History FalloutNewVegas / TropesEToH

This page covers tropes found in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', tropes E to H.
-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesAToB A-B]]
-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesCToD C-D]]
-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesIToM I-M]]
-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR N-R]]
-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ S-Z]]

** And it doesn't help that they dashed into the Southwest with their fully-exposed [[ZeroPunctuation assault-rifle shaped erections]] blazing at anything that opposed them, forgetting that overextension only gets worse when ''the Legion and the Brotherhood of Steel hate you.''

** Caesar's Legion is as conservative as all hell. Harm their subjects and they will crucify you. NotHyperbole. Cass outright states that while she refuses to deal with slavers like the Legion, ''a lot'' of traders work with the Legion because they're ensured safety. Even the Fiends are too scared of the Legion to attack caravans under their protection. His methods are harsh, brutal, and more than a little evil, but they've unified Arizona and made it a safe place to live. Even Raul admits that Caesar transformed Arizona into a much better place than it was before. The common people in the Legion's territories might not have any influence or say whatsoever in Caesar's politics, but it is really not that different from life before the Legion, and in exchange for their servitude, they are given a modest supply of food, water, and electricity, and are left pretty much to their own devices. Should they, however, in any way disturb the operation of the Legion or disobey requests and orders given its men, no matter how harsh or outlandish, they will be punished severely. The Legion will only ask ''once'', and they won't take "no" for an answer. As per Conservative economic policy, their currency is the strongest in the Mojave: a single Legion gold coin is worth 100 bottle caps.

** As for libertarians, they get the Wild Card ending. You can waltz into New Vegas, talk to Yes Man, and decide that all the jerks fighting over the place desperately need to be taken down a peg. Then you can depose Mr. House, brutalize Caesar's Legion, and sucker the NCR. Then you can unleash an army of Securitrons upon the Mojave, turning it into [[{{Utopia}} a paradise of freedom and wealth]], rule over the place as a dictator, or turn the Mojave into a lawless hellhole, depending on your actions up to the ending.]]

** Caesar's Legion is as conservative as all hell. Harm their subjects and they will crucify you. NotHyperbole. Cass outright states that while she refuses to deal with slavers like the Legion, ''a lot'' of traders work with the Legion because they're ensured safety. Even [[CompleteMonster the Fiends]] are too scared of the Legion to attack caravans under their protection. His methods are harsh, brutal, and more than a little evil, but they've unified Arizona and made it a safe place to live. Even Raul admits that Caesar transformed Arizona into a much better place than it was before. The common people in the Legion's territories might not have any influence or say whatsoever in Caesar's politics, but it is really not that different from life before the Legion, and in exchange for their servitude, they are given a modest supply of food, water, and electricity, and are left pretty much to their own devices. Should they, however, in any way disturb the operation of the Legion or disobey requests and orders given its men, no matter how harsh or outlandish, they will be punished severely. The Legion will only ask ''once'', and they won't take "no" for an answer. As per Conservative economic policy, their currency is the strongest in the Mojave: a single Legion gold coin is worth 100 bottle caps.

* GodGuise: Randall Clark, a survivalist living in Zion area helps a group of kids living nearby trying not to be noticed (he drops medicines, food and tools near their camp at night). When he notices that the kids see his help as the gift from God or angels, he doesn't want to break this illusion and show himself as a dying old man. Shortly before his death he leaves the notes stating that he has to depart deep into the mountains but he will always be watching over them. The kids were ancestors of the Sorrows tribe and Clark is "The Father in the Cave" from their legends; as mentioned by [[NobleSavage Waking]] [[NubileSavage Cloud]].

* GodGuise: Randall Clark, a survivalist living in Zion area helps a group of kids living nearby trying not to be noticed (he drops medicines, food and tools near their camp at night). When he notices that the kids see his help as the gift from God or angels, he doesn't want to break this illusion and show himself as a dying old man. Shortly before his death he leaves the notes stating that he has to depart deep into the mountains but he will always be watching over them. The kids were ancestors of the Sorrows tribe and Clark is "The Father in the Cave" from their legends; as mentioned by [[NobleSavage Waking]] [[NubileSavage Cloud.]]

* GodGuise: Randall Clark, a survivalist living in Zion area helps a group of kids living nearby trying not to be noticed (he drops medicines, food and tools near their camp at night). When he notices that the kids see his help as the gift from God or angels, he doesn't want to break this illusion and show himself as a dying old man. Shortly before his death he leaves the notes stating that he has to depart deep into the mountains but he will always be watching over them. The kids were ancestors of the Sorrows tribe and Clark is "The Father in the Cave" from their legends; as mentioned by Waking Cloud.

