Fallout: New Vegas/Characters/New Vegas

The Strip

Robert Edwin House

Voiced by: René Auberjonois

"I am Robert Edwin House, President, CEO, and sole proprietor of the New Vegas Strip. I oversaw this city's renovation starting from 2274 onward. The Three Families are my employees. Before the Great War of 2077, I was the founder, President and CEO of Robco Industries, a vast computer and robotics corporation."

—Mr. House introducing himself

A successful Pre-War businessman, Mr. House is the mysterious de-facto ruler of New Vegas, controlling the Strip and the city proper through his army of Securitrons. Before the Great War, Mr. House was an extremely intelligent and ruthless tycoon who foresaw the coming of the hostilities between the U.S and China and arranged it so that his beloved Vegas, along with himself, survived long after. Emerging after the remnants of civilization had reformed himself, Mr. House rules from within the Lucky 38 Casino and has wasted no time in setting up the city of New Vegas, working to exploit the factions interested in the Mojave.

• And I Must Scream: A possible fate for him.
  • It is downplayed however, because, according to his terminal, he will die after a year; he's not immortal. Probably.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: If the Courier kills him, no one in the Mojave is really sad to see him go, not even the people who have been living under his protection on the Strip.
• Anti-Hero: Type IV. Or alternatively...
• Anti-Villain: Type III. He has no intention to rule humanity, just make a pretty penny while putting it back together.
  • Whether or not Mr. House is a villain, just like every other faction, is in the eye of the beholder. On the one hand, House really is a genius, a talented inventor and businessman, and tells the Courier that with enough economic growth, he could bring back the old world in all its glory. In fifty years, he could put men into space; in a hundred, he'll have spaceships going for a new planet to colonize. He keeps New Vegas as an independent, clean and orderly, with water and power to everyone who can afford it. On the other hand, House creates an unopposed autocratic police state, removes a bit of the human element, and boils everything down to economics and probability. He also taxes the poor much more harshly even when compared to the NCR. He doesn't kill or abuse civilians, but it is mostly because killing them is bad for business. Capitalism, ho?
• Berserk Button: For an otherwise fairly rational guy, the Brotherhood is a huge one for him. He hates them with a passion and is not shy about letting you know it. Any other group he treats with either annoyance or disdain, but he'll rant at length if you try to convince him the Brotherhood is OK.
  • He has a very good reason for it: they wouldn't take too kindly to him keeping the Securitrons.
  • Amusingly, his cultured and precise way of speaking briefly goes out the window when asked why he hates the Brotherhood:

Mr House: Because they're ridiculous!

