Jericho (Fallout 3)

 (b.2242) is a possible companion NPC in Fallout 3 who reveals that he has left the life of a raider in the Wasteland behind him, tired of the killing and violence.

Location
Jericho wanders the town of Megaton. Hiring him costs 1000 Caps "for supplies" and requires that the player have evil karma. Jericho will not leave if the player's karma changes after the fact, but if fired, he will not rejoin unless he feels the player is still evil enough.

Getting bad karma is hard, and takes some time, unless you blow up Megaton in the quest, but if you do so, Jericho will be dead and cannot be recruited... If he is fired after the city's annihilation, he will still go to wait on the edge of the destruction, and will complain about the radiation around the newly formed crater.

Note: An easy way to get evil karma, if Megaton is not yet destroyed, is to go into Colin Moriarty's Saloon, and log in and out of his terminal over and over again, it will repeatedly register a karma loss, it also works on any terminal you aren't supposed to access (Confirmed on PS3, 360 and PC). Or if you have a high lockpick skill you can break into all the houses in Megaton and take everything that lights up red and your karma will gradually decrease. It's not as repetitive and the things you steal you can go and sell them for caps. Be careful of getting caught by Lucas, the sheriff.

In Colin Moriarty's private computer, the following is written about Jericho: ''Jericho's been a bad boy. I heard all about him and Jenny Stahl. Tried to slip her some of the old gun barrel which she's yelling no. He's lucky the "gun" didn't go off or that would have given the Stahl clan something to crap their pants about. He thinks he's king of the hill, walking around Megaton like he does all high and mighty. He tries to pull that shit with me and the Jenny incident goes public.''

Equipment

 * Jericho's default equipment is a Chinese Assault Rifle with unlimited ammunition, a Nail Board and Leather Armor. Other equipment can be traded to him that he will in turn equip. Like all NPC's, he will not use a weapon with a lower damage rating than his default weapons.


 * Jericho knows how to use Power Armor even if the player does not. Giving him the T-51b Power Armor can be a good choice, as he can then withstand significant damage.

Combat

 * At long range, Jericho will use his Chinese Assault Rifle; at moderate range he may switch to a Combat Shotgun if he has one, and when at close range Jericho will switch to whatever melee weapon he's holding. However, he seems to favor the Fat Man at any range, so take care.


 * As one of the few followers that achieves 100 skill in Big Guns Jericho can, under the right circumstances, be a strong follower. Putting a minigun like Eugene or a gatling laser like Vengeance in his hands invariably leads to absolute carnage. Unfortunately, compared to powerhouses like Fawkes or Star Paladin Cross, he can be pretty feeble without power armor and decent weapons. Furthermore, A.I. issues can hamper the proper use of heavy weaponry like the missile launcher, as enemies close the distance quickly as he swaps to it, and then he tends to die while attempting to swap back to a melee weapon for close range combat.


 * He can use stimpaks in combat.

Quotes
Random Combat
 * "Good to be out here again. Damn good."
 * "Damn, am I out of smokes again?"
 * "*Coughs*...Dammit!"
 * "*Coughs*... Is that blood?"
 * "God damn cigarettes are getting harder to find"
 * "Hey, I found a... dammit, nevermind, it wasn't anything"
 * "What the... did I step in something?
 * "I forgot how fucked up everything was out here"
 * "*Breathes heavily* Hang on... I just need to catch my breath. - Outside and Inside
 * "Up there, that's a good fuckin' spot for a sniper. Keep an eye out." - Outside
 * "I think I've been here before." - Outside and Inside
 * "I just hope this building stays standing long enough for us to leave." - Inside
 * "There's not a lot of cash in being good you know." - Triggered when having high karma.
 * "What's going on here kid? I thought you were some sort of badass ." - Triggered when having high karma.
 * "I didn't sign on with you so we could be playing Santa Claus out here." - Triggered when having high karma. 
 * "Goddamn collar on this armor is too tight." - (Any armor) 
 * "This floor don't look stable." - Inside
 * "Two hits, kid! Two hits!" -
 * "I'm gonna fuck your shit up kid."
 * "I'm gonna tear you a new asshole."
 * "It's good to be back."
 * "It's been a long time since I killed someone."
 * "Man I missed this shit."
 * "God damnit I love violence."
 * "Die! Die! Fucking die!"
 * "Is that the best you got?"
 * "Oh HELL yeah!
 * "I can't wait to see you bleed out!"
 * "Aren't you fucking dead yet?"
 * "Fuck you!" - Taking damage
 * "Watch it!" (When taking friendly fire)
 * "What the fuck man I've been standing here forever." - Being collected after being told to wait.
 * "Pineapple!" - After reverse pickpocketing a live grenade into his pocket, or if a grenade is thrown at you or him.
 * "Oh, fuck, no. I don't take that shit from anyone! You're dead!" - After turning him hostile and attempting to begin conversation.

Statistics

 * Health: 235 &rarr; 310
 * SPECIAL: 6ST, 5PE, 4EN, 3CH, 3IN, 6AG, 5LK


 * Skills
 * Barter: 11
 * Big Guns: 45 &rarr; 100
 * Energy Weapons: 15
 * Explosives: 15
 * Lockpick: 15
 * Medicine: 11
 * Melee Weapons: 49 &rarr; 100
 * Repair: 11
 * Science: 11
 * Small Guns: 49 &rarr; 100
 * Sneak: 17
 * Speech: 11
 * Unarmed: 13

Bugs

 * Jericho seems to give up altogether on using frag grenades at higher levels (16-20), even in situations were he would normally throw 2 or 3 at creatures that were not in line of sight. This may be because his explosives skills never kept up with his other weapon skills. I have yet to test with other grenade types.


