Yi Suchong

The creator of Rapture's Plasmids who fell victim to the very system he helped build.

Dr. Yi Suchong was a pivotal scientist within the city of Rapture, working alongside Brigid Tenenbaum to advance the city's genetic research. While Tenenbaum discovered the Sea Slug that produced ADAM, Suchong is explicitly credited in the source as the creator of the Plasmids. These substances allowed citizens to manipulate their DNA and gain powerful abilities. His work was foundational to Rapture's technological identity, yet his involvement took a dark turn when Frank Fontaine became a primary benefactor. Tenenbaum initially exploited young girls for ADAM production with Suchong's scientific framework, though her maternal instincts later shifted as the civil war approached.

Lore & Background

Suchong operated in a city driven by Andrew Ryan's Objectivist ideals, where science flourished without oversight. He and Tenenbaum discovered that Sea Slugs could produce ADAM when placed inside young girls, a process that multiplied output by thirty times. A specific interaction during BioShock where Jack witnesses a Big Daddy being killed while protecting a Little Sister; just as a Splicer is about to strike the child, Tenenbaum emerges to save her.

In this moment, Atlas (Frank Fontaine) accuses Tenenbaum of hypocrisy for creating the Little Sisters, highlighting Suchong's role in the scientific creation of these child harvesters. Suchong is also a key figure in the Burial at Sea DLC. In this prequel to BioShock, Elizabeth is forced by Atlas to locate Suchong, who serves as Ryan's chief physician. She finds him and retrieves a canister of "Quantum Particles" which allows Fontaine Department Stores to rise from its 2000-fathoms depth, igniting the civil war.

The source explicitly states that after Elizabeth retrieved his "Ace in the Hole" (the phrase "Would you kindly..."), Atlas ordered his men to send Jack home and then fatally struck Elizabeth on the head with a wrench.

Reader's Guide

To understand Yi Suchong, players must look to two distinct locations: the Medical Pavilion in the original BioShock and the Burial at Sea DLC. In the main game, his presence is felt through audio diaries and the context of Plasmid creation. He represents the scientific breakthrough that allowed Rapture's citizens to alter their genetics, specifically credited as the creator of Plasmids while Tenenbaum discovered the source ADAM. In Burial at Sea - Episode Two, suchong's role is active rather than posthumous.

Players must guide Elizabeth through his office to retrieve the "Quantum Particles" and the phrase "Would you kindly...". These items are crucial plot points; the particles trigger the civil war by lifting Fontaine Department Stores, and the phrase establishes the control mechanism used on Jack. Atlas kills Elizabeth with a wrench after she delivers this specific phrase, marking the end of Suchong's involvement in the narrative timeline.

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