• • He will also get quite upset if you deny him the Platinum Chip in front of him, to the point that he'll just sic Securitrons on you if he finally has enough of your bullshit.
• Big Good: He isn't unambiguously "good" (no one in this game is), but is the closest of the three factions, as he has a utopian vision for the future development of the Mojave, the player starts out the game working for him, and one has to go out of one's way to go to work for any other factions.
• Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word: He's an autocrat, not a dictator. He's quite insistent on this point.
• Bread and Circuses: House's method of governing... more or less. Well, he is in charge of Viva Las Vegas, after all. House operates under a little of the first type, a lot of the second, and a dash of the third. And it's available to everyone! ...for a fair and reasonable price, of course.
• Body Horror: What he really looks like.
• Born Lucky: Though it doesn't get as much play as his Insufferable Genius qualities, his Luck Stat is 10 out of 10.
• The Chessmaster: House has been playing almost everyone since before even the Great War, and even managed to partially save the Mojave from Chinese attacks. Whether he wins this particular game of chess is up to you...
• Control Freak: See Personal Effects Reveal below.
• Crazy Prepared: The man has thought out every contingency well in advance, the only wild card being your actions. It's rather telling that his planning for the Great War was only off by a day.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: He can accurately predict almost all of your actions before you actually do any of them (most of the time, anyway).
• Deadpan Snarker: His default state.
• Democracy Is Bad: He aims to become the sole autocrat ruling over the Mojave. If the player calls him out on this, he will simply tell you to look out the window and see how well the last democracy ended up.
• Emperor Scientist: His scientific genius (and the army of robots it provides) are the backbone of his control over New Vegas.
• Evil Overlord: Something of a deconstruction. He ticks many of the boxes (he's a Shadow Dictator, resides in an Evil Tower of Ominousness, communicates through a Mouth of Sauron, has an army of disposable Mooks, and has a plan to Take Over the World), but, in the end, he's actually a strong candidate to be the game's Big Good.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Lucky 38, which no one ever enters or leaves and which is the single tallest structure in the Mojave.
• Fantastic Racism: His official policy is to require even non-feral ghouls and super mutants to be accompanied by a human when on the Strip, and to treat them as that human's property for legal purposes.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Just look at his picture.
• Fiction 500: Before the war, he was rich enough to personally bankroll a robot army and a missile defense system that puts the Strategic Defense Initiative to shame for Las Vegas. Post-war, he's far and away the richest guy around, spending millions of caps every year (for close to 200 years) on tracking down the Platinum Chip.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: As far as the other factions are concerned. The NCR first heard about him when they showed up to annex the Hoover Dam and were greeted by his legion of Securitrons, while the Legion didn't even bother to research him before their first invasion, since Caesar considered him a non-factor.
• Humanoid Abomination: A literal example, since he's classified in the game as an Abomination.
• Insufferable Genius: If Mr. House has a flaw, aside from certain disabilities, it's that he's a genius. And he knows it. He's never so droll as to directly point it out, but he obviously talks down to people, and won't even consider the idea that he might be wrong.
• Kick the Dog/Kick the Son of a Bitch: When he makes you kill the Brotherhood of Steel. Unlike 99% of other quests in the game, there is no alternative, peaceful solution. You have to kill them. What's sad is that there is Dummied Out dialogue for a peaceful solution.
  • There is now a mod that restores the dummied-out option.
  • If he takes over the Mojave, the only way for the Kings to survive is if they start a street war against the innocent NCR citizens. In all the other outcomes, it will result in him ordering the Kings to be killed off.
  • If the White Glove Society fall off the bandwagon and revert back to cannibalism, House will tell you that you're free to exterminate them since that's a major breach on their contract.
• The Man Behind the Curtain: To the extent that Cass makes several references to The Wizard of Oz when discussing him.
• Man in the Machine: His physical human body is contained in a life support capsule beneath the casino wired up to the Lucky 38's computer systems. The entire fortress is his body now, and his Securitrons his arms to control the Strip.
• Meaningful Name: In casino-speak, "the House" refers to the casino itself. And as everyone knows, "the House always wins".
• Mecha-Mooks: His Securitrons.
• Misanthrope Supreme: He has a great devotion to humanity in the abstract, but an intense dislike of people, who are messy, unpredictable and an affront to his Control Freak tendency.
• NGO Superpower: The three main factions in the game are a pre-war-style nation-state, an empire forged from 87 tribes... and Mr. House.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's heavily based on Howard Hughes. His old look, economic views and pursuit of technology for the betterment of mankind (at least he believes so) all harken back to the Hughes when he was the famous self-made man, while his obsession with Vegas and his seclusion in the penthouse of a hotel reference Hughes in his decline.
• Personal Effects Reveal: An unmarked Sidequest for Mr. House involves collecting Snowglobes for him. Why Snowglobes?

Mr. House: What of it? I enjoy them. There's something about a little diorama set inside a glass dome that I find... pleasing.

—
J.E. Sawyer: It's for the Citizen Kane reference, partially because it's especially fitting for Mr. House. He has no interest in physically interacting with the world but wants absolute control over New Vegas. Snow globes are perfect static worlds in miniature that can't be directly touched but can be (literally) turned up side down any time the owner desires.

