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Responders
General
Voiced by: Torian Brackett, Chris Ciulla, Javier Prusky, Imari Williams (male); Sara Secora, Abigail Turner (female)
A disaster relief organization founded by local firefighters, police officers, and EMTs in cooperation with the Charleston Emergency Government. The Responders were the main force organizing relief and reconstruction efforts in the western half of Appalachia after the bombs, but soon became bogged down fighting the mountain raiders, and were eventually wiped out by the Scorched. In the years after the plague, returning refugees and newcomers to the region have begun attempts to revive the organization. In 2104, these efforts are centered around the Whitespring, whose resort has been converted into a refuge.- Action Survivor: All of them have this origin as they were ordinary people beforehand.
- The Alliance: Basically all the public servants who survived the Great War are there to help each other and the common citizens out.
- Badass Normal: They had neither the technological superiority of the Brotherhood of Steel, nor the wealth of pre-war secrets and survival techniques of the Free States, and most of their ranks were formerly just ordinary public servants like nurses, firefighters, or police officers, but they still managed to go on to become the predominant organization in Appalachia prior to the Scorched outbreak.
- Big Good: They were this for the majority of Appalachia's inhabitants until the Resident, being one of the most unambiguously good factions in the Fallout franchise alongside groups such as the Minutemen and Followers of the Apocalypse.
- The Bus Came Back: The Responders return in The Pitt update, using the Whitespring Resort as their new base of operations for missions outside of Appalachia, such as helping those people trying to survive in what's left of Pittsburgh, AKA The Pitt, following the Great War.
- Create Your Own Villain: Did this with David Thorpe. For whatever reason, his group was turned away at Charleston and they became the most vicious gang of Raiders ever to inhabit that region.
- Darkest Hour: Before the Scorched, it was the Christmas Flood when David Thorpe destroyed the city of Charleston and killed over a thousand survivors.
- The Dog Bites Back: The Brotherhood of Steel found this out when they discovered they needed the Responders to provide them with the supplies necessary to fight the Scorched. After being abused and threatened for years, they turned them down and the Brotherhood was wiped out. This proved a tragic mistake.
- Doomed Hometown: Happens twice to them with the destruction of Charleston by David Thorpe and later the death of everyone in Flatwoods, as well as their airport base at the hands of the Scorched.
- Fatal Flaw: The Responders are actually really bad at persuading people to ally with them due to them believing in Black-and-White Morality. The Free States, Raiders (before they were Raiders), and Brotherhood of Steel all became alienated from the group over time.
- Foil: To the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave, and the Free States. The Responders worked with the common people, were not isolationist, and were very helpful. It didn't help them ally with any of the above groups, however.
- Hope Bringer: Most of its members feel this way about the group and their stories are very uplifting. Which makes the tragedy all the worse.
- Posthumous Character: They, like every other human group, were wiped out by the Scorched. That said, two survivors, at least, later returned to Appalachia and sought to resurrect them, so combined with the Resident there may be some small hope of their return.
- Science Hero: Surprisingly so but their success depended largely on their use of basic water purification techniques and educating their fellow survivors on food growth, preparation, and medicine. They also used modern medicine to create the Scorched vaccine, and managed to weaponize a pre-war research to develop anti-Scorched Ultracite ammunition.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: All of their efforts to rebuild West Virginia fail miserably due to the destruction of Charleston followed by the Scorched Plague. It would be a Shoot the Shaggy Dog story if not for the fact their vaccine against the Scorched Plague allows the Resident to stop them.
- Skewed Priorities: Played straight with the re-established Responders and the Expeditions, which are often forays into dangerous zones with people desperately in need of help. To this end, the player(s) must perform daily menial tasks for some of the Responder officers to charge a Vertibird fuel cell, like coughing up spare crafting materials or helping out in the kitchen, instead of them just giving you the battery, given their supposed We Help the Helpless policy and the urgency of these Expeditions.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: One for the Minutemen in Fallout 4. They are a bunch of ordinary citizens gathered together for the common good without much structure or leadership. The big difference being the Responders were much better organized and building an actual civilzation. They also have some elements similar to the New California Republic, like having their main base in an airport like the NCR did in Fallout: New Vegas.
