History FalloutNewVegas / TropesCToD

** In the backstory, the first Battle of the Hoover Dam also ended in a humiliating defeat for the Legion, grinding their campaign of conquest to a halt and forcing them back across the Colorado to reorganize. Dialogue with certain NPCs reveal that the only reason the NCR didn't wipe out the Legion entirely in this battle was because their recent battle with the Brotherhood of Steel HELIOS One and the loss of their supply route through The Divide left them too undermanned and stretched thin to pursue the Legion further.

* CurbStompBattle: The final battle at Hoover Dam can turn into this, especially if you got all factions to ally with the NCR [[spoiler:including the remnants]], have a powerful companion with you (like Boone with PowerArmor and an [[{{BFG}} Anti-Materiel Rifle]]), have maxed out energy weapons and have saved all your [[InfinityPlusOneSword alien blaster]] ammo. You can just go around disintegrating squad after squad of the Legion's EliteMooks with no difficulty at all, while your allies just keep coming in and curb stomping the shit out of them in one BigDamnHeroes moment after another, finally culminating in defeating the FinalBoss [[MemeticBadass Legate Lanius]] in a few seconds.

* ChainOfDeals: The quest "Come Fly With Me" basically amounts to this. Upon arriving in Novac, the Courier is still pursuing Benny, and is told to talk to Manny Vargas, who may know where to find him. Manny asks you to first clear out the REPCONN test facility, which is infested with ghouls. The ghouls are a religious cult, led by a ghoul prophet named Jason Bright, who is readying his followers for a pilgrimage, but they can't leave until someone clears out the "demons" (nightkin) also inhabiting the building. To get ''them'' to leave, the Courier has to creep around the basement and deal with both the Nightkin's leader and a trigger-happy ghoul survivalist, and ''then'' help the ghouls with their "Great Journey".

* CuteBruiser: Veronica; her WeaponOfChoice is the PowerFist. Give her a [[InfinityPlusOneSword Ballistic Fist]], and she will murder the crap out of just about anything.

* {{Cowboy}}: One of the perks, which makes you better with [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]], [[TheWestern lever-action weapons]], knives, [[AnAxeToGrind axes]], and [[DynamiteCandle dynamite]].

** If you opt for traditional [[KillEmAll Townicide]] while playing a female character, Sergeant Astor will also comment on the delicious irony of the camp being wiped by a woman, who in the Legion are basically just [[StayInTheKitchen used as baby factories]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: Jeannie May Crawford really likes the hometown spin of her home of Novac, so much so that she took an immediate dislike to Carla Boone when the woman constantly turned her nose up at their frontier way of life. How did Crawford handle this? No, she didn't bite back with some acerbic wit or simply ignore Carla. [[spoiler:She flat-out struck a deal with Caesar's Legion to have the ''pregnant'' Carla kidnapped and sold into slavery for a thousand caps. Even worse, she was due to receive a further 500 if and when Carla's unborn son came of age, and would have if Boone hadn't decided to [[BoomHeadshot end Carla's misery himself]].]] She never even showed remorse for the act, instead deciding to cook up a story that [[spoiler:Carla eventually got fed up with Boone's decision to live in Novac and abandoned him]]. '''''Wow.''''' Many a player no doubt felt the satisfaction of cold, hard justice done if they helped Boone bring down the same safe she ultimately brought on Carla.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Jeannie May Crawford really likes the hometown spin of her home of Novac, so much so that she took an immediate dislike to Carla Boone when the woman constantly turned her nose up at their frontier way of life. How did Crawford handle this? No, she didn't bite back with some acerbic wit or simply ignore Carla. [[spoiler:She flat-out struck a deal with Caesar's Legion to have the ''pregnant'' Carla kidnapped and sold into slavery for a thousand caps. Even worse, she was due to receive a further 500 if and when Carla's unborn son came of age, and would have if Boone hadn't decided to [[BoomHeadshot end Carla's misery himself]].]] She never even showed remorse for the act, instead deciding to cook up a story that [[spoiler:Carla eventually got fed up with Boone's decision to live in Novac and abandoned him.]] '''''Wow.'''''

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:Jeannie May Crawford basically sells Carla Boone into slavery for being snobby towards her.]]

*** ''Honest Hearts'': While it seems LighterAndSofter, the action starts as the member of the caravan were all killed, leaving you as the SoleSurvivor. The endings aren't any better; either the Sorrows and the Dead Horses leave Zion in regret and sadness, or they fight back against the White Legs, but Daniel, the missionary that helps the Sorrows, falls into depression over how the Sorrows and the Dead Horses have become increasingly militant.

* DangerousDeserter: You encounter a few in Primm, attempting to start a protection racket and attacking you if try to turn them in. They're survivors from a outpost that was overrun by [[TheEmpire Caesar's Legion]], and think the [=NCR=] will lose soon.

* {{Cowboy}}: One of the perks, which makes you better with [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]], [[TheWestern lever-action weapons]], [[AnAxeToGrind axes]], and [[DynamiteCandle dynamite]].

* {{Cowboy}}: One of the perks, which makes you better with [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]], [[TheWestern lever-action weapons]], [[KnifeNut knives]], [[AnAxeToGrind axes]], and [[DynamiteCandle dynamite]].