• Pragmatic Villainy: When you ask him how can you be sure that he will not abuse his power, he tells you that there isn't any reason for him to want to do that and that it will be bad for business.
• Properly Paranoid: Back in 2065, Mr. House was certain that it is only a matter of time before a nuclear war between the superpowers takes place, so he spent a large amount of his personal wealth setting up missile defenses to protect the area around Las Vegas. 12 years later, the Great War happened. Then again, given what you learn of the buildup to the war, one might call this less "paranoid" and more "realistic".
  • Also, he orders you to kill off the Brotherhood, even though they haven't done anything to him, based purely on speculation that they will start attacking caravans/try to take his robots away without the NCR to oppose them. At first, this may make House seem cruel, but if you take the Wild Card ending and spare the Brotherhood, the Brotherhood actually do start attacking.
  • He also believes it is a matter of time before the NCR turn on him and annex New Vegas by force. He's right, but it's partly his fault; he's been making a lot of trouble for the NCR and planning to seize the Dam for himself.
  • Doc Mitchell and the Weintraub siblings hate him because he took over Vault 21 and filled most of it with cement to prevent anyone from using it to sneak in or out of the Strip. Benny activities, and subsequent escape, demonstrates that, if anything, he wasn't paranoid enough.
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: He's been alive since before the Great War. It wasn't easy. Not at all.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: The main reason why he taxes Primm and sic Securitrons on the Kings in the epilogue if they side with the NCR.
• Self-Made Man: He was orphaned at an early age and cheated out of his inheritance by his half-brother, but though his intelligence and hard work he founded the RobCo Industries on his 22nd birthday, one of the most wealthy and influential corporations in history. By the time he was thirty, he was already a billionaire three times over.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: He's not as bad as Arcade, but he'll slip into it on occasion.
• Shadow Dictator: Prior to the Courier, no one has ever been inside the Lucky 38, never mind spoken to Mr. House in person.
• Shrouded in Myth: Everyone has their pet theories about the true nature of Mr. House, but no one really knows for sure.
• Smug Snake: He is excessively prideful, to the point that, despite his cleverness, he is inclined to underestimate others. Including the Courier.
• Too Clever by Half
• Ubermensch: He disregards the moral and ethical systems of lesser men and intends to reshape the Mojave (and, eventually, the world) according to his whims by the sheer force of his will.
• Villainous Breakdown: He has quite an impressive one if you have the Platinum Chip in your possession, but you refuse to give it to him.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to restore the world to its pre-war glory. But his means of doing so are to rule over New Vegas as an absolute dictator and force the NCR to pull out of the area.
• Xanatos Roulette: He specializes in these, due to his ability to predict and manipulate probabilities.

Benny

Voiced by: Matthew Perry

"From where you're kneeling must seem like an 18 carat run of bad luck. Truth is...the game was rigged from the start."

—Benny right before he shot you in the head twice

Benny is the head of the Chairmen, one of the Three Families who rule the Strip. A major antagonist early on, Benny was the one who shot the Courier in the opening of the game and stole the Platinum Chip to use for his own plans. A charming, backstabbing snake, Benny's willing to do anything to come out on top in the harsh Mojave Wasteland.

