History Characters / FalloutNewVegasTheCourier

[[WMG:[[center:[-''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' '''[[Characters/FalloutNewVegas Character Index]]'''\\
'''The Courier''' | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCompanions Companions]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasNewCalifornia New California Republic]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCaesarsLegion Caesar's Legion]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasTheStrip The Strip]] ([[Characters/FalloutNewVegasRobertEdwinHouse Robert Edwin House]]) | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasSettlements Settlements]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOtherFactions Other Factions]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasDeadMoney Dead Money Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasHonestHearts Honest Hearts Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOldWorldBlues Old World Blues Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasLonesomeRoad Lonesome Road Characters]]-]]]]]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/90531e25e75581217eb067961e209995.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YuriLowenthal (male), Creator/LauraBailey (female) (grunts only)

->''"It appears that you are both the [[{{Courier}} messenger]] and the [[OneManArmy message]]."''
-->-- '''Legate Lanius'''

The Courier was just [[UnluckyEverydude a regular schmuck]] working for the Mojave Express. During a particularly ''strange'' delivery job, they're ambushed on the road. The ringleader of the muggers, a man named Benny wearing a [[IconicOutfit distinctive checker-coated suit]], steals their package (a [[MacGuffin rather important]] Platinum Chip), [[DoubleTap puts two 9mm bullets]] [[BoomHeadshot into their skull]], and has them [[BuriedAlive buried in a shallow grave]] just outside of town.

[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat By all accounts, they should be dead.]] [[MadeOfIron But they aren't.]]

The story is driven mainly by the Courier's attempts to understand the meaning behind the attack, the significance of the Platinum Chip, and getting said Chip back to finish the job. Ultimately, the Courier gets to decide the future of the entire Mojave Wasteland and beyond.
----

