Fallout 4/Characters/Commonwealth Residents

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Members of Main Storyline Factions

East Coast Brotherhood of Steel Members

Elder Arthur Maxson

The current leader of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel, and was previously a minor Squire-in-training during the events of Fallout 3. As the intervening decade was not kind to him, Maxson has expanded and "reformed" the East Coast Brotherhood, leading them on a crusade to save the world by exterminating all Synths and threats to humanity.

Paladin Danse

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Danse's section.

Lancer-Captain Kells

Knight Rhys

Scribe Haylen

Knight-Captain Cade

Proctor Ingram

  • Action Girl: Downplayed, but not because she can't fight, but instead because she's too valuable to waste on the battlefield.
  • Deadpan Snarker: One of the few characters who can keep up with a sarcastic Sole Survivor.
  • Hero of Another Story: In part because keeping the Prydwen comes across as a full-time struggle. She's also the only Brotherhood character apart from Maxson and the Cambridge Police Station squad that have their own stories - Everyone else just seems to stand around.
  • Super Wheelchair: She uses a Power Armor frame for mobility.

Proctor Quinlan

  • British Accent: A rather pronounced one. Rather odd given the game is set in America and very little travel happens across countries anymore.
  • Hidden Depths/Not So Above It All: He's a huge Grognak the Barbarian fanboy.
  • Kick the Dog: If the Sole Survivor takes out the Institute with the Minutemen, he refers to the organization as "cannon fodder" and never gets the idea that the Sole Survivor might have used them since they have faith in their abilities as their General.

Proctor Teagan

Senior Scribe Neriah

Paladin Brandis

The last living member of Recon Squad Artemis - a Brotherhood recon team sent to the Commonwealth in 2284 before the arrival of Paladin Danse's team (Recon Squad Gladius) - he is encountered at the end of the Brotherhood side quest "The Lost Patrol", and can be persuaded to either rejoin the Brotherhood or stay by himself in his bunker.

Knight Lucia

Initiate Clarke

Institute Members

Father

The Sole Survivor knows them by another name - Shaun I. The mysterious Director of the Institute, who has a very personal and hidden relationship with the Sole Survivor.

