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2%%Trope names are not to be spoiler tagged as per Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers.
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4[[WMG:[[center:[-''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' '''[[Characters/FalloutNewVegas Main Character Index]]'''\
5[[Characters/FalloutNewVegasTheCourier The Courier]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCompanions Companions]] | '''New California Republic''' | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCaesarsLegion Caesar's Legion]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasTheStrip The Strip]] ([[Characters/FalloutNewVegasRobertEdwinHouse Robert Edwin House]]) | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasSettlements Settlements]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOtherFactions Other Factions]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasDeadMoney Dead Money Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasHonestHearts Honest Hearts Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasOldWorldBlues Old World Blues Characters]] | [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasLonesomeRoad Lonesome Road Characters]]-]]]]]
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7[[foldercontrol]]
8
9[[folder:New California Republic]]
10[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nv_ncr_flag2.png]]
11[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/LeonardCohen Democracy is coming to the USA]].]]
12
13->''"We must always remember that wherever Californians stand, we carry our principles with us: equal respect, representation, and protection under the laws of a just republic. This was the same fire that burned in the heart of the Old World that preceded us. We are the heirs of that civilization, torchbearers eastward of the Pacific, into the darkness of this wasted land."''
14-->-- '''President Aaron Kimball'''
15
16Arising from humble origins in the desert village of Shady Sands, the New California Republic has, over the past century, grown into a major nation-state with territory spanning most of the American west coast (though only southern California is fully integrated into the union).
17\
18Governed by a democratically-elected President and Congress, commonly referred to as the NCR Council, citizens enjoy equal protection under the law and, in the heartlands, a standard of living approaching that of early 20th century America. Frontier towns are less lucky, however, often having to deal with raider attacks due to the overextension of the NCR's military and law enforcement -- and while slavery, narcotics distribution, and other societal ills common in the wasteland are illegal, well-placed bribes can often overcome this.
19\
20On top of all this, looming resource shortages and an economic crisis -- both at least partially brought on by their own reckless expansionism -- are pushing the NCR to annex New Vegas by any means necessary. While for now they are content to do so through diplomacy, many are worried that it's only a matter of time before they resort to military force, as they have so often in the past...
21----
22* AnimalMotifs: The bear, as befitting its flag design. Ulysses constantly refers to the NCR as "The Bear".
23* ApocalypticLogistics: ZigZagged. On the one hand, the NCR still makes use of pre-War equipment and weapons, while its rapid expansion has made it progressively more difficult to create and maintain adequate supply lines. On the other hand, the NCR is also capable of not only repairing Pre-War infrastructure, but also producing their own gear, including guns and ammo, on an industrial scale. They also have access to motorized vehicles to help keep said supplies chugging along.
24* BadassArmy: The Rangers and First Recon are ''the'' best soldiers in the setting short of the better equipped Brotherhood Paladins and Enclave troopers, while the Heavy Troopers get an honorable mention despite the kitbashed equipment they have to work with.
25** Compared to the Legion counterpart, the NCR troopers in general are poorly trained. But this is balanced out by their equipment; they have better armor and all of them have at least mid-level guns thanks to the Gun Runners, who supplied the military as well as selling personal weapons to the soldiers. This gets especially noticeable if you piss the NCR off: getting within line of sight of a group of hostile NCR troops will result in [[MoreDakka a hell of a lot of incoming bullets]]. Meanwhile, even mid to high level legionaries mostly carry bolt-action and lever-action rifles, plus submachine guns and pistols. As a result, NPC battles tend to be... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YICoWzdSB_Q&t=20s one-sided.]]
26* BadassNormal: They're somewhat the BadassNormal faction of the whole series. Despite being just a bunch of normal people with no pre-war ties, limited power armor, or energy weapons, they have successfully beaten the Enclave, the Brotherhood of Steel, and, depending on the way you end the game, the Legion, mostly due to being [[{{Determinator}} dedicated, unrelenting,]] and [[ZergRush extremely numerous]].
27* BigBrotherIsWatching: The NCR have a "robust network of informants" and they ''know'' if you're working against their interests. If you work for Mr. House/Caesar's Legion/Yes Man too much, they will know about it and decide you're not working in their interest. In the case of Yes Man or Mr. House, they will simply not accept any more of your help but will remain neutral towards you. In the case of the Legion, NCR [=NPCs=] will shoot you on sight.
28* BoringButPractical: Every NCR soldier, even the low ranks, receives basic combat training and has standard armor, a service rifle, and some grenades. Their armor (DT of 12) is not great but still capable of stopping most pistol rounds and buckshot as well as lower-end rifle rounds, their grenades always come in handy, and their rifles are unremarkable but still reliable and accurate semi-automatic weapons. As a result, at equal numbers NCR troops tend to slaughter foes like Great Khans, Powder Gangers, Recruit Legionaries, and Kings- all of whom are primarily equipped with short-ranged pistols, pistol-caliber submachine guns, shotguns, and the occasional melee weapons, which are all not only out-ranged by NCR rifles but also incapable of reliably penetrating NCR armor, or low-level lever-action and bolt-action rifles, which fire very slowly.
29* BlackAndGrayMorality: To the Legion. The NCR has their fair share of problems but they're a far more preferable option compared to an evil empire that endorses slavery, child soldiers, rape, canibalism and torture. With NCR and House it's quite a bit muddier. The two really do want to rebuild a peaceful and stabilized society in the wasteland, but their views of how to do it are incompatible and the end result is a mix of pros and cons. Thus it's up to the player's discretion to decide who's in the right and worth backing, or neither of them.
30* BreadAndCircuses: The NCR operates under all three types of this trope depending on the circumstances. Comfort for the wealthy, the powerful, and everyone living in the core regions of the republic; stability for the poorer citizens living in the frontier regions; and a lesser evil than the Legion for the people in the Mojave.
31* CannonFodder: Due to the aforementioned shambles of supply lines the NCR is left with while annexing the Mojave, new recruits are lucky to even get ''armor and gear'', let alone training or a half-decent weapon, before being thrown into combat.
32* {{Eagleland}}: They are very similar to the present day US government, sharing many of its strength and weaknesses. Their ideals are very much those of America the Beautiful, and most of the ground-level soldiers you're likely to encounter actually believe in them. The massacre at Bitter Springs is a very dark example of America the Boorish, however, recalling as it does various massacres of native peoples during the United States' westward expansion.
33* EnemyMine:
34** In the final battle, it's possible that due to the efforts of The Courier, the NCR will be supported by three of their long-time enemies of the past: the Brotherhood of Steel, the Khans and [[spoiler:the Enclave]].
35** Enforced by House Route and Wild Card Route, being that House recommends having a good reputation with the NCR, to have them as allies instead of enemies. For the final battle, is likely that the Securitrons led by the Courier, will side by side with NCR soldiers. [[spoiler: (Before the eventual betrayal)]].
36* EliteMooks: The NCR Veteran Rangers (the guy you see on the cover), and the power armor-wearing NCR Heavy Troopers. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUw6fjS9vhM It's been proven]] that, in-game, Veteran Rangers can wipe out over four times their number in Legion EliteMooks (Centurions, Veterans, Praetorians) with few to no casualties.
37* TheExtremistWasRight: Compared to back when Tandi was president, the NCR is much more militaristic and aggressive. But that is the reason why they are able to have the upper hand against the Brotherhood and the Legion. Also, some of their actions such as heavy taxation and militaristic culture might not be nice, but they do have good reasons for them. [[spoiler:And they do have one of the best endings for a good karma character.]]
38** [[spoiler:A good example is the town of Primm. If you persuaded the NCR to annex it, the citizens will complain about heavy taxes and strict laws. But if the NCR managed to win the battle at Hoover Dam, it will be revealed in the ending video that under NCR control, Primm will prosper as a major trading center, giving the town one of many possible good endings.]]
39** Subverted in the town of Goodsprings in which many long time residents had to leave their homes due to heavy NCR taxes.
40* FacelessMooks: A lot of their troops either wear Face Wrap Armor, NCR Salvaged Power Armor or Veteran Ranger Armor.
41* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Most obviously to the present day United States, but also (ironically enough) to AncientRome. Their overt values and flaws are like those of the modern US, while many of their strengths, weaknesses, strategies for winning over the Mojave (engage in high level diplomacy, present oneself as a "savior" against a greater threat while then moving in, and utilizing siege technology and logistics to win the long war) are right out of the Roman playbook that almost all others have followed since... [[DramaticIrony except for Caesar's Legion itself.]]
42* FatalFlaw: Corruption and incompetence. They really do ([[TokenEvilTeammate mostly]]) mean well, but they have a tendency to put people in positions of power who are either [[SmallNameBigEgo grossly unqualified]], OnlyInItForTheMoney, or both.
43* TheFederation: They are the only known post-war democratic government and are dedicated to old world ideals such as liberty and the rule of law. However, there are lots of corruption and red tape within their government.
44* FriendlyEnemy: Possible if you have a good relationship with them but choose to follow the House or Wild Card path. They'll still accept/like/idolize you (so long as you don't piss them off), but they won't trust you enough to let you do any more NCR-affiliated quests.
45* FromNobodyToNightmare: Seen as an example of this by the Great Khans. The Republic started out as a small rural town that was constantly threatened and raided by their predecessors, the Khans and the New Khans. By the time of ''New Vegas'', the grandchildren of the very people that they bullied have driven their tribe to near extinction. Interestingly, the best ending option for the Khans is to accept their losses, abandon their feud, and leave the Mojave to do their own bit of nation-building elsewhere.
46* GasMaskMooks: The Veteran Rangers and Heavy Troopers.
47* GoodIsNotNice: Just like their appearance back in VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}, they do good things on most parts, but the way in which they are going to do it may be highly questionable. But they don't take it nearly as far as the Legion does.
48* GeneralRipper: Most of the higher-ranked [=NPCs=] are this, notably Oliver, Moore and Kimball. Colonel Moore in particular believes that ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer in "negotiations" with other tribes, particularly the Brotherhood of Steel.
49** In the end it turns out to be a case of [[invoked]]StrawmanHasAPoint. Since Caesar made it clear that he intends to one day invade and destroy the NCR, meaning that war with the Legion is unavoidable and by being in the Mojave, the NCR also manages to protect the locals against the Legion as well. Also, if you spare the Brotherhood in the Indepdent ending but make them negotiate a truce with the NCR first, [[spoiler:without the NCR to keep them in check, the BOS will go around harassing travelers to take away any technology that they have. It is slightly better than what happens if you don't negotiate a truce first, in which they actively attack travelers and capture HELIOS One, but it is still an act of open aggression for no real reason on the Brotherhood's part.]]
50* HeroAntagonist: To them if you support the Legion. They'll still try to get you to help them.
51* HoldingOutForAHero: Because of a combination of contradictory orders, bureaucratic red-tape, and General Oliver's focus on keeping the vast majority of NCR troops around the Hoover Dam waiting for the glorious FinalBattle he desires, the NCR can't get much done without the Courier's assistance. They need his/her help to get supplies, train their medical personnel, repair kitchen appliances, interrogate prisoners, catch spies, whip underperforming squads into shape, assassinate raider leaders, carry out diplomatic missions, and even retake whole towns that have fallen to the Legion. If the Courier does not do these things for them, they simply never get done, as reflected in the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue.
52* InformedAttribute: Zig-zagged. One of the loading screen messages states that the NCR typically punishes crimes with death; however, as shown with the Powder Gangers, they either took over or built a fully-functioning correctional facility prior to the Courier's arrival and re-arrest the escaped Powder Gangers in a certain ending instead of killing them. They'll still send hit squads after you if you get on their bad side, though (albeit with a three-day grace period).
53* {{Jerkass}}: The Ranger hit squads that pursue low-repped Couriers. Most players who go against the NCR in their playthroughs can't decide whether these rangers are intimidating or just extremely annoying and arrogant Jerkasses.
54* KickTheDog: Numerous times, mostly by collecting heavy taxes from their citizens (sometimes enough to completely bankrupt entire settlements) and the overreaching militaristic expansionist policies that brought them to the Mojave in the first place.
55** Many citizens of the Mojave hate them or at least dislike them as they're known to forcibly bring you into the Republic whether you like it or not. Typically seen as the lesser of two evils to Legion, though.
56** Their arrival in New Vegas also destroyed the economic independence of many independent caravans in New Vegas by bankruptcy or by gunpoint of hired mercenaries employed by bigger companies like the Crimson Caravan. In addition the uptick in tourism meant a high turnover of drug/gambling addicts on both ends of the spectrum that Freeside and Westside's sex trade is made up of ex-Gommorah sex workers who didn't get addicted and refuse to work there.
57* KickTheSonOfABitch: In the case of the Great Khans. A perfect example is asking a Great Khan-turned-NCR sniper what he thinks of Bitter Springs. [[spoiler:Apparently, they deserved it.]]
58* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: The NCR can produce energy weapons on an industrial scale, with the Van Graffs and Gun Runners (and presumably others) manufacturing and selling them, and various mercenaries hailing from California toting plasma and laser rifles (e.g. the Van Graffs' guards, Norton's crew). Quartermaster Bardon also has some in his stock at Hoover Dam. Despite such weapons being available, the actual NCR Army and even the elite NCR Rangers mostly use ballistic weapons. The only exceptions come in ''Lonesome Road'', with both some of the Marked Men in the Divide (which an NCR-aligned Courier can point out are special forces) and Colonel Royez's band (the colonel himself wields a plasma caster).
59* LesserOfTwoEvils: Many inhabitants of the Mojave do not like the NCR (Arcade Gannon being the main spokesperson for this opinion), seeing them as the classic authoritarian government, yet they admit that it is preferable for them to win, instead of the Legion.
60* MoralityKitchenSink: Unlike most factions the ideals, morality, goals and compassion of its individual members vary tremendously.
61* ObstructiveBureaucrat: One of NCR's greatest weaknesses is the slow speed of its administration due to internal corruption and the sheer size of the republic.
62** That said, if someone can rile the NCR bureaucracy in the right way, it becomes a force you ''do'' ''not'' want to fuck with, as one of the possible endings of the Cassidy questline demonstrates.
63* PetTheDog: In contrast to their [[KickTheDog low points]] as above, if you help the NCR to take control of the Mojave, they are shown to have a large share of moments like this too:
64** [[spoiler:If you gets the Kings to declare a truce with the NCR, the Republic will not only cooperate with the Kings to help the local people, they will also allow Freeside to remain independent.]]
65** [[spoiler:Out of all the major factions (not counting an independent Vegas, of course), the NCR is the only side that will agree to have a peaceful solution with the Brotherhood of Steel. If you help the two sides declare a truce, then they will work together and become help in being peacekeepers along the important highways. Some cut content included an option to get Mr. House to agree to a truce too, and a mod makes use of the dialogue still embedded in the game.]]
66** [[spoiler:As mentioned above, the best ending for Primm will be for the town to get annexed by the NCR. The town will be rebuilt and turned into a major trade center.]]
67** [[spoiler:The best ending for the Followers of Apocalypse is only available if you make them cooperate with the NCR just before Hoover Dam is attacked. Here, they will be able to leverage NCR resources into expanding their ability to care for the less fortunate citizens in New Vegas. Originally it was unavailable due to a bug in the game's programming, but has now been fixed by the last patch.]]
68** Along with the Followers they're the only faction in the series to treat Ghouls as equals. With a few exceptions like Sergeant Astor (who can be convinced otherwise) Ghouls are treated as normal people to the extent that most of Camp Echo's garrison are Ghouls, along with high-ranking members of their infrastructure like Keely and Bert Gunnerson. Unfortunately under Kimball's administration, values have regressed somewhat though this mostly means that ghouls and Super Mutants tend to be Rangers rather than be part of the main army.
69* PunchClockVillain: Most of them if you oppose them.
70* QualityVsQuantity: The NCR has both. They have the basic troopers, whose training, equipment and loyalty is varied, who are mostly used in huge packs of [[MoreDakka bullet-spamming]] soldiers. But all of their special units (the [[MightyGlacier Heavy Troopers]], the [[GlassCannon 1st Recon snipers]] and the [[LivingLegend Rangers]]) are high-quality troops which are feared by the other factions.
71** This is handy since the NCR has to fight against fairly different factions. Against great, technologically-advanced units (such as the Brotherhood or the Enclave), it is the number who made the difference. Against little packs of raiders, it was speed and strategical capability. Against the [[WeHaveReserves huge Legion]] of Caesar, it was tactical flexibility offered by the Rangers who made the NCR hold.
72* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: A really effective way to skip though the red tape when dealing with the NCR if you lack high speech skills or reputation is by bribing the officials.
73-->'''Courier:''' "Excuse me, do you mind [[spoiler:giving Sheriff Meyers a pardon]]/[[spoiler: allowing the Great Khans to leave peacefully]]/[[spoiler:not attacking the super mutants]]?
74-->'''NCR officer:''' "Sorry, doing so is against the rules."
75-->Option 1: [Speech] Remind him of the values and ideals that the NCR stands for.
76-->Option 2: [NCR Rep] Tell him that you are a hero to the NCR and that he should do what you say.
77-->Option 3: [Barter] Persuading him that helping you will be very profitable in the long-run.
78-->Option 4: Oh my, it seems I have so many caps in my pocket that I am not sure what to do with them! Say, I think I will just leave some on the table...
79* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The NCR was originally founded upon idealistic ideals of giving people a chance to achieve more than just day to day survival and unite them under the banner of a benevolent government. But in the years since Fallout 2, the difficulty of maintaining a functional nation state in a post-apocalyptic world has slowly dragged the NCR more towards the cynical side.
80* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: The entire organization, especially the rangers will hunt you down if you help the Legion. And considering that you're supporting a slaver nation where rape and mass murder are accepted practices, it's hard to blame them.
81* UngratefulBastard:
82** They "reward" the Great Khans for fighting alongside them at Hoover Dam by [[spoiler:forcing them out of Red Rock Canyon and relocating them to a barren reservation]]. Then again, considering Papa Khan openly bragged about murdering at least dozens of NCR citizens, and Bitter-Root confirmed that even Khan children were 'trained' by taking potshots at NCR civilians, this can be considered more than merciful.
83** If [[spoiler:Arcade Gannon]] fights for them at Hoover Dam, they either send Rangers and bounty hunters after him (if they win) or imprison him indefinitely (if they lose to the Legion). Bear in mind, his only crime was to be [[SinsOfOurFathers the son of an Enclave officer]].
84* WeHaveReserves: Life expectancy in the NCR ain't all that great, and individually soldiers aren't treated well at all. One of the advantages of being the largest faction in the wasteland with a massive (by post-war standards) population and a huge industrial base capable of pumping out endless rifles and bullets. When they see something they want, they will throw troops at it until they get it. At HELIOS, they lost ten times as many troops as the Brotherhood did, and up until the Boulder City trap they'd been slaughtered at Hoover Dam, but they have the manpower to support those kinds of losses. However, unlike the Legion who leaves their dead behind to rot, they want to get the dead back for proper burial.
85** Portrayed to a point depending on the side you choose. Joining the Legion or House has you go against the NCR, which consistently outnumbers you quite heavily with cannon-fodder Mooks. Forlorn Hope, for example, can put ''dozens'' of NCR soldiers and officers against you, depending on the spawns.
86* WellIntentionedExtremist: A far lighter example than the Legion but they still count. They intend to forcibly annex the territories of the Mojave and bring their own brand of law and order whether the people of the Mojave like it or not, and they don't mind wiping out any factions that get in their way.
87-->'''Random NCR [=NPCs=]''': Nelson will serve as an example. ''We'll bleed the ground red'' with anyone who opposes our peace efforts.
88* WorfHadTheFlu: Several explanations are given for why the NCR can't casually crush Caesar's Legion and Mr. House and why they appear so much weaker here than in ''VideoGame/Fallout2''.
89** The main reason, as made clear in dialogue with many [=NPCs=], is that the war is simply not seen as an existential threat for the NCR, but rather an unpopular foreign adventure. That's not to say they aren't trying, but they're only trying in the same way that the Americans were trying in the Vietnam War- putting in a lot of effort, but not treating as a life or death struggle. Chief Hanlon complains that the NCR has its best troops back in the Core Regions or "chasing ghosts in Baja", while Major Polati bitterly says that "if the brass back home could get their heads out of their asses long enough to send support, we could turn this all around." This also explains why the average troop quality is so much lower than it was in ''Fallout 2'', where all NCR soldiers had full combat armor, very high combat stats, and high-level weapons- the Heavy Troopers, Rangers, high-level Marked Men, and various NCR mercenaries show that the NCR still has such troops in significant numbers, but they're simply not the majority in this region so far removed from the Core Regions. By contrast, Caesar is throwing ''everything he possibly can'' into the war, seeing it as the battle which will decide the fate of his empire.
90** The second most important reason, revealed in DLC, was the nuking of the Divide. The NCR used it as a supply line to bring troops to the front lines (given that it's described as near Death Valley, the Divide is probably in California), causing the Legion to contest it; both nations sent some of their best forces to battle there, and both armies were wiped out when the nukes went off. ''However'', as the NCR forces in the Mojave are proportionally less numerous than the Legion ones, added to the fact that the Divide was logistically important to the NCR but not the Legion, the event was far more devastating for the NCR than the Legion. Graham outright stated that the nuking of the Divide is what saved the Legion, as it prevented the NCR from capitalizing on their victory at the First Battle of Hoover Dam.
91** When the NCR first arrived in the Mojave, shortly before their first clash with the Legion, they encountered the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. A ''very'' bloody battle at Helios One ensued, which combined with other pacification efforts against minor factions like the Khans, Vipers, Jackals, and Fiends, left their Mojave expeditionary force weakened when the Legion arrived.
92** On that same note, the war with the (much larger) Brotherhood of Steel chapter(s) back west was also stated to be a long and arduous affair, and one that dealt significant damage to the NCR's economy that they're still recovering from.
93* ZergRush: Both the Brotherhood and the Van Graffs attribute their success to this. Either group has the equipment to field a small army, but the NCR has the manpower ''and'' equipment to field a really, really ''big'' army, and can run over anyone with numbers if skill won't do the job. Doesn't work so well against the fanatical Legion, however. Despite successfully holding the Dam, just barely, they now are on the defensive, and without a great deal of manpower they rarely if ever beat the Legion in open combat.
94** Subverted by the more elite NCR caste and their tactics against the Legion. Chief Hanlon destroyed the Legion invasion force by leading them into a trap, while Oliver just lets the ''Legion'' smash against entrenched soldiers with rifles, losing many men in the process, and finishes them off by sending the Courier who in most endings defeats the Legion at Hoover Dam by [[spoiler:taking a very small, elite team of Veteran Rangers, or even going in alone, to kill their field commander or convince him to withdraw]].
95** Also subverted in their operations against the Khans and assorted raider groups, where they send small groups of soldiers because they're all that's needed.
96** Similarly subverted because the NCR ''can't'' repeat the strategy that won their war against the Brotherhood with the Legion because their reserves are gone. The NCR-Brotherhood War was much bloodier than their war against the Legion, but that's beginning to change.
97*** This is an example of GameplayStorySegregation, as testing in game has shown that a group of NCR Troopers, their bog-standard infantry, can easily defeat a group of ''Veteran'' Legionaries of the same size, while taking fairly low casualties. In fact, they tend to win even when fighting one-on-one.
98[[/folder]]
99
100!!NCR Government
101
102[[folder:President Aaron Kimball]]
103[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aaron_kimball_fonv.jpg]]
104[[caption-width-right:350:King of Hearts]]
105
106->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MonteMarkham
107
108->''"Today, you are the waves of the Pacific, pushing ever eastward. You are the sequoias rising from the Sierra Nevadas, defiant and enduring."''
109
110The current president of the NCR. He was a former war hero and general for the NCR during early stages of the Mojave Campaign, made popular by his heavy handed tactics in destroying tribals in the area that are hostile against the NCR. During the main quest he makes a visit to Hoover Dam to give a motivational speech for the troops stationed there.
111----
112* BaseBreakingCharacter: In-Universe. People are split on whether he is a good president, or whether his campaign in the Mojave and the way he leads the Republic is corrupt and self-serving.
113* BigGood: In the eyes of many NCR citizens, and fills this role for an NCR aligned player. He isn't hands on in the story, but as the president of the NCR, he is the major overhead figure that leads it.
114* CruelMercy: If you prevent his assassination, Mr House will mention that since you've already saved his life, you don't need to feel bad about ruining his political career. Once the NCR is pushed out of the area, he'll become the symbol for all the failure's the NCR experienced, and become really unpopular because of it.
115* GreaterScopeVillain: To a Legion affiliated Courier. He isn't the direct BigBad of the Legion ending, as he only appears once, but as the president of the NCR, he represents the most powerful figure within the organization.
116* {{Hypocrite}}: Openly respects a democratic process and maintains NCR elections during his presidency, although many in the NCR claim he bought or manipulated his most recent votes.
117* IsThisThingStillOn: At the end of his speech. Except he doesn't seem to realize it was.
118-->'''Kimball:''' ''(To his bodyguards)'' Okay, let's get the fuck out of here. What the hell are you waiting for – do you think I want to get shot? Let's go!
119* {{Jerkass}}: According to the comments of numerous NCR [=NPCs=], he's a greedy, imperialistic dick who just cares about annexing everything he sees. [[spoiler:Could potentially be a case of TheExtremistWasRight if you help the NCR take control of the Mojave]].
120* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: President Target, to be exact. Depending on who you side with, you'll either help his speech or his assassination go off without a hitch, or interrupt both if you can't stand the blowhard but are bound by the mission to save him.
121* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Social values have regressed under his administration, meaning that ghouls, super mutants and women have a harder time finding acceptance, particularly in the military. However, while barred from the regular military, ghouls and mutants can find a place in the Rangers and talented enough women can still achieve high ranking, as seen with Cassandra Moore.
122* PrecisionFStrike: After his great speech, he tells his men:
123-->''"Okay, let's get the fuck out of here."''
124* RousingSpeech: The reason why he traveled to Hoover Dam is to give one of these. But things will go horribly wrong unless you intervene.
125* ShoutOut: The soldier that he awards a medal to is clearly a Literature/ForrestGump {{expy}}.
126* TooDumbToLive: Personally making a public visit to a location directly next door to your biggest enemy's base of operations. It's arguably a matter of pride, though; his comments ([[IsThisThingStillOn broadcast over the PA]]) indicate that he's well aware he could be shot and doesn't want to stay any longer than he has to.
127* WeHaveReserves: The entire NCR war strategy since he took office.
128* WorthyOpponent: Caesar, of all people, actually considers him to be one and described Kimball as 'a man of potential' since he approves of Kimball's heavy handed and expansionist policies when dealing with the raider tribes that attacked the NCR back when he was a general. However, Caesar despises the fact that instead of using his influence to seize control of the republic via a military coup, Kimball choose to be democratically elected instead.
129[[/folder]]
130
131[[folder:Ambassador Dennis Crocker]]
132[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dennis_crocker_fonv.jpg]]
133[[caption-width-right:350:Five of Hearts]]
134
135->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
136
137->''"Interested in politics, eh? Well, grab a seat and get comfortable."''
138
139The current NCR ambassador in the Strip, he was given that position for supporting President Kimball during election. While he is a skilled diplomat, he had very little success with Mr House.
140----
141* AntiHero: While he's willing to entertain the idea of assassination when it comes to Pacer, he makes it clear that he prefers diplomatic resolutions over violent ones.
142* BeleagueredBureaucrat: As the representative of the NCR civilian government in the Mojave, he has to take care of everything from recording the activities of citizens on the Strip to negotiating alliances with other factions.
143* ButtMonkey: Somewhat, for Colonel Moore. And both NCR soldiers and citizens in general seems to dislike him.
144* GoodIsNotNice: Along with Hsu he's the only major NCR leader without a major character defect and he genuinely wants to help the people of Vegas to the point where he risks Colonel Moore's wrath and his own career to pacify Freeside peacefully. However, he's willing to suggest assassinating Pacer to solve the problem, though considering Moore's approach he likely thought it was the lesser of two evils and he makes it clear that he'd much rather solve the issue with as little violence as possible.
145* HeroWithBadPublicity: He's considered a joke by most of the New Vegas garrison even though he's the most reasonable and well meaning member of the NCR aside from Hsu.
146* IdiotBall: It's minor compared to the IdiotBall Caesar wields in the similar scenario, but he still pardons you automatically after you reach a certain point in the storyline, resetting your NCR infamy back to zero, regardless of how much trouble you might've caused the Republic up to that point.
147* KickedUpstairs: He claimed that he was given position due to his support to Kimball during the election. However, if you read the reports written by his predecessors, being the ambassador to New Vegas is considered to be the worst job in the NCR government.
148* KingOfGames: He's a very skilled and rich Caravan player.
149* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Subverted. He's responsible for enlisting the Courier's help and is very useful for getting around Colonel Moore.
150* RaceLift: As seen on his promotional playing card, he was meant to be Caucasian, but [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130327163252/http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer/q/239066969813297315 was changed to African American after a recording mix-up]].
151* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He prefers diplomacy unlike most NCR leadership who would rather use violence.
152* RedOniBlueOni: The blue along with Hsu, Oliver and Moore are the reds.
153* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: On regards to the Kings, should the Courier fail to stop the violence in Freeside using diplomacy, his first order was to refer the case to Colonel Moore, but knowing what Moore [[MurderIsTheBestSolution would most likely do]], he recommends the Courier go to Colonel Hsu instead. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished This ends up costing him since Moore gets him fired for it.]]
154* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: His official title is "Ambassador Extraordinary of the Plenipotentiary Department of State".
155[[/folder]]
156
157!!Office of Science and Industry (OSI)
158
159->''"Suffice to say, we are the leading edge of the NCR. Our work focuses on practical matters. Medicine, engineering, biology."''
160-->--'''Thomas Heldern'''
161
162[[folder:General]]
163
164The Office of Science and Industry or OSI for short, was formed after The New California Republic's falling out with the Followers of The Apocalypse, to fill the role of scientific organization, that the latter would have otherwise filled. Their research includes medicine, farming, industry, electricity generation, etc and they are also responsible for directing water and electricity from Hoover Dam to NCR settlements and military installations.
165----
166* {{Foil}}: To the Followers, as the OSI is only concerned with the big picture and that the little people are not a part of the problem nor solution.
167* LesCollaborateurs: A good deal of the OSI's ranks are comprised of former Followers of the Apocalypse who chose to align themselves with the NCR's authorities.
168* TheSmartGuy: It's their job to be the main eggheads of the NCR as the Followers of The Apocalypse's main focus on humanitarianism lead to a falling out with the NCR government. Some of their members even were Followers before moving on.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Thomas Hildern]]
172[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thomas_hildern_fonv.jpg]]
173->'''Voiced by:''' Jude Ciccolella
174
175->''"Too many people have opinions on things they know nothing about. And the more ignorant they are, the more opinions they have."''
176
177The Director of OSI's Eastern Division and former member of the Followers of the Apocalypse, Hildern is an arrogant and self-serving scientist, who often takes credit for his staffs achievements to prop himself up. He's most likely to be first encountered while the player is delivering a message to him for the Crimson Caravan, where he can inform the player of Vault 22 and start the quest "There Stands the Grass".
178----
179* {{Foil}}: To his subordinate Angela: he's a {{Jerkass}} glory hound that takes credits for other's accomplishments, while she is a friendly and hardworking scientist who is genuinely interested in helping others.
180* GloryHound: His main motivation.
181* GreenEyedMonster: He's heavily implied to be this towards his more confident assistant Angela, who is actually an intelligent person capable of making strides in their research, while he just rides on the success of people like her.
182* {{Jerkass}}: He's condescending to others, disrespectful to his staff members, and he takes credit for other's accomplishments. And that's not even getting into the fact that he tries to send the Courier to Vault 22 [[spoiler:without warning them that the last person that was sent over there never came back or the fact that he doesn't even seem to care that said last person, could be dead.]]
183* JerkassHasAPoint: Arguably so, [[spoiler:If The Courier calls him out for not warning them about how dangerous Vault 22 is, Hildern will make it clear he thinks such a warning would be redundant considering the Wasteland as a whole is a setting where EverythingTryingToKillYou and with what intel he did have, he had little reason to think Vault 22 was uniquely dangerous in comparison to anywhere else.]]
184** There is also his answer if you ask him about the Republic's chances in the war:
185--> I have no idea. I leave the fighting to colonel Hsu, and I expect him to leave the science to me. Too many people have opinions on things they know nothing about, and the more ignorant they are, the more opinions they have.
186* KnowNothingKnowItAll: He acts like he's intellectually superior to others, but has to rely on his staff members like Angela to do most of the actual research, and his intelligence stat is ''below average, with a stat of 4 out of 10''.
187* PetTheDog: He genuinely appreciates and thanks you [[spoiler:for retrieving the data and will put in a good word for you.]]
188* TeethClenchedTeamwork: According to Angela, Keely and Director Hildren get along as well as a Deathclaw and a Bighorner, but she isn't sure which is which.
189[[/folder]]
190
191[[folder:Angela Williams]]
192[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angela_williams_fonv.jpg]]
193->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CindyRobinson
194
195->''"Nobody ever said science would smell clean and fresh. Anyway, you get used to it, if you give it some time."''
196
197Neither her education nor her occupation as a scientist has helped Dr. Williams to lose the "twang" in her accent. A bit unusual for a scientist, she was born to a family of Brahmin ranchers in rural NCR country back west. Prior to 2281, Williams had become a top researcher for the Office of Science and Industry's eastern division, reporting directly to Dr. Thomas Hildern. However, the relationship between them is rather uneasy.
198
199In recent months, Angela was assigned to be head of the Dam Project, charged with increasing and optimizing power output from the site. Unlike her colleague and superior, she is more passionate and concerned for the safety of Dr. Keely, a contractor sent to recover agricultural data from Vault 22.
200----
201* {{Foil}}: To her boss Director Hildren, who is a JerkAss GloryHound that takes credits for other's accomplishments, while she is a friendly and hardworking scientist, who is genuinely interested in helping others.
202* NiceGirl: Unlike her superior, she is very friendly.
203* SouthernFriedGenius: Not a southerner, but still fits the "smart redneck" idea of the trope, she has raised by Brahmin herders and has a very thick western accent. She even comments on how it doesn't seem to fit with her profession.
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Keely]]
207[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keely_fonv.jpg]]
208
209->'''Voiced by:''' Suzan Brittan
210
211->''"It's sad, really. All those wonderful minds, undone by their own irresponsibility."''
212
213Keely is a pre-war ghoul who has amassed a wealth of knowledge over two hundred years and is currently working for the OSI and a friend of Angela, who was sent to Vault 22 to investigate the rumored man made oasis, said to be in the vault for research. By the time of the game, she has been trapped in the vault and her friend Angela asks the player to rescue her.
214----
215* BadassBookworm: She's not only a scientist with vast knowledge, but she also managed to survive going into the dephts of a Vault full of dangerous mutated plants, while dialogue with Angela Williams and Thomas Hildren imply that a lot of mercs who went there ended up dead.
