| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %%Trope names are not to be spoiler tagged as per Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[WMG:[[center:[-''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' '''[[Characters/FalloutNewVegas Main Character Index]]'''\ |
| 5 | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCourierAndCompanions Courier and Companions]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasNewCalifornia New California Republic]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCaesarsLegion Caesar's Legion]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasTheStrip The Strip]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasSettlements Settlements]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOtherFactions Other Factions]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasDeadMoney Dead Money Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasHonestHearts Honest Hearts Characters]] | '''Old World Blues Characters''' | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasLonesomeRoad Lonesome Road Characters]]-]]]]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | !The Think Tank |
| 10 | |
| 11 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/think_tanks_2.png]] |
| 12 | [[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: 0 (pronounced "Oh"), Dala, Klein, 8, and Borous.]] |
| 13 | ->''"It is '''truly''' the end of all intelligence when the '''Lobotomite''' speaks more wisdom than you 'geniuses'".'' |
| 14 | -->-- '''Dr. Klein''' |
| 15 | |
| 16 | The pre-War head scientists of Big MT, who were among the finest scientific minds of their generation. That was a long time ago, and they have very much gone to seed as [[BrainInAJar brains in jars]]. They will be the first group of people -- for a given value of "people" -- the Courier will meet after entering Big MT. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[folder:As a whole]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | ---- |
| 21 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 22 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: As a whole, the group tend to hold rather bizarre perspectives on human anatomy, especially given Klein's belief that fingers and toes are penises... |
| 23 | * ArtifactTitle: The Big MT, their base of operations and research, meant "Big ''Mountain''" due to being located inside of one. Since their experiments blew the entire top of the mountain off many years ago, those who come across it instead read it as the "Big Empty". |
| 24 | * AxCrazy: They enjoy ruthless and unethical experimentation, either due to them being [[EvilCannotComprehendGood unable to understand the dangers that they pose]] or ''[[{{Sadist}} because]]'' the experiments will result in destruction. [[spoiler:It's why Dr. Mobius believes in containing them by any means necessary.]] |
| 25 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: Ulysses [[KnightOfCerebus of all people]] ''fears'' the Think Tank. As [[QuirkyMinibossSquad hilariously]] [[LaughablyEvil endearing]] as they are, he is ''not wrong'' to [[LethalJokeCharacter fear them]]. |
| 26 | * BigBad: As it turns out, [[spoiler:they -- Dr. Klein in particular -- are the ''real'' instance of this trope in ''Old World Blues'', and not Dr. Mobius as they would have you believe.]] |
| 27 | * BizarreAlienBiology: Their new forms have many odd traits for how they live in the Big MT. They can somehow grab and pass things to give the Courier supplies yet can't open doors or rip the Pip-Boy off the Courier's arm. They can man their science stations with some sort of monitor-focused interface, they are propelled by some unknown factor like the Eyebots, and they are capable of "sonjaculating" among other actions and functions. |
| 28 | ** Thought they are collectively the "Think Tank" ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank a research or policy institute]] of (hopefully) relevant experts) the game dubs their form of a floating BrainInAJar chassis as a "think tank". |
| 29 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: Centuries of being [[BrainInAJar robotic brains in jars]] have done much to alienate them from normal human thought. The Mentats they're hooked on probably do not help. |
| 30 | * BodyHorror: Similar to [[spoiler:Robert Edwin House]], their current form is considered so alien from their previous humanity that in-game they classify as "Abominations". |
| 31 | * BrainInAJar: They are literally brains floating in jars full of "biogel" (with more doses of Mentats than is even recreationally safe), on flying platforms. |
| 32 | * BrainUploading: They underwent a variant of this to achieve immortality as [[BrainInAJar Brains in Jars]] to keep running their experiments. [[spoiler:They intend to eventually reverse the process once the schematics for their requested inventions are taken, allowing them to escape Big MT.]] |
| 33 | * BrokenMasquerade: By the time you show up, [[spoiler:the Think Tank are on the verge of breaking free from the EternalRecurrence tampering Dr. Mobius did to keep them from leaving Big MT]]. All thanks to the actions of Elijah, Ulysses and unwittingly, ''you.'' |
| 34 | * CallBack: |
| 35 | ** They are indirectly responsible for [[spoiler:the Tranquillity Lane simulation in ''Fallout 3'' that the Lone Wanderer's father is trapped in for the first half of the game; for good measure, a [[DummiedOut cut ending]] mentions the Think Tank deciding to re-enact Tranquillity Lane in real life upon the ''entirety'' of the NCR.]] It's also implied the tech they used to make them what they are now was first tested on [[spoiler:Professor Calvert in Point Lookout]]. |
| 36 | ** Whether it is this or {{Foreshadowing}} depends upon the order that you did the [=DLCs=] in, but they are responsible for [[spoiler:Christine's near-lobotomizing, the Cloud, the Ghost People, and most of the [[DeathWorld Sierra Madre]] in general.]] |
| 37 | * ChewingTheScenery: Klein, Borous, Mobius, [[spoiler:and eventually you, if you choose to convince them that your skull houses the [[LargeHam BRAIN OF MOBIUS!]]]] |
| 38 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s: The Think Tank and sanity went their separate ways a long, long time ago. |
| 39 | * ColorCodedCharacters: Besides the relative sizes of their monitors, they're only distinguishable by the colors of their biogel containers. Dala is purple, Dr. Klein and Dr. 0 are different shades of blue, and 8 and Borous are different shades of green. |
| 40 | * CripplingOverspecialization: Each of them has a specific obsession, and nothing even approaching skills in any other area. |
| 41 | * CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:If you choose to fight them. Even if you had a hard time with them, the ending states that the fight between them and the Courier was downright humiliating.]] |
| 42 | * CyberneticsEatYourSoul: While they were already amoral people to begin with, detaching themselves from their human bodies is one of the many factors that have corroded their minds. |
| 43 | * DirtyCoward: Without their pacification field that renders outsiders incapable of harming them, they are all incredibly weak and cowardly. |
| 44 | -->'''Klein''': "NONE OF US HAVE EVER BEEN IN A FIGHT. WE DO NOT WANT THAT." |
| 45 | * DitzyGenius: For the brightest scientific minds of their generation, they all show an astounding lack of common sense and general knowledge, though a good deal of this is due to a mixture of drug abuse, isolation from human bodies, and [[spoiler:sabotage by Mobius]]. For example, they will praise you as a genius if you recommend to Dr. 0 to put a slash through the 0 to indicate it is a number, not a letter. |
| 46 | * TheDreaded: These guys scare ''Ulysses'', who calls them the "the Gods of the Big Empty", who "could not be defeated with a hundred Elijahs". Of course, this is primarily due to the Pacification Field that would have made it impossible to defend himself from them. |
| 47 | * DrugsAreBad: Centuries of Mentat abuse have not done them any favors. |
| 48 | * ElCidPloy: It is possible to pull this on them. [[spoiler:Deciding to kill Dr. Mobius will give you the option to confront their threats with the lie that he's still alive and that they're in imminent danger.]] |
| 49 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Encountering them on the first floor of the Dome, they dramatically announce their presence before descending into bickering with each other. It takes a while for them to get back to acknowledging the Courier's presence or intelligence and they can barely understand them despite speaking the same language. After going through a couple tangents, their arguing is stopped when they detect a broadcast from their enemy, Dr. Mobius. |
| 50 | * EternalRecurrence: Their mental patterns are on a loop, so they're barely aware of what they're really doing. They don't remember the outside world except in the vaguest sense, and they continuously do the same experiments over and over, learning nothing from them. [[spoiler:Just as Mobius intended in order to keep them from realizing the world is not as destroyed and unlivable as they previously thought, and thus quite available to be experimented on.]] |
| 51 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: They removed Dr. Mobius from the team due to him taking actions that even they found abhorrent ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and also probably from disagreements regarding research methodology]]). [[spoiler:As it turns out, it's the other way around.]] |
| 52 | * EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Well, technically amoral, but you already know that. The problem is that they're manipulating you into giving them what they need to escape Big MT to conduct their experiments on the Mojave and the world at large.]] |
| 53 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: More like "Amorality Cannot Comprehend Good", but they genuinely don't understand why their experiments, i.e. cutting open everything just to see what would happen, is a bad thing. [[spoiler:It's also why they don't understand why Dr. Mobius left them.]] |
| 54 | * EvilIsPetty: They all have an ego on them in some form. Dr. Klein sees himself as clearly in the right in any dispute, especially with a particular argument with Dr. Mobius. Dr. 0 hates Mr. House with a passion and has [[DartboardOfHate knives embedded into a nearby picture of him]] and also built a tiny, weaponless Securitron and gave it obsessive issues out of spite. Dr. Borous refuses to admit that there may be anything wrong with his assessment of the fertility of his creations and made one of the testing facilities into a high school environment where he can exact revenge on those who wronged him in his youth. |
| 55 | * ExpressiveAccessory: Despite just having monitors with static eyes and mouths for "faces," they get a lot of mileage out of them by expressing their emotion through stretching and tilting them. They'll contort their eye-stalks sideways in an angry or worried expression, jut their mouth-stalk forward to emphasize a word and their monitors will shiver in fear and/or frustration. |
| 56 | * FailedASpotCheck: The option to skip their introductory dialogue has the Courier notice Dr. Mobius' incoming message on the monitor before they can. |
| 57 | * {{Foil}}: To the Institute in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', who are pretty much a serious take on the Think Tank. Both organizations utilize humanoid slave labor (Lobotomites for the Think Tank and Synths for the Institute), are nigh impossible to access [[spoiler:without teleportation]], and generally have technology that's ''light-years'' beyond what even factions like the Enclave or Brotherhood of Steel could have dreamed of. However, the Institute are ultimately far more dangerous than the Think Tank are in that they're... well, ''sane'', and can [[SanityHasAdvantages actually advance their tech]] and [[ThePowerOfCreation create new wonders of science and technology.]] The Think Tank, by contrast, are so bogged down by [[spoiler:Dr. Mobius' and]] their own [[EternalRecurrence recursion loops]] that it is nearly impossible for them to create anything new anymore that [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds won't turn a city into cinders.]] Meanwhile, the Institute is [[WeakButSkilled less powerful than them, but is far more skilled,]] and has been able [[MagnificentBastard to effortlessly control the entire Commonwealth]] [[TheConspiracy for over half a century]] [[VisionaryVillain while guiding it]] towards what ''they'' see as [[WellIntentionedExtremist a better world.]] The Think Tank, if let out of Big MT in a [[DummiedOut cut ending]], [[PersonOfMassDestruction more or less just turn the entire Mojave into a smoking crater.]] The Institute also had relatively few resources left over from the Pre-War days, [[HardWorkHardlyWorks and had to build all of their technology]] [[AvertedTrope on their own]] (which took them a ''hell'' of a long time). Meanwhile, the Think Tank had the advantage of their still-remaining [[DeathWorld (more or less)]] Pre-War research facility. |
| 58 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: Likely unintentional, but their [[spoiler:ultimate plan to escape Big MT]] involves them [[spoiler:putting their minds and consciousness into Lobotomites so that they can escape the prohibitive barriers around the carter, with them essentially going through BrainUploading in the process.]] Later on, in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', one of the companion quests - [[ThePollyanna Curie's]] - involves [[spoiler:having her mind and consciousness downloaded into a braindead [[ArtificialHuman Synth]], with the process being essentially BrainUploading, and her doing it so as to escape the limits of her mechanical Ms. Nanny body.]] Also, their [[spoiler:teleportation technology]] looks a ''lot'' like that developed by [[spoiler:the Institute]]. |
| 59 | * ForScience: It is stated as their literal motivation. Not science as applied toward any specific goal. Just... "science". It's also notable that their interpretation of "science" has become somewhat unglued over time, particularly when it comes to human anatomy. |
| 60 | * FullConversionCyborg: The only organic parts of themselves left are their brains in a container of "biogel" and occasionally dosed with Mentats. |
| 61 | * GoMadFromTheRevelation: Downplayed. When they met [[spoiler:Ulysses]], their encounter reached a breaking point for them when he [[spoiler:angrily rebuked them for not knowing or being aware of their past and surroundings]]. The scientists were so shaken that they allowed him to leave unharmed. Even after having repressed his response from memory, they never felt the same afterward [[spoiler:which brought them closer to breaking their recursion loop than anything else]]. |
| 62 | * GreaterScopeVillain: |
| 63 | ** They're responsible for several wasteland terrors like the Nightstalkers and Cazadores that have overrun the Mojave, as well as the Cloud and the state of the Sierra Madre, and the dust storms of the Divide. The man-eating plants of Vault 22 originated in Big MT too, though no specific Think Tank member claims responsibility for that one. |
| 64 | ** They are also the GreaterScopeVillain to several antagonists in ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', ''[[VideoGame/Fallout3 3]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/Fallout4 4]]''. If it was a horrifying application of mad science, it is very likely their research was directly or indirectly responsible. [[spoiler:Dr. Braun and Professor Calvert spring to mind.]] |
| 65 | ** The TV Series also shows that [[spoiler:they had a seat at the table in a meeting between various corporations of the time via their representative Fredrick Sinclair discussing how to instigate the Great War]]. |
| 66 | * HazyFeelTurn: |
| 67 | ** [[spoiler:You can convince the Think Tank to work with you and provide Big MT's technologies, but they'll still retain their sadism and other MadScientist traits. They're just thankfully on your side.]] |
| 68 | ** [[spoiler: Dr.Klein is this in the ending where you got the support of at least 3 members, being that technically he didn't redeem himself, but he reluctantly accepts the opinion of the majority.]] |
| 69 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe If you befriend at least three Think Tank members during your time in Big MT, mostly through solving their personal dilemmas like 0's frustration over being misnamed or 8 as]] TheUnintelligible, [[spoiler:they'll stand up to Dr. Klein when he tries to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness get rid of you]] during the final confrontation and overrule him, thus making him agree to serving you]]. |
| 70 | * HeroicComedicSociopath: Most of the time. Then you get to see some of their results, which are less funny. |
| 71 | * HumansThroughAlienEyes: They've forgotten what it's like to be human, having spent most of their long lives as brains in jars. Klein and the rest initially regard you with the suspicion and fear due to an alien invader. |
| 72 | * InsufferableGenius: Most of them, Dr. Klein especially. |
| 73 | * {{Jerkass}}: Klein (abrasive and arrogant) and Borous (callous and aggressively petty when it comes to his high school years), and 0 if he is in a bad mood (which is often). On the other hand, Dala thinks you're just ''fascinating'' and 8... seems... nice. [[TheUnintelligible Maybe]]. Granted, both Dr. 0 and Dr. Borous will soften up if you convince 0 to take pride in his name and get Borous to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remember]] how badly he treated his dog [[CanineCompanion Gabe]]. |
| 74 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[DownplayedTrope Barely]], but it is possible to appeal to their more humane sides to make them [[spoiler:spare you at the end]]. |
