ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Death Stranding’s compelling and provocative use of images of fetuses and the womb as a major component of its visual language. The womb functions as a bridge between the words of the living and the dead for Sam, who is a Repatriate, and for BB, one of the Bridge Babies. Bridge Babies, the brainchild of United Cities of America President Bridget Strand, are kept artificially alive. They are late-stage fetuses whose mothers die from brain death. The mothers’ bodies are kept artificially alive, and the fetuses are transferred to an artificial womb in the hopes that they can be utilized not only as a bridge between the living and the dead, but also as the core of her vision of the Chiral Network. While Strand’s actions are horrifying, the last surviving Bridge Baby, named Lou by Sam, provides a sense of hope and of healing, as Sam becomes bonded to Lou.
