Sander Cohen

Sander Cohen is the head of Fort Frolic. After Andrew Ryan gave him the keys to the Fort, Cohen stopped letting anyone out of there. Cohen's behavior, as Atlas describes it, is consistent with Section 8 (in the 1950s, Section 8 was a penalty for discharging soldiers convicted of sexual misconduct from the U.S. Army). Thus, Atlas hinted that Cohen was homosexual, which Cohen himself also stated in his audio diary, where he admitted that Andrew Ryan was the object of his love. Before Rapture descended into chaos, Cohen was a popular figure in the city. He owned an art gallery, produced theater shows, including Patrick and Moira (the names Fontaine chose for Atlas's "son and wife"). When Jack arrived at the Fort, Cohen jammed Atlas's radio contact and locked Jack in the Fort. Then he demanded that he kill three of his students. After Jack did everything, Cohen gave him the gene tonic MedExpert 2. The developers were clearly inspired to create the image of Cohen by the great surrealist Salvador Dali.

Sander Cohen was an artist who lived in New York City and worked in the art galleries of SoHo. Although little is known about his life before Rapture, the little information we do find tells us that he eventually became an associate of Elgar Vankin and Mimi Favor. It can also be assumed that Cohen's artistic talents were questionable (at best), given his frequent run-ins with "doubters" and Lee Wilson Seward's comment that he was a "fraud." Before Rapture descended into chaos, Cohen was an important figure among the city's artistic community. He owned several art galleries in Fort Frolic. He also released several albums (the last of which was called "Why Ask?") and produced musicals, one of which was called "Patrick and Moira." One of Andrew Ryan's most trusted supporters, Cohen was given the honor of writing the anthem for Rapture ("Arise, Rapture, Arise!") and served as a consultant on the construction of Ryan's Amusement Park. Cohen was also interested in the art of the Abstract Expressionist movement and took part in Sofia Lamb's celebration of "Unconscious Art" at Dionysus Park. As a result of his closeness to Ryan, Cohen became a notable enemy of Anna Culpeper, who referred to him as "Ryan's Songbird". Cohen eventually used his contacts with Ryan to take down Culpeper. Ryan dispatched Sullivan, the head of security, to do the dirty work. Before Jack arrived in 1960, Cohen apparently had four apprentices, though there may have been more. They were Silas Cobb, Martin Finnegan, Hector Rodriguez, and Kyle Fitzpatrick. All of them either betrayed or were dissatisfied with Cohen. Like Dr. Steinman, Cohen was driven insane by ADAM and the mental breakdown caused by the lack of fans of his work after the Civil War. The audio diary reveals that he even regretted his decision to move to Rapture for this reason.

It can be noted that in BioShock, Cohen has bright green eyes, while in Burial at Sea - Episode 1, his eyes are dark hazel. Sander Cohen's artistic style is largely based on modern art, a movement that began in the 1910s but only gained prominence in the late 1940s and 1970s. Sander Cohen, Andrew Ryan, the mutant version of Frank Fontaine, and the ending Little Sister are the only characters in BioShock to have their own unique character model. Cohen is the only mutant to wear a black and gold/bronze bunny mask, instead of the usual white/gray one. The character of Sander Cohen was inspired by "the man who owned Broadway" George M. Cohan, an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, singer, dancer, and producer in the 1900s-1920s. In addition to George M. Cohen, Cohen also contains personality traits of the artist Salvador Dali. Like the character, Dali was similarly eccentric and showed hostility towards critics and other, popular, artists. Dali and Cohen also have the same, artfully waxed moustache.

Sander Cohen's model is used in the "production" of the drama, in Jasmine Jolene's number - the model is used to animate shadows. When Jack approaches the door of Jolene's room, he sees two shadows - Andrew Ryan and Jasmine Jolene. Cohen's models can only be seen with a special console program. If the player somehow manages to get the mutants to attack Cohen's "masterpiece" (for example, using the Target plasmid), then Sander will begin attacking the player instead of the mutants who ruined his work. The developers have officially confirmed that Sander Cohen is gay. It was also hinted at multiple times in BioShock and even BioShock 2, where the Beast Splicers looked up to him as a role model. Audio logs left by his students also suggest that he was romantically involved with each of them before they turned on him. Looking up at the balconies after Cohen kills Kyle Fitzpatrick will reveal the Signal Expert gene tonic. If the player jumps up to this balcony from another one, Cohen will say "What exquisite grace!", after which several mage mutants will appear. Cohen will say this regardless, even if the player has already killed him. If the player shoots Kyle Fitzpatrick before the explosion, Cohen will say "Wow, that was faster than I thought."