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Character page for the Player Character of Fallout 3 and their companions. Some spoilers may be unmarked.


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    The Lone Wanderer 

The Lone Wanderer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lone_wanderer_fo3.jpg
You want the one on the right.
"The kid from Vault 101, aka the Wanderer, aka That Crazy Sonnuvabitch..."
Three Dog

The Lone Wanderer lived happily in Vault 101 for the first 19 years of his/her life before his/her beloved father escaped, leaving The Wanderer alone and with the overzealous Overseer's men after them. Marked for death and needing answers, the Wanderer flees the Vault, thrust into the harshness of the outside world with no experience and little more than a handful of Vault security equipment and supplies. The search begins to find Dad and why he left the Vault, sparking a quest along the path to greatness.


  • Action Survivor: As said above, you begin a kid from a Vault with no experience in the Wasteland and perhaps nothing more than a security officer's uniform, a 10mm pistol, and some stimpacks and food. You'll reshape the future of the Wasteland and gun down armies before the game is done.
  • And the Adventure Continues: With Broken Steel, at least...
  • Affably Evil: Enforced. Acting like a jerk will cause many characters to refuse to give you quests, so an evil Lone Wanderer will often have to be friendly if s/he wants to receive quests.
  • Anti-Hero: Can be any type, from well-intentioned but misguided to Villain Protagonist, depending on your actions throughout the game.
  • All-Loving Hero: With good karma, and more so than the previous two Fallout heroes. The Vault Dweller and the Chosen One went place to place righting wrongs, bringing order and stopping invading armies. The Lone Wanderer does all that and manages to supply the entire region with clean drinking water.
  • Badass Normal: They are just some kid from a Vault. They take down entire armies on their own. Of course like with most protagonists many perks can make them essentially superhuman, and early on in the game the player can mutate the Lone Wanderer so that they heal limbs if they are suffering from severe radiation poisoning.
  • Badass Bookworm: Intelligence is the most important stat due to the fact that it determines how many skill points you earn, so players are usually this; it also helps that it fits the prologue and backstory very well. Given the many skill books you'll find, Intelligence or no you'll be doing a lot of reading too.
  • Ballistic Discount: A favored tactic among Neutral characters to balance their karma is to kill random scavengers and traders out in the wastes (outside of towns so no one will turn hostile) after buying a weapon from them.
  • Barbarian Hero: It's possible to just specialize in melee weapons, but it's not a very good option considering nearly everyone else has a gun, and will likely just back up and shoot you. You can knock the guns out of their hands though, so it's not entirely unfeasible.
  • The Beastmaster/Fluffy Tamer: If you have the Animal Friend perk, which makes certain animals friendly. Including Yao Guai, which ordinarily consider humans a tasty meat snack.
  • The Big Guy: For the "Project Purity", since scientists lack combat skills, The Lone Wanderer is in charge of doing everything that involves combat and protection.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In Fallout: New Vegas, it's implied that ED-E's kindhearted creator Whitley was likely one of the numerous Enclave personnel killed by the Lone Wanderer in Broken Steel.
  • But Now I Must Go: The "Afterward" epilogue included only in the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Collector's Edition'', It's implied the Lone Wanderer eventually left the Capital Wasteland for parts unknown, and most Wastelanders aren't sure whether or not they're even still alive.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: You can do this once you finally meet up with him...to a point. When he chides you for leaving Vault 101, you can't tell him that the Overseer tried to have you killed.
  • Celibate Hero: While flirting with other characters is possible, and it is implied that the Lone Wanderer can take advantage of Nova's services in Megaton when ordering a room (of course, whether it happens is left to the player's imagination), at the end of the game you apparently remain a virginal bachelor(ette).
  • Chick Magnet: A male character will have a heavily implied Childhood Friend Romance with Amata, Lucy West appears to develop a crush on them after her quest, and Sarah may develop feelings for them by the end. They will also get hit on by Bittercup, Clover (if you buy her), Susan Lancaster and Trinnie. With the Lady Killer perk you also have Nova, Brianna, Tanya/AntAgonizer, Fantasia, Agatha, and Specialist Olin.
  • The Captain: In Mothership Zeta, the Lone Wanderer is the unofficial leader of the abductees as they commandeer the Zeta, even taking the captain's chair during the battle with the Support Mothership.
  • Chronic Back Stabbing Disorder: Many quest options allow you to invoke this.
    • Help the Brotherhood storm the Purifier, install the modified FEV in it, activate it, then help the Brotherhood fight the Enclave and take control of their base, at which point you can nuke the Citadel using the Enclave's Kill Sat.
    • The Replicated Man quest—agree to find the android for Zimmer, find out who it is and inform the android of their true nature, agree to kill Zimmer for them, tell Zimmer who the android is, then kill him on his way to reclaim it. This is actually the optimal way to do the quest, since this lets you get Zimmer's reward, a unique Perk, and still do the good ending to the quest and get the other reward for doing so.
  • Combat Medic/Deadly Doctor: If investing in the Medicine skill.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Want to take on your enemies in a fair fight? That's cool. Want to dress up in a ghoul mask and watch, giggling gleefully, as your zombie army rips your enemies limb from limb? That's cool too.
  • Cradle To Grave Character: The game opens with the Player Character's birth, and then after a few Time Skips, the bulk of the game is spent with them as an adult. In the core game before the Broken Steel DLC, the game has to end with their death.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: The first edition of the Collector's Edition Fallout 3 Official Game Guide, the terminal entry titled "Afterword" by Moira Brown in 2297 confirms some details about the Wanderer. While Moira states that people argue about whether the Wanderer was a man or a woman, she noticeably uses male pronouns when referring to the Wanderer suggesting he was male. She also confirms that he "saved the town", seemingly a reference to him disabling the atomic bomb in Megaton. Finally, it turns out that Harden Simms, who has become sheriff, will blame the Wanderer for his father's death, though the specific aren't clarified.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Many dialogue options are very sarcastic.
    • For instance, when asked by Moria to detail injuries as part of "research"):
      Lone Wanderer: On a scale of one to ten, I'd say it's a "shut the fuck up and fix me".
    • And when finally tracking down the elusive Ian West to deliver his sister's letter to him.
      Lone Wanderer: You're a bitch to find.
    • Some of the Intelligent dialogue options lampshade that people really don't expect a wastelander to be that smart.
  • Determinator: Hunting across the Capital Wasteland for their father definitely counts.
  • Determined Expression: Lampshaded by Three Dog when you meet him in person, who comments on the Lone Wanderer and their father both having the exact same "I can get shit done" look in their eye.
