History FalloutNewVegas / TropesCToD

** Less surprising with Caesar's Legion. [[spoiler:The ending for the Great Khans is determined by what you do during their main questline. The Legion does their usual enslavement of both women and prideful Khanates if you leave them with the Legion. Oh, and provided you didn't side against the latter.]]
** Caesar's Legion does this in general to most tribes. If you honestly believe they'll make your Amazons into officers, then you're either living under a rock or [[TooDumbToLive just plain deserve it]].

* CaninesGamblingInACardGame: In the cyberdog training area of the Big MT(Old World Blues DLC), the dogs can be found learning how to play poker.

* CattleBaron: Brahmin Barons in NCR are still quite powerful. In the game, there's Heck Gunderson who at first seems like a likable enough character, but it's possible to meet a former rancher that he's stolen land from.

** Via WordOfGod, the series' central theme is that you need to let go of the past. In New Vegas in particular there is a direct correlatiom between a faction's evilness on the Karma Meter and how tightly they cling to the values of the past. This even extends to all of your human/humanoid companions and to all of the DLC.

* CharacterDevelopment: [[spoiler:The Enclave Remnants]] really humanize the faction of [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villains]] they were in VideoGame/Fallout2 and VideoGame/Fallout3 as does [[spoiler:ED-E's creator]] from what we hear.

* DarkerAndEdgier: While at first, the atmosphere in general is LighterAndSofter, especially compared to ''Videogame/Fallout3'', the game is definitely DarkerAndEdgier, as exemplified by the GrayAndGrayMorality and how the villains are CardCarryingVillain no more. Examples such as:
** Caesar's Legion, born out of pragmatism and fanaticism, they operate in the modus of RapePillageAndBurn, also it's pretty clearly willing to decimate their own manpowers for a single failure. They also shown to be willing to accept trafficking and enslave of pregnant woman and even a whole family, as discovered not halfway through the game. While ultimately Caesar's intention were noble, to bring order to the wastes, there is undeniable that Caesar's Legion is far from good.
** The NCR, which is outwardly the most "heroic" side of the struggle, embodies both sides of [[EagleLand modern American stereotypes]]. While most NCR soldiers and persons were sociable and nice, they are later known to heavily tax their controlled territories, and engage in corruption with NCR-based companies operating in New Vegas.

** And then there is the DLC, which, in their own way, were DarkerAndEdgier than the main game content:
*** ''Dead Money'', where you are put into a DeadlyGame in a very hostile and very unhospitable place.
*** ''Honest Hearts'', where while it seems to be LighterAndSofter, the action starts as the member of the caravan were all killed, leaving you as the SoleSurvivor. The ending didn't seem to be better, either the Sorrows and the Dead Horses leave Zion in regret and sadness, or convince them to fight back against the White Legs, dooming Daniel, the missionary that helps the Sorrow, to depression due to how the Sorrows and the Dead Horses become increasingly militant.
*** ''Old World Blues'', while also seems to be LighterAndSofter and DenserAndWackier, it cannot be concealed that Big MT houses inhuman experiments, including a Chinese-American internment camp full of human test subjects.
*** ''Lonesome Road'', which is set in one of the worst places of post-War America.

* TheDrifter: Just like the previous games, you can be this with Good Karma, coming in to save a town from its problems and then hitting the road again. One of the first missions in the game you can get, in fact, is you building up a small town militia to fight off a group of thugs, and this is right after you woke up from being double tapped in the head. Bonus points in that Goodsprings is the very picture of an old western town.

** ''Dead Money'' deconstructs the companion system. None of the three companions in the add-on want anything to do with you and only work for you because they have to, and the story and gameplay, not to mention the BigBad, encourage you to use their specific skills as needed to get to your objectives, then invoke YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on them. Further, the way you treat them ''will'' bite you in the ass once they find out they don't need you alive anymore either; if you treated them poorly before, [[TheDogBitesBack they will respond in kind now that they have the chance]]. [[DeconReconSwitch On the other end]], if you manage to play it perfectly, [[VideoGameCaringPotential you can be kind and gradually help your companions work out their issues]] despite lacking a reason to do so. You are not rewarded for it until the finale of the DLC, where they can all survive and help you defeat Father Elijah, [[EarnYourHappyEnding ultimately securing the best possible ending]].
** ''Lonesome Road'' is one huge kick in the nuts to people who like to roleplay super virtuous characters, and to the broader concept of the PlayerCharacter in general. It turns out even your most minor and inocuous of actions have consequences.