** Previous ''Fallout'' titles not only allow, but encourage, players to play all angles of questlines in order to maximize their rewards and experience. This game makes the player realize that trying to play all sides like that will have a person torn between them, because questlines in this game conflict and completing one may fail another. There's also the problem that when you try to play all sides like this, they find out, and they may not be happy, or may suffer for you helping their enemies. Additionally, unlike previous titles, diplomacy is not always an option. Stealth and guile will help you avoid direct conflict, but there's no path to the ending that doesn't get blood on your hands on way or the other. If you go the Wild Card route, deciding the fate of Vegas's factions by your own whim, you can make a lot of people happy, but there's still going to be factions dead or facing a bittersweet future, and the Legion and NCR leaders mock the idea that you thought you could make everyone happy on your own.

** Raul is trying to [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife find meaning in his life]].

* DummiedOut:
** During the battle of Hoover Dam, in what is assumed to be a developer oversight, [[spoiler:Colonel Moore will tell you about the NCR's victory and her promotion to Brigade General, and that NCR scouts are currently busy with pursuing and harassing the remains of the Legion's army that are hastily retreating back to Arizona, like the dialogue is supposed to be heard after the end of the game]]. This suggests that the game was at one point going to feature a PlayableEpilogue. WordOfGod has confirmed that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Obsidian had planned for additional gameplay after the Battle of Hoover Dam]], but didn't feel that they had enough development time to do it proper justice. Quite a bit of post-endgame dialogue and radio commentary exists and will actually play properly if using a mod that continues the game after completion of one of the final quests.
** "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 is also [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Offer_to_permit_annexation a note]] in which Mr. House agrees to let the NCR annex the New Vegas Strip in exchange for NCR citizenship and immunity from prosecution.
** Apparently, at one point in development, you were supposed to be able to speak to the three Fiends members you hunt for Dahtri. Quite frankly, their dialogue is [[https://tcrf.net/Fallout:_New_Vegas/Unused_Dialog#Fiends hilarious]].
** The Child at Heart perk from ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' is unused in the game, complete with [[https://youtu.be/hrsPlSp4AqY voiced dialogue options from children for it]]. Since there are few children in ''New Vegas'', it wouldn't have been very useful.
** There's a house in Cottonwood Cove, 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.
** Unusable Welding Guns can be found in various locations; they were likely meant to have crafting functions that were never implemented.
** There are more crucified men in the game files than those who actually appear in-game. 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.
** Slides and voiceover narration for two alternate endings to the ''Dead Money'' DLC are unused: one has the Courier die in the Sierra Madre Vault after Father Elijah turned it into a GasChamber, and the other involves Christine Royce killing Elijah and trapping the Courier in the Vault.
** The DLC ''Old World Blues'' was supposed to have an ending in which the Courier (or, more likely, [[spoiler:the Courier's brain]]) joins the Think Tank, eventually leading to their escape from Big MT and the use of the entire Mojave Wasteland as a test site for even more weird scientific experiments. As seen [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Old_World_Blues_endings#Cut_ending here]], the slide image is still on the game files and the text for the intended narration was released by Chris Avellone.

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Raul, if you follow his side-quest. He either settles down to be a repair man (with a perk that does ''nothing''[[note]]it's meant to allow weapons to degrade 75% slower but only does the standard 50% and used to do nothing[[/note]]} or becomes a Vaquero again, avenging and protecting innocents where ever he goes.

** DamageSpongeBoss [[BossInMookClothing In Mook's Clothing]]: A way of instituting FakeDifficulty in the higher levels of the DLC. The NCR and Legion Assassins also qualify, with later patches having them scale to the player's level.

* CastinGag:

** [[PlayerCharacter The Courier]] has shades of this as well. He/She explicitly says in ''Lonesome Road'' that the reason they left the NCR was because not even home felt like "home." [[FridgeHorror Make of the that what you will.]] Add in the fact that gay couriers have to deal with the NCR's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and the fact that the companion romance with Rose of Sharon Cassidy was dropped and replaced with an ending where she goes to make love him/her but he's already left, you get the feeling the Courier gets the short end of the stick despite being the Hero of Mojave.

* 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 [[ImprobableInfantSurvival 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.

** In ''Honest Hearts'', with high enough speech skill, you can convince Joshua Graham to do this to Salt-upon Wounds.

* DeathByIrony: The Legion camp at Cottonwood Cove is built ''right underneath'' a truck loaded with barrels of radioactive waste, perched perilously halfway over a cliff. It's possible to dump the barrels into the Legion camp, killing all the Legion forces there, resulting in an ironic payback for their dirty bomb attack on Camp Searchlight (the NCR survivors of Camp Searchlight will appreciate the irony if you tell them about it).

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Raul, if you follow his side-quest. He either settles down to be a repair man (with a perk that does ''nothing''[[note]]it's meant to allow weapons to degrade 75% slower but only does the standard 50% and used to to do nothing[[/note]]} or becomes a Vaquero again, avenging and protecting innocents where ever he goes.

* TheDitz: Any main character with less than 4 in intelligence will often find themselves CompletelyMissingThePoint, and can ask for the LaymansTerms if a conversation is causing them trouble.