  • The Dreaded: From the Enclave's point of view by the end of the game. The Player is responsible for single-handedly destroying almost all major Enclave operations in the area, and possibly destroying President Eden and killing Colonel Autumn. It's telling that when you attack the Purifier at the end of the core game, the enclave soldiers are ignoring the 200-foot tall Humongous Mecha literally throwing nukes at them and targeting you instead.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: While mostly averted in the game itself, the way Fallout 4 treats his or her legacy counts. Not only are they not mentioned at all by any of the characters, even the ones who met them and saw what they did during the main quest, but the Brotherhood takes full credit for defeating the Enclave.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: Unlike the other player characters of the series, who have a vague enough source for most of their superhuman Perks that one could still view them as human, the Lone Wanderer can, early on in the game, explicitly become a mutant; a heavy dosage of at least 600 Rads combined with Moira Brown's experimental Rad treatment results in them mutating the ability to heal their limbs when suffering radiation poisoning.
  • The Exile: The Lone Wanderer is forced to escape from Vault 101 at the start of the game. And at the end of "Trouble on the Homefront", where your homecoming to Vault 101 to solve the civil war, ends with you being banished once more for being too disruptive.
  • Expy: The Lone Wanderer is essentially The Vault Dweller 2.0 - kid from the Vault forced to flee into the Wasteland and stops an invading army by joining the Brotherhood of Steel, and helps pick up civilization along the way. However, you can also style yourself their Evil Counterpart; while history says the Vault Dweller was a noble hero, you can be a murderous monster.
  • Famed In-Story: Sort of. Three Dog spends the majority of the game talking about your exploits via GNR, and a few important people seem to recognize you through your father. Random yahoos out in the wasteland won't recognize you on sight, however (though most likely because they don't know what you look like.) By Broken Steel, though, the Brotherhood of Steel more than recognizes just how dangerous you are.
  • Friend to All Children: With the Child at Heart perk... except for the fact that it can be used to make kidnapping a child for slavers easier.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: An Evil Lone Wanderer will end up like this. You start the game as some random citizen of some random vault that emerges into the wasteland chasing after their dad. By the end of the game you can have obliterated the Brotherhood of Steel, slaughtered entire towns, brainwashed dozens of innocents to sell into slavery, massacred trade caravans, and if you complete the Mothership Zeta add-on, you have control of an alien spaceship in orbit with a Death Ray you can casually fire at the planet any time you like.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: The Lone Wanderer more than anyone else in the franchise suffers heavily from this due to 3's relatively railroaded story, which sets a definitive backstory and progress for him/her. Many sequences in the game assume that the player is the low-level, relatively inexperienced teenager with some combat skill that the game's story says they are, rather than the high-level murder machine with a kill count approaching Doomguy's, as they probably would be in actual gameplay by the time you get to those sequences.
    • A notable example from the main plot is the first mission at Project Purity: the game assumes, via your father's dialogue, that a dozen-odd scattered basic Super Mutants with hunting rifles, sledgehammers, and the occasional assault rifle are a huge challenge and apologizes profusely for the necessity of sending you to fight them. He also assumes that you'd be helpless against three Enclave Elite Mooks. This is why he sacrifices himself to take out Colonel Autumn and his two bodyguards, and why the end of the mission is framed as a chase sequence with you desperately avoiding Enclave soldiers and never having to fight them back at any point. The problem is, unless you're deliberately rushing through the game, your character could almost certainly take out at least a squad of Enclave soldiers at this point, and an arbitrary number of basic Super Mutants (Masters and Overlords are another matter).
    • The Pitt DLC has you knocked out by four raiders in an ambush at the very beginning, and having to side with one of the factions in the Pitt to gain control and break out. The stronger of the two factions consists of a few dozen unarmored barely-trained raiders armed with low-level weapons like 10mm pistols and submachine guns, double-barrel shotguns, .32 snubnosed revolvers, hunting rifles, and the occasional mid-level weapon like assault rifles. That your character could be wearing Power Armor and toting a Gauss Rifle, giving them the ability to easily wipe out either army alone even if they weren't an absurdly skilled ace with 100% ratings in every combat stat, is never accounted for.
    • Sarah Lyons thinks of you as an amateur when you first meet, conceding that you have some skill (as you'd had to have killed a few Super Mutants to get to this point) but saying "let's not get carried away, you're not that good" if you ask to join the Brotherhood, even though this branch of the Brotherhood does take recruits. The player character at this point will almost certainly be a far more potent fighter than Lyons herself, but this doesn't change the dialogue at all.
    • Speaking of which, at the end of the main story, Owen Lyons gives you a suit of T-45d power armor and the opportunity to become a Brotherhood Knight, which is treated as an enormous reward. The squad you're assigned to even says not to be too nervous about the post, sure that you'll do well, but also say that they won't immediately throw you into tasks that only experienced Paladins like them could reasonably handle. The whole affair is treated as a right of passage where the protagonist finally ascended to standing on near even ground with these veterans. This is utterly nonsensical for most players who are probably carrying top-level Enclave gear superior to anything the Brotherhood could give them and could butcher the whole squad in moments without breaking a sweat.
    • The ending slideshow depicts your character in light armor and wielding a hunting rifle at an ambiguous period of the game implying that's how you were meant to be going for most of the story. Even though the player likely would have found combat armor and a light machine gun a few hours in.
  • Good Is Not Soft: A good karma wanderer can be nice to friendly people. Doesn't stop him/her from killing the most heinous of people.
  • Gadgeteer Genius : Let's just say that there's plenty of craftable weapons to be built in the game, from the Nuka Grenade to the Railway Rifle. All of them are really deadly, and a Wanderer who's built them and use them in their quest certainly fits the Trope.
  • The Hero Dies: Before Broken Steel made it Canon Discontinuity, the Lone Wanderer would be reduced to sludge when they activated Project Purity.
  • Heroic Sacrifice/Dirty Coward: Both options are possible at the end of the game. Heroically sacrifice yourself to start the water purifier, or tell your partner to do it? The "coward" part is downplayed if you get Fawkes, Charon or RL-3 to do it—since they're immune to radiation, it's only pragmatic to have them do it instead of you making a Senseless Sacrifice. Sadly, the game still calls you a coward.
  • Hidden Depths: Regardless of what build you choose to give The Lone Wanderer, encounters with the Chinese Remnant soldiers and General Jingwei in "Operation Anchorage" indicate that they can fully comprehend (and possibly speak) Chinese.
  • Hope Bringer: At high Karma, towns folk will praise you, and occasionally give you gifts for all the good things you do. Three Dog's reports can definitely paint you as this.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Hitting a target in the head from fifty feet away, in the dark, while the target is moving, and possibly so are you. You will be doing this.