- We Help the Helpless: Their ultimate goal and one they were doing a pretty good job of. Their successor chapter, however, don't exactly do much beyond occupying the Whitespring Resort and forcing the Residents to take care of their menial tasks for plane fuel, despite the nameless members claiming otherwise. Becomes especially galling when considering the nature of Expeditions, and the way the new Responders gate access to these missions behind mundane daily tasks that don't contribute much to the wellbeing of Appalachians anyway.
- Welcome to Corneria: The new nameless Responders at the Whitespring Resort only have about five lines of recycled dialogue, and they never shut up.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The fates of three out of the five original leaders of the Responders are ultimately unknown. While the corpse of Maria Chavez can be found at the Morgantown airport, and Melody Larkin likely perished in a failed mission to seal the Big Bend tunnel, what happened to Jeff Nakamura, Sanjay Kumar, or Claire Hudson have never been discovered.
Kesha McDermont
Voiced by: Dawnn Lewis
A former teacher and hydrology expert Pre-War, she became an important member of the Responders.
- Action Survivor: A teacher who led a bunch of children to safety after the Great War.
- Apocalyptic Log: We get to hear her numerous times due to holo tapes and interviews.
- Boring, but Practical: More than Power Armor and Gatling Lasers, the fact she knew how to purify water saved more lives than anything else in the Wasteland. At least for a time.
- Cool Old Lady: Seems to have been one from the sound of her voice.
- Despair Event Horizon: Suffered one of these after her group of children were robbed by fellow survivors. Averted when she got a radio working and heard about the Responders.
- Posthumous Character: Died at the hands of the Scorched.
- Science Hero: Specifically saved massive numbers of lives by showing the locals how to get the majority of radiation out of their water.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Her uplifting story of survival and helping others ends with the death of all Responders at the hands of the Scorched.
- Team Mom: Was a literal one to a number of orphans created by the war.
Reverend Delbert Winters
Voiced by: Patrick Dollaghan
Pastor in Flatwoods that offered his own church as a command post for the Responders. Also provided the means to cook food to avoid disease from eating it raw.- Crazy-Prepared: Reverend Winters left his various recipes all over Appalachia to be discovered by the Vault 76 residents to cook up some very unique and tasty meals when they have the ingredients for them through pre-War food and what is found in the Appalachian Wasteland, such as radstag meat, tatos, mutfruit, and more.
- Crisis of Faith: Had one after the bombs dropped and he wasn't taken up to Heaven like he expected; at first he thought it was because he hadn't been virtuous enough, but he later concluded it was because he still had work to do on Earth.
Hank Madigan
Voiced by: Larry Heron
Former member of the Brotherhood of Steel before joining the Responders' Fire Breathers, Madigan had tried to reach the Free States to get their help against the Scorchbeasts with their Scorched Detection System, but was captured and killed by the Raiders who hoped to use the uplink as a bargaining chip. His corpse is left rotting in a cage with Rose at the Top of the World.- Defector from Decadence: A note from one of his former Brotherhood comrades, as well as dialog from an unused holotape, reveals that he deserted the Brotherhood because he became disillusioned with their isolationism, and joined the Responders so he could help the people of Appalachia.
Heather Ellis
Voiced by: Jan Johns
An affiliate of Paige's settler faction who has rediscovered the history of the Responders and decided to recreate them as the founder of a new generation. Accompanied by her dog Chloe. She now lives in Flatwoods as a Responder paramedic.
- Nice Girl: She's looking to revive the Responders and is pretty personable.
Tiffany Brantley
Voiced by: Jasmine Gatewood
Another young girl working to revive the Responders by joining their elite anti-Scorched team, the Firebreathers. Works with the firefighter Protectrons at the Charleston Fire Station on the edge of the Forest with the Ash Heap.- Serious Business: She is looking to revive the Firebreathers, and takes studying for the exam extremely seriously to the point she will refuse to cheat.
Rucker
Voiced by: Debra Wilson
The new leader of the Responders based out of the Whitespring Refuge (formerly the Whitespring Resort).- Military Brat: While she was born in Appalachia, she moved north with her father, an army medic who "always wanted to be where the action was".
- Order Reborn: Singlehandedly re-established the Responders after the original organization was wiped out by the Scorched in 2096.
- Sole Survivor: Of her family. When the bombs fell, her father's company took a direct hit and the rest of her family also perished in the chaos.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Despite being grateful for their hospitality, she does not fully trust the Whitespring's manager Orlando due to their secretive nature.
