Fallout: New Vegas/Characters/New California

This is a partial character sheet for the Video Game Fallout: New Vegas. Visit here for the main character index. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

New California Republic

As decades passed, what had been the American southwest united beneath the flag of the New California Republic, dedicated to old world values, democracy and the rule of law.

—The Narration during the opening intro

"There are some back home who ask me, "But who are we protecting? What is Nevada to us?" Sometimes we forget that the light of our society shines beyond our borders. Sometimes we take those privileges for granted that our forebears fought so hard to achieve. 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."

—President Aaron Kimball

"You got to hand it to the NCR. When you get enough pairs of hands together, you can make or break almost anything."

—Arcade Gannon

A democratic republic from California with holdings in Nevada, Oregon and Baja. Originated from a group of survivors of Vault 15 and the small town of Shady Sands, the NCR has since become the largest and most powerful known faction in the wasteland. Basing their development model and values on the ideals of the pre-war United States, they are dedicated to restoring order and progress to the Wasteland but also have some really aggressive expansionist policies. Which resulted in them over extending themselves and put a heavy toll on their economy. They are currently seeking to annex the entire Mojave Wasteland though the use of both diplomacy and military force.

• Anti-Hero: Type III. Or alternatively...
• Anti-Villain: Type I or III.
• Badass Army: The majority of the NCR forces avert this; they're poorly-trained, demoralized and little better than conscript soldiers, with their biggest advantage being manpower. The Rangers and First Recon, however, are at least a match for the best of Caesar's Legion, and the Heavy Troopers get an honorable mention despite the kitbashed equipment they have to work with.
  • 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 guns thanks to the Gun Runners, who supplied the military as well as selling personal weapons to the soldiers.
• Badass Normal: They're somewhat the Badass Normal 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 dedicated, unrelenting, and extremely numerous.
• Big Brother Is Watching: 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 for too many times, they will know about it and declare you as a terrorist. In the case of Yes Man or Mr. House, they will 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.
• Bread and Circuses: The NCR operates under all three types of this trope depending on the circumstances. Type 1 for the wealthy, the powerful, and everyone living in the core regions of the republic; Type 2 for the poorer citizens living in the frontier regions; and Type 3 for the people in the Mojave.
  • The developers have openly admitted they are playing this up because they feel the NCR has damaged the "post apocalyptic" setting of the game. J.E. Sawyer says that if the NCR takes over the Mojave it will be a quick burn, while Chris Avellone wants the NCR gone to reset the series back to it's roots and open up new potentials for the series. This can be seen in their Author Avatar's opinions on the groups (Arcade, Caesar and Graham for Sawyer, and Elijah and Ulysses for Avellone).
• Eagle Land: They are very similar to the present day US government, sharing many of its strength and weaknesses.
  • Politically they are mostly type 1, with some military officers and citizens being type 2.
• Elite Mooks: The NCR Veteran Rangers (the guy you see on the cover), and the power armor-wearing NCR Heavy Troopers.
• Enemy Mine: 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 the Enclave.
• The Extremist Was Right: 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. And they do have one of the best endings for a good karma character.
  • A good example will be 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.
• Faceless Mooks: A lot of their troops either wear Face Wrap Armor, NCR Salvaged Power Armor or Veteran Ranger Armor.
• The Federation: 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.
• Friendly Enemy: 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.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: To the Khans the NCR is an example of this. The republic started out as a small rural town that were constantly threatened and raided by them back in the original Fallout. By the time of New Vegas, the grandchildren of the very people that they bullied has driven their tribe to near extinction.
• Gas Mask Mooks: The Veteran Rangers and Heavy Troopers.
• General Ripper: Most of the higher-ranked NPCs are this, notably Oliver, Moore and Kimball. Colonel Moore in particular believes that Violence Really Is the Answer in "negotiations" with other tribes, particularly the Brotherhood of Steel.
  • In the end, it turns out to be a case of Straw Man Has a Point. 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 Yes Man ending, but make them negotiate a truce with the NCR first, 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 sightly better then 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.
• Good Is Not Nice: Just like their appearance back in 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.
• Hero Antagonist: If you support the Legion.
• Kick the Dog: Numerous times, mostly by collecting heavy taxes from their citizens and militaristic expansionist policies.
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch: In the case of the Great Khans. A perfect example is asking a Great Khan-turned-NCR sniper what he thinks of Bitter Springs. Apparently, they deserved it.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: One of NCR's greatest weaknesses is the slow speed of its administration due to internal corruption and the sheer size of the republic.
  • 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.
• Pet the Dog: If you help the NCR to take control of the Mojave, they have a large share of this.
  • If you make the Kings 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.
  • Out of all the major factions (not counting Wild Card, 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 to declare a truce, then they will work together and become the peacekeepers along the New Vegas highways. Mr. House was originally supposed to include an option for a truce, and a mod makes use of the dialogue still embedded in the game.
  • As mentioned above, the best ending for Primm will be for the town to get annexed by the NCR. The town will be rebuild and turned into a major trade center.
  • The best ending for the Followers of Apocalypse is only available if you make them cooperate with the NCR. In which they will be able to continue caring for the less fortunate citizens in New Vegas. Originally, it was unavailable due to a bug in the game's programming, but has now fixed by the last patch.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money: 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.