* TheAce:
** It's very possible for them to become this, being [[ActionHero tough enough to take a whole platoon by yourself]] while outsmarting everyone in the wasteland, whether through [[ScienceHero extensive knowledge]], [[ExperiencedProtagonist practical experience]], [[GuileHero better planning]], or [[ManipulativeBastard better people skills]]. [[RenaissanceMan Possibly all at the same time.]]
** In a meta sense, canonically, the Courier is also the [[ExperiencedProtagonist most experienced of the series' protagonists]], having been, well, a courier and a frequent traveler of post-apocalyptic America for years before making that fateful delivery from Primm, with the job itself being coming with all the occupational hazards that wandering blown out roads full of wildlife and bandits bring, as demonstrated in the introduction. Other protagonists (save for some of the spin-offs) only enter the wider wasteland during the present stories of their games.[[labelnote:*]]The [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Vault Dweller]] lived a boring life in a Vault before being chosen to venture out into the wastes, the [[VideoGame/Fallout2 Chosen One]] lived their young life in an isolated village with only local wildlife to worry about while being prepped for the tribes mission, the [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Lone Wanderer]] had lived their whole teenage life inside a Vault and only left because they were forced to, and the [[VideoGame/Fallout4 Sole Survivor]] actually came from pre-War times with all the comforts it brought, albeit with the benefit of military training[[/labelnote]]
* AccidentalHero: In the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC, if you expose Ricky's lies and make him leave the group, you end up saving his life, since everyone except you dies in an ambush.
* ActionHero: Get a duster and a hat, load up with revolvers, lever-action rifles and the appropriate perks, you become a gunslinging cowboy. Take tons of drugs, grab an assault carbine or light machine gun and be Rambo. Get a combat armor, a silenced pistol and turn into Solid Snake. Take resistance perks, drop all armor, seize a giant sword, and become Conan the Barbarian. The possibilities are endless.
* AffablyEvil: Nothing is stopping a very evil Courier from picking polite options in conversation and even helping the occasional person if doing so doesn't interfere with their own self-interests.
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:As revealed in [[Series/Fallout2024 the Amazon Prime series]], all their struggles and hardships don't accomplish anything since the NCR is left in uncertain but dire straits with New Vegas itself seemingly a destroyed husk by 2296.]]
* AlmightyJanitor: While someone who delivers packages across the [[DeathWorld Mojave Wasteland]] is obviously gonna be fairly tough, you are still essentially a mailman who can wipe out hordes of enemies [[OneManArmy by yourself]], master various skills, and even be the deciding factor in who conquers the Mojave (or even conquer it for yourself). Don't piss off the mailman.
* AmbiguousSituation: The Wild Wasteland trait changes the entire world to have less sensible qualities, but the fact that it's a trait and the icon implies that it may just be the Courier being a CloudCuckooLander. Still, the trait does cause hard changes that can't be so easily written off as the Courier's mind being a bit on the wayside, such as the Alien Blaster and a variety of enemies that can hurt and even kill you.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Regardless of the ending you get, it is made clear that the Courier's romps through the Wasteland are far from over. It's even an option in the NCR ending dialogue. Note that the adventure doesn't ''actually'' continue; game's over once you hit the ending (originally, you would have been allowed to continue roaming the Mojave after the epilogue but this was cut). The ending of ''Old World Blues'' says that the Courier eventually settled down in Big MT to watch it over after all their travels. [[CastFullOfCrazy Well]], [[ForScience for a given]] [[WorldOfWeirdness value of]] [[ChaosArchitecture settled down]].
* AntiHero: Even if you play as a Good Courier working for House, The NCR or as an independent, you will have to make some questionable decisions if you want your faction to win.
* AssassinOutclassin: You'll end up doing many of these if you get on the wrong side of the NCR or Caesar's Legion as you trounce the hit squads they send to deal with you.
* TheAtoner: You can convince [[spoiler:Ulysses, the man wearing a flag on his back]] to make up for what happened to the Divide by turning the Mojave into the potential New World "nation" that the Divide was working towards. This is worth an extra point if you create an independent New Vegas, free of the control of any other major powers and making true that promise true.
* AsleepForDays: Eight days, specifically. The Courier's "death" occurs on October 11th, 2281. They regain consciousness on October 19th.
* BadassBoast: The Terrifying Presence perk gives you the option of opening hostilities by calmly informing enemies of exactly what you're about to do to their guts.
* BadassInANiceSuit: The Courier can find formal attire and pre-war business suits.
* BadassLongcoat:
** The Courier duster, worn during the last slides of the ''Lonesome Road'' ending. It's got a different emblem on the back depending on which path you chose.
** The box art of ''Lonesome Road'' depicts a different duster design, equally long and equally badass.[[note]] This design was likely, like so much of New Vegas's content, cut for time. Fans have since [[https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/44122/ re-created]] this design through mods.[[/note]]
** Not to mention the many variations of [[GasMaskLongcoat Ranger armor]] available.
* BadassNormal: At first, the Courier is just an ordinary wasteland survivor... who takes two bullets to the head, and all it does is put them [[AsleepForDays down for a long nap]] (and, as revealed in ''Old World Blues'', an anomalous brain condition).
* BadassPacifist: If you go for the PacifistRun.
* BadassTransplant: In ''Old World Blues'', the Courier has their brain, heart and spine removed by the Think Tank, which are then replaced by artificial ones. These grant them increased resistance to addiction, increased efficiency from healing items, increased damage threshold (DT), ''total immunity to poison'', and making your head and torso ''impossible to cripple''. The Courier can keep any or all of them at the end of the DLC; taking back the original parts grants a different set of perks, and [[spoiler:leaving your newly-independent {{brain in a jar}} behind in Big MT even adds a few unique slides for it in the DLC's ending reel.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** There's nothing stopping a [[NiceGuy kind-hearted]] and [[KarmaMeter morally good]] Courier from taking the Terrifying Presence perk and utterly [[BrownNote scaring the shit out of anyone who messes with them]].
** And even if you don't take Terrifying Presence, a very good karma Courier who talks their way out of every fight and goes out of their way to help everyone they meet is still likely to be carrying enough firepower to level a small town by the end of the game.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Aside from the range of eccentric actions the game allows you to make on your own time, the Courier can make some amusingly out-of-touch-with-reality remarks while being as ruthless and powerful as in any playthrough.
* BigBadEnsemble: If you play a Wild Card Courier with evil karma, you will be one of the main threats against the Mojave along with the Legion.
* BigGood:
** What counts as "good" is up to negotiation, considering the game's GreyAndBlackMorality, but a Good Karma Courier that does enough legwork for a "grey" faction of their choice becomes powerful and influential enough to qualify for the trope.
** If you play a Wild Card Courier with Good karma, especially if you secure an alliance with the majority of factions.
* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: You can end up being this in a side quest if you decide to train the NCR Misfits while having your skills of Weapons and/or Explosives below 45, which makes you a horrible trainer. You can only complete the positive ending if both are at 45 at the very least. It's even worse if you have them below 25, which means you're not even able to teach them the initial lesson.
* BlindWithOutEm: Any Courier with the Four Eyes trait, which gives +1 Perception while wearing glasses but -1 without them. Annoyingly, you have to take off your glasses to wear a power armor helmet.
* BoomerangBigot: A female Courier or a male with the Confirmed Bachelor perk (named for a common euphemism for gay men [[GayOption and allowing the Courier to be a man's man himself]]) who sides with Caesar's Legion, since they will be helping a faction that enslaves and/or kills people like them.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday:
** The Courier can invert this when dealing with Benny and Jessup, since they'll freak out when seeing you, even if you aren't chasing them down for shooting you, and ran into them by accident.
** You can also play it straight in the story of ''Lonesome Road'', by telling [[spoiler:your enemy Ulysses]] that the delivery of the package that destroyed the Divide was just like any others. Played even more straight as, until Ulysses reveals what happened there, the Courier genuinely had no clue what destroyed the Divide.
* CameBackStrong: Before Goodsprings, you were just an unknown walk-of-the-wastes deliveryman making their way in the world - a tough cookie by any account, but nothing remarkable. Afterwards, you become a OneManArmy who takes the fate of the entire surrounding wasteland in your hands, carving, sneaking and/or talking your way through anything and everything between you and your goal, [[WildCard whatever it may be.]]
** Doc Mitchell alludes to this possibility directly [[PlayerPersonalityQuiz if you get an especially high Intelligence score upon waking up]]:
--> "Look at that. Maybe them bullets done your brain some good."
** [[spoiler:Legate Lanius realizes this when you convince him to stand down, giving this gem of a quote]]:
--> [[spoiler:"Violence gave you that strength, awakened you - I can see it upon your face, where two bullets left their mark."]]
* CardCarryingVillain: You can be one if you wish.
-->'''Arcade''': ''(after you [[spoiler:tell the Enclave Remnants to support the Legion]])'' What are you thinking? Do you ''want'' to see Vegas turned into the new slave capital of the west?\\
'''Courier''': Actually, yes, I would like to see New Vegas turned into a slavery hub.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Have a high enough Unarmed skill, and your bare hands can literally [[MegatonPunch punch]] limbs off or even reduce low-level enemies to [[LudicrousGibs chunks of meat]].
* TheCharmer: With the right stats and perks, you can use your natural charm and magnetism to sway people your way.
* TheChessmaster: The Courier, especially if they're pursuing the Wild Card route, has the ability to play the various factions of the wasteland in order to come out on top, either by getting rid of strong enemies by turning them against each other, sabotaging their operations, or charming them to get them on their side.