* DeadMansHand: In the expansion ''Dead Money'', the player can get an achievement for getting the dead man's hand from the deadly, abandoned casino Sierra Madre.

* DecoyConvoy: Mr. House has his high-tech platinum chip delivered to him through the use of seven couriers, six of whom are carrying decoys like a chess piece and a pair of fuzzy dice. The seventh courier -- the PlayerCharacter -- carries the chip. However, Benny discovers the route that the Courier will take, ambushes them, and steals the chip, setting up the main plot of the game.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: If you attack any member of a major faction, the rest will know and you will lose reputation with them for it (unless you do a stealth kill). They {{Handwave}} it with both sides having a "robust network of informants", but that's a shallow justification when you're killing Legion recruits in the middle of the desert.

* CharacterDevelopment: [[spoiler:The Enclave Remnants]] really humanize the faction of [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villains]] they were in VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}} and VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} as does [[spoiler:ED-E's creator]] from what we hear.

** As you're poking around your would-be gravesite in Goodsprings, you'll likely come across a bunch of Distinctive Cigarette Butts, as well as a distinctive lighter off a named Great Khan you can kill in Boulder City. Keep these items, they become useful when convincing Swank to turn on Benny.
** In the ''Old World Blues'' expansion, [[spoiler:the injury you sustained at the ''very beginning'' of the game ends up as one of these. It creates a bit of a "wrinkle" in your brain that caused the Auto-Doc responsible for the brain-extraction process to alter its programming, and keep you sane and lucid after it was done.]]

* ChewTheScenery: Doctor Klein, Doctor Borous, and Doctor Mobius in ''Old World Blues''. Klein claims that people keep [[NoIndoorVoice tampering with his voice volume knob.]] You can ask Borous why he always talks dramatically. He responds that there is no drama. [[ForScience ONLY SCIENCE!]] Mobius is a stereotypical MadScientist, so it's to be expected.

** Fans of ''Fallout'' will soon notice the large number of references to towns from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/{{Fallout2}} 2]]'', such as Modoc or the Hub; understandable, since those took place in northern California, not far from Nevada, which is where this game takes place. Some of the original music even creeps in here and there.

** Who is one of the faces on the [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/NCR_dollars NCR currency]], along with [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}} Seth and Aradesh]]. The [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}} Chosen One]] themselves is repeatedly referenced.
** Remember [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}} the crashed vertibird outside Klamath?]] [[CoolOldLady So does its pilot.]] So does the Nightkin who fashioned one of its rotor blades into a {{BFS}}.

** There are also a surprising amount of references to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', both explicitly and thematically:

** Emily Ortal, a Follower and a native of Arroyo, may reward you with medical supplies for completing a small side quest she gives you. She hopes that they are of no use to you... just like Hakunin, the shaman from when it was still a tribal village, from VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}. Except a little less cryptically.

*** TheMaster is also mentioned by other Super mutants and Nightkin

** The Forecaster, a psychic kid who lives under the overpass at the 188 Trading Post, wears a peculiar headband as "headache medicine." It's a psychic nullifier, like the one the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}} Vault Dweller]] could use when going to confront the Master.

*** ''Old World Blues'', while also seems to be LighterAndSofter and DenserAndWackier, it cannot be concealed that the Big Empty houses inhuman experiments, including an internment camp full of human test subjects.
*** ''Lonesome Road'', which set in one of the worst place of the Post-War America.

