Fawkes

Fawkes is an intelligent and sophisticated super mutant, a rare breed in the Capital Wasteland. Before the transformation into a super mutant, Fawkes was a woman. However, all super mutants, or Meta-Humans, display an asexual phenotype after their transformation, therefore Fawkes is neither male nor female, but is asexual or genderless.

Fawkes begs the Vault 101 Dweller to release her from her cell, which she has resided in for as long as memory permits. She also reveals that she was able to attain literacy and a civilized personality by gleaning as much information she could from the vault's immense database. Fawkes has an intimate knowledge of the vault, for which she credits with her possible former life as a human resident of the very same vault she is imprisoned in.

In exchange for her release, Fawkes retrieves the Garden of Eden Creation Kit device from a radioactive section of the vault, and bids the Vault 101 Dweller farewell. After the Vault 101 Dweller is incapacitated and taken to Raven Rock, the base of The Enclave, Fawkes aids in the escape, and devastates the Enclave soldiers with an incredibly powerful Gatling Laser.

Depending on the player's karma, Fawkes may agree to accompany the Vault 101 Dweller on future travels. If your karma is too low, she is found wandering around the entrance to The Underworld.

One major issue is that she often gets stuck due to her size, and in small areas can even block off the player entirely if she gets stuck.

When the Vault 101 Dweller is faced with the climactic decision at the conclusion of the game, Fawkes politely declines to enter the radioactive room in lieu of the player, stating that is the player's destiny, not hers.

Equipment
Fawkes is clad in a tattered Vault Suit, and wields either a Super Sledge or a Gatling Laser. The player cannot equip Fawkes with clothing, somewhat limiting her effectiveness in combat. Like other human companions her default ranged weapon, the Gatling Laser has infinite ammo.

After rescuing the Lone Wanderer from Raven Rock, Fawkes can carry 229 pounds of equipment.

In Vault 87, Fawkes carries a Super Sledge called "Fawkes' Super Sledge". To get this, simply ask to trade equipment with her and give her another weapon she can use in exchange, such as a regular Super Sledge. It does 22 damage, and comes in near perfect condition but cannot be repaired with other Super Sledges.

Combat
Fawkes, thanks to the inherited thick skin natural to Super Mutants (or, as she prefers, 'Meta-Humans'), is extremely resilient. Coupled with her powerful Gatling Laser, Fawkes is a very useful ally. Fawkes can be instructed on which weapon to arm herself with (Super Sledge, Gatling laser, or a gun (possibly only Big?) that Fawkes has ammunition for), and on which tactics to utilize in battle (stay close or hang back). Despite Fawkes' drawbacks, she's still possibly the most powerful follower in the game, as she can take several direct missile hits before dying.

Unlike other humanoid companions, Fawkes does not appear to be able to sneak and as such is not the best choice for sneak characters.

Appearances
Fawkes appears in Fallout 3. Fawkes can be found in Vault 87 in Isolation Room 05. You can also find her after you complete the raven rock quest. She will help you giving you another chance to get her if you already haven't.

Related quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden

Question of gender
Fawkes can be found in Vault 87 in Isolation Room 05 which previously held Subject D624, which some players assume is Fawkes. It is noted on the Chief Physician's Terminal (in the room across from Fawkes') that Subject D624 was, before the experimentation, a female. Subject D624, however, is not Fawkes as the same terminal indicates that all four female test subjects were destroyed after three expired on their own and one went insane. Nevertheless, Wes Johnson, the actor who voiced Fawkes, confirmed in an interview that she was female before her transformation.

Behind the scenes
Her name is a reference to Guy Fawkes, a 16th century English Catholic famed for his involvement in an assassination attempt known as the Gunpowder Plot. I would suggest that the Fallout 3 character of Fawkes bears no resemblance to the Fawkes of "Gunpowder treason and plot".

May even possibly be a reference to "V from the comic V for Vendetta" wherein the story tells of the hero, wearing a mask portraying Guy Fawkes, being imprisoned and then mutated from an experimental compound called "Batch 5." Also, the protagonist "V" is mutated and "reborn" after imprisonment in a secret government facility, cell number 5, same as Fawkes.

More likely Fawkes is a pun of, fox.

Bugs

 * If you already have Dogmeat as a companion, hiring Fawkes on the Xbox 360 will make Dogmeat disappear.


 * It is possible that Dogmeat will "come back" to you eventually. After him disappearing, several days later in game, I received a message stating "Dogmeat is waiting outside Vault 101" and he was, and after telling him to follow me, he did and I had no further issues with the combination of Dogmeat and Fawkes.


 * If you have a vault or science theme active at your Megaton house, do NOT go to bed with Fawkes following you. If you do, you will become trapped, as she will block the door exiting your bedroom. To get her to move out of the way, ask her to stop following you (fire her).  She will begin to walk out of the house to make her way towards underworld; simply catch her before she gets to your door and re-hire her.  Problem solved. (On the PS3, she doesn't seem to leave even if you fire her. She just stands there and you remain stuck. Even if you sleep, she just won't go, and she is very hard to kill. One must go back to a previous save.) (On the Xbox 360 at least, you can just shove Fawkes out of the way.  Make sure to push her out the door, as pushing her into a wall does not help you.) PC users can simply use the toggle collision (tcl) code in the console to clip past Fawkes.


 * If the player does not release Fawkes from her cell and retrieves the G.E.C.K. on his/her own, Fawkes will remain at her cell if the player ever decides to return to release her. Later if you talk to her through the intercom, it will cause a dialogue conversation that apparently was meant to happen at Raven Rock where Fawkes (if released) helps the player escape. From here, and Karma permitting, Fawkes can glitch out of her cell and then follow you normally through the course of the game. This is handy for players who couldn't find a way to release her to begin with. (On a personal note: after doing this I found Dogmeat in a corridor of Vault 87 after I told him to stay put in My Megaton House. Whether Dogmeat spawning here because of Fawkes is unknown, but it was REALLY weird).


 * It is possible that even after rescuing Fawkes, she will remain in Vault 87 somewhere either outside her cell, near the GECK room, or somewhere in between, and not meet you outside Raven Rock. If you go back to the Vault and find Fawkes your dialog options will be the same as they are right outside Raven Rock.

Zen
Much of the random dialogue heard from Fawkes as one wanders around, while readable as simple wasteland survival advice, also references Zen philosophy. Examples include "Be aware of the present moment" and "There is safety in mindfulness". Together with Uncle Leo's Zen reference, this suggests that Zen Buddhism is the key to retaining a level of independent mental functioning after FEV transformation.