History Characters / FalloutNewVegasTheStrip

* ElaborateUndergroundBase: His [[spoiler:Securitron factory]] under the Fort. The Lucky 38 also has a number of subterranean levels that seem to be much larger than the ones aboveground.

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Lucky 38, which (barring the odd mountain) can be seen from any vantage in the Mojave.

** He hired Emily Ortal to reprogram Yes Man, promising her that he'd help the Followers of the Apocalypse in exchange, but then banned her from his casino after she finished the job. While that was a dick move, Emily is fully aware of his plans to turn on Mr. House, making her an extremely dangerous witness: all she'd have to do is whisper a few words to a securitron, and Benny would be done for. This is the point where the villain always has the witness murdered to keep them quiet. But Benny never harms her or tries to go after her, similarly to the Courier route above he actually lets her go. Also worth noting that even though he didn't keep his promise to her, ultimately his plans to overthrow Mr. House would still benefit the Followers.

* BigBadWannabe: For an NCR, Legion or Independent Courier. He has grand ambitions about setting up a military dictatorship in Vegas, but can be easily killed within five minutes of stepping onto the Strip before he can do anything.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: House claims his only interest is securing and expanding a prosperous future for mankind; he sees New Vegas as the way to do this via its economic and technological potential, and he is the best one to run New Vegas due to his genius in such matters. Thus, as far as House is concerned, all three of those elements directly correlate to one another -- what he decides is best for Vegas is what's best for humankind. When combined with his belief that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, House's decision-making process boils down to "how does this benefit me or New Vegas" and then "is the result worth the risk and cost of doing it." Beyond those two questions, the morality of things is irrelevant to him either way.

* BigBadWannabe: He's aiming to take over the Mojave, but is nowhere near as smart, strong and/or persistent as the Courier or House. While he might have succeeded in being able to take over the Strip by usurping House, it's highly dubious as to how well he could have dealt with the Legion or NCR, to say nothing of the many outside factions he'd have to deal with.

* JerkassHasAPoint: If you call him out on his murderousness, he counters with the fact that the stakes of his plan -- the fate of three entire nations -- are so high that yes, he's perfectly willing to murder to achieve success. Turns out he's right; in every ending path, you'll be forced to assassinate people.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: To a very evil Courier.

* TheNicknamer: Calls [[HeyYou the Courier]] "Baby" [[HoYay regardless of gender]].

* PetTheDog: When you confront him at his casino, there is a route where he traps you in a room and is about to send four assassins to kill you. But you can speak with him through intercoms before he does. If you beg him for mercy, point out that you are just a courier who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and promise that you'll never go after him again if he lets you go... ''he actually lets you go.''

** If you free him from the Legion, he disappears.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: A DummiedOut piece of dialog from Veronica based on a post-House ending has her state that she's proud of fighting for House (or in her words, "the kooky old geezer") since he reminds her of Elijah, or at least the parts of Elijah that she admired.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He killed his tribe leader in order to side the Boot Riders with Mr. House and reform them as the Chairmen, then he began plotting to overthrow House, and he runs out on the Great Khans he hired to ambush you without paying them. When it comes to his dealings with you, Benny talks a lot about how WeCanRuleTogether, but is never sincere about it. DummiedOut dialogue implies that he would have ambushed you after freeing him from The Fort, [[UngratefulBastard mocking you for showing mercy to a weasel like him]].

* UngratefulBastard: He was [[DummiedOut originally supposed]] to ambush the Courier with a Stealth Boy and try to kill them after the Courier saved his life from Caesar's Legion.

** If you free him from the Legion, he disappears. In a deleted scene, [[UngratefulBastard he was going to ambush The Courier later on and mock him/her for showing him mercy]].

** Also, there's a piece of DummiedOut dialogue for the Independent ending that hints at a sadistic side:
--->''"Greetings, General Oliver. The disappointment you're about to experience ''delights'' me!"''

* AntiHero: Something of the sort, if you take his claims of wanting the humanity to prosper (by ''his'' rules and with ''him'' in charge) at face value, and he also opposes the bigger evil of Caesar's Legion. [[spoiler:Though after the Amazon series implied him to be partially responsible for starting the Great War, he's firmly a Nominal Hero.]]