** The Divide in the addon Lonesome Road after suffering a [[ApocalypseHow regional Class 3 apocalypse]] in the last decade has become a death city all of its own. It is an almost completely inhospitable place to anything that hasn't mutated and adapted to live there, like the [[BodyHorror Marked Men]], the [[TheJuggernaut deathclaws]], and other... [[Film/{{CHUD}} things that live underground]] that are making their way to the surface, which even in small groups can [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu rip a deathclaw to pieces]]. In fact, the conditions of the Divide are possibly a good representation of how most cities like [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} the capital wasteland]] looked in the first few decades after the bombs fell.

* DistractedByTheSexy: The Sexy Sleepwear apparel gives a bonus to Charisma, which relates your Speech and Barter skills. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' also has a unique "Naughty Nightwear", which gives greater boosts to these attributes, and also improves your character's luck.

* ConfirmedBachelor: The "ArmoredClosetGay" variety is the name of the game for this perk, which allows you extra Speech options for any gay men in the game such as Major Knight of the NCR or your companion Arcade Gannon. That being said this perk is ''not'' mutually-exclusive with the "[[TheCasanova Lady Killer]]" perk, allowing the player to roleplay as a bisexual.
* ConflictBall:
** ''[=New Vegas'=]'' often-exaggerated grey-and-grey morality is centered on one choice: [[spoiler: Kill or [[AFateWorseThanDeath disable]] House or exterminate the Brotherhood.]] The game cannot be completed without choosing one or the other. [[spoiler: Since House is the aggressor demanding the Brotherhood's destruction, most players trying to make moral decisions will probably choose to betray House. When you do, he asks with incredulous rage and horror why you've decided to do such a thing, and will lament in anguish all the good that's been undone.]] Both choices cause the player to lose karma, leaving little doubt that the point of the scenario is to try and push the Aesop that no matter how good and moral you try to be, evil actions are inevitable. [[spoiler: The problem is, this "betrayal" is forced by the game for no real reason other than creating unnecessary conflict. Even with 100 Speech and 10 Intelligence, the only objection the player can make to House is "I don't want to kill off the entire Brotherhood," which is hardly convincing. More importantly, there is no dialogue option to simply ''tell'' House that you refuse to destroy the Brotherhood and warn him that he if insists on attempting to do so, you'll have to treat him as an enemy. At the absolute minimum, a player who wasn't morally railroaded could feel better about killing House knowing they warned him against killing innocents and gave him a clear option to save himself and a firm justification why. Additionally, when confronting House, there is no option to bring up this issue as a response to his accusations. The closest thing the player can make to a moral objection is simply saying "I don't like you," so the game essentially railroads the player into the role of either a power-hungry thug or a lackey of one of the other factions and then wags its finger at them to feel guilty about it.]]
** The central conflict of Veronica's mission is her realization of [[spoiler: the inevitable reality that the Brotherhood won't change, and is going to stagnate and die sitting underground doing nothing. This problem cannot be solved in Veronica's mission, and the best she can do is decide how to accept it, with no good ending for the mission or Veronica herself. Except, it's not actually an inevitable reality at all. By completing the Brotherhood questline, the player can completely succeed in convincing the Brotherhood to lift the lockdown, begin interacting with the outside world, and even form an alliance with the NCR. Veronica's mission makes no acknowledgement of this, and there's no option to tell Veronica the good news later on.]] Given how huge the discrepency is between these two missions, this was probably unintentional, but it's part of the game nonetheless.

* ChildSoldiers: Two young boys can be seen receiving military traning inside the Legion's Fort, although they will not attack The Courier if the Legion becomes hostile (and [[InfantImmortality can't be attacked]] as well). Also, according to Ranger Andy in Novac, he suffered his leg injury by being caught off guard by a child (a Legion slave) who was ordered to drop a granade at his feet.

** When the Courier questions Wayne in Freeside about his attackers in the quest G.I. Blues, he says that one of them called another "Lou Tenant" which his friend Roy corrects to "Lieutenant," and says Wayne can be "dumber than a mutant." This is a reference to the Master's Lieutenant in the first game, whose mutant subordinates called him "Lou Tenant".