* ChickMagnet: A male Courier who apart from Cass having the hots for them, can also earn the affections of Sarah Weintraub and Red Lucy. With the Lady Killer perk they can also add more. All in all they can have Lady Jane, Light Switch 02, Dr. Dala, the Stealth Suit Mark II, Jonna, Dazzle, Sweetie, random girls at Gomorrah, old lady Gibson, and can mention a encounter in Montana that may have led to a kid. They also have ShipTease with Christine in ''Dead Money'' regardless of gender. They can also use this to their advantage by making Janet fall in love with Jack. There are also other sexual encounters, if you're willing to pay for them.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Depending on player choice, the Courier can side with numerous characters, factions and settlements, only to betray and harm them, or completely wipe them out. The Wild Card route optionally encourages you to do this by siding with one of the three main factions {NCR, The Legion and Mr. House, though Yes Man encourages pretending to side with House}, use them to further your own goals and then betray said faction at the last minute to take over Vegas for yourself.
* CloudCuckoolander: The Wild Wasteland trait makes you see things quite a bit... differently. Even if you don't have it, they can still can come up with quite a few outlandish trains of thought. (Particularly after failed speech-checks.)
-->'''Veronica:''' Do you know anything about the Brotherhood of Steel?\\
'''The Courier:''' I've heard they shoot lasers from their eyes![[note]]A callback to Liberty Prime from Fallout 3[[/note]]
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: To the Lone Wanderer from ''Fallout 3''.
** The Lone Wanderer was 19 when they left the Vault and as such had no knowledge of the world since they lived their entire life in the Vault; the Courier's age is unknown but it's hinted you're in your 30s at least,[[note]]A male Courier implies he had a fling with a woman in Montana around 17-18 years ago, meaning he was at least at the age of sexual maturity at that time.[[/note]] you were born in the wasteland (though to be fair [[spoiler: so was the Lone Wanderer]]) and are a seasoned explorer.
** The Lone Wanderer had Three Dog center his newscasts around them and gives them their moniker as a way to identify them; the Courier is never mentioned by name by Mr. New Vegas, who only refers to you as "a civilian contractor" and other anonymous synonyms.
** The Lone Wanderer traveled the wasteland searching for their father, the one who gave them life; the Courier travels the wasteland looking for their would-be murderer. Likewise, Fallout 3 starts with the Lone Wanderer's birth while Fallout New Vegas starts with the Courier's "death".
** The Lone Wanderer's early life is detailed in several sequences through the years; save for Ulysses and other optional dialogue, the Courier has a MysteriousPast (or a MultipleChoicePast, if you prefer)
* {{Courier}}: [[CaptainObvious Wow, who could have guessed that one?]] The whole first act of the game involves chasing a package that was stolen from you, and you get to mention your (former) occupation in the dialogue at least once.
* CombatPragmatist: Aside from the usual Fallout tactics[[note]][[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No, not]] [[VideoGame/FalloutTacticsBrotherhoodOfSteel that one.]][[/note]] of [[PrettyLittleHeadshots sniping]], [[VisibleInvisibility Stealth Boys]], [[KillItWithFire immolation]], [[StuffBlowingUp gratuitous high explosives]], and [[HumanShield sending your companions to]] [[DrawAggro fight for you]], The Courier has many new and inventive options to choose from, including (but not limited to) [[MasterPoisoner crafting many different types of poison]] and [[PoisonedWeapons applying them to their weapons]], [[AHandfulForAnEye tossing sand into their opponent's eyes]], and ''[[KillSat hijacking an orbital death ray]]'' [[WaveMotionGun to call down solar-powered annihilation upon their enemies.]]
* TheConscience: Serves as this for [[spoiler:Joshua Graham, the Burned Man]], during ''Honest Hearts'', as with the right skills, they can orchestrate a peaceful end to the conflict in Zion.
* ConsummateLiar: A Courier with high Speech can bluff their way into many victories.
* CulturedBadass: During Silus' interrogation, a Courier with high-intelligence can reveal not only a [[CunningLinguist familiarity with Latin]], but prove to be knowledgeable enough to be able to quote ''Virgil'' and ''Cicero''.
* CuriosityIsACrapShoot: Aside from all the times the player would enter a cave or door [[BeefGate only to immediately regret it when they see whatever's on the other side]], this is ultimately what leads to the events of ''Dead Money'', ''Old World Blues'', AND ''Lonesome Road''. Ulysses [[WhatTheHellHero calls you out for this]] in the latter, [[UnreliableNarrator though the validity of his accusations is up for debate.]]
* CursedWithAwesome: In ''Old World Blues'', you get your brain, heart, and spine surgically removed by Dr. Dala. However, the same process nets you cybernetic replacements that work ''even better''. You can even remove the "Cursed" part by getting your original Brain, Heart and Spine back, but with some advanced tech remaining with them, and while some of the bonuses are reduced, other bonuses are actually increased. For example, your artificial spine gives +1 Strength and immunity to torso crippling, but with your organic spine restored, that torso crippling immunity is toned back to crippling ''resistance'', while that +1 becomes a +2 Strength.
* {{Cyborg}}: Functionally becomes one in ''Old World Blues''. To a lesser extent, the Courier can be upgraded with implants at the New Vegas Medical Clinic. In addition, some perks seem to be cybernetic implants... that the Courier seems to know how to install in themselves without any need for surgery.
* DarkhorseVictory: In the Wild Card path, the Courier gives the finger to House, the NCR and the Legion. ''And wins''.
* DeadpanSnarker: When told [[NoOneShouldSurviveThat that they should be dead]] by someone who witnessed them get shot in the head, the Courier can reply, "I'm a ghost. Ooooooooh!"
* {{Determinator}}: Gets [[DoubleTap shot in the head]] at point-blank range and buried alive in a shallow grave. Nine days later, one very annoyed Courier wakes up and decides to track the shooter across the entire Mojave Desert. When you meet him, Caesar says this trope is why he took notice of you: when you want to do something, you get it done. You won't let a pesky thing like ''death by headshot'' stop you.
* DisabilitySuperpower: While normally taking two bullets to the brain is bad (even if the Courier was only out for several days), it comes around to being a benefit during ''Old World Blues''. As the bullet-trail scarring on their brain ends up being in ''just'' the right spot for [[spoiler:Big MT's first successful brain removal, sparing them from becoming a truly mindless Lobotomite.]]
* DisappearedDad: A male Courier with the Lady Killer perk can imply this of himself. Or at least that he thinks that he ''might'' be. When meeting the Lonesome Drifter and learning that he's both from Montana and never knew his father, you have the option to ask, rather nervously, if he's 17 years old. Much to the Courier's relief, he's not, but that doesn't mean there's not still a Courier Jr. kicking around in Montana somewhere.
* TheDitz: If played with a low intelligence stat, anyway.
* DoubleAgent: Played with: The Courier can work with the Legion, Yes-man and/or NCR at the same time, or with House, Yes-man and/or NCR at the same time (It cannot be done with Legion and House at the same time, because [[spoiler: one of the first things you have to do for the Legion is kill House]]), to the point where you can complete the Boomers mission for three factions at once, but eventually one major faction will give you an ultimatum to stop you from continuing to work for another faction. (although you can complete all the missions of a faction, only to betray them for Yes-man at the end)
* TheDrifter: The Courier is quite a veteran of the trail, having traveled all over California and parts of Nevada, even having, if some optional dialogue is to be believed, made some detours to Utah, Arizona, and Montana.
* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:[[Series/Fallout2024 The Amazon Prime series]] reveals that nothing they do matters as Vault-Tec will nuke the NCR's Shady Sands and New Vegas itself seemingly abandoned by 2296. Whether the Courier themself even survived the destruction is unknown.]]
* DoomMagnet: Ulysses sees the Courier as a kind of harbinger of mayhem, destruction, and change wherever they go. He's not exactly wrong.
* DoubleTap: The Courier was on the receiving end of a double tap, courtesy of Benny. Miraculously, they survived even after being BuriedAlive, though not without some serious brain and facial reconstruction surgery from Doc Mitchell.
* TheDragon: [[spoiler:You can be this to Mr. House, if you so wish. Averted with Caesar where it is made clear that your rank is too low to be this.]]
* DragonInChief: If you are in the service of Mr. House, you'll be going around doing all the work for him. And you can design your character to be as intelligent and lucky as he is. [[spoiler:If you help him gain control of New Vegas with an evil character, during the ending the narrator will reveal that the only reason why he's keeping you around is because he's terrified of your retaliation, should he cross you.]]
* TheDreaded: The Courier is this to their enemies. Even a very good karma Courier is [[BewareTheNiceOnes not someone many people are eager to get on the bad side of]].
** The Powder Gangers even refer to the Courier as "''The Grim Fucking Reaper''".
** Even your allies can be terrified of the Courier, should you take certain "old-fashioned" ways of completing quests. Like freeing slaves by murdering every single other person in the compound. Or, apropos of little, announcing that you killed a person with an undertone of ''daring'' your audience to do something about it (they won't).
** An evil Courier working for Mr. House manages to terrify ''their own boss'', to the point that the only reason he lets you keep working for him is because [[DragonInChief he knows he doesn't stand a chance against you]] and ''really'' doesn't want to piss you off.
** After the boss fight at the end of the Lonesome Road DLC. The narration says The Tunnelers and The Marked Men let you travel back to The Mojave without a fight partially because of this trope.
** "Terrifying Presence" allows you to use this quality to scare people into doing what you want.
* DumbMuscle: It's perfectly possible to play the Courier with very high Strength/Endurance but low Intelligence. Your character can reduce the likes of Deathclaws into bloody bits but may sometimes communicate in HulkSpeak and the reduced skill points per level will make it harder for your character to be proficient in science, medicine and other fields of expertise.
* EasilyForgiven: Depending on how you play, the Courier can do this with Benny and Jessup, forgetting revenge to do other things, or even going as far as saving them, which in Benny's case causes an automatic reputation drop from the Legion.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal:
