Andrew Ryan

Andrew Ryan is a fictional character in the BioShock video game series developed by Irrational Games. He serves as the primary antagonist in the first half of BioShock and appears as a minor character in its sequel, BioShock 2, and its prequel, BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea. Ryan is portrayed as an idealistic business magnate in the 1940s and 1950s, aiming to create an underwater city called Rapture to avoid government oversight and scrutiny. As civil war erupts in Rapture, Ryan's utopian vision collapses into a dystopia, leading him to become reclusive and paranoid. After winning the war, he becomes increasingly ruthless in his control over the city's remaining inhabitants. The character of Ryan was created by Ken Levine of Irrational Games, drawing inspiration from real-life figures like Ayn Rand, Howard Hughes, and Walt Disney. Critics have praised Ryan, with Electronic Gaming Monthly ranking him ninth on their list of top ten video game politicians.<ref name="Scott Sharkey 2008">Scott Sharkey, "EGMs Top Ten Videogame Politicians: Election time puts us in a voting mood,” Electronic Gaming Monthly 234 (November 2008): 97.</ref> He is voiced by Armin Shimerman, whose voice acting contributed to BioShock's success and earned the game "Best Use of Sound" from IGN. Ryan has been compared to various real-life and fictional figures, and the world of Rapture has been likened to the setting of Galt's Gulch in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. Concept and creation BioShock director Ken Levine described Andrew Ryan, whose appearance is based on Vincent Price, as a character driven by ideals, in contrast to the game's other antagonist, Frank Fontaine, who lacks such ideals. Designing the encounter between the player and Ryan was a contentious decision for the developers, as it raised questions about the player's motives at that point in the game. Ryan's act of taking his own life to prevent the protagonist, Jack, from achieving his goal was considered the "ultimate insult" by Levine and took considerable time to develop. Though saner than the adversaries encountered before him, including a plastic surgeon with an extreme view of beauty, Ryan is depicted as steadfast and unwilling to compromise his ideals. Levine explained that Ryan's philosophies were inspired by the Art Deco movement, representing a belief in human dominance over the universe.