** There are more crucified men in the game files than those who actually appear ingame. The mentioned-only Mayor Steyn of Nipton also exists as an unused NPC, using the model of the Tops chairman, and his corpse was probably meant to appear.

** The [[spoiler:aliens from the Mothership Zeta DLC]] show up if you have the Wild Wasteland perk.

** Doctor Henry in Jacobstown [[VideoGame/{{Fallout2}} really knows his cyberdogs. He also happens to know a thing or two about mutations.]]

* CreditsGag: If you've got the Wild Wasteland perk, the credits are full of humorous notes, in-jokes, and nicknames as an homage to the first two games, where similar gag credits were seen if you held shift while the credits loaded.

** The Child at Heart perk from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' is in the game, complete with [[https://youtu.be/hrsPlSp4AqY voiced dialogue options from children for it]]. Since there aren't many children in ''New Vegas'', it wouldn't have been very useful.

* {{Courier}}: YOU! As well as the various other couriers that work for the Mojave Express.
* [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly Courier Needs Food Badly]]: In Hardcore Mode, you need to eat, drink, and sleep regularly, or suffer the consequences!

* CorruptQuartermaster: Sgt Daniel Contreras is the New Californa Republic's quartermaster at their Camp [=McCarran=] outpost who exploits his position for personal gain smuggling guns and chems to clients in the Mojave Wasteland. If you complete his unmarked quest for him, he'll give you full access to his inventory and also gives you the This Machine rifle, one of the best weapons in the game.

* CrazySurvivalist: Randall Clark, a pre-War soldier who left the service in disgust after participating in the annexation of Canada, and the former owner of the Desert Ranger Armor in ''Honest Hearts''.

** One day a group of spanish-speaking refugees arrive in the valley, and he decides to watch over them after saving one of their members and sneaking medicine into their camp. One day, the refugees get into a conflict with a group of vault dwellers from Vault 22 (who or what started the conflict is unclear), and they are all wiped out, with the women and children being killed and eaten by the dwellers. Afterwards, Randall goes on a one-man guerrilla campaign against the dwellers, wiping out over 100 of them (more than two thirds of the group) in just ten months.

* DistractedByTheSexy: The Sexy Nightwear apparel gives a bonus to Charisma, which relates your Speech and Barter skills. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' also has a unique "Naughty Nightwear", which gives greater boosts to these attributes, and also improves your character's luck.

** Even the Legion ending is absolutely nothing compared to [[spoiler:siding with Elijah in Dead Money. The ending explains that Elijah proceeded to release the Cloud upon the Mojave, which brought horrible painful death to everything in its wake, before releasing his army of invincible laser shooting holograms to mop up. No living thing set foot in the Mojave for years after due to rumors of ghosts immune to gunfire and a red cloud that brought death in its wake. All that remained was Elijah and the Courier, waiting in the Sierra Madre for the world to [[ArcWords begin again]].]]

** In the main questline, the Courier has the capability to betray not one, not two, but all three factions, murder all three leaders ([[ImAHumanitarian and possibly even devouring them after he kills them]]), and then taking over New Vegas in the resulting power vacuum. And those are just the major factions. You can also get in good with EVERY minor faction in the game, provided you're clever enough not to alienate them by accident, and then, before the final battle, go in and wipe out ALL OF THEM. ICanRuleAlone, indeed...
** There are also plenty of quests that end with the option to slaughter the people you're helping. Help a group of ghouls get to the rockets, then set them to crash into each other. Help restore power to Helios One, then set the defense system to kill everyone unlucky enough to be standing outside. Promise to cut off access to the sulfur mines under the Vault, then set enough explosives to take down the mines ''and'' the Vault. And then there's that self-destruct button in the Brotherhood of Steel bunker...

* DecoyConvoy: Mr. House has his high tech platinum chip delivered to him through the use of six decoys, the seventh- the Player character- the Courier carries the chip. However one of Mr. Houses's Lieutenants discovers the route that the Courier will take ambushes the Courier before bounding, gagged then shooting in the Courier in head before burying them in an unmarked grave, thus setting up the main plot of the game.