• Affably Evil: He's quite charming and nice, if a bit sleazy and murderous. He even makes it clear right at the beginning of the game when he has the Khans dig you a grave, and when the Khans start protesting that he should just get it over with, he snaps back that he isn't a "fink" and wants to look someone in the face when he kills them.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Can be subverted and played straight if the player character is a female. You can have sex with Benny, but it can just be a means to get the chance to kill him in private. Benny himself is even somewhat grossed out about the fact that a girl he has shot in the head and left for dead is thinks he's hot and wants to have sex with him despite that.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: Kill him, and the only person broken up about it is Swank, his Number Two (and even Swank won't be sad if you convinced him of Benny's treachery). Most non-unique NPCs (outside isolationist factions like the Brotherhood and the Boomers) will even have new lines of dialogue gloating about it.
• Anti-Villain: Everything he does was just a misguided attempt at staying alive.
• Arch Nemesis: The Courier's, for the first half of the game at least.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's a relative push-over in-game, but the All Roads comic shows that despite his dandy-like appearance Benny is actually highly skilled in wasteland survival and combat, impressing even his Great Khans henchmen. This makes sense, as he used to be a wasteland tribal warrior prior to Mr. House's takeover and renovation of New Vegas.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He has a very nice suit and one of the most powerful pistols in the game.
  • Fashion Victim Villain: The suit is not particularly well-liked by others.
• Big Bad Wannabe: He's aiming to take over the Mojave, but is nowhere near as smart as the Courier or House. While he might have succeeded in being able to take over the Strip by usurping House, it's highly dubious as to how well he could have dealt with the Legion or NCR, to say nothing of the many outside factions he'd have to deal with.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Let him go at The Tops or the Legion camp. See what happens.
  • Cut content reveals that he would have ambushed the Courier again if he was freed, using a stealth boy. Ungrateful Bastard, no?
• Consummate Liar: He lies to you time and again. If you actually trust him, then there is something wrong with you.
• Cool Gun: Maria, his custom Browning Hi-Power. You can get it if kill him.
• Crazy Prepared: Apparently, Yes Man being able to follow anyone's orders was something of a contingency.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: If you ask about his background, Benny will tell you about how he became tribe leader through Klingon Promotion, taking down his Mighty Glacier former boss.
• Disc One Final Boss: Becomes pretty much irrelevant after the end of the first act (i.e. chasing Benny down).
• Even Evil Has Standards: Proven in the game intro when, upon a Great Khan asking him why he waited until the Courier was conscious to kill him/her, he actually gets offended, making it quite clear he considers it reprehensible to shoot someone without looking them in the face. As bonus points, he even apologizes to the Courier for having to kill him/her for merely beign in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Evil Counterpart: Plays this role to the Courier, regardless of morality. It's telling that in the Collecter's Edition deck of cards, Benny and the Courier are the Jokers. It gets better, the two Jokers in the deck, Benny and the Courier, have those cards for more reasons than just being the Wild Cards. First, in Euchre, the Joker is called the "Benny" card. Second, the Joker cards in Tarot have significant meaning, one Joker meaning the Fool, the other the Magician. The Fool, being the Courier, is the spirit in search of experience (although XP might be a better word for it), and represents mystical cleverness, not bound by normal reason, and possessing an ability to tune into the inner workings of the world, and is often represented by a wanderer walking aimless, often one foot hanging over a void, a step away from falling to his death. Meanwhile, the Magician, being Benny, is a man who practices sleight of hand, trickery and deception, a stage magician with the initial appearance of great power, but later revealed to have no ability of his own, and can also indicate a manipulator, a trickster and the ego, as well as the pursuit of personal power, and is often associated with the first step in the Fool's Journey, as well as the potential for new adventure.
• Face Death with Dignity: Unless you decide to just shoot him in the head while he's tied up, then he gets upset.
• Flunky Boss: If you opt to just attack him on the floor of The Tops after convincing Swank to let you bring in your gear and kill him, he'll be backed up by 4 thugs wielding knives and sub machine guns. He'll put up a little more of a fight than if you fight him in the arena and can even overpower low level players, but a high level player still should have no problem with him.
• Graceful Loser: Once he realizes that he won't be a part of overthrowing New Vegas, he actually tells you his plans with Yes Man and encourages you to take his place. He'll try to kill you straight after this.
• I Call It Vera: Benny's gun Maria.
• Idiot Ball: Infiltrating the main Legion camp at the Fort. No matter how he went about it, that was too stupid for his own good.
  • Hilariously, what gave him away was the fact that he didn't change his well-groomed haircut, which prompts Caesern himself to admit that Benny had been doing so surprisingly well at infilitrating his fortress he was actually disappointed such a Worthy Opponent at outsmarting his troops was brought down due to a menial thing like vanity.
• Jive Turkey: Benny and The Chairmen all speak in 50's style Rat Pack slang.
• Karmic Death: When Benny ends up at the Fort, Caesar gives you the opportunity to kill Benny in a multitude of ways if you want to kill him. The most simple way to go about it is actually a role reversal of the opening of the game, only this time, Benny is the one tied up on the floor, and The Courier is the one with the gun (provided you manage to smuggle it in). Even Benny cracks a joke about how the tables have turned on him.
• The Nicknamer: Calls the Courier "Baby" regardless of gender.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's based on Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the gangster often credited with founding the modern Las Vegas.
• Precision F-Strike: Happens during a Crowning Moment of Awesome where you deliver a Bond One-Liner to him over the intercom while he thinks he's talking to the thugs/cleaners who are there to clean up your corpse.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: All Roads in particular casts Swank and Benny like this. Benny is scheming to take on Vegas, Swank is worried about the extremes he'll go to... and about him getting cigarette burns on the carpets.
• Smug Snake: He'd be a lot more efficient as a liar if he weren't so arrogant.
• Spanner in the Works: Whether Mr. House could have actually succeeded in taking control of the Mojave on his own is debatable, but what is certain is that Benny's actions have significantly disrupted his plans and the delicate balance of power between the factions fighting over the territory.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: If you free him from the Legion, he disappears.
  • What Could Have Been: He was going to ambush The Courier later on and mock him/her for showing him mercy.
• Wild Card: His reason for stealing the Platinum Chip. It doesn't work... for him, at least.