  • Informed Attribute: Many characters point out how the Lone Wanderer is the spitting image of their father. Of course, the player can decide the appearance, which can make these statements quite ridiculous. Not to mention there's plenty of face-covering helmets in the game...
    • The Wanderer's father, James, actually does look like his son/daughter. The reason is that, when creating your character, the game will use the Wanderer's facecode to generate James' final face model so he shares a physical likeness with his child.
  • Informed Loner: The player can choose to be a truly Lone Wanderer by forgoing companions, but the game will still give them this title if they travel with a companion the entire time.
  • Jerkass: Some of their more negative dialogue options can allow them to insult people or threaten them.
  • Like Father, Like Son: The Daddy's Boy/Girl perk, which raises your Medicine and Science skill.
  • Master of All: With Broken Steel installed and with careful use of perks and the bonuses from Bobbleheads and skill books it is quite possible for the Lone Wanderer to be well above average at every skill and close to or at maximum at most things.
  • Memetic Badass:invoked You become one in-universe via Three Dog's new broadcasts — it reaches a point where he refers to you as a messiah for the Wasteland that goes around kicking ass and taking names. On the few occasions where he doesn't conclusively know it was you that did something, he basically says "I'm not sure who to pin this one on, but it was probably the Lone Wanderer."
  • Messianic Archetype: With high Karma, you're basically a hero to everyone you meet (assuming they aren't trying to kill you), and can ultimately give your life to save everyone in the Capital Wasteland.
  • Missing Mom: Due to death by childbirth.
  • Multi-Ranged Master and Multi-Melee Master: As with all Fallout heroes, the Wanderer is already able to use all the weapons of the Wasteland. A combat-oriented Wanderer will play this even straighter, being proficient and able to massacre anybody with anything.
  • Mushroom Samba: There are a few hallucination-experiences awaiting the determined explorer in Oasis, Vault 106, and Point Lookout. (Though it turns out that in Oasis, the tree really is talking to you.)
  • Nice Guy: If you chose to follow a completely good karma path, you will act friendly and polite to people, and will always do the right thing no matter if it disadvantages you (Exemple: helping good people you were supposed to threatens or kill, like Silver in Moriarty's quest).
  • No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me: Upon returning to Vault 101 during "Trouble on the Homefront", many of the Vault's residents initially don't recognise the Lone Wanderer.
  • No Place for Me There: You can invoke this if you agree with President Eden's plan to purify the Wasteland, once you realize that you yourself are of not pure gene.
  • Oblivious to Love: Can be played as such. Interactions include Amata, Sarah, and Bittercup who they can accidentally enter a relationship with.
  • Odd Friendship: A good karma player has this with Fawkes.
  • Off with His Head!: With sufficient Good/Bad Karma, the Talon/Regulator bounty will demand your head instead of the usual Finger/Ear.
  • One-Man Army: After reaching about level 15 or so, it's entirely possible to just walk into a city or a military base and just kill everything there. Of particular note is the final mission of Broken Steel. The Lone Wanderer is sent to clear out Adams Air Force Base, fight his/her way through the Mobile Crawler crawling with dozens of Elite Mooks, and nuke the base. The base does not go down easily, but at the end of the mission you've pretty much single-handedly annihilated the Enclave, something the entire Brotherhood couldn't.
  • Rule of Symbolism:
    • The Lone Wanderer was born July 13th. In the Bible, Micah 7:13 reads "And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, on account of the fruit of their deeds", a pretty much apt description for the entire Fallout series.
    • By the end of the game, you pretty much fulfill the words of Revelation 21:6 perfectly when you single-handedly save the Wasteland and bestow the gift of clean water to the region. Possibly with your death, too.
  • Science Hero: Many terminals allow you to turn robots and turrets against your enemies. Most notably the Enclave in the final mission at Adam's Air Force Base.
  • Sixth Ranger Traitor: In Broken Steel's bad ending, the Lone Wanderer ends up betraying the Brotherhood and destroying the Citadel.
  • Smarter Than You Look/Cultured Badass: Some of the Intelligence options invoke this. A good example is stumping a Brotherhood Outcast when the "ignorant wastelander" in front of her understands her reference to Super-mutants being "Ahab Lyon's White Whale";
    Lone Wanderer: So by that analogy, you expect Lyons to die fighting the Super-Mutants?
    Defender Morgan: Wha-? I thought we had the only remaining copy of that book...
  • Stepford Smiler: Hinted at in "Point Lookout" during their Vision Quest. The Lone Wanderer sees the corpses of several people they've met in the Wasteland, the skeleton of their mother surrounded by party hats and Bobbleheads taunting them over their perceived failures and inner loneliness.
  • Teens Are Monsters: As soon as you turn sixteen, you can join the Tunnel Snakes in bullying Amata, even giving them ammunition for their teasing. Once you turn nineteen, you can get a whole lot worse.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: Your response when asked to research severe injury for Moira's book.
    "I'm going to hate myself for asking, but what's this about serious injury?"
  • Tomato Surprise: You weren't born in Vault 101, but in the Wasteland. If you decide to follow President Eden's plan to sabotage Project Purity to only be beneficial to the "perfect human stock" in the Vaults, drinking Aqua Pura afterwards will not only cause you to suffer penalties, but run the risk of killing you if you drink enough! i.e. Which amounts to just four consecutive bottles.
  • Troll: there's a fair amount of moments you can portray the Lone Wanderer as one, such as using Snide remarks when helping Moira's research on writing the Survival Guide, deliberately doing poor work on said Guide, or, while being interrogated, giving Colonel Autumn fake codes to the purifer which end up killing some of the men he has stationed here.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: At least allegedly. They're stated to look a lot like their father James by several characters. Whether they actually look anything like their father or not is completely up to you.
  • Supporting Protagonist: Despite being the protagonist of the game, the Lone Wanderer oddly enough falls into this category. Both the two main plots of the game, Project Purity and the invasion of the Capital Wasteland by the Enclave revolve around their father James and the Brotherhood of Steel, having begun long before the Wanderer even left Vault 101. That being said, the Wanderer is the key player in resolving both situations.
  • Token Evil Teammate: You're always fighting the Enclave in the main quest. However, in side missions, mass genocide, nuclear holocausts and mass slaving are just some of the many atrocities you're free to indulge in. This is subverted if you choose the evil option in the broken steel dlc, where you become an enemy of the brotherhood.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Hints are dropped the Lone Wanderer had this with Amata.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: The Lone Wanderer is nineteen and raised in a Vault with no knowledge of the outside world, yet they show unparalleled skill that many people who have lived in the Wasteland for decades can't match. Downplayed since by the time you escape the Vault, you're only Level 2 at most; it's gonna take a lot more skill points and experience gained by exploration to become the genius you will be by the end of the game.
  • Younger Than They Look: The Lone Wanderer is the only protagonist in the series so far with a set age. There's nothing preventing the player from giving them gray hair and/or, if male, a full beard.