** In particular, the Justice Bloc embodies a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority tyranny of the majority]]: as a like-minded group that barely constitutes a majority of the population, they can decide the entire election, letting them threaten their way into whatever they want. [[spoiler:Like blackmailing a woman to perform sexual favors for them so they won't have her husband killed [[DisproportionateRetribution for beating them at cards]] ([[TheCakeIsALie then doing it anyway]]). She got them back, though. With her power as an elected official (gained by ''murdering'' one of the Justice Bloc in response and getting a guaranteed "win" in the election), she stole their majority out from under them.]] After that election, the Overseer instated a random number generator to choose the new Overseer. The Justice Bloc started a coup to "bring order" and lead to the death off all but ''5'' vault dwellers. They started a suicide pact and [[spoiler:4]] of them killed themselves.

* DemocracyIsFlawed: The New California Republic is a democracy styled after pre-War America. Most characters in the game say it's flawed, but prefer it to the alternative of eking out a precarious living in small isolated settlements or subjugated under the rule of Caesar's Legion. The problem's with the NCR is that regressed, in a sense, over the years as it become more hawkish (They had 2 major wars in succession; once with the Brotherhood of Steel and once with Caesar's Legion), more against women, open homosexuals, and Ghouls and Super Mutants in the military (see Colonel Cassandra Moore's abrasive attitude after having to claw her way to her position and Major Knight not wanting to be "friends" openly), letting corrupt trading houses and cattle barons have too much say and free reign in politics (the Van Graff family helping the Crimson Carravan Co. [[spoiler:in their plan to become a monopoly]]), their currency is very poor (NCR money is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_money fiat money]] and, due to lack of faith, converts to fewer caps than what's on the paper), stretching far more then they can provide in order to secure a goal (the NCR is regularly talked about being stretched thin with their troops not having standardized equipment), and using their large population as a cheap way to gain a strategic advantage (see the NCR-Brotherhood War and Helios One).

** The mod ''[[http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39367/ More Challenges]]'' adds several challenges which requires to collect specific items, like cameras, chessboards, gecko eggs, toy cars, teddy bears...

* CoolShades: You and several [=NPCs=] can wear shades. There is also [[http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/36333/ a mod]] which add variety in the available ones (including an optional plugin with a shade merchant).

** A mod takes this one step further by allowing you to retrieve the remnants of the bullets Benny shot you with from the operating table and recast them into [[http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/40171/ A Bullet With Benny's Name On It]].

* DroneOfDread: ''[[http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/54916/ Digital Nightmare]]'' overhauls the non-diegetic soundtrack by music intended to make battles sound more intense and exploration sounds more oppressive. The tracks for deserted areas make heavy use of the trope.

* ChildSoldiers: Two young boys can be seen receiving military traning inside the Legion's fort, although they will not attack The Courier if the Legion becomes hostile (and [[InfantImmortality can't be attacked]] as well). Also, according to Ranger Andy in Novac, he suffered his leg injury by being caught off guard by a child (a Legion's slave) who was ordered to dropped a granade at his feet.

* ChildSoldiers: Two young boys can be seen receiving military traning inside the Legion's fort, although they will not attack the courier if the Legion becomes hostile. Also, according to Ranger Andy in Novac, he suffered his leg injury by being caught off guard by a child (a Legion's slave) who was ordered to dropped a granade at his feet.

* CrazySurvivalist: Randall Clark, a pre-Great War soldier who left the service in disgust after participating in the annexation of Canada, and the former owner of the Desert Ranger Armor in ''Honest Hearts''.
** He is highly pragmatic, {{Mercy Kill}}ing a elderly couple who were blinded by the atomic blast in the early days after the War, and then surviving alone for decades in the park where he used to go hiking, employing tactics he repeatedly berates himself for as cowardly in his [[ApocalypticLog journals]] (yet which save his life on more than one occasion), even as he remains plagued by SurvivorGuilt over the deaths of his wife and young son.
** At one points he plans to commit suicide, and is only stopped when he comes across some ex-vault dwellers assaulting some tribals and intervenes, giving him new purpose in watching over them... by remaining in the wilderness as a hermit, protecting them from afar with his old service rifle (actually called the Survivalist's Rifle when the player finds it). His skill in his new role is such that the tribals never see him, and never find his body when he dies; to this day, the Sorrows believe in him as a benevolent spirit, their "Father in the Cave".