* GodGuise: Randall Clark, a survivalist living in Zion area helps a group of kids living nearby trying not to be noticed (he drops medicines, food and tools near their camp at night). When he notices that the kids see his help as the gift from God or angels, he doesn't want to break this illusion and show himself as a dying old man. Shortly before his death he leaves the notes stating that he has to depart deep into the mountains but he will always watch for them. The kids were ancestors of the Sorrows tribe and Clark is "The Father in the Cave" from their legends.

* GodGuise: Randall Clark, a survivalist living in Zion area helps a group of kids living nearby trying not to be noticed (he drops medicines, food and tools near their camp at night). When he notices that the kids see his help as the gift from God or angels, he doesn't want to break this illusion and show himself as a dying old man. Shortly before his death he leaves the notes stating that he has to depart deep into the mountains but he will always watch for them. The kids were ancestors of the Sorrows tribe and Clark is a Father from the Caves from their legends.

** Caesar's Legion is as conservative as all hell. Harm their subjects and they will crucify you. NotHyperbole. Cass outright states that while she refuses to deal with slavers like the Legion, ''a lot'' of traders work with the Legion because they're ensured safety. Even [[CompleteMonster the Fiends]] are too scared of the Legion to attack caravans under their protection. His methods are harsh, brutal, and more than a little evil, but they've unified Arizona and made it a safe place to live. Even Raul admits that Caesar transformed Arizona into a much better place than it was before. The common people in the Legion's territories might not have any influence or say whatsoever in Caesar's politics, but it is really not that different from life before the Legion, and in exchange for their servitude, they are given a modest supply of food, water, and electricity, and are left pretty much to their own devices. Should they, however, in any way disturb the operation of the Legion or disobey requests and orders given its men, no matter how hash or outlandish, they will be punished severely. The Legion will only ask ''once'', and they won't take "no" for an answer. As per Conservative economic policy, their currency is the strongest in the Mojave: a single Legion gold coin is worth 100 bottle caps.

** [[spoiler: It's heavily implied through the investigation that the whole reason Jeannie sold Bonne's wife to the Legion was because she critiqued her hotel.]]

* ElvisImpersonator: A whole gang of them, fronted by The King, one of the surprisingly nicest characters in the game.

** Players may go nuts trying to figure out just what the "Lucky 38 Executive Override" does after they activate it at the H&H Tools Factory or Camp Golf. The answer is...nothing. At one point, it was [i]intended[/i] to play a part in the "The Moon Comes Over The Tower" quest, but they cut that part out.

** The Survivalist in Honest Hearts. [[spoiler: Some sickly Vault 22 survivors wander into the Valley and proceed to slaughter and [[ImAHumanitarian ...dispose]] of a group of mexican survivors he was observing and occasionally secretly helping. Still possessing human dignity, he wages a one-man guerilla war after observing their atrocity and cuts the majority of the group down. The "Vaulters" (as Survivalist called them in his logs) considered him to be no mere man but an evil spirit, since they never could catch him.]]
** Also, "[[WelcomeToCorneria Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter]]". See the spoiler above.

* FutureImperfect: Averted. Pre-war books are ''far'' less rare here than they were on the East Coast, civilization is far more organized, and the Followers of the Apocalypse, Brotherhood of Steel and New California Republic have done a pretty good job accurately preserving the knowledge of the past -- Caesar and his officers, for example, know more about the Roman Empire than most people in ''RealLife'' do. Of course, this has the added benefit of Las Vegas only being nuked 11 times - compare that to ''everywhere else.''

** Also, having too few skill points in a skill check during dialogue will display an option not as suave/competent as the one with the player having the proper amount of skill points in a given check. Unlike ''Fallout3'', where the check is a matter of chance and gives the same sentence whether or not the player passed a speech check, passing or failing a speech check is directly tied to skill. Insufficient skill gives the option a different sentence (HulkSpeak or some overly emotional or annoying words when failing speech check for that option). Failing may also open up other options in some cases.

* EagleLand: The NCR has evolved into a nice blend of Type 1 and 2. It certainly is safer in their territory, and their soldiers are generally well-meaning, but their high command is so bogged down with bureaucracy and carrying out the NCR government's aggressive expansion policies that the rest of the army suffers from being low on supplies and reinforcements. Not to mention that the guys at the top tend to work their own agendas at the expense of those they command. Oh, and they tax heavily.