Victor

Voiced by: William Sadler

"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, it's my 'ole pal from Goodsprings!"

The Securitron robot who narrowly saves the Courier at the very beginning, seemingly by coincidence while scavenging around the graveyard area.

• Body Backup Drive: Like Yes Man, Victor is just a personality that can be uploaded to any Securitron.
• Mysterious Protector: Early on in the game, Victor can occasionally appear to help fight off enemies if the player's having trouble.
• Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie: He's a robot unicycle who thinks he's a cowboy.
  • To be fair, he's completely aware that he's a robot. The cowboy is just a persona he happens to enjoy.

Yes Man

Voiced by: Dave Foley
"What can I do for you today!?"

A Securitron re-programmed by Benny to be subservient to him, hence the name, Yes Man is the key piece in Benny's plan to rule New Vegas.

• Berserk Button: Yes Man despises both the Great Khans and the Brotherhood of Steel. The former likely an emulation of Benny's dislike of the Khans from back when the Chairmen were just another tribal group while the latter he dislikes for about the same reasons as House. However, unlike House, Yes Man cannot make the Courier exterminate said factions, but will note that keeping the Brotherhood alive is a poor long-term choice and hopes that the Great Khans will die a grisly death in some other way.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite his cheery demeanor, this is the AI that masterminded a plot that puts him in total control of a Securitron army and by default, Vegas itself. He's also responsible for setting up the plan to ambush you and help Benny put two bullets in your noggin (he's awful sorry about it though once he knows who you are).
  • Also, there's a piece of Dummied Out dialogue for the Independent ending that hints at a sadistic side:

"Greetings, General Oliver. The disappointment you're about to experience delights me!"

• Body Backup Drive: Every time the player character kills him, he is just uploaded in another robot. This could go forever, making him one of the few immortal characters in the game.
• Double Standard: He has a humorous moment of this if you get the Great Khans to aid the NCR.

That's not aiding the enemy. Not when you do it.

• The Dragon: To Benny, and you if you go for the Wild Card path.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Arguably, what with it being him rather than Benny/you who controls the securitrons.
• Dude, Not Funny: If you make it clear to him that you're the Courier that Benny shot:

"Ha ha ha, that's... Not funny, you getting shot in the head. I guess I really shouldn't have taken so much pride in how I set that up. I feel really bad now."