Companions

    Dogmeat 

Dogmeat

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dogmeat2.png
"Good boy!"

  • Action Pet: A canine companion that fights by your side.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Once he spots an enemy, he will attack it even if the enemy hasn't seen you yet.
  • Canine Companion: Of the Post-Apocalyptic Dog variety.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Just how long do you think a mere dog is going to last against gun-toting bandits? Subverted if you have the Broken Steel add-on installed, with which he can now take an ungodly amount of punishment before going down.
  • Friendly Fire Proof: Averted, just like with every other companion : unless you have the Broken Steel add-on installed, he will die if he's caught in the crossfire when you use explosives or a powerful enough gun.
  • Heroic Dog: When you first meet him, he is fighting off the Raiders who killed his previous owner. Even without your intervention, he's very likely to defeat them all on his own, though he'll probably need a stimpack after that. Also, with the Broken Steel DLC installed, he will be able to go toe-to-toe against the most powerful mooks in the game at higher level -and win.
  • Legacy Character: He is a descendant of the original Dogmeat from the first game. If he dies, a perk you can unlock at high level in Broken Steel allows you to adopt his puppy!
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: Has zero karma requirements to be recruited or remain a companion. Justified since he's just a dog.
  • Too Awesome to Use: He's an iconic companion and is actually very useful in battle. But since he can only attack in close combat, can't wear armor and, unless you have Broken Steel installed, remains at a relatively low HP level, you'll most likely let him wait at home while you go on very dangerous, high-level quests on your own out of fear he could get himself killed. Which will be very likely to happen once you run into a Yao Guai...
  • Suicidal Overconfidence: See below. Dogmeat could be this trope's mascot!
  • Too Dumb to Live: He won't make the distinction between a low-level Raider and a Deathclaw. And he won't care either if you pointlessly try to save his life by tossing a Nuka Grenade at the latter, either.
  • Undying Loyalty: No matter how implacable the enemy is, Dogmeat will protect the Wanderer to his last breath. Which will come along very quickly if the enemy is dangerous enough.

    Fawkes 

Fawkes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fawkes_fo3.jpg
Voiced by: Wes Johnson (English)note 

"In all things, a calm heart must prevail."

Formerly a security guard living in Vault 87, Fawkes was one day chosen for an experiment involving FEV, which turned him into a super mutant. Unlike his brethren, Fawkes retained his intelligence through the transformation. This caused the other Super Mutants to shun him, and when the player first meets him he's locked up in a cell in Vault 87. He carries a Gatling Laser and can only be obtained with Good Karma.