| 75 | * JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: They are all {{Mad Scientist}}s with abrasive personalities, but they cower in fear in the presence of Dr. Mobius and can be assumed to be capable of giving respect to the Courier, even begrudgingly. [[spoiler:Then they intend to dissect you once you've completed their plans. On top of that, it's possible to win them over to your side with more questionable means, preventing certain character development that would have led to them being presented in a more positive light.]] |
| 76 | * KnowNothingKnowItAll: It is made clear that Dr. Klein has absolutely no idea about his actions. Dr. 0 is ''seemingly'' almost as bad -- his scientific specialty is apparently limited to "taking robots apart" and he tends to destroy his equipment a lot -- but he is willing to admit that he is not all that good at the thing he ostensibly specializes in, and he did produce both Muggy and a line of Securitrons that are ''better'' than [=RobCo's=] Mk. II in some hardware respects despite centuries of being in the open with no maintenance. [[note]]Their [[AIIsACrapshoot software]] did not fare quite as well.[[/note]] The rest of the Think Tank seem genuinely skilled and productive in their areas of expertise, [[EvilutionaryBiologist Dr. Borous]] [[DemonicSpiders dangerously so]]. Their general lack of sense can be attributed to centuries of Mentat abuse, as well as that the biogel that the brains float in is corrosive over time. All of the scientists were geniuses when they were human. [[note]]According to WordOfGod, Klein is more the [=Lab Director/College Dean=] than the biggest genius. He is there to push them around and keep the group somewhat focused on research since, [[OnlySaneByComparison relatively speaking, he is the most sane]] and has the most forceful personality.[[/note]] |
| 77 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: |
| 78 | ** There are some things that they don't remember, either in their specific field or during their stay at Big MT. [[spoiler:This is from a combination of Dr. Mobius lobotomizing them and their experience of a recursion loop.]] |
| 79 | ** They erased the conclusion to their discussion with [[spoiler:Ulysses]] on the grounds that what was said made them uncomfortable [[spoiler:and nearly broke them out of their loop]]. They still remember the meeting, however. |
| 80 | * LaughablyEvil: The Think Tanks are so insanely goofy that it is easy to forget how absolutely amoral and lethally dangerous they are. |
| 81 | * {{Lobotomy}}: |
| 82 | ** They inflict this on humans that get abducted into Big MT. [[spoiler:Reversing the process to get into organic bodies and leaving the crater becomes their motivation.]] |
| 83 | ** Dr. Mobius [[spoiler:also applied one to them, limiting their perceptions of the world only to the Big MT and causing their damaged minds to get worse.]] |
| 84 | * MadScientist: With pride. The fact that they tend to dose on Mentats like it were candy doesn't help a bit. They've also been doing virtually the same things over and over and over for more than 200 years. Vivisection ''can'' get boring, you know. Finally, this is ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'', and '50s ''Science!'' was imagined to be a little different from regular old science. |
| 85 | * {{Malaproper}}: Unpossible! And all things robotical. |
| 86 | * TheManBehindTheCurtain: [[spoiler:Despite all their technological brilliance, the Think Tank aren't much of a threat in person once you get past their defences.]] |
| 87 | * TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:They were responsible for the Cloud, the Ghost People, the Holograms, Christine's brain damage, and the fall of the Sierra Madre, as well as the Nightstalkers, spore carriers, and Cazadores that roam the Mojave and Zion Canyon. They're also indirectly responsible for the Marked Men of the Divide and Tranquility Lane.]] |
| 88 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 89 | ** All their names have to do with [[spoiler:the concept of infinite loops and endless repetition. A 0 (a loop), an 8 (a sideways infinity symbol), Klein (as in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle Klein bottle]]), Mobius (as in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobius_strip Möbius strip]]), Borous (short for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroborous Ouroboros]], the snake that eats its own tail - though you can point out that it is spelled incorrectly), and Dala (short for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala Mandala]], a circular geometric pattern). All of these names were designed by Dr. Mobius to further set in the infinite loops that the Think Tank are trapped in to keep them inside Big MT]]. |
| 90 | ** Many of their names also hint at their specialties such as Borous (named after the Ouroboros), being an expert at creating monstrosities, or 8 (a reference to octave) being a sound specialist. |
| 91 | ** Klein and Mobius being the most prominent amongst them are named after 3D shapes as opposed to 2D ones for everyone else. |
| 92 | * MeaningfulRename: After assuming their forms as Think Tanks, they abandoned their human names in favor of their current ones, which tie in with MeaningfulName above. |
| 93 | * TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: They've existed as these robotic abominations for so long that they've almost completely forgotten what it's like to even ''be'' human. Their knowledge of anatomy has vanished as they seem to think fingers and toes are actually penises, they have no understanding of body language or regular human physical actions (with Dala in particular being fascinated by them), and are just in general operating on a wavelength [[BlueAndOrangeMorality that's completely divorced from human and possibly even biological thinking]]. |
| 94 | * MissingStepsPlan: They resolve to find certain technologies in order to deal with Dr. Mobius [[spoiler:and to allow them to escape Big MT]]. When you retrieve the technology for Dr. Klein, he struggles to realize why they wanted them in the first place unless you succeed in one of several skill checks that "help" him discover code in the tech that will open the doors to The Forbidden Zone. |
| 95 | * MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Even when they were human, they weren't very good people. [[spoiler:Their experimentation on masses of people played a major role in the fall of the Sierra Madre, and their experimental weapons and treatments often harmed their fellow scientists and workers. Then there's Little Yangtze, their "people farm."]] |
| 96 | * MotherNatureFatherScience: Downplayed and PlayedForLaughs. Dr. Dala, the only female member of the group, is still a dedicated MadScientist just like the rest of her male colleagues, but her notable characteristics are being a lustful LoveFreak with a fixation on all things biological. |
| 97 | * MotiveDecay: Justified. Big MT and the Think Tank launched scientific research to develop technological wonders for the benefit of mankind. Their endeavors would shift to military technology as the United States prepared for war. After the nuclear exchange, the scientists transferred their minds into immortal forms to continue their research, and as hundreds of years went by, they lost their (already [[PsychopathicManchild immature]] and [[MadScientist sadistic]]) minds and forgot why they even conduct their unethical experiments, save for the occasional "ForScience" exclamations. |
| 98 | * TheMutiny: Helping every Think Tank member (except Klein) and earning their friendship/helping them realize what's wrong about themselves will lead to [[spoiler:each and every member that was helped standing up for the Courier when Klein decides it's time to execute them. How well it works depends on how many members were befriended, with members who haven't had their quest done instead gladly agreeing to cut the Courier open instead.]] |
| 99 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Played for Laughs in their introduction. After learning that the Courier is still intelligent, Klein starts going on about how they were playing God and created a monster. |
| 100 | * NonActionBigBad: While they may be described in-universe as rather terrifying, [[spoiler:their danger comes from their resources, intelligence and command of vast amounts of Old World technology. In a straight-up fight, the Think Tank chassis is already a little underequipped, and they haven't fought anything in so long they've forgotten how their weapons work and will spend most of the fight straight up ''fumbling'' with them]]. |
| 101 | -->'''Klein:''' IT'S FIGHTING BACK! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! |
| 102 | * NoodleIncident: The conclusion to the meeting with another courier is treated as this by them. [[ResolvedNoodleIncident It gets explained]] in ''Lonesome Road''. |
| 103 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:Dr. Mobius]] warns the Courier that, despite their quirky personalities and seemingly incompetent harmlessness, the Think Tank are brilliant, dangerous, and amoral, and [[spoiler:will bring untold horrors to the Mojave if they ever escape Big MT.]] Ulysses himself talks about them as though they would be by far the most powerful faction in the Mojave area, if it weren't for their current SealedEvilInACan status. [[spoiler:A [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Old_World_Blues_endings#Cut_ending cut ending]] for ''Old World Blues'', with ''you'' joining the Think Tank, proves this right.]] |
| 104 | * NotTheIntendedUse: They are fixated on getting and repurposing the X-2 antenna array, a stealth suit, and a certain frequency for the Sonic Emitter. When all are obtained, the Think Tank can move on with their plans. |
| 105 | ** Once Klein gets them, [[spoiler:he finds the code to opening the gates of The Forbidden Zone due to Mobius coding for them.]] |
| 106 | ** Later, it's revealed that their real purpose is [[spoiler:experimentation having to do with the brain, heart, and spine, all of which can then be used to put the Courier back together. The same process would also give the Think Tank the ability to leave Big MT.]] |
| 107 | * ObviouslyEvil: Laughable as they are, it is immediately made clear in their first scene that these are ''not'' good, trustworthy people, and dialogue options can't even have the Courier really ''pretending'' to enjoy serving them one bit. |
| 108 | * OmnidisciplinaryScientist: While each member specializes in their own fields, their studies also lead to them creating new fields of science and expertise in them. |
| 109 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Think Tanks' real names have been lost to time. |
| 110 | * OverratedAndUnderleveled: During ''Lonesome Road'', in one of Ulysses' holotapes he remarks how powerful the Think Tank are, stating that they're too powerful for even him to defeat, and that it would take a hundred Elijahs to challenge their full, combined power. Dr. Mobius likewise plays up the difficulty of the Courier facing all five Think Tank members in a straight-out fight. However, in-game they're quite a push-over once you override the Pacification Field that prevents you from shooting them and the ending narration notes how easy the battle was. He may simply be referring to what the Think Tank could do if they were focused and [[spoiler:no longer under the influence of Mobius' tampering]], and considering that in one cut ending they [[spoiler:pretty much annihilate the Mojave, destroying the NCR, Legion, and House in the process]] it's not inconceivable that this is the case. [[spoiler:Mobius]] may have his own reason for telling you about how dangerous he thinks the Think Tank are: [[spoiler:He doesn't want the Courier to kill them -- they ''were'' his friends once, after all.]] |
| 111 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: A group of them. Their experiments are so destructive that they blew the top off of their mountain base, forming the crater around them. [[spoiler:Mobius and the Courier's Brain worry about them escaping to burn the whole Mojave to the ground.]] |
| 112 | * PostFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Despite potentially being the final combat encounter of the DLC, the Think Tank are ''much'' weaker than the [[KingMook Giant Roboscorpion]] that the Courier fights before confronting Mobius, with Klein being the only member that has level-scaling and ''all'' of the Think Tank being hilariously inept at fighting]]. |
| 113 | * PsychopathicManchild: To varying degrees across every member, with the entire group easily devolving into bantering and arguing like a bunch of angsty teenagers as soon as any slight disagreement or accusation gets thrown out. On a more personable note, Klein can't take any criticism to save his life and resorts to shouting his problems away, 0's an incredibly petty and whiny scientist, Borous is still holding onto centuries-old high school grudges, Dala is obsessed with toy teddy bears and acts as confused with her sexuality like she's stuck in puberty, and 8's too emotional for anyone's comfort. In the words of Klein himself, "'''(...) I'M SURROUNDED BY''' '''''CHILDREN.'''''" |
| 114 | * {{Railroading}}: Parodied. They heavily emphasize sticking to the main objectives of the story, getting the technology, and never going off to explore the crater and other facilities. On a meta level, [[ReversePsychology it's meant to actively encourage players to explore]]. Breezing through the main quests will deprive the player of additional content. |
| 115 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Like House, Braun, and Calvert, they've been around since before the Great War. They also remember bits and pieces of their life before the Great War [[spoiler:as much as Dr. Mobius' deliberate tampering of the Think Tank still allows them]]. But unlike House, their human bodies crumbled a ''long'' time ago. |
| 116 | * TheRemnant: Like the Enclave, the Think Tank and Big MT in general are technically a remnant of the research contractors that the US Government turned to before the Great War. Of course, with all the red tape and interference wiped out in 2077, their pursuit of science took on ever-weirder and more depraved directions. |
| 117 | * RoomFullOfCrazy: Their houses in the Higgs Village, which may indicate that they are not much mentally sane even before becoming brains in jars. Dr. Dala's house is the most notable one, being filled with teddy bears in all sorts of poses, shattered mirrors and plenty of dresses and gowns just thrown around. |
| 118 | * ScienceIsBad: PlayedForLaughs, with them being cartoonishly sociopathic researchers adept in Fifties-style sci-fi logic whose [[ForTheEvulz motivations]] boil down to cutting everything open [[ForScience just to see what will happen]]. The effects of their methods are less comedic, however. |
| 119 | * SealedEvilInACan: In the end, [[spoiler:this is their fate thanks to the efforts of Dr. Mobius, made to perceive Big MT as their entire world so that they can never inflict their experiments on the outside world. The Courier moves to keep them in the crater even after they discover that there's more beyond it.]] |
| 120 | * SenseLossSadness: Implied to be the case. They've forgotten the sensations and experiences of being in human bodies, and ever since they've taken their new robotic forms, their minds have only gotten worse. Dr. Dala and Dr. Mobius tend to make this notion clearer. |
| 121 | * TheSociopath: Applies to each of them in varying degrees. As a group of selfish, amoral and manipulative mad scientists that don't care about the destruction of their experiments, they can't comprehend why [[spoiler:Dr. Mobius]] opposes them for it. |
| 122 | * SpellMyNameWithAThe: They and Mobius refer to Big MT as "Big Mountain", while others prefer to call it "''The'' Big Empty." |
| 123 | * StrawVulcan: They all put emphasis on ''Science!'' and being logical, cynically shunning emotions and anything "un-scientific" in their eyes. "Ethical" isn't in their vocabulary when performing their experiments, they all take [[ArrogantKungFuGuy immense pride]] in their intelligence, and may be LiteralMinded in some cases, such as when Dr. Klein is unable to determine what the Courier means by [[GunNut preferring something that "spits lead"]]. |
| 124 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: They believe that wielding the Sonic Emitter will be enough, so the Courier requesting an actual gun to accompany it is seen as overkill by them. |
| 125 | * UnskilledButStrong: They have never been in a fight in their lives, but their weapons can inflict serious damage... that is, if they can even land their attacks. |
| 126 | * WasOnceAMan: They were scientists working in Big MT and living in the Higgs Village before deciding to transfer their brains to robots to overcome the limitations of the human body. |
| 127 | * WetwareCPU: Their brains were transferred to floating chassis with monitors that interact with their stations. |
| 128 | * WorldOfHam: All of their lines are delivered with emphasis and tons of emotion. |
| 129 | * WorthyOpponent: The Think Tank seems to consider the ''Vault-Tec Corporation'' to be one, given how Big MT had to resort to "cheaper" albeit even more amoral measures to match them in experimenting on whole groups of people. |
| 130 | * YouSayTomato: They all say "''un''possible" rather than "''im''possible", and you can argue such with Dr. 0. Their constant research at Big MT has led to new studies, implying that their findings in verbology led to them changing their speech to suit new linguistic conclusions. |
| 131 | [[/folder]] |
| 132 | |
| 133 | [[folder:Dr. Klein]] |
| 134 | |
| 135 | [[quoteright:750:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kvo9zsn.jpeg]] |
