Elizabeth missing the last joint of her little finger

[zwqase]

I have watched the VGA gameplay a few times now, but there's one thing I just can't get my head around.

It seems to me like Liz is missing the last joint of her little finger. Why I have no idea, and this is of course even more interesting considering that we have seen that she clearly have all of her fingers intact later on (based on previous gameplay/trailers) (unless this is something Irrational have changed since).

I took some screenshots so you can all se what I'm talking about:

http://i.imgur.com/Vng4F.png
http://i.imgur.com/nCqig.png
http://i.imgur.com/vBH0k.png (probably the most obvious one)
http://i.imgur.com/OMxS6.png
http://i.imgur.com/q2L3v.png
http://i.imgur.com/Hzj9U.png

Here is the gameplay in its full by the way:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/m...emiere-trailer

So, what do you think? How did this happen? Why? And how does it potentially grow back?

[olivertwopence]

It kinda looks like a thimble. At least that's what I thought it was when i first saw the trailer. People usually don't wear it on the little finger, though, so I'm not sure..

[fullmoonstar]

I have thought about that too already. And maybe it is something they have changed. The way it is presented in the Trailer, when Liz tries to touch Booker to see if he is real is not just a coincidence. I bet that they wanted to show this little detail. I think that she won't be able to regrow it, as some have already said...because if she would be able why has not she done that yet?
I have thought about the reason too. The first thing that popped into my mind was an experiment that went wrong. Maybe a tear has ruined her finger during an outbreak of her power. Or someone took that part of her finger to examine it in order to solve the riddles behind her incredible powers. But of course this is just a speculation. Another reason could be that it is some kind of accident Songbird has caused, when he tried to hold her or when he was too rude at all. I also thought about torture but I don't know if that is possible...since nobody visits here during she is awake.
I bet that this will be one of the first things that Booker and so the player will get to know after escaping the Statue(Tower) and Songbird. Little details like this and the riddles that were created through them are the stuff that makes Bioshock even more interesting to me.

[olivertwopence]

The way it is presented in the Trailer, when Liz tries to touch Booker to see if he is real is not just a coincidence. I bet that they wanted to show this little detail.

Yeah that is probably correct. Would kinda be a pointless detail if it didnt have anything to do with the story, so I think we can rule out my suggestions.

Although this is probably wrong as well, I forgot to mention that it could be a thimblette (that makes the second new English word I learn today).

Elizabeth has already been established as a book worm. Look at all those books in her quarters. The previews mention that Elizabeth knows about hacking and such because she has read about it in books. Notice how she is holding a book when Booker falls through the ceiling, implying she was already reading something.

[fullmoonstar]

Elizabeth has already been established as a book worm. Look at all those books in her quarters. The previews mention that Elizabeth knows about hacking and such because she has read about it in books. Notice how she is holding a book when Booker falls through the ceiling, implying she was already reading something.

Knowledge is power....and Elizabeth is the most poweful person in the world. So you can assume that the has read all her books during her long time in her prison. She really seems to know a lot...I really like that. Finally such a clever character joining you.

[FlintEastwood]

It is strange. What happens to Elizabeth during the game? Or are we getting two different Elizabeth's?
The two models have different dresses, different hair - and I think a slight different face.
And now there's the detail with the finger.
But in the last trailers you can see both models so it seems not a complete model-change by 2K .

[gamertam]

I think it is call player/character progression. Elizabeth as a naive, scholarly, innocent delicate flower. Remind me another iconic video game character Ezio from the Assasin's Creed franchise. Looks at how she has blossom. Full of confident.

[japester]

It is strange. What happens to Elizabeth during the game? Or are we getting two different Elizabeth's?

The video capture on the left is "pre blackout" and the right is "post blackout". Blackout being a reference to the self-imposed media blackout Irrational underwent while they retooled the game. Quite a few changes have been made, from what I can tell, character models being the least of them.

Just look at the Comstock posters in the background of the left-hand image. He looks nothing like that any more. He now has white hair and a large beard and is referred to as The Prophet.

[FlintEastwood]

The video capture on the left is "pre blackout" and the right is "post blackout". Blackout being a reference to the self-imposed media blackout Irrational underwent while they retooled the game. Quite a few changes have been made, from what I can tell, character models being the least of them. ...

But in the last trailers you can see both models so it seems not a complete model-change by 2K .

But how do you explain this? Maybe they had cut older and newer material together?

Maybe the storyline stretches over a longer time period or there are some time jumps so Elizabeth is changing !?!?

[zwqase]

It is strange. What happens to Elizabeth during the game? Or are we getting two different Elizabeth's?
The two models have different dresses, different hair - and I think a slight different face.
And now there's the detail with the finger.
But in the last trailers you can see both models so it seems not a complete model-change by 2K .

Ken Levine have tweeted about this:

"“@liberance: @IGLevine Is the schoolgirl uniform Elizabeth how she is now? Where's the old haircut and dress?” --different parts of the game"

https://twitter.com/IGLevine/status/277314065502720000

But to get back on the finger... I was thinking maybe something like the tip of her finger is what that guy in New York got his hands on and decided to send Booker up to Columbia. Or perhaps all of Elizabeths powers sits in that little finger, and that is why she haven't been able to break out of that place by her self. Wouldn't explain how it grows back though (if it does).

[FlintEastwood]

I hate movies or games where some bad guy tortures his victim by chopping fingers, toes or limbs (Hostel, Saw, ...). I can't stand this. So I hope it doesn't happen this way.