  • And I Must Scream: Was trapped alone in a Vault cell as punishment for being different from the other mutants. He entertained himself with a computer terminal, but eventually the mutants smashed that too, leaving him alone with no entertainment. Thankfully the Lone Wanderer rescued him, for which he's very grateful.
  • Artificial Stupidity: In combat this is generally averted, but in certain cases he can actually stop following you, requiring you to go back and fetch him. This can be a problem if, say you go into Rivet City's Market, leave just before it's locked, and then have to break in to fetch him (most people will threaten to shoot you and him to pieces- not that they can of course).
  • The Big Guy: About, oh, 8'3" or 8'4"...
  • Big Damn Heroes: If you rescue him from Vault 87, he'll later show up to help you outside of Raven Rock while he is gunning down Enclave soldiers with a Gatling Laser.
  • Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Subverted! The enemies might as well be throwing pies.
  • But Thou Must!: In the pre-Broken Steel game, he will not enter the irradiated purifier, claiming it's your destiny to do so.
  • BFG: His Gatling Laser.
    "Imagine the evil that can be destroyed with this tool!"
  • By-the-Book Cop: Well, security guard, but it takes a special sort of person to be so devoted to doing good that they manage to channel the rage that normally overwhelms a super mutant and drives them insane into an urge to destroy evil.
  • Defector from Decadence: Though he never really was part of it to begin with; he retained too much intellect after mutation to become a raving monster like the other super mutants.
  • Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Subverted, his main melee weapon is a sledgehammer, but he's in actuality pretty articulate, albeit vicious in battle.
  • Elephant in the Living Room: No one, not even the Brotherhood of Steel, seems to bat an eye when they see the hero of the wastes traveling around with an eight foot tall Gatling laser wielding mutant who looks just like the ones who've already tried to kill them numerous times. Fawkes hand waves it with the random line "It's amazing people trust you enough not to attack me", since you can only recruit him with good karma.
  • 11th-Hour Ranger: Fawkes can't be recruited until the final quest in the main quest line. While you can still explore the wasteland and complete sidequests with him, by the time you get him you're pretty much at the end of the game's main storyline.
  • Gentle Giant: He has a sort of Zen philosophy... and can rip you apart with his bare hands.
  • Genius Bruiser: As noted above, he was far too smart to become like his crazy kin, and it shows. He sounds wiser than the average human wastelander, even.
    • Even before being mutated, he was a security guard, a position that generally values brawn over intellect.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Wasteland 'mutants' suffer from rage overwhelming virtually all conscious thought. Fawkes is one of two known exceptions, not by denying his rage but by channeling it into a powerful urge to crush all evil.
  • Infinity +1 Sword: He's by far the most powerful companion in the game, with the most powerful weapon, over seven times more health than a Super Mutant Behemoth, and the fastest run speed.
  • Hyper-Competent Sidekick: A popular tactic among players is to have average small guns and energy weapons skills, just about enough to get through most of the story, then let Fawkes do all the work while they put points into science, repair, lockpick, medicine, etc. Fawkes is more than capable of destroying anything in the wasteland by himself.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: He is ridiculously accurate with his Gatling Laser.
  • Insistent Terminology: Fawkes hates being called a Super Mutant. He likes to refer to himself and his brethren as metahuman. Possibly another indication of his intelligence, since his kind were carefully (though inadequately) engineered, not the result of chance mutation.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He moves fast, has a very powerful weapon, and such an obscene amount of HP that even the player character probably couldn't beat him in a one-on-one fight.
  • Nigh-Invulnerable: With Broken Steel, his health is at least 10 times higher than anything in the game.
  • No Indoor Voice: Like all super mutants, however with him its the most noticeable since he talks intelligently, but the tone of it sounds like he's about to go berserk and beat you to death with a hammer.
  • Not So Above It All: He'll often roar and shout in combat, just like "regular" Super Mutants (sometimes using the same voice clips), and he'll sometimes comment that he has berserker urges.
    Fawkes (as body parts spray everywhere): Ha ha haaa! Too fun!!
  • Made of Iron: When you first meet him, he has 3,000 hit points, and that is without installing Broken Steel so he can level up, with it he goes up to 15,000. The strongest enemies in either Fallout 3 or New Vegas, like the Super Mutant Behemoth and Legendary Bloatfly, top out at a measly 2,000. Fawkes doesn't have much damage resistance since he has no armor, but he doesn't need it.
  • Only Known By His Nickname: Fawkes adopted his alias after Guy Fawkes, having enjoyed the fact that despite his failure in the Gunpowder Plot, he was still remembered for centuries afterwards. Since he had forgotten his own name, he took it as his own. Content cut from the final game (thus making its canonicity uncertain) suggests that his real name is Shelton Delacroix.
  • Smiting Evil Feels Good: Normally a philosophical Gentle Giant, but put him in combat and you'll see how much he enjoys turning bad people into Ludicrous Gibs.
  • Token Heroic Orc: One of the few stable Super-Mutants to come out of Vault 87.
  • Video Game Caring Potential: Letting him out of his prison at Vault 87.
  • Was Once a Man: As with all Sup... Metahumans.

    Star Paladin Cross 

Star Paladin Cross

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cross_fo3.jpg
Voiced by: Shari Elliker (English)note 

"A Brother well-equipped is a brother keeping to his duty."

The highest ranking Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel, Cross is Elder Lyon's adviser and bodyguard. She was injured in the field years ago, and given cybernetic implants to save her life. She can be a follower to a player with Good Karma.