216* DemolitionsExpert: One of her tag skills is explosives and she carries around a bunch of frag grenades, as her weapon. Not to mention her plan for dealing with the spores.
217* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Keely's a bit abrasive, but shows to have a high regard for Angela as a friend, she also sincerily thanks The Courier for rescuing her after the spore problem has been resolved.
218* KillItWithFire: She plans on destroying the Vault 22 spores by pumping flammable gas through the vents and igniting them.
219* MysteriousPast: Not much is known about her long life, beyond the fact that she was from the pre-war world. A terminal entry mentions that her Pip-Boy is on the fritz, implying she may be a former vault dweller, but nothing more is made of this fact and when you meet her, said device is no where to be seen.
220* RobotBuddy: She was planned to have two: a Protectron named Bohr and a broken down Sentry Bot named Koch.
221* TeethClenchedTeamwork: According to Angela, Keely and Director Hildren get along as well as a Deathclaw and a Bighorner, but she isn't sure which is which.
222* VideoGameCaringPotential: The player could go out of their way to save Keely and then help her destroy the spore carriers in the vault, so they are no longer a threat. Or...
223* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: If you don't want to go through the extra work, you can just retrieve the information Hildren sent you for and go, leaving her to her fate.
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:Fantastic]]
227[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fantastic_fonv.jpg]]
228->'''Voiced by:''' Ari Rubin
229
230->''"I'm in charge. This whole operation depends on me. No Fantastic, no power. Got the whole NCR suckling my teats, and it feels so good."''
231
232Fantastic is the "scientist" in-charge of the HELIOS One facility for the NCR. He wore out his welcome quickly, but still manages to maintain his position over actual genius Ignacio Rivas from the Followers of the Apocalypse.
233----
234* AssholeVictim: May be invoked during gameplay. If the Courier kills him, no matter from stealth or right before everyone's eyes, nobody will become hostile over it and there will even be no Infamy gain with the NCR.
235* BlatantLies: How he got his job, in fact. He'll also claim to be responsible for restoring HELIOS One, even though the Courier did most, if not all the work.
236* CoolShades: Really the only cool thing about him is his glasses and even then it's probably to hide his bloodshot eyes.
237* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler: If the player uses ARCHIMEDES I to wipe out the NCR troops, then return to the now-Legion-occupied facility, they will learn that he ''murdered'' his assistant Ignacio and joined the Legion, just to save his own skin.]]
238* FeigningIntelligence: He got his position by lying about his qualifications. The only way he got in was the recruiters were lazy/even dumber than he was.
239--> They asked me if I knew anything about power plants. I said as much as anyone I'd ever met. They asked me how well I understood theoretical physics. I told them I had a [[AmbiguousSyntax theoretical degree in physics]]. They said welcome aboard.
240* GameplayAndStorySegregation: He's regarded as an idiot by everybody else at HELIOS One, including Ignacio Rivas and the NCR trooper guarding the entrance, and it shows, to the point he may even consider a Courier with low Intelligence (3 or below) as someone smart and articulate. Besides all that, his stats shows that he actually has 6 in Intelligence. That's arguably justified by the fact that he was savvy enough to BS his way through a job interview that required qualifications he totally lacked. Credit given where credit's due, doing that would certainly require a degree of smarts even if Fantastic is [[BookDumb uneducated]]. He does, however, have 2 in Charisma, despite his attempts at smooth talking with other people about his "credentials", so the "idiot" part of him does somewhat make sense.
241* {{Jerkass}}: He's arrogant, egotistical, and when the player manages to bring the power plant back to full capacity, he'll take most of the credit for the operation.
242* KnowNothingKnowItAll: He is a clear example; he boasts that he has academic skills in engineering and other scientific fields but it's pretty obvious that he is only good at making himself look stupid by lying and bragging about his nonexistent skills.
243* OpportunisticBastard: According to his stats he's not nearly as dumb as he looks as he has 7 in Luck[[note]]which in this game governs how well a character can see patterns and well... how lucky you are[[/note]], meaning he's pretty sharp about finding ways how to weasel his way into something that will benefit him (but not nearly enough to capitalize greatly on it). [[spoiler:No better example stands than if the NCR is wiped out at the plant, when the Legion rolls in to take it over, Fantastic ''butchers'' Ignacio and aligns himself with the Legion simply to keep himself alive.]]
244* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Downnplayed. The Legion won't kill him themselves, but he's so scummy that if he switches sides to the Legion, none of the Legionaries care about him being (violently) murdered by the Courier.
245* TheStoner: He'll openly state that he is this and that he took the job solely to feed his addiction, which you can blackmail him with.
246* TooDumbToLive: It's obvious that he has no idea what the hell he's doing and if the player didn't step in, he'd probably get everyone killed eventually, one way or another. Even when the Courier has an Intelligence of 1, he'll ''still'' believe that they're there to take his job even when they say "Me take job because me am smarter".
247-->''Ah, shit, man. You're direct, you're no-nonsense. How am I supposed to compete with that?''
248* TurnCoat: If the player [[spoiler:uses the KillSat to wipe out the NCR soldiers]] and Caeser's Legion takes over, he'll [[spoiler:''kill'' Ignacio Rivas]] and join the Legion, just to save himself.
249[[/folder]]
250
251!!NCR Military
252
253!!!Main Commanders
254
255[[folder:General Lee Oliver]]
256[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lee_oliver_fonv.jpg]]
257[[caption-width-right:350:Ace of Hearts]]
258
259->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
260
261->''"I would sooner spit on the grave of my dead mother than let some courier-walk-the-wasteland-fuck talk to me like that. Who the hell do you think you are? Looking to cash your chips to the sound of NCR bullets, eh? I can oblige."''
262
263General Lee Oliver is the head of the NCR Army in the Mojave Wasteland. Often mocked for being ineffective and not doing much, content to sit and watch the Legion grow across the Colorado, resulting in pleasant nicknames such as General Wait-And-See.
264----
265* AntiHero: Beneath the posturing and glory hound tactics, he does care about the Republic and its people.
266* AntiVillain: He wastes the lives of his soldiers to get his name in the history books but stops short of endangering civilians.
267* ArmchairMilitary: Why he's not particularly popular among the troops.
268* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Intentionally averted; he's significantly weaker than his own bodyguards. He ''does'' have {{Elite Mook|s}}-level health (more than any other NCR leader), but without any armor and only a mediocre pistol he goes down pretty easily.
269* BadassBoast: Makes a few of these if you try to talk him off in the House/Independent endings, for all the good that does him.
270-->''"Look, I know you're riding high right now, but let me tell you. You ain't pissin' on me right now, you're pissin' on the Bear."''
271* BullyingADragon: In the Wild Card ending, [[spoiler: he will insult the Courier, even when he or she has an army of upgraded Securitrons right behind him, and he only has 5 veteran rangers. (and considering that the Courier is probably a one-man army at this point, it's not like he or she will need them to slaughter the general and his rangers)]]
272* ClusterFBomb: His manner of speaking, er, lacks refinement. This is likely the result of him copying General Patton's speech and mannerisms (See NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, below.)
273* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: While he has a well deserved reputation as a GeneralFailure his personal combat skills outweigh all the major faction leaders including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5BzNIH4FM Caesar.]] Of course, this is more out of the fact that he's the only one who uses a gun while all others use melee or unarmed weapons.
274* CruelMercy: If he's talked into surrendering, House states that he'll be publicly disgraced and held responsible for the loss of not only the Mojave but the countless lives of soldiers. [[spoiler:Furthermore, House predicts a 40% chance of him committing suicide from the sheer shame of it all.]]
275* DefiantToTheEnd: Barring talking him down, in the Legion ending he implies his compound has a secret escape tunnel he could use to flee, but he chooses to stay and fight the Legion to his last.
276* DirtyCoward: Averted in the Legion ending, but up until then Oliver really doesn't like getting his hands dirty, and won't usually appear without a host of troops backing him up.
277* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Win Hoover Dam for yourself in the Independence ending, and you can tell Yes Man to show General Oliver the way off the dam. One of the last scenes is Yes Man shoving Oliver down into the canyons below from the highest point of the dam, letting out an echoing scream all the way down.]]
278* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:House gives him around a 40% chance of doing this in his ending. Probably applies to the Independent route, too.]]
279* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler:Despite being willing to sacrifice hundreds or even thousands of NCR troops to get his name written in the history books, he will agree to retreat and withdraw from the Mojave if you threaten to order your robot army to attack the NCR embassy or have the Boomers bomb the NCR's founding states in the Yes Man/Independent ending, as even he doesn't want to throw away the lives of innocent NCR citizens just to make a point.]]
280* EvilIsPetty: He favors the Heavy Troopers over the Rangers despite the latter being far superior in battle, because it was the Rangers who are credited for the NCR's victory over the Legion three years ago and this time Oliver wants the credit.
281* FinalBoss: If you side with the Legion.
282* FlunkyBoss: In the House and Wild Card lines, he's accompanied by five [[EliteMooks Veteran Rangers]] who are far more dangerous than he is. In the Legion ending you have to fight your way through several rank and file soldiers, a pair of Veterans, and a half dozen Heavy Troopers.
283* FrontlineGeneral: {{Downplayed}}. He only fights in the Legion ending where you storm his compound and he makes a LastStand with his remaining troops. But in the game itself he moved his command post to Hoover Dam, which is the literal frontline and a rock throw away from Caesar's Legion main base.
284* GeneralFailure:
285** According to House, Caesar, and pretty much ''most of the NCR he commands'', he's not really respected at all as a leader or a person. His battle strategy is generally just throwing waves of men at a target like a tide on rocks until one or the other recedes.
286** He got his post primarily due to nepotism according to Boone; Colonel Hsu (see below) would probably be in that position if he hadn't. His plan for the Legion (dubbed "Tunnel Vision" by House) is [[HollywoodTactics to fight it out in one big glorious meat grinder battle at the Fort.]] Instead of, you know, weakening the Legion beforehand with skirmishes, defending the river from Legionaries sneaking across to do the same to them, and training his very undertrained and unprepared troops before the battle. His derogatory nickname among many of his subordinates is "General Wait-And-See". It's Caesar and Lanius who take the initiative and start battles whenever and wherever they want to.
287** In the House and Wild Card lines, one of the options for dealing with Lanius is to convince him that he is walking into a trap because General Oliver cannot possibly be as dumb as he appears to be, and the last time the Legion thought they were putting one over on the NCR, Hanlon blew them all up. In reality, outwitting Oliver really is just that easy.
288** Despite the above, several of his tactical decisions do wind up benefiting the NCR at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam:
289*** Moving the Rangers from a ridge overlooking the Dam onto the Dam itself keeps them from being wiped out by the Legion's howitzer, which was aimed at the ridge [[OutGambitted specifically because the Legion knew the Rangers would be up there]].
290*** The Heavy Troopers he favours are better at the close-quarters fighting that occurs in the tunnels beneath the Dam & within the Dam itself, while the Rangers' skills limit them to the fight on top of the Dam.
291* GloryHound: He uses the "strategy" he does because he wants to make sure the credit for victory at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam goes to him and not Hanlon or the Rangers.
292* {{Hypocrite}}:
293** Says the Courier doesn't have what it takes to look after the Mojave. While he has a point, considering that the general himself is the cause of MANY of the NCR's problems in the Mojave...
294** He can be talked into retreating, claiming that the lives of his men matter the most to him, although this doesn't stack up too well with his ZergRush attrition tactics.
295* {{Irony}}: Joshua Graham, former legate of the Legion, was punished for losing the Battle of Hoover Dam by being thrown down the Grand Canyon. [[spoiler:In the Independence ending, when Oliver loses the Second Battle of Hoover Dam you can opt for a little bit of a MeaningfulEcho by having Yes Man shove him into the canyon below as his execution]].
296* {{Jerkass}}: Exceptionally arrogant and full of himself, corrupt, and more concerned with personal glory than efficient victory, he's said to be one of the most hated members of the NCR by its ''own soldiers''. Though deep down he does show some level of concern for his men, that doesn't stop him from tossing them into an overglorified meat grinder in an attempt to gain himself some fame - while he sits comfortably in his office ''well'' behind friendly lines, of course.
297* JerkassHasAPoint: If you take the Wild Card ending and successfully bluff him out of attacking you, he'll have a brief conversation with you criticizing you for thinking you have what it takes to build a nation (build roads, train troops, maintain trade routes, etc.). At first this may just look like Oliver being, well, Oliver, but when you think about it, he does have a point about a random self-appointed package courier not being the best person to run New Vegas, or about you not having the resources to maintain a nation-state. The ending slides (specifically for the Followers) reveal that, even if you took the best possible options, he was completely right. And if you didn't upgrade the Securitrons, nor did you kill off the fiends and Powder gangers (or at least convince them to join the Khan), he'll turn out to be absolutely right.
298-->'''The Followers of the Apocalypse Ending:''' After the Courier ensured New Vegas remain free, the Followers found that independent Vegas was even more unstable and violent than before. Old Mormon Fort became excessively burdened by the influx of patients, struggling to provide even the most basic of services.
299* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Well, more like silver, but still. He's a very selfish person and his wasting of troopers lives is pretty abhorrent. However in the Legion and Independent endings if you pass the speech check he'll ultimately accept his duty to save their lives, he refuses to endanger civilians, and if the NCR wins he admits the republic isn't perfect and wishes more folks like you were around to help them clean up their act and set a better example.
300* KaizoTrap: In the House and Independence endings; while Oliver himself dies quite easily, his five [[EliteMooks Veteran Ranger]] bodyguards armed with brush guns are entirely capable of mowing down a level-30 power armor–wearing player before the Securitrons can kill them, if the player tries to make a stand and fight instead of running away and letting the Securitrons do their job. (The rate of fire on the brush gun has been noticeably reduced after the most recent patch, so this doesn't happen quite as often, although it can still occur.)
301* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: While the Courier hears a lot about him from various characters (none of it kind), he only appears in person during the game's final quest.
302* ALighterShadeOfBlack: He's a huge prick who sacrifices the lives of his men due to his glory hound tendencies. However unlike Caesar or Moore he has lines he won't cross, doesn't actively enjoy violence, and with enough effort (and a damn good speech skill) you can convince him to stand down for the sake of his men rather than fight a lost battle.
303* MeaningfulName: Probably named after General Robert E. Lee and General Oliver P. Smith.
304* MightyGlacier: His personal favorite forces are his NCR heavy troopers, who wear salvaged power armor. It grants them great protection but makes them very immobile.
305* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He has the speech and mannerisms of UsefulNotes/GeorgeSPatton down to a T, while wearing the NCR equivalent of UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur's hat. He would've done better to aim for emulating Patton's martial abilities. J.E. Sawyer has described him as "a mishmash of various aggressive and blockheaded military commanders".
306* ObstructiveBureaucrat: He is nicknamed "General Wait-And-See" by lower ranking NCR soldiers since he refuses to listen to the advice from his officers that he should launch smaller attacks against the Legion instead of just sitting and waiting. It is later revealed that he want to gather enough troops to push the Legion out of the area in a single decisive battle. By doing so he hopes to become a war hero that overshadows Chief Hanlon of the Rangers. Also, according to Boone he's the reason that Colonel Hsu isn't a General at this point.
307* OhCrap: In the House/Independent endings when he sees the Securitrons roll up behind him and [[spoiler:if you order Yes Man to push him off the Dam]].
308* PetTheDog: In the NCR ending, he tells you he's quite aware the Republic has a lot of problems, but he hopes that, now that the war is over and their enemies defeated, they can look inwards and try to fix those problems. He also wishes that more people like you were part of the Republic, because folks like you set a better example for everyone to follow.
309* ThePeterPrinciple: While he seems to be capable soldier by himself, he is absolutely out of his element as a strategist and top-level commander.
310* PostFinalBoss: In the House and Wild Card end quests, you have to face him and talk him down now that the dam is safe from the Legion. It's really just a clean-up of a loose end now that the real threat is dealt with.
311* RevolversAreJustBetter: He carries a .44 Magnum revolver, yet another allusion to George Patton.
312* TheRival: Sees Chief Hanlon as this. Hanlon, however, just sees him as a moron with no idea what he's doing.
313* ShutUpKirk: In the Wild Card route, if he tries to berate you for not being able to build a nation on your own the player can respond with "Can't do worse than the NCR." [[spoiler:Then proceed to get Yes Man to toss him off Hoover Dam.]]
314* SmugSnake: His tactical incompetence and glory-seeking attitude severely weakened the NCR's hold on the Mojave. Similarly, he is especially indignant if you deal with him in the House/Independent endings unless you manage to talk him down and even then he'll be incredibly sore.
315* SoreLoser: In the Independent ending, he does not take being bested by some random upstart Courier well to the point that he'll tell you that were he in your position, he'll have you hanged. He's much more diplomatic in the House ending if you at least negotiate some terms that benefit the NCR somehow.
316* {{Sucksessor}}: Everyone would rather have Hanlon back as a leader. The NCR soldiers have lost morale and have lost faith in their superiors because of Oliver's refusal to use effective strategies against the Legion. The Legion itself is also disappointed to fight General Oliver and would rather face Hanlon again because he defeated them the first time. Hanlon speculates that Oliver is aware of this as well and is deliberately refusing to listen to his advice because Oliver wants to outshine his predecessor in the history books.
317* TemptingFate: In the Wild Card ending. [[spoiler:Seriously, the guy/gal you're threatening has an entire robot army lined up behind them ''and'' you. No matter how proud you are, do not remark that you would not show mercy under the same circumstances. It's a long way down...]]