* AllForNothing: In three endings out of four, where his efforts end with the Courier killing him on behalf of the NCR, Legion, or themselves. [[spoiler: Taken further with the tv show, where it is shown that House had plans in motion as far back as ''before the bombs even fell'' - meaning that it's enetirely possible for you to render his 200+ years of planning all for naught.]]

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: House presents his deal with the Courier as such, reasoning that sooner or later, they'll give him what he wants anyway. His plans on not only arranging a truce with the NCR after pushing it out but also amending the treaty to give New Vegas more perks are similarly framed in such a way that Shady Sands would have no choice ''but'' to agree, both out of practicality and to save face.

* AllForNothing: In three endings out of four, where his efforts end with the Courier killing him on behalf of the NCR, Legion, or themselves.

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: He's a relative pushover in-game, but the ''All Roads'' comic shows that despite his dandy-like appearance, Benny is actually highly skilled in wasteland survival and combat, impressing even his Great Khan henchmen. He used to be a wasteland tribal warrior prior to Mr. House's takeover and renovation of New Vegas, and took over the tribe by defeating the previous leader in a knife fight.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: As a bit player in the grand scheme of things, Benny isn't some super badass or an ultimate ArchEnemy -- he's a guy, admittedly a capable tribal, that doesn't actually have much in the way of armor or gear beyond his special Maria handgun and doesn't quite compare to what the Courier's potentially gone through. If you hit the point where you can directly confront him, there's a pretty high chance that unless you've got the difficulty cranked up, Benny can die in seconds. About the only fair chance he gets is [[spoiler:in a DuelToTheDeath at the Legion arena, and a melee-specced build will still butcher him.]]

* MechaMooks: He runs his own army of securitrons, which even in their basic form make for intimidating guards. With the upgrades provided by the Platinum Chip, however, they become far more dangerous.

-->--->'''Mr House:''' Why is good help so impossible to find?
** On the other hand, House is shown at various points to be an ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter, particularly given enough time to observe. He's notably able give an accurate assessment of NCR President Kimball, General Oliver, Caesar, Legate Lanius, and the Mojave Brotherhood, right down to the odds of them doing certain actions. [[spoiler:In the TV series, it's revealed that he was also one before the Great War, taking jabs at Frederick Sinclair and his inability to run a casino, which proves apropos given what happens to the Sierra Madre.]]

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: House seems determined to surround himself with the most untrustworthy people possible, while not doing enough to try to keep them loyal. He picked Benny as his original protégé, and he doesn't know how close Benny came to overthrowing him until it was too late to intervene. He courted the support of the White Gloves and the Omertas, but he never even bothers to make sure they're actually obeying him. If he wins, he slaughters the Kings if they make peace with the NCR, not realizing they value their independence enough to not join them. And he trusts Courier Six completely, ''including giving them the password to his bunker'', without even trying to make sure they're not doing work for the NCR or the Legion behind his back.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: House presents his deal with the Courier as such, reasoning that sooner or later, they'll give him what he wants anyway. His plans on amending the treaty with the NCR after pushing it out are silary framed in such a way that Shady Sands would have no choice ''but'' to agree, both out of practicality and to save face.

* MechaMooks: His army of securitrons.

* OnlySaneMan: Of the various corporate representatives in the TV show, Mr. House is apparently the only one who questions the sanity and plausibility of what Vault-Tec's proposing. Tellingly, at no point is he shown to agree with the ideas brought up, or propose any Vault experiments of his own.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: There's no question between the NCR and the Legion of which is the "evil" faction -- with NCR and House, it's quite a bit muddier. The two really do want to rebuild a peaceful and stable civilized society in the wasteland, but their views of how to do it are incompatible and the end result differs greatly with a mix of pros and cons. Thus it's up to the player's personal discretion to decide who's in the right and worth backing, or neither of them. [[spoiler: This is eventually subverted in the television series, where it is revealed that he is just as bad as the Legion, being in the same room as those plotting to instigate the Great War itself.]]

* AllForNothing: In three endings out of four, where his efforts end with the Courier killing him on behalf of the NCR, Legion, or themselves. [[spoiler:And as seen in the Amazon series, whichever ending is canon, it ended with New Vegas in ruins, rendering his efforts to preserve it moot]].