Courier: "Excuse me, do you mind giving Sheriff Meyers a pardon/allowing the Great Khans to leave peacefully/not attacking the super mutants?
NCR officer: "Sorry, doing so is against the rules."
Option 1: [Speech] Remind him of the values and ideals that the NCR stands for.
Option 2: [NCR Rep] Tell him that you are a hero to the NCR and that he should do what you say.
Option 3: [Barter] Persuading him that helping you will be very profitable in the long-run.
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...

• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: 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.
• Sociopathic Soldier: Averted; Most of the grunts and lower ranking officers you meet are nice people who genuinely want to make the world a better place, or at worst, just people doing their job to get paid. Although some of the higher ranking officers (like General Oliver and Colonel Moore) are Jerkasses. Then there's the soldiers who, several years ago, cut out Meansonofabitch's tongue.
• Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: 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.
• We Have Reserves: One of the advantages of being the largest faction in the wasteland with a massive (by post-war standards) population. When they see something they want, they will throw troops at it until they get it. At HELIOS, they probably lost three or four times as many troops as the Brotherhood did, 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.
• Zerg Rush: 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 even more numerous and fanatical Legion, however.
  • Subverted by their tactics against the Legion. Chief Hanlon destroyed the Legion invasion force by leading them into a trap, while the Courier in most endings defeats the Legion at Hoover Dam by taking a very small, elite team, or even going in alone, to kill their field commander or convince him to withdraw.
  • Similarly subverted because the NCR can't repeat the strategy that won their war against the Brotherhood with the Legion because the Legion outnumbers them.

General Lee Oliver

Voiced by: Emerson Brooks

"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."

—General Oliver when confronted by an army of Securitrons commanded by Yes Man

General 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.

• Anti-Hero: Type IV.
• Armchair Military: Why he's not particularly popular amongst the troops.
• Badass Boast: Makes a few of these if you try to talk him off in the House/Independent endings, for all the good that does him.

"You're not just pissin' on me. You're pissin' on the bear!"

