The Big Daddies That Might Have Been
Published: January 01, 0001
Reading Time: Approx. 8 mins
Taking an iconic video game character and reverse-engineering it as a prototype is a 
delicate task. Let’s look at a few of the concepts drawing that eventually led to the Big Daddy of BioShock 2. These concept art shots 
appeared yesterday on The Cult of Rapture BioShock website, they were presented as a way to sort of get into the heads of the 
developers at 2K Marin, seeing what they kept and what they scrapped in coming up with the final design for the game’s protagonist. Between the first BioShock rummy satta and the sequel, you’ve seen a lot of concept art for Big Daddies. The logic behind this concept art went beyond different designs and suit combinations. The artists had to imagine what the very first Big Daddy would have on him — this Big Daddy rummy star had to feel like he was a rough draft or a work-in-progress, an amalgam of Big Daddies to come. The first Big Daddy was a test case, and in making the perfect prototype, 2K Marin drafted many, many prototypes themselves. Okay, so this one is just a guy in a suit. You can see the influence of rummy wealth this design a bit in the Big Sister. Drill? Check. Slouching? Check. Underwater Mutant Big Daddy Turtles Almost perfect.