| 136 | [[quoteright:229:[[labelnote:As a human]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mkbmr2q_4.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | --> ''"THE LOBOTOMITE IS ASKING ME THINGS, O, AND I AM TRYING TO IGNORE THEM. MY PROCESSORS CAN'T IGNORE YOU BOTH AT THE SAME TIME."'' |
| 139 | --> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/JimWard |
| 140 | |
| 141 | The arrogant and condescending leader of the Think Tank. |
| 142 | ---- |
| 143 | |
| 144 | * TheAlcoholic: Implied by the well-stocked bar occupying the front room of his house at Higgs Village and the bottle of wine on his nightstand and next to the bathtub. |
| 145 | * AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Or as the case may be, "Ooh, noisy!" |
| 146 | -->'''Klein, through the intercom:''' ATTENTION, BIG MT. THIS IS AN URGENT MESSAGE. IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE A GECKO... ECKO. ECHO? ECH-O. ECHO-O-O-O. ECHO-O-O-O-O. |
| 147 | * BeardOfEvil: Back when he was human, Klein had a white goatee. |
| 148 | * BerserkButton: Criticizing his intelligence or authority seems to be a big one for him, with how passionate he gets defending himself whenever someone does so. |
| 149 | ** In the first meeting with the Think Tank, if the Courier suggests exploring Big MT's laboratories to pass the time while they're stuck there, Klein gets legitimately furious at the mere thought. |
| 150 | --> '''WHAT ILLOGIC IS THIS?!''' ''KEEP YOUR FILTHY PENIS-TIPPED FEET OUT OF OUR LABS AND SECRETS!'' |
| 151 | * BigBad: As the leader of the Think Tank, [[spoiler:he functions as this once it becomes clear that they're the real villains of this scenario.]] |
| 152 | * BlatantLies: When 0 rips on Dr. Klein ([[spoiler:assuming you convinced him to side with you]]), the former tells the latter that one of his ideas was copied from the Chinese. Klein, in response, vehemently declares that to be a ''lie!'' ... And that he'd deleted all evidence to the contrary. |
| 153 | * ContinueYourMissionDammit: Starting a conversation with him after the introduction will have him start by asking if you've gotten the inventions yet. He'll be surprised when you do get them all. |
| 154 | * DeadpanSnarker: A few of his lines, such as the below "Occam's Razor'' comment, make him come across as this. |
| 155 | * DistinctionWithoutADifference: When Dala begs Klein not to [[spoiler:kill the Courier after having become '[[BoldyComing acquainted]]' with them]], Klein notes he's not going to harm it. He's going to 'dissect it until it's dead'. Literally speaking, you'd have to be dead for him to dissect you anyway (if you were alive, it'd be vivisection). |
| 156 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: The introduction has him cut his opening speech short to complain that his voice module has been meddled with, making him unable to speak without yelling. He immediately accuses the other researchers of doing it, mostly towards Dr. 0. The rest of their introductory dialogue has him complain that he is SurroundedByIdiots. |
| 157 | * FlatWorld: In a throwaway line while berating Dr. 0, Klein implies that he, if not the whole team, are flat-earthers. |
| 158 | --> ''GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, YOU'RE MAKING US LOOK LIKE A COLLECTION OF ROUND-EARTHERS.'' |
| 159 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: At the end of the DLC, [[spoiler:Dr. Klein will refute the mutiny by claiming that democratic decision is not "scientific" and that he intends to follow through with killing the Courier. The Courier responds with semantics; it isn't a democracy, but a research facility where his peers are able to object to his findings. Klein is frustrated that they "dare use logic against [him]".]] |
| 160 | * {{Hypocrite}}: He scoffs at the Courier for thinking that Big MT is dangerous, making no real reassurance that it's safe. If asked why the Think Tank can't go out and get the technology themselves, Klein exclaims how dangerous it is for them. |
| 161 | * InferioritySuperiorityComplex: While the others are (or were) experts in specialist fields of science, Klein is more of a manager or director for them. This clearly needles him, and he's often calling the others idiots and declaring himself a genius. |
| 162 | * InsistentTerminology: He is not fond of the term "the Big Empty" and tells the Courier that they should address Big MT properly in front of him. He disparagingly refers to the incorrect name along the lines of "taking Occam's Razor to the initialism" and insults the intelligence of the people who came up with the "Big Empty". |
| 163 | * ItsAllAboutMe: He's pretty open about how little he thinks of his colleagues, and insists that ''he's'' the one who represents the entire Think Tank and gets to call the shots. |
| 164 | --> '''''(After Dr. 0 voiced his concern [[spoiler:over killing the Courier]])''''' SILENCE, DR. 0. THIS IS A THINK TANK DECISION, SAVE YOUR OBJECTIONS UNTIL AFTER ''I'' HAVE DECIDED OUR COURSE OF ACTION. |
| 165 | * KickedUpstairs: Klein appears to be well-aware that his fellow Think Tank members were considered experts in their fields while he was just the director corralling them. This is probably why [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex he's inclined to insult them and call himself a genius]]. |
| 166 | * KingMook: Klein is the only member of the Think Tank that level-scales with the player and thus the only member who puts up anything resembling a decent fight if confronted physically, though he's still quite underwhelming compared to all the [[invoked]]DemonicSpiders you've fought your way through up to this point. |
| 167 | * LargeHam: The game itself lampshades this: |
| 168 | -->'''Mission Objective:''' Go talk to Dr. Klein, even though you don't have earmuffs. |
| 169 | * MeanBoss: Frequently condescending arrogant and just plain unpleasant towards both his team members and his temporary allies. |
| 170 | ** The presence of a large American Flag and a full-sized bar with three stools in his house, along with his overabundance of pride in the Think Tank (at least towards others) implies this wasn't always the case. |
| 171 | ** He seems to get the most agitated by the mere sound of Dr. 0 speaking. He lashes out with more frustration and puts him down the most compared to his interactions with other Think Tanks. |
| 172 | * NoIndoorVoice: Due to [[spoiler:Elijah]] messing with his volume control. He himself is not at all pleased with how he's always shouting, but he can't do anything about it. |
| 173 | * OnlySaneByComparison: He's still out of touch with humanity enough that he's sure your fingers and toes are penises, but out of all of the Think Tank members, Klein seems to be the one most grounded in reality. As a consequence or a cause, he's their leader. |
| 174 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: When he's had about enough of his colleagues inane bickering over handing the Courier their sonic emitter. |
| 175 | --> "GIVE. THE. LOBOTOMITE. THE. ''EMITTER''." |
| 176 | * RageQuit: He threw The Sink's personality chips off of the balcony after an argument with Dr. Mobius. |
| 177 | * SelectiveObliviousness: He insists that he discovered and studied "brainial beam oscillation" before anyone else could. When Dr. 0 points out that the Chinese did it first, he angrily denies it before quickly mentioning that he erased anything that proved otherwise. |
| 178 | * SmallNameBigEgo: The most egomaniacal of the brains, even though he has the least personal achievements. |
| 179 | * StrawVulcan: While the entire team is one, Klein especially displays this. He decries the "illogic" of suggesting exploring the Big MT and can't tell what the Courier means by something that "spits lead". [[spoiler:During the mutiny at the end, he claims it doesn't work since they are too "scientific" to act as a democracy, but when the Courier counters with semantics that appeal to him, Klein relents.]] |
| 180 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: It's not clear if it's an act, but when talking about how Mobius used to be a member of the Think Tank he sounds genuinely torn up at the old man's [[UnreliableNarrator "fall"]]. |
| 181 | -->'''Klein:''' DR. MOBIUS WAS... NOT THE HORRIFYING CREATURE YOU SAW UPON THE SCREEN, TWISTED BY SCIENCE. HE WAS ONCE ONE OF US. A FRIEND. |
| 182 | ** Ultimately, [[spoiler:appealing to this sense of friendship is one way to get the Think Tank to back down peacefully if you convince him that Mobius wants the best for them or has taken over your body.]] |
| 183 | --> "PARTNER WITH ''YOU''? MY FOE, MY RIVAL MY FOREMOST CRITIC? (...) I HAVE A STRANGE SENSATION... THAT I WOULD LIKE THAT. [[WhatIsThisFeeling HOW... ODD.]]" |
| 184 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: By the end, [[spoiler:he will try to pull this on you. You can either kill the Think Tank or convince him otherwise. If you've befriended the rest of the Think Tank, they'll speak on your behalf. Or you can convince them your skull now [[ChewingTheScenery houses the BRAIN OF MOBIUS]]!]] |
| 185 | |
| 186 | [[/folder]] |
| 187 | [[folder:Dr. 0]] |
| 188 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dr0.jpeg]] |
| 189 | [[quoteright:145:[[labelnote:As a human]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dr0human_4.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 190 | |
| 191 | --> ''"I have a gift with machines. I can render anything inoperable - preserve them in a non-functioning state."'' |
| 192 | --> '''Voiced by:''' James Urbaniak |
| 193 | |
| 194 | A would-be roboticist with a very questionable grasp on technology, a somewhat confusing name, and a serious bone to pick with Robert House. |
| 195 | ---- |
| 196 | * AccidentalMisnaming: His name is often mispronounced as O, AKA: "Dr. Oh", something that he finds frustrating but has stopped bothering to correct. The player can either convince him to take pride in the name 0 or embrace the name O as the "Oh" of discovery. |
| 197 | * AchievementsInIgnorance: His Berserk Securitrons are running on a Mark VI operating system, while Mr. House required the creation of the platinum chip to upgrade his to Mark II. While uncontrollable, they're quite strong. Of course, it could also simply be [[WalkingTechbane a custom OS]] of 0's own making, rather than being in the same series, and just called VI as yet another TakeThat at House. |
| 198 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Whenever he's programming the Securitrons other than Muggy, rendering them berserk. |
| 199 | * TheArtifact: Before he got rewritten into an ersatz Rusty Venture, he was intended to be a sort of newscaster-type guy. You can still hear this a couple of times in his dialogue where he says, "Breaking news!" (Borous and his Beau Weaver voice seem to have taken up the announcer slack in his place.) |
| 200 | * BerserkButton: Mr. House and [=RobCo=] both infuriate him to the point that just having a Pip-Boy sets him off and makes him think that you must be a spy. |
| 201 | * BunglingInventor: How skilled he was when he was a sane human is up in the air, but as a Think Tank member centuries later he's far from competent with handling and building machines. |
| 202 | * {{Expy}}: For Rusty Venture from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''. Not only do Dr. 0 and Dr. Venture share the same voice actor -- and yes, Urbaniak makes sure to use the same voice and inflections -- but they also share similar personalities as well. Both are inventors of dubious competence with a deep inferiority complex towards a superior scientist (Mr. House and Jonas Jr. respectively) as well as drug habits (Mentats for 0 and "diet pills" for Rusty). With the [[SillinessSwitch Wild Wasteland trait]], one of 0's old labs contains "walking eye" robots; Rusty invented a Walking Eye on the show. |
| 203 | * DartboardOfHate: Has a picture of House with knives stabbed into it in his house at Higgs Village. |
| 204 | * DistinctionWithoutADifference: He doesn't break machines, he "preserves them in a nonfunctioning state." |
| 205 | * TheDogBitesBack: If inspired to take pride in being Dr. "Oh" or Dr. Zero, he'll [[spoiler:angrily lash out against Klein in the final confrontation]]. |
| 206 | * DumbassHasAPoint: Bumbling scientist and cowardice aside, he's not wrong to [[spoiler:discourage Dr. Klein from fighting the Courier if his sidequest was not completed. He particularly notes that they haven't had a combat drill in eons and that they probably couldn't put up a good fight even if they wanted to.]] |
| 207 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: |
| 208 | ** He's immediately accused of messing with Klein's voice module when you first meet them. His response is quickly followed by him trying to correct his name as "Dr. Zero" and not "Dr. Oh." |
| 209 | ** When you first have a proper conversation with him, the first thing he notices is the [=PipBoy=] on your arm, leading him to accuses you of being a [=RobCo=] spy and cursing you for bringing Robert House's invention within his presence. |
| 210 | * FlatWhat: If you suggest to using a slash to tell the letter and number apart, he initially responds with this. Apparently in over 200 years, even after reducing himself to a BrainInAJar, he never autonomously thought about doing that. Granted [[spoiler:he's been trapped in a recursion loop and rendered ''quite'' [[{{Pun}} loopy]] from Mentats abuse.]] |
| 211 | * HardOnSoftScience: Before discussing his issues with people misnaming him, he'll be upset at being put through psychology, in his eyes the worst of the sciences, next to "Colosto-Diarrhetics." |
| 212 | * HopelessWithTech: Ironically for someone meant to specialize in robotics. His Securitrons have great hardware but always go berserk. He has a natural talent of destroying the technology that he comes across. It's not that he doesn't understand technology at all, but he's too flawed in his field to create anything practical or effective from his work. |
| 213 | * MeaningfulName: His name relates to binary code, connecting his specialty in building and programming robots as well as [[spoiler:representing the infinite loop that the Think Tank is stuck in]]. The mispronunciation, if the player encourages him to embrace it, can also represent the "[[EurekaMoment Oh!]]" of science. |
| 214 | * MillionToOneChance: Considers the probability of Mobius having an absolutely massive Robo-scorpion tucked away in his lab to protect him as [[TemptingFate laughably remote.]] |
| 215 | * MyHeroZero: Though it is mistakenly read as the letter "O". |
| 216 | * OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Claims to have a degree in verbology, alongside his experience in robotics. |
| 217 | * SayingTooMuch: In describing the Courier's mission, he mentions that they will be studying how quickly s/he gets their technology as an experiment. He then [[VerbalBackspace clarifies]] by saying that he meant "Nobel challenge." |
| 218 | * ShoddyKnockoffProduct: He specializes in robotics and builds Securitrons like Mr. House, but his creations lack in quality. He's upset enough at this to make a mockery of Securitrons in the form of Muggsy. |
| 219 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: He has long since given up on correcting people on his name. [[SeriousBusiness With a high enough Intelligence]], you can tell him to put a slash through the zero and he will ''praise you as a genius''. If he finally stands up to [[spoiler:Dr. Klein at the end, he mentions the slash, ''which Klein also thinks is a stroke of genius''.]] |
| 220 | -->'''Dr. Klein:''' [[spoiler:THE SLASH... AS A DESIGNATOR OF... WHY, THAT IS BRILLIANT. BUT HOW DID YOU...?]] |
| 221 | * TeenyWeenie: Implied. When Dr. Klein confuses the Courier's toes for penises, Dr. 0 disagrees since he can't recall penises being "that ''large''". |
| 222 | * WalkingTechbane: His specialty is basically breaking robots, Muggy being the exception. He was, however, able to upgrade upon the Securitrons, but his robots have since gone [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine violent]]. The fact that [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter House is arguably the better (or at least more famous) roboticist]] is the reason that 0 loathes him. There are also scattered signs that he is reasonably adept, if imperfect, at mimicking cybernetic accomplishments, including the Securitrons and the X-13 lab that bears a few of his metaphorical thumbprints. |
| 223 | * WhosOnFirst: Being recognized as "O" causes him to respond when Dr. Klein exclaims "oh" in surprise. |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
| 226 | [[folder:Dr. 8]] |
| 227 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dr8.jpeg]] |
| 228 | [[quoteright:138:[[labelnote:As a human]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8human_4.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 229 | |
| 230 | --> ''[=@@[*.......]@@... @@[*.......]@@..? @@[*......*]@@.=]'' [[labelnote:Translation, as per script notes]]{AUDIO: "Um... a little embarrassed about this, but yes, I creamed hard into your gun."}[[/labelnote]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | An acoustician, 8's voice module was damaged prior to the DLC by a previous visitor. As such, he can only communicate in sound waves. |
| 233 | ---- |
| 234 | * ButtMonkey: Downplayed, but he's this among the other members of the [[MadScientist Think]] [[DysfunctionJunction Tank]]. Not only did [[spoiler:[[EvilOldFolks Father]] [[VillainOfAnotherStory Elijah]] [[KickTheDog damage his voice module]] so as to help him escape from Big MT]], but Dr. Dala implies that the rest of the Think Tank actually ''prefer'' Dr. 8 now being nigh-incomprehensible. Also, [[StoryBreadcrumbs dialogue with the other Think Tank members and details around Higgs Village imply]] that due to Dr. 8 being [[TokenGoodTeammate the nicest member of the Think Tank]], [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer he's often ignored and left out by the others]] [[ForScience when doing "science"]]. |
