History BioShockInfinite / TropesQToZ

* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: A good deal of the soundtrack has some connection to the plot or what's happening on-screen in general. When Elizabeth pulls Booker though a dimensional tear and [[spoiler:into ''VideoGame/BioShock1'''s Rapture]], what should be playing on the old jukebox? "La Merr."
** The final verse of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" goes: "One by one their seats were emptied/And one by one, they went away/Now the family is parted/Will it be complete one day?" In the very last scene, [[spoiler: multiple alternate versions of Elizabeth drown Booker in the river, and start to disappear one by one, fading to black just before the final Elizabeth disappears. In TheStinger at the end of the credits, Booker wakes up in his office and goes into Anna's room, where it also cuts to black before we see if she's there or not.]] Also, the voxophone that falls through the tear in the Bank of the Prophet, where Comstock laments about being unable to produce a child, is titled "A Broken Circle."

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler:The reason the Luteces brought Booker to the Columbia timeline in the first place, which he doesn't remember: to save his daughter from Comstock after having sold her away for his debts. The only way to to do this is to [[HeroicSacrifice break]] the StableTimeLoop leading to Comstock's existence]].

* SchrodingersCat:
** Possibly the most true-to-the-original-experiment example in all of fiction. [[spoiler:In the post credits scene, Booker walks into his daughter's room, calling her name. Is she there in the crib? The game cuts to black before we find out for sure]]. Considering the whole theme of Quantum Mechanics oozing from the story, it holds extra significance.
** Foreshadowed, and becomes a DiscussedTrope, in two Voxophone recordings by Comstock [[spoiler: who also points out the point of divergence when Booker may become him. Interestingly, the quote below is from possibly the last collectible Voxophone in the game, and this can be played during the credits, with the ending having changed the context very drastically]].
-->'''Comstock''': One man goes into the waters of baptism, a different man comes out, born again. But who is that man who lies submerged? Perhaps that swimmer is both sinner and saint, until he is revealed unto the eyes of man.

* VideogameCaringPotential: Elizabeth is considered to be a highly endearing character to a lot of players.

** Early on in the game there's a shop that goes by the honor system - you can take what you want but the owner expects you to leave the money behind to pay for it. Booker scoffs, but there's a button prompt that allows you to do just that if you should eat one of the items there. On subsequent replays, [[PayEvilUntoEvil looting the place blind]] seems like a rather principled approach.

* VideogameCrueltyPotential: Whenever you enter a populated area, it's possible to murder pretty much every civilian around, with the exception of children (who are invincible). Elizabeth or the game never even calls you out on it.

* VisualPun: After defeating [[spoiler:Lady Comstock]], the Luteces suddenly appear. Depending on where you are when they appear, they may appear standing in two graves while they dig them. The gravestones both read "Lutece". They're literally digging their own graves.

** On the beach, when Elizabeth runs off, she runs off and starts dancing to old-timey music with a group of people. [[{{Firefly}} What other series had a girl with phenomenal powers experimented on by an evil government entity, be rescued, have a thing for dresses and leather boots, and having been planned to be used as a weapon, as well as do that?]] Right. Firefly, with River Tam doing all of that. [[spoiler: Bonus points: it's a family member who rescues her in both situations.]]

** Early on in the game there's a shop that goes by the honor system - you can take what you want but the owner expects you to leave the money behind to pay for it. Booker scoffs, but there's a button prompt that allows you to do just that if you should eat one of the items there.
*** This is actually a neatly inverted example. The first time you play, you may feel obliged to abide by the honor system. On subsequent replays, [[PayEvilUntoEvil looting the place blind]] seems like a rather principled approach.

* SchrodingersCat: Possibly the most true-to-the-original-experiment example in all of fiction. [[spoiler:In the post credits scene, Booker walks into his daughter's room, calling her name. Is she there in the crib? The game cuts to black before we find out for sure]]. Considering the whole theme of Quantum Mechanics oozing from the story, it holds extra significance.
** Foreshadowed and lampshaded by two Voxophone recordings by Comstock [[spoiler: who also points out the point of divergence when Booker may become him. Interestingly, the quote below is from possibly the last collectible Voxophone in the game, and this can be played during the credits, with the ending having changed the context very drastically]].

* RecycledInSpace: ''[=BioShock=] Infinite'' is ''[=BioShock=]'' [-IN THE SKY-]. Or, going further back, ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' [-NOT QUITE IN SPACE-].
** Lampshaded in the ending, when Elizabeth points out [[spoiler: a number of elements remain constant in each of the alternate universes. There's always a man, a lighthouse and a city.]]

* TurnedOnTheirMasters: The Vox Populi, [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized which is leading a violent insurrection]] in one of [[AlternateTimeline the tears Elizabeth has opened,]] is comprised of numerous ethnic minorities who were either duped into going to Columbia, or were transferred from prisons on the ground, to perform all the menial tasks the non-Irish white class of Columbia believed themselves to be above of.

* TruthInTelevision: Sadly, several American towns and regions really were as racist and self-righteous as Columbia, and while most lynchings were done secretly and at night, some were very public affairs [[spoiler: like what you see at the raffle]], a-la Jesse Washington and Henry Smith. That said, most victims of lynching were those suspected (but never tried) for murder or rape, as opposed to [[spoiler: interracial couples who were minding their own business. (On the other hand, the Supreme Court didn't strike down all miscegenation laws until ''1967.'')]]

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tMjyGJdzwk Two of]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zin6aKnJM5Q the trailers]] went for the feel of a [[TheSeventies 1970's]] conspiracy television show in the style of ''InSearchOf'', with grainy visuals, crackling audio, and a VanityPlate at the beginning.

* SequenceBreaking: The second half of the ScenicTourLevel[[note]]i.e. purchasing the Possession Vigor, the heads-or-tails dialog with the Luteces, participating in the LotteryOfDoom, acquiring the Sky-Hook and Devil's Kiss[[/note]] can be easily skipped by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd9qFzCme-Q using the Possession billboard as a platform to jump out of bounds]], which drops you later in the game (where you'd normally fight the EliteMook who drops Devil's Kiss) with no enemies. Of course, this also means that the already frustrating EarlyGameHell becomes even more so; since you don't have a pistol or Vigors, you have to do the Blue Ribbon level armed only with a low-ammo machine gun from the first Mook you [[DeathFromAbove Skyline Strike]]. [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything Thankfully, the game gives you the Sky-Hook during its tutorial, and the Possession and Devil's Kiss vigors can be purchased from Veni Vidi Vigor]].

** This quote from a Vox Motorized Patriot, considering [[DirtyCommunists what it]] [[AnimalFarm alludes to]].

** [[spoiler:"GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!]]