** [[AllThereInTheManual According to the guidebook]], a series of events after Tandi's death led to the hawkish Kimball getting into power, and also resulting in a wave of chauvanism against women in the ranks. Which makes the fact that Cassandra Moore is the colonel in charge of the Hoover Dam garrison makes her even more of a ColonelBadass since she also had to overcome [[StayInTheKitchen inherent sexism that's creeped into the system]]. Unfortunately, she's a jingo like Oliver and Kimball as well.
** Hey, what's left of the Enclave? [[spoiler:They'd like to be left alone, but Arcade Gannon's a Type 1.]]

** If you're working for Mr. House or for Yes Man, if you save the NCR president and/or have done some good for the NCR, the NCR troopers will actively help you out in fighting the Legion.

** Caesar's Legion is as conservative as all hell. Harm their subjects and they will crucify you. NotHyperbole. Cass outright states that while she refuses to deal with slavers like the Legion, ''a lot'' of traders work with the Legion because they're ensured safety. Even [[CompleteMonster the Fiends]] are too scared of the Legion to attack caravans under their protection. His methods are harsh, brutal, and more than a little evil, but they've unified Arizona and made it a safe place to live. Even Raul admits that Caesar transformed Arizona into a much better place than it was before. The common people in the Legion's territories might not have any influence or say what-so-ever in Caesar's politics, but it is really not that different from life before the Legion, and in exchange for their servitude, they are given a modest supply of food, water, and electricity, and are left pretty much to their own devices. Should they, however, in any way disturb the operation of the Legion or disobey requests and orders given its men, no matter how hash or outlandish, they will be punished severely. The Legion will only ask ''once'', and they won't take "no" for an answer. As per Conservative economic policy, their currency is the strongest in the Mojave: a single Legion gold coin is worth 100 bottle caps.

** As for libertarians, they get the Wild Card ending You can waltz into New Vegas, talk to Yes Man, and decide that all the jerks fighting over the place desperately need to be taken down a peg. Then you can depose Mr. House, brutalize Caesar's Legion, and sucker the NCR. Then you can unleash an army of Securitrons upon the Mojave, turning it into [[{{Utopia}} a paradise of freedom and wealth]], rule over the place as a dictator, or turn the Mojave into a lawless hellhole, depending on your actions up to the ending.]]

* FailedASpotCheck: Due to how [=SPECIAL=] stats work, you can sneak by [=NPCs=] in broad daylight provided that the their perception is low and your sneak skill is high enough. Compunded with what the game considers "dark area," you could potentially stand next to a high-perception NPC against a brightened backdrop, provided you're in the shadows.
** This can be averted HARD when the developers don't want you to sneak past some enemies, and give them incredible perecption so they can find you when invisible.

* FanDisservice: Beatrix Russell, a cowboy-type with a taste for [[WhipItGood whips]] and domination. When you recruit her to work as a dominatrix at the Atomic Wrangler, she dons a {{Stripperiffic}} outfit consisting of a [[BlackBraAndPanties Black Bra and]] [[HellBentForLeather (leather)]] [[BlackBraAndPanties Panties]], a [[OfCorsetsSexy Corset]], cowboy hat, and chains. Only problem? She's a ghoul, so she looks like [[http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7198/squick.png this]].
** You can sleep with her as well. The screen fades to black out and you don't see anything but you can hear...[[HellIsThatNoise sounds...]]

* FastForwardMechanic: There is a "Wait" action.

** The "inhabitants" of Y17a Trauma Harnesses. Walking suits created to pick up wounded on the battlefield and walk them out. Somehow they forgot to walk them out so these wounded are kept within a walking suit which does whatever it wants without any chance of getting out.

* FlatWhat: In ''Old World Blues,'' if you have high enough Intelligence, you can inform Doctor O that he could simply draw a vertical slash through his name to specify "Zero" and not "O." He reacts this way.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: InUniverse example. In Old World Blues, you meet the [[OmnicidalManiac Toaster]]. He is, well, a toaster, and as such, he isn't much of a threat, so it's hard not to at least chuckle when hearing him. Yet he affirms that "Soon the world will burn in nuclear fire!" It's possible to point out to him that [[AfterTheEnd the war already happened]]. Then he affirms that "Soon the world will burn in nuclear fire. Again!" [[spoiler: In the Lonesome Road add-on, the antagonist seizes control of an old silo and tries to send missiles to [==NCR==]/Caesar's Legion/The Mojave (depending on your relations with the various factions). Your actions determine if NCR, the Legion, Both or neither get nuked.]]

* {{Egopolis}}: Black Mountain is a borderline version; Tabitha renamed it as the "State of Utobitha".

* EmpathicWeapon: ''Old World Blues'' introduces the Stealth Suit Mk II, which has an on-board A.I. that makes idle chatter, lets you know when enemies have spotted you, and injects you with Med-X and Stimpacks if you take too much damage.

