BioShock Infinite: The Real People That May Have Inspired Comstock's Character

gamerant.com:

Zachary Hale Comstock is a difficult video game antagonist to forget. In BioShock: Infinite, he is known as the founder of the sky city of Columbia and the creator of The Founders political party. While he is not met many times, his presence is everywhere in the game, as he is worshiped by the Columbian citizens as «Father Comstock» and has the title of Prophet.

Comstock is a cult leader character that has a lot of similarities with ultra-religious, nationalist, and racist figures from history. He uses powers of manipulation, religious knowledge, military training, and charisma to get what he wants. There are two real-life people in history that fans think Comstock may have been inspired from due to their similarities. These two real-life people are Anthony Comstock and Ernst Rudin.

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Before BioShock: Infinite, Comstock was a last name already famously known due to a man named Anthony Comstock. He held a few jobs as a part of the Republican Party and lived from 1844 to 1915. He was an anti-vice activist, meaning he was an activist against any behavior that was considered sinful. These sinful things would include birth control, women's suffrage, and any books he deemed too obscene. In fact, he claimed books were «feeders for brothels.» This real Comstock became so well known for his zealous censorship campaigns that terms like «comstockism» and «comstockery» became words to describe extreme censorship.

For Anthony Comstock to share his last name with the Comstock of BioShock: Infinite is not surprising. Both share strategies of demonization, using the idea of «sinful actions» to control information, and using allusions to the Bible to justify themselves. BioShock is also not