One of Gaming’s Best Anti-Villains Is Still Waiting for a Comeback 16 Years Later

BioShock remains one of the most unforgettable titles of the 21st century, a dark sci-fi story set under the sea that blended truly ambitious storytelling with tight action/horror gameplay. One of the best elements of the series has always been its villains, with devious manipulators moving behind the scenes even as the more visually memorable Big Daddies and Splicers took center stage. BioShock 2 even took the Big Daddy concept further by introducing the Big Sisters.

A compelling threat in battle but tragic figures in the lore of the story, the Big Sisters were a terrific escalation of the original concept that were understandably sidelined by BioShock Infinite‘s shift to a different timeline. Still, 16 years after BioShock 2 first landed on February 9, 2010, it’s hard to forget just how effectively scary and somber these graceful and lethal figures were. With another BioShock reportedly still in the works, it would be especially exciting to see the characters return for the next entry in the series.

Why The Little Sisters Were So Memorable In BioShock 2

The Little Sisters were the central active threat of BioShock 2 and remain one of the most engaging (and terrifying) elements of the franchise — and any future entry into the series should bring back the concept. Within the world of BioShock, the Little Sisters were established as genetically modified young girls meant to harvest ADAM. Although many of the Little Sisters were canonically saved by Jack and brought back to the surface during the events of BioShock, the older generation of Little Sisters aged and grew more twisted as they entered adolescence. Growing abnormally tall and incredibly strong, these young women were also left nearly feral by the lingering effects of the psychological tampering that they had gone through as children.

Outfitted with their own variants of the Big Daddy armor, the newly dubbed Big Sisters became agents of Sofia Lamb after she took over Rapture in the aftermath of the first game. As an expansion and acceleration of the instantly iconic Big Daddy from the first game, the Big Sisters are an instantly compelling escalation. They have all the might of the Big Daddy, but with a greater emphasis on speed and grace, which makes fighting them all the more difficult. Whereas confrontations with Big Daddies could come out of nowhere, the Big Sisters are always waiting around the corner, primed to target the player as soon as they encounter a Little Sister.

Each encounter with a Big Sister is nerve-racking, with the player just as likely to be forced into a hasty retreat as they are to actually power through the battle. The Big Sisters have a cool design and refined approach to combat, but what really makes them compelling is their unexpectedly sympathetic sides. These are young women who have been broken by their experiences as Little Sisters and retrofitted into weapons by the game’s true villain, Sofia Lamb. Despite their dark actions, they’re driven by the same paternal impulses that made the Big Daddies so surprisingly compelling as enemies in the first game. There is a genuinely sad core to the concept that makes defeating them feel like a sin on some level, even when there’s no other choice. As a representation of BioShock‘s purposefully tricky views on morality, the Little Sisters are a great creation.

Why The Big Sisters Should Be At The Heart Of The Next BioShock

Despite being some of the coolest antagonists in the series, the Little Sisters have not appeared in a game since BioShock 2. That’s largely because the BioShock series left Rapture in the follow-up game, BioShock Infinite, and the DLC that returned to Rapture happened long before the Big Sisters appeared in-canon. However, if there is ever a continuation of the series, the Big Sisters should make their return. They were uniquely fascinating enemies, tragic in their backstory, and nevertheless horrifying to encounter. The art and sound design of the characters was especially impressive, with their distant howls serving as one of the best examples in modern gaming of a single sound effect setting up a frantic mix of emotions in the player.

Realizing that a Big Sister was coming gave players a brief window to prepare for battle, lay traps for the encounter, or even just try to find an exit before the battle could take place. Fighting them was a thrill, but defeating them came with a certain level of melancholy, given their motivations to protect Little Sisters — especially if you are playing the game with a heroic throughline and also hoping to save the young girls. It’s one of the best examples of BioShock‘s ability to meld the choices a player makes in a game with the morality of the narrative, a necessary evil that can still feel haunting even over a decade later. A new game that focused on that balance of pragmatism and humanity necessary for confronting the Big Sisters would easily be a compelling direction to take the series.

The Big Sisters were even shown to be capable of moving beyond the limits of Rapture, with tie-in material like the ARG There’s Something in the Sea highlights how they could also function within different styles of games, such as a longer-running mystery. They could become a new kind of threat to the larger world, especially if someone were to try and replicate them on the surface long after the fall of Rapture. With BioShock 4 still reportedly in development, it would be great to see the series revisit one of its coolest concepts 16 years after it debuted.