- You Talk Too Much!: Her opinion of Initiate Ellison, the Brotherhood of Steel's representative at the Whitespring. Despite finding him to be good-natured, she is greatly annoyed by his talkativeness.
Esme Rousseau
- French Cuisine Is Haughty: Zigzagged. Esme's father was a talented chef in France and Esme herself dreamed of opening her own restaurant prior to the Great War, but her clientele at the Whitespring are refugees from Appalachia and the surrounding regions, the dish the Resident helps her prepare in the "Recipe for Success" daily quest is a venison and tato stew, and she also cooks using the meat of other post-nuclear creatures and plants, such as Bloatflies, Bloodleaf, Deathclaws and Mirelurks.
Sophie Wagoner
Voiced by: Marisha Ray
A member of the new Responders in charge of their donation drive.- Pet the Dog: She mentions that one of the raiders from Crater contributed to her donation drive.
- Raised by the Community: Was raised in a commune in Kentucky alongside about two dozen other children (all of whom she considered siblings), with multiple adults serving as her parental figures.
Lennox
Voiced by: Debra Cardona
The Responders' Vertibird pilot in charge of ferrying players to Expedition sites.- Alien Abduction: Downplayed. During her Air Force service she once sighted a UFO flying near her seaplane; she shot at it with her pistol but was temporarily blinded soon afterwards, and her copilot had to land the plane for her. She believes she was affected by an alien mind control laser, but her copilot thought she "was just drunk and started trying to fight the sun".
- Returning War Vet: Was a member of the United States Air Force before the war, flying tankers and cargo planes.
Lane Platte
Voiced by: Phillip Reich
The leader of the Responders' new outpost at Gilman Lumber Mill. Introduced in Expeditions: Atlantic City - Boardwalk Paradise.- Abandonment-Induced Animosity: Zig-zagged. When his hometown of Knight Ridge was attacked by raiders, his father and sister fled the town on a passing caravan. Lane refused to go with them because he thought staying and fighting the raiders was a better option, and considered them cowards for fleeing. However, he was eventually forced to flee Knight Ridge himself, and later regretted not going with them.
- Missing Mom: His mother died when he was young.
June Seaver
Voiced by: Katiana Sarkissian
The quartermaster of the Responders' outpost at the Gilman Lumber Mill. She sells weapon skins to the player for caps.- Jaded Washout: Originally joined the Responders to learn how to become a doctor, but dropped out of her studies due to her fears of blood, needles, and failure, and instead ended up working as the quartermaster at their new Gilman Lumber Mill outpost.
- Nervous Wreck: Is constantly anxious and suffers from frequent panic attacks, and has to actively work to calm herself back down.
- Obviously Not Fine: Frequently repeats unconvincing mantras like "not bitter" and "not panicking".
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Makes a few of these, such as "Yes, I am good at my job, thank you for asking. No, that's not a lie," "Can't imagine anything I'd rather be doing more than managing outpost supplies..." and "I didn't even want to live in the Refuge. Yep, it's much better out here. Sleeping in the ruins of a saw mill."
Whitespring Management
Orlando
Voiced by: Carolina Hoyos
The mysterious manager of the Whitespring Resort who is helping the Responders. They support the Responders by supporting their operations, provide ultracells for the vertibirds, and distribute resources within the Whitespring. Notable for being the second non-binary character in Fallout.- Following in Their Rescuer's Footsteps: How they came to work for the Management; other agents working for the Management saved them from an "unpleasant situation" and took them in. Orlando believes they would have died without the Management's kindness, and happily chose to work for the Management once they were capable, to return the kindness the Management had shown them.
- Mysterious Backer: Not much is known about them, not even the organization they are a part of.
- If they're pressed enough on the information about the Management, they would respond that their leader is "Mr. Otis" and would deny the similarity to the Enclave AI MODUS.
Whitespring Greeter
Voiced by: Stephen Russell (original), Scott Lambright (Expeditions: The Pitt)
A Mr. Handy stationed at the entrance to the Whitespring Resort.- Ascended Extra: Originally a generic Mr. Handy with a default voice, he was given a unique voice and personality in the Expeditions: The Pitt update.
- Silicon Snarker: As of Expeditions: The Pitt. He makes his displeasure at the Responders' and refugees' lack of class and tidiness well known to the Resident.