** In ''Old World Blues'' most of the Courier's vital organs are extracted and replaced with advanced cybernetics, granting you resistance to damage, chems, and superhuman strength. Even before then, you can become more than human with the use of implants and power armor.
** Not to mention the fact that if you take the perks literally, by the end of the game the Courier can absorb strength from sunlight a la Superman ("Solar Powered"), lace their bones with metal ("Adamantium Skeleton"), regenerate damage while irradiated ("Rad Child"), [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking and inexplicably repair equipment with non-matching parts]] ("Jury Rigging").
* EvenEvilHasStandards: An Evil Courier can still vehemently oppose the Legion and condemn the vilest of the various atrocities they see in their trips around the Mojave.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: See also "Hello Insert Name Here." While you can name them whatever you wish, the name prompt defaults to "Courier" if you don't change it.
* EvilIsEasy:
** In many faction missions you have to deal with a minor faction, either ensuring their loyalty or destroying them, the diplomatic option usually involves doing a series of side missions to increase your reputation, and going around a lot. Of course the "Non-diplomatic" Option is simply to kill them, and thus you get rid of having to do their secondary missions.
** Averted in Yes-man's route, since he only asks you to visit them and give him a report, it is not necessary to destroy them or gain their loyalty (Since Yes-man considers the [[EliteMooks Mark II Securitrons]] to be the only allies you are going to need), so this would be more of a case of "Doing nothing is easier"
* EvilOverlord: An evil-karma Courier who takes the Wild Card path sets themselves up as a fearsome tyrant backed by a MechaMook army.
* EvilVersusEvil: When an Evil Courier decides to go up against The Legion, especially if you're doing the Wild Card route. The same applies against Elijah, which mixes in with EvilVersusOblivion.
* EvilerThanThou: A Very Evil Courier can take the Wild Arm route and rule a despotic regime worse than the Legion could ever hope to be. Though an evil karma Courier ''can'' kill [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the Fiends]], this ends up being subverted as killing the Fiends racks up a lot of good karma and can therefore [[HeelFaceTurn turn an evil karma Courier into a good or neutral karma one]].
* ExactWords: If you do the Boomer quests for some faction, but you're planning a Wild Card ending, you can tell the leader of that faction that you managed to get the loyalty of the Boomers, without specifying that they are loyal to you, not him.
* ExtremeOmnisexual: Men. Women. Robots. Ghouls. Yeah, it's an option. With the appropriate Perks, you can even [[ScrewYourself hit on your]] ''[[BrainInAJar own disembodied brain]]''. It's appropriately horrified, despite being your brain in the first place. Perhaps the most explicit and strange of the Courier's trysts is performing what is, essentially, a biological strip-tease for a BrainInAJar (not your own this time) that causes a robotic ImmodestOrgasm.
* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: You're free to swing your KarmaMeter whichever way you like. One of the top-level perks in ''Lonesome Road'' (a set of three) is awarded based on your karma. If you're very good or very evil, you can take it for a significant combat bonus while resetting your karma. The bonus varies depending on the extreme.
* FailureHero: [[spoiler:The [[Series/Fallout2024 Amazon Prime series]] reveals that New Vegas seems to have been abandoned, meaning that all their efforts amounted to nothing regardless of which faction they supported. Even worse for an NCR-aligned Courier since the faction's first capital city, Shady Sands, was destroyed by Vault-Tec.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: It's very possible to pick the most polite dialogue options and seemingly do a favor for someone, only to screw them over for your own personal gain in the end. In some quests, you can kill/destroy who or what you were asked to save, only to deceive the quest givers by framing it as a harsh truth you're dealing, or blame someone else.
* FemaleMisogynist: A female Courier can help [[NoWomansLand Caesar's Legion]] take over the Mojave and condemn all its women to slavery.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: A female Courier has a lot of very good reasons to hate Benny and want to watch him die. That does not prevent her from potentially sleeping with him. Even ''he'' is initially freaked out by this.
* TheFool: It is fully possible to play the game doing things that don't make any sense at all and still somehow manage to do far better than you would have otherwise, especially with a high enough luck stat. Raul clearly believes this of you.
* ForTheEvulz: Some NPC conversations after the player commits evil deeds can have the Courier bluntly admit they did it for no reason other than they simply felt like it.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Played straight, subverted or averted depending on the playthrough. Evil characters with the Four Eyes trait, certainly apply. Neutral or Good karma? Generally averted. Good players with a Legion alignment are a brilliant subversion.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: You can come quite close. Between having a high charisma, high speech and the Animal Friend perk, you can get through much of the game quite peacefully if you're careful.
* FromNobodyToNightmare:
** You start off as just a package courier and by game's end [[spoiler:you could be monarch of New Vegas, or have decimated the Legion, the NCR, a half-dozen small communities, or all of the above]]. Alternatively, just ask Benny.
** Or ask Ulysses, who [[spoiler:watches as the Courier unknowingly damns the community of the Divide they helped create from a potential godsend for the wasteland to a literal HellOnEarth]].
** The game starts with you being ''killed'', just because of something you were carrying. The very idea that you could actually still be alive is ludicrous, and yet later on you can be the one making Benny kneel, pointing his own gun (the one that 'killed' you) at him. There may never be a more karmic reward for [[ShootTheMessenger shooting the messenger.]]
* GadgeteerGenius: With the "Jury Rigging" perk, they can somehow repair Super Sledges with a pool cue, a [[ChainsawGood ripper]] with a combat knife, or a PowerFist with a regular glove. It's even pointed out in the perk description:
-->"You possess the amazing ability to repair any item using a roughly similar item. Fix a trail carbine with a hunting rifle, a Plasma Defender with a laser pistol, or even power armor with metal armor. How does it work? Nobody knows... except you."
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** If you dump Endurance or Luck, Doc Mitchell comments on how having 1 in either of these stats doesn't align with being sturdy/lucky enough to survive two bullets to the face.
-->'''Doc Mitchell:''' I just don't get it. A stiff breeze'd tear you in two but a couple of bullets and you're right as rain.
-->'''Doc Mitchell:''' Now that don't make a lick of sense. Seems to me you're the luckiest son-of-a-gun in New Vegas.
** If you only have 1 in perception, the Doctor recommends you to wear glasses. In the real game the perk that allows you to increase your perception while wearing glasses is impossible to get with only one point in perception.
** Per Word of God, the Courier didn't get amnesia from the double tap, but many dialogue options in the early game suggest that they don't remember (or don't know) much about the politics of the area - though this one has an out-of-universe justification of introducing the setting to the ''player''.
* GeniusBruiser: With high Strength/Endurance and Intelligence.
* GeniusDitz:
** It is entirely possible to have an intelligence stat of 1 yet max out Science, Medicine, and/or Repair.
** With the Luck statistic being deconstructed in NV, a Courier with high luck and low intelligence is a GeniusDitz as well. They're essentially a master at calculating odds and variables, and pushing events to their favor, while being dim when it comes to everything else.
** At one point, you can actually perform brain surgery. This takes either a lot of skill in Medicine, or a high Luck stat. With the latter, you can admit that you had absolutely no idea what you were doing, but succeeded anyway.
** If you're one of those people who feels the need to exhaust every dialog option (indicated by the option 'graying out', though still selectable), you'll end up asking a lot of questions to the same people repeatedly. A small number of [=NPCs=] will even take note of this.
--->'''Raul:''' That's what I love about you, boss, your firm belief that one day you'll actually remember things people tell you.
* GentlemanThief: High Charisma, Speech, Sneak, Lockpicking, and sticky fingers.
* GoingPostal: The whole plot gets started with the Courier having a ''really bad day'' at work.
* GoodIsNotNice: Nothing is stopping a very good Courier from picking the rudest conversation options.
* GoodIsNotSoft: You can have the karma of a saint, and still never fail to [[IDidWhatIHadToDo cap anyone who threatens the freedom and safety of the Mojave]].
* GuileHero: In most scenarios, when there's a conflict, a Courier with high Luck/Charisma/Intelligence has an option to use charm, wit and trickery rather than weapons and hard work, whether it's wiping out a large group of people using the environment, purposefully botch a job to kill or impair their enemies, getting someone else to fight for them, or figuring out a way to solve a problem quickly and/or efficiently.
* HandicappedBadass: In Hardcore mode if you get crippled limbs and choose to limp and fight your way back to town instead of fast travelling to have you healed.
* HadToBeSharp: While this technically applies to ''everyone'' in the ''Fallout'' universe, the Courier's chosen profession literally involves walking through the hostile wastelands, often completely [[OneManArmy by themselves]].
--> '''Cass''': Caravan code of the wastes is you don't fuck with the one who brings you your mail, and you don't fuck with your supply line.
* HatedByAll: You can achieve this by getting a "Vilified" reputation with each faction and settlement.
* HelloInsertNameHere: Played with; regardless of the name you pick you're almost invariably referred to as "The Courier" or "Courier Six". Your chosen name will sometimes appear in written dialogue, but never in the verbal dialogue. Alas the limitations of pre-recorded voice acting.
* HeroicSeductress: Both genders can be this trope. With high enough Speech, Charisma, and/or proper perks (Lady Killer, Black Widow, Confirmed Bachelor and/or Cherchez La Femme), you can resolve a lot of conflicts with flirtation or flat out sex.
* HiddenDepths: A Courier with high intelligence can show some knowledge of Latin and speak full sentences in it, enough to fool a Legion's centurion.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: To the NCR, who are completely hopeless without your assistance. Also to Mr. House, though only to the extent that he physically cannot enact his plans without outside help, and it's not like House himself is a pushover. Averted for the other two factions: Caesar doesn't really need the Courier and mostly just has them around as a bonus, while Yes Man is this trope to ''you''.