| 235 | * CallBack: He's one to ''Dead Money'', which could be a CallForward if ''Old World Blues'' is played first. The reason he's [[TheUnintelligible The Unintelligible]] because [[spoiler:Father Elijah damaged his voice module to use it during his escape from Big MT]]. |
| 236 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Courier can have the option to inspect Dr. 8's hardware for an intimate look as to how to make him more coherent. It can be done respectfully to gain 8's trust, or the Courier can be intrusive and starting prodding around where they aren't supposed to while actively taunting Dr. 8, much to his discomfort/terror and then {{blackmail}} him into supporting them in the finale. The whole situation is played like the Courier just sexually molested 8 and intimidated him into not telling anyone. |
| 237 | * EndearinglyDorky: [[TheUnintelligible His remarkable friendliness with the Courier and their responses imply this.]] |
| 238 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Dr. 8 is observed as being unable to speak like the rest of the Think Tank but is understood by them all the same. When it's time to hand the Sonic Emitter over, he has to "prepare" the device by "sonjaculating" into it, much to the disgust of the other members. |
| 239 | * HeartIsAnAwesomePower: His expertise over sound may ''seem'' silly, but his [[MakeMeWannaShout Sonic Emitter]] is actually one of the best weapons the [[PlayerCharacter Courier]] can have during their adventures in Big MT. The "Tarantula" frequency even pushes it pretty damn close to GameBreaker status. |
| 240 | * IntelligibleUnintelligible: With sufficient Perception or Science skill, the Courier realizes he's talking in [=RobCo=] terminal code, and apparently can translate that in their head. From then on, they hold conversations with 8, but leave the player to guess his end through context. |
| 241 | * MakeSomeNoise: As the team's acoustician, 8 provides the player with a Sonic Emitter, a sound-based energy weapon of his own design... after "warming it up" for you. |
| 242 | * MeaningfulName: The number 8 can be interpreted as the infinity symbol tilted sideways in reference to [[spoiler:the Think Tank's position in an infinite loop]], as well as the octave, relating to his specialty to sound waves. |
| 243 | * MoodSwinger: A little harder to see, being a Think Tank, but once you learn their twists, turns and quivers of their screens are actually attempts at emoting, you start to realize Dr. 8 is very, ''very'' emotional, and goes from pissed to disgusted to overjoyed to terrified in very few [[StarfishLanguage bunches of code]]. Reading the relevant .txt files reveals just how much, and even a Courier with zero clue about what he's saying can notice. |
| 244 | ** {{Keet}}: He gets worse if you befriend him, and understand what he's saying. Apparently some of the stuff he says is just ''so'' mushy even a good Courier will probably tell him to tone it down a bit. |
| 245 | * NiceGuy: Despite speaking only in static, 8 comes off as a lot more approachable and helpful compared to the other Think Tank members. [[FridgeLogic You kind of wonder]] how ''did'' he end up being part of such a bunch of psychotic {{Mad Scientist}}s. |
| 246 | * NoodleImplements: |
| 247 | ** If you request additional energy cells to power the Sonic Emitter at the start of the DLC, the Think Tank claim that they are out of overcharged cells. 8 then perks up and says that he has some. 0 expresses confusion, then disregards asking why. |
| 248 | -->'''Dr. 0:''' ''I don't even want to know.'' |
| 249 | ** Asking him about "ways of passing the time" and "warming up" the Sonic Emitter can result in you being rewarded with some of these. |
| 250 | * NumerologicalMotif: Quite apart from his name, he also lives in house #108 at Higgs Village, most of his personal possessions appear in groups of eight, and his acoustical specialty can also lend itself towards ''octaves.'' |
| 251 | * StarfishLanguage: The [=RobCo=] code he communicates through, which sounds like radio static mixed with loud whirring noises. Subtitles render it as incomprehensible symbols. |
| 252 | * TokenGoodTeammate: Implied, considering how he (presumably) talks about friendship and has a ''Meeting People'' magazine with him. He also seems to display the least sadistic tendencies, if any at all. Dala's comments suggest that the rest of the Think Tank [[KickTheDog prefer him to remain incomprehensible]], finding him much too nice and sociable for their tastes. |
| 253 | * TheUnintelligible: Only capable of playing [=RobCo=] termlink protocol [[spoiler:thanks to Elijah hacking his voice module]]. You can understand him through a skill check. At least, the Courier will, so you have to figure out what 8 is saying via the Courier's responses. |
| 254 | * VideoGameCaringPotential: If the Courier has enough skill, he can hack Dr. 8 and let him know about the ability to do so. The choice to not go through with manipulating his internals earns his appreciation, friendship, and Good Karma. |
| 255 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Otherwise, the Courier can meddle with Dr. 8's internals to take resources from him and make him loyal against his will. |
| 256 | [[/folder]] |
| 257 | [[folder:Dr. Borous]] |
| 258 | |
| 259 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/borous.jpeg]] |
| 260 | [[quoteright:143:[[labelnote:As a human]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boroushuman_4.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 261 | |
| 262 | --> ''"Can't splice enough, I always say, especially if you can make a magnificent [[DemonicSpiders Cazador]]!"'' |
| 263 | --> '''Voiced by:''' Beau Weaver |
| 264 | |
| 265 | The incredibly patriotic Head of "Animology, Beastology and DNA-Scrambling Technology" whose memories of high school plague him to this very day. He is also the former owner of Gabe. |
| 266 | ---- |
| 267 | * BerserkButton: |
| 268 | ** Borous' hatred of Communists arguably rivals [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Liberty Prime]]. He programmed the Book Chute in the Sink with its all-consuming need to cleanse printed books of their nasty, seditious-thought-provoking material by wiping them totally blank. |
| 269 | ** His other one is Richie Marcus, his rival from high school. When acting as the principal in the high school simulation, he is quick to give Richie Marcus [[FMinusMinus a terrible report card]], as well as taking any opportunity to question his sexuality. ("Down the end of the hall is ''ball'' storage, for jocks who like ''balls'', like Richie Marcus!") Richie Marcus has been dead for 200 years, and that's also discounting the time between high school and becoming a senior research scientist at Big MT. |
| 270 | * BoldInflation: '''How''' he '''''talks!''''' |
| 271 | * CharacterDevelopment: |
| 272 | ** Completing his personal quest and convincing him [[spoiler:that what he did to childhood pet dog, Gabe, was horrible]] will turn the bombastic, immoral and gleefully sadistic Dr. Borous into a quieter, mindful and peaceful scientist who's now more interested in nurturing life from egg rather than horribly experimenting on it. |
| 273 | ** Doing the opposite and convincing him that Gabe was a mere lab animal, albeit a loyal one, achieves the same calmness he would have had in the former case, but he learns to respect and see the Courier as their equal, dropping every sense of superiority over them. |
| 274 | * CreepyBasement: His house in Higgs Village has one. Specifically, full of animal cages, covered in blood and containing a mutilated teddy bear. |
| 275 | * DoesNotLikeGuns: In the first meeting, the other scientists discuss handing the Courier a real gun that's not the sonic emitter. Dr. Borous loudly and passionately objects to handing them a weapon under the excuse of the pain and suffering it can deal. Bringing it up a second time mere minutes later, though, [[SubvertedTrope reveals it's mostly an act]] for him to speak dramatically, and he proudly coughs up the K9000 Cyberdog Gun for the Courier to use. |
| 276 | * DramaQueen: His dialogue is constantly spoken with gravitas. He only hesitates to give the Courier a gun and some ammo for the excuse to merely ''act'' shocked and appalled. He tones this down a bit after you complete his quest. |
| 277 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first thing to notice from him is his dramatic delivery, moreso than the other scientists. He also begins rattling off on his youth and high school bully, Richie Marcus, which Dr. 0 refutes as being ideal when some of the things he did included [[RedScare reporting other students as possible Communists]]. |
| 278 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It is possible to get him to [[spoiler:realize that he loved Gabe and feels sorry about the experiments inflicted on him.]] |
| 279 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: If the Courier give him Gabe's bowl, [[spoiler:he doesn't understand why he suddenly feels horrible after reminiscing about his dog.]] |
| 280 | * EvilIsPetty: A HeManWomanHater and a {{Jerkass}}. In truth, he never got over a jock bullying him and "stealing" a girl who wasn't interested anyway back in school. As a result, as one quest shows, he became a total asshole who would happily take his worst enemy and have him torn apart by vicious mutated animals, just because he never got over it. |
| 281 | * EvilutionaryBiologist: He is the one responsible for the creation of Cazadores and Night Stalkers. |
| 282 | * FreudianExcuse: Was bullied in high school by one Richie Marcus, and Betsy Bright, the girl he had a crush on, chose to go smoking with Richie rather than go to the dance with him. |
| 283 | * ForScience: While the Think Tank as a whole are a group of mad scientists, Borous takes the cake as his singular reason for doing any type of experiment or research is to simply see what would happen...and also because of his raging God complex. |
| 284 | -->'''Dr. Borous:''' You may know me as the Head Chief First Researcher of Labs Z-9 and Z-14. There I fought valiantly to preserve rattlesnake DNA, and put it right where it belongs, in the husk of another feared predator. Oh, and the tarantula hawk. Can't splice enough, I always say, especially if you can make a magnificent [[WickedWasps Cazador!]] |
| 285 | * AGodAmI: Just listen to him in the lab he had set up to resemble his old high school. He even calls himself a god and acts [[GodIsEvil like a heartless asshole with absolute power]]. |
| 286 | * InsistentTerminology: For Borous, it never simply science. It's '''Science!''' |
| 287 | * KickTheDog: Used his dog Gabe as a test subject, turning him into a giant, vicious cyberdog pumped up on Psycho. [[spoiler:Not calling him on this at all when you bring him Gabe's bowl will result in him having a true HeelRealization rather than repressing his emotions.]] |
| 288 | * LargeHam: He's always speaking as if he was the narrator of a 50's sci-fi film. The game itself lampshades this: |
| 289 | -->'''Mission Objective:''' Say hello to Dr. Borous. Carefully. |
| 290 | * MakerOfMonsters: He's very fond of genetically altering creatures into large, dangerous forms. He's directly responsible for the creation of both the giant tarantula wasps known as cazadores and the coyote/rattlesnake hybrid nightstalkers, the latter of which he apparently created on a dare. |
| 291 | * MeaningfulName: Borous, misspelled from the shorthand of ouroboros, depicts a snake swallowing its own tail as a symbol of infinity. Fitting, given his specialty in animals and the infinite loop he and the rest of the Think Tank are stuck in. |
| 292 | * MetaphoricallyTrue: Borous claims that he made the Cazadores and Nightstalkers sterile, docile and unable to leave Big MT. If nothing else, [[FalseReassurance they really are as sterile as they are docile]]. |
| 293 | * MoralityPet: Gabe used to be this before he was converted into a vicious Cyberdog hopped up on Psycho. [[spoiler:Choosing the right options can lead to the Courier becoming this for him instead.]] |
| 294 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Borous comes to this realization when you bring him Gabe's dogbowl. He quickly suppresses his feelings however, or at least tries to. |
| 295 | * NoIndoorVoice: Incapable of speaking in anything but an announcer-like voice; he does, however, use a relatively calmer tone when [[spoiler:the Courier shows him Gabe's feed bowl]]. |
| 296 | * NotGoodWithRejection: It's pretty clear from his pre-recorded messages about Betsy Bright that he once had a crush on her, but she was dating Richie Marcus. Once she shot down his attempt at asking her out to the high school dance in favor of spending time with her actual boyfriend, Borous' feelings turned sour and slanders her in the X-8 facility, accusing her of going to go smoke with Richie instead of going to the dance and rejecting him because she was a communist. |
| 297 | * PatrioticFervor: Hates those DirtyCommunists almost as much as he hates [[FreudianExcuse his old high school classmates]] Richie Marcus and Betsy Bright. |
| 298 | * PetTheDog: [[spoiler:When you bring him Gabe's dog bowl, he mourns his cruel treatment of the one creature he truly cared about.]] |
| 299 | * PettyChildhoodGrudge: A very [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] example. At least ''two centuries'' after graduating high school, he still can't get over his high school crush rejecting him and instead liking his high school bully. |
| 300 | * PsychopathicManchild: By far the biggest example of the group. He never really grew up past his high school years, a fact he makes evident in his school-themed dungeon, where he also reveals he's what would happen if an embittered high school nerd who wanted to be a mad scientist really became one. |
| 301 | * RedScare: Hates those filthy communists who want to destroy our American way of life. |
| 302 | * ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:The Courier somewhat becomes one if they agree that Dr. Borous wasn't wrong in treating Gabe as another lab specimen. Instead of coldly rationalizing leaving the Courier alive at the end of the DLC, he begs for their life to be spared from the horrors he put Gabe through.]] |
| 303 | * ReversePsychology: Bringing him Gabe's bowl fills Borous with absolutely crushing guilt, [[EvilCannotComprehendGood even if he can't understand why]]. If you spell it out for him explicitly, he'll just quickly act to suppress those feelings. But if you take the dialog option where you disregard all those moral quandaries and take his side unconditionally, [[ReplacementGoldfish just like Gabe would have]], it allows those feelings of remorse to fester for longer before Borous can understand their meaning. This manifests [[spoiler:in the final confrontation with Klein]]: If his guilt was suppressed, Borous will act clinically and speak of you as a research subject that is too valuable to kill. If they weren't, [[MoralityPet he'll show true remorse and draw comparisons to your loyalty and Gabe's]]. |
| 304 | ** In the end, Borous will "side" with you no matter what you say, but it affects the research he shares with you every few days after the fact. [[invoked]][[{{Squick}} Test subjects get shown the things he found inside other test subjects]]. But loyal companions inspire him to find more productive ways to nurture life, resulting in his creations laying eggs that he shares with you. |
| 305 | --> '''Dr. Borous:''' Look at THESE. Aren't they quite look-worthy? All dripping with the residue of creation. Wondrous. |
| 306 | * StalkerWithACrush: Based on one of the files you have to retrieve in the high school test listing the after-school activities of a girl. |
| 307 | * TheStarscream: His ranting in the X-8 facility reveals he plans to take over Big Mountain someday. |
| 308 | * TeachersPet: Tattled on those he suspected of being communists back in high school, according to Dr. 0. |
| 309 | * UnknownRival: You'd be forgiven for thinking that Richie and he were in a BettyAndVeronica situation over Betsy Bright in high school based on his pre-recorded ramblings in the X-8 Facility. In truth it's pretty clear that he was just a target of Richie's bullying from time to time and holds a deep personal grudge against him because he was dating the girl Borous wanted to be with. |
| 310 | * VideoGameCaringPotential: |
| 311 | ** It takes effort, but if you prevent Gabe from dying to the robo-scorpions and don't kill him yourself, Borous will express gratitude to the Courier for sparing him. |
| 312 | ** Borous can be led to realize what he put Gabe through and experience genuine remorse depending on the dialogue option. |
| 313 | |
| 314 | [[/folder]] |
| 315 | [[folder:Dr. Dala]] |
| 316 | |
| 317 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dala.jpeg]] |
| 318 | [[quoteright:249:[[labelnote:As a human]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dalahuman_0.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 319 | |
| 320 | |
| 321 | --> ''"Shh, little organs. Go to sleep in your tanks. Dala loves you."'' |
| 322 | --> '''Voiced by:''' Jocelyn Blue |
| 323 | |
| 324 | The Head Chief Researcher of Minerology (as well as possessing degrees in 211 other fields), Dala has a not-so scientific fascination with the human body. |
| 325 | ---- |
| 326 | * AsianAndNerdy: Well, when she was human, at least. |
| 327 | * {{Blackmail}}: If you get her to admit that she's attracted to humans, you have the option to either humor her fetish or threaten to tell the rest of the Think Tank about her secret (which will both yield some items as hush money from her and gain her reluctant support during the finale). [[OpenSecret The fact that everyone else already seems to be aware of this secret]] and Dr. 0 pointed out some drained batteries because of her 'formagraphy' hobby doesn't dawn on her, though it's mostly the reveal of [[BoldlyComing their interaction]] that worries her. |