  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She didn't become the highest ranking paladin in the brotherhood by giving out free hugs, that's for sure.
  • Berserk Button: She will refuse to follow the player if they try to call James out.
  • The Big Guy: Cross has significantly more health than any other human companion, has the best default armor, and carries a Super Sledge.
  • Cyborg: Is said to have cybernetic implants, not that you can tell.
  • Jack of All Stats: Her Tagged skills are Small Guns, Big Guns, and Energy Weapons, so she's proficient with just about anything you feel like handing her. She's also got decent armor and high HP.
  • Power Armor: Like all other Brotherhood members.
  • We Can Rebuild Him: Her life was saved via cybernetics.

    Butch DeLoria 

Butch DeLoria

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/butch_fo3.jpg
Voiced by: Craig Sechler (English)note 

"I could be out there and kicking butt in my own gang and everything. The Tunnel Snakes could ride again! Or, y'know, slither again. Whatever!"

The Lone Wanderer's childhood bully, who by the time of their return to Vault 101 has grown into a man tired of living in the Vault and aching for some freedom. If the player has the Vault opened in the Trouble On The Homefront quest, he can be found in Rivet City and can be recruited with Neutral Karma. He has weak default weapons, a 10mm Pistol and his Switchblade Knife.


  • Badass Normal: Despite being the least useful companion, one has to remember he's just some kid from the Vault who managed to fight his way through the wasteland with nothing but a pistol and his switchblade. Also, he's only weak compared to the other companions; his stats are still noticably higher than regular NPCs.
  • Bully Turned Buddy: He harasses the Player Character as a child, but if you make an effort to befriend him he can eventually become your traveling companion.
  • Can't Catch Up: Compared to the more useful Neutral companions RL-3 and Charon, he has low health and very weak starting weapons (Charon has an automatic shotgun and a machete for example, whereas Butch has a switchblade and 10mm Pistol, both weapons that can be obtained before the player even leaves the vault).
  • Catchphrase: "Tunnel Snakes RULE!"
  • Enemy Mine / Fire-Forged Friends: Considering he was your childhood bully growing up, he turns friendly after you save his mom and can become your ally later in the game.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: If you insult his mother at your birthday party, he'll immediately attack you. He also runs up to you and asks you to save his mother from Radroaches when you escape the Vault.
  • Everyone Has Standards: If you try to recruit him with good karma, he'll state that you're too "goody two shoes" to travel with him. If you try to recruit him with negative karma...
    Whoa whoa whoa, don't take this the wrong way, but you're a little too... intense. I mean yeah, a gang has to be tough, but you, you're psycho!
  • Foil: To the Lone Wanderer. Both left Vault 101 with meager weapons, no idea of the outside world and began a long trek across the Capital Wasteland, but unlike the Lone Wanderer, Butch didn't go on to become one of the most dangerous individuals in it.
  • Freudian Excuse: See next entry.
  • Greaser Delinquents: He styles himself in this way after founding the Tunnel Snakes.
  • Jerkass: Although he grows into more of a joke, and is far weaker than the player character, he relentlessly bullies the player in his childhood. Moves to Jerkass Woobie when you consider his mother is The Alcoholic and its implied he has to struggle to eat because she spends their money on booze.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: It's implied that a good deal of his behavior is just him trying to act tough. When you're escaping the vault, he begs you to save his mother and apologizes for how he used to treat you. If you hook up with him later in the game and your karma drops to evil while he is a follower, he will begin to meekly sympathize with whatever innocent people you last murdered. According to his ingame stats, as an adult he has Good karma.
  • Joke Character: He is by far the weakest companion, especially with Broken Steel installed.
  • Pet the Dog: If you save his mother he'll pretend he hasn't seen you when confronted by a security guard. Depending on circumstances, when you meet him in Rivet City, he may greet you happily like an old friend and buy you a drink.
  • Saved by Canon: MacCready in Fallout 4 will occasionally blurt Butch's Catchphrase ("Tunnel Snakes Rule!") when travelling underground, confirming that Butch either traveled with the Lone Wanderer to Vault 87 or survived long enough for MacCready to meet him in the wasteland.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: After the Tunnel Snakes disband due to one member dying and the other quitting, Butch decides to make a new Tunnel Snakes gang outside of the Vault. "The most badass gang in the entire wastes!" The gang consists of one leader and one member. Both are Butch.
  • Secret Character: Unlocking him as a recruitable companion requires to complete "Trouble on the Homefront" (itself a hidden, missable quest) then meeting him at the Muddy Rudder bar in Rivet City (which you have no reason to visit unless you want to buy alcoholic drinks - which can be found in many other places - or are currently doing the "Wasteland Survival Guide" sidequest, and the part of the quest involving the places' bartender is likely already completed by the time Butch moves to the place).
  • Took a Level in Badass: While he's hardly the strongest man out there in the wasteland, he started off as a big-mouthed punk who grew up in probably the most sheltered place in the Capital Wasteland. By the time the Lone Wanderer can team up with him again later, he's successfully fought his way halfway across the wasteland to Rivet City, and he's ready and eager to fight at their side. Not too bad for a guy who started out terrified of radroaches.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Saving his mom really does inspire some better behavior out of him. He treats the Lone Wanderer as his best friend from that point onward, and when the rebellion in the vault starts, he doesn't hesitate to support Amata's faction. Even when he's out in the wasteland, he's less of a jerkass bully, and more just overconfident in himself.

    RL-3 

Sergeant RL-3

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sergeant_rl3_fo38.jpg
Voiced by: Jeff Baker (English)note 

"There's nothing I like better than making some other poor bastard die for his country."