* IAmWho: The [=DLCs=] hint towards the Courier being more special than they appear to be, given that they appear to have a relationship with Ulysses. Finally revealed, as [[spoiler:the Courier was the specific one that Ulysses watched over as they helped the settlement at the Divide. Until the destruction of the Divide that killed everyone except Ulysses.]]
* IconicOutfit: Two, both from Lonesome Road; First is the Elite Riot Gear, arguably the best medium armor set in the game, and in which they are frequently depicted in fanart. The second is the original concept art version of the Courier Duster, as seen in the [[https://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120625052902/fallout/images/4/49/LR_Courier.jpg cover art for Lonesome Road]], and restored in-game through [[https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/44122 mods.]]
* ImAHumanitarian:
** The Cannibal perk allows you to feed on human corpses. Eat enough of them and you'll unlock the option to cut off some "Human Remains" to take with you as a food item for later. This can be taken to ExtremeOmnivore levels with the Ghastly Scavenger perk (which requires Cannibal), which allows you to feed on Super Mutant and feral ghoul corpses. Feeding a corpse or eating Human Remains causes you to take a karma hit (yes, even the feral ghoul that just gave you positive karma for killing it), and [=NPCs=] who witness the act will be horrified by your "crime against nature" and turn hostile.
** For those without the perk(s), there's always Strange Meat, which is all but stated to be human flesh that less morally-sound individuals sell to other people without telling them what it is. Also, there is a clearly marked "Human Flesh" food item sometimes dropped by feral ghouls, which is different from the aforementioned Human Remains and can be eaten without losing Karma or turning witnesses hostile.
* [[ImplacableMan Implacable Wo/man]]: You trudge across half the Mojave Wasteland to find the man who shot you. Even Caesar applauds your tenacity.
* InMediasRes: The Courier is the only main protagonist besides [[VideoGame/Fallout2 the Chosen One]] to start the game with experience of surviving in the wasteland, with every other player character either having lived in a Vault for their whole life or, in the case of [[VideoGame/Fallout4 the Sole Survivor]], the world before the war ever even happened.
* InstantWakingSkills: The Courier is never at a disadvantage right after sleeping, even if said sleep is interrupted by a friendly NPC. (or a [[WakeUpFighting hit squad]])
* {{Irony}}: According to Ulysses, [[spoiler: the Courier helped build the community in the Divide by carrying supplies to and from there. It was one of these deliveries that caused the Divide's destruction.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of the lower dialogue choices just drop off sarcasm and downright rude or insulting to who you talk to. The Terrifying Presence perk combines this with TheDreaded.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: If you're still good karma and selective on who will you treat like jerk and who will you treat nicely.
* KarmaHoudini:
** You can steal and murder and get away with it if you're careful not to be seen. You can also commit heinous acts against factions and still associate with them as long as you have a means to raise your reputation back up. You can kill every Legion member you come across on your way to New Vegas, then you get the Mark of Caesar, pardoning you of all crimes and inviting you to a private audience with Caesar himself.
** Likewise, you can cause serious harm to the NCR and potentially kill several of their troops or even civilians, but as long as you do all of this before confronting Benny or entering the Lucky 38 and don't kill Ambassador Crocker or Colonel Moore, you'll receive a pardon from the NCR, who will have no problem accepting your help despite the trouble you caused them.
** Inversely, there's certain points in the game that making certain decisions will cause factions to turn on you, even if there's no feasible way they could have gained knowledge of these choices that fast. The game handwaves it as you being under surveillance... [[VoodooShark inside the most secure facility in the entire Mojave, which no one but you has entered for decades]]. Although there are hints that the NCR is cyber-spying on House (given that he hasn't updated his systems since before the Great War, shouldn't be difficult) with Yes Man and his programmer being a possible example.
** In the quest given by Marcus, you can ask him for 2500 caps to bribe the mercenaries so they don't attack Jacobstown, only to convince them using a Speech option, and keep the caps for yourself. As long as you only ask for 2,500 and not 3,000, the game doesn't punish you with bad Karma for ripping off Marcus, and Marcus will even congratulate you on resolving the conflict nonviolently.
* KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge:
** The good karma ending of ''Old World Blues'' states that the Courier [[spoiler:went on to serve as protector of Big MT for many years, releasing beneficial technology to aid in the development of the Mojave, on an as-needed basis.]]
** Also should the Courier decide to not inform the NCR about the ''[[KillSat Archimedes II]]'' and instead chose to rewire the Helios One power-plant to provide free electricity for the entire Mojave Desert. An agent from the Followers of the Apocalypse is also there and seeks you help in hiding the destructive potential of the plant from the NCR and the Legion.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: A Evil Courier who still ends up screwing over or outright destroying some of the nastier factions {Such as the Legion, Powder Gangers, Fiends and Omertas} is basically doing this.
* LibertyOverProsperity: [[spoiler: The WildCard ending has the Courier create an independent New Vegas for this reason, believing that people of the Mojave deserve to control their own destiny rather than be ruled by another. ''No Gods, No Masters''. However, if you make the right choices and broker the right agreements, you can [[EarnYourHappyEnding help New Vegas have (most of) their cake and eat it too]], putting them in a position to both prosper (albeit not as much as they would have under House) and retain their independence from any one faction.]]
* LightningBruiser: If you have high Strength, high Endurance, high Agility, and take the Travel Light perk (which allows the Courier to move ''10% faster'' while wearing light armor or no armor whatsoever), you can invoke this.
* LiteralMinded: If playing with low intelligence, the Courier's social intelligence is just as bad, and some of the dialogue options change accordingly, much to the annoyance of some of the people you meet.
* LivingLegend: After a while, you can simply mention you're "The Courier" for the enemy to get nervous.
** The first time players will probably notice this is the reaction of Boxcars, who's one of two survivors of the Legion's razing of Nipton. Boxcars has survived the Legion having decapitated a quarter of the town, crucifying the rest, and as he came second in [[SadisticChoice their lottery]], they left him alive but crippled. But even all that doesn't scare him as much as seeing the Courier walk in.
--->'''Boxcars''': [[OhCrap Are you fucking kidding me?]] First I get my legs smashed, and then in walks the Powder Gangers' [[TheDreaded Grim Fucking Reaper.]] What the fuck have you got against us, man?!
** The end of ''Lonesome Road'' counts, too. When you walked in, the locals-- mutated soldiers and horrifying freaks of nature-- harassed you to no end. When you walk back out, they keep their distance out of either respect or ''fear''.
** This is the whole reason the Courier is courted by Caesar and the NCR shortly after arriving on the strip: after hunting your would-be killer across the desert and waltzing into the Lucky 38 like you owned the place, they want you on ''their'' side. Caesar in particular is especially impressed if you kill Benny and House before meeting him.
* MadeOfIron:
** You survived being shot in the head [[DoubleTap twice]] and then being buried.
** Also, with an implant, two level perks, and two DLC perks, you can have a naked DT of 13.2, which is higher than most light armor.
* MagnificentBastard: An {{invoked}} play style. High Intelligence and Speech-based Couriers, as well as those who take the Independent path, can manipulate just about everyone they come across without even trying.
* MasterActor: In ''Old World Blues'', [[spoiler:the Courier can impersonate DR. MOBIUS himself in order to intimidate the Think Tank into backing down]], provided you have the necessary skills to pull it off.
* MasterOfAll: A Courier with high intelligence can end up being this at levels above 40 (especially if you acquired the Skilled trait early in the game, bought implants and got books that increase the stats of a skill by 3 or 4), getting to the point where even stats you ignored for most of the game end up with more of 60 points.
* MasterOfDisguise: If you can procure yourself the clothes of a faction, you'll appear as one of them to anyone who sees you, which allows you to walk past enemies without them opening fires.
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''Lonesome Road'', [[spoiler:it turns out that by delivering a certain package from Navarro to the Divide, the Courier inadvertently activated the [=ICBMs=] hidden underground, destroying the thriving settlement there, and instilling Ulysses with some twisted ideas about how a single person could determine the fate of a nation.]] ''Honest Hearts'' revealed that this had another big effect: the nuking killed large numbers of both NCR and Legion soldiers, but turned out massively beneficial for the Legion, both because [[WeHaveReserves the NCR troops were worth proportionally more]] and because the incident crippled the NCR expeditionary force's supply lines right as they were about to capitalize on a major victory.
-->'''Joshua Graham:''' I can say that we were both lucky that NCR's supply lines and land routes north of Mojave Outpost were destroyed before the Battle of Hoover Dam. Something bad happened near Death Valley, at a place called the Divide. NCR couldn't cut across anymore and it slowed down their reinforcements. Terrible storms ripped entire companies apart before they even got to Nevada soil. The aftermath of Hoover Dam could have been far worse for Caesar.
* MildlyMilitary: If you side with the NCR. You do numerous missions for them, some of which include slaughtering entire armies, but you're still officially considered a civilian (Mr. New Vegas' broadcasts refer to you as a "civilian contractor"). They also put you in charge of NCR forces at several points in the game and give you some high level NCR armor (and a beret that designates the owner as an officer) and weapons. Additionally, a high NCR rep lets you boss around several NCR officers. Examples:
** If you get "Accepted" reputation with the NCR, you can acquire an emergency radio that lets you call in a Ranger or a Trooper to help you fight whenever you want. Said Ranger[=/=]Trooper will be under your command and follow you around and heal after fights, just like a companion.
** The final section of "Restoring Hope" involves you commanding an NCR squad (usually about four troopers, not including an extra one you may have called with the radio) and leading them in the attack on Nelson. They'll follow you on path you choose: frontal assault or ambush through the mountains.
** A squad of six Veteran Rangers are explicitly placed under your command in the final battle. You can get them to snipe, follow you, or just kill all the enemies in the area for you.
** In "Three Card Bounty", you can have First Recon follow you and kill one of the bounties, one Driver Nephi.[[note]]This will cost you some extra cash if you're careful as they aim for the head and you need the head intact to get the full bounty.[[/note]]
** With a high enough NCR rep, you can simply demand additional troopers as part of the "No, Not Much" quest instead of doing favors for the commanders of the bases you visit.
* MoralityPet: The Courier could qualify as this for House, particularly if they end the game with high karma.
-->"Mr. House afforded [the Courier] every luxury at his disposal in the Lucky 38 out of gratitude and a quiet sense of pride for his choice in lieutenants."
* MouthOfSauron: Should you decide to side with Mr. House, you'll step into this role for him, acting as his emissary in any matters that require a face-to-face presence. You aren't the leader however, as Mr. House is making all the shots.
* MrViceGuy / MsViceGirl: The Courier can be played like this; [[TheStoner frequently using addictive chems]], [[TheAlcoholic always being drunk]], [[ReallyGetsAround having lots of flings (including soliciting prostitutes)]], [[TheGamblingAddict constantly gambling]] and [[{{Greed}} talking people into giving them a bigger reward]], while having high Karma and/or picking polite dialogue options.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Between the Melee and Unarmed skills, if it stabs, slices, or smashes, you can use it.
* MultiRangedMaster: Practically required for Couriers who focus on Guns or Energy Weapons, since they'll be using scrounged weapons and ammo for at least a little while and have to switch between whatever happens to be in the best condition at the moment. Later, when resources become less scarce, it's still a good idea to carry (at least) a scoped rifle for long-ranged combat in the wastes, a SMG or shotgun for short- to medium-ranged combat, and a (preferably silenced) pistol that can be smuggled into any of several areas that check you for weapons upon entry.
* MultipleChoicePast: The player can choose a number of details regarding their past, such as their age, their relationship with their mother, and their familiarity with the Brotherhood.
* MysteriousPast: Much of the Courier's history is left up in the air in the main game. You're mostly a blank slate, in sharp contrast to the three main series ''Fallout'' games where your past is known and relatively benign. However, some dialogues and stat checks imply a few things, namely :
** A male Courier can infer he slept with at least one woman in Montana in 2263.
** The Courier has been to New Reno and Utah before, where they learned the language of the Zion tribals, as well as bits of Spanish. Ulysses also implies that they went to several other [=NCR=] cities like Vault City.
** Dialogue with Boone indicates a knowledge of military topics such as sniper teams.
** A high Intelligence Courier knows Latin and shows advanced knowledge of computers, implying an educated background.
** Some optional dialogue with Veronica can even imply the Courier doesn't know where they were born.
** If the quest info is not just for out-of-universe convenience, the Courier's enough of a music buff to name most of their quests after song titles.
** The [=DLCs=] then subvert this, especially ''Lonesome Road''. Exhaust all the dialogue options you can with people, because it turns out you've been shaping the fate of the Mojave for a long time even before the game began and you were hired by House. You just never realized how big an impact you were making.
* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: The Courier takes on many, many jobs throughout his romps throughout the wasteland, including [[BountyHunter bounty hunter]], [[HiredGuns mercenary]], [[MrFixit repairman]], [[TheShrink psychologist]], [[TheMedic doctor]], [[VeteranInstructor drill instructor]], [[TheKingslayer assassin]], [[SupremeChef chef]], {{hunter|OfMonsters}}, [[TechnoWizard computer programmer]], and [[CaptainObvious of course]], Courier.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** [[spoiler:Nice job single-handedly destroying the Mojave's greatest, most promising civilization and turning it into an irradiated, stormy hellhole, Courier.]] In all fairness, the storms are the result of something else, and the Courier could not have known what was about to take place. Also, one has to wonder how much of this is Ulysses simply glorifying that which he lost.
** Though it's undeniable that, by unwittingly destroying Hopeville and Ashton, the NCR's supply chain into the Mojave was drastically slowed down, allowing the Legion to maintain a toehold in the region after being routed at the First Battle of Hoover Dam. So, in a roundabout way, they are responsible for the entirety of the game's conflict.
** If you decide to go for a Wild Card ending as Good Karma, it's revealed that [[spoiler: Vegas just got more chaotic than ever. It's even worse if you didn't upgrade the Securitrons, deal with the Powder Gangers or the Fiends, where the Mojave is shown to be thrown into complete chaos.]]
* NominalHero: An Evil or Neutral Karma Courier who goes for the House or NCR endings will end up as this. It's also entirely possible to pick the heroic options in quests just so you can shake people down for caps.
* OddFriendship: The Courier's companions are '''weird'''.
** In the main game: A flying robot created by a fascist, pre-war paramilitary organization that flew to the Mojave from the Potomac; a suicidal, [[spoiler:self-widowed]], ex-military ColdSniper; a lesbian wandering tinkerer with ties to a feudalistic post-war paramilitary organization; a gay doctor [[spoiler:with ties to a fascist, pre-war paramilitary organization]]; a 209-year-old [[RobotDog cyberdog]]; a blunt, foul-mouthed, gun-toting [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] known to get around with guys almost as much as she does with a bottle of whiskey; a 234-year-old Mexican ghoul [[MrFixit handyman]] [[spoiler:and onetime {{vigilante|Man}} ''[[TheGunslinger vaquero]]'']]; and a schizophrenic, AxeCrazy super mutant [[NeverMessWithGranny grandmother]].
** In ''Dead Money'': A mute, lesbian assassin that's part of an offshoot of a post-war feudalistic paramilitary organization; a super mutant with two [[SplitPersonality separate personalities]], an ExtremeOmnivore of a DumbMuscle and a ControlFreak of a GeniusBruiser; and a 200-year-old celebrity-turned-survivalist ghoul.
** ''Honest Hearts'' has two relatively tame tribals that can be your companions, but you can also have an [[ImplacableMan Implacable]] ChurchMilitant that was TheDragon to the BigBad of the main game as your companion.
** ''Lonesome Road'' gives you a copy of the aforementioned flying robot as a companion, but this time it has an excitable personality. [[spoiler:If you choose to talk down Ulysses, you can add a slightly-deranged ex-Legion WarriorPoet ''who's spent the last four years plotting to murder you and destroy the NCR'' to the list.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: Although the character's age is ambiguous, it is implied that a male Courier is old enough to have a 17-year-old son (and presumably the female is of a similar age), still, you can make him look as young as possible.
* OldSoldier: The age of your character can be adjusted during creation, allowing the Courier to look like a weathered and seasoned veteran of the wastes. However, many of the older [=NPCs=] will still refer to you as "kid".
* OmnicidalNeutral:
** [[spoiler:It is an option in the Wild Card ending; you can collect the weak and destitute factions under your banner or crush them and rule yourself.]]
** [[spoiler:Especially if you stack it with the latter above, in ''Lonesome Road'', you can choose to launch nuclear missiles against NCR and Legion's only pathways to the Mojave and thus leaving them to slowly choke to death from the lack of a trade routes (in NCR's case). Yikes.]]
* OneManArmy: If you level up enough, you don't need anyone besides you and your weapon of choice. People lampshade how the Courier seems to be a force of nature, being able to do the impossible, most noticeably if the player chooses to kill Caesar or President Kimball. And by the end of the game, you've single-handedly tipped the balance of power in the Mojave for your faction of choice and ensured their conquest.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: A Courier can make it clear that is only helping someone just for a fee. Strangely in most cases will still receive positive karma anyway.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: With a high Science skill (with some overlap from a high Medicine skill), the Courier can become an expert in chemistry, biology, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs biochemistry]], robotics, computer programming, radiology, neurology, psychology, electromagnetics, and aeronautics, among other things.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Downplayed; you can mention your name in your own dialogue, and certain characters will know who you are, but of course, the current technical limitations of voice acting means that they will never call you anything but "Courier" out loud. The Courier sometimes does have the option to simply introduce him or herself solely by the nickname/job title.
* OnlySaneMan: In ''Old World Blues''. Says something that you're this even if your Intelligence is less than three.
* OutsideContextProblem: To either the NCR or the Legion, if you don't pick their side. The Courier's quest has nothing directly to do with the war over the Hoover Dam, and they were a complete unknown before the events of the game. You can start meddling with their business from the moment you reach either Nipton or the NCR Correction Facility, and by the time you reach The Strip, whichever side you didn't pick (if not both) realizes that you're a big enough threat to warrant ''hit squads'' constantly sent after you.
* ThePigPen: [[spoiler:Their brain]] complains about their hygiene, and it's safe to assume they know what they're talking about.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Was on the ''receiving end'' of one, and not only survived it, but also has no scar to show from the ''double'' gunshot to the face they suffered. Doc Mitchell's dialogue at the start of the game implies that your face was actually a mess, and he did some pretty damn impressive reconstructive surgery. Mainly this serves as a HandWave for the player customizing the character's appearance.
* ReallyGetsAround: With the perks Lady Killer, Black Widow, La Femme, and Confirmed Bachelor the Courier has more romance than any other Fallout protagonist.
