BioShock - Who is Ava-Marie Tate?
During the development of BioShock 2, there were a number of ideas that never made the final cut. As the plot went through many revisions, characters were changed both in their design and in their roles in the overall story. One of the most drastic changes involved the removal of a character who was essential to the game's plot. The character in question: famed Rapturian actress and filmmaker and owner of the prestigious Dionysus Park, Ms. Ava-Marie Tate.
Dionysus Park is the sixth level in the campaign, and was once Sofia Lamb's private estate before a flood ravaged the whole area, leaving the area exposed to nature. After you drain the area, you meet Stanley Poole, a journalist from the Rapture Tribune. He blocks the way to Fontaine Futuristics until you do him a favor: with the draining of the park, people are starting to reenter the facility, including some Little Sisters, which you must deal with.
As you progress, you learn that Stanley was a double agent within the 'Rapture Family', the name for Lamb's followers. After gathering enough dirt on Lamb to get arrested by Andrew Ryan's men, he took control of the park, spending Lamb's funds on many a party. Over time, he feared people would find out about his involvement in Lamb's arrest, causing him to have Lamb's daughter Eleanor sent to one of Frank Fontaine's orphanages, before eventually flooding the park.
In the original concept for Dionysus Park, it would have been an area left untouched by the Rapture Civil War, still brimming with the city's former elegance. Just as in the final product, you would meet with Tribune reporter Stanley Poole as he would give you a mission. However, the mission here was more along the lines of helping him make an expose of Ms. Tate's illicit activities, including the production of an ADAM-based drug named 'Eden' and the rampant parties brought by it.
According to unused radio conversations and audio logs, Ms. Tate would be charged by Ryan to erase all records of any individuals that he feels need to be taken out of the picture. She often described herself a beast among men, taking risks and fulfilling her own interests in comparison to those who restrict themselves from such fruitful fancies that she herself engages in. Eventually, however, even the fame, festivities, and other fruits of labor lost their luster, and she wished for more.
However, when it came time for the erasure of Sofia Lamb, Tate read through her files with a keen interest. Believing Dr. Lamb was one of the few people who would understand her, she laid out a trail of clues for Stanley to follow, eventually leading to her arrest, and thus her induction to the Rapture Family.
Not much remains of Ms. Tate in the final product. So far, there appears to be not even a concept design to her name in the Deco Devolution netbook, unlike her domain of Dionysus Park. Across BioShock 2's different locations, players can spot posters adorning her name promoting two of her works, 'The Black Dream' and 'Health Hazards of the Sun', indicating that she does have a foothold in Rapturian cinema in the final product.
Once someone reaches rank 27 in the multiplayer mode Fall of Rapture, one can spot a quote from Ms. Tate herself on the loading screen, commenting on the closing of Fort Frolic in a way that mirrors her behavior during development.
"It's no wonder Cohen closed the Fort, darlings. Theater is dead… Why play the voyeur when ADAM can make you a star?"
A number of her characteristics were also used in the development of Mlle Blanche de Glace, one of the ten playable characters in Fall of Rapture. The original version of Dionysus Park was used as inspiration for the multiplayer map based on the area included as part of the Rapture Metro Pack DLC released in May 11, 2010.
The latest reference to Ms. Tate comes in the form of her feature film 'The Black Dream', which can be viewed in the station in Fontaine's Department Store in BioShock Infinite's Burial at Sea DLC. While it is attributed solely to Sander Cohen here, the film in question features a woman who may possibly be Ms. Tate herself.
According to an interview, she was to be voiced by Juliet Landau, who voiced the Little Sisters in the first game. Apparently, she had already recorded her lines, but they were ultimately unused.
In the Deco Devolution artbook, there exists concept art for an unused multiplayer map called "Siren Song Studios". Players would compete across multiple movie sets, using different props as traps for enemies to fall victim to.
In the BioShock: the Collection version of BioShock 2, all posters of the film 'The Black Dream' have Ava Tate's name replaced with Sander Cohen's.
