Lone Wanderer

The Lone Wanderer, also known as the "Vault 101 Dweller", is the player character in Fallout 3.

Background
This person is a young inhabitant of Vault 101, born in 2258 (July 13) in the Jefferson Memorial to James and Catherine. Not too long after the player's mother seemingly died after giving birth, the Lone Wanderer and his/her father moved to Vault 101. In 2277, 200 years after The Great War, the Lone Wanderer is now at age 19. His/Her father has mysteriously disappeared from Vault 101 without any explanation. The young Vault Dweller, with the help of Amata, leaves the safety of the Vault to look for his/her father in the ruins of Washington, DC. After finding his/her father, Project Purity is put back on track, however the reunion is cut short as the Enclave demands ownership of the Project. James cannot allow this for the sake of humanity and sacrifices himself by filling the control chamber of Project Purity with intense radiation. With his dying breath, he tells his son/daughter to run and escape.

The actions of the Vault 101 Dweller are entirely decided by the player, with the ultimate decision made at the culmination of the game: to either sacrifice himself and follow in their fathers' selfless example or allow Sentinel Sarah Lyons to activate Project Purity and seemingly be killed by the radiation - revealed to survive with the Broken Steel - or not do anything at all at the site of Project Purity. Another option is to infect the project with the canister of modified FEV that the Lone Wanderer receives from President Eden. (Taking the virus is an inevitable event because it occurs in a main story quest, The American Dream, and the player may not leave until they have taken the virus. They may, however, choose to hand it over to Elder Lyons when they speak to him at the Citadel afterward, or to not use it later if they retain it.)

Throughout the game, if the player tunes into Galaxy News Radio, they can hear stories about the Vault 101 Dweller's adventures, clothing and actions throughout the Capital Wasteland. Three Dog refers to the Wanderer differently depending on what is displayed on the Karma page (eg, "Last, Best Hope of Humanity" "Harbinger of War", etc). This title depends on karma and the player's level.

Following the events at the purifier, the Vault Dweller will wake up two weeks later in the Citadel's infirmary. Afterward, the Vault Dweller assisted in the destruction of the remnants of the Enclave. With Broken Steel installed, the Lone Wanderer can continue to roam the wasteland after the purifier has been started.

Trivia
The Vault 101 Dweller's birthdate, 7/13/2258, may also be a Biblical reference. Micah 7:13 reads: "And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, On account of the fruit of their deeds." This aptly, when the passage is taken literally, describes the whole Fallout series.

Back in Vault 101, the Vault 101 Dweller seems to be the second oldest child, as children get Pip-Boys when they are 10 years old. In the birthday party, only Butch seems to have the Pip-Boy other than the Lone Wanderer.

Depending on what you say to Amata during the Growing Up Fast quest, you may find out that the Vault 101 Dweller has a crush on someone, but you won't be able to meet her/him until the G.O.A.T. test.

It is possible that the Vault 101 Dweller took Mandarin as a second language while in school, as the player can read the Chinese Spec Ops. manual. In addition, when close enough to a hostile Chinese NPC (say a Chinese Ghoul), the comments they say are translated into English. Another example is that when facing General Jingwei, although Jingwei speaks in Chinese, it is again translated to English, although this could be the work of the Anchorage simulation. Another possibility is that the Pip-Boy has a built-in translator, however this may be proven false by Mothership Zeta, where you meet a Japanese samurai who's subtitles aren't translated; although, the Japanese language may not have been considered necessary for translation since at the time the U.S. was at war with China and not Japan.

In a dialogue option, when you visit Little Lamplight and talk to Bumble you can say that you are known as "Vault Dweller". This may be a reference to the original Vault Dweller in the original Fallout.

Appearances
The Vault 101 Dweller only appears in Fallout 3 and its add-ons Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta.

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