Mod:Fallout: The Frontier/Elias Blackthorne

General Elias Blackthorne is a former officer of the New California Republic Army and the founder and leader of the NCR Exiles in The Frontier.

Background
A seasoned veteran of the NCR-Brotherhood War and an experienced Commander, Elias Blackthorne turned his back on the Republic after feeling betrayed when General Oliver broke his promise of letting the conscripts return home after the NCR-BoS war concluded. Not being able to return to the Republic, or stay in the Mojave, he left for the Oregon Frontier with men under his command who remained loyal to him.

He has a heavy amount of faith in the Courier, believing the Courier can turn the tides against the Legion, and he sends the Wolfpack to rescue the Courier. He tells the Courier his men find him a controversial leader and are preparing to call for a mutiny against him, along with the Courier.

Blackthorne's advisor and bodyguard is Tiberius Rancor, though Blackthorne is unaware that there is more to Rancor's motives.

Interactions with the player character
Blackthorne is a major character in the NCR campaign. After the Courier is rescued, he eventually shows the Courier the Liberator, which he intends to use to turn in the tides in the battle.

Quests

 * Fallout: Near the end of the NCR missions, Blackthorne must be rescued in a bunker in Sac-Town. However, Rancor assassinates Blackthorne soon after.
 * Breaking the Cycle: In this optional Crusaders playthrough ending, Tasha Weaver and Blackthorne form a truce to fight against the Legion.
 * Phoenix Down: In the final quest of the Legion campaign, the player may encounter Rancor or Blackthorne at the end. If Blackthorne, he must be killed either by fighting, or by passing a Speech 90 check to convince him suicide is a more dignified death, at which point he will use his gun to kill himself.

Behind the scenes

 * Originally, Blackthorne was designed to look significantly older than General Oliver in order to create a contrast between the two. However, this was changed late in development due to the relatively young sounding voice of Ratboy. An image shows his original appearance.
 * Blackthrone's role has caused some criticism at the writing of The Frontier, because of his willingness to endanger the lives of dozens of his soldiers in order to rescue one Courier. It is noteworthy though that his decision (and Blackthrone's leadership) is controversial within the story itself, as other characters are shown to find the decision on the absurd side, though it also characterizes Blackthrone's intense desperation and wish to believe in a real "miracle". Secondly, the rescue attempt was not meant to be simply for the Courier, as it also provided an excuse to help thin out the Legion's numbers, something the NCR Exiles desired for anyway.
 * For a real-life comparison, World War 1 is said to have started due to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, though the war was not entirely completely about him as there were other factors and build-up leading up to the war, with Ferdinand's death being used as an excuse for the countries to fight. In the case of The Frontier, the Courier's abduction could be seen as an excuse for the NCR to strike against the Legion.
 * In The Frontier rework, Blackthorne was rewritten wholly, being made into a Brigadier General, rather than a full General, with a Google Doc providing his narrative background.