318* TranquilFury: In the Independent ending, his response to you asking--or threatening, depending on what dialogue option you picked--him to leave the Dam is a calm, quiet and clearly ''enraged'' growl of "I would sooner ''spit on the grave of my dead mother'' than let some courier-walk-the-Wasteland-fuck talk to me like that."
319** However, in the House ending he immediately goes berserk upon reading House's treaty.
320--->"Withdrawal? Like fuckin' '''''HELL''''' we're withdrawing! We just held the dam! We didn't do it to let it go! This paper of yours, isn't fit to ''wipe my ass'' with."
321* WeHaveReserves: His main tactic for Hoover Dam, according to others, is just to throw troopers at the Legion until he wins.
322* WillfullyWeak: He refuses to take the fight against the Legion seriously because he wants to be venerated in the history books. He's been ignoring Hanlon's advice just so he can outshine him by fighting the invading Legion.
323[[/folder]]
324
325[[folder:Colonel James Hsu]]
326[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_hsu_fonv.jpg]]
327[[caption-width-right:350:Seven of Hearts]]
328
329->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/WilliamMapother
330
331->''"Calm is what you have to be when people look to you. And it's all you can be when things are out of your hands"''
332
333The second-highest ranking officer in the NCR Army in the Mojave. An otherwise competent officer who is reduced to being a DeskJockey at Camp [=McCarran=], likely for not being bullish enough for General Oliver and Colonel Moore.
334----
335* BeingGoodSucks: Some DummiedOut post-game content reveals that Col. Moore is picked over him for a promotion in the NCR ending due to, depending on how one interprets what would have been said, her aggressive kill-'em-all tactics or Hsu being far less willing to take credit for things being better than what the brass thought it would be. Of course, it is DummiedOut, so the canonicity of this remains uncertain.
336-->'''Moore''': The brass was particularly surprised by the lack of domestic threats in the area. They were prepared to spend months pacifying known troublemakers. When they found those threats absent, they turned to the man in charge of the area, but Hsu being Hsu, he denied having anything to do with it. So now the men have to answer to Brigadier General Moore, and both they and I have you to thank for it.
337** During the game you hear opinions that he would likely be the best person to be leading the NCR military in the region over General Oliver, but he is an honorable and professional military man to the point where he does not engage in playing politics behind the scenes that would help get him to that position.
338* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Since he's stuck being a desk jockey, he gets saddled with this.
339* AFatherToHisMen: Boone notes that he shook his hand once, and that he could tell from the look in his eye that he understands what the soldiers are going through.
340* KnightInSourArmor: Much like Hanlon, he's a bit beaten down by the rampant problems that the NCR faces in the region.
341* OnlySaneMan: He's the only very high ranking NCR officer without some huge flaw. For example, Moore is mostly focused on settling personal scores, Oliver is an ObstructiveBureaucrat and GeneralFailure, and Chief Hanlon [[spoiler:is actively trying to undermine NCR operations]].
342* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Unlike other NCR authority figures.
343* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Colonel Moore's red.
344* StealthPun[=/=]PunnyName: ''Very'' subtly done, especially given the spelling of his name (as opposed to the more phonetic Shu). He is referred to in dialogue simply as Colonel Hsu and the HUD gives his full name, Col. James Hsu; only through the Power of FridgeBrilliance does one notice that in a casual setting his name could be ''Jim'' Hsu...
345* TokenGoodTeammate: Out of all the high ranking officers in the NCR military stationed in the Mojave, apart from being a [[ByTheBookCop by-the-book commander]], he is the only one that doesn't suffer from an obvious personality flaw that affects his ability to make rational decisions.
346[[/folder]]
347
348[[folder:Colonel Cassandra Moore]]
349[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cassandra_moore_fonv.jpg]]
350[[caption-width-right:350:Queen of Hearts]]
351
352->'''Voiced by:''' Kirsten Potter
353
354->''"Unlike the good ambassador, I don't intend to blink."''
355
356A former Ranger, who is currently the third highest ranking NCR military officer in the Mojave and the commander of the forces at Hoover Dam.
357----
358* AntiHero: NominalHero. She's brutal when it comes to dealing with the Republic's enemies, but many of those enemies do deserve the treatment, and a lot of her misgivings are proven right unless you do everything perfectly. Plus, her main enemy is the [[BigBad Legion]]. Nonetheless, she's a large part of the problem, and some of the best endings for the Mojave require working ''around'' her.
359* BerserkButton: Of all the factions of Vegas, Moore has a special hatred for the Brotherhood due to being a veteran of the NCR-Brotherhood war and having sustained an injury that ended her career as a Ranger and being stuck as a desk jockey.
360* BloodKnight: She really enjoyed being a Ranger, hence why she's so disappointed that an injury sustained during the NCR-Brotherhood War prevented her from serving in the field anymore.
361** DarkActionGirl: She’s off the battlefield because of an injury, but Moore is a tough fighter who has no concern for ethics.
362* EvilIsPetty: If the player works with Ambassador Crocker to resolve the situation with the Kings peacefully as well as make a truce with the Brotherhood of Steel, Moore will not only get Crocker fired from his job but also go on a smear campaign that reduces the Courier's rep with the NCR.
363* EvilVersusEvil: Her conflict with groups like the Legion, Omertas and Great Khans if you view her as a villain.
364* {{Foil}}: To General Oliver. Both are JerkAss jingoistic military commanders with personal ulterior motives. With Oliver, it's personal glory, with Moore, it's revenge. Unlike Oliver, Moore isn't willing to risk the lives of her soldiers for this (which is why she sends you) and almost everything she does is tactically and strategically sound, and can be justified as being in the Republic's best interests, even if that's not why she's doing them.
365* GeneralRipper: Especially towards the Brotherhood. Partially justified because in the battle of HELIOS ONE, she received a crippling injury which forced her early retirement as a ranger that she is very bitter about, even though she was promoted to Colonel after that. Also justified because the Brotherhood had previously attacked the NCR after allying with them, so it makes sense that she'd be paranoid if you get them to sign a peace treaty.
366* HateSink: From the moment she's introduced during the NCR storyline, she comes across as extremely abrasive {{Jerkass}}, with a haughty "my way or the highway" attitude and a "shoot first ask questions ''never''" tactical mindset, especially when dealing with the Brotherhood of Steel, The Great Khans or The Kings. If the Courier tries to resolve these conflicts peacefully, she uses her reputation and forceful attitude to bully, overrule or even outright fire either of the two [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Men]] for the NCR, or leading a smear campaign against the Courier (which doesn't affect their overall reputation with the NCR that much, but it's still a dick move). Dealing with Moore could arguably be a primary reason why players might be inclined to take the independent or Mr. House routes instead of supporting the NCR.
367* TheHeavy: Even though the President Kimball and General Oliver have higher ranks than her, she is the direct leader you will have to deal with, if you decide to ally with the NCR.
368* IronLady: If nothing else, one thing you certainly can't call her is soft.
369* ItsAllAboutMe: JE Sawyer pointed out on his Formspring that Moore enjoyed her position as a ranger and a colonel because it gave her the power to do whatever the hell she wanted, in contrast to the more mature and responsible attitude most other rangers have. She also has no qualms risking the Courier's life to settle personal grudges.
370* JadeColoredGlasses: Col. Moore has been with the NCR for decades now and served 5 tours in the Brotherhood war where she was severely injured and KickedUpstairs. Her discussions of her past work have her discuss how she misses being out on patrol and being a desk jockey isn't her thing with one of the most bitter tones in the game.
371* {{Jerkass}}: She tends to have a rather abrasive attitude with the player even if you have Idolized reputation with the NCR. [[WordOfGod J.E. Sawyer]] states that Moore deserves to have evil karma, which she does in the mod that he created.
372* JerkassHasAPoint: However, she's completely right about House planning to waste NCR lives and materiel against Caesar, and for all her brusqueness, she's totally right about House wasting time instead of using his immense resources to repair the Wastes. Turns out he had over one and half centuries to rebuild Vegas and only started in earnest when he discovered the NCR. Nevada could have been restored if he had been willing to put in the work.
373* KarmaHoudini: If she dies for any reason, the entire NCR will attack the Courier on sight, so killing her isn’t practical unless you’re already vilified by the NCR for good. And even if you work with House or Yes-Man to kick the NCR out of Vegas, she still gets promoted to Brigadier General.
374* KickTheDog: Although somewhat justified considering the various factions of Vegas, she favors aggressive military action towards even the Kings, one of the few good factions of the Mojave. Justified because she has no way of knowing that the Kings are good; all she knows is that they attacked the NCR several times, including assaulting a military outpost (and getting their asses handed to them). This is because Pacer is actively trying to incite a full scale war between the NCR and Kings out of his own xenophobia.
375** She also gets [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Crocker]] fired if you help him broker a peace between the NCR and Kings rather than favoring her solution to take a platoon there and wipe them out.
376* KickTheSonOfABitch: Still, some of her targets really deserved what they get.
377* KickedUpstairs: She was shot during the [=BoS=] War and was so hampered by the injury she was booted upstairs since she could no longer serve the NCR the way she loved, on patrol in the wastes.
378* ALighterShadeOfBlack: She represents the NCR at its worst, and ''still'' comes off as the less evil option to Legion.
379* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Seeing diplomacy as ineffectual and a waste of time when there's a war to be fought, she is more than satisfied with the player's actions if they decide to wipe out the Kings and the Brotherhood of Steel. Still, her ideas do prove to have some merit in regards to Mr. House and the Omertas; [[spoiler:House is, in fact, planning to make a move against the NCR at the Dam, and the Omertas are planning to act on Caesar's behalf.]]
380* NoodleIncident: Evidently got kicked out of Gomorrah at some point.
381* PetTheDog: If you are "Idolized" by the NCR, Moore will salute you everytime you finish speaking to her to show how glad she is on you helping them.
382* RetiredBadass: Used to be a Ranger until an injury sustained while fighting the Brotherhood forced her to take a desk job. If Legionnaires find her in the Dam during the final battle, [[spoiler: she kills them with a laser pistol. That Ranger close-quarters battle training works well with energy weapons]].
383* RedOniBlueOni: The Red Oni to Ambassador Crocker's Blue Oni. She's openly disdainful of Crocker's preference for diplomatic solutions. If the player favors Crocker over her, [[EvilIsPetty she gets him fired]].
384** Also Red to Colonel Hsu's Blue. Moore's a hot head who considers violence as a first option. Hsu is more level-headed.
385* TokenEvilTeammate: For the NCR Army as a whole - she's an unpleasant person to be around and her preferred way of dealing with problems is shoot first and ask questions never. If you opt to resolve problems more diplomatically, she'll react with spite and petty revenge. [=JSawyer's=] mod even gives her evil karma, along with [[CorruptQuartermaster Contreras]].
386* UngratefulBastard: If the Courier manages to solve the problem of the Kings and the Brotherhood of Steel without bloodshed, she removes Crocker from his position, and is angry with the Courier, even though he gave NCR invaluable allies before the upcoming battle with the Legion.
387* ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer: A firm believer in this. She is kind of right when she has to deal with people like the Khans or Omertas, but she really overdoes it when she sends a platoon of soldiers to put down the Kings.
388* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She disappears entirely from the game if players decided to go against NCR's interest by siding with House or Legion. Some may assume she may have gotten killed or evacuated along with the rest of the NCR troops when the Legion overran the Dam, if she indeed survive.
389[[/folder]]
390
391!!!Camp [=McCarran=]
392
393[[folder:Major Dhatri]]
394[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dhatri_fonv.jpg]]
395
396->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
397
398->''"If it's bad news, you can take it up with the colonel. If it's good news, it better involve some dead Fiends."''
399
400Major Dhatri is a veteran of the NCR, currently holding the rank of Major. He was also at Bitter Springs, and was a captain at the time. He's currently in charge of NCR Ranger troops at Camp [=McCarran.=] He's the adoptive father of Sgt. Bitter-Root. He has a strong disgust for the Fiends and the Great Khans. He's currently in charge of the bounties at Camp [=McCarran=] and will pay handsomely for the heads of three specific Fiends.
401----
402* ActionDad: Implied, he is veteran soldier with combat related skills and is Bitter-Root's adopted father and also has an unnamed daughter.
403* DemandingTheirHead: Offers a sidequest to the player to bring him the heads of three leaders of the Fiends, a gang of drugged up raiders, in exchange for bottle caps.
404* AFatherToHisMen: He's not only Bitter-Root's adopted father, but he also seems to be this to rest of the troops under his command and takes it ''very'' [[ItsPersonal personally]] when Cook-Cook rapes Corporal Betsy.
405* GoodParents: For what little we know, he's this to Bitter-Root. He took Bitter-Root in when he was very young and raised him up to be an upstanding NCR soldier. The reason they are both stationed at Camp [=McCarran=] is that Dhatri pulled some strings so he could see Bitter-Root off when ever he leaves on missions. From the way he talks about Bitter-Root, Dhatri clearly loves him without question.
406* ParentalSubstitute: To Sgt. Bitter-Root.
407* YouAreInCommandNow: After the operation in Bitter Springs took a horrible turn and the Major in charge of the operation is left too stunned to do anything, the at the time Captain Dhatri steps up to take command of the situation and does a good enough job to be promoted to Major.
408[[/folder]]
409
410[[folder:Lieutenant Carrie Boyd]]
411[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carrie_boyd_fonv.jpg]]
412
413->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LauraBailey
414
415->''"Not big on reading nametags, huh? That's okay, my name is long and difficult to pronounce. Ready for it? It's Boyd. Lieutenant Boyd to my friends. Colonel Hsu has me handling the policing duties for the base. I've told him he could make my job a whole lot easier if he would just let me shoot anyone who talks back to me, but you know how colonels can be."''
416
417The commanding officer of the Military police detail stationed at Camp [=McCarran=], Boyd is married to an unknown husband and is an avid smoker. She's responsible for monitoring suspicious activity regarding soldiers on-base and the control tower. Also in charge of keeping tabs on the base's supplies, Carrie retains a sarcastic and laconic demeanor in spite of (or perhaps because of) the amount of work on her plate. At the time the Courier encounters her, she is in the process of trying (and failing) to get information out of Silus, a Legion Centurion who oddly enough, has willingly surrendered to NCR troops, but is refusing to cooperate.
418----
419* ActionGirl: She ''is'' an NCR soldier, and a high-ranking Lieutenant at that, after all.
420* ByTheBookCop: A very reluctant example, as she is trying to interrogate Silus while upholding NCR regulations on treating prisoners, even though Silus's [[{{Jerkass}} personality]] is making it very difficult. If the Courier gets too rough with Silus during the interrogation, she'll become hostile, in-spite of her disdain for him.
421* DeadpanSnarker: As her quote above indicates.
422* GoodCopBadCop: The Courier can help her pull this on Silus, since they're not an NCR soldier and therefore not restricted by the same regulations as she is (though she will step in harshly if things go too far).
423* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: What Boyd intends for bringing on the Courier, [[TakeAThirdOption but if Silus is talked into a confession instead]], she'll be even more impressed.
424* LoopholeAbuse: Why she requests your help. As a civilian contractor at best, the Courier is not tied down by the NCR's regulations, especially when it comes to interrogating prisoners, especially uptight, condescending Legion prisoners.
425[[/folder]]
426
427[[folder:Capt. Ronald Curtis]]
428[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ronald_curtis.jpg]]
429
430->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RonYuan
431
432One of Colonel Hsu's most trusted subordinates, Curtis is in charge of the investigation into suspicions of a Legion spy present at Camp [=McCarran=].
433----
434* ButHeSoundsHandsome: A downplayed variant when he calls the [=McCarran=] mole "slippery" [[spoiler:which actually is calling himself that]].
435* [[spoiler:HiredToHuntYourself: He's put in charge of the investigation into the Legion spy at Camp [=McCarran=], who is Curtis himself]].
436* KlingonPromotion: Possibly. He mentions that it usually takes four years to be promoted to Captain, but he was promoted in three-and-a-half years because there was an early vacancy. [[spoiler:Considering he's the Legion spy, it's very likely that he killed some NCR captain in order to speed up his promotion.]]
437* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Curtis rose to the rank of captain in three and a half years. He mentions that the process normally takes four years, though he likely sped it along by [[KlingonPromotion arranging an "accident" for an existing captain, creating an "early vacancy" that Curtis proceeded to fill]]. He also took advantage of Hsu's trust to be put in charge of the monorail inspection crew so he could plant a bomb there without suspicion.]]
438* [[spoiler:TheMole: Sent to New Vegas four years before the start of the NCR-Legion War as a spy for Caesar's Legion, Curtis used his post and a manufactured sense of trust from Colonel Hsu to sabotage NCR operations and orchestrate many casualities by reporting plans and troop movements to the Legion over radio, all without any suspicion to his position to the point Hsu unknowingly tasked him with investigating his own espionage.]]
439* WalkingSpoiler: See all the censor bars? Pretty much any story relevance he has involves the fact [[spoiler:he is actually a frumentarius and has been the Legion's spy within Camp [=McCarran=] the whole time]].
440[[/folder]]
441
442[[folder:Sgt. Daniel Contreras]]
443[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daniel_contreras_fonv.jpg]]
444->'''Voiced by:''' Alex Mendoza
445
446->''"You look like someone in need of a reliable supplier."''
447
448Daniel Contreras is part of the Army Supply Corps and was promoted to sergeant and assigned as Camp [=McCarran=]'s quartermaster. He administrates the supply depot out of a makeshift shack erected by the [=McCarran=] Concourse. Though innovative and skilled at acquiring the substantial amounts of weapons, ammunition, food and equipment that the garrison at Camp [=McCarran=] needs, Contreras is not entirely faithful to NCR, as he uses his position for personal gain, trafficking guns and chems to third parties. Contreras also has his own quest-line, where he will send the player on some errands that benefit his business. After doing so, he will reward the player with This Machine, and access to an expanded inventory.