  • Affably Evil: He's very polite and always cordial to the Sole Survivor, even when he's likely facing down the literal barrel of a gun in their first meeting.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: His death is absolutely heartbreaking, and is practically guaranteed to make the Sole Survivor feel uncomfortable in any ending.
  • Ambiguous Disorder: He shows off some mild traits of sociopathy during his reign as the Institute's Director.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Easily one of the most morally ambiguous members the Institute has to offer.
  • Antagonistic Offspring: An optional case.
  • Anti-Villain: He's never seen taking that much pleasure from the Institute's more morally ambiguous actions, and genuinely thinks he's helping create a better world.
  • Big Bad: Is one for the Brotherhood and Minutemen questlines.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Forms one with Elder Maxson for the Railroad questline.
  • Big Good: Is this for the Institute questline.
  • The Chessmaster
  • Complexity Addiction
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: In a twisted sense, as he still genuinely loves and cares for the Sole Survivor, his only surviving parent. Most poignantly, his final words with the Sole Survivor in the Institute ending are him thanking them for all of their help and imparting some advice on leading the Institute before he dies.
  • Everyone Has Standards
  • Fatal Flaw: His fear of the surface world.
  • Foil: To Caesar/Edward Sallow. Both are elderly men with cults of personality formed around them, and have near-dictatorial control over the most villainous faction in each game. Both Father and Caesar are also geniuses slowly dying of cancer who see their factions' terrible actions as Necessary Evils for building a better world out of the hellish Wasteland. However, Caesar is not only more dangerous as a combatant than Father is, but is also pettier and more prone to fits of rage. Father, in contrast, comes across as far more professional and articulate, being more of a refined scholar than a barbaric warlord. Father also wants to close off the Institute from the surface for the time being so they can rebuild society as a utopia underground, while Caesar is obsessed with aggressively expanding the Legion's influence over all of the known Wasteland.
  • Freudian Excuse His racism towards Synths and dislike of cyborgs is due in part to his hated of Kellogg for killing one of his parents and leaving the other imprisoned in Vault 111.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: In-Universe, Father is a scientific genius, and he actually does prove himself to be very intelligent throughout the Institute's questline. However, his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats aren't anything to write home about, with him only having an Intelligence score of 4 according to them.
  • Innocently Insensitive: He's very casual and breezy when talking to the Sole Survivor about the death of their spouse at the hands of Kellogg, dismissing the event as "collateral damage". The Sole Survivor can express horror/disgust at Father's dismissive attitude, and he then defends himself by pointing out how he's had sixty years to come to terms with the loss of his mother/father, and they were also lost when he was only an infant.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Silver rather than gold, but it still counts. For all his flaws, Father still means well, is dedicated to making the world a better place, and still genuinely loves the Sole Survivor.
  • Kick the Dog: The Institute's FEV experiments despite not having produced any worthwhile data for almost an entire century, were continued at his orders.
    • And while Kellogg was the one who actually carried it out, the University Point Massacre was heavily implied to have been ordered by him.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Fallout 4 wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows even before Father showed up, but the huge Reveal around his identity is shockingly dark and has the story plunge into some truly uncomfortable places.
  • Mad Scientist: Like all of the Institute.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: He's an elderly man slowly dying of cancer, so he's never going to be seen on the battlefield.
  • Pet the Dog: After having reprogrammed Synth Shaun to see the Sole Survivor as their true parent, he leaves him with them so that the Sole Survivor can reclaim a part of their Pre-War life taken away by the Great War.
  • Villain Has a Point: His near-pathological fear of the surface world is rather cruel and short-sighted... but isn't exactly unmerited, especially given just how much of a Crapsack World the Wasteland generally is.
  • Walking Spoiler: To put this bluntly... Father will not at all be what you expect when you meet him for the first time.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He will massacre entire towns if he feels it's needed to make the world a better place.
  • Younger Than They Look: Heavily downplayed. On the one hand, he still looks and acts like an elderly man regardless of his actual age. However, his cancer has prematurely aged him, to the point where looks more like a man in their late seventies rather than a sixty-year-old.
  • Your Days Are Numbered

S9-23

This Synth goes by another name - Shaun II.

X6-88

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for X6's section.

Conrad Kellogg

Dr. Madison Li

Dr. Brian Virgil

Liam Binet

Rosalind Orman

Dr. Clayton Holdren

Dr. Allie Fillmore

Dr. Justin Ayo

The current Acting Director of the Synth Retention Bureau, and is tasked with helping control the Commonwealth while making sure escaped Synths are returned "home" to the Institute.

  • Ambition Is Evil: He's one of the darkest members of the Institute, and many other characters note he's just using his position to further his goals.
  • Asshole Victim: As a named Institute character being killed by the Sole Survivor is one of the possible requirements for the "Banished From The Institute" quest, many players have used this as an excuse to bump off Ayo "on their way out the door", so to speak.
  • Call Back
  • Dark Is Evil: His lab coat is black, and he's definitely one of the darker/more villainous members of the Institute.
  • Frame-Up
  • Hate Sink: One of the most obnoxious and arrogant characters in the entire game. If you want a singular example of all the Institute's flaws and sins, look no further than Justin Ayo.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: For all of his obnoxious flaws, his fretting about security risks can be vindicated by a non-Institute play-through of the main quest.
  • Number Two
  • Smug Snake: He's a pretty good manipulator... but still not a Chessmaster on the level of someone like Father or the Sole Survivor is.
  • Stealth Insult: Much of what he says insults the Sole Survivor's intelligence. You can call him on this.

