Hanged Man

The Hanged Man or Hangman was intended as a companion in Van Buren.

Background
He is the first companion that the Prisoner encounters. He is hanged by the neck from a crane/telephone pole in the middle of Fort Abandon. The tribals tortured and hung him following several crimes committed against their people. He is suspended from the makeshift scaffold, hanging on to the edges of the droppable floor, coughing and wheezing to the point of unintelligible speech.

If cut down, the Hanged Man serves as a companion and can share information with the player character, but this rescue results in the wrath of tribals throughout the Great Basin. If the Prisoner leaves the map without rescuing him, he will not be there when one returns as if he was killed.

Traveling with the Hanged Man results in low Reputation with tribal characters due to his past as a slaver, murderer, or potential corrupted NCR Ranger. He will attempt to murder any Twin Mothers tribals encountered and lie to the Prisoner, intentionally mistranslating, causing conflict with other companions, and Hangdogs may attack on sight. Characters with sufficient Speech and Charisma can turn the Hanged Man away from evil and start him on a path of redemption.

Statistics
He has high physical statistics, including 10 END and excellent Small Arms, Knives, and Unarmed Skills. His Hit Points start at 32, with AP 9, Damage Resistance 10%, and a Critical Chance of 3%. He is at quarter health when the Prisoner first encounters him. He begins with no equipment.

His traits include Devil's Due, Luck of the Devil, and his perks include Dead Man Walking and Mysterious Directive. Dead Man Walking can ignore the effects of critical hits but costs fatigue points. Devil's Due results in rising from the dead three times, at the cost of one point of Charisma and Luck. In addition, Luck of the Devil results in +3% to critical chance while maintaining negative Karma.

Another perk the Hanged Man has is Trenchcoat Brigade, which results in 40% Damage Resistance while wearing a trenchcoat or leather duster, as well as Bad Apple/Defiler/Destroyer of all that is Good that provides bonus damage against Good Karma targets. He has a bonus perk Trade Tribal Speak, which allows the Hanged Man to speak several tribal dialects. He was intended to be a "jinxed" non-player character, like the pariah dog.

Appearances
The Hanged Man was planned for inclusion in Van Buren.

Behind the scenes
The concept art used for the Hanged Man is from the DC Comics/Vertigo Unknown Soldier graphic novel and Vertigo's El Diablo graphic novel, issues #1 and #4, written by Brian Azzarello.