A pre-war Mr. Gutsy type military robot armed with a plasma weapon and a flamethrower, RL-3, like many robots, is still running on his fission battery and survived the nuclear war. However, he is not instantly hostile, and as a result was acquired and fixed up by a trader named Tinkerer Joe, who is currently selling RL-3 for 1,000 caps (500 with a speech check). However, RL-3 has his own programmed personality, and will only join people who are not too "extreme" (which means you can only buy him with Neutral Karma).


  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: It's quite possible for enemy to cripple his combat inhibitor, which lets him tell friend from foe. This doesn't have any effect if he's following you, but the moment you dismiss him, he'll immediately open fire on everything that moves, most likely starting with you.
  • But Thou Must!: Unless you have Broken Steel installed, this gung-ho, fearless combat machine who constantly tells you that he's at your orders refuses to go into the Purifier control room to do a little job that won't hurt him a bit.
  • Can't Catch Up: Without Broken Steel, he does kick ass at first, but the fact that he does not level up with the player past level 9 makes him much less useful at the end of the game.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Has this personality.
  • Infinity -1 Sword: With Broken Steel, he has incredibly high health, but is just below Fawkes due to his lack of killing power at higher levels.
  • Kill It with Fire: Comes with a built-in flamethrower. Toasty!
  • Non Human Side Kick: The only robotic follower in the game.
  • Pre Ass Kicking One Liner:
    RL-3: Kill 'em all! God will understand!

    Jericho 

Jericho

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jericho_fo3.jpg
Voiced by: James Lewis (English)note 

"Say what's on your mind then get out of my face."

A former Raider currently living in Megaton, Jericho has decided to leave his life of stealing and killing behind him. He just lounges around Megaton all day, sleeping in his one room shack or getting drunk at Moriarty's bar, but can be recruited by a player with Evil Karma. He carries a Chinese Assault Rifle and a nailboard.


  • The Atoner: Subverted. He acts like he's this, claiming that he's trying to put his past behind him and that he's changed from the raider he once was. All it takes is a few questions for him to admit that he does actually miss being a raider, and his comments to other characters make it clear that he hasn't really changed at all.
  • Attempted Rape: Reading Moriarty's terminal reveals that he attempted to rape Jenny Stahl once. Moriarty is of course keeping that information just in case he needs to blackmail him later.
  • Badass Normal: Apparently just some random Raider, yet he can easily dispatch entire groups of super mutants. Indeed, the residents of Megaton put up with him because his skills are a key contributing factor in the town's ability to defend against Raider and Slaver raids.
  • Bald of Evil: He's completely bald.
  • Blood Knight: He's by far the most bloodthirsty companion, and if you stop to talk to him he'll complain that he does not want to stop in the middle of the action.
  • Can't Catch Up: He has a very good default weapon and is a good all rounder the first time you meet him, which can be very early, but later in the game he becomes less useful when more powerful companions like Charon and Fawkes become available.
  • Disc-One Nuke: An evil player can hire him almost as soon as they're out of the vault, if they're good at scrounging for caps. Jericho comes equipped with decent armor and a pretty good assault rifle, allowing him to absolutely dominate for the first third-or-so of the game. Afterwards, though...
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He doesn't give a damn if you nuke Megaton (as long as he's not there at the time), but he will become hostile if you go back and finish off Moira.
  • Foil:
    • To Billy Creel, as both lived out in the Wastelands before settling down in Megaton where they use their respective skills to benefit the town while claiming they hold no fond memories of their pre-Megaton days. The difference is that Jericho is a former raider and Retired Monster, while despite Moriarty's suspicions the evidence suggests that Creel was a trader or caravan protector before finding Maggie. Even if Moriarty is right and Creel did kill Maggie's parents, the fact that he is a good parent would imply he really is The Atoner unlike Jericho who simply pretends to be.
    • To Doc Church, as like Jericho he is a Retired Monster who is unapologetically rude to the player. However Church does seem to actually care about the people in Megaton and nobody seems to have any problems with him, unlike Jericho who is only allowed to stay as long he helps defend the town.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Nobody in Megaton likes Jericho but, as mentioned above, they tolerate his presence because he's very useful to have around whenever the town needs to defend itself.
  • Glass Cannon: He's got average health and armor, but his Chinese assault rifle is one of the best default weapons amongst the companions (which is important as only a companion's default weapons doesn't use ammo).
  • Older Than They Look: He doesn't much look 65.
  • Permanently Missable Content: If you nuke Megaton and don't recruit him first.
  • Pet the Dog: He may be completely devoid of morality and has committed unspeakable crimes, but he still sleeps with his teddy bear by his side in his house.
  • Retired Monster: Jericho used to be a Raider, and while he plays himself off as being The Atoner, it takes very little for him to admit he misses the lifestyle.

    Clover 

Clover

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clover_fo3.jpg
Voiced by: Jan Johns (English)note 

"Can I do something for you? Or... to you?"

Eulogy Jones' personal bodyguard/sex slave, she is utterly devoted to her master. She can only be initially purchased by an Evil Karma player, but can then later be re-hired regardless of Karma.