• Extreme Doormat: If you decide to attack him, the most he can do is beg for mercy and say how much he deserves it. However, he can't be Killed Off for Real since he'll just upload himself to another Securitron.
• Genre Savvy: Hey, it's not my fault I can't say no.
  • He works to avert this in the ending, where he states that he stumbled upon an upgrade that will make him more "Assertive" (i.e. make sure that he won't be obligated to follow the orders of just anyone while still remaining loyal to you).
• Keet: He's just so damn happy about everything. And nice! Very, very nice!
• Large Ham: Keet-style.
• Puss in Boots: Word of God states that the "Assertiveness" upgrade he finds isn't foreshadowing for betrayal, but meant to establish Yes Man as capable of watching over Vegas independently while remaining loyal only to the Courier so that someone else can't use him to do the same thing to you.
• Stepford Smiler: Though he can't show it, he'll obviously get quite upset if you do something counter-productive to his plans, such as blowing up the hidden Securitron army.
• Wild Card: He is needed for you to get the Independent Vegas ending.
• Yes-Man: Benny calls him this. The name stuck.

Mr. New Vegas

Voiced by: Wayne Newton
"This is Mr. New Vegas, and each and every one of you is wonderful in your own special way."

The gravel-voiced DJ of Radio New Vegas who will often report on activities happening out in the Mojave Wasteland.

• Estrogen Brigade Bait: At least some of the ladies of the Mojave consider him to be "charming" and "a real gentleman".
• The Messiah: See below.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: He is just the sweetest most ridiculously nice guy. "Hello, listeners, I'm Mister New Vegas and may I say you look beautiful today." "This is just my opinion, and feel free to try and prove me wrong, but I think I have the most attractive listeners in the world." "I think listening to the news... sort of brings us all a bit closer together, doesn't it?"
• Testosterone Poisoning: He once tried to test his Charisma on a vito-matic, only for the machine to burst into flame. He only says this with the Wild Wasteland trait.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: He somehow knows about every event that takes place in the wasteland and reports about them on his radio show. It is revealed that he is actually an AI programmed by Mr. House before the war.
• Worst News Judgment Ever: Unlike Three Dog from the previous game, he subverts it. All of his reports are generally fairly newsworthy, they're unbiased and have outside commentary, and, most importantly, your character is almost never mentioned. Any time you're responsible, he'll at most mention a third party or a civilian, but won't name names. His only direct mention of you is your miraculous recovery at the beginning, and that is newsworthy in itself.

The Chairmen

Ring-a-ding-ding, baby.

A group of tribals formerly known as the Boot Runners, reformed by House to embody what is "cool". They currently run the Tops Casino and Aces Theater.

• Camp: To the point of making it an art form.
• Jive Turkey: The group all speak in beatnik slang.
• Klingon Promotion: After you deal with Benny, Swank becomes the leader of The Chairmen and will officially run The Tops.
• Nice Guy: Swank is one of the friendlier guys you'll meet in The Strip and has some sensible things to say of the various factions of Vegas.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Aces manager Tommy Torini looks an awful lot like Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr.
• The Starscream: Swank will help you deal with Benny if you convince him that he's working against House.
• Token Good Teammate: Among the Vegas families. Sure, one member (and his four thugs) is kind of a dick, but at least the faction as a whole is fundamentally good. At least they're not cannibals or sex slavers.

The White Glove Society

"You see? We remain the very picture of courtesy, even in the face of such impolite accusations. We have nothing to hide here."

A group of tribals reformed by House with a love for sophistication and luxury. Founded by Marjorie, they currently run the Ultra-Luxe Casino.