 * There are occasions where stuff (for me has been mostly stimpaks) completely disappears from his inventory only to mysteriously pop up days later again.


 * After Star Paladin Cross, Charon, and Fawkes had all died on an Xbox 360 file, recruiting Jericho caused the messages for all these followers to come up mentioining that they had all returned to their "homes". Upon going to meet them, only Fawkes was found, dead at the entrance to the Underworld with nothing in his inventory.


 * Occasionally, his right hand becomes grossly distended, with fingers over a foot long.

-Crazy-8 16:48, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Jericho can be a second follower. The cause is still unsure. Dogmeat went missing and instead of "Dogmeat returned to Vault 101" appearing some time later, Jericho's "Jericho has returned to Megaton" blip appeared. When I went to investigate, Dogmeat was still gone, not at his place in front of Vault 101, but when I spoke to Jericho I was given, and allowed, the chance to re-recruit him.(Had him until I got Clover, now I have both.) More investigation is needed to see if this is a repeatable bug. For those who try to replicate what happened: Megaton's blown up, Clover was hired after Jericho was fired, & Dogmeat went missing some time before the Jericho blip appeared. Long periods of time between Megaton's detonation and Dogmeat's disappearance, but short gap between lost dog and re-hired Jericho along with Clover. Dogmeat was found later near where he disappeared, and initiated conversation after running to my character.


 * The Game freezes when Jericho is given a pair of sunglasses. This did not happen to me and but I have the latest patch. Perhaps it was fixed in a patch.


 * Jericho randomly dies when starting the computer simulation on Operation Anchorage. For those trying to replicate this bug: he was waiting outside the elevator you go down into the main level where the simulation is. Immediately once the simulation started it prompted me with "Jericho has died!"


 * Jericho occasionally disapears completely shortly after you enter Megaton for the first time. He cannot be retreived. This makes him impossible to hire. (All Platforms. Fixed by the 1.1 patch.)


 * Going to certain places (Craterside Supply, Oasis, Underworld) will ,when spoken to, make Jericho ask for another 1000 caps for 'Supplies' but will not join you even after you have paid him again. In rare cases if you pay and come off the dialogue Jericho will start to attack nearby NPC`s.


 * I found a strange bug with Jericho in Vault 87. After entering the Test Labs from the Living Quarters, Jericho didn't follow me through the door into the new area. Going back through the door, Jericho's body was laying on the floor and the prompt said 'Talk Jericho'. Pressing X gave the result of looting a body, but he was no longer carry any items I had given to him or any items he normally wears. I reverted to a previous save and tried making him wait on the Living Quarters side of the door while I travelled through to the Test Labs and back. This time I saw him go ragdoll and fall over with a plasma-rifle like sound (possibly just noise from crashing into objects), and had the same 'Talk Jericho'/empty inventory result. In the end I gave up and dismissed him before entering the door, so far this has had no noticable effects, but needs confirmation. This was all done after being captured and escaping from the Enclave (PS3).

Trivia

 * Jericho's name may be a reference to a post-apocalyptic TV series of the same name.


 * Jericho enjoys cigarettes... a lot. It's always entertaining to give him a few packs of them and then occasionally watch him smoke or complain about how they're getting harder to find these days. He also seems to suffer from side effects of this habit. He eventually starts to cough and cannot keep up with PC when running. (some issues with this on PC but confirmed on PS3)


 * Though He constantly complains about being "out of smokes," he never uses up any and they will sit in his inventory until removed. He can smoke the same cigarette the entire game.


 * It is hinted he is mutated. When you come to collect him from the ruins of Megaton, he will mention 'growing a fourth arm'. This could hint he has a mutated third arm that is not visible. Or he's trying to brag...


 * Jericho swears a lot, yet he still comes third to Mayor MacCready of Little Lamplight and Dukov of Dukov's Place.


 * When player's karma is positive Jericho comments on that fact showing his disapproval:
 * "There's not a lot of cash in being good you know."
 * "What's the matter kid? I thought you were some sort of badass."
 * "I didn't sign on with you so we could be playing Santa Claus out here."


 * Jericho will occasionally disappear or stop following the player after certain events, such as after the Tranquility Lane simulation of Vault 112. He will return to Moriarty's in Megaton, and will still have all of your gear, but if your karma is too high he will not join up with you until you "pick up some bad habits."


 * Even if you kill all of Megaton with him as your follower he will not attack, although if you kill the Brahmin outside the clinic, he turns on you and starts to shoot at you. This is slightly humerous because if you talk to him while he is shooting you he'll say something like "Fuck no! I don't take that shit!" indicating he is a brahmin lover.


 * If you steal from his house while he is a follower and he can see you, he will attack you.


 * Under his bed in his house there is a teddy bear, along with a Chinese Officer's Sword and a Grognak the Barbarian comic book. Although the Chinese Officer's Sword appears to be stabbed through the stomach of the bear. Maggie, Billy Creel's adopted daughter, will say that Billy told her not to go near Jericho, which hints at a more sinister purpose for his owning a teddy bear.


 * If you destroy Megaton with him as a follower, a new dialogue option appears, in which you can ask him if he knows what happened to your father (Please note that the editor has asked him that when he wasn't a follower, and got the usual response that he is in Moriarty's saloon). He will reply with something among the lines of What? Are you fucking kidding me?, at which point the only response you can give is Never mind.... He will then reply with Fuck right never mind.


 * Though he won't join the Lone Wanderer unless they have Evil karma, Jericho's alignment is actually Neutral. Killing him before or after he becomes a follower grants the player negative karma.