• Cluster F-Bomb: His manner of speaking, er, lacks refinement.
• Cruel Mercy: 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, along with...
• Driven to Suicide: House gives him around a 40% chance of doing this in his ending. Probably applies to the Independent route, too.
• Everyone Has Standards: 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, he will agree to retreat since he doesn't want to throw away the lives of innocent NCR citizens just to make a point.
  • He is, however, willing to sacrifice hundreds or even thousands of NCR troops to get his name written in the history books.
• Expy: He has the speech and mannerisms of George S. Patton down to a T. He would've done better to aim for emulating Patton's martial abilities. J.E. Sawyer has described him as a pastiche of various aggressive and blockheaded military commanders with none of their foresight, citing both Patton and Curtis LeMay as examples.
• General Failure: His plan for the Legion (dubbed "Tunnel Vision" by House) is 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 territory west of the Colorado River against the predations of Legion slavers and raiders, and generally cutting the teeth of his woefully under-trained troops before the climactic clash. His derogatory nickname amongst many of his subordinates is "General Wait-And-See". 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.
• Glory Hound: Again, everything he does is to increase his standing in the NCR.
• 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.
  • Jerkass Has A Point: 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 package courier not being the best person to run New Vegas. He actually is partly right; the Courier doesn't have what it takes to build an NCR-style liberal democracy or provide widespread support and social services for the people, but that outcome may not be what he/she sees as best for the Mojave.
    • Shut UP, Hannibal: The player can respond with "Can't do worse than the NCR." Then proceed to get Yes Man to push him off Hoover Dam.
• Kaizo Trap: In the House and Independence endings; while Oliver himself dies quite easily, his 5 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).
• Meaningful Name: Probably named after General Robert E. Lee and General Oliver P. Smith.
• Nice Hat: In the Sierra Madre collecting card set, he's represented by his hat. It's more impressive than he is, really.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: 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.
• Oh Crap: In the House/Independent endings when he sees the Securitrons roll up behind him and if you order Yes Man to push him off the Dam.
• Post Final Boss: In the House or Independent ending.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: He carries a .44 Magnum revolver, yet another allusion to George Patton.
• The Rival: Sees Chief Hanlon as this. Hanlon, however, just sees him as a moron with no idea what he's doing.
• Tempting Fate: In the Wild Card ending. 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...
• We Have Reserves: His main tactic for Hoover Dam, according to others, is just to throw troopers at the Legion until he wins.

Colonel James Hsu

voiced by: William Mapother
"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."

The second-highest ranking officer in the NCR Army in the Mojave. An otherwise competent officer who is reduced to being a desk jockey at Camp McCarran, likely for not being bullish enough for General Oliver and Colonel Moore.

• Being Good Sucks: Some Dummied Out 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 Dummied Out, so the canonicity of this remains uncertain.

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.

• Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Since he's stuck being a desk jockey, he gets saddled with this.
• A Father to His Men: 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.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Much like Hanlon, he's a bit beaten down by the rampant problems that the NCR faces in the region.
• Only Sane Man: He's the only very high ranking NCR officer without some huge flaw. For example, Moore and Oliver are both violent and jingoistic, Oliver is an Obstructive Bureaucrat and General Failure, and Chief Hanlon is actively trying to undermine NCR morale.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Unlike other NCR authority figures.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Colonel Moore's red.
• Stealth Pun/Punny Name: 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 Fridge Logic does one notice that in a casual setting his name could be Jim Hsu...
• Token Good Teammate: Out of all the high ranking officers in the NCR military stationed in the Mojave, apart from being a 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.

Colonel Cassandra Moore

Voiced by: Kirsten Potter
"Unlike the good ambassador, I don't intend to blink."

The third highest ranking NCR military officer in the Mojave and the commander of the forces at Hoover Dam.

• Anti-Hero: Type V. If her actions weren't directed against groups like Caesar's Legion and the Omertas, she'd be a straight up villain.
• Berserk Button: Of all the factions of Vegas, Moore has a special hatred for the Brotherhood due to them being long-time enemies of the NCR and having lost plenty of men to them.
  • She was also Kicked Upstairs because of an injury she sustained fighting them. Now she's stuck behind a desk she doesn't really want.
• The Dragon: To General Oliver.
• Evil Is Petty: If the Courier makes peace with the NCR and the Brotherhood, she uses her clout to smear your reputation with the NCR. She also gets Crocker fired if you work with him to make peace with the Kings.
  • Troop chatter hints that she only wants to get rid of the Omertas to get back at them for kicking her out of Gomorrah; though to be fair, you don't really need a substantial reason to hate the Omertas.
• General Ripper: Especially towards the Brotherhood. Only 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.
• Glory Hound: Some Dummied Out content reveals that she gets promoted post-game in the event of an NCR ending: most-likely due to taking credit for the Courier's missions.
• Iron Lady: If nothing, one thing you certainly can't call her is soft.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Col. Moore has been with the NCR for decades now and served 5 tours in the Brotherhood war where she was severely injured and Kicked Upstairs. 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.
• Jerkass: At the least, J.E. Sawyer believes that Moore should be of Evil alignment, which she is in a mod that he created.
• Kicked Upstairs: 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.
• Kick the Dog: 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.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: 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 Khans, the Kings and the Brotherhood of Steel (but she will accept an alliance with the Khans since she appreciates the idea of them being machete bait). Still, her ideas do prove to have some merit in regards to Mr. House and the Omertas; 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.
• Noodle Incident: Evidently got kicked out of Gomorrah at some point.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: 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, she gets him fired.
  • Also Red to Colonel Hsu's Blue. Moore's a hot head who considers violence as a first option. Hsu is more level-headed.
• Retired Badass: Used to a Ranger until an injury sustained while fighting the Brotherhood forced her to take a desk job.
• Token Evil Teammate: For the NCR.
• Violence Really Is the Answer: A firm believer in this. She is kind of right when she has to deal with people like the Khans or Brotherhood, but she really overdoes it when she sends squads of soldiers to put down the Kings.