*** Dead Money, where you are put into a DeadlyGame in a very hostile and very unhospitable place.
*** Honest Hearts, where while it seems to be LighterAndSofter, the action starts as the member of the caravan were all killed, leaving you as the SoleSurvivor. The ending didn't seem to be better, either The Sorrows and the Dead Horses leave Zion in regret and sadness, or convince them to fight back against the White Legs, dooming Daniel, the missionary that helps the Sorrow, to depression due to how The Sorrows and The Dead Horses become increasingly militant.
*** Old World Blues, while also seems to be LighterAndSofter and DenserAndWackier, it cannot be concealed that the Big Empty houses inhuman experiments, including an internment camp full of human test subjects.
*** Lonesome Road, which set in one of the worst place of the Post-War America.

* DeadlyGas: The Cloud contaminating the Sierra Madre in ''Dead Money''.
* DeadMansHand: In the expansion "Dead Money", the player can get an achievement for getting the dead man's hand from the deadly, abandoned casino Sierra Madre.

** Rene Auberjonois brings a delightful snideness to Mr House. Especially if the Courier tries to get uppity with him.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: In ''Honest Hearts'', you meet Stella, who used to be the Sheriff of a town in Reno, and Ricky, a compulsive liar with a psycho addiction. Both of them, and the rest of the expedition, are killed off as soon as you make it to Zion National Park.

** The in-game challenges. They range from normal things (heal 10,000 damage with Stimpacks or do 10,000 unarmed damage, for example) to more specific ones (cripple right arms, blow off limbs). ''Gun Runners' Arsenal'' adds some truly absurd challenges, most of which involve killing specific things with specific weapons. The three-star challenges are the worst, like having to kill Deathclaws with (among other, slightly more reasonable things) ''switchblades and boxing tape''.

** [[spoiler:No matter what you do, not everyone will be able to have a happy ending at the end. For example, the only way to get a good ending for the Followers of the Apocalypse is by making them cooperate with the NCR and leave the Republic in control of New Vegas. However, doing so will also result in Arcade getting hunted down by the NCR as a war criminal due to his former connections with the Enclave.]]
*** Only if you [[spoiler:tell him to join the Enclave Remnants for the battle, rather than going back to the Followers' camp. He gets a much better ending, only being mildly disappointed that Freeside is no longer independent.]]

** Yes-Man to Benny and [[spoiler:possibly to the Courier, if you so choose.]]

** [[spoiler:The previous winner of the Star Cap "prize" did this due to being locked in a room with no food or water, thus avoiding a slow death. His gun is now the new prize.]]

* DrugsAreBad: Played straight without heavily dropping the anvils, as is par for the course with the Fallout series. Most of the drugs in the game give you some sort of temporary boost, but with the possible risk of addiction, meaning you will be weaker if you go without the drug. Some more specific examples:
** The Fiends are a group of drug addled raiders, and one of the most outright ''evil'' groups in the game. The only time you won't be kill on sight to them is when you enter Vault 3 and mention that you're delivering more drugs.

*** This is the only real downside to wearing the Stealth Armor Mk. II. It will regularly inject stimpacks and med-x when you get below 50%, and you will become addicted before you even realize it. You have to actively go out of your way to avoid carrying any med-x in your inventory to avoid it.
** One quest has the player helping a New Vegas prostitute escape her situation, but she reveals that her boss has gotten her hooked on drugs which he supplies in order to keep her around, adding additional difficulty to the situation. With a sufficient Medicine skill, you can point out the symptoms of her addiction. She wasn't aware that her condition had gotten that bad. Doing this removes any drug requirements out of the escape plan.

** "The House Always Wins V" has an unused optional quest stage to [[spoiler:"Inform Mr. House that you've negotiated a peaceful solution with the Brotherhood,"]] which is impossible in game. Mods restore this feature.

