Sander Cohen

Sander Cohen
File:Sander Cohen.jpg Sander Cohen, 1960
Biographical information
Born	c. 1910
Birthplace	United States of America
died	1960 (choice only)
Cause/reason	Killed by Jack
Location of death	Rapture
Physical attributes
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Hazel
Skin colour	White
Information
Occupation	Poet Composer Sculptor Playwright
Residence	Rapture
Appearances
First appearance	BioShock
Last appearance	BioShock
Voiced by	T. Ryder Smith
Created by	Ken Levine

Sander Cohen is a character in the 2007 2K video game BioShock. Cohen lived among the most famous individuals in Rapture. As one of Rapture's more respected Musicians, Playwrights and Poets, Cohen resided in a Lavish apartment in Mercury Suites, along with other Rapture celebrities such as Frank Fontaine, Brigid Tenenbaum and Yi Suchong. Following Rapture's Civil war and the chaotic months that followed it, Cohen slowly grew extremely paranoid and began showing signs of extreme insanity. Cohen was given jurisdiction over an area of the city known as Fort Frolic by Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture. The splicer's under his domination are often subjected to Cohen's newfound sadistic enjoyment to the deaths and suffering of others. All around Fort Frolic, examples of Cohen's "Art" can be found. These are in fact, Splicers encased in plaster.

Role in BioShock

Sander Cohen was invited personally by Andrew Ryan to reside in Rapture, due to their possible prior friendship and his Artistic talents. Before Rapture's descent into Anarachy, Cohen was a prominant playwright, artist and composer in Fort Frolic. Cohen held a hatred towards rival performer Anna Culpepper, who refered to Cohen as "Ryan's Songbird." Sharing a close relation to Andrew Ryan, Cohen had Chief of security Sullivan murder her. With the competition gone, Cohen experienced a rare era of extravagance before his downfall into insanity.

Shortly before the Rapture civil war, Cohen was given dominance over Fort Frolic by Andrew Ryan, who locked the area down to prevent its inhabitants from escaping. Similar to Dr. J.S. Steinman, Cohen was soon driven sane, mainly due to overuse of plasmids and the frustation generated by lack of appreciation for his work. An audio diary found in Fort Frolic shows that Cohen regrets his decision to move to Rapture.

Before Jack's arrival in Rapture, 1960, Cohen apparently had four major followers (his desciples), Silas Cobb, Martin Finnegan, Hector Rodriguez, and Kyle Fitzpatrick. All of them either betrayed or displeased Cohen at some point.

During the events of BioShock, Jack is required to pass through Fort Frolic in order to proceed to Hephaestus. Just as Jack approaches the Bathysphere, Cohen blocks Jack's radio contact with Atlas and submerges the Bathysphere, trapping the player in the level. Cohen will not let Jack proceed until he elimanates his four former desciples. He also requires the player to photograph the corpses and place them in a work of Cohen's art in the centre of Fort Frolic known which he refers to as his "Masterpiece" - a Quadtych. After the completion of this, Cohen reveals himself and allows Jack to proceed to Hephaestus, at this point the player has the choice to kill Cohen. If Cohen is spared to this point, Cohen can be seen in his luxury apartment in Mercury Suites. He will welcome the player into his home, and invite him to look around. Cohen can, again, be killed at this point.

Cohen's sexuality was also in dispute. Silas Cobb and Martin Finnegan both refer to Cohen as an "old fruit," a reference to his rumoured homosexuality. Another example of this is in BioShock 2, The Splicer model "Brute" can also be heard saying ""Sander Cohen. There was a man! Sharp suit, good mustache, took no guff!"

Concept and creation

The character of Sander Cohen was based on several real-life figures. Firstly, Cohen's last name was influenced by real life entertainer George M. Cohan, who was also (like Cohen) a notable playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer and dancer. His physical appearance, however, was based on the impressionist artist Salvador Dali.

Promotion and Merchandise

Employees for 2K Boston were each given a 6-inch scale model of Cohen by the studiio's creative designer Ken Levine. The sculptures were designed by Irrational Games artist Robb Waters.

Reception

Cohen was desrcibed as a "horrible Songwriter" by Ken Levine in an interview for CVG.

See also

• List of characters in the BioShock series
• BioShock
• BioShock 2
• Andrew Ryan (BioShock)
• Augustus Sinclair