Preston E. Downs' Wild West Show.
- “Well, Fitzroy -- you...you got a little cunning in ya, if nothing else. Dropped a couple grizzly traps 'round the lines up here. Idea was to...to bleed one of your couriers till he gave you up. 'Cept, of course, you're using kids now.”
- ― Preston E. Downs[src]
Preston E. Downs is a world renowned hunter and tradesman in Columbia. When Zachary Comstock learned of his amazing hunting abilities, he hired him to hunt down the Vox Populi and more importantly, Daisy Fitzroy.
On the Hunt
Comstock Center Rooftops
Preston's Wild West stage show is set up in Constitution Square. When Booker happens upon this display, he finds a Voxophone about Comstock's remarks about Preston's scalp collection and how Comstock hired him to track down Fitzroy.
Soldier's Field
Preston set up camp in Soldier's Field hoping to flush out Fitzroy. Instead, he found Vox Populi members breaking into his apartment in Hotel Soldiers Field to ambush him in his bed. The incident ended with the experienced hunter bringing the would-be assassins to their knees and executing them. He recorded their pleas and screams on a Voxophone with a threat to leave a message for Fitzroy.
Shantytown
After gathering information of where Daisy would be from the Vox members that he executed in Soldier's Field, he narrowed her location to Shantytown. All around town he set up large bear traps in the hope that he could trap a Vox courier that he could interrogate. He did, but it was a young Sioux boy who was sent as the courier. The fact that he accidentally maimed a young boy and then had to cut the boy's leg off was incredibly demoralizing to him. He later then started to look after the child he crippled and questioned if his hunt for Fitzroy was still worth it.
Emporia
In the alternate universe where the Vox Populi had already started their revolution, Preston was also hired to hunt down and kill Booker DeWitt who was an influential leader in the Vox Populi. He found him in the Hall of Heroes with the Sioux courier, but did not kill Booker because of his ability to speak Sioux. Booker translated what the young crippled boy was saying, and it turned out to be what the Vox Populi was fighting for, and that opened Preston's eyes. In his last recording, it says that he went to go after Comstock with the boy to claim the Prophet's scalp and let the boy "be the one holding the knife". Afterwards, it appears he took over the Vox after Fitzroy's death, as a radio transmission had him ordering the Vox to kill anyone who did them wrong and to round up the rest.
Voxophones
Gallery
Behind the Scenes
- Preston E. Downs' character model is also used for Scofield Sansmark, which even wears the same styled hat.
- Preston's Voxophone image is used as the face of the Vox Anarchist wanted poster.
- Preston's character shares a strong similarity to that of Diane McClintock, in that they were both members of the ruling class of their society until becoming aware of the plight of the common folk and joining the rebellion.