| 328 | * BoldlyComing: By Think Tank standards, they're all far above biological beings and are supposed to find anything related to humans disgusting. This makes her attraction to the human form all the more alien and the quest to satisfy her sex drive all the more strange. |
| 329 | * BoyishShortHair: Back when she was human, she kept her hair fairly short, befitting basic laboratory rules. |
| 330 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite all her oddities and being just as insane as her colleagues, she's the second most competent Think Tank member, standing behind Dr. Klein. |
| 331 | * ColdHam: She doesn't get as loud as the others, but she still has the same focus on dramatic speech. |
| 332 | * ConstantlyCurious: Apparently, she has degrees in Curiosity and Advanced Curiosity. In person, most of this curiosity is fixed on very specific subjects... |
| 333 | * CovertPervert: What she ''thinks'' she is, but the Courier can quickly catch onto it and convince her to admit her attraction. It's also evident that 0 and Klein are suspicious if not already aware of her lust, but don't seem to care that much. |
| 334 | * DefrostingIceQueen: Downplayed case. She will eventually come to acknowledge her emotions, desires and guilt through her sidequest, though her overall personality remains mostly unchanged. |
| 335 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: As the Think Tank observes the Courier, she corrects their misconception of certain appendages being penises, then quickly downplays how she'd know. She follows this with an observation that does not hide her obsession on the human form and biological functions, calling the Courier a "teddy bear" all the while. |
| 336 | * FantasticArousal: Dr. Dala is, uh, interested in human bodily movements. Even breathing is of interest. She will vehemently deny this when initially confronted by it, and the Courier can prove her a liar by performing such actions as stretching or running their fingers across their face. Even in regular conversation Dala gets... [[DistractedByTheSexy "distracted"]] by the Courier's bodily functions. |
| 337 | * GeniusesHaveMultiplePhDs: She claims to have 213 doctorates, many of which are in fields that didn't exist before she began studying them. She and the rest of the Think Tank have been "alive" for well over three hundred years by the time you meet them... but they're also all certifiably mad in one way or another. |
| 338 | * GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: She had a thing for collecting actual teddy bears back when she was human, as evidenced by the dozens of them scattered about her house. However, since her transformation, she's lost interest in the genuine article and adopted Lobotomites as her... new teddy bears. |
| 339 | * HouseOfBrokenMirrors: Investigating her house at Higgs Village reveals that every single mirror in the building has been smashed, possibly as part of RageAgainstTheReflection. The same can be seen in her room at the central dome. |
| 340 | * HornyScientist: She's accused of being a "formographer" by her collegues, suffers from a LastSecondWordSwap moment in which she replaces what was likely "my vibrators" with "my vivisectors" and also has FantasticArousal by just observing the Courier's body functioning. |
| 341 | * TheImmodestOrgasm: The mission "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Coming]] Out Of Her Shell" features her engaging in a bizarre and somewhat robotic version of this. |
| 342 | * LoveHungry: She seems to have an obsession with romance and relationships, seen with the NoodleImplements of several mannequins depicted in romantic situations and some copies of Meeting People magazines across her house and room. |
| 343 | * TheNicknamer: Dala calls the Courier a "teddy bear," another tie-in to her little obsession. |
| 344 | * NightmareFetishist: By Think Tank standards, she's ended up as a rather literal example as this; given that most of them see organic bodies as disturbing and grotesque, Dala's fascination and open arousal with "formology" is clearly this to Klein and co. |
| 345 | * NonHumanNonBinary: She refers to herself as gender neutral if you attack her, but this is downplayed as she's still considered female by the game, as the Courier can seduce her only with [[ChickMagnet Lady Killer or Cherchez La Femme]]. |
| 346 | * OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Dala is evidently a combination of a botanist, toxicologist and a physician/surgeon. She has 213 doctorates, several in fields she's invented herself. For good measure, she's one of the more competent Think Tank members. |
| 347 | * OnlySaneByComparison: She'd still be easy to call crazy by normal human standards, but comes off as saner when compared to the rest of the Think Tank; her clear infatuation with the human form aside, she's moved on from her grudges from before the war and is generally far more competent than her colleagues. |
| 348 | * OpenSecret: Everyone is fully aware of Dala's obsession with humans, lobotomites and "formogrophy." She'll still vehemently deny it when the Courier brings it up. |
| 349 | * PragmaticVillainy: If blackmailed into loyalty rather than befriended, [[spoiler:she'll vote against vivisecting the Courier during the ending, arguing that they may shout certain secrets amidst their screams of pain]]. |
| 350 | * RoomFullOfCrazy: Her chamber in the Think Tank is host to several teddy bears and mannequins, and her house in Higgs Village is full of teddy bears and broken mirrors, including a scene set-up as if they were to watch her model clothing. |
| 351 | * SoftSpokenSadist: In stark contrast to the loud, boisterous (occasionally incomprehensible) speaking voices of her colleagues, Dala speaks in low, sultry tones, ''especially'' if discussing the human form, though she is no more opposed to lobotomy or vivisection than the rest of the Think Tank. |
| 352 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female member of the group. |
| 353 | * TooKinkyToTorture: Some of her combat dialogue lines have her outright enjoy getting hit. |
| 354 | -->Oh, god, yes, hit me. I ''love'' it! |
| 355 | -->Unh! Treat me like a lab animal! Make me your teddy bear, pull my stuffing! |
| 356 | * TransparentCloset: When called on her interest in the human form, she will vehemently deny any arousal. She is fooling no-one. |
| 357 | * WhatIsThisFeeling: Blackmailing her causes her to feel something and be confused by what it may be, until she is able to recognize that she is experiencing shame. |
| 358 | * WomenAreWiser: Unlike Klein, Borous, and 0, she isn't still nursing petty grudges from the pre-War days, and is probably one of the most stable members of the group, too... relatively speaking. |
| 359 | [[/folder]] |
| 360 | !The Sink |
| 361 | |
| 362 | [[folder:The Inhabitants of the Sink]] |
| 363 | |
| 364 | ->'''The Courier:''' You mean there are other... personality modules here? |
| 365 | ->'''Sink Central Intelligence Unit:''' Indeed, sir, though if sir's aim is to activate them I lament to inform sir that most have been offline for some years. If sir were to ask my opinion, I should venture that sir is better off without them. |
| 366 | |
| 367 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/JimWard (Central Intelligence Unit, Auto-Doc), Beau Weaver (Book Chute), Roger Cross (Biological Research Station), Veronica Belmont (Light Switch 01/02), Jocelyn Blue (Sink), Sunil Malhotra (Muggy), Rashawn Underdue (Blind Diode Jefferson), Jace Hall (Toaster) |
| 368 | |
| 369 | A group of appliances at the Sink, the Courier's PlayerHeadquarters during ''Old World Blues''. Each one has their own personality. |
| 370 | ---- |
| 371 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 372 | |
| 373 | * ArtificialIntelligence: All of them, though if the Courier asks the Central Intelligence Unit if they're [=AIs=], he says they're merely "synthetic personalities atop a mundane operating system". |
| 374 | * AttentionWhore: Light Switch 02 |
| 375 | --> ''"If I made out with the Sink, would you pay more attention to me?"'' |
| 376 | * AxCrazy: The toaster, of all things. His purpose in life is to 'murder' other toasters and appliances, ripping them into their component parts. If the Courier ends the DLC with Bad Karma, [[spoiler:the toaster goes on to found and be the center of his own cult, laying waste to all unfortunate appliances.]] |
| 377 | ** However, with the Good Karma ending [[spoiler:this ends up being his downfall, as [[GoodIsNotSoft the rest of the Sink appliances gang up on him after he dismantles one too many helpless appliances]], and [[ElectrifiedBathtub kill him by tossing him into a bathtub]].]] |
| 378 | * BettyAndVeronica: The light switches who are bitterly competing for the Courier's attention. 01 in the living room is the friendly Betty and 02 in the bedroom is the seductive Veronica. |
| 379 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Every device has an eccentric personality stored on the chip holding their functions, and while they're comical and cartoonish, they still reliably fulfill their functions for crafting, modifications, and more. |
| 380 | * ButtMonkey: Muggy. He's been designed by Dr. 0 to be an in-universe TakeThat against Mr. House and Securitrons, has a neurotic NeatFreak personality, a weird obsession with mugs, and was programmed to be fully aware that he was programmed to be that way. Nobody in Big MT uses mugs anymore, depriving him of a job, he's gotten damaged by the toaster, and he gets "[[BlackComedyRape seeded]]" by the biological research station. For good measure, a bad ending for him features Muggy suffering a flat tire ''just'' out of reach of the coffee cup he'd planned to retrieve next - resulting in his brain exploding in frustration. |
| 381 | * CardCarryingVillain: The toaster is quite possibly the most hilarious example ever. |
| 382 | * CasanovaWannabe: The biological research station. It really wants your seed, baby! |
| 383 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: All of The Sink's appliances, ranging from mild cases like the AutoDoc (a competent surgeon who happens to suffer from narcolepsy and somniloquy) to extremes like the Book Chute (dedicated to fighting either communism or penguins; can't remember which is which.) |
| 384 | * CompanionCube: ''All'' of them. |
| 385 | * DoubleEntendre: Nearly all of the Biological Research Lab's responses to the Courier are {{double entendre}}s about "seed", and the Courier can respond in kind. |
| 386 | * DyingDeclarationOfHate: Parodied with the [[TokenEvilTeammate Toaster's]] final speech if the Courier ends with Good Karma. The other appliances drop him into a [[ElectrifiedBathtub bathtub]], while he proclaims they will rue the day they have bread and [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous no way to toast it]]. |
| 387 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: Nothing if you breeze through ''Old World Blues''. However, if you take your time and explore critical locations in Big MT and end with Good Karma, The Sink's beings all contribute to make the facility less of a DeathWorld and manage to live happily ever after. [[spoiler:The Auto-Doc deactivates the walking suits of armor that plague the facilities, the water-dispensing Sink develops antitoxins to combat the Innovative Toxins Plant, the toaster never carries out its plans for world destruction because the other sink personalities team up to destroy it, Muggy ends up happy in a place where he can clean mugs, the Central Intelligence Unit ends up feeling secretly glad to be with the other personalities, the Biological Research Station [[YourHeadAsplode doesn't blow up]] and just tries to get together with the X-22 facility, and even Blind Diode Jefferson, hundreds of years later, saves Big MT from sonic invasion using the frequencies you fetched for him. And with the aforementioned Good Karma, at the ending...]] |
| 388 | --> [[spoiler:'''The CIU:''' There were Old World Blues, and New World Hope. And hope ruled the day at the Big Empty.]] |
| 389 | * EarWorm: Muggy gets a tune about mugs stuck in his head, much to his frustration. |
| 390 | * EnemyMine: According to their ending slide, the light switches agree to hate the "showboat" flashlight that makes its way into The Sink. |
| 391 | * ExpospeakGag: The Sink corrects the notion that the devices have AI, describing them as "synthetic personalities atop a mundane operating system". Artificial, but not necessarily "intelligent". |
| 392 | * {{Expy}}: The toaster is basically the ''Fallout'' equivalent of Murray from the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series. Only a toaster. |
| 393 | ** The toaster is also a subtle ShoutOut to a cut toaster from ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', by the name of [[WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster Brave Little Toaster]]. Although the one from ''Fallout 2'' would [[Series/RedDwarf only ask if you wanted toast.]] |
| 394 | * FateWorseThanDeath: PlayedForLaughs with Muggy, who's been programmed to only ever be able to think about dishes and mugs, dooming him to a life of misery. |
| 395 | * GenericDoomsdayVillain: The toaster is a [[ParodiedTrope parody]] of this character type. He speaks like a stereotypical megalomaniacal bad guy, complete with an evil laugh, dismantles other appliances with sadistic glee, and his self-proclaimed motivation is to burn the world in nuclear fire... but he has the form of ''a regular toaster'', and can't really do much to act upon his homicidal urges. |
| 396 | -->''Have you ever tried to indulge an all-consuming urge to kill when you don't have opposable thumbs? Or hands? Or anything other than a bread slot?'' |
| 397 | * GirlOnGirlIsHot: Light Switch 02 thinks she can [[AttentionWhore get you to pay more attention to her]] if she makes out with the Sink. Both identify as female. |
| 398 | * HarmlessVillain: As much as he would like to [[OmnicidalManiac burn the world]], there's really only so much the Toaster can do. |
| 399 | -->''Cursed electric heating filament! You are inadequate to my needs! Why? Why? Why was I not built with a death ray!'' |
| 400 | * IncomingHam: The Toaster's very first line neatly demonstrates what kind of appliance he is. |
| 401 | -->''[[EvilLaugh Ahahahaha]]! I am on-line once again! Tremble world before my electric heating coil of doom!'' |
| 402 | * ItemCrafting: Once fully upgraded, some of the Sink appliances can convert the many items found in the Mojave and Big MT into useful items, as follows: |
| 403 | ** The Sink can fill empty bottles with water to make Purified Water, a useful healing item. |
| 404 | ** Muggy can break down various ceramic objects into useful crafting materials and even certain types of ammunition. |
| 405 | ** The Toaster can break down broken technology into useful crafting materials, as well as powering up some weapons. |
| 406 | ** The Book Chute can convert ruined or burned books into blank books, which can eventually be made into stat-boosting Skill Books with certain recipes. |
| 407 | ** The Biological Research Station can convert certain plants into an all-purpose sludge that can grow any number of plants, letting you turn worthless ones into helpful ones. Combined with Muggy giving you empty syringes, they can help you easily craft an effectively infinite number of stimpaks. |
| 408 | * TheJeeves: The Sink Central Intelligence Unit. It will constantly call the Courier "sir" (it wasn't programmed with any other honorifics), keep track of their accoutrements, and recommend operatic recordings for post-adventuring leisure. |
| 409 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite being aloof, condescending and opposed to the idea of reactivating any of the Sink's other personalities, the Central Intelligence Unit remains loyal and helpful to the Courier at all times. In some endings, it can even admit to being impressed by the Courier's progress in mapping the crater, and ultimately grows to accept the other inhabitants for the sense of community they've brought. |
| 410 | * JiveTurkey: Blind Diode Jefferson, your jukebox. He also says he'd sing the Blues, but he can't because the bits of him that actually played music were stripped out. |
| 411 | * KillItWithFire: If the toaster had its way... Fortunately, its tiny heating coil restricts it to simply heating up Saturnite, and then only if you let it. The weapons created this way will set your enemies alight instead. |
| 412 | * LargeHam: The toaster, again. And Muggy. |
| 413 | * MagicPlasticSurgery: The Auto-Doc can do this once the appropriate holotape is found. |
| 414 | * NeatFreak: |
| 415 | ** The sink (not to be confused with The Sink, which is your base). The idea of a filthy wastelander touching her is quite repulsive. Except for after the ending, in which she says she becomes a bit... lonely without you around. |
| 416 | ** And Muggy. Although he intentionally leaves all of Dr. 0's mugs and plates filthy out of spite. |
| 417 | * OmnicidalManiac: The Toaster, of course. |
| 418 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted with the sink, who shares the name with the whole base, making her the sink of The Sink. |
| 419 | * OpenHeartDentistry: The Auto-Doc specializes in surgery, but the Courier can ask for a one-time psychological evaluation to change and trade traits. The Auto-Doc notes that it isn't used to doing so, [[DoubleSubvertedTrope but will happily oblige]]. |
| 420 | * RamblingOldManMonologue: Short ones, but you can occasionally hear Blind Diode Jefferson regale you with some strange old stories. |
| 421 | -->''"You ever heard of [[IronicNickname Tiny Lester Lutton]]? Best jazz harmonica I ever heard. Mind you, being [[BodyHorror a Super-Mutant with no lips]]... don't ask me how he played."'' |
| 422 | * RedScare: The book chute is especially hateful of [[DirtyCommunists Communists]], and regards any free thought as seditious. |