** There's a third floor of Gomorrah hotel rooms and two unused sections of the New Vegas sewers (northwest and southwest), which were presumably made inaccessible for not containing anything of interest.
** The Welding Guns do nothing, although crafting functions were planned for them at one point.
** The model and texture of the Chinese Pistol are present in the game files, but the weapon doesn't exist as an usable item. There are mods which make it functional.

** When picking S.P.E.C.I.A.L. scores, Perception is commonly regarded as worthless. It doesn't affect your aim, only your ability to detect threats. ED-E's companion perk eliminates that weakness. There are about four or so high Perception checks in the main game, and a few more in the DLC. From a minimum of 1 you can buff yourself to 9 with various drugs and alcohol (7 in ''Dead Money'', since some of the drugs don't exist in that add-on), more than enough to pass any check in the game. Most hats will boost it by 1 anyway and the Riot Gear and Advanced Riot Gear helmets from ''Lonesome Road'' can boost it further by 1 and 2, respectively, with both bonuses stacking with hat bonuses, as they count as eyewear. Its one, true use is meeting the requirement for Better Criticals (+50% critical damage), which you don't really need to kill effectively.

** As far as skills go, if you're not playing on Hardcore, Survival definitely qualifies. Survival's main benefit is that it makes food far more effective. Food isn't very useful outside of Hardcore, since Stimpacks are abundant and heal you instantly. It's not checked against very often, and it's usually low when it is. In Hardcore, however, it's a lifesaver.

* TheCakeIsALie: In ''Old World Blues'', [[spoiler:the Think Tank enlist your help in defeating their enemy, Dr. Mobius, on the promise that they'll let you go once you retrieve your brain and get it back in your skull. In truth, they plan on keeping your brain for themselves, because they need it for their own agenda.]]

* ChainsawGood: As well as the Ripper, a full-sized chainsaw can be found [[spoiler:in Vault 3, wielded by Motor-Runner, or on high-level Legionaries]]. Thanks to its incredibly high-damage VATS attack (high enough to completely ignore a Ranger's DT and kill him in one hit), it is one of the best weapons for Sneak Attacks in the game. Despite whatever common sense may tell you about using a bulky, awkward and loud weapon for stealth work.

* ChekhovsGun: As you're poking around your would-be gravesite in Goodsprings, you'll likely come across a bunch of Distinctive Cigarette Butts, as well as a distinctive lighter off a named Great Khan you can kill in Boulder City. Keep these items, they become useful when convincing Swank to turn on Benny.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: In the vanilla game, the only references to Christianity are the use of Christian symbols by The Followers and a line where Cachino references the Pope.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:Benny has betrayed three people before the game even started, can betray you if you are gullible enough to believe him about talking to you in private at the Tops penthouse, and has the audacity to betray you yet again if you free him from the Fort by running away for good instead of helping you.]]
** Also, the Courier has the capability to betray not one, not two, but all three factions, murder all three leaders ([[ImAHumanitarian and possibly even devouring them after he kills them]]), and then taking over New Vegas in the resulting power vacuum.
*** And those are just the major factions. You can also get in good with EVERY minor faction in the game, provided you're clever enough not to alienate them by accident, and then, before the final battle, go in and wipe out ALL OF THEM. ICanRuleAlone, indeed...
*** There are also plenty of quests that end with the option to slaughter the people you're helping. Help a group of ghouls get to the rockets, then set them to crash into each other. Help restore power to Helios One, then set the defense system to kill everyone unlucky enough to be standing outside. Promise to cut off access to the sulfur mines under the Vault, then set enough explosives to take down the mines ''and'' the Vault. And then there's that self-destruct button in the Brotherhood of Steel bunker...
** Every deal that Caesar's Legion makes with other tribes and groups is in bad faith. There are no allies for Caesar, there are only prospective slaves and enemies. Nipton falls victim to this, Ulysses's tribe fell victim to this, the White Legs fall victim to this, the Great Khans can fall victim to this.
*** Interestingly, the Legion's tendency towards backstabbing pokes a huge hole (pun not intended) in Caesar's reasoning for founding the group, as a large part of why the original Roman Empire was so successful was because they made a policy of ''not doing that'', and in general trying to respect conquered nations.

