Great Khans

"The glory of the Great Khans will be restored, and once the NCR is pushed back to California, all the land from here to the Colorado will be ours."

- Papa Khan

The Great Khans are a raider gang found in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

History
After the many battles that had shaken the Khans eventually led to their seemingly ultimate defeat, the survivors refused to give up their pride and heritage. From this point the Khans dispersed into the world to begin anew. While it is not known what happened to the other groups, the group that settled in the Mojave quickly became one of its major players. Creating multiple settlements the Khans soon began raiding the other tribals of the surrounding area, as well as the few settlers that began to come from the New California Republic, who were considered both intruders and easy targets. However, it was not long before Mr. House, the ruler of New Vegas, finally recovered his systems from the nuclear bombs that he could not shoot down. House quickly tried to resolve the conflicts by offering the tribes their own Casino to operate under him, but the Great Khans already owned a large amount of land and refused to give up their heritage and follow House's orders. Knowing the Great Khans were his greatest threat not only because of their violence, but also because their hostility towards the factions of the Mojave could potentially hurt his plans for Hoover Dam, Mr. House gave the tribes that surrendered to him (the Chairmen, the White Glove Society, and the Omertas) large supplies of guns and ammunition as well as what little securitron assistance he could offer at that time, and prepared for war. These tribes, aided by House, drove the Khans out of the northern Mojave, pushing them out of the area around New Vegas and ending their time of power. It wasn't long after these wars that the NCR arrived from the south. They had come on a mission to annex New Vegas from whatever tribals were holding it, and to secure Hoover Dam as a power source, all under the initial guise of hunting down the Great Khans in retaliation for attacking their settlers. The Great Khans were now in no shape to fight, but the NCR killed them on sight out of revenge, leading to the first real spark of the resentment to the NCR held by the Great Khans. The Great Khans resumed their raiding of NCR caravans and settlers, as well as attacking the soldiers, who were poorly armed and demoralized. Initially, the Great Khans believed House would attack as well, so they took a very hard-line stance with the NCR in belief that they would be expelled from the Mojave very soon. However, House had been waiting for a strong, negotiable faction like the NCR. After the NCR secured Hoover Dam and Helios One from the Brotherhood of Steel, House freely gave them the territory, as long as the strip was given 5% of its energy output. This turn of events meant certain death for the Great Khans, who now had to fight alone against the full force of the NCR. It wasn't long before the NCR had burnt down their settlements, killed most of their people, and forced them into hiding in the valley-settlement of Bitter Springs. In an infamous operation, the NCR sent the First Recon on Coyote Tail Ridge, near the mouth of the gorge that held Bitter Springs within, and ordered them to fire on anyone trying to escape as the large main force charged in from multiple points. While the NCR initially thought this was a military base, they were dead wrong. Bitter Springs was a settlement filled with the sick, elderly, children, and others who were unable to fight, while the actual soldiers were in war parties elsewhere. Due to this misinformation, the snipers and soldiers assaulting the settlement, who were under orders to shoot on sight, slaughtered countless innocent people in a move that would shame the NCR for years to come. Due to the low amount of actual soldiers protecting Bitter Springs, the NCR quickly defeated the Great Khans. With no home, and with the NCR on their tail, the Khans took their few survivors and created a camp at Red Rock Canyon.

Most of the residents in the camp were the soldiers who were on the warpath during the Bitter Springs Massacre, and because of the large number of Khans concentrated there, as well as its strategic position, the NCR could not decide on how to assault them. Eventually, the NCR declared their victory over the Great Khans, ending the war between them, and turned their attention to other things, such as raiders and diplomacy with House. The Great Khans, however, were still a threat. Now armed with a deeper resentment for the NCR then ever before, the Khans slowly regained their strength, biding their time until the NCR can be attacked once again, and allying themselves with any enemy of the NCR, such as Caesar's Legion and the Fiends. Soon after their arrival in Red Rock Canyon, The Followers of the Apocalypse offered them medical assistance and access to knowledge via missionaries. While the Great Khans initially used their good-will to assist those wounded in Bitter Springs, they soon learned how to make their own chemical compounds and medicines, making them more self-efficient. The Great Khans soon learned how to make psycho-active and addictive narcotics with incredible skill. Before this they had been using coyote tobacco chew and other natural plants, and according to Bitter-Root, a survivor of Bitter Springs who actually joined the NCR unit that killed his family, they were addicted to these plants before they had even learned how to make synthetic narcotics. These new chemical narcotics lead to many Great Khans becoming addicts, changing them dramatically. The Great Khans soon became the leaders of the drug trade, selling their wares illegally to the Crimson Caravan and other NCR traders looking for profit, as well as selling these drugs frequently to the Fiends to keep them constantly high, so they could harass NCR patrols.

Endings

 * If, after generations of being beaten down, the Great Khans are finally broken by The Courier, those few who avoid The Courier's wrath move north, into the wilderness of Idaho, where they try once more to rebuild.
 * If their alliance with the Legion is broken and the NCR are victorious at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the Great Khans return for a time to Red Rock Canyon. The NCR's pressing need to expand proves greater than its promise of amnesty, and before long the government decides the Khans have to go. The surviving Great Khans are relocated to an isolated, barren reservation, well north of NCR trade routes.
 * If they are convinced to support the NCR and the Legion are victorious, the Great Khans are ruthlessly hunted down. Caesar destroys all evidence of their existence at Red Rock Canyon, and forbids mention of their name in any history. The Great Khans' legacy is swiftly forgotten.
 * If the Legion are victorious at the Dam and the Khans remain loyal, as reward Caesar forcibly integrates them into the Legion. The sick and elderly are killed, the women sold as wives to ranking officers, and the tribe's identity is annihilated. Though many Great Khans mourn the death of their tribe, many more are ultimately satisfied with their revenge against NCR.
 * If the Legion are driven out of the Mojave Wasteland and the Khans are among those who had allied themselves with Caesar, the Great Khans are among the first to receive the attention of the victorious NCR, and the few who survived Hoover Dam are driven north, into the wilderness of Idaho.
 * If the alliance with Caesar is broken and neither side is victorious at the Dam, during the Battle of Hoover Dam, the Great Khans quickly evacuate Red Rock Canyon and head north and east into the plains of Wyoming. There, they reconnect with the Followers of the Apocalypse and rebuild their strength. Bolstered by ancient knowledge of governance, economics, and transportation, they carve a mighty empire out of the ruins of the Northwest.
 * If they make a suicidal last stand at Hoover Dam, the Great Khans cease to exist as a tribe. The few surviving members disperse, joining up with other tribes and gangs across the Mojave, and quickly forget their heritage.

