Fallout 4/Characters/Companions

Main Game
Like Fallout New Vegas, companions are a lot more than just expendable meat shields and many have their own greater or lesser connections to the story at large.


 * Arc Welding: While they all are met at various points of the game, their own arcs tie into the overall story to some greater or lesser degree, with a few exceptions.
 * Ada from Automatron doesn't really have a greater impact on the larger story, her arc being mostly self contained to the DLC plot, but the abilities she unlocks can have a great impact on certain quests, since the robot building can greatly influence settlement defense and even make certain quests like the Minutemen "Defend the Castle" Quest much easier.
 * Old Longfellow is mostly confined to relevance in Far Harbor and its associated DLC quests, though he does have some commentary for the Commonwealth in general, and his arc intersects with Nick Valentine's own plot arcs, which have implications for the Commonwealth in general.
 * Porter Gage is mainly Nuka-World centric, but his designs and intentions, should the player go full raider boss, will have a big impact on the Commonwealth, and will be one of the very few ways to make an open enemy of Preston Garvey and the Minutemen.
 * Strong has the least impact on the overall plot in general, but does show that the Brotherhood of Steel's blatant racism against his kind is not entirely merited, while at the same time highlighting Super Mutants are largely victims of their creators, which does tie back into the Institute plotline and can affect how the player decides to deal with them.

Dogmeat
Can be met as soon as you step outside of Sanctuary Hills, just down the road at the Red Rocket station. Like his predecessors in the other Fallout games, he's a loyal canine companion who will travel and fight alongside you.


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Codsworth
The Mr. Handy that was intended to be the family butler for the Sole Survivor's family, but who comes to view their family as his own. Can join you as soon as you return from Concord.


 * AI Is a Crapshoot: He laments this about other, simpler robots with more rudimentary programming, though it ranges from sympathy, such as in the case of the broken Takahashi in Diamond City, to annoyance, such as with Deezer in Covenant, who tries to offer him, of all beings, lemonade.
 * American Robot: Is quite proud of his US producer, General Atomics, even makes snide remarks about communists in certain areas.
 * Badass: Downplayed. He admits he's no Mr. Gutsy, but will fight alongside you anyway, and while useful in the early game, other companions quickly outclass him him without the Automatron DLC.
 * Badass Automaton: With the Automatron DLC, you can upgrade Codsworth to being a robotic One Man Army.
 * Crutch Character; Falls into this without Automatron. While initially a strong melee fighter and a decent ranged fighter due to the built in buzz saw blade and flamethrower, he drops off in power very quickly. Averted with the Automatron because you can keep upgrading his arsenal.
 * Moral Myopia: While his morality is easily mistaken for that of a Lawful Good type, Codsworth has some odd deviations from this norm:
 * Unlike most other companions with a similar code of morals, he's rather indifferent to cannibalism, though since Codsworth doesn't consider this a crime to a living, innocent being, he doesn't view it with anything other dispassionate indifference.
 * While he approves of helping organizations like the Minutemen, he has reservations about the Brotherhood of Steel, which makes sense since the Minutemen define their role and selfless servants of others like Codsworth himself, while the Brotherhood defines itself as guardians who enforce their rules on others.
 * Nice Guy: By default, he's unerringly polite to anyone who isn't hostile.
 * Pride: In regards to his own machine nature, he's quite proud of his own robot type and the company that made him. He tends to be scornful of RobCo derived machines most of the time, but he does show them occasional sympathy, like in the case of the broken Takahashi in Diamond City.
 * Pungeon Master: A standard feature of his robot type is to offer these sorts of jokes when he doesn't have anything else to say, also a Call Back to your Mr. Handy servant in Fallout 3.
 * Robot Buddy: Quite proud of this status, though he considers himself just as much a friend and ally to the player as those who look humanoid.
 * Sliding Scale of Robot Intelligence: Fairly high up on the scale, rather surprisingly since he's a mass produced model of robot easily purchasable before the Great War, but it's implied he may have learned to grow beyond his limited programming in the interval since the prologue. He still adheres to many basic principles of his stock programming, and thus even at zero trust he will not turn hostile and attack the Sole Survivor, but he will become disgusted enough with them he refuses to actively aid them in combat.

Preston Garvey
Met in Concord, trying to defend a bunch of settlers from some Raiders. One of the the last Minutemen after their organization started to fall from its heyday, he hopes you can turn their fortunes around.