449----
450* BunnyEarsLawyer: People around the base rightfully suspect that he isn't the most loyal soldier, but he's still good enough at his job for them to keep him around. How good is he? In terms of regular guns and armor, he has a better stock than ''[[MegaCorp the Crimson Caravan]]''.
451* CorruptQuartermaster: As stated above, he sales NCR supplies to third party factions and other wastelanders. This also means, he can serve as merchant to the player.
452--> '''Lt. Boyd:''' That may be the worst-kept secret on the base. I'd be more surprised if you had proof he wasn't involved in criminal activity. But if you have proof, you're the envy of every MP stationed here.
453* EveryoneHasStandards: Though he'll still do business with you, if you get the unpredictable fame with the NCR, Contreras will not make the discounts on ammo or offer his deals until reputation improves (can be circumvented with NCR disguise).
454* FriendInTheBlackMarket: If you choose not to sell him out to Boyd, he not only gifts you "This Machine", a powerful Battle Rifle, but he has access to thousands of rounds of ammo, including some rarer varieties (like 12.7 mm), making him one of the best merchants in the game.
455* JackOfAllStats: He has fives on all of his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats and around fifty for each of his tag skills.
456* RedHerring: He is one of the people suspected of being [[TheMole a Legion mole]] in the base and his illicit activities certainly don't help his case, but with everything else he's guilty of, he's drawing heat a Legion spy doesn't need.
457* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: You have the option of completing his quest-line, ''then'' turning him in.
458[[/folder]]
459
460[[folder:Corporal William Farber]]
461[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/william_farber_fonv.jpg]]
462
463->'''Voiced by:''' Gregory Alan Williams
464
465->''"You can order anything you want. As long as it's corn or beans."''
466
467William Farber is the cantankerous and much maligned cook for Camp [=McCarran=]. He requests the player help making a deal with the Crimson Caravan to help get a steady supply of meat and spices, as well as his food processor repaired, to help better feed the soldiers stationed at the camp.
468----
469* LethalChef: Though this is more because of poor ingredients and equipment than lack of skill.
470* MistakenIdentity: The first time you speak to Farber has him believing you are a person who pretended to be a NCR health inspector to swindle him out of 50 caps, and apologizing when he realizes you're not that person. Given that the fake inspector is described as male if asked about the matter and that he makes this mistake even if you are a female Courier, one would ponder the [[DeliriousMisidentification mental state]] of the mess officer, and maybe the [[IdenticalStranger "inspector's"]] [[DudeLooksLikeALady appearance]].
471[[/folder]]
472
473[[folder:Pvt. Christina Morales]]
474[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christina_morales_fonv.jpg]]
475
476->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AprilStewart
477
478->''"You never lost anybody, have you? Not like this. Never had to think about that person you love all alone out there, cooking in the sun like meat... NCR never leaves a soldier behind. That's what the recruiters told us. Promised us. We believed them."''
479
480Christina Morales is a soldier stationed at Camp [=McCarran=] and grieving widow of Ranger Esteban Morales, her husband, who has recently died in a skirmish with The Fiends. She asks you to find her husband's corpse and bring it to a nearby NCR outpost so it can be shipped back to California.
481----
482* CoolHelmet: For whatever reason, she wears the PASGT-esque Combat Helmet instead of the Brodie-inspired Trooper Helmet.
483* TheLostLenore: Her husband, which she makes a point of bringing up in her initial dialogue. What's worse -- unless the Courier intercedes, she's beside herself with grief knowing that her husband's body has been knowingly left to the wastes by the Fiends.
484* VideoGameCaringPotential: There's not much in the way of any reward for recovering her husband's body, beyond fame with the NCR and Dr. Kemp offering a discount to you. But, it still feels good to help a grieving widow bring her husband back home.
485[[/folder]]
486
487[[folder:Ranger Bryce Anders.]]
488
489->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
490
491
492Bryce Anders is an injured Ranger trapped in Vault 3, after a futile attempt to kill the leader of the Fiends.
493----
494
495* TheLoad: He is as fragile as any ordinary Mook (or even more) and is only equipped with a knife, so if you decide to recruit him, he won't really contribute anything.
496* RedShirt: If you decide to recruit him as a temporary companion (or send him back to camp without combing the outer area), he will die with the first fiend he meets, as he is equipped with only a knife, and is no tougher than the average Mook. (And there is no option to give him a better weapon.)
497* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The player can lie to him into trying to kill the Motor-Runner by himself, which will cause him to be killed by the first Fiend encountered.
498[[/folder]]
499
500
501!!!Camp Forlorn Hope
502
503[[folder:Major Joseph Polatli]]
504[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joseph_polatli_fonv.jpg]]
505
506->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
507
508->''"It's no picnic, I'll tell you that much. My troops are out here every day dying for the NCR, but they've left us out to dry."''
509
510Major Polatli is the stressed and overworked commander of Forlorn Hope, that has to constantly try to salvage an unsalvageable situation, despite being low manpower, medical supplies, ammunition, food, and water, on top of high casualty rates and very little support from the higher ups. By the time the Courier comes into the camp, his and everyone else's morale has been long since sapped away.
511----
512* DespairEventHorizon: By the time the Courier finds him amidst the slowly approaching collapse of the NCR position at Forlorn Hope, he's almost completely resigned to walking right into his grave in the absence of a miracle. Fortunately, the Courier can bring about just that.
513* MoraleMechanic: During the course of the Courier's time at Forlorn Hope, as they provide assistance and clean up some of the troubles facing the camp, at the end when returning to Polati, he determines the strength of the retaliatory force he can send with the Courier to assault the Legion position in Nelson based on a hidden point system reflecting the morale level, ranging from a couple of common troopers up to ''a four-man squad of [[EliteMooks Veteran Rangers]]''.
514[[/folder]]
515
516[[folder:Quartermaster Carl Mayes]]
517[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carl_mayes_fonv.jpg]]
518
519->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Burch
520
521->''"Not good. If we don't get more supplies, we're going to have to start using dirt for food and sticks and rocks for weapons"''
522
523Carl Mayes is the quartermaster at Camp Forlorn Hope in 2281, in charge of procurement and distribution of supplies. Or at least he would, if he had any, but by the time you find him, the camp's so strapped for supplies, he offers to pay you for anything you can spare and as revealed later on, he has had to send a few troops to other NCR bases, to see if they can spare anything. If you volunteer to help out around camp, you can help mend this problem a little. He'll also reward you with a small amount of caps for turning in any NCR dog tags you find.
524----
525[[/folder]]
526
527[[folder:Tech Sergeant Reyes]]
528[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reyes_fonv.jpg]]
529
530->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AprilStewart
531
532->''"I have the delightful task of tabulating stockpiles, kill ratios, mission success rates, radiation deaths, and other truly fascinating numbers."''
533
534Reyes is an NCR Army sergeant stationed at Camp Forlorn Hope in 2281. She is officially the communications officer for the besieged post, but also is the de-facto head of communications (mainly radio) security, a responsibility she assigned herself when she realized no one else seemed to care. Despite being the only one in camp headquarters so dedicated to communications work, Reyes shows considerable initiative, dedication, and intelligence. She has enough sense to not be immediately taken in by some of the incredible things being reported, like the Legion possessing trained deathclaws. Reyes sends the Courier to investigate the outrageous reports and also hand-deliver new radio codes at each of the Ranger camps.
535----
536* CommunicationsOfficer: Reyes acts as this for both Camp Forlorn Hope individually and the NCR Rangers as a group in the Mojave.
537* SpottingTheThread: She figures out [[spoiler:Chief Hanlon's scheme to undermine the NCR's operations]] via the Courier's task of gathering intel reports with bizarre and outlandish contents from all the active Ranger stations, and then using the delivery of updated security codes to pinpoint the thread [[spoiler:that every single one of those reports were signed by Hanlon]].
538[[/folder]]
539
540[[folder:Dr. Alex Richards]]
541[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alex_richards_fonv.jpg]]
542
543->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
544
545->''"I'm always a sucker for a pretty face. What can I do for you, my fine dear?"''
546
547Dr. Alex Richards joined the NCR Army sometime prior to the First Battle of Hoover Dam between Caesar's Legion and the New California Republic. He served in that battle as a medic, and was present for some of the worst of the fighting and the gruesome aftermath it left behind. Currently, he's the one and only medical professional stationed at Camp Forlorn Hope.
548----
549* KnightInSourArmor: On top of everything he saw during the first scuffle between Legion and NCR, countless hours of patching up injured soldiers with no assistance and inadequate supplies, only for them to be sent right back into the battlefield to be injured again or killed has weathered away at his past idealism with NCR and its goals, but he continues to press on and do all he can to save as many soldiers as he can.
550* StraightGay: Like Major Knight and Manny Vargas, he's heavily implied to be gay, but this is only apparent if the player has the Confirmed Bachelor perk, which causes him to become CampGay while flirting with the Courier.
551[[/folder]]
552
553[[folder:Private James Sexton]]
554[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_sexton.jpg]]
555
556-> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
557
558-> ''"I've been placed in charge of morale. It's difficult trying to keep spirits up with the Legion nearby."''
559
560Private Sexton is in charge of helping raise morale among the joy-less souls in Forlorn Hope.
561----
562* BattleTrophy: Figuring that most troops would enjoy a chance to take out some Legionnaires and get paid for it, he arranged an under-the-table contest to collect the ears of the Legion's finest, one the Courier can join in as well.
563* JackOfAllStats: Like several other NCR [=NPCs=], he has fives in all his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. skills, though he does have above-average scores in his Tag Skills.
564[[/folder]]
565
566!!!Mojave Outpost
567
568[[folder:Major Knight]]
569[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knight_fonv.jpg]]
570
571->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
572
573->''"Caravan, citizen, pilgrim, or...?"''
574
575Major Knight is an officer, clerk, and repairman stationed at the Mojave Outpost in-charge of keeping a tally on those coming in and out of the base, and repairing the troopers' gear, as well as offering his repair skills to civilian visitors for a price.
576----
577* CorruptBureaucrat: Downplayed. He for the most part seems like a genuinely well meaning soldier, but if the player decides to make Meyers the new sheriff of Primm, but doesn't have the speech skill to convince Knight to give Meyers' pardon legitimately, you have the option of just bribing him with two hundred caps.
578* MrFixit: One of the few [=NPCs=] in the game who offers repair services with a skill of 100, allowing you to restore items to full condition. He doesn't come cheap, though, and expect your cap stash to take a big hit if you need to repair high-end gear.
579* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The player can convince him to send reinforcements to secure Primm by passing a barter check that convince him Primm is worth taking under their control or convince him to pardon Sheriff Myers, by passing a speech check.
580* StraightGay: Implied, if the player has the Confirmed Bachelor perk, they have the option to flirt with Knight, who will turn them down, but implies it's more out of fear of letting others know he's gay, than lack of interests.
581[[/folder]]
582
583!!!HELIOS One
584
585[[folder:Lieutenant Haggerty]]
586
587->'''Voiced by:''' April Stewart
588
589->''"I ask myself the same question all the time. But energy is hard to come by around here. Gives you more control over this area than troops ever could. Hell, if we lose the dam to the Legion, this little plant may be our last stand."''
590
591The soldier in command of the garrison set up at the HELIOS One power plant, providing a token defense while researchers from the Followers try to get it running and providing a secondary source of power after Hoover Dam.
592----
593* LastStand: What she fears will be the outcome for the NCR at HELIOS should the Legion take Hoover Dam and run wild in the Mojave.
594* SpottingTheThread: If the Courier first meets her while wearing an NCR uniform and they fail to pass a Speech check to convince her, she points out that the uniform is rife with blood stains and bullet holes, despite the Courier themselves seeming none the worse for wear, and concludes that they murdered the previous owner and attacks, [[MistakenForMurderer even if they had nothing to do with the wearer's death in the first place]].
595
596[[/folder]]
597
598!!!Camp Searchlight
599
600[[folder:First Sergeant Astor]]
601[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astor.jpg]]
602
603->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Burch
604
605->''"None that aren't feral ghouls. Those poor bastards - I can't imagine how they must be suffering. I'd like to put them out of their misery but I don't have the heart to do it. Can you do me a favor?"''
606
607First Sergeant Astor is an NCR member who was stationed at Camp Searchlight. Astor was on patrol when a frumentarii squad irradiated the camp. While the rest of the camp was either evacuated or transformed into feral trooper ghouls, Astor stayed behind with a small squad to steer passers-by clear of the highly irradiated and infested camp. When you meet him, he asks you to put the now feral ghoul troops in the camp down and bring him their dog tags to put an end to there suffering.
608----
609* MercyKill: What he wants you to do to his former comrades at the camp, as he can not bring himself to kill them himself, but doesn't want them to go on living like they are.
610* MyGreatestFailure: His journal entries indicate what happened to his former comrades is this to him.
611* WellIntentionedExtremist: Astor asks you to kill Private Edwards along with the other ghouls, even after being told that Edwards has managed to keep from going feral and doesn't want to die, believing that Edwards shouldn't have to live like that. If you choose to and have the right stats, you can convince him otherwise.
612[[/folder]]
613
614[[folder:Private Kyle Edwards]]
615[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyle_edwards.jpg]]
616
617->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Ciulla
618
619-> ''"Who the hell are you, or better yet, what are you doing here?"''
620
621An NCR grunt caught in Camp Searchlight when Caesar's Legion released a load of nuclear material that irradiated the whole town, Private Edwards is now a forlorn ghoul hiding out in one of the accessible houses of the town.
622
623When asked why he hasn't left yet, he tells the Courier that he's too afraid of the outside radiation causing him to go feral, radscorpions and of a less-than-warm welcome by fellow NCR soldiers. This is not unfounded, as First Sergeant Astor believes that it is better to shoot NCR soldiers that turned into ghouls in Camp Searchlight, to end their suffering.
624----
625* SoleSurvivor: Not counting Sgt. Astor or his men, who survived on the outskirts of the base, he is the only soldier at Camp Searchlight who survived the radiation attack, without turning into a feral ghoul.
626* VideoGameCaringPotential: You can convince him to go out and explore the wasteland or you can convince him to go to Ranger Station Echo, one of the few NCR bases with other ghouls. Either one will make him happy.
627* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: On the other hand, you can also get him killed by lying to him about taking care of the radscorpions outside his house, telling him Sgt. Astor won't kill him, convincing him to go on a suicidal attack on the remaining soldiers, or just straight up murdering him yourself.
628[[/folder]]
629
630!!!Boulder City
631
632[[folder:Lieutenant Monroe]]
633[[quoteright:800:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lieutenant_monroe.jpg]]
634->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
635
636->''"My hands are tied. I can't go against orders... can I?"''
637
638The lieutenant overseeing NCR patrols in the area of the 188 Trading Post and Boulder City.
639----
640* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Monroe could have easily left both privates to be killed by the Khans after they were ambushed, but he instead shores up his men at the Boulder City ruins to try and save them.
641* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While his men could easily take out Jessup' Great Khans and save the captured troopers, Monroe will accept allowing the Courier, who by then could be a complete nobody he's never heard of, to try and negotiate their safe release. Even when top brass orders the Khans to be executed after releasing the hostages, it doesn't even require a skill check to appeal to his integrity to let the tribals go safely.
642
643[[/folder]]
644
645[[folder:Privates Ackerman & Gilbert]]
646[[quoteright:800:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/private_ackerman.jpg]]
647[[quoteright:800:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/private_gilbert.jpg]]
648->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Birch (Ackerman), Mela Lee (Gilbert)
649
650A couple of low-ranking troopers that had the misfortune to become hostages of the Great Khans after being ambushed near Boulder City.
651----
652* BoundAndGagged: Minus the gagged part, but they are immobilized back to back in a rear room of the Khans' hideout and watched over by a guard at all times.
653* DamselInDistress: Shared along with DistressedDude.
654* IWasJustPassingThrough: The Courier saving them comes off this way as they were captured by the Khans led by Jessup who helped Benny ambush and (un)successfully kill the Courier to take the platinum chip, and part of tracking the latter down necessitated reaching the former.
655[[/folder]]
656
657!!!NCR Rangers
658
659[[folder:In General]]
660[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fnv_ranger_patch_2759.png]]
661[[caption-width-right:250:Eight of Hearts]]
662->''"Rangers are volunteers. Every man and woman who signs up is [[HeroicSacrifice willing to die]] for the NCR, [[GoingDownWithTheShip myself included]]."''
663-->--'''Chief Hanlon'''
664
665There's the best of the best, and then there's the NCR Rangers. Known across the Mojave on all sides as the elite troops of the NCR, their skills are credited for winning the First Battle of Hoover Dam when otherwise the Legion may have prevailed. Notably, it's an NCR Veteran Ranger that graces the game's cover and main menu.
666----
667* AlwaysOnDuty: Since they are volunteers, they are this. They're always seen stationed at their camps and rarely complain. Additionally, you never see any Ranger having fun on the Strip along with the other conscripts.
668* AmazonBrigade: Ranger Station Foxtrot is made up of all female rangers.
669* AncientArtifact: All of the [[IconicOutfit famous]] black combat armor isn't made in NCR. They're all 200-year-old hand-me-down riot gears from the Pre-War era. It really says something that 200-year-old riot gear is better than nearly everything in the Wasteland short of PoweredArmor.