[vsharres]

Yes, this whole deal about the little finger got me thinking...If you look at this piece of art from the game, it looks like Elizabeth in her blue dress outfit HAS a complete little finger...aside from some form of regenerative ability which wouldn't make any sense in this setting, I'am starting to think that this is some how related to her manipulation of tears....of alternate realities, I'am not sure of how this would work in the narrative itself, but the number of possibilities are almost limitless.

Here is and example of her with her right hand with the complete finger, besides the change in the hair cut.

[vsharres]

So that could mean that Booker could also has these kinds of changes throughout the game?

[zwqase]

I'am starting to think that this is some how related to her manipulation of tears....of alternate realities, I'am not sure of how this would work in the narrative itself, but the number of possibilities are almost limitless.

That's an interesting idea, about tears, that maybe she turned back time on her finger or something.

[japester]

Or perhaps Elizabeth herself slips through a tear and isn't the same exact person? How would we know, if not for some small detail like a missing digit?

[Solcold]

Or perhaps Elizabeth herself slips through a tear and isn't the same exact person? How would we know, if not for some small detail like a missing digit?

Elizabeth is still the same person but she grows it back (somehow) and changes outfits over the course of the game. Well another thing I notice that Elizabeth's hair is longer in a ponytail compared to her blue outfit which is a bobbed hair cut.

Well another thing I notice that the books she's holding is the Odyssey and Quantum Mechanics...

[Shroomz]

Why it was delayed another month.

[9ice]

I think it's possible that the promo image above is a mistake, sometimes these things happen if your art is being done by an outside company.

Also, keep one thing in mind with her appearance, it's been established that Elizabeth is a known figure in Columbia, so it could be possible that she cuts her hair and changes her clothes to try an go a little bit more incognito.

[japester]

I doubt IG outsourced any of these images.

Makes sense for her to change things up a bit to try and blend in once she escapes. I've very curious just how much the public knows about her, other than being the special "lamb" that needs to be protected. As I understand it, she's never been allowed out of her library prison, right? So how does the public feel about her being held captive like that? Particularly if she's seen as an innocent (and not some sort of monster)?

I dig the explanation that her life-long association with books accounts for her various helpful skills with lockpicks, machines, etc. Great way to make her more useful as an NPC in a logical way.

I have a feeling I'm going to resent every combat that I'm thrust into, as I'll want to walk around enjoying all the amazing details of the city and her people (much like I did in Rapture!).

[mr.bubbles215]

So that could mean that Booker could also has these kinds of changes throughout the game?

I doubt we'll be seeing Booker throughout the game. but i have noticed they have changed him slightly in every picture. he went from a more narrow chin to a more square chin, and now he has less of a beard than he originally did.

[japester]

It sounds like people are confusing in-game changes with the normal process of refining a character. Booker has changed in the past year or two as they got a handle on what he should look like. Same with Elizabeth. Tweaks to the eyes, hair, jaw, etc. The characters weren't set in stone the minute they were created.

Contrast that with in-game changes, such as Elizabeth's missing digit, which seems to reappear later on. Or her change of clothes as she goes from her library prison to the city proper. Those changes relate in small (clothes) and large (finger) ways to the plot. The changes to their facial features over the years is just work-in-progress stuff. BSI was broken earlier than Irrational would have liked, so think of it as seeing the sketches in an art book. It always takes a while to dial in on the essence of a character.

[Note-Taker]

I didn't really see a good look at Elizabeth after the scene where Booker gets her out, where she's wearing the more familiar dress - and that's where I'd look to decide if this finger is an aspect of the game (it'll somehow be normal after some point in the story) or just a concept change. I actually just automatically assumed and accepted that, like her facial structure, it was a change to the character entirely. That she just no longer has a whole pinky on both hands, for a no-doubt important and/or interesting reason - I can't help but feel it's the same reason that, in a different demo, she discussed how she'd rather die than go back, and how terrible the things that happened to her (or happened in general?) were. The fact they call her the "subject," "test subject," or what it was (the poster in the demo, and a poster in a separate image I saw somewhere) is rather suggestive of how they think of or treat her.

[japester]

If she does have a missing pinky, and if the Comstock posters do show him with a large scar on the top of his head, I wonder if Songbird is to blame? Two people who are connected and both have serious injuries.

[vsharres]

Comstock was a war hero , he fought in the battle of the wounded nee(at least he did back in the E3 demo which I don't know if this is still the case), so maybe thas why he has a wound in his head.

[watchman]

Reminds me of the speculation in SitS days (in forums) about "Demotisse".

Maybe like in "Willow" the most magically powerful finger is the 'pinky' and Elizabeth has had her pin-feathers clipped....

either that or some Yakuza linkage....

[japester]

Comstock was a war hero , he fought in the battle of the wounded nee(at least he did back in the E3 demo which I don't know if this is still the case), so maybe thas why he has a wound in his head.

Definite possibility. Although the original, younger Comstock had no such visible head wound. And the new Comstock looks to be about 20 years older, which might make him less likely to have participated in that battle...

[9ice]

Not necessarily, I don't think. Being older might change his involvement, from a front-line officer to a higher-rank officer that may have been present, even in command, but not getting his hands dirty unless he has to. Think a change from a Joshua Chamberlain to a William T. Sherman.

[watchman]

The 'battle' of Wounded Knee 1890

[enpopcorn]

It's obviously a thing irrational wanted to include probally for some important reasons. my suggestion is that she was born like that or something to do with her powers like tears or the songbird did it somehow or what im really certain on is the people that researched her and probally took samples from her and amputated her finger for extra study baring in mind most of the time the scientists wouldn't go near her because of how powerful she is