The baby pods and Bridge Babies in Death Stranding, are a cornerstone of the game's story, and here's what it all means. Babies have been a significant part of Death Stranding so far, going back to Hideo Kojima's introduction in 2016. That first teaser showed a naked Norman Reedus with a newborn baby, and since then, players have wondered about the significance of the child.
The baby continued to haunt further Death Stranding trailers and teasers, often appearing in a glass pod carried by Reedus' character across the landscape of Death Stranding's world. But no one had any idea what the baby was for or what it meant. Every trailer seemed weirder than the previous one, leaving players perplexed not just about the babies, but also about the game itself.
Death Stranding's story occurs in a world devastated by a disaster, resulting in cities becoming isolated from each other. That world also suffers from a rain called "timefall" that can cause decay and immediately ages anyone who touches it. Somewhere in the middle of all of this are the Bridge Babies and the baby pods that characters carry. So what's it all about?
A Bridge Baby Connects The Living & Dead Worlds
The babies in Death Stranding, known as "Bridge Babies", act as a connection - a tool, of sorts - between the world of the living and the world of the dead: Sam (Reedus' character) will visit the latter every time he dies in the game. But death is not the same in Death Stranding as it is in other games. In Death Stranding, the world of the dead is sort of like Stranger Things' Upside-Down, except it is covered in water. Sam can wander around this world and affect things within it. However, once Sam returns to the world of the living, what he did in death will change that world, too.
Death Stranding Baby Pods Explained
The Death Stranding babies also provide power to Sam's sensors to help him detect supernatural creatures known as beached things (or "BTs"). However, like batteries, the babies often need recharging. They can be recharged by returning them to the womb of their brain-dead "still-mother". The pods act as a surrogate mother when Sam is traveling, but each baby still needs to receive recharging and updates from its still-mother via the Chiral Network.
Perhaps what's most disturbing about the Bridge Babies is that they are merely equipment for Sam to use to navigate his way through the world of Death Stranding. They also don't last long: footage shown for Death Stranding at Gamescom revealed that no Bridge Baby has ever lasted over a year. However, the child can still be affected by stress levels, so Sam will have to monitor that throughout gameplay. Bottom line is: players can't get attached to the Bridge Babies, but at the same time, still have to maintain a certain level of comfort for the baby they're carrying around.