670* AscendedExtra: You first met them in ''Fallout 2'' in the far south, where they were just a faction of the NCR Army that hunted slavers. Now they're so much more. It also applies to the Veteran Rangers' outfit, which went from the described outfit of a single character in ''Fallout 1''[[note]]who was a Desert Ranger, the faction that'd go on to unite with the NCR Rangers between ''2'' and ''New Vegas'' and provide the core of the Veteran Rangers[[/note]] to box-art and the standard outfit of the elites of what is already an elite group.
671* AwesomeButImpractical: As cool as their armor is, it's marked as NCR faction armor, which will create a lot of problems when trying to interact with some factions. Add-ons added armor with similar aesthetics and no faction ties.
672* BadassLongcoat: So badass it's an IconicOutfit for the group.
673* BattleCry: Even if they never shout it in game, their motto "Against All Tyrants" is said by many Rangers, and is inscribed into the "Monster of the West", the Ranger Sequoias.
674* BoobyTrap: The reason why Boulder City is almost entirely rubble. [[DefensiveFeintTrap They simply lured the bulk of Legion forces into the town, then sent them all skyward]].
675* CoolMask: A gas mask with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-tinted lens]]-and-[[CoolHelmet military helmet]] ensemble.
676* {{Determinator}}: Their missions are so often successes that it's almost unheard of for one of them to ''fail'', as Hsu says when you're tasked to find a missing Ranger.
677* DeathNotification: What the Rangers did to Christina Morales. They didn't bring the corpse with them ([[BoobyTrap not for lack of trying]]).
678* TheDreaded: The NCR Veteran Rangers are universally feared by their enemies and respected by their comrades. Raiders, Khans, Powder Gangers, and Legionnaires all let you know -- if you see an NCR soldier in the black armor, ''run'', run fast and run far. Walking among the groups allows the player to hear idle dialogue about the Rangers taking out entire groups of their members on their own from a half-mile off, and the Legion's higher-ups claim that the only strength of NCR they fear is the Rangers.
679* EliteArmy: Especially compared to the standard NCR military, which generally relies on [[ZergRush overwhelming manpower]].
680* EliteMook: Better equipped and with more HP than normal NCR troops. Doubly so for the Veteran Rangers, to the point that they're [[KaizoTrap more dangerous]] than [[GeneralFailure Oliver]] in the battle against him.
681* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The default NCR Ranger Armor does ''not'' have the nightvision effect (Sneak Sight) that is shown off in the opening sequence (when a Ranger turns it on before sniping a Fiend near the El Rey Motel). You only get access to the nightvision helmet if you've installed ''Lonesome Road'', where it is a staple of the Riot Gear variations.
682* GasMaskLongcoat: The NCR Veteran Ranger outfit provides the page picture.
683* IconicOutfit: The black armor and longcoat. Not every Ranger wears it, just the Veterans, but it's the Veteran wear that is the symbol of the group.
684* KnowWhenToFoldEm: [[spoiler:In the House/Wild Card ending, if you talk down Oliver, his Veteran Ranger retinue will give up alongside him. In the Wild Card ending, if you choose to have Yes Man throw General Oliver off Hoover Dam, the Rangers accompanying him won't even lift a finger to save him. Considering that they just saw you and your army of upgraded Securitrons wipe out the Legion very easily, it's hard to blame them]].
685* LivingLegend: As described under TheDreaded, they are famous for being the toughest of NCR's forces. Rank-and-file NCR soldiers will say they've heard the Rangers "chew nails and spit napalm". Opinion on both sides of the war is that it was the Rangers who won the First Battle of Hoover Dam for NCR; without them, the Legion would have prevailed. If you fight in the Legion arena, your final opponent is an NCR Ranger, and upon a victory the Legion members whisper they didn't think it was possible for anyone to beat a Ranger one-on-one.
686* MildlyMilitary: In ''Fallout 2'', the Rangers are already {{Cowboy Cop}}s, considering how they are ready to storm a slaver's den to kill everyone and free the slaves. Similarly, unlike the regular army, ghouls and super mutants are free to join the rangers (though they're fairly rare).
687* MilitaryAlphabet: The Rangers stations and bases use this.
688* NonUniformUniform: For the Civilian Rangers only.
689* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Christina Morales says this is what the NCR promises its troops when they sign up, and for the most part, they do. Unfortunately, it's hard to keep up this promise when a fallen Ranger's body is on display as bait for an ambush, and some soldiers defied orders to retreat and unwittingly added even more corpses to the pile.
690* OneManArmy: In-Universe, one Ranger is considered as badass as an entire platoon of NCR regulars, bare minimum. In terms of gameplay, the NCR Ranger you can call for as support with the NCR Emergency Radio can kill entire gangs of enemies.
691* OneRiotOneRanger: It can be taken literally with the Civilian Rangers doing police work, but also simply because the Rangers are renowned as such badasses that a single Ranger is sent into Vault 3 to assassinate Motor-Runner. Unfortunately, sometimes things go south as said Ranger ends up with a leg injury (though still determined to see his mission through).
692* PraetorianGuard: While not their main duty, they do provide security for important individuals of the NCR. In the final battle, you gain a squad of them as an escort.
693* RedEyesTakeWarning: The mask worn by the Veterans.
694* RevolversAreJustBetter: Veteran Rangers carry the Ranger Sequoia, the rare and more powerful version of the Hunting Revolver. They like to call it the "Monster of the West" as an insult to Lanius.
695* SoldiersAtTheRear: Because Oliver favors his basic troopers, most of the Ranger Veterans are left in Baja "chasing ghosts". However, it is quickly averted late in the game, in which they're deployed in the Mojave.
696* StrategyVersusTactics: The Rangers have both. Their command structure and intelligence allow them to perform impressive strategic maneuvers (the most famous one is the Battle of Hoover Dam), but their excellent training and equipment also give them the edge in any battle, to the point that Lucius, the commander of Caesar's PraetorianGuard, says the Rangers are the only strength of the Republic.
697* TokenNonHuman: With the exception of Private Edwards, Ranger Station Echo is the only base were you will find Ghouls in the NCR military force in the Mojave. Quite a few Veteran Rangers are also ghouls, which you can only find out if you talk to them. There was originally intended to be a Super Mutant Ranger by the name of Chauncey stationed near Jacobstown, whose most notable trait was him wearing a Ranger hat that looks comically undersized on him.
698* TrainingFromHell: Implied by the 80% failure rate of potential recruits.
699* TheWorfEffect:
700** If you're fighting for the NCR in the final battle, you can see Lanius [[FinalBossPreview chopping up a group of Rangers]] as you make your way to him.
701** Similarly, upon visiting or revisiting Ranger Station Charlie as part of Ranger Andy's sidequest, [[EverybodysDeadDave the entire station was slaughtered]] and the ruins booby-trapped. It wasn't even by elite Legion soldiers, just standards and recruits.
702* WouldNotShootACivilian: Since the Rangers are professional military who used to kill slavers, this is assumed. Especially when you hear Andy, who says he WouldntHurtAChild.
703[[/folder]]
704
705[[folder:Chief Hanlon]]
706[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hanlon_fonv.jpg]]
707[[caption-width-right:350:Jack of Hearts]]
708
709->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KrisKristofferson
710
711->''"I wish I could explain it to you. The old chief's finally at a loss for words."''
712
713The commander of the NCR Rangers in the Mojave, stationed in Camp Golf. Responsible for winning the first Battle of Hoover Dam against Joshua Graham.
714----
715* CoolOldGuy: The moment you talk to him, you can tell this is a man who has seen and done more than his share in NCR's military.
716* {{Cincinnatus}}: [[spoiler:If he lives and the NCR is victorious, he uses the opportunity to retire and spend of the rest of his days in Redding.]]
717* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:If the Courier chooses to expose the fact that he's been falsifying information, he gives a speech through the intercom to his men before shooting himself.]]
718* TheExtremistWasRight: His assessment of the situation in the Mojave is not entirely incorrect; [[spoiler:without a change in strategy the NCR was most likely doomed to fail the Mojave campaign, and even if the Courier salvages it, it's after a long and avoidable period of being bled dry by the Legion and House. If Legion wins after his sabotage had been revealed, many back in California ended up agreeing with him of the ultimate futility in defending New Vegas]].
719* AFatherToHisMen: He cares a lot for his Rangers [[spoiler:[[DeconstructedTrope to the point of being willing to abandon the Mojave citizens]].]]
720* GuileHero: When asked what his proudest achievement is during his long career as a Ranger, Hanlon doesn't talk about Hoover Dam or any other military campaign, but rather tells a story about a group of NCR settlers who had gone missing and whom Hanlon was dispatched to find. Upon finding them, he finds that they have taken over the only water supply in the entire area, and had "self-defensed" over twenty of the indigenous people to death when they tried to reclaim their water. Hanlon tricked the settlers into believing the tribals had succeeded in wiping out Hanlon's entire Ranger squad (when in fact Hanlon had been sent alone), scaring them into abandoning the settlement and returning to California with Hanlon and thus ending the situation without further bloodshed. This provides an insight into how Hanlon views himself, and somewhat explains his decision to [[spoiler:fake demoralizing battle reports to drop NCR morale, in order to force an end to the Mojave Campaign and have the troops return home to California.]]
721* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:If you have killed Caesar, you can end the Return to Sender quest by telling Hanlon that the Legion will be a massive threat to all of the NCR without their leading ideologist alive, which causes Hanlon to come back to his senses and agree to stop undermining the defences. Going with this option also means that he isn't DrivenToSuicide. This also applies to the suicide option as well, with a TearJerker of a speech that is essentially him describing this trope.]]
722* HeroicBSOD: Deconstructed. [[spoiler:It wasn't a single traumatic moment that reduced Hanlon to the tired, weary shell of a man he's become. It was the long, slow burn of seeing NCR's higher-ups screw up their own efforts to annex the Mojave, and realizing they were going to lose the war and be wiped out because of Oliver's pettiness and incompetence.]]
723* InkSuitActor: His appearance in the game is probably as close as the engine can get to what Creator/KrisKristofferson looks like in real life. In fact, Kristofferson, perhaps not coincidentally, really did serve in the US Army Rangers.
724* KnightInSourArmor: While loyal to the NCR, he's quite disillusioned about the Mojave campaign, seeing it more as a waste of life than anything. [[spoiler: If you let him continue his subterfuge plot and end the game with either Mr. House or yourself in power, he finally decides to do something about it and proverbially surfs the resulting [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating wave of disapproval against President Kimball]] and scores himself a Senate seat for his hometown of Redding.]]
725* RevolversAreJustBetter: Has a Ranger Sequoia like all NCR Rangers.
726* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Hanlon is definitely one of the few of these on the upper rungs of the NCR military, and [[KangarooCourt the NCR in general.]] [[spoiler: Though he may be willing to abandon the Mojave to slavery to the Legion, you definitely [[AFatherToHisMen can't fault him for wanting to save his boys and girls]], and he can be convinced to stop should you tell him Caesar is dead because you killed him.]]
727* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Oliver's red. Hanlon is a calm GuileHero skilled in using deception and misdirection. Oliver, however, is a hot-headed GeneralFailure who prefers aggressive HollywoodTactics and [[WeHaveReserves overwhelming manpower]].
728* TheRival: To Oliver. Hanlon considers him a GeneralFailure while Oliver wants to use the second Battle of Hoover Dam as his chance to outshine him.
729* TheStrategist: It was him who was responsible for defeating Joshua Graham in the first battle of Hoover Dam (though it certainly helps that Graham was an [[GeneralFailure inflexible tactician]]). He notes that he tries to give advice to Oliver, who promptly does the opposite.
730* WorthyOpponent: In the event of a Legion victory, Hanlon chooses [[spoiler:not to flee from the advancing Legion, and meets Caesar. Out of respect for his prowess as a warrior, Caesar has him beheaded. Should Caesar be dead, the Legate is not so kind.]][[note]]You can't actually get either of these endings, because they're dependent on you convincing Hanlon to stop falsifying reports, then siding with the Legion. However, actually convincing Hanlon to stop falsifying reports requires you to kill Caesar. At some point during production, it was likely that you could have found out about Caesar's illness and told Hanlon about it and gotten him to stop falsifying reports that way, but that option was cut, and by the time you find out about Caesar's illness, the NCR will be trying to kill you on sight. Should he still be alive at the end of a Legion run without having been convinced to stop falsifying reports, Hanlon will die in battle.[[/note]]
731** It seems as if ''all'' of his enemies (save for [[BloodKnight Lanius]]) hold a begrudging respect for the man. Even ''Ulysses'' admires him and his accomplishments.
732[[/folder]]
733
734[[folder:Ranger Jackson]]
735[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jackson_fonv.jpg]]
736
737->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
738
739->''"Looks like we got a new visitor in the ol' Brahmin pen. Not many people coming here in a hurry, only passing through."''
740
741Ranger Jackson is a downbeat Ranger and the ''de facto'' leader of the Mojave Outpost who likes to do things by the book. He has the best interests of the NCR at heart but doesn't believe in taking any action unless he has gotten the orders signed and sealed through the chain of command, though he is willing to allow The Courier help out with something, in exchange for "losing" some supplies.
742----
743* BadassBureaucrat: It's hinted his administrative duties take up much of his time and Cass compares him unflatteringly to a brotherhood scribe, but he's still one of the most helpful and well intentioned folk in the NCR. The 'good' conclusion of Cass's quest shows that he might well be able to do more damage writing a couple of letters to the right people than you could do by simply shooting people.
744* CoolShades: He has these as well.
745* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Though he may be a little too unwilling to bend the rules for some, but he's also honest and good natured enough for Cass to trust him with the evidence of [[spoiler: Gloria Van Graff and Alice [=McLafferty's=] conspiring to eliminate rival caravans]] and he makes it clear that he intends to bring them to justice, in-spite of how well connected and influential they are.
746[[/folder]]
747
748[[folder:Ranger Andy]]
749[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/andy_fonv.jpg]]
750
751->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
752
753->''"Was. Was with them. That was back when my arm and leg used to work better. I still like to pretend I'm a Ranger, though. I'll check in with the guys up at the station pretty regular on the ham radio."''
754
755Ranger Andy is a retired Ranger[[note]]The game still treats him as a member of the NCR.[[/note]] living in his bungalow in Novac and working as the town's ''de facto'' sheriff. His arms and legs were injured when a Legion ChildSoldier dropped a grenade by his feet while he was clearing a building. He later injured his leg again by falling down the Novac motel stairs.
756----
757* DentedIron: Due to his leg injury.
758* HandicappedBadass: His leg may be messed up, but he still has the training of a Ranger and can even teach the player a special unarmed move, called the Ranger Takedown.
759* JadedWashout: Though he tries to stay upbeat, he's clearly miserable and has a low opinion of himself, due to his leg injury.
760* NiceGuy: He's very friendly. So much so that he actually liked Boone's wife Carla and has several kind things to say about her.
761* VideoGameCaringPotential: The player can convince him that he's still useful even with his injury, which he'll reward by teaching the player the Ranger Takedown move.
762[[/folder]]
763
764[[folder:Ranger Ghost]]
765[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_fonv.jpg]]
766
767->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AprilStewart
768
769->''"Fucking Mojave's going to hell, and all I can do is sit here and watch"''
770
771Ranger Ghost is an [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130321025336/http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer/q/207856704652606211 albino]] (hence her name) NCR Ranger stationed at the Mojave Outpost in serving as the base's sniper. She is also the one who asks the player to scout out Nipton, if you ask her for work.
772----
773* ColdSniper: Serves as one.
774* DeadpanSnarker:
775-->'''Ghost:''' Your payment is a big thanks from the heart of The Republic. Just shitting with the NCR line, if you do this I'll give you a good word in with the NCR.
776* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She comes off as very abrasive and is regarded as a bitch by Lacey, the bartender in the barracks, but she is also the one who takes the initiative to send The Courier out to [[WretchedHive Nipton]] after it appears that the town has been attacked, and she even asks The Courier to only report what they find, not to do anything that might get them killed.
777[[/folder]]
778
779[[folder:Ranger Milo]]
780[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ranger_milo.jpg]]
781
782->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
783
784->''"The troopers won't go down into the camp with their comrades at risk. Dirty game the Legion likes to roll out whenever they get a chance. Problem is, Ranger {my-low} Milo doesn't want to play."''
785
786Milo is an NCR Ranger hanging around a bunch of troopers who escaped Nelson and is currently acting as a guard to discourage people from entering the war zone. When the Courier meets him, Ranger Milo will inform you that the NCR is hesitant to take back the town, while the Legion has NCR troops crucified, but still alive in town, that could be killed if they launch a counterattack to retake the town, but he has a plan... to MercyKill the troops so the Legion can't use them as shield and requests your aid in this plan.
787----
788* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Seems to hold this view.
789* JerkassHasAPoint: Milo's methods for dealing with the hostage crisis in Nelson are... a bit unscrupulous. However, as Milo points out, doing nothing will just draw out the prisoners' suffering, given that crucifixion is a really painful way to die, and they'll die anyway. Not only that, but as long the Legion has them prisoner, the men around him will hesitate to take back the town.
790* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ranger Milo seems to think less of the rank-and-file troopers and is willing to kill the NCR prisoners so the Legion can't use them to discourage NCR retaliation, but if you ''do'' manage rescue the hostages, he will commend you for your heroism.
791* ICallItVera: He calls his rifle "Carmine", though it's just a regular Cowboy Repeater and not a unique version, like Benny's pistol "Maria".
792* MercyKill: His plan on how to deal with the NCR prisoners that the Legion stuck on crosses in Nelson. Given the excruciating death by either exposure or suffocation that awaits someone crucified, it's not hard to see his point, even if the player doesn't necessarily agree.
793[[/folder]]
794
795!!!First Recon
796
797[[folder:In General]]
798[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ncr_first_recon.png]]
799->''The last thing you never see.''