* RebelLeader: In the "Independent" path, where you can lead the various minor factions in the game against ''all three major powers''.
* RebelliousSpirit: The Independent path in a nutshell, particularly since you'll likely be betraying more than one of the factions you've reached high approval with.
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: [[spoiler: In the Wild Card finale, the Courier doesn't seem to solve any of the Mojave's problems, such as destroying the Fiends, despite having an army of advanced securitrons.]]
* {{Robosexual}}: Some dialogue options for FISTO, a sex-bot looking like a normal Protectron, paint the Courier as downright ''excited'' at the prospect of, ahem, using its services.
-->Woohoo! <assume the position>
* SixthRanger: You can be this to the NCR or the Legion if you join them: you operate outside the basic command structure but are recognized as the reason they gained control of the Mojave.
* ShroudedInMyth: Played with. While some [=NPCs=] recognize and are aware of the things the Courier has done, there are those who either don't believe the Courier was responsible or dismiss the various stories as little more than rumour.
** Possibly averted by Mr New Vegas, who only ever refers to the Courier by name ''once'' when reporting this miraculous recovery in Goodsprings. It's left vague whether he's aware or simply doesn't acknowledge that the lone civilian responsible for most of the other current news in the Mojave happens to be the ''same'' person.
** Ulysses' dialogue suggests that his obsession with the Courier has essentially mythologized them in his eyes.
* SilverFox: With Lady Killer/Black Widow perks and an aged Courier, you can basically invoke this in the people you meet.
* SmarterThanYouLook: If you pass intelligence checks with some people, they'll remark how you're "not as dumb as you look". Even with high Intelligence, [[SarcasticDevotee Raul]] still treats the Courier as if they were [[IdiotHero a moron]].
* SmugSnake: There are certainly dialogue options available, which especially fit if you haven't played them with the competence they imply.
-->'''Oliver''': Do you seriously think you have what it takes to build a nation? Carve out a frontier, train troops, build roads, and create towns?\\
'''Courier''': My sycophants tell me "Yes".
* TheStarscream: A Wild Card Courier can be this to House, Colonel Cassandra Moore or Caesar, if you decide to accept main quests from a faction, only to choose to be Wild Card before the final battle [[spoiler: Although is only necessary to kill House to complete that ending. ]]
* StupidEvil: A wild card with evil Karma can end up being this, since most evil decisions are things that end up affecting him, such as killing possible allies.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: A Male Courier with the Lady Killer Perk can invoke this when nervously asking if the Lonesome Drifter, who has travelled from Montana to the Mojave [[LukeYouAreMyFather looking for his father]], wouldn't happen to be ''exactly'' 17 years old? When he replies he isn't, he asks ''why'' the Courier is [[DisappearedDad so interested]] in knowing his age.
--> '''Courier''': [[BlatantLies No reason]].
* TerrorHero: Via the Terrifying Presence perk.
-->'''Brotherhood of Steel Paladin''': We heard Veronica talking with the Elder. We won't stand for this.\\
'''Courier''': I will cast down your codex and ''bask'' in the dying agony of those who hold it dear.\\
'''Brotherhood of Steel Paladin''': No. ''No!''
* TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain: Shot in the head at close range, ''[[DoubleTap twice]]'', and buried in a shallow grave at the very beginning of the game. Naturally, being the PlayerCharacter, they get better, though some quick work on the part of an escort robot and the local doctor, along with being the ''Fallout'' universe, could affect the outcome. [[note]]On a meta level, it's assured the Courier would survive. Even with a max Guns skill (which Benny doesn't have), it's impossible to kill even an Endurance-1 Courier with two head shots.[[/note]]
* ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil: A Yes-man ending where the securitrons are not upgraded (or even destroyed), while the fiend leaders and Powder Gangers are still alive, will see the Mojave become an anarchist world filled with chaos and death. If you have good karma, this can also be considered an example of NiceJobBreakingItHero
* TokenEvilTeammate: The Courier is the only non-antagonist character who can be unambiguously evil, as the rest of their allies are all trying to help people, and even Graham is good-intentioned if he goes off the deep end. A Courier with Evil Karma will also end up being this if you ultimately side with the NCR.
* TokenGoodTeammate: The only character in Dead Money who can be unambiguously good, since even Christine is willing to let your collar go off to take out Elijah. Alternatively, [[TokenEvilTeammate you can gleefully bully and manipulate your fellow prisoners]] for your own greed. A Courier with Good Karma can also be this to The Legion, as they work with them but still try to do the right thing in spite of the Legion's brutal actions and structure.
* TongueTied: In ''Old World Blues'', the Think Tank have put in mental conditioning that prevents you from talking about Big MT to the outside world as a handwave for keeping the events of that DLC self-contained.
* TookALevelInBadass:
** You're just a regular delivery person... then you take two shots to the head. The rest of the game sees you slowly solving every challenge you come up against, tearing through established powerhouses and steering the fate of the Mojave by your own hands.
** If you managed to pass all of Lanius' speech checks (requires 100 speech skill to pass all of them), he will comment that the two bullet holes in your head are making you strong.
* {{Transhuman}}: Thanks to a selection of cybernetic implants, especially a few that boost mental aspects.
* UnexplainedRecovery: Sure, you know that Doc Mitchell saved you, but to everyone involved in your death, you're a ghost coming to haunt them. Played for all it's worth in dialogue choices:
** From one of the Great Khans present;
--->'''Jessup''': What the hell, you're supposed to be dead!\\
'''Courier''': I got better. / I'm a ghost, here to haunt you. Oooooohh!
** And Benny, the man who put you in the ground.
--->'''Benny''': Hu-- wha-- you're... how are you alive?\\
'''Courier''': I got better.
** When first meeting Veronica:
--->'''Veronica''': You look like a mess. Where do you come from?\\
'''Courier''': The grave.\\
'''Veronica''': [[VerbalBackspace Huh. I take that back.]] You look pretty good, all things considered.
* UngratefulBastard: You can have the Courier be this to Doc Mitchell and Goodsprings if you choose to side with the Powder Gangers: He saves your life and helps you completely free of charge, so how do you repay him? Manipulate him into giving you medical supplies to help a gang of convicts take over the town, and then murder him alongside the majority of the town's residents when they try to fight back.
* UnstoppableMailman: Being a courier in the world of ''Fallout'' is not for the faint of heart. During the first half of the game as you track Benny to the Strip, you have the option of telling characters, up to and including Benny himself, that you have no interest in vengeance or payback, you just want your package back so you can complete the delivery. Other characters express various shades of disbelieving humor that finishing your job is more important to you than revenge on the man who shot you in the head.
-->'''Mr. House''': You've been a very busy courier, haven't you? You take your obligation to deliver a package very seriously; an ethic for which I am grateful.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: One package you delivered before the story began was [[spoiler:an active detonator that turns The Divide into the hell hole it is in the present day.]]
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: One of the reasons you can give for allying with the Legion.
* VagueAge: While the first two ''Fallout'' games let you set your age, and the third game set you as a teenager / young adult, this game is very vague. There's a hint you're in your 30s-40s[[note]]Optional dialogue where you could be worried about fathering a 17-year old child in Montana means you're probably mid-to-late 30s at the youngest[[/note]], but it's only a hint. The ability to customize your character's facial appearance only adds to the ambiguity; an Age slider during character creation lets you change how old your character ''looks'', but there's no option to decide how old they actually are. Some characters such as Benny, Johnson Nash and Caleb [=McCaffery=] refer to the Courier with terms like "youngster" and "kid" regardless of appearance.
* VillainProtagonist: If you don't find the idea of playing as TheHero appealing, you don't have to be one; you can act like the biggest asshole ever to walk the wastes instead. Even more so than the evil versions of the Vault Dweller, Chosen One, Lone Wanderer, and Sole Survivor, as the main story at least pitted them against monsters who were planning to destroy most of the remaining human race. However, the Courier can hook up with the Legion to bring a nation of crucifying, rapist slavers to power, throw New Vegas into absolute anarchy and chaos with help from (but much to the regret of) Yes Man, join forces with Father Elijah and turn the Mojave in a completely uninhabitable, poisonous wasteland (although doing so results in a NonStandardGameOver), and utterly obliterate several factions in horrible ways ForTheEvulz.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The player can actively encourage this. For example having Evil Karma but good Reputation with most of the factions.
* WarriorTherapist: Among the eleven possible companions, only ED-E, an eyebot, and Rex, a cybernetic dog, do not seek guidance from the Courier. Dean Domino can also count, depending on how nice they are with him. It is especially true with Veronica, with whom The Courier can be something of a BigBrotherMentor[=/=]CoolBigSis. Her reliance on them for emotional support and advice is quite apparent throughout her personal sidequest.
* WastelandWarlord: In the Wild Card ending, you can [[spoiler:betray and overthrow Mr. House, expel the NCR and Legion out of the Mojave, and then rule over New Vegas as a despot backed up by your army of Securitrons]].
* WearingAFlagOnYourHead: The same way as Ulysses after completing ''Lonesome Road''. Doubly so, you not only get a duplicate of Ulysses' duster, but you also get your own based on your end faction choice as a gift from Ulysses. The Mr. House version looks identical to Ulysses' Duster.
* WildCard: You tip the balance of power in the Mojave Wasteland, whether to the NCR, Legion, House [[spoiler:or yourself]]. This is even the name of story arc set around doing this.
* YouAreNumberSix: Is literally the sixth Courier who have been hired by Mr. House (and the one carrying the Platnium Chip itself) and is therefore called "Courier Six" by some characters.
* YouNoTakeCandle: A Courier with low intelligence will sometimes speak this way. For instance, responding "me take your job cause me smarter" when Fantastic asks if NCR sent the Courier to replace him.