• Cane Fu: Their preferred weapons are dress canes.
• Cannibal Clan: Before they were the White Glove Society. Interesting enough, the developers originally named them the Sawneys (a.k.a. Sawney Bean).
• I'm a Humanitarian: Or well, they used to be. Some, like Mortimer, still are.
• The Not-Secret: Their general creepiness and the fact that it's a rumor that everyone talks about makes the fact they used to be cannibals less surprising.
• Upper Class Twit: They insist that they are the best and most sophisticated people in the world.
• White Mask of Doom: Their members put on a white mask because their leader Marjorie thinks it will add to their mysterious and elegant atmosphere. But many people comment on how it just makes them creepy.

The Omertas

"You play some games, have some fun."

A group of tribals reformed by House in the shape of old-world crime syndicates. Led by Nero and Big Sal, they run Gomorrah Casino and strip-club.

• The Atoner: In Cachino's journal, he expresses regret at the things he's done, and continually promises himself he'll never do them again. It's insinuated that he may finally turn over a new leaf now that he has the responsibility of running Gommorah. He talks of "running a tighter ship" than his predecessors.
• Cluster F-Bomb: The staff at the other casinos try to keep their guests happy by being polite and respectful to them. But not the Omertas. It's implied to be mostly just an act since Carlito and Cachino can speak in a more civil manner.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Cachino may be a hustler and a rapist, but he knows something serious is up with the Omerta bosses and will even help you ruin their plans to help the Legion chlorine-bomb New Vegas.
  • He also has standards in another way: he is very well aware that the things he does are wrong, and wants to stop, but he never quite seems to get the willpower to.
• Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: They claim that the Gomorrah is just another hotel and casino, but everyone knows that they engage in illegal activities.
• The Mafia: The theme of their casino. They live up to it.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Lanius despises them and states that he personally wants them dead for their dishonorable actions, implying this would happen if others don't wipe them out.
• Smug Snake
• The Starscream: When confronting Big Sal and Nero, it's possible to convince the former that you're working under the latter's orders and get them to try and kill each other.
• Token Evil Teammate: Of the families.
• Token Good Teammate: Cachino, if you can believe it.

Freeside

The Kings

"The Kings are about an idea. Where every man is free to follow his own path, do his own thing. Where every man is a king in his own right."
The King

• All Hail the Great God Mickey: When the Kings found the King's School of Impersonation, they took the massive amounts of recordings, posters, imagery and imitation instructions to indicate that Elvis (not that they know his actual name) was actually a god figure from before the war that people worshiped.
• The Dragon/The Lancer: Pacer.
  • The Starscream: Though he's the second in-command, he does a lot of things The King would not approve of, and if the player proceeds down the NCR questline eventually, Pacer will rebel when The King agrees to peace with NCR.
• Elvis Impersonator: An entire gang of them, all convinced it's a pre-war religion. Only The King and Pacer put on the voice, but this might be justified since King says the tapes broke a few years ago. They're the oldest members and might be the only ones still alive to have heard them.
• Entitled Bastard: Zig-zagged, they aren't fond of the NCR squatters putting a drain on their resources, and The King is not pleased when he finds out the NCR is giving handouts to its citizens, but not to the proper citizens of the area. However, it turns out NCR wanted to supply everyone, but the messenger they sent to negotiate with The King was beaten and turned away by Pacer, so they were only given enough support to take care of their own. The player has the option to eventually smooth things out and get the two to agree to a truce, which leads into NCR providing relief support to Freeside if you complete the game for NCR.
• Face Heel Turn: If you convince them to make peace with the NCR, Pacer becomes enraged over the King "selling" out and attacks him. In front of several loyal Kings, NCR Troopers and your party. The only way to avoid this and still end the quest peacefully is to complete "King's Gambit" and use your favor to have the King agree to make peace.
• Future Imperfect: The Kings actually have absolutely no idea who Elvis really is. When they first discovered the school of impersonation filed with holotapes, jackets and a seemingly unlimited supply of hair gel, they concluded that Elvis was a mystical god and the building was a temple of worship.
• Gang of Hats: See above.
• Horrible Judge of Character: The King remains blissfully unaware of what a bastard Pacer unless the Courier can push him into launching an attempted coup.
• Neighbourhood Friendly Gangsters: The Kings take this a step further by acting as Freeside's de facto police force.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The King is one of the few politically powerful figures out there motivated by a genuine desire to help the people.
  • Establishing Character Moment: If you pay Pacer's toll to get in to talk to him and mention it to him, The King apologizes for Pacer acting up and refunds you personally.
• Suicidal Overconfidence: In a quest involving the NCR's and King's conflict, the NCR sends a platoon of fully armed soldiers to the King's HQ. The King tells you to explain what's going on before his gang kills the soldiers. You have the option of telling him to calm down since his gang stands no chance if they start a fight. He'll take this as a challenge, and order his gang to open fire, upon which they are all gunned down.
• Token Evil Teammate: Pacer is essentially this to the gang as a whole, and J.E. Sawyer's Balance Mod even sets his alignment to Evil (from Neutral) and The King to Good to highlight this.