Dr. Alana Secord

Dr. Lawrence Higgs

Dr. Max Loken

A-2018, XPN-20A and Z4K-97B

Commonwealth Minutemen Members and Allied Settlers

Preston Garvey

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Preston's section.

Sturges

Mama Murphy

Jun and Marcy Long

Ronnie Shaw

  • Badass: Your reputation as one is enough to get her attention, and if you are willing to work with her, she proves why she's so old yet still alive.
  • Cool Old Lady: Regarded as such by the Minutemen.
  • Non-Action Guy: Zigzagged. She's plenty active enough in helping restore artillery support to the Minutemen, but afterwards, she just hangs back and mans the commissary of the Castle, though she's arguably much more useful in the role given her selling of high end gear.
  • Old Soldier: She's been around since the early days of the Minutemen.

Sarge

Trader Rylee

A former resident of Vault 81, Rylee left her Vault and became a successful Wasteland trader and caravan runner. She can be found as a random encounter across the Commonwealth, and can be recruited into one of the Sole Survivor's settlements.

Buddy

A modified Protectron found in the basement of the Shamrock Taphouse. Sent there in the side quest "Trouble Brewin'" by Rufus Rubins at the Hotel Rexford in Goodneighbor, the Sole Survivor can either send him back to the Hotel Rexford as their contract states, or send him to one of their settlements. There, he serves as a bartender if the Sole Survivor supplies him with unique holotapes, and he can create Nuka-Cola, Vim! and Gwinnet Beer.

The Scribe

A former member of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel, he quit in disgust when Elder Maxson reformed the organization after the death of the Lyons family. The Scribe can be found as a random encounter across the Commonwealth, and can be recruited into one of the Sole Survivor's settlements.

Railroad Members

Desdemona

  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Part of the reason she was picked over Carrington to be the Railroad's current leader was this trope.
  • Weapon of Choice: A Railway Cannon. Doubles as being thematically appropriate as she's the leader of the Railroad.

Deacon

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Deacon's section.

Tinker Tom

  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Why the Railroad puts up with him despite his quirks, he's that good at what they need him for, especially hacking, armaments and sabotage.

Dr. Carrington

  • Number Two: To Desdemona, and not entirely happy with it, but he's a team player regardless.
  • Jerkass: He can be a bit of a dick.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On the other hand, he is just as dedicated to the goal of the Railroad despite his personal nasty traits, and if you emphathize wtih his concerns he's far more respectful to you.
  • What the Hell Is That Accent?: His accent is somewhat Indian, which sticks out like a really sore thumb.

Glory/G7-81

One of the Railroad's few remaining Heavies (one of their frontline operators). A female Synth rescued by the Railroad, she joined the organization instead of going through the standard memory replacement procedure.

Drummer Boy

P.A.M.

High Rise

Members of Minor Commonwealth Factions

Vault 81 Inhabitants

Overseer Gwen McNamara

Curie

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Curie's section.

Austin Engill

Erin Combes

Katy

Robert and Tina DeLuca

Miranda Song

Dr. Olivette

Diamond City Citizens

Mayor McDonough

  • Expy: Richard Nixon. One of his speeches has a line by line reference to one of Nixon's and like Nixon, he's also participating in illegalities and coverups. He's a synth infiltrator trying to discredit the idea of the same to protect himself.

Piper Wright

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Piper's section.

Nick Valentine

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Nick's section.

Nat Wright

Travis "Lonely" Miles

Vadim and Yefim Bobrov

Ellie Perkins

Dr. Duff

Paul Pembroke

Henry Cooke

Colette Cooke

"Crazy" Myrna

  • Cloudcuckoolander: While everyone in Diamond City is a bit edgy of synths, she's so jumpy it borders on parody.
    • The Cuckoolander Was Right: However, she not actually all that wrong, because there ARE synth infiltrators, just not who she thinks they are.
  • The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: She will have special dialogue if Nick Valentine is with you, and he isn't spared her paranoia a dot, even though he's been around long enough most of the town has gotten used to him.
  • Fantastic Racism: She's not unique in her suspicion and paranoia of synths, but she is so on edge about them she lashes out at ANYONE she thinks is a synth, even though she winds up off the mark by quite a bit practically all the time.