800-->--'''First Recon motto'''
801
802A group of NCR Snipers stationed at Camp [=McCarran=]. They are known in-universe for being total badasses. Alpha Team is comprised of Lieutenant Gorobets, Sergeant Bitter-Root, Corporal Sterling, Corporal Betsy, and the new kid, 10 of Spades. Craig Boone and Manny Vargas are former members, and both still wear their First Recon berets.
803----
804* BadassCreed: ''The last thing you never see.'' Boone himself (a former alumni) comments [[{{Understatement}} "It's pretty accurate, and so were we."]]
805* BadassCrew: And HOW! Anywhere you meet NCR troopers, they take one look at Boone following you around and are openly envious a First Recon guy is your guardian angel. The only man that they could never kill in the group's history was Joshua Graham[[labelnote:*]]Talking to Chief Hanlon reveals that Graham has had five kill reports made on him, meaning five times a kill shot was confirmed, but he still lived.[[/labelnote]], though this says more about [[MadeOfIron Graham]] than it does about them.
806* CoolShades: Betsy and Boone wear them. 10 of Spades just wears normal glasses.
807* DysfunctionJunction: While they are some of the best soldiers and snipers the NCR has, most of them have their share of personal issues.
808* FriendlySniper: All of them are pretty much friendly in some way or the other, with the exception of [[ColdSniper Boone and Bitter-Root]]; not-so-coincidentally, both were present at the Bitter Springs Massacre and witnessed the tragedy on both sides.
809* ImprobableAimingSkills: A bullet through the eye from 800 yards, indeed. What makes it more amazing is the fact that only Boone and Sterling have a scope on their rifles.
810** A case of TruthInTelevision and RealityIsUnrealistic if ever there were one. Some of the highest-rated snipers in history have used non-scoped rifles because the glint of light off the scope can reveal their location. If a rifle's barrel is in perfect condition, it's long enough, and the shooter is firing from a decent elevation with good stability on the weapon, though, a scope isn't really necessary.
811* ItsPersonal: If you don't want to do it yourself, they'll help you kill Driver Nephi and his gang both because they're NCR soldiers and because Nephi is infamous for beating NCR soldiers to death with his golf club.
812* LivingLegend: They are some of the most elite soldiers of the NCR and each of them lives up to their reputations.
813* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Bitter-Root and 10 of Spades have both been to therapy with Doctor Usanagi at the NV medical clinic for their individual reasons (Bitter-Root for his experiences with Bitter Springs, 10 of Spades for managing his stutter), and a whole side quest involves you getting Betsy to seek psychiatric help over her issues surrounding her rape trauma.
814* TheSquad: Of snipers.
815* VideoGameCaringPotential: If you want, you can avenge Betsy's rape by Cook-Cook (and get her to seek counseling aside) by completing the bounty from Dhatri and bringing back the monster's head, convince 10 of Spades he's not responsible for not being able to save her (he was knocked unconscious and feels guilty over it), and in the same quest, wipe out two other Fiend leaders, including Driver Nephi who has personally killed friends of theirs in the past. If he's the last one you go after, you even have the option of getting Gorobets to rally the entire Alpha team to set up an ambush and help you take out Nephi, for which the whole team pools together a reward on top of the bounty for giving them the chance to get revenge.
816[[/folder]]
817
818[[folder:Lieutenant Gorobets]]
819[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gorobets.jpg]]
820
821->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
822
823The commander of Alpha Team, Gorobets is also the only member with no significant trauma in his past.
824----
825* AFatherToHisMen: To the point it bites him on the ass in regards to Betsy and her traumatic rape by Cook-Cook; Gorobets wants to pull rank on her to make her get help but can't because he doesn't want to further demoralize her and mess up the chances of her recovery, hence he asks the Courier to do what he can't bring himself to do. That aside, he's a well liked officer as a result of this trope.
826* ItsPersonal: If asked by the Courier, he will happily drum up the whole team to go after Driver Nephi due to the Fiend leader's past of brutally beating NCR soldiers to death with his golf club.
827[[/folder]]
828
829[[folder:Sergeant Bitter-Root]]
830[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bitter_root.jpg]]
831
832->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Burch
833
834->''"Could be that NCR found some blood on me, and none of it mine. Could be that a few of those Khans didn't die from NCR bullets."''
835
836Only a child living with his family in the Great Khans at Bitter Springs when the NCR came after them, Bitter-Root was one of the few survivors of the massacre due to being rescued by friendly NCR soldiers and adopted by Major Dhatri, later becoming a First Recon sharpshooter. Unlike most Khans in the present, he greatly despises his former tribe and believes they deserve everything that happened at Bitter Springs.
837----
838* AbusiveParents: His father was a drunken asshole who forced Bitter-Root to learn how to shoot by targeting NCR soldiers and civilians, including children, starting at the age of three. His mother was worse, being a chem addict who completely neglected him when she wasn't trying to sell him for drugs. He blithely states that the only reason his father even stayed with his mother was because she was "a hot piece of ass".
839* BoomerangBigot: Despite being born a Khan, he hates the Khans to the point he's one of the few people without any sympathy for the tribe over Bitter Springs and believes they deserved every painful moment of it.
840* ColdSniper: He is fairly unfriendly and has no issue with killing anybody who opposes the NCR.
841* DarkAndTroubledPast: Aside from his parents being horrible people, he was at Bitter Springs on the Khans' side as a child, and is implied to have killed his abusive parents during the massacre.
842* DefectorFromDecadence: He used to be one of the Khans.
843* TheDogBitesBack: Suggests that he murdered his mother, and possibly his father, after years of neglect and abuse.
844* {{Foil}}: To Manny, who like him, was a former member of the Great Khans who went on to become a First Recon Sniper for their ArchEnemy, the NCR. But Bitter-Root is abrasive and has grown to despise the Khans, while Manny is a fairly friendly guy and holds no ill-will towards either faction, even happily hosting a group of them that came up through Novac (the group that helped Benny ambush the Courier at the story's start).
845* NoSympathy: Unlike most people on both sides of the Bitter Springs massacre, he's thoroughly convinced that the Khans [[AssholeVictim had it coming]].
846* SelfMadeOrphan: He strongly implies this about himself if you pass the right stat checks. He ''really'' hated the Great Khans, his parents included.
847* UnfriendlyFire: He used the confusion during the NCR's attack on Bitter Springs to "settle some scores" with the other Khans. [[AllThereInTheManual The script notes for the concerning dialogue in the GECK]] strongly imply that this involved [[SelfMadeOrphan killing his own parents.]]
848* UnreliableExpositor: It doesn't come up in the dialogue itself, but some of his more bitter lines about the Khans come with a "[he] thinks he means it" script note, implying his feelings on the matter are a bit more complicated than he'd like to admit.
849
850[[/folder]]
851
852[[folder:Corporal Sterling]]
853[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sterling.jpg]]
854
855->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
856
857A former Ranger who was captured and tortured by the Legion in the past. After escaping, while declared unfit for duty as a Ranger due to his crippling injuries, Sterling found another way to stay on the front line by signing up with First Recon.
858----
859* AceCustom: He uses a customized scoped cowboy repeater instead of the standard issue hunting rifles the rest of First Recon use.
860* DarkAndTroubledPast: While on patrol he was captured, tortured, and nearly killed by the Legion, being so mutilated that the Rangers discharged him as his hands and feet were too damaged to continue performing his duties. Luckily, Sterling was transferred to First Recon as his sharpshooting skills remained intact despite the fact.
861* {{Determinator}}: Legionnaires tortured him to the point his hands and feet were severely crippled, almost to the point of non-function. Instead of letting that slow him down, ''Sterling escaped captivity by crawling away on his knees and elbows and dropping into the Colorado River'', floating down far enough to be rescued and treated by his fellow Rangers.
862* FriendlySniper: He is quite jovial and friendly despite his profession and the horrible events of his past.
863* ICallItVera: [[Literature/LastOfTheMohicans "La Longue Carabine"]], his custom scoped Cowboy Repeater.
864* OldSoldier: Despite being much older than the rest of the unit, and having the scars to show for it, Sterling is no less capable than them. It also makes him one of three people the Courier can introduce to Raul Tejada to show him how old age doesn't always equal uselessness.
865* StillWearingTheOldColors: Wears the Rangers' distinctive campaign hat despite being in First Recon and no longer a member of the Rangers himself.
866[[/folder]]
867
868[[folder:Corporal Betsy]]
869[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/betsy.jpg]]
870
871->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CindyRobinson
872
873->''"I see some cute little number, and I'd rather get in her pants. So, maybe I'm a stone-cold bitch after all."''
874
875The only female member of Alpha Team. Betsy is partnered with 10 of Spades and is responsible for his training, but is suffering from [=PTSD=] after being raped by the Fiend Cook-Cook.
876----
877* ActionGirl: As befits a female member of ''the'' First Recon Alpha team.
878* ButchLesbian: She is quite aggressive about her homosexuality and not very feminine. The "aggressive" part is implied to be due to her trauma over being raped by Cook-Cook.
879* ColdSniper: She comes off as one, but partly subverted when Betsy admits she sometimes -- very rarely, mind you, but sometimes -- feels guilty about killing the female members of the drug-addicted Fiends since they're so coked out of their minds all the time they probably don't even realize that they're the bad guys, and after what Cook-Cook did to her that says a lot. Legionaries, on the other hand, she ''never'' feels guilty about killing.
880* DarkAndTroubledPast: She is recovering from the emotional trauma of being raped by Cook-Cook, which she is mostly in denial about out of a fear that showing weakness will diminish her effectiveness in First Recon. The Courier can undertake a side quest to work with the rest of the team to convince her to seek psychiatric help for her issues.
881* OneOfTheBoys: She is not treated any differently than the rest of the squad, even after what happened with Cook-Cook.
882* TheSquadette: She is the only known female member of the First Recon.
883* SympathyForTheDevil: Thanks to being a ButchLesbian, she holds minor regrets over having to kill female Fiends. She ends up citing both the sexual reason that she wouldn't mind getting to know the cuter among them better outside of combat along with the fact that most of them are feral chem addicts too addled by drug abuse to really understand what's going on or what they're doing making her somewhat sympathetic. Doesn't change the fact that she's bound by law and common sense to kill them nor does she hesitate.
884* VengeanceDenied: If you kill Cook-Cook and tell Betsy about it, she'll act as if she's upset and complain that she had several elaborate revenge fantasies that she won't ever be able to enact on him, though she'll also give you some NCR dollars as a reward for a job well done. On the other hand, if she and the rest of Alpha Team are called upon to help take out Driver Nephi, it helps counteract this a bit.
885[[/folder]]
886
887[[folder:10 of Spades]]
888[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/10_of_spades.jpg]]
889
890->'''Voiced by:''' Emerson Brooks
891
892Raised on a Brahmin ranch where he learned to live rough and shoot straight, 10 of Spades has practically been raised with a gun in hand his whole life. Despite his speech impediment, his skills with a rifle proved great enough to put him in the ranks as the newest member of First Recon's Alpha Team where he is partnered with Betsy.
893----
894* BadassAdorable: Between his stutter and general attitude, 10 of Spades makes one friendly headshotting machine.
895* BerserkButton: Don't mock him for his stutter. If the player does so twice, he will refuse to speak with them anymore.
896* BlackAndNerdy: He has comic books under his bed.
897* EndearinglyDorky: He is one of the shortest characters in the game, [[SpeechImpediment has a stutter since childhood]], wears [[NerdGlasses thick glasses]], and talks about how much ass he kicks. He's also got a Charisma attribute of 10.
898* FriendlySniper: He and Sterling are the friendliest ones of the team.
899* HandicappedBadass: Wears coke-bottle glasses and has a severe stutter. He boasts that neither fact prevents him from kicking serious ass, and both his stats and his in-game actions prove he can back that statement up.
900* ItsAllMyFault: 10 of Spades believes it's his fault Betsy was raped by Cook-Cook since he got knocked out right before it happened and couldn'r protect her. You have two options of [[VideoGameCaringPotential comforting him]] or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential rubbing it in.]]
901* NewMeat: Originally wanted to be called the AceOfSpades, but Gorobets cited his complete lack of combat experience, so he has to settle for 10 of Spades and plans to work his way up the ladder. While he thinks the Jack of Spades will be an improvement, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments he says he will probably skip over the Queen of Spades]].
902* SpeechImpediment: 10 of Spades speaks with a heavy stutter. He's largely okay with his squadmates making a few cracks about it since he sees it as friendly ribbing, though he's much less accepting about the Courier taunting him about it.
903** When asking him about getting Betsy psychiatric help, he points to Dr. Usanagi, who helped him with his stutter. One of the possible responses:
904--->'''Courier''': She... helped? You sure about that?\
905'''10 of Spades''': Oh, y-yeah. My s-stuttering was w-w-way worse before.
906* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can tell 10 of Spades it was his fault that Betsy was raped and make fun of his stutter. Twice. If you mock him enough, he'll eventually refuse to speak to you.
907[[/folder]]
908
909!!!First Recon Ex-members
910
911[[folder:Craig Boone]]
912->See [[Characters/FalloutNewVegasCompanions Companions]].
913[[/folder]]
914
915[[folder:Manny Vargas]]
916[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/manny_vargas_fonv.jpg]]
917[[caption-width-right:350:Two of Hearts]]
918
919->'''Voiced by:''' Shane Johnson
920
921->''"Ah, well... I just felt like it was time, you know? Wanted to have a home. Plus I was up at Camp Golf when Bitter Springs went down. I faked like I was sick to get out of going, because I knew some of the people there. But when everybody came back nobody would tell me what happened. And people would call us murderers sometimes when we showed up to secure towns."''
922
923Manny is a former Great Kahn, until he left to join the NCR's First Recon Snipers, where he met his partner and friend Boone. After the Bittersprings Massacre, he and Boone decided to retire from the army and settle down in the town of Novac with Boone's wife, until they had a falling out. When The Courier arrives at Novac, Manny will have information on those who shot them, but will only give it you if you clear out the ghouls at the REPCONN Facility.
924----
925* [[BitchInSheepsClothing Bastard In Sheep's Clothing]]: He puts on a friendly atmosphere when you talk to him, but if you question him on Boone's wife, he'll make it blatantly clear [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing how happy he is that she disappeared]].
926* CrazyJealousGuy: [[spoiler: Implied. Considering he's implied to be gay and to have feelings for Boone, it's not absurd to assume that his disproportional disdain for Boone's wife was because of jealously.]]
927* DefectorFromDecadence: Like Bitter-Root, he's a former Khan. Unlike him however, he still has ties to his old tribe, faking sick to avoid participating in the Bitter Springs Massacre and giving Benny and the Khans safe passage through Novac.
928* FantasticRacism: He treats the ghouls at the REPCONN facility as little more than pests that need to be cleared out. Though this may be justified, as he may only be aware of the feral ones that occasionally wonder into town.
929* {{Foil}}:
930** He's a FriendlySniper who's happy with settling down in the (relatively) peaceful town of Novac, while his former friend and partner Boone is a miserable ColdSniper, who's unsure of what to do with his life.
931** He's also this to Bitter-Root, who like him, was a former member of the Great Khans who went on to become a First Recon Sniper for their ArchEnemy the NCR. But Bitter-Root is abrasive and hates the Khans to the point that he took advantage of the chaos during Bitter Springs to kill a few himself (he was still a Khan at the time), while Manny is a fairly friendly guy and still remains on good terms with the Khans to the point of faking sick to get out of going to Bitter Springs because he didn't want to have to kill anyone he knew there.
932* FriendlySniper: He's very welcoming and polite when talking to him.
933* LoveHurts: It's implied that Manny is secretly in love with Boone, [[IncompatibleOrientation which is why he hated Carla]].
934* RedHerring: Due to his disdain for Boone's wife and his happiness that she was kidnapped, he's the most obvious culprit. So obviously it's not him.
935* RetiredBadass: He's a former First Recon Sniper after all.
936* StraightGay: Implied; like Major Knight, you can use the Confirmed Bachelor perk on him for a speech option.
937* StillWearingTheOldColors: Like Boone, he still wears his 1st Recon beret despite no longer being in the army.
938* TakeAThirdOption: You clear out the REPCONN Facility like he asks for a lead on Benny... Or you can console him with the Confirmed Bachelor perk. Or break into his computer and read his journal, which will mention where the Khans are headed.
939* WeUsedToBeFriends: The general sentiment between him and Boone, after the latter realized that Manny was ''happy'' his wife went missing under mysterious circumstances.
940[[/folder]]
941
942!!!The Misfits
943
944[[folder:In General]]
945-> ''"Disappointed? We call 'em the Misfits for a reason. They're undisciplined, lazy, and they have absolutely no espirit de corps."''
946
947The Misfits are an under performing squad of NCR troopers stationed at Camp Golf. It is up to the player to change that.
948----
949* BigGood: Sargent [=McCredie=], their commander who requests that The Courier step in to help them in the first place.
950* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: The Courier can agree to train them, but unless you have at least 45 in weapons, and Explosives, the Courier will make a lousy trainer, and you can only complete the quest when you have the necessary stats (or load a part previously saved and go for another option. ). It's even worse if you have them below 25, which means you're not even able to teach them the initial lesson.
951* CharacterDevelopment: They become a very effective squad in the good endings.
952* DefiantToTheEnd: Implied if the player helps them become a better squad, but chooses to side with the Legion, the epilogue will reveal that they died fighting and were posthumously recognized for their valor in battle by the NCR.