* CloudCuckoolander: Played with; No-Bark Noonan is actually pretty perceptive about strange events that are happening around Novac, and good at looking through people with less-than honest intentions. Too bad he blames them on the Chupacabra and the mole people. [[spoiler:Of course, the mole people are actually real, and he sometimes lays blame on exactly what the problem is but obfuscates it behind his choice of words. As for the communist ghosts, well...]]

** Many of the relatively sane nightkin, such as Lily and Tabitha, qualify as this.
*** Mentioned explicitly by the rough-voiced, slightly Series/{{Mister Rogers|Neighborhood}}-like radio personality Mr. New Vegas. He notes that ever since Tabitha took over the broadcast, Black Mountain's radio channel has become "less for outcasts, more for weirdos."

--> '''Cass:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "The NCR wants their hands on everything they see. Nobody's dick is that long, not even Long Dick Johnson, and he had a fucking long dick, thus the name."]]
--> '''The Courier''' [[CaptainObvious "Yeah, I kinda guessed that."]]

* CorruptQuartermaster: Sgt Daniel Contreras is the New Californa Republic's quartermaster at their Camp McCarran outpost who exploits his position for personal gain smuggling guns and chems to clients in the Mojave Wasteland. If you complete his unmarked quest for him, he'll give you full access to his inventory and also gives you the This Machine rifle, one of the best weapons in the game.

** Bonus slides and radio broadcasts throughout the final battle indicate that the Legion attacked not only the Dam, but made a general offensive along with their allies across the region. Assuming you did the above, the result is... one-sided. The Fiends attack the NCR base of Camp Mccarran and are quickly routed; the Omertas storm out onto the streets of New Vegas and are promptly butchered to the last by House's Securitron army; the Legion raids Novac but a small militia of former NCR Troopers and the Bright Brotherhood drive them back; the Legion attacks Camp Golf but the efforts of the Rangers and the Misfits see them driven off with heavy casualties; and finally a Legion assault on Camp Forlorn Hope sees the Legion repelled "in what will surely be the most decisive victory in this entire battle." Total. Abject. Failure. On every front.

--> '''Nero:''' [[OhCrap What the fu--?!?]] (Cachino blows his head off with a shotgun)

** In the Old World Blues stealth lab, you get put through increasingly difficult tests to grab a "secret document". The first involves getting past Robobrains, the second adds laser tripwires, the third adds proximity sensors, and the final one requires you to shut down the Robobrains instead (you don't need any skill to do it, you just have to sneak up to them). The first three can be circumvented in numerous ways:

** Also in Old World Blues, you can obtain the hazard suit by finding the password to lower the force field surrounding it, or simply disable the force field with the Sonic Emitter.

* DarkerAndEdgier: While at first, the atmosphere in general is LighterAndSofter, especially compared to ''Videogame/Fallout3'', the game is definitely DarkerAndEdgier, as exemplified by the GrayAndGray Morality and how the villains are CardCarryingVillain no more. Examples such as:

* DeadpanSnarker: Most notable are the player character and companions
--->'''Veronica:''' (on the Boomers) "A bunch of shut-ins who show disdain for outsiders and hold technology above them. Huh. Haven't heard ''that'' one before."
--->'''Raul:''' (if told to wait) "Sure, boss. I'll just wait here. Whilst my heavily armed companion wanders out of earshot. What could possibly go wrong."
--->'''Arcade''' (crouching down to sneak): Just so you know, my covert bandaging skills are a little rusty.

--->'''Mr. House:''' ''Why'' is it so hard to find good help these days? (unleashes a dozen murder-bots on the Courier)

** The Child at Heart perk from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' is in the game, complete with [[https://youtu.be/hrsPlSp4AqY voiced dialogue options from children for it]], but was left unused presumably because there are so few children in the game that it would have been worthless.