  • Blade Enthusiast: She prefers melee weapons to anything else, and is very pleased if given the OK to carve enemies up. In fact, give her decent armor and a weapon like the shishkebab, she's pretty capable of holding her own in a fight.
  • Bodyguard Babes: Though not a very good one if left to her own devices.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing: Due to being a companion her stats are the best out of all the Slavers in Paradise Falls, and she can surprise you with how much it takes to put her down if you attack Paradise Falls without recruiting her or realizing she's a potential companion.
  • Can't Catch Up: Clover's default weapon is weak (a very short range sawed off shotgun, in contrast to Jericho's assault rifle or Charon's unique sniper shotgun), and her stats are quite average. Along with Butch, she really doesn't have any pluses that make her a recommendable companion.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: In a twisted sort of way. She would love to kill Eulogy's other sex slave if she could get away with it.
  • Cool Sword: Her default weapon is a Chinese sword.
  • Crazy in the Head, Crazy in the Bed: Eulogy will explicitly mention she fits the stereotype of crazy girls being wield in bed when he's trying to pimp Clover to you.
    Eulogy Jones: I'll tell you why: because Clover is the craziest girl I've ever seen. And I'm an expert on crazy girls. Crazy in a fight, crazy in the sack, crazy every which way but loose! But most of all, she's crazy in love with whoever's holding her leash. And for the low cost of a thousand caps, Miss Clover could be crazy for you.
  • Delinquent Hair: She has a distinctly raider-type haircut. Eulogy's other bodyguard slave, Crimson, does as well, so it's probably something he dictated.
  • Does Not Like Guns: Not that you can blame her, given how amazingly awful her shotgun is.
  • Explosive Leash: Like all slaves, she has an explosive collar. Not that it's ever used.
  • Happiness in Slavery: Explicitly stated to be in love with whomever that holds her leash.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: She doesn't really care if you're a paragon among men or a complete psycho. That said, she kinda prefers the latter, finding it "cute."
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Sometimes she has a noticeable southern accent. Other times... it's mysteriously gone. Considering she's a bit unstable in the first place, this may be intentional.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Not as strong as many of the other women of Fallout, but she still manages to be a pretty good fighter for a decent portion of the early game. She can hold her own pretty well later on, but only if equipped properly to compensate.
  • Psycho for Hire: By virtue of being "owned" by the head of the slavers, she'll go with most anyone who can pay the caps for her.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: She's not really a bad person, she just doesn't have much say in what she does.
  • Sex Slave: Her and Crimson are heavily implied to be this while she is with Eulogy Jones.
  • Short-Range Shotgun: Her starting weapon has all the spread of a grenade, without any of the damage.
  • Shotguns Are Just Better: Inverted. Her sawed-off shotgun has very short range and she lacks the power to deal any real damage with it. Honestly, she'd probably be better off using an assault rifle or even a revolver.
  • Womanchild: She tends to get childishly pouty if the player dismisses her, or orders her to do something she'd rather not. One wonders how young she was when she was enslaved.

    Charon 

Charon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charon_fo3.jpg
Voiced by: Mike Rosson (English)note 

"You are my employer and I will do as you command."

A ghoul with a mysterious past, Charon was apparently brainwashed in his childhood to blindly follow whoever holds his contract. He is currently a bouncer in an Underworld bar called the The Ninth Circle, where his contract can be purchased from its current owner, Ahzrukhal, or obtained from him by killing off his competition on the alcohol business.


  • Anti-Villain: If you're playing an evil character and have him as a companion, he'll only go along because of the contract.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Fundamentally good when he's on his own, but as long as you hold his contract he'll do whatever he's told regardless of how moral it is or how good (or not) you are. If you drop the contract, his moral center will take priority over all else and, if you've killed a good person while his master, he'll try to kill you.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Although he is far saner then most people like this. The only major effect from the brainwashing seems to be complete loyalty to whoever holds his contract.
  • But Thou Must!: Much like RL-3 and Fawkes, he'll refuse to go into the purifier to enter the code in "Take It Back!" if you don't have Broken Steel installed.
  • Captain Obvious: Occasionally tosses out "I don't like the looks of this place" and "This place is not safe" when wandering around, somehow feeling the need to warn you even if you're in a Deathclaw lair, a Raider camp, etc...
  • The Dog Bites Back: Beware if you release him from his contract and also happen to be evil, because he's free to do to you as he did to Ahzrukhal. In fact, attacking him at all, regardless of if he's currently under the contract or not, will make him fight back.
  • Foreshadowing: If you ask him to go fetch the G.E.C.K. in Vault 87, he'll reveal that his contract does not cover anything unrelated to combat, and that he won't get it for you. This later justifies why he refuses to go into the control chamber in the base game.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Not when it's written down, but in-game everyone pronounces his name as "Sharon".
  • Honor Before Reason: Zigzagged. As mentioned, he's good on his own, but he will keep to his contract holder's rules even if they're a bastard. This is why he had to wait for you to hire him before he could kill Ahzrukhal. On the other hand there are some things that "invalidate" his contract — for one if you attack him enough, he'll turn hostile like any other companion. He also refuses to go into the control chamber at the end of "Take It Back!" claiming that he's saved you enough times by now and that this is all on you. Broken Steel revises this, letting the Lone Wanderer remind Charon of his contract, which makes him reluctantly turn on the purifier.
  • Jack of All Stats: He is a good all rounder, with a good starting weapon, all around good skills, is obtained mid-way into the game, and can be recruited regardless of karma.
  • Karmic Death: He delivers one to Ahzrukhal. He'll try to do this to the player as well if they're evil enough and he's just been dismissed from service.
  • Loyal to the Position: Loyal to the holder of his contract. Even if he knows they're a rotten scumbag and wants to kill them, he has to wait until his contract is given to someone else, freeing him to kill his former master.
  • Magically-Binding Contract: Well, a mentally-binding contract. Due to brainwashing/mind-control, he is bound to blindly obey the owner of his contract, though there seem to be limitations either within the contract itself or what actions he’ll allow the mind-control to force him to do.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: Though he will not be happy if you order him to do awful things. And if you stop being his master (read: dismiss him as a companion) after killing a "good" character, he'll become hostile towards you.
  • Shotguns Are Just Better: His "sniper shotgun", which actually has significantly less spread than the normal combat shotgun and thus is more lethal at long-range without sacrificing any power.

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