953* DownerEnding: Taking Poindexter or Razz's advice on how to help the squad by hacking the camp's terminal to make it look like the squad is performing better than they are or getting the others to use [[PsychoSerum Psycho]] will both get the squad killed in the end: if you follow Poindexter's advice, those who don't get killed during Hoover's Dam battle desert, are caught fleeing to the Mojave Outpost and are executed by hanging (the same will happen if you do nothing on a Legion run); if you follow Razz's advice, they initially become seemingly brave and competent soldiers, but then become Psycho addicts, turn to banditry to get more of the drug, and eventually get court-martialed and executed (unless you complete the game for the Legion, in which case they die in battle against the Legion).
954* EarnYourHappyEnding: If you follow Mags' advice, the squad gets out of its rut through hard work and determination to become better soldiers. The squad is commended for their valor in the fight against the Legion, and Mags is finally promoted to Sergeant. The same happens if you follows O'Hanrahan's advice.
955* FaceHeelTurn: If the player follows Razz's advice and the team starts using psycho, their addiction will eventually get out of control and they'll end up turning towards crime in desperation to feed their addiction.
956* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: As their name implies, they are this.
957* RousingSpeech: One of the positive ways to resolve their questlines involves passing Speech Checks to give them all a stern pep talk to inspire them to put in actual effort.
958* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Several of their bad endings in the endgame slides state those who didn't get killed during Hoover Dam's battle attempted to desert and were executed.
959* TheSquad: What they are, though they don't start off this way at first.
960* TrueCompanions: They become this in either good ending, but especially if you use O'Hanrahan's advice to help the team by growing closer together.
961[[/folder]]
962
963[[folder:Corporal Mags]]
964[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mags_fonv.jpg]]
965->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AprilStewart
966
967-->''"Easy - This is where they send all the fuck-ups and people they don't want. But hey, it's not like I'm bitter or anything."''
968
969Mags is the Misfits' team leader and the only one in the squad that actually has ambitions to try to further her career in the military and the drive to actually ''try'' to improve their combat effectiveness before the player's intervention.
970----
971* ActionGirl: She strives to be this and Sargent [=McCredie=] says that she's the only one of her squad that shows potential when the player first arrives. She also reveals that she was originally trying to get into the [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous NCR Rangers]], but just didn't make the cut.
972* DeadpanSnarker: At times.
973* JackOfAllStats: Her SPECIAL stats are all fives and her tag skills are all close to fifty.[[note]] 46 to be precise[[/note]]
974* TheLeader: Her role in the team, though Razz and Poindexter don't exactly like to remember this fact.
975* TheStraightMan: To her squad mates, who pretty much just mill around, while she tries to make them into real soldiers.
976* SurroundedByIdiots: She does not think too highly of her team members.
977[[/folder]]
978
979[[folder:Private Razz]]
980[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/razz_fonv.jpg]]
981->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Burch
982
983-->''"Poindexter's a smart-ass prick. O'Hanrahan's a big pussy, ain't good for shit in a fight. And Mags, well, Mags is cut out for something other than soldiering, you dig?"''
984
985A former member of the Fiends, before joining with the NCR. Razz is very rude, lazy, and has little respect for the other members of his fire team.
986----
987* HazyFeelTurn: Went from the raiding chemmed-up Fiends to the well-intentioned yet flawed NCR. Even after his defection, he still retains his aggression and general {{Jerkass}} nature, though you can help him with this.
988* {{Jerkass}}: He's very abrasive to The Courier (to the point that he calls them a "brown-noser" if they have positive NCR Rep) and disrespectful to his squadmates. However, [[JerkassRealization it's possible to get him to see that he's being an asshole]] and try to work better with the team by giving him a pep talk.
989* TheLancer: He's the one that goes against Mags' authority the most and is her biggest foil among the squad.
990* RetiredMonster: He used to be a member of the Fiends and it shows.
991* TheStoner: Comes with the territory of being a former member of the Fiends.
992* VitriolicBestBuds: He becomes this with the other squad members, in the end.
993[[/folder]]
994
995[[folder:Private O'Hanrahan]]
996[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ohanrahan_fonv.jpg]]
997->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Burch
998
999-->''"Maybe you just ain't had a healthy dose of human niceness in a while."''
1000
1001Raised as a Christian in his rural home, O'Hanrahan enlisted in the army in order to help his family of struggling farmers by giving them one more source of income and one less mouth to feed. Despite his great strength and physically imposing stature, O'Hanrahan possesses a gentle (almost pacifist) personality and generally believes in diplomatic solutions over the use of violence.
1002----
1003* TheBigGuy: He's the largest and most physically powerful member of the misfits.
1004* DumbMuscle: While it's not shown in his dialogue, O'Hanrahan has a below-average intelligence stat of 4 and a strength stat of 8.
1005* GentleGiant: Despite being one of the tallest human characters in the game, he's a very kind and friendly man. His mother told him to be more careful because of his size and strength, which he apparently took to heart.
1006* TheHeart: He's also the kindest and encourages the other members to come together, in order to improve themselves.
1007* NiceGuy: By far the nicest member of the squad and possibly one of the nicest people in the game. This is deconstructed in that his aversion to violence has negatively impacted his effectiveness as a soldier.
1008* ThePowerOfFriendship: This is the only possible explanation as to how being nice to each other is as effective as actual training.
1009* RealMenLoveJesus: Aside from supporting his family, he joined the army for Jesus. With the proper training, he does become a badass.
1010* {{Squee}}: If the player has a good reputation with the NCR, O'Hanrahan will express excitement upon meeting you and even say he's going to write to his mother about it.
1011
1012[[/folder]]
1013
1014[[folder:Private Poindexter]]
1015[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/poindexter_fonv.jpg]]
1016->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
1017
1018-->''"Suffice to say I'm a certified genius, and when I'm discharged from this pit of testosterone and failure, I'll have all the money I could ever need."''
1019
1020Poindexter is a self-serving know-it-all type. He figures the best way to survive his time as a conscript in the NCR army is to play dumb and hide out in the rear at Camp Golf and earn a salary while serving. He is also very condescending to anyone he views as less intelligent than him, which is pretty much everyone.
1021----
1022* BrilliantButLazy: Despite his laziness, when given proper training or a good pep talk he proves to be a competent soldier.
1023* DirtyCoward: Not only does he act lazy to get out having to go to the front lines, but the BadEnding for following his advice implies that during The Legion attack on Camp Golf, he tried to flee to the Mojave Outpost and was court-martialed and hanged for his cowardice.
1024* InsufferableGenius: He's a condescending know-it-all, and his unlikeability is reflected in his charisma stat of a measly 3. Then again, he ''does'' have an Intelligence stat of 8.
1025* MeaningfulName: A condescending know-it-all named after a synonym of "nerd".
1026* ObfuscatingStupidity: His idea of how to avoid the front lines.
1027* PetTheDog: Despite being a prick, he taught O'Hanrahan how to make fireworks.
1028* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: He likes using large words to seem more articulate.
1029* SmallNameBigEgo: For a lazy member of an under-performing squad, he seems full of himself.
1030* TheSmartGuy: His role in the team.
1031* SoldiersAtTheRear: His personal goal is to earn a paycheck while avoiding active combat as much as possible.
1032[[/folder]]
1033
1034!!! Bitter Springs
1035
1036[[folder:Captain Gilles]]
1037[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captain_gilles.jpg]]
1038->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AprilStewart
1039
1040-->''"About three years ago, this canyon was the main encampment for the Great Khans. NCR's 1st Recon tracked them here after a raid and made an attack. There was a communication mix-up that resulted in some noncombatants being killed. It was a tragic mistake, but we've done all we can to make amends."''
1041
1042NCR captain and commander of the refugee camp at Bitter Springs in 2281, she is in charge of managing the growing influx of people running from the settlements being razed by Caesar's Legion.
1043----
1044
1045* InsistentTerminology: She terses up slightly when the Courier calls what happened at Bitter Springs a massacre, referring to it as an "incident".
1046* JackOfAllStats: Just like Sgt. Contreras and Corporal Mags she has fives on all of her S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats and around fifty for each of her tag skills.
1047* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: She's willing to ask anyone, especially an NCR hero, for the help she desperately needs such as the ghost attacking her camp and her medic's problems. She also prefers if you deal with the sniper picking off the refugees without violence, believing there's enough bad blood about Bitter Springs already.
1048
1049[[/folder]]
1050
1051[[folder:Lieutenant Markland]]
1052[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lieutenant_markland.jpg]]
1053->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
1054
1055-->''"I think that should just about cover us. I really don't know how to thank you, bringing me these supplies saved a lot of people."''
1056
1057Overworked, undersupplied, and in over his head when it comes to psychological trauma Lieutenant Markland is the medical officer and field medic at Bitter Springs. His extensive knowledge of healing people keeps the refugees of Bitter Springs in relatively good shape and he cares greatly about the well being of both the soldiers and refugees struggling to survive in the camp. The Courier and friends can help him with his troubles in the quest "Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues" by getting him the supplies and training, either by books or by having Arcade Gannon train him in it.
1058----
1059* AFatherToHisMen: He cares deeply about the refugees of Bitter Springs and requests the Courier for help.
1060* HugeGuyTinyGirl: His relation with Gilles as he's markedly taller than the average person.
1061* TheMedic: He's an NCR field medic and it shows: he's really good at healing the many injuries that comes to him but not so much the massive amount of mental trauma that comes into the camp.
1062* ReassignedToAntarctica: Much like Gilles, he was reassigned to a dirty camp in the ass end of nowhere and like Gilles he plays a critical role in keeping the camp from falling apart.
1063* TheSmartGuy: His highest stat is Intelligence at 7 and he know his way around the doctor's table, though his Medicine and Science stats are only at 54.
1064
1065[[/folder]]
1066
1067!!! Other
1068
1069[[folder:The Arms Merchant]]
1070[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arms_merchant.jpg]]
1071
1072->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CindyRobinson
1073
1074-->''"It means my C.O. was an asshole, and I told him to eat shit. He ordered me to flog a couple "deserters." Those kids didn't desert. They just got liquored up on the Strip and missed roll call. I don't know what else the brass expects... half these kids don't get more than two weeks of training before they ship 'em out here."''
1075
1076The Arms Merchant is a former Staff Sargent for the NCR, that served during the first battle of Hoover Dam, but was discharged after refusing to flog two "deserters" (really just a couple of young soldiers who missed roll call, after getting drunk the night before). She now serves as the local gun dealer at 188 trading post, partially to help the many under-equipped NCR grunts get their hands on better equipment.
1077----
1078* ActionGirl: Being a former soldier and all.
1079* ArmsDealer: As her name implies, though she does it in part to help give better equipment to the poorly supplied NCR [[RedShirtArmy troopers]].
1080* GogglesDoNothing: Her apparel gives her two sets of goggles, one worn over her hat and the other around her neck.
1081* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Despite being discharged and proving that she doesn't take bullshit from the higher ups, she is still a loyal patriot and will even turn hostile to the Courier if they wear the colors of one of the NCR's enemies.
1082* NoNameGiven: Her name is never revealed and she is only labeled as "Arms Merchant" by the game.
1083* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: She was discharged for defying orders to punish soldiers that were out enjoying themselves and forgot to appear for roll call.
1084[[/folder]]
1085
1086[[folder:NCR Health Inspector]]
1087
1088->''"Listen, asshole. I know you're not really an NCR health inspector, so you can cut the restaurant critic routine. And I want my fifty caps back, 'cause I looked it up and there ain't no disease called colorectal implosion syndrome. So I paid you to look the other way for nothing."''
1089-->--'''William Farber [[MistakenIdentity to the Courier]]'''
1090
1091An unnamed person who pretended to be a NCR health inspector stopping at Camp [=McCarran=] for a yearly inspection several weeks prior to the events of the game.
1092----
1093* ConMan: He swindled Cpl. Farber out of fifty caps.
1094* DudeLooksLikeALady: Possibly. The following quote doesn't change if the Courier is female and she asks Farber about the inspector.
1095-->''"Ah, it's nothing. You just looked like the health inspector who stopped through for the yearly inspection a couple weeks back. I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait another 11 months to see his crooked ass to get my caps back."''
1096* TheGhost: He's long gone by the time you get to [=McCarran=].
1097* IdenticalStranger: He apparently bore enough of a resemblance to the [[PlayerCharacter Courier]] for Farber to mistake them for him.
1098* KarmaHoudini: As far as we can tell, he never faced any punishment for fleecing the mess officer.
1099* NoNameGiven: His name was never disclosed.
1100
1101[[/folder]]
1102
1103[[folder:Captain Parker]]
1104[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cpt_parker.jpg]]
1105
1106->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LiamOBrien
1107
1108-->''"Captain Parker. I'm in charge of this camp."''
1109
1110An NCR Captain in charge of running the Areotech Office Park refugee camp near the outer edge of Vegas. Unfortunately, with the Legion making a move on the dam he is left severely understaffed and constantly putting out fires rather than helping the refugees recover from their misfortunes. As such, he'll gladly pay a little commission to the Courier for some help getting the camp back on its feet.
1111----
1112* BerserkButton: Whatever you do, don't bring up his failed marriage. He's still quite a bit sore over it.
1113* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's a nice guy who appreciates the Courier's help and will pay them a bonus for watching his back on a job. He also [[spoiler:guns down a petty criminal who was nonviolently resisting arrest just because the guy insulted him over his wife leaving him.]]
1114* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:He executes Keith on the spot when he mocks the captain over his wife leaving him.]] The Courier can even call him out on this.
1115[[/folder]]
1116
1117[[folder:Private Ortega]]
1118
1119->'''Voiced by:''' April Stewart
1120
1121A trooper guarding the gates at the NCR sharecropper farms.
1122----
1123* GossipyHens: There's not really any other women for her to talk to, but with a Speech check, she'll mention that she thinks all the complaints the farmers like Trent Bascom are levying are just for the sake of complaining rather than over any actual trouble.
1124* MistakenIdentity: If the Courier is wearing an NCR outfit when first talking to her, she will think they are there for a duty swap.
1125* PlayerNudge: If asked, she points out the locations of the New Vegas medical clinic if needing a doctor (the doctor there sells valuable implants) and Camp [=McCarran=] as well as Major Dhatri if looking for work.
1126* SoldiersAtTheRear: She much prefers the slow, idling post of guarding the sharecropper farms east of New Vegas rather than being anywhere near the ongoing trouble with the Fiends on the other side of Camp [=McCarran=].
1127[[/folder]]
1128
1129[[folder:Private Halford]]
1130[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pvt_halford.jpg]]
1131
1132->'''Voiced by:''' Jesse Burch
1133
1134-->''"If you find my friends, please return their dogtags to the NCR. People need to know what happened here. If they won't listen, do what you can to make them listen. The dead need to be avenged."''
1135
1136An NCR MP and the only member of the squad sent to investigate the Camp Guardian caves to survive the lakelurk attack, though not without a broken leg.
1137----
1138* GuestStarPartyMember: With a speech check, the Courier can convince him to help clean out the cave of lakelurks.
1139* SoleSurvivor: The only living member of the NCR contingent that occupied Camp Guardian.
1140* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can falsely tell him the cave is clear of lakelurks, and he'll inevitably die to them while trying to escape. It's possible to do this by accident if you assumed he would leave through the Camp Guardian entrance, which is indeed safe.
1141[[/folder]]
1142
1143[[folder:Colonel Royez]]
1144[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/670px_royez.png]]
1145
1146Colonel Royez is a Marked Man and a member of the NCR Army stationed on Long 15 in 2281. Access to this location will only be given if the Courier chooses to launch the nuclear weapons at NCR territory during add-on Lonesome Road.
1147----
1148* ColonelBadass: He's one of only ''four'' characters in the entire series that has a ten on ''every'' S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat [[note]]The others being [[VideoGame/Fallout2 Frank Horrigan]], Ulysses, and Gaius Magnus[[/note]] and has a hundred in energy weapons, explosives, guns, and melee, as well as his own unique suit of power armor. Said armor also boosts his already prodigious strength to 11.
1149* {{BFG}}: His plasma caster dishes out a world of hurt against the Courier.
1150* GodzillaThreshold: Implied to be this, as he only shows up if you nuke the Long 15.
1151* HealingFactor[=/=]RegeneratingHealth: Has this, thanks to his power armor's special ability and he also has the Rad Healing Perk.
1152* HiddenDepths: He is the only member of the NCR to have power armor training, implying that there's more to him.
1153* MadeOfIron: Due to a combination of high health, high endurance, his power armor, ''and'' regenerating health.
1154* OptionalBoss: He is an encounter accessible only if you choose a certain option at the end of the Lonesome Road DLC, and has near-perfect combat stats, powerful gear, regenerating health, ''and'' surrounded by ghoulified {{mook}}s in power armour and radiation that not only makes things even more difficult for the player, but also rapidly heals said mooks.
1155* PlasmaCannon: He wields a plasma caster that is powered by overcharged microfusion cells instead of standard cells, giving his plasma caster increased damage and armor penetration.
1156* PoweredArmor: He has own unique set called the Scorched Sierra power armor, which is decorated with a taxidermized bear head over one of the shoulders and some ornamental pieces. It also provides plus twenty five to fire resistance and regenerates its wearers health by two points a second. Unlike most NCR power armor, this one actually works and its servo-motors in the joints increases his strength.
1157* {{Superboss}}: Compared to the FinalBoss of most routes, Legate Lanius, Royez has slightly less base health, but higher S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, level, and Damage Threshold, not to mention the rad-induced health regeneration.
1158* TokenNonHuman: He's the only Marked Men that somehow still fights for the NCR. It helps that he and his men have only very (and we mean '''''very''''') recently become one and so hasn't been driven insane just yet.
1159[[/folder]]
1160

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