----

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:As revealed in the Amazon Prime series, all their struggles and hardships don't accomplish anything since the NCR is left in uncertain but dire straits with New Vegas itself seemingly a destroyed husk by 2296.]]

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:The Amazon Prime series reveals that nothing they do matters as Vault-Tec will nuke the NCR's Shady Sands and New Vegas itself seemingly abandoned by 2296. Whether the Courier themself even survived the destruction is unknown.]]

* FailureHero: [[spoiler:The Amazon Prime series reveals that New Vegas has been destroyed and abandoned, meaning that all their efforts amounted to nothing regardless of which faction they supported. Even worse for an NCR-aligned Courier since the faction is essentially destroyed by Vault-Tec.]]

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:The Amazon Prime series reveals that nothing they do matters as the NCR will be wiped out by Vault-Tec and New Vegas itself will be left an abandoned husk by 2296. Whether the Courier themself even survived the destruction is unknown.]]

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:As revealed in the Amazon Prime series, all their struggles and hardships don't accomplish anything since the NCR is left all but destroyed with New Vegas itself a destroyed husk by 2296.]]

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:The Amazon Prime series reveals that nothing they do matters as the NCR will be wipes out by Vault-Tec and New Vegas itself will be left an abandoned husk. Whether the Courier themselves even survived the destruction is unknown.]]

* EvilVersusEvil: When an Evil Courier decides to go up against The Legion, especially if you're doing the Wild Card route.

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:The Paramount series reveals that nothing they do matters as the NCR will be wipes out by Vault-Tec and New Vegas itself will be left an abandoned husk. Whether the Courier themselves even survived the destruction is unknown.]]

* FailureHero: [[spoiler:The Paramount series reveals that New Vegas has been destroyed and abandoned, meaning that all their efforts amounted to nothing regardless of which faction they supported. Even worse for an NCR-aligned Courier since the faction is essentially destroyed by Vault-Tec.]]

* CursedWithAwesome:
** In ''Old World Blues'', you get your brain, heart, and spine surgically removed by Dr. Dala. However, the same process nets you cybernetic replacements that work ''even better''.
*** You can even remove the "Cursed" part by getting your original Brain, Heart and Spine back, but with some advanced tech remaining with them, and while some of the bonuses are reduced, other bonuses are actually increased. For example, your artificial spine gives +1 Strength and immunity to torso crippling, but with your organic spine restored, that torso crippling immunity is toned back to crippling ''resistance'', while that +1 becomes a +2 Strength.

** Inversely, there's certain points in the game that making certain decisions will cause factions to turn on you, even if there's no feasible way they could have gained knowledge of these choices that fast. The game handwaves it as you being under surveillance... [[VoodooShark inside the most secure facility in the entire Mojave, which no one but you has entered for decades]].
*** [[{{Reconstruction}} Although there are hints that the NCR is cyber-spying on House (given that he hasn't updated his systems since before the Great War, shouldn't be difficult) with Yes Man and his programmer being a possible example.]]

The Courier was just [[UnluckyEverydude a regular schmuck]] working for the Mojave Express. During a particularly ''strange'' delivery job, they're ambushed on the road. The ringleader of your muggers, a man named Benny wearing a [[IconicOutfit distinctive checker-coated suit]], steals their package (a [[MacGuffin rather important]] Platinum Chip), [[DoubleTap puts two 9mm bullets]] [[BoomHeadshot into their skull]], and has them [[BuriedAlive buried in a shallow grave]] just outside of town.

* ReallyGetsAround: With the perks Lady Killer, Black Widow, La Femme, and Confirmed Bachelor the Courrier has more romance than any other Fallout protagonist.

** The first time players will probably notice this is the reaction of Boxcars, who's one of two survivors of the Legion's razing of Nipton. Boxcar has survived the Legion having decapitated a quarter of the town, crucifying the rest, and as he came second in [[SadisticChoice their lottery]], they left him alive but crippled. But even all that doesn't scare him as much as seeing the Courier walk in.

* ExactWords: If you do the boomer quests for some faction, but you plan a Wild Card, you can tell the leader of that faction that you managed to get the loyalty of the boomers, without specifying that they are loyal to you, not him.

** The Lone Wanderer was 19 when they left the Vault and as such had no knowledge of the world since they lived their entire life in the Vault; the Courier's age is unknown but it's hinted you're in your 30s at least,[[note]]A male courier implies he had a fling with a woman in Montana around 17-18 years ago, meaning he was at least at the age of sexual maturity at that time.[[/note]] you were born in the wasteland (though to be fair [[spoiler: so was the Lone Wanderer]]) and are a seasoned explorer.

* EvilerThanThou: A very evil Courier can take the Wild Arm route and rule a despotic regime worse than the Legion could ever hope to be. Though an evil karma courier ''can'' kill [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the Fiends]], this ends up being subverted as killing the Fiends racks up a lot of good karma and can therefore [[HeelFaceTurn turn an evil karma courier into a good or neutral karma one]].

* FoeRomanceSubtext: A female courier has a lot of very good reasons to hate Benny and want to watch him die. That does not prevent her from potentially sleeping with him. Even ''he'' is initially freaked out by this.

* HiddenDepths: A courier with high intelligence can show some knowledge of Latin and speak full sentences in it, enough to fool a Legion's centurion.

* VagueAge: While the first two ''Fallout'' games let you set your age, and the third game set you as a teenager / young adult, this game is very vague. There's a hint you're in your 30s-40s[[note]]Optional dialogue where you could be worried about fathering a 17-year old child in Montana means you're probably mid-to-late 30s at the youngest[[/note]], but it's only a hint. The ability to customize your character's facial appearance only adds to the ambiguity; an Age slider during character creation lets you change how old your character ''looks'', but there's no option to decide how old they actually are. Some characters such as Benny, Johnson Nash and Caleb [=McCaffery=] refer to the courier with terms like "youngster" and "kid" regardless of appearance.

* GadgeteerGenius: With the "Jury Rigging" perk, they can somehow repair [[DropTheHammer Super Sledges]] with a pool cue, a [[ChainsawGood ripper]] with a combat knife, or a PowerFist with a regular glove. It's even pointed out in the perk description:

* HatedByAll: You can achieve this by getting a “Villified” reputation with each faction.

* AssassinOutclassin: You'll end up doing many of these if you get on the wrong side of the NCR or Ceasar's Legion as you trounce the hit squads they send to deal with you.

* EasilyForgiven: Depending on how you play, the Courier can do this with Benny and Jessup, forgetting revenge to do other things, or even going as far as saving them, which in Benny's case causes an automatic reputation drop from the legion.

** If you decide to go for a Wild Card ending as Good Karma, it's revealed that [[spoiler: Vegas just got more chaotic than ever. It's even worse if you didn't upgrade the Securitrons, deal with the Gunpowder Gangers or the Fiends, where the Mojave is shown to be thrown into complete chaos.]]

* ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil: A Yes-man ending where the securitrons are not upgraded (or even destroyed), while the fiend leaders and Powder gangers are still alive, will see the Mojave become an anarchist world filled with chaos and death. If you have good karma, this can also be considered an example of NiceJobBreakingItHero

** At one point, you can act perform brain surgery. This takes either a lot of skill in Medicine, or a high Luck stat. With the latter, you can admit that you had absolutely no idea what you were doing, but succeeded anyway.

** Dialogue with Boone indicates a knowledge about military topics such as sniper teams.

** If the quest info is not just for out-of-universe convenience, the Courier's enough of a music buff to name most of his quests after song titles.

%%%* ObliviousToLove: Can seem this way with Cass.