* EnemyMine: If you're working for Mr. House or for Yes Man, if you save the NCR president and/or have done some good for the NCR, the NCR troopers will actively help you out in fighting the Legion.

* [[EverythingsWorseWithBears Everything's Worse With Yao Guais]]: Yao Guai make a comeback in the Honest Hearts DLC and unlike Fallout3, having the [[FriendToAllLivingThings Animal Friend]] perk won't stop them from coming after you on sight. And now they come in giant size.

* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: It's heavily implied through the investigation that the whole reason Jeannie sold Bonne's wife to the Legion was because she critiqued her hotel.]]

** If Colonel Moore doesn't get her way (IE the extermination of the Kings and the Brotherhood of Steel) she'll not only get Ambassador Crocker fired but also start a smear campaign against you that lowers your NCR rep.

** EvilVersusOblivion: Arguably, the entire ''Dead Money'' DLC if your character is evil. Evil!Courier is a horrible person, no doubt, but [[spoiler: Elijah is an OmnicidalManiac out to wipe out the population of the Mojave and the NCR. You ''can'' side with him, but it results in a NonStandardGameOver. Not even going ahead with Ulysses plan to nuke the two major powers does that.]]

* FailedASpotCheck: Due to how [=SPECIAL=] stats work, you can sneak by [=NPCs=] in broad daylight provided that the their perception is low and your sneak skill is high enough. Compunded with what the game considers "dark area", you could potentially stand next to a high-perception NPC against a brightened backdrop, provided you're in the shadows.

* FakeDifficulty: Cazadors have an ever-present bug (no pun intended) that makes targeting their heads in VATS impossible unless it's already targeted when you go into VATS.

* FantasticRacism: On both sides. Humans call Ghouls "zombie" and Ghouls call humans "smoothskin."

* FateWorseThanDeath: While Ghoulification isn't necessarily bad (it does makes you ugly), losing your mind and becoming a slavering, carnivorous zombie is pretty bad. Which is presumably why you get [[KarmaMeter Good Karma]] [[MercyKill for killing Feral Ghouls.]]

** Having your brain, spine and heart removed and becoming a blood-thirsty 'Lobotomite'.
** According to Ulysses, [[spoiler:the residents of the Mojave, if the Tunnelers beneath the Divide expand their territory...]].

* FieryRedhead: Cass

* FlamingSword: The Shishkebab from Fallout3 comes back in New Vegas.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: ''All Roads'' dumps a few metric tons into you.

** Doc Mitchell's medical examination on the courier at the start does offer one piece of foreshadowing...if you have the motivation to see it. To some patients, the last Rorschach card he shows you looks a little bit like a large needle-like tower shining in the darkness...a lot like the Lucky 38 Hotel.
** Dead Money heaps a HUGE amount of it in the final act and the end.

** In ''Honest Hearts'' The Burned Man mentions Ulysses. [[spoiler: Apparently he's a Legion scout and spy.]]

*** At first, the Canyon Wreckage just looks like a pile of rusted vehicles with some coyotes denning near them... until you see the graffiti, which mentions "Lonesome Road" (now the confirmed name of the last DLC), the Divide, and the cryptic message, "You can go home now, Courier". And, if you look on the map, you'll see that the canyon the wreckage is blocking is the only path through the western mountains.

-->He said he'd be back with one of the greatest treasures of the Old World. Said he'd make the Mojave how it was meant to be... "[[KillEmAll wipe the slate clean]]"

* FrickinLaserBeams: Following ''Fallout3''. Unlike earlier ''Fallout'' games, averted hard here as lasers are THE most accurate weapon in the game, especially outside VATS as the beams hit the target instantly. Still played straight with plasmas, but again, those are not laser weapons.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Caesar was originally a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse, the least aggressive, and most humanitarian, faction in the wastes.

** In ''Dead Money'', ''Honest Hearts'' and ''Old World Blues'', once you arrive at the site of the DLC's events you can't leave until you finish the DLC. In ''Lonesome Road'' however you're free to turn back at any time and retrace your steps back to the Mojave. This ties into Ulysses's HannibalLecture at the end of the DLC, you've been his UnwittingPawn but you could have turned back at any time, yet you kept going because you just had to find out what his story was, and thus have only yourself to blame for what he's about to do.

* GenreShift: ''Dead Money'' strips you of all your equipment and money, and throws you into a hostile, poisonous environment full of deadly gas clouds, enemies that need to be dismembered to be killed, loads of booby traps, untouchable laser-firing holograms that must be outwitted rather than fought, and all with very limited resources. The "limited resources" part especially makes this add-on seem like the game has become a SurvivalHorror title.