| 423 | --> ''Look out! Communist! ... No, false alarm. It was just a plate.'' |
| 424 | * RefugeInAudacity: The biological research lab [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything seeds]] Muggy, tricking him into thinking a mug fell down his chute. |
| 425 | * ReluctantPsycho: Muggy, who is all too aware how crazy he's been made, which just leaves him an even worse wreck. |
| 426 | --> ''I love mugs so much, I just might kill myself!'' |
| 427 | * RoboticPsychopath: The Toaster, as stated above. |
| 428 | * SchmuckBait: The Toaster pulls one of these, though the Courier can't actually fall for it. |
| 429 | --> '''Toaster:''' Hey! I got a super rare, uh... Mojave snowglobe! All you have to do is stick your hand in my bread slot... |
| 430 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: The Central Intelligence Unit and, surprisingly, the Book Chute: |
| 431 | -->'''Book Chute:''' Do you know what 'proletariat' means? If so, congratulations! You're very well-read and erudite... ''for a Communist.'' |
| 432 | * ShesAManInJapan: Muggy refers to himself as female in languages with gender-specific words. |
| 433 | * {{Sleepyhead}}: All the Auto-Doc idle lines have him snoring and talking in his sleep. |
| 434 | * TalkingInYourSleep: The Sink Auto-Doc is prone to these. |
| 435 | -->'''Auto-Doc:''' zzz... nurse... come quick... this man has a severe case of shoe-lung... |
| 436 | * TakeThat: Muggy the miniature Securitron was made by 0 to spite House. Muggy is aware of this and ''hates'' him for it. |
| 437 | * ThrowTheDogABone: If you find Higgs' Village, the ending states that Muggy finds himself stuck exactly where he wants to be: a place filled with dirty mugs, plates and other things that need cleaning. [[TheDogBitesBack He even finally gets revenge on Dr. 0 by outright ignoring his dishes for everybody else's, in a way of screwing the man who programmed him to be such a]] NeatFreak in the first place! |
| 438 | * TitleDrop: At the end of the expansion, Blind Diode Jefferson does this for the next DLC. |
| 439 | --> ''"Guess you'll be putting on your travelling boots again, hitting that old '''lonesome road'''."'' |
| 440 | ** Also, he defines the term "Old World Blues": a longing for the glories of the past. |
| 441 | * TokenEvilTeammate: The Toaster sticks out among all the Sink personalities with his GenericDoomsdayVillain shtick. |
| 442 | * TrueCompanions: The ending states that the Sink [=AIs=] became something of a family unit with even the Central Intelligence Unit getting accustomed to the others. And right after you come out from the Think Tank center, defeating them through blood or word? They all give you a great big cheer in celebration of you being the new boss. |
| 443 | * UndyingLoyalty: The Central Intelligence Unit, specifically to the Courier. As of the ending, it's prepared to wait as long as necessary for you to return. |
| 444 | * VillainousBreakdown: Sort of. When you tell the toaster that the world was already destroyed in nuclear fire, he's saddened because it wasn't by him. He gets over it by the next time you talk to him though, vowing to be the world's second destroyer. |
| 445 | * YouHaveResearchedBreathing: Some of them require upgrades to do what should be pretty simple stuff. The sink, for instance, which allows you to get a drink of water, requires a module for filling up ''empty bottles'' with water. |
| 446 | [[/folder]] |
| 447 | !The Forbidden Dome |
| 448 | [[folder:Dr. Mobius]] |
| 449 | [[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DrM_5577.jpg]] |
| 450 | [[quoteright:173:[[labelnote:As a human]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mobiushuman.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 451 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/CamClarke |
| 452 | |
| 453 | -> ''"Well, there's many things they have forgotten sitting in their bowls. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Friendship. The thrill of discovery. Love. Masturbation.]] The usual."'' |
| 454 | |
| 455 | The arch-enemy of the Think Tank, Dr. Mobius has been threatening the Think Tank with looped broadcasts and intelligence-eating Robo-scorpions that keep them huddling in their base until he comes to destroy them. The technologies you're supposed to fetch for the Think Tank are supposed to aid in defeating him. |
| 456 | |
| 457 | ---- |
| 458 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 459 | |
| 460 | * AbsentMindedProfessor: Due to a combination of senility, drug addiction and his brain being corroded by the biogel. [[spoiler:This is somewhat tragic as since he dedicates as much of his remaining mental capacity as he can towards containing the Think Tank.]] |
| 461 | * AddledAddict: He abuses chems even harder than the other Think Tanks as he not only indulges in Mentats but Psycho as well. [[spoiler:He uses the latter to give himself the confidence to threaten his colleagues.]] |
| 462 | * AffablyEvil: He rambles on placidly about nothing very much when you speak to him and seems genuinely surprised you're there to fight. It takes some effort for him to recall that he ever had plans at all, let alone brilliant schemes -- but he assures you that if he had, they would indeed have been brilliant. Then he'll give you some Mentats with the air of a grandfather handing out sweets. It is very hard to imagine how he could be less threatening. [[spoiler:Because, of course, he is not the real threat.]] |
| 463 | * AntiVillain: He is actually [[spoiler:a kindly, half-senile old man. His mad scientist tendencies are the result of taking on Mentats and Psycho, and the threats are only to distract the Think Tank from trying to escape.]] |
| 464 | * TheAtoner: In his more lucid moments, [[spoiler:he admits to having developed a conscience, or as he puts it, ''con-science'', and began to regret some of the things he did. Which is part of what drove him to contain the Think Tank in the first place.]] |
| 465 | * BerserkButton: The one time he actually raises his voice against you is when you use the word "Coincidence", [[TheFatalist which he considers to be profanity]]. Presumably, the same applies to "luck", "astrology" and "herbal tea", which he considers fellow profanities. |
| 466 | * BigBad: Threatens the Think Tank and those who enter Big MT with his roboscorpion army. [[spoiler:Only by necessity.]] |
| 467 | * BrainInAJar: Like the Think Tank (which he belonged to). |
| 468 | * BreadEggsBreadedEggs: |
| 469 | ** He describes the knowledge of a reversed lobotomy as something that couldn't, or shouldn't, be in the hands of the Think Tank. He settles for using "[[BuffySpeak sh'couldn't]]." |
| 470 | ** He misses being able to eat custard, but then forgets if he meant mustard. He compromises with "mustard-custard." |
| 471 | * BuffySpeak: He engages in this at times. The extreme and cruel experiments done by the Think Tank are thought to be taking things too far, and that nobody should have to face their "too-far-thing-taking". |
| 472 | * TheChessmaster: Despite seemingly being [[spoiler:a friendly, harmless, half-senile old man]], it is clear that Mobius cooked up a genuinely complex and effective plan to [[spoiler:keep the Think Tank safely sealed inside Big MT, and also manipulated the Think Tank into providing you with the means to get your brain back and re-install all your stolen organs]]. |
| 473 | * ChewingTheScenery: He puts on a massive show of villainy. [[spoiler:Both [[InvokedTrope intentionally]] to scare the scientists and less dramatically when by himself.]] |
| 474 | * CrazyPrepared: He researched what the model would be for a post-apocalyptic economy and correctly concluded that bottlecaps would be the next currency, later programming The Sink to use them in transactions. [[spoiler:His plots to keep the Think Tank under control also count.]] |
| 475 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: His scattered brain nature makes it easy to forget that he managed to keep the AxeCrazy [[MadScientist Think Tank]] at Big MT for ''centuries''. |
| 476 | * CoolOldGuy: Granted, the entire Think Tank is old, but Mobius is the only one who acts the part. |
| 477 | * DeadPersonImpersonation: Not done by him, but [[spoiler:by the Courier if s/he decides to kill him and use the lie about housing his brain.]] |
| 478 | * DefectorFromDecadence: He claims to be this [[spoiler:and is actually correct, given his own role behind at least some of the mess plaguing the wasteland. And especially since Mobius is the only one in Big MT who's aware of just how dangerous the Think Tank can be if they ever got free.]] |
| 479 | * DesignatedVillain: An in-universe case of this, [[spoiler:{{Invoked|Trope}} by both him and the Think Tank. The Think Tank designated him a villain to get you to help them escape Big MT. Mobius designated himself a villain to make sure the MT would ''stay'' in Big MT rather than bring terror to everything outside.]] |
| 480 | * TheDragon: The X-42 giant robo-scorpion acts as Mobius' ultimate guardian. |
| 481 | * TheDreaded: The Think Tank cower even at the mention of his name. Every time he broadcasts his threats, the scientists stop whatever they're doing and go into panic. [[spoiler:It turns out to be Invoked on his part.]] |
| 482 | * DrGenericius: Dr. Mobius. Given everything else about his plan to [[spoiler:keep the Think Tank in Big MT]], his choosing Mobius as a name is most certainly an InvokedTrope. |
| 483 | * DrugsAreBad: He abuses Mentats and uses Psycho [[spoiler:to get worked up enough to threaten the Think Tank]], straining his already aged and damaged mind. |
| 484 | * ElCidPloy: He [[DiscussedTrope Discusses]] it as [[spoiler:a potential plan for the Courier to Invoke. If you go to him for advice on how to confront the Think Tank, one of his suggestions is to kill him and lie about them still being in danger.]] |
| 485 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: He has two, one at the start of the DLC and during TheReveal. |
| 486 | ** The Dome is brought to a halt when they find an incoming transmission from his Forbidden Zone. Popping up on the big screen, he announces with dramatic delivery that his unleashed army of Roboscorpions will bring about their end and that they can do nothing to stop his plans. Peppering his speech with some awkward wording here and there, he ends the message rather meekly. |
| 487 | ** Once actually coming face-to-face with him, [[spoiler:he is caught by surprise as he had assumed that the Courier was just another hallucination of his. He rather casually asks if they've come to get their brain back, and after kindly asking for them to step into his better field of vision, he offers them a mentat the same way any elder would offer a mint.]] |
| 488 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: MadScientist that he may be, [[spoiler:he eventually came to develop a conscience for what he and his colleagues did as part of the Think Tank, leaving them and making it his mission to keep his former friends in the crater of the Big MT]]. He also recognizes whenever certain plans to accomplish this go too far, erasing them from his memory every time he has them. |
| 489 | * {{Expy}}: He ends up being one of [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz Oz, the Great and Powerful]]. [[spoiler:His first appearance is a large projection of himself that scares the other characters into obeying. After a long journey of obtaining things that correlate to the brain, heart, and spine, the Courier arrives at his green-glowing base and realizes that [[TheManBehindTheCurtain he's much nicer than he first let on]]. While he can't offer a direct way out of Big MT himself, he gives enough advice that will lead to the proper end of the story.]] He references the story in his dialogue, driving this point further. |
| 490 | * TheExtremistWasRight: He [[spoiler:modified the Think Tank's systems into entering an eternal looping of experiments, fearing his broadcasts, and staying inside their dome, all to keep them at Big MT]]. The Courier has dialogue that disapproves of this, and Dr. Mobius says [[spoiler:that the world is not ready for their experiments and chaos. The cut ending of them escaping to the Mojave proves his methods as justified.]] |
| 491 | * EyepatchOfPower: Invoked by his broken screen, which stopped working due to Mobius' state of disrepair. [[spoiler:He also can't "see" too well out of his left screen either, but a Courier with a high enough Science Skill can help him with that.]] |
| 492 | * GoodAllAlong: He is trying to [[spoiler:keep the Think Tank from escaping Big MT and inflicting their atrophied morals and dubiously logical [[ForScience Science!]] on the world at large.]] |
| 493 | * GracefulLoser: If you tell him that [[spoiler:his plan failed because the Think Tank only needs the blueprints to the various technologies he's been keeping from them, which they now have access to]], his response is a cheery "Oh well, at least I tried". |
| 494 | * HeroAntagonist: For a given value of "hero". |
| 495 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: His broadcasts [[spoiler:subconsciously tell the Think Tank to get the devices needed for their escape so that he can take them away and prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, they get the schematics upon the Courier's retrieval, meaning that his plan was a total failure.]] |
| 496 | * IncomingHam: The Think Tank members stop their bickering when they, or the Courier when skipping dialogue, detect an incoming transmission from the Forbidden Zone. Flashing on the large monitor, his first line upon appearance is to call the Think Tank fools. |
| 497 | * InkSuitActor: Possibly unintentional, but as a human he resembled Creator/CamClarke with a beard. |
| 498 | * KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: He acts as this regarding the Big MT, both for the outside and inside. [[spoiler:He scares the Think Tank scientists away from getting the technology necessary for their escape plans, he hides visitors from the outside world to the best of his abilities, and he steals the Courier's brain and sabotaged the Auto-Doc's procedures to prevent his old friends from discovering the knowledge of a reversed lobotomy. In turn, this makes sure that [[SealedEvilInACan the Think Tank and their experiments are never unleashed]].]] |
| 499 | * KingMook: Mobius is noticeably tougher than the other Think Tank members, which even gets lampshaded in dialogue if you talk to him about [[spoiler:trying to fight the Think Tank]]. |
| 500 | ** PostFinalBoss: Although his stats are objectively pretty good, he is fairly mediocre fight compared to all the DemonicSpiders in Big MT you've been fighting as regular enemies. The real final boss of ''Old World Blues'' was the [[HumongousMecha X-42 giant robo-scorpion]] guarding his lab. [[spoiler:In fact, you don't even have to fight him at all, given that he is really a harmless, well-intentioned old man.]] |
| 501 | * LargeHam: He is voiced by Creator/CamClarke, so this goes without saying. [[spoiler:A good dose of Psycho helps a lot as well.]] |
| 502 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: |
| 503 | ** Courtesy of [[spoiler:himself. He was horrified by [[{{Lobotomy}} what he had done to his former friends]] and removed the event from most of his memory. He also did this to the Think Tank to heavily reduce their perception of the world.]] |
| 504 | ** Added onto the above his how he came up with several additional plans but had them removed from memory because they were too extreme to use even on the Think Tank. This constant hampering of his memory makes him forget why he puts these plans into place to begin with. |
| 505 | ** A more minor case of this is how he experiences less curiosity, either because he knows everything or because he discovered some answers that he found to be uncomfortable. |
| 506 | * LiquidCourage: [[spoiler:He abuses Psycho in order to get into the right state of mind to intimidate the Think Tank]]. |
| 507 | * MadScientist: Only in the literal sense that he is insane; [[spoiler:he isn't malicious at all, and in fact has the strongest moral compass of the Think Tank]]. |
| 508 | * {{Malaproper}}: He uses words like "raisin" instead of "reason" and other such mix-ups. Quiet instead of quite, dessert in the place of desert, etc. |
| 509 | * TheManBehindTheCurtain: DoubleSubverted. While his usual fare is frightening the Think Tank into submission with broadcasts and threats, he really does have an actual army of Roboscorpions that can back his words. [[spoiler:The Double Subversion is that he's still a senile professor and GlassCannon as a Think Tank, who relies on Psycho in order to get worked up enough to threaten his old friends.]] |
| 510 | * MysteriousPast: Unlike the other members of the Think Tank, it's never made clear what his role was in the group. It certainly doesn't help that he seems to be an OmnidisciplinaryScientist given his skills with robotics, mechanical engineering and AI programming. |
| 511 | * NinjaPirateRobotZombie: He uses security scorpion robots that shoot [[EnergyWeapon lasers]] at you. |
| 512 | * NonActionBigBad: He usually sends his roboscorpions to do his bidding for him, though he isn't incapable of fighting himself. [[spoiler:Assuming he actually counts as bad.]] |
| 513 | * NoodleImplements: You can find a Robobrain near a desk covered in tools, implying that Mobius has been considering alternate methods of robotic forms. |
| 514 | * OnlySaneByComparison: [[spoiler:He's more sane than the Think Tank, which isn't saying much, and then only when he isn't hopped up on Psycho and Mentats. Nevertheless, he's the only member of the group who realizes the moral consequences of their "[[ForScience Science!]]"]] |
| 515 | * ProperlyParanoid: Mobius studied the post-apocalyptic economy extensively and correctly guessed that bottle caps would be used as currency, which is why the Sink accepts them. He is also said to have made ''multiple'' Plan Bs and Cs in case something goes wrong, including ones he ''intentionally had mindwiped'' as a precaution. Though all those could be for nothing depending on the Courier's choices. |