Arturo Rodriguez

  • Nice Guy: He's pretty cheery and affable as a rule.
  • Shown Their Work: In-universe. He's quick to inform you how guns are far more useful depending on how they are modified, and his sales dialogue shows he's he's very knowledgeable about the weapons he sells.

Moe Cronin

Sheffield

  • Drunk on Milk: Switched to Nuka-Cola after booze messed up his liver. Unfortunately, that just gave him an addiction to THAT instead.
  • Shout-Out: His addiction is one to Fallout 2, where getting addicted to Nuka-Cola was an actual acquirable addiction.

Takahashi

Dr. Sun

  • Asian and Nerdy: He's a very erudite Chinese man who certainly knows his profession, that's very obvious.
  • Dr. Jerk: He's a bit curt, somewhat snide, and not all that friendly. On the other hand, you can understand why when you consider he's the only doctor in town, and he's implied to be very overworked.

Doc Crocker

Pastor Clements

  • Good Shepherd: His mentioned aspiration. Granted, he's not all that picky concerning whatever your faith is, but he's willing to show compassion and empathy to his parishoners regardless.
  • Nice Guy: One of the genuinely kindest people in Diamond City.

Polly

  • Jerkass: She's quick to anger and surly about her profession as a butcher.
  • Hidden Depths: She's secretly a poet, but as her terminal reveals, a frustrated one.

Goodneighbor Citizens

Mayor John Hancock

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Hancock's section.

Robert Joseph MacCready

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for MacCready's section.

Fahrenheit

KL-E-0

  • Camp Gay/Camp Straight: Could go either way really, as she uses the same husky, flirty voice for everyone.
  • Ridiculously Human Robot: To the point she identifies as female and has obviously grown pretty far beyond their programming.

The Vault-Tec Sales Representative

  • Irony: Managed to survive as a Ghoul since the Great War, and he got off lucky compared to you, since everyone BUT you died in Vault 111, the very Vault he was denied entrance to.

Kent Connolly

Magnolia

Whitechapel Charlie

  • Jerkass: Given he's a Mr. Handy, this definitely makes him stand out.

Bobbi No-Nose

  • Punny Name: Say her last name pretty fast, sounds like "no-no's". Apt, given her history of getting into trouble.

Dr. Amari

Markowski

Bunker Hill Citizens and Merchants

Kessler

Old Man Stockton

Trashcan Carla

Lucas Miller

Cricket

Doc Weathers

Joe and Tony Savoldi

Deb, Kay and Meg

Covenant Inhabitants

Dr. Roslyn Chambers

Mayor Jacob Orden

Honest Dan

Amelia Stockton

Deezer

The Cabot Family and Associates

Lorenzo Cabot

Wilhelmina Cabot

Jack Cabot

Emogene Cabot

Edward Deegan

The Mechanist and Associates

The Mechanist

They have another name - Isabel Cruz.

Ada

Look on the "Fallout 4 Characters - Companions" subpage for Ada's section.

Jezebel

Vault 88 Dwellers and Associates

Overseer Valery Barstow

Test Subject A

Test Subject B

Test Subject C/Clem

Dr. Ted Reily

Commonwealth Wanderers and Other Characters

The Vault 111 Overseer

Kenji and Rei Nakano

Rex Goodman

Kat and Gus

Manta Man

Pickman

Professor Goodfeels

Eddie Winter

Arlen Glass

Sinjin

Captain Zao

Barney Rook

Tommy Lonegan

Parker Quinn

The Greygarden Robots

Theodore Collins

Trudy, Patrick and Wolfgang

Fred, Angie and Jules

Human Art and Synth Art

Mikey and Moss

Clinton and Charlie

Gene

Mac

"Grenade Guy"