Chief Hanlon

Voiced by: Kris Kristofferson
"I wish I could explain it to you. The old chief's finally at a loss for words."

The commander of the NCR Rangers in the Mojave, stationed in Camp Golf. Responsible for winning the first Battle of Hoover Dam against Joshua Graham.

• Blue Oni: To Oliver. Hanlon is a calm Guile Hero skilled in using deception and misdirection. Oliver however is a hot-headed General Failure who prefers aggressive Hollywood Tactics and We Have Reserves.
• Cool Old Guy: 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.
• Driven to Suicide: 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 committing suicide.
• Guile Hero: 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" hundreds of 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 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.
• Heel Realization: If you have killed Caesar or discovered his illness, you can end the Return to Sender quest by telling Halon that the Legion will be a massive threat to all of the NCR without their leading ideologist alive, which causes Halon to come back to his senses and agree to stop falsifying the reports. Going with this option also means that he is not Driven to Suicide.
• Knight in Sour Armor: While loyal to the NCR, he's quite disillusioned about the Mojave campaign, seeing it more as a waste of life than anything. 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 wave of disapproval against President Kimball and scores himself a Senate seat for his hometown of Redding.
• Knight Templar: Turns out he's actively falsifying information and sabotaging NCR defenses in hopes this will get them to pull out despite the fact that this can very easily get many NCR soldiers and almost everyone in the Mojave killed.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Has a Ranger Sequoia like all NCR Rangers.
• The Rival: To Oliver. Hanlon considers him a General Failure while Oliver wants to use the second Battle of Hoover Dam as his chance to outshine him.
• Worthy Opponent: In the event of a Legion victory, Hanlon chooses 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.

Ambassador Dennis Crocker

Voiced by: Emerson Brooks
Interested in politics, eh? Well, grab a seat and get comfortable.

The 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.

• Beleaguered Bureaucrat: As the representative of the NCR civilian government in the Mojave, he has to take care of everything from recording the actives of citizens on the Strip to negotiating alliances with other factions.
• Butt Monkey: Somewhat, for Colonel Moore. And both NCR soldiers and citizens in general seems to dislike him.
• Kicked Upstairs: 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.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He prefer diplomacy unlike most NCR leadership who would rather use violence.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue along with Hsu, Oliver and Moore are the reds.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: On regards to the Kings, when the Courier failed to stop the violence in Freeside using diplomacy, his first order was to refer the case to Colonel Moore, but knowing what Moore would most likely do, he recommend the Courier to go to Colonel Hsu instead. It ends up costing him since Moore gets him fired for it.

President Aaron Kimball

Voiced by: Monte Markham

"Today, you are the waves of the Pacific, pushing ever eastward. You are the sequoias rising from the Sierra Nevadas, defiant and enduring."

—President Kimball's speech at Hoover Dam

The 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 visits Hoover Dam to give a motivational speech for the troops stationed there, where three assassination attempts are made on him within the timespan of five minutes.

• Big Good: In the eyes of many NCR citizens.
• Is This Thing Still On?: At the end of his speech. Except he doesn't seem to realize it was.

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.

• Jerkass: According the the comments of numerous NCR NPCs, he's a greedy, imperialistic dick who just cares about annexing everything he sees. Could potentially be a case of The Extremist Was Right if you help the NCR take control of the Mojave.
• Our Presidents Are Different: 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.
• Rousing Speech: The reason why he traveled to Hoover Dam is to give one of these. But things will go horribly wrong unless you intervene.
• Shout-Out: The soldier that he awards a medal to is clearly a Forrest Gump Expy.
• Precision F-Strike: After his great speech, he tells his men:

"Alright, let's get the fuck out of here."