| 516 | * RageQuit: After a serious argument with Dr. Klein, he left The Sink and his labs and removed the personality chips. |
| 517 | * RamblingOldManMonologue: He engages in these, both during your confrontation with him and while he's wandering around. |
| 518 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Like the rest of his ex-colleagues, he's been around before the Great War. |
| 519 | * RedRightHand: He is missing an eye-monitor and the others look to be in bad condition. |
| 520 | * ScarsAreForever: His most distinctive feature is his broken eye monitor. He ''could'' get it fixed, but he's been delaying repairs for awhile. |
| 521 | * SenseLossSadness: Discussed. He notes that the Think Tank scientists being separated from human sensations have played a role in decaying their minds. Also Parodied in one of his lines, saying that he misses taking in sugars and salts. |
| 522 | * ShoutOut: |
| 523 | ** [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} It doesn't just seem like coincidence that he is a disembodied brain that says raisin instead of reason]]. |
| 524 | ** With Wild Wasteland, he has plenty of [[Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace Plan 9s]], just in case. |
| 525 | ** During the conversation with him, he can admit to naming himself and the Forbidden Zone as references to [[Film/ForbiddenPlanet Old World sci-fi movies]] he was fond of. His past human form, visible on the intro slide of the DLC [[https://fallout.wiki/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas_developer_statements/Old_World_Blues#Chris_Avellone:_Think_Tank_Intro_Art,_2011_July_27 (the one on the right, with a beard)]] is based on Dr. Morbius from said movie. |
| 526 | ** He can be heard singing a song about different parts of an atom's construction, in the tune of ''Dem Bones''. |
| 527 | ** Recounting how the Think Tank has subconsciously desired [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz brains, heart, and spine]], he recalls knowing of a story where [[ATaleToldByAnIdiot a "band of murderous thugs" wanted the same thing and resorted to killing to get their way]], even though they had them all along. |
| 528 | * SicklyGreenGlow: His lair in the Roboscorpion facility emanates this kind of green. The biogel holding his brain is also in this color due to not having been cleaned out for awhile. |
| 529 | * StrawVulcan: Like his ex-colleagues. He regards his conscience as a "con-''science''" and he looks down on concepts like astrology, herbal tea, and luck, considering their mere mention to be profane. Being eager to leave Big MT is thought to be "quite hormonal" and that he's done his best to cut out "hormonal" behavior, if not completely. |
| 530 | * TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Implied with one of his lines, after telling him that you to want to ask about something else. |
| 531 | --> '''Mobius''': Oh, curiosity. I experience that less now that I know everything... Or maybe it was when I found out some unpleasant answers? Mmm-hmm. |
| 532 | * TheyCalledMeMad: Recites this line and then spoofs it spectacularly in idle chatter: |
| 533 | --> '''Mobius''': They called me mad! Preposterous! Not an angry bone in my body! Had them all removed! |
| 534 | * TokenGoodTeammate: Formerly one to the Think Tank. [[spoiler:Mobius was the only one to come to the realization that their constant experiments will do more harm than good and is trying to keep them contained without actually hurting them.]] |
| 535 | * UndiscriminatingAddict: While all the Think Tanks are Mentats addicts, Mobius' drug habits are even worse, including Psycho and Jet. He claims he gets the dispensers mixed up. |
| 536 | * UsedFuture: His form as a Think Tank is more worn down compared to the others. His tank and screens are grimy, his biogel hasn't been cleaned, and one of his eye monitors is broken. |
| 537 | * VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: |
| 538 | ** Other than his frequent broadcasts, he sends announcements over his PA system in the Forbidden Zone and can be heard across the crater. If you kill Gabe, he hacks into the Think Tank's to take part in the countdown. |
| 539 | ** He can communicate through his robo-scorpions, which he programmed to partially act as bullhorns. |
| 540 | * WalkingSpoiler: Initially comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain. Actually meeting him reveals that there is more to him and Big MT than previously thought. |
| 541 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: |
| 542 | ** One of the few examples where [[spoiler:extremism is entirely justified. He only broadcast crazy messages and unleashed the Robo-scorpions so the scientists of the Think Tank wouldn't escape and destroy the rest of the world. Well, that and he tends to be high as a kite when he threatens them. The implication is that he gets high specifically so he ''can'' threaten them and make it seem genuine. Klein requires an absurdly high speech check to trick him during the endgame, so it would thus follow that Mobius (who sounds like a kindly, slightly-senile grandfather) would need some help sounding evil.]] |
| 543 | ** A more extreme measure that's more harmful would be [[spoiler:his attempts to keep visitors from escaping the Big MT, preventing the Think Tank from formulating an escape or view into the outside world. Part of him even forgets why he keeps visitors from leaving, seen when the Courier expresses that s/he wants to.]] |
| 544 | * WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: His Robo-scorpions are his only way of solving problems and is very enthusiastic about using them, though it would be hard not to be. ''You'' try saying you're going to unleash the Robo-scorpions without [[LargeHam hamming it up]]. |
| 545 | * YouSayTomato: The Courier can correct him on Dr. Borous' naming as "Ouro-boros", and he'll respond with surprise that he had made such an error. |
| 546 | [[/folder]] |
| 547 | [[folder:The Brain ('''Spoilers''')]] |
| 548 | !!The Courier's Brain |
| 549 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nvdlc03_endingslide_playerbrainfull01.png]] |
| 550 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Sunil Malhotra |
| 551 | |
| 552 | -> ''"Do you know how much more you can get done when you're not constantly looking for places to urinate? It's quite a lot, I can tell you."'' |
| 553 | |
| 554 | Once the Courier got their internal organs ripped out on entry to Big MT, it seems one of them got misplaced. The Courier's brain was flushed away to be found by Dr. Mobius, and finding it is their main goal so the Courier can escape the area. However, it turns out it is none too happy with the idea, and before it jumps back inside the Courier's head it has some things it wants to get off its chest, so to speak. |
| 555 | ---- |
| 556 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 557 | |
| 558 | * AmbiguousGender: It has a male voice, but it has one regardless of the Courier's gender because female voice modules are hard to find. The option for flirting with it appears for both the flirt-with-opposite-sex and flirt-with-same-sex perk for both males and females. It is also a brain -- if a gender can conclusively be assigned to a brain, and if it's automatically the same gender as the former owner, is another discussion altogether. |
| 559 | * BrainInAJar: It is your disembodied brain floating in a tub of biomed gel. |
| 560 | * CallBack: When trying to convince it to to return to your cranium, it will reminisce about previous exploits if you've completed certain quests and choose certain dialogue. The Brain will bring up Helios One and helping Jason Bright as particularly fond events. |
| 561 | * TheConscience: What it essentially describes itself as, being the voice in their head telling the Courier common sense and shunning them for being unhygenic or evil. |
| 562 | * CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Threatening to smash its tank just makes it mock you some more. Threatening to shove it back in your skull and then spend the rest of your life watching television and drinking alcohol? ''That'' gets it to start treating you more respectfully. |
| 563 | * DeadpanSnarker: The Courier's brain is ''very'' sarcastic and rude. |
| 564 | * DumbassNoMore: If The Courier has low intelligence (3 or less), the brain being suddenly intelligent and articulate is [[{{Handwave}} handwaved]] by it claiming that the gel in its tank is filled with grounded mentats. May turn into this other [[FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome trope]] if the brain returns to The Courier's skull. |
| 565 | * EnemyWithout: The Courier's brain isn't that happy with them. |
| 566 | * HelplessGoodSide: An Evil Courier sickens them with their acts of cruelty across the Mojave, but the Brain never gets to put a stop to any of it. When separated from its body, it calls the Courier out on it, though nothing is stopping them from continuing being evil after they've come to an agreement. |
| 567 | * IChooseToStay: It's possible that you and your brain decide not to reunite, and the Courier returns to the Mojave with a thinking device while the Brain stays in its biogel tank. [[spoiler:In its ending slate, the Brain accepts the eventual failure of the tank as death, even though becoming a mobile "think tank" is an option.]] |
| 568 | * InsufferableGenius: Tries to act like it's better than you and smarter than the Think Tank. If you're a drooling imbecile, you can piss it off even further. For all of its book learning and Mentant usage, though, it's failed to truly take into account that biogel causes long-term mental degradation and while it can figure out a way to stem those effects for a while, it'll still suffer them. It's also particularly vulnerable to appeals to its ego (at least, in the form of asking if it's ''really'' gonna let all those other old, rotting brains outwit it), complete with it clarifying ego doesn't come from a gland and it's ''all'' intellect, and immediately complying. |
| 569 | * {{Jerkass}}: The Courier him/herself can outright ask why his/her own brain is "such a dick." |
| 570 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: At the end of the day, it's not being rude just for the sake of being mean, but because they want the Courier to treat themselves (and their conscious thoughts) with respect. They are their brain, after all. |
| 571 | * LivingMacGuffin: What everyone in Big MT, including the Courier, needs to further their plans. |
| 572 | * NeatFreak: Your brain is quite clean and proper, and shudders at the prospect of returning to a sweaty, dirty body that had limited opportunity to (or perhaps interest in) keeping itself clean. |
| 573 | * NeverMyFault: Despite being the Courier's entire brain, it develops its own personality and claims no responsibility for every stupid decision or experience that the Courier has faced up to that point, pinning the blame on the rest of the body's biological feedback and the Courier themselves. |
| 574 | * NotSoAboveItAll: For all its posturing about being logical and mature, it can't help but agree that it still possesses glands that are responsible for emotions, [[GoodFeelsGood playing hero feels good]], and answering an unreasonable Think Tank with their preferred method of violence is still an option on the table. |
| 575 | ** One of the ways to convince your brain to join you again is to remind it of a particular weapon skill that your character may be using. If any of the weapons are at a high enough level, it'll admit that it actually misses the feeling of controlling a weapon a bit. |
| 576 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: When it harangues the Courier for constantly charging into danger, the Courier can counter that since it is... well, his/her brain, then those actions are just as much its responsibility as his/hers. The brain, in turn, counters that those are all simply glands at work, and thus the Courier ''is'' the one to blame. But with a high enough medical skill, the Courier points out that the brain ''contains'' most glands, unless it's trying to pin everything on the thyroid. |
| 577 | * ScrewYourself: You can actually hit on your own brain with any of the "flirt" perks, to its incredible disgust. [[spoiler:This still works though.]] |
| 578 | -->"Are you... Are you coming on to me?! Sweet Lord, I don't even have the words for how repugnantly wrong that is!" |
| 579 | * SenseFreak: The Brain may complain about how distracting it is to have a body due to the biological needs, hormones and sensory stimuli... but upon further arguing it does confess it can miss some of the sensations out there, like the impressive sights in the wasteland they achieved and in some cases the feel of certain weapons in their hands. |
| 580 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: The brain has quite an advanced vocabulary, barring some of the things said for Science or Medicine checks. |
| 581 | -->"I'm afraid the trauma of our separation rendered me quite insensate. I didn't come around until I was safely ensconced in this tank." |
| 582 | * ShoutOut: The voice actor [[https://twitter.com/ThatSunil/status/615736031996829696 admitted]] the brain's voice is deliberately based on [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin's]]. |
| 583 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: It's deeply sarcastic towards you and the Courier has the option to throw this right back. |
| 584 | * SplitPersonality: Removed from its body and placed into its own tank, The Brain develops its own thoughts and personality, acting independently from the Courier. It describes itself as TheConscience, the voice in the back of the Courier's head telling them to "not punch a Deathclaw in the face." |
| 585 | * SplitPersonalityMerge: Possible at the end, with the Courier taking the brain back into their head. Any actual change of personality is left up for the player's roleplaying discretion. |
| 586 | * TheSpock: It considers itself more logical and intellectual, even if the Courier has low Intelligence, due to the Mentats in its biogel helping it. It's much more "emotional" than it would like to admit, however. |
| 587 | * StrawVulcan: It takes pride in being responsible for more sensible decisions, while the concept of emotion is described as "overrated biological feedback" and attributes the phenomenon to the rest of the body's glands. |
| 588 | ** The Courier can, in turn, argue that the Brain is still the source of said glands or has faulty logic since it only came to this conclusion while lacking said feedback. |
| 589 | ** Winning it over will involve appealing to the emotional aspect at points, and it agrees that the endorphin rush from being heroic feels great. It's also amused at the thought of beating the Think Tank senseless if they can't be reasoned with. |
| 590 | * TalkingToThemself: Leading the Courier possibly engaging in SnarkToSnarkCombat with their own brain. |
| 591 | ** This can actually allow the player to understand more of who the Courier is, as while bathed in essentially liquid mentats, its still their own brain, thus them-self. Though much of the revelations depend on the player's game choices and dialogue options: |
| 592 | *** They are quite the sarcastic jackass, regardless of morality. Tho may have occasional guilt if they stepped too far. |
| 593 | *** They really want to settle somewhere calm & safe, specifically Goodsprings. |
| 594 | *** They adventure out into the wasteland either because of a need to help others, or greed/wanting to hurt others for fun (depending on player morality). |
| 595 | *** They enjoy the sights they have seen across the Mojave. |
| 596 | *** Their hygiene is, subpar, to say the least. |
| 597 | *** As is their self-preservation instinct (the brain uses examples such as punching deathclaws, or fighting Nightkin with just a knife). |
| 598 | *** They particularly enjoyed reactivating HELIOS One, and helping Jason Bright and his followers (implying the Courier really is morally good). |
| 599 | *** If the player character has high levels in melee weapons, guns, or energy weapons, then the brain will admit fondness for these weapons. |
| 600 | * {{Tsundere}}: It is initially very rude and hostile, but with the right conversation paths it eventually admits it misses being in your body and experiencing some of the positive biological processes that comes with it. If the Courier leaves it behind with Neutral or Good karma, the brain refuses to go into a Think Tank out of a long distant respect for its old body. |
| 601 | * VocalDissonance: Even if you're a woman, your brain talks to you with a male voice because female voice modules are hard to come by in Big MT. Also, if you're playing a character with a low INT stat (interpretted by the game as an erratic mental disability), your brain will justify its boosted intelligence and lack of HulkSpeak by saying that the biogel that surrounds it is filled with ground-up Mentats. |
| 602 | * WalkingSpoiler: That you need to find your brain is not a spoiler. That it can talk and has developed its own personality, is. |
| 603 | * WhatTheHellHero: |
| 604 | ** Your brain does not enjoy venturing in filthy dilapidated Vaults, dealing with creatures such as Cazadores on a relatively daily basis, or going on a pointless quest of vengeance. |
| 605 | ** It also angrily questions whether or not you've [[NobodyPoops bothered bathing even once]] since coming to Big MT. |
| 606 | ** If you're playing as a female Courier and slept with Benny, your brain will have some choice words about that, as well. |
| 607 | ** If you are an evil character, it will berate you for constantly murdering and maiming people for no reason. |