The Van Graffs

Voiced by: Courtenay Taylor (Gloria Van Graff) and Emerson Brooks (Jean-Baptiste Cutting)
"That's business, after all."

A family of Arms Dealers specializing in energy weapons. Their Mojave chapter, headquartered in Freeside, is led by Gloria Van Graff and her psychotic sibling, Jean-Baptiste Cutting.

• Arms Dealer: Their specialty is energy weapons.
• Canon Immigrant: The Van Graffs were first mentioned in the J.E. Sawyer's Fallout Role-Playing Game. This is their first appearance in a canon Fallout game.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Their business practices are very immoral.
• The Dragon: Jean-Baptiste to Gloria.
• For the Evulz: Apparently, this is the motivation for Jean-Baptiste when he executes Cass.
• Gun Porn: Their store. And the best part is you can kill them and take all of it with no repercussions from anyone outside their security team. Killing them and their security team, however...
• Kick the Dog: One of the firsts thing you see when entering their establishment is Gloria ordering Jean-Baptiste to execute one of their own employees, which he does. Counts as an In-Universe example, since they do it to prove how ruthless they are to someone trying to negotiate with them.
• King Mook: Jean-Baptiste is a normal Van Graff thug, except he has his health and skills inflated to boss-like levels.
  • Flunky Boss: If you try to kill him, he'll be backed up by 5 Van Graff thugs (six if you count the doorman) wearing full combat armor and carrying hard hitting plasma rifles. Needless to say, this makes the fight against him very hard at lower levels.
• Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: They're a crime family masquerading as a legitimate arms business.
• Made of Iron: Jean-Baptiste has good armor and twice as much health as a Companion.
• Oddly Small Organization: Justified, since they are only one chapter of their family organization.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The reason that they have been secretly working with NCR to take down the Legion isn't because they oppose slavery, but because the NCR's economy is three times larger that the Legion's and therefore pays better. There's also the major fact that Caesar is infamous for pulling a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on his allies once they're no longer needed, and (unlike Papa Khan or the Omertas) Gloria ia smart enough not to imagine that she'd somehow be an exception.
• Shoplift and Die: Ordinary merchants have themselves and maybe a guard or two on hand. These guys have no less than five heavily armed and armored guards. You'll have to earn that bounty of guns.
  • Or you can use the drag button to move the guns into the conveniently-located and unguarded bathroom, and just help yourself.
• The Spymaster: After the 1.02 patch, if you solve Cass' quest the peaceful way by tuning over evidence of their plot to collaborate with the Crimson Caravan to gain monopoly over all commercial actives in the Mojave to the NCR officials, they will be permanently hostile and shoot you on sight. Most likely because they have informants in the NCR government that informed them of what you did.
• Worthy Opponent: The Gun Runners. Which is why Gloria is obligated to obliterate them however she can.