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| “ | What can I do with this one, Aphrodite?! SHE WON'T... STAY... STILL! I want to make them beautiful, but they always turn out wrong! That one? Too FAT! This one, too tall! This one, too symmetrical! And now... what's this, Goddess? An intruder? He's ugly! ! UGLY! UGLY! UUUGLYYYYYY! | „ |
| ~ Doctor J.S. Steinman |
Doctor J.S. Steinman is a supporting antagonist in BioShock and the prequel novel BioShock: Rapture. He is a renowned plastic surgeon who came to Rapture to practice his morbid, twisted view on physical beauty on unwilling patients. He kidnaps and mutilates numerous "patients" and Splicers to death as his frustration with his perceived failures and ADAM addiction drives him insane, becoming more and more obsessed with creating physical beauty as he overused ADAM. By the time he is encountered by Jack, he has become a raving lunatic who is experimenting on Splicers, only to be frustrated again and again by his perceived failures.
He was voiced by Peter Francis James.
Biography[]
Background[]
Before coming to Rapture, Steinman was a respected medical professional at the Benjamin Church Medical College. Steinman had a successful career as an orthopedic surgeon but earned his highest accolades in the field of plastic surgery, inventing techniques that revolutionized the field. He was sorely missed by his friends and colleagues after disappearing to go to Rapture. His close friend Dr. Richard Clerkwell even hired a private detective to attempt to track him down.
Because of his great renown in the field of cosmetic surgery, Steinman was one of those who were invited to Rapture by Andrew Ryan. There he set up a medical practice in the Medical Pavilion level of Rapture and advertised the offer of beauty to those residents who could afford it. When ADAM became available Steinman saw it as an opportunity for revolutionary advances in his field, making it possible to truly sculpt the flesh with ease. Unfortunately, the bad side effects of too much ADAM use began to set in, and Steinman, who had probably sampled some of his own techniques, began to experience the mental side effects. A perfectionist, Steinman was in love with his work, so much so that he became obsessed with human anatomy.
Wanting to become a "Picasso of surgery", Steinman began to mutilate his unfortunate patients' bodies in horrific ways, usually resulting in death. Many splicers refer to him throughout the game, usually saying that Steinman will fix their deformities.
BioShock[]
When Jack first enters the Surgical wing in the Medical Pavilion, Steinman can be overheard wondering why humans have two of most body parts. When Jack enters the lobby of his domain, Steinman rushes into the corridor (that ultimately leads to his surgery), chucking a grenade behind him. The explosion causes rubble to block the entrance. After Jack removes the debris, Steinman directs a security bot at him and retreats to his operating theater to continue his "art".
His fixation on physical perfection, combined with the effects of increased use of ADAM, turned him from a surgical perfectionist into an "artistic" monster. He is seen torturing other (still living) inhabitants of Rapture in an attempt to make them "beautiful" (however, it seems that Steinman now has a very twisted definition of that word), as well as having many dead bodies and other such disturbing evidence scattered around his area. His audio diaries are the first real exposure the player has to the total effects (mental and physical) of repeated splicing. Although Steinman was a perfectionist in surgery, it is revealed in an audio diary that he is not the chief of surgery; he instead may be the chief of plastic surgery. It does appear Ryan gave him a level of power over the Pavilion above his rank, or in the anarchy of Rapture, he assumed the power himself. Steinman is the first boss the player encounters.
One diary reveals that Dr. Steinman became so utterly obsessed with making his patients beautiful, that he actually began seeing hallucinations of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty. Dr. Steinman looked to this imaginary figure to guide him in his quest to make his patients as beautiful as she (in his mind, she encouraged him to make his patients non-symmetrical, only furthering his desire to become the "Picasso of surgery") but his constant failures only drove him further and further down the road of insanity. When Fontaine's recruits rose up, Steinman locked himself in the surgical area of the Medical Pavilion, operating on the remaining Splicers in the pavilion. Atlas informs Jack that he will need the key Steinman possesses to travel to Neptune's Bounty.
BioShock 2[]
Though Steinman is long dead, he is mentioned in an audio diary. There is also a painting of him with his arms stretched out in the exact same way he stood right before he met his demise by Jack.
Burial at Sea - Episode 1[]
A picture of Steinman is seen briefly in a short film about Rapture. Many citizens in Rapture hold Steinman in high regard, as he is often talked about.
Burial at Sea - Episode 2[]
When Atlas is about to torture Elizabeth by performing a lobotomy on her, he mentions Steinman. Atlas calls Steinman "a bit of a lunatic, but a fine surgeon." Atlas apparently learned how to perform a lobotomy from written journal notes by Steinman.