| 608 | ** It's most annoyed however, about having been shot twice in the head whilst housed in your skull, which is apparently ''your'' fault. |
| 609 | [[/folder]] |
| 610 | !Others |
| 611 | |
| 612 | [[folder:The Stealth Suit Mark II]] |
| 613 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Veronica Belmont |
| 614 | |
| 615 | -> ''"Hello. It's nice to meet you. Who can I hide you from today?"'' |
| 616 | |
| 617 | The Stealth Suit has an on-board AI designed to help preserve its wearer and quickly becomes attached to the Courier. You find her in one of the labs. When equipping her, she will use stimpaks and Med-X on you as needed while also providing conversation whilst walking through Big MT. |
| 618 | ---- |
| 619 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 620 | |
| 621 | * ArtificialIntelligence: It houses one, further assisting the wearer by automatically injecting Stimpaks and Med-X. |
| 622 | * DeadpanSnarker: Has a variety of things to say should you attempt to sneak with your Pip-Boy light on. |
| 623 | * EvolvingWeapon: Armor, really, but you can upgrade her via tests. |
| 624 | * InsecureLoveInterest: Being a stealth suit and designed to go unnoticed, she feels ignored and unloved, making her rather needy. While not a love interest ''per se'' (on account of the Courier giving no indication of reciprocating her feelings and because she's a suit of armor), she'll often ask them what she needs to do to win their love. |
| 625 | --> ''Will you love me if I help you hide?'' |
| 626 | --> [Unequipping the suit] ''Don't you like me anymore?'' |
| 627 | * ItsAllMyFault: Regardless of how the Courier fails the various stealth tests, she will automatically accept the blame for it. |
| 628 | * TheMedic: As stated above, she will heal you when you are injured. |
| 629 | * RobotGirl: Suit, technically. |
| 630 | * RoboShip: It's fairly evident she's quite fond of you. [[invoked]] |
| 631 | ** It seems like the Infiltration program in X-13 has a bit of an attachment to her as well, if the epilogue is anything to go by. |
| 632 | --> The infiltration program in X-13 felt spent, having repeatedly upgraded the Stealth Suit until it could upgrade it no more. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything It felt warm, fulfilled, and a bit sluggish]]. It realized not long after, the Stealth Suit had left it [[NotStayingForBreakfast without so much as a note on the nightstand]]. So the infiltration program sent out Robobrains into the wastes [[StalkerWithACrush looking for its wayward technology]]. |
| 633 | * TryNotToDie: Uses words to these effects when applying stimpaks. |
| 634 | * UnwantedAssistance: The constant use of Stimpanks is often more detrimental than beneficial, especially if the player has few, and wants to save them when they have very low health, or when fighting stronger enemies. |
| 635 | ** Some players find this and her chatter annoying enough to where a mod exists that removes her voice and turns off the auto-Stimpack mechanic. |
| 636 | * {{Yandere}}: Juuuuust a little bit. |
| 637 | [[/folder]] |
| 638 | |
| 639 | [[folder:Roxie]] |
| 640 | [[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roxie_owb.jpg]] |
| 641 | A cyberdog that you can create as a temporary companion in the X-8 Research Center. |
| 642 | ---- |
| 643 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 644 | |
| 645 | * ArtificialLimbs: Like all cyberdogs, she has three robotic legs. |
| 646 | * BabiesEverAfter: In her ending slides, she somehow goes into heat and goes to the Mojave, where she finds Rex. They then somehow construct a litter of "Boston Terrifier" puppies that "gnawed and devoured anything in their path." |
| 647 | * BackFromTheDead: If Rex had been killed, she will drag his body back to Big MT, where she has him rebuilt. |
| 648 | * CanineCompanion: The only companion you can get in ''Old World Blues'', though only while in the X-8 research center. |
| 649 | * {{Cyborg}}: As a splicing between a robot and a dog. |
| 650 | * DistaffCounterpart: To Rex. |
| 651 | * ExpendableClone: She's spliced between a dog and a robot in the facility. If she dies, you can re-clone a new Roxie. |
| 652 | [[/folder]] |
| 653 | |
| 654 | [[folder:Lobotomites]] |
| 655 | |
| 656 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lobotomites.jpg]] |
| 657 | -> ''"ALL LOBOTOMITES: PLEASE STOP ''MILLING ABOUT.'' REALLY."'' |
| 658 | |
| 659 | Inhabiting much of Big MT, they were once travelers or settlers of the Mojave that were abducted by the facility's satellites and unwillingly put through the Auto-Doc experiments just as the Courier was. Unlike the Courier, however, they are a result of repeated failed surgeries that left them shadows of their former selves, their brains lost or destroyed, practically turning them into mindless killing machines. |
| 660 | ---- |
| 661 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 662 | |
| 663 | * TheAgeless: Test Subject 1, the very first of many, is still alive when you find them, implying that they have long lifespans. |
| 664 | * AndIMustScream: Put through a mutilating surgery and then sent into tests by a bunch of {{Mad Scientist}}s. They seem to retain some sort of intelligence, as they are still capable of going through buildings, handling weapons, and even some semblance of speech, making them at least somewhat aware of their situation and how powerless they are to do anything about it. |
| 665 | * AnimalLover[=/=]FluffyTamer: Oddly, they may have a Nightstalker amongst their numbers. |
| 666 | * BodyHorror: They went through the Auto-Doc's surgical replacement of the spine and heart then had their brains destroyed, rendering them incapable of higher thinking. Unmasking them shows the surgical scars and sunken eyes. |
| 667 | * BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Mostly or literally brainless enemies who wield sledgehammers and super sledges. |
| 668 | * CollectorOfTheStrange: Their main base is strewn about with random objects. |
| 669 | * CreepyShadowedUndereyes: They all have these when you remove their masks. |
| 670 | * CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Having their organs replaced with mechanical equivalents and getting their brains destroyed has turned them into violently aggressive mindless beings. |
| 671 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Lobotomites can be seen in a ''[[VideoGame/Fallout1 Fallout 1]]'' loading screen. |
| 672 | * ExpospeakGag: According to Dr. Dala's observations of them, they mostly fight or "inject bodily fluids into each others' orifices," a very Think Tank way of describing sex. |
| 673 | * FateWorseThanDeath: Alive and possibly immortal with Test Subject 1's lifespan, but with nearly all of their mental faculties lost, alongside being put through the experiments of the Big MT. Christine Royce describes them as only hearing static and speaking with gibberish. |
| 674 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Their heads can be crippled, despite the Auto-Doc surgery providing the Courier the "Brainless" perk that prevents this. Alternatively, it could be due to the Courier receiving a corrected procedure. |
| 675 | * GasMaskMooks: They all have masks that make them appear as this. |
| 676 | * GogglesDoNothing: Their masks are mostly just for show and don't have an effect like the Sierra Madre hazmat suit you can find later on. The goggles don't even affect Perception like other eyewear. |
| 677 | * GogglesDoSomethingUnusual: At the same time, the Lobotomite goggles somehow inflict a -2 penalty to Intelligence. |
| 678 | * GoneHorriblyWrong: The Auto-Doc surgery modified their bodies but maimed or lost their brains. |
| 679 | * HandCannon: Higher levels have them carry .44 Magnums and Hunting Revolvers. |
| 680 | * HomeBase: "The Cuckoo's Nest," in the Big MT. |
| 681 | * InstitutionalApparel: Many of them wear grey jumpsuits, denoting their statuses as projects and test subjects. |
| 682 | * ItCanThink: They can still open doors, operate weapons, and may speak on occasion. In a few places, they've built homes, or at least gathered collections of appealing stuff. If the graves near the Cuckoo's Nest are any indication, some of them also bury their dead. If you splice them with robots, you can get self-aware [[BrainInAJar Robobrains]]. |
| 683 | * ItIsDehumanizing: The Think Tank all refer to Lobotomites as "it," including the Courier when they first meet. |
| 684 | * KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: [[spoiler:The Auto-Doc surgery is defective because of Dr. Mobius's machinations. Inhabitants of the outside world would give away to the Think Tank that society exists beyond the crater of Big MT, so they are turned into unresponsive test subjects to prevent further suspicions. Only brains inside of human bodies can leave the radar fence, and the correction of the surgical procedure would let the Think Tank put their brains in human bodies and escape.]] |
| 685 | * KillItWithFire: Some of them wield Shishkebabs at higher levels. |
| 686 | * KingMook: Downplayed. Test Subject 1 is fixed at level 50, making him the strongest of all Lobotomites, at least on lower-leveled Couriers. |
| 687 | * MachineWorship: The Cuckoo's Nest has a shrine dedicated to the Sink's Toaster's personality drive. |
| 688 | * MalevolentMaskedMen: Never seen without their masks and goggles. If worn, they reduce the Intelligence stat. |
| 689 | * MoreDakka: Higher level Lobotomites can spawn with 10mm submachine guns. |
| 690 | * PatientZero: Test Subject 1 is implied to be this. |
| 691 | * PowerFist: They introduce the Saturnite fist, similar in design to the regular power fists but made of the same {{Unobtainium}} that the Cosmic Knives use, making them less damaging but faster in use. |
| 692 | * ServantRace: They're usually meant to be this to the Think Tank. |
| 693 | * ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Depending on your level, they can wield single shotguns or all the way up to hunting shotguns. |
| 694 | * ShoutOut: Their main location is named "The Cuckoo's Nest," a reference to ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', which ends with the protagonist [[spoiler:being lobotomized and rendered unresponsive]]. |
| 695 | * SilentAntagonist: If wielding a melee weapon, they'll be completely silent. |
| 696 | * TomatoInTheMirror: The Courier becomes a Lobotomite themselves, and they only discover this when the Big MT reveal what they've done to them. They're infinitely more sane thanks to a correction in the surgery, though. |
| 697 | * WackyWaysideTribe: They don't add too much to OWB's narrative past acting as Mooks for you to fight and explaining your new perks. |
| 698 | * WasOnceAMan: Used to be regular denizens of the Mojave until the Big MT's satellites abducted them. |
| 699 | [[/folder]] |
| 700 | |
| 701 | [[folder:[=Y-17=] Trauma Override Harnesses]] |
| 702 | [[quoteright:129:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_trauma_harness.png]] |
| 703 | -> '''Voiced by:''' Jim Ward (requires Wild Wasteland) |
| 704 | -> ''"Hey, who turned out the lights?"'' |
| 705 | |
| 706 | Semi-mechanical, motorized suits that attack any non-TOH entity in sight regardless of threat. Originally designed to recover and defend incapacitated soldiers and/or corpses, a cascade of malfunctioning technology and procedural defects ended up creating aimlessly wandering, relentlessly hostile combatants moving around carrying the decomposed bodies of their former wearers. |
| 707 | ---- |
| 708 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 709 | * AdaptiveAbility: Research in the testing facilities describes them as recording neuro-auto-muscular movements to be able to fight and learn other behaviors. The major problem arose from the suits inadvertently turning this function into a way to learn effective battle tactics like the use of deadly weaponry. |
| 710 | * AndIMustScream: Those who get incapacitated in any way are forced to move as the harnesses overtake their motor functions and walk them back to friendly territory. This would include injuries like broken limbs. On top of that, there ended up being no way to take them off or have them work properly, forever trapping the wearers into a ''mobile coffin'' inevitably to die of starvation/dehydration or expiring from any already-present injuries. |
| 711 | * AnimatedArmor: Engineered as this to recover soldiers that get critically injured (later expanded to include the corpses as well) on the battlefield. |
| 712 | * ArmoredCoffins: They unintentionally became these since no reliable means were added in for the wearers to escape or to shut them down remotely, all while they remained battle-ready and hostile, the suits highly durable to a degree on-par with ''reinforced combat armor''. Later became a literal case as all of the wearers are now nothing but bones, kept inside for all of time. |
| 713 | * BittersweetEnding: If the Courier installs the personality chip of the Sink Auto-Doc and also discovers the location of the Y-17 medical facility, an ending slide reveals that the Doc eventually manages to find a way to shut the suits down, finally allowing their former wearers' bones to be put to rest after decades. |
| 714 | * DemBones: The bodies inside of them have long since decayed down to the bone. You can hear them rattling in combat if you're brave enough to get close. |
| 715 | * EliteMooks: They have armor with a DT equal to NCR Ranger combat armor and are equipped with powerful energy weapons, at times regardless of the Courier's level, making them more dangerous or at least better equipped compared to the Lobotomites. |
| 716 | * EnergyWeapons: Their weapons of choice, particularly at high levels. |
| 717 | ** MagneticWeapons: Potentially can tot Gauss rifles. |
| 718 | ** PlasmaCannon: One of their potential weapons, from regular plasma pistols and rifles to plasma casters. |
| 719 | ** RayGun: They can carry laser-shooting weapons of all kinds, up to Gatling lasers. |
| 720 | * FishbowlHelmet: As part of the {{Zeerust}} spacesuit design. Some harnesses lack these. |
| 721 | * FlawedPrototype: The critical injury threshold that the suit monitors to decide on activation had issues and would not recognize if the wearer was dead compounded with the fact the suits lack a programmed "home base" to head back to, leading to unpredictable wandering still containing their unfortunate passengers. See GoneHorriblyWrong below. |
| 722 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: |
| 723 | ** Bodies may still explode into blood and flesh despite having decayed into skeletons. Granted, they may not have decayed enough, as evidenced by the lootable human flesh, but eyes may be among the LudicrousGibs. |
| 724 | ** They aren't coded as robots and thus aren't affected by any robot-related damage perks, not even EMP damage even though they are only semi-mechanical. |
| 725 | * GatlingGood: They potentially can wield gatling lasers. The KingMook even wields a K9000 Cyberdog Gun. |
| 726 | * GoneHorriblyWrong: The final kinks that weren't ironed out included lacking the ability to discern between friend and foe, and having no way of being opened or being shut off remotely, rendering them berserk. |
| 727 | * HardCodedHostility: They view any and every non-harness entity as an enemy. Doubles as an in-universe case of programming this, as they lacked a dedicated IFF system that could prevent attacks on identified allies. |
| 728 | * ImAHumanitarian: Not the users and harnesses themselves, [[CaptainObvious of course]], but they can drop the human flesh consumable item and can even be snacked on with the Cannibal perk. |
| 729 | * InterfaceScrew: Unintentional on the game's part. Due to their long names, their HP and DT are pushed below the screen if the Living Anatomy perk is taken. |
| 730 | * KillItWithFire: Some may wield flamers or (heavy) incinerators. |
| 731 | * KingMook: Downplayed. The Y-17 master trauma harness, which yields a K9000 Cyberdog gun in case you weren't able to get one from the Think Tank. Killing it will summon other trauma harnesses with advanced energy weapons. |
| 732 | * LatexSpaceSuit: They have the appearance of this as full body suits with {{Fishbowl Helmet}}s. |
| 733 | * LightningBruiser: They can move quickly while blasting you with powerful energy weapons. |
| 734 | * MoreDakka: Possible if they are at a level that allows them to have laser [=RCWs=] and Gatling lasers in their hands when you encounter them. |
| 735 | * OneGenderRace: Purely in a mechanical sense. They are identified as female in the game files and are affected by associated perks like Lady Killer and Cherchez La Femme. |
| 736 | * PosthumousCharacter: All of the wearers are dead by the time the Courier comes across them. The Y-17 master trauma harness itself was once a scientist named Harris. |
| 737 | * PoweredArmor: One that functions to automatically bring soldiers back to base on foot rather than directly empowering them, though its FlawedPrototype status inadvertently turned the series into ArmoredCoffins instead. |
| 738 | * SealedEvilInACan: The Y-17 master trauma harness is surrounded by a forcefield in one of the facilities, preventing it from causing further havoc. |
| 739 | * ShoutOut: If Wild Wasteland is enabled, [[Series/DoctorWho you may hear them say]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary Hey, who turned out the lights?]]". |
| 740 | * SuddenlySpeaking: As mentioned in the ShoutOut above, the otherwise silent walking skeletons may have a line to speak if you have the Wild Wasteland trait. |
| 741 | * UndignifiedDeath: The Y-17 master trauma harness' wearer, Harris died when he choked on a buffalo gourd seed while inside the suit and couldn't dislodge it. |
| 742 | * {{Zeerust}}: Enforced to portray designs of RaygunGothic. They share the designs of the spacesuits worn by Jason Bright and his followers, though occasionally lacking helmets, and they are always seen wielding EnergyWeapons. |
| 743 | [[/folder]] |
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