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Deacon
Met in person when you try to join the Railroad, but you've run into him several times before and likely didn't notice, so he knows quite a bit about what you've been up to when you are trying to gain entrance to the Railroad, and organization whom he is a leading intelligence officer for.


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Piper Wright
A reporter who runs a newspaper in Diamond City, met at the Diamond City Gate where she's trying to get back in after getting temporarily kicked out for angering the mayor.


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Cait
A cage fighter at the Combat Zone, a notorious den of raiders and other thugs who engage in prize fights, where Cait reigns as their current champion, but after losing to you, her manager, Tommy Lonegan, asks you to take her with you since her skills are getting rusty, despite Cait's initial protests, though his intentions seem to be more benevolent than they seem.


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Paladin Danse
A Paladin in the Brotherhood of Steel, met in Cambridge at the Police Station trying to fight off a horde of feral ghouls with the remains of his squad. Tries to convince you of the Brotherhood's merits and is a respected field officer of their reigning Elder.


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Curie

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John Hancock

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Nick Valentine
Nick Valentine is met in Vault 114, a prisoner of a Post-War mob boss. On top of being Diamond City's resident detective, he's also a second generation synth prototype, the only synth Diamond City has ever willingly tolerated and even come to like.


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Robert Joseph MacCready
Better known to Fallout 3 players as the incredibly foul mouthed Mayor MacCready of Little Lamplight, he has grown up into an adult now. Met in Goodneighbour's Third Rail Club being threatened by members of the Gunners, a mercenary outfit he recently cut ties with, he still works as a gun for hire for his own reasons, but can be convinced to work for you.


 * Badass: He was already pretty capable even as a kid, is quite the marksman as an adult, enough he's able to fend for himself as a mercenary.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Is prone to dry humored commentary on some of the places you visit.
 * Hitman With a Heart; He's a merc, but he has standards. He left the Gunners because they didn't. Specifically, they will take any job, no matter how brutal or depraved, and some of the depths they'd sink to he didn't have the stomach for. Doesn't mean he won't kill people for a living, but he wants to be reasonably sure you're an Asshole Victim first.

X6-88

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Strong
Strong is a Super Mutant who can be rescued from the Trinity Tower, where he was almost killed by his fellow mutants for basically being somewhat more intelligent than the rest them and coming to the conclusion he could be slightly more than a murderous monster.


 * Token Heroic Orc: To a degree. He has not abandoned being willing to engage in cannibalism or murder, and still enjoys raising hell in general, but this is tempered by a rudimentary morality based on similar species having an imperative to look out for one another, not to mention an odd fascination with those who use clever speech and conversational guile as opposed to constant violence.

Ada

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Automatrons

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Old Longfellow

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Porter Gage
Porter Gage is the former raider lieutenant of the Overboss of Nuka-World, a man named Colter who Gage helps you bump off in the hopes you'll be a worthier successor. The ultimate plans he has for the Commonwealth in general are visionary, but it's up to the Sole Survivor to either disappoint him or help Gage fulfill his dreams.


 * Affably Evil: H's a pretty nice guy for a raider, to the point it's occasionally hard to remember he's a Raider, with all the brutality and ruthlessness that implies.
 * Badass: Given how long he's stayed alive despite his profession in life, most definitely, especially since he's street smart enough to take notes on the finer points of this trope to stay alive.
 * Ambadassador: Serves as this for the various raider factions, all of which he manages to finesse into a loose confederation for mutual gain for the benefit of his own superior. He's recognized as tough enough in his own right each of the factions at least has enough respect for his ability to agree to the loose alliance, so long as he continues to adhere to the usefulness this trope implies.
 * Submissive Badass: By choice. Being the number one guy in any organization makes them a fine target, which is why he's prefers to be a merely an assistant, which means his chances of getting shanked for his position are a lot lower.
 * Evil Genius: By raider standards he's the brightest bulb in the box by a wide margin, and his advice is tailored to help his boss succeed, and his counsel is very on point.
 * Jerkass: He's a raider, being a dick comes with the territory.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: For a given value of this. He's still a raider, so this doesn't mean he's in any way an altruistic sort, but he does shown the Sole Survivor genuine respect and even concern for their well being, especially if romanced.
 * Pragmatic Villainy: He's a raider, though a very clever and forward thinking one, hence why he frowns on chem abuse, which he feels makes raiders sloppy. He's also a big picture thinker, with clear goals for long term prosperity as a raider as opposed to immediate short term gains.