Quotes[]
| “ | Ryan and ADAM, ADAM, and Ryan... all those years of study and, was I ever truly a surgeon before I met them? How we, plinked away with our scalpels and, toy morality. Yes, we could lop a boil here, and shave down a beak there, but... but could we really change anything? No. But ADAM gives us the means to do it. And Ryan frees us from the phony ethics that held us back. Change your look, change your sex, change your race. It's yours to change, nobody else's! | „ |
| ~ Steinman talks about the potential ADAM has. |
| “ | ABOVE ALL DO NO HARM. | „ |
| ~ One of Steinman's blood-written messages. |
| “ | ADAM presents new problems for the professional. As your tools improve, so do your standards. There was a time, I was happy enough to take off a wart or two, or turn a real circus freak into something you can show in the daylight. But, that was then, when we took what we got, but with ADAM... the flesh becomes clay. What excuse do we have not to sculpt, and sculpt, and sculpt, until the job is done? | „ |
| ~ Steinman's surgical standards begin to rise. |
| “ | ADAM denies us any excuse for not being beautiful. | „ |
| ~ Another one of Steinman's blood-written messages. |
| “ | I am beautiful, yes. Look at me. What could I do to make my features finer? With ADAM and my scalpel, I have been transformed. But is there not something better? What if now it is not my skill that fails me... but my imagination? | „ |
| ~ Steinman thinking about taking a more artistic approach to his work. |
| “ | When Picasso became bored of painting people, he started representing them as cubes and other abstract forms. The world called him a genius! I've spent my entire surgical career creating the same tired shapes, over and over again: the upturned nose, the cleft chin, the ample bosom! Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could do with a knife, what that old Spaniard did with a brush? | „ |
| ~ Steinman's more "artistic" ideals towards surgery. |
| “ | With genetic modifications, beauty is no longer a goal or even a virtue, it is a moral obligation. Do we force the healthy to live with the contagious? Do we mix the criminal with the law-abiding? Then WHY are the plain allowed to mingle with the fair?! | „ |
| ~ Steinman's public message on one of the TV screens. |
| “ | Why do we have two eyes? Is there some law that says we must? Two arms, two legs, two ears, two breasts... | „ |
| ~ Steinman mumbles to himself. |
| “ | Today I had lunch with the Goddess. "Steinman," she said... "I'm here to free you from the tyranny of the commonplace. I'm here to show you a new kind of beauty." I asked her, "What do you mean, Goddess?" "Symmetry, dear Steinman. It's time we did something about symmetry..." | „ |
| ~ Steinman talks about one of his hallucinations of Aphrodite. |
| “ | No Goddess! He'll ruin everything! Get him! Have your harpies TEAR HIM TO BITS! | „ |
| ~ Steinman sends Security Bots after Jack. |
| “ | Aphrodite is walking the halls - shimmering, like a scalpel. "Steinman," she calls, "Steinman! I have what you're looking for! Just open your eyes!" And when I see her, she cuts me into a thousand beautiful pieces! | „ |
| ~ Steinman's sanity takes its toll. |
| “ | Look at you! HIDEOUS! | „ |
| ~ Steinman engages in combat with Jack. |
| “ | LOOK IN A MIRROR! LOOK IN A MIRROR! | „ |
| ~ Steinman if Jack flees from him. |
| “ | Oh sweet Aphrodite! Why do they always run?! | „ |
| ~ Steinman questions "Aphrodite" if Jack flees from him. |
| “ | Steinman: Four-oh silk, and done... Nurse: The nose looks terrific, Doctor Steinman... Doctor? Steinman: You know, looking at it now... I didn't realize how much her face sags!... Scalpel. Nurse: Excuse me? Steinman: Scalpel! Nurse: Uh, doctor, sh—she's not booked for a face lift- Steinman: Let's just come in here and... [whistles] Nurse: Doctor, stop cutting. Doctor, stop cutting! Get me the chief of surgery! Get me the chief of surgery now! |
„ |
| ~ A recording of Steinman cutting up one of his patients. |
| “ | Not only are those little girls veritable ADAM factories, they're nearly indestructible. They regenerate any wounded flesh with stem versions of the dead cells. But their relationship with the implanted slugs is symbiotic. If you harvest the slug, the host will die. "So you see, it's not like killing," Tenenbaum said. "It's more like removing a terminal patient from life support." | „ |
| ~ Steinman voicing his fascination towards the Little Sisters and their abilities. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- J.S. Steinman's in-game model is a recycled "Dr. Grossman" Splicer model, a trait which he shares with Doctor Yi Suchong.
- Interestingly enough, Steinman is represented as a regular Dr. Grossman Splicer rather than his actual model on his Steam trading card for the remastered version of BioShock.
- Dr. Steinman seen on the "Steinman's Simple Surgery in a Complex World" poster and the TV advertisement is a royalty-free "Doctor" clip art.
- Although Steinman's combat style is that of a Leadhead Splicer, he briefly functions as a Nitro Splicer upon being first met due to carrying a grenade box and throwing a grenade behind himself upon running away. This technically makes him the first-named Nitro Splicer. However, Peach Wilkins is the first-named Nitro Splicer that can be fought.
- Dr. Steinman's character was at least partially inspired by the life of Sir Harold Gillies, a man considered to be the father of plastic surgery who performed facial reconstructions on veterans during both World Wars. Gillies pioneered the "walking-stalk skin graft" technique of plastic surgery, a technique that Steinman was said to have used in the article that mentions his disappearance. Interestingly, two of Gillies' patients were also used as the basis for the faces of the Toasty and Waders Splicer models.
- The painting of Steinman with his "failures" in BioShock 2 is a play on depictions of the crucifixion in Christian artwork.
- In the painting, Steinman's back is facing the player, upon it, one can see a Rapturian "R" within a circle. Whether or not this is intended just as a watermark or the mark is actually supposed to be on Steinman, it is not evident when fighting him in BioShock.
External Links[]
- J.S. Steinman on the BioShock Wiki.
- J.S. Steinman on the Pure Evil wiki (Novel Version)
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 Villains
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Rapture Ryan Security Fontaine Futuristics Fontaine Fisheries Atlas' Followers The Rapture Family Splicers Others Columbia Fink Manufacturing Vox Populi Slate's Soldiers | ||