defeat enemies. A core mechanic involves hacking enemy security cameras, machine gun turrets, and robots. The gameplay retains elements from System Shock 2, where audio tape recordings fulfill the storytelling role previously held by email logs. Jack must navigate the underwater city, dealing with environmental hazards and mutated inhabitants. His abilities are enhanced through ADAM harvested from Little Sisters or gathered from corpses. The experience is designed to give players freedom in how they approach combat situations, whether through stealth, direct confrontation, or creative use of elemental combinations.

Did You Know?

The game was released on August 21, 2007, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360, with a PlayStation 3 port following in 2008.
Rapture was built in the late 1940s by Andrew Ryan as a laissez-faire social environment.

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