Fallout 3is a 2008 post-apocalyptic role-playing game set in a desolate, radioactive wasteland. Just like the otherFallouttitles, the player embarks on a journey filled with danger and discovery. The wasteland inFallout 3has its fair share of fun and lighthearted characters, but some of the most memorable ones are much more serious.
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The Capital Wasteland is no stranger to misdeed, savagery, or tragedy. The exploration entails meeting many of the countless inhabitants, such as Raiders or Mutants, who all have a unique history and interaction with the player. Many of which go through massive change or sorrow to survive the harsh world. Regardless of the choices the player makes throughout the game, these people undergo emotional character arcs, specifically downfalls or mistreatment.
10Clover
Clover is an enslaved woman who has been held captive in Paradise Falls by Eulogy Jones, the lead Slaver. Eulogy Jones is notorious for abusing his captives. She, and another named Crimson were only held for a few months before the player gets a chance to meet them. Clover, once a normal worker in the wasteland, has been permanently brainwashed and will now refuse to talk to strangers.
There is no possible way for the player to give Clover a happy ending, her arc always ends in either being enslaved, hostile, or killed. Jones' explains that she is “crazy in-lovewith whoever holds her leash.” If the players' Karma is evil enough, it is possible to pay Jones to acquire her as a companion. However, if dismissed, she will always return to Paradise Falls despite what she went through.
9Moira Brown
Moira is a curious but inexperienced inventor who was originally from Canterbury Commons and eventually moved to Megaton. Her extensive reading fuels her knowledge, but she is not known to have any real-world experience. Motivated by an accident with a centaur, she tries to write a survival guide to aid others in the wasteland. The beginning stages of this are witnessed by the player, and she will attempt to enlist the help of the player to complete it.
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In Megaton lies a man named Mister Burke who wants to blow up the dormant nuke inside. If the player follows through on the plan, Megaton will be destroyed and Moira will be the only survivor. When found, she is completely unaware of the fact she has become a ghoul. Depending on how the player breaks the news to her, she will fall into despair about her new situation.
8Jericho
Jericho was once a dangerous raider in the Capital Wasteland who killed many and stole for caps and loot. He foughtalongside the raidersfor several years and became a great gunman. Eventually, he decided to settle in Megaton to enjoy the final years of his life. Though his combat skills remain unchanged, he coughs up blood and requests to stop and catch his breath if the player has him as a companion.
He now helps protect Megaton alongside the sheriff. He will attack the player if they are caught killing the towns' Brahmin or stealing. Despite this, If he is a companion when the player blows up Megaton, he will claim to not feel sorry for its residents. A combination of his dark past, declining health, and moral conflict between his raider nature and wanting to settle down is why players feel his arc, albeit short, is a sad one. If the player blows up the town without Jericho, he will perish among the rest.
7Gob
Gob once lived in the Underworld, a hidden and safe settlement for ghouls. Gob was somewhat happy and content in his life, living with his adoptive “mother” Carol, who is also a ghoul. One day he set out into the wasteland to find fortune but was caught by a group of slavers. Collin Moriarty, who owns Moriarty’s Saloon in Megaton, purchased him and forced him to work in his bar.
Gob is now highly abused because of his lower statusas a ghoul, something he did not have to experience back in the Underworld. He has worked 15 years since he was bought, as Collin wants him to repay his dept for purchasing him. He also charges him for rent and food, making it nigh impossible to leave his situation without the player’s help.
6Roy Phillips
Roy Philips is a pre-war ghoul who lives within the Warrington metro tunnels and leads a few other ghouls who reside there as well. As an ex-cop with a no-nonsense attitude and lack of patience, his black-and-white worldview has carried over into his life as a ghoul. He has fully become content with being a ghoul and demands respect from humans. This is where is arc takes a turn.
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He has decided to try and force Mr. Allistair Tenpenny, the leaderof Tenpenny Tower, to let them move into the tower after their attempts to peacefully pay to be let in were met with threats. Depending on how the player handles the situation, it is possible to have Roy killed by the towers' security or kill him, effectively ending his hopes of integrating peacefully with the humans.
5Lone Wanderer
The player protagonist, theLone Wanderer, starts in Vault 101 as a child sheltered from the harsh wasteland. When they become 19, their father James leaves the vault. Fighting through guards, and possibly the Overseer himself, the Lone Wanderer embarks on a difficult quest to find their missing father. They are shunned from the vault and cannot go back. As the Lone Wanderer explores the wasteland, they face numerous challenges and discover secrets about their family.
Throughout the journey, the Lone Wanderer encounters moral dilemmas which affect their karma and reputation. Even though the Lone Wanderer eventually reunites with their father, and they reconcile, several disastrous situations lead their father to sacrifice his life. No matter the players' choices, the Lone Wanderer life story is tragic.
4James
James is a skilled scientist and caring parent who flees Vault 101, leaving the Lone Wanderer behind, to pursue a way to restore clean water to the wasteland. James has kept several secrets, such as not letting his child know they were born outside the vault. Through his journey, he finds himself trapped as a helpless dog in a vault simulation called Tranquility Lane. It is up to the player to rescue him to continue the story.
When his plans for Project Purity have been intruded upon by the Enclave, he sacrifices himself to save the rest of the team. He is killed by a lethal dose of radiation from the reactor. This event is filled with sorrow and his child is angry and heartbroken.If only James had power armor.
3Fawkes
Fawkes is an intelligent super mutant, who is found imprisonedin the depths of Vault 87. Upon meeting the player, Fawkes explains that he has been trapped in the vault for centuries due to his refusal to engage in the process of capturing humans and turning them into more mutants. Though Fawkes has a terminal on which he can read literature and keep busy, he still struggles on coping with the mental damage.
Fawkes defies the norm for mutants in the game. Unlike other mutants exposed to FEV, he retains his intelligence and speech abilities. Considered a failed experiment, he was kept by the other mutants out of curiosity instead of killed. If the player wishes, they can refuse to save him and leave him to live the rest of his life enslaved in the vault.
2Bryan Wilks
The player encounters Bryan Wilks near Grayditch, where he says that his family has gone missing, and seeks help in finding them. Bryan is just a young boy and seemingly the only survivor of his town. Upon finding Bryan’s parents, they are discovered to have been killed by the fire ants, which have ravaged his town and killed all the neighbors. This revelation greatly upsets him, as he now has no one.
With his parents now deceased, Bryan becomes an orphan, facing an uncertain future. He begs the player to find him a new home. Upon ridding the town of the fire ants for good, it’s up to the player to where Bryan goes. The player can choose to betray Bryan by putting a slave collar on him and selling him to the slavers in Paradise Falls.
1Harold
Harold is a recurring character in theFalloutseries who made the biggest impact onFallout 3.Harold is found in Oasis, a settlement that is lush with plants due to Harold’s current mutated form as a tree. He is stuck, as he’s rooted to the ground, and loathes the inhabitants of Oasis as they don’t listen to him.
Harold holds immense suffering and loneliness due to his long existence. The player has the opportunity to speak with Harold and learn about his history and struggles. There are several ways to help end Harold’s existence, one being that the player can cruelly burn him alive with a flamethrower, ending his tragic life.
Fallout 3is available now on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