##Arcade's quest, "For Auld Lang Syne", requires you to find certain locations in the game and visit them, at which point he'll speak to you briefly. This one is actually fairly lenient, since the triggers are always there and fairly numerous. You also only need two "points" for it to count, and there are about twenty total based on location and dialogue choices.

##ED-E's quest doesn't require you to do anything, but is still annoying. After the first trigger goes off, which conveinently has a waypoint, you have to wait nine days for the second to work. Then you have to find someone who can activate the trigger, and you don't get any clues. The third takes another three days, but is automatic. If you're not playing in hardcore mode (and therefore have no need to sleep 8 hours a day) you could easily finish the game without getting to the final part.

** For something simpler and earlier, there's the quest "I Fought the Law", which most good-inclined players will miss because they're likely to side against the Powder Gangers from the start, and because the inhabitants of the [=NCRCF=] will be hostile to them, making them likely to kill Eddie and immediately fail the quest. Or one might kill him because he's got a plasma pistol. Then again, the quest is bugged and leads to a bad ending even when it should be a good one, so that's for the better, really.

** The quest I Put a Spell on You is almost legendary for its unintuitiveness, aside from a plethora of bugs. Long story short, there's a spy somewhere in Camp [= McCarran =], and you've been tasked to single him out. After finding out there have been late-night sightings at the comm tower, you have two mission arrows: one to the comm tower, and another to the man you're workign with, Captain Curtis. [[spoiler: Since Curtis is the spy, talking to Curtis and telling him your lead makes the mission practically unwinnable, since he will attack you in the tower instead of radioing his contact, thus you won't know if he will bomb the monorail. There is no hint that doing this was wrong, and there is no way other than using the console to set the winning value back to 0.]] Ergo, by '''following the directions''' you have failed the quest. You could still [[spoiler: side with the Legion, in which case you do the same quest, but instead are helping Curtis out in his plot to bomb the monorail. This is arguably the better path, as not only is it relatively easy, if done right it gets you an exploit for infinite caps. But if you start along that path, you're committed to bombing the monorail as soon as you collect the bomb.]]

* GunPorn: Vault 34.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Inverted. In the main game, your male companions are a ColdSniper, TheGunslinger, and a BadassBookworm who, like all fictional smart people [[spoiler:(and former members of the Enclave)]], prefers a high-tech Plasma Defender pistol over the ballistics, blades, and blunt force of the common rabble. Your female companions are a Nightkin with a {{BFS}} and a Brotherhood Scribe who wields a PowerFist. There is also a female companion who uses a shotgun, but [[ShortRangeShotgun unless you give her slug ammo she pretty much has to be in melee range for it to work anyway]]. Of course, everybody has a ranged and a melee weapon that you can order them to use, so you are welcome to have everyone play the trope straight, even if they won't be that good at it.
** Even [[FieryRedhead Cass]], your [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotgun-toting]], [[BottleFairy whisky-drinking]] [[ActionGirl female compatriot]] flat out tells you that she prefers solving problems with her fists than her guns. When you tell her to switch to melee skills, she simply puts the shotgun away and punches her way out of combat. This makes sense after another conversation [[FridgeBrilliance where she tells you she became a decent marksman to conserve money on ammo]].

* HandCannon: The .44 Magnum Revolver, 12.7mm Pistol, the Hunting Revolver and its unique version, the Ranger Sequoia. There are also the energy weapons Plasma Defender and "Pew Pew". (Yes.) Then there's the hand''auto''-cannon, the 12.7mm [[MoreDakka sub-machine gun]].

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: The Courier
** TheLancer: Boone/Raul/Cass
** TheBigGuy: Lily/Boone
** TheSmartGuy: Arcade/Veronica/Raul
** TheChick: Veronica
** TeamPet: Rex/ED-E

** Caesar himself is probably the strongest example. Unlike previous ''Fallout'' [[BigBad Big Bads]], he's just a normal human and only about as tough as a standard [[EliteMooks Elite Mook]]. However, he's surrounded by several extremely tough EliteMooks armed with the best unarmed weapons in the game, all in a relatively enclosed space with no room to dodge or retreat. Attacking him head-on, even with a high-level character, will almost certainly result in you being dogpiled into a corner and beaten to death, especially in Hardcore mode where you can't instant-heal using stimpaks.

** Each of the fiend leaders (although [[AnticlimaxBoss they're really only bosses at lower levels]]) come supported by a gang of four to six fiends. Except Violet, who has around 8 dogs instead.

-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesHToM I-M]]

-> [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR S-Z]]