Society
The Great Khans reside in Mongolian style tents called yurts within Red Rock Canyon, however unlike the other settlers of the Mojave, these homes are used for little more than sleeping in, as they usually only have room for a couple beds and a central fire. A Great Khan often carries all of their possessions with them, if they should decide to have anything besides the bare essentials. Because of this, as well as their aggression, the other factions view them as savages. However, unlike the Jackals, Fiends, Scorpions, and Vipers, the Great Khans are not hostile towards new-comers. If the Great Khans begin to dislike someone, however, they will often show great hostility.

The Great Khans subside by hunting and farming, as well as producing chemicals and drugs in the Red Rock Drug Lab. The Canyon is a harsh environment for plants, however, leading to the Great Khans usual dependence on drugs, which they can create quite easily, and can sell to a multitude of factions. Coincidentally, one of their most frequent consumers is also their largest enemy, the New California Republic. The NCR officially has a ban on illegal drugs, however the Crimson Caravan and wealthy merchants that make up the NCR frequently turn a blind eye in order to make a profit. While these merchants make up a large portion of their custom, their biggest consumer is, by far, the Fiends, violent raiders constantly searching for new and exciting drugs. However, the drug trade is not their only form of self-sufficiency. They constantly hunt geckos and bighorns for their meat and pelts, which are tanned into the leather outfits they wear. The Great Khans also wear crude armor plating on their legs, meaning they either have a loose grasp on basic mining and forging, or more likely that they use decorated and charred bones from the animals they hunt.

The Great Khans' preferred form of warfare is through war parties, where multiple central figures lead their own individual units into individual battles, and adapt on the fly, rather than being ordered by a main unit.

Technology
The Great Khans use a very random assortment of weapons throughout the Courier's involvement with them. While most Great Khans boast of their great strength, very few use melee weapons as their primary weapon, even though a large arena resides in the canyon, where multiple Khans hone their melee fighting abilities. At lower levels, the Great Khans use the 10mm submachine gun and 9mm submachine gun, and at higher levels they use the Hunting revolver and Trail carbine, as well as the random odd weapon in between. Because of this, and also because of their tendency to fight in groups, the Great Khans are formidable opponents in a gun fight.

Appearances
Great Khans appear in Fallout: New Vegas and All Roads.

Behind the scenes

 * The tribe's culture is obviously based on the Mongol warriors under the rule of Genghis Khan, Papa Khan most likely being the example of Genghis himself. This is proven when the Courier, choosing to help the Great Khans seek inspiration from the past to decide their future, returns with a history book from Ezekiel of the Followers of the Apocalypse, detailing the history of the world. Papa Khan reads the section about the Mongol Empire, and realizes that the Great Khans' heritage, and cultural origins when in their respective Vault, a Vault known to be packed with various cultures, stems from them.
 * The tribe also lends much of its aesthetic appeal to the biker sub-culture that budded in the late seventies to the early nineties, as they dye their leather black much like the leather vests/jackets of bikers, and wear a patch on their back, which was an incredibly popular move for gang members of that time. The leather and drugs, combined with the fur and armor, make the Great Khans a mixture of both cultures, and of new and old.

Bugs

 * It has been reported that at Nellis Airforce Base, after trying to convince the boomers to aid the NCR, coming out of Pearl's shack there were two generic Great Khans.
 * When trying to complete the Why Can't We Be Friends quest, the dialog option needed from Papa Khan may not show up.
 * When completing and turning in the portion of the Aba Daba Honeymoon quest that involves the delivery to Motor-Runner when already "Idolized" with the Khans, the player may gain reputation with them, but somehow be cycled back down to "Accepted." This may be related to keeping the Khans faction uniform on when handing the quest in.
 * After killing Oscar Velasco in the side quest Climb Ev'ry Mountain, the player might find three Great Khans watching over them while they sleep. Three different Great Khans will appear at each bed and will not move or interact with the player. When talking to them, they will say 'Hi' and nothing else. Their appearance is probably due to the player's Great Khan reputation going down after murdering one of their clan; however, no attempt is made by them to attack or confront the player.
 * A Great Khan may run up to you at any place in the Mojave and try to enter conversation but will not say anything. The screen zooms into her face and zooms back out. This may interrupt resting times as well, except when resting at places such as the Lucky 38 Presidential Suite.
 * Three Great Khans may come with the Courier through the elevator to the Lucky 38 Presidential Suite one day seemingly at random, after completing Oh my Papa and convincing the Great Khans to leave Red Rock Canyon. They wander around and interact with any companions that are staying in the Suite.
 * When talking with the water seller in Freeside, a Khan could be present. After switching to third person view, when trying to kill the Khan, the game will most likely crash.
 * After becoming the leader of the Great Khans, the armorer in the Great Khan armory will stop selling you weapons and the option to engage in trading will not even show up.

Gallery
Великие Ханы