• Too Dumb to Live: 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 (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.
• Worthy Opponent: Caesar, of all people, actually considers him to to 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 despise 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.

First Recon

The last thing you never see.

—First Recon motto

A group of NCR Snipers stationed at Camp McCarran. They are known in-universe for being total Badasses. The group 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.

• Adorkable: 10 of Spades is one of the shortest characters in the game, has a stutter, wears thick glasses, and talks about how much ass he kicks. This is true even in-universe, as he has a maxed out Charisma of 10.
• Badass:
  • Action Girl: Corporal Betsy.
  • Badass Adorable: 10 of Spades.
  • Badass Creed: The last thing you never see. Boone himself (a former alumni) comments "It's pretty accurate, and so were we."
  • Badass Crew: And HOW! This is so true NCR troopers take one look at Boone following you around and are openly envious a First Recon guy is your guardian angel.
  • Badass Grandpa: Corporal Sterling.
  • Cool Shades: Everyone but 10 of Spades, who just wears normal glasses.
  • Determinator: Sterling was tortured to the point his hands and feet were fucked up. Instead of letting that slow him down, he escaped captivity by crawling away on his knees and elbows.
  • One-Man Army: 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.
  • Submissive Badass: Betsy. In fact, it's the best way to resolve the quest to get her therapy, via going drill sergeant on her and telling her she needs to be psychologically fit to fight or she's useless as a soldier. Gorobets wanted to do this, but due to being aware of his own chronic A Father to His Men tendencies, he asks a third party (the Courier) to get her to seek help because he was afraid of straining relations with his subordinate by being a hardass.
• Black and Nerdy: 10 of Spades has comic books under his bed.
• Butch Lesbian: Betsy.
• Cold Sniper: Sergeant Bitter-Root and Corporal Betsy.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Corporal Sterling was an Ranger who was tortured and nearly killed by the Legion before being transferred to First Recon, Bitter-Root was at Bitter Springs on the Khan’s side, and Corporal Betsy is recovering from the emotional trauma of being raped by Cook-Cook.
• Defector From Decadence: Bitter-Root, who used to be one of the Khans.
• A Father to His Men: Gorobets, to the point it bites him on the ass in regards to Betsy, who he wants to pull rank on, but can't because he doesn't want to further demoralize her, 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.
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Gorobets.
  • The Lancer: Bitter-Root.
  • The Big Guy: Corporal Sterling.
  • The Smart Guy: 10 of Spades.
  • The Action Girl: Betsy.
• Friendly Sniper: 10 of Spades and Corporal Sterling
• I Call It Vera: "La Longue Carabine", Sterling's custom scoped Cowboy Repeater.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: A bullet through the eye from 800 yards, indeed. What makes it more amazing is the fact that only Sterling has a scope on his rifle.
• It's All My Fault: 10 of Spades believes it's his fault Betsy was raped. You have to option of comforting him or rubbing it in.
• It's Personal: 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.
• Memetic Badass: In-universe.
• New Meat: 10 of Spades, called so because he's not yet the Ace of Spades. That would be Pacer.
• Nice Hat: Their trademark red berets.
• One of the Boys: Betsy.
• The Squad: Of snipers.
• The Squadette: Betsy.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Betsy, thanks to being a Butch Lesbian, regrets having to kill female Fiend, citing that she wouldn't mind getting to know them better outside of combat if it wasn't for the fact the poor bastards are feral chem fiends she's bound by law and common sense to kill.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Bitter-Root and 10 of Spades have both been to therapy, and an entire quest is devoted to getting Betsy to go.
• Unfriendly Fire: Bitter-Root implies that he used the confusion doing the NCR's attack on Bitter Springs to "settle some scores" with the other Khans.
• Video Game Caring Potential: If you want, you can avenge Betsy's rape by Cook-cook (and get her to seek counseling), convince 10 of Spades he's not responsible for not being able to save her (he was unconscious) and wipe out two other Fiend leaders, at least one of which has personally murdered half a dozen of their own.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: 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.