Nick Valentine

Nick Valentine is a synthetic private detective and a potential companion of the Sole Survivor living in Diamond City in 2287.

Background
An unusual robotic detective, Nick Valentine operates a small agency in Diamond City along with his assistant Ellie Perkins. In addition to possessing the memories of a late pre-War detective, Nick has certain abilities that complement his investigative skills: he is very effective at hacking computers, and adept at both ranged and melee combat. Valentine believes himself to be a prototype between second generation synths and the latest, which might explain why he exhibits sapient intelligence and is not innately hostile towards non-Institute humans. He is generally well respected throughout Diamond City despite his mysterious origins.

Originally, along with another synth named DiMA, the synth that would become Nick Valentine was one of two unique prototype Gen 2 synths used to test if and how synths could handle independent thinking. For years he was experimented on, having various personalities and memories from former humans loaded into him. Despite this, he and DiMA grew a family-like bond to one another, due to being the first and only synths of their kind. This was until DiMA, having been an experiment on a synth developing its own sense of consciousness and self without preloaded personalities or memories, grew to resent the experiments being performed on him and his "brother." The two synths managed to escape, but not before the Institute uploaded a new personality and memories in DiMA's brother. The synth, now identifying himself as a Pre-War police officer named Nick Valentine, in a state of confusion due to suddenly "waking up" 200 years in the future, attacked DiMA. DiMA was left with no choice but to knock Nick out and leave him behind. After regaining consciousness in a pile of garbage an unknown amount of time later, Nick wandered the wasteland in a state of confusion for several weeks.

Due to unfamiliarity with the Institute and its technology, most wastelanders regarded Nick with equal parts fear and awe; however, he was eventually accepted into a small local community where a mechanic offered to repair the damage he had sustained in his travels. During this time Nick befriended a child he knew only as "Jim," the first human contact Nick ever had. The community was the first time since his reawakening that anyone had treated Nick as a human being and not some mechanical monstrosity. Nick eventually left that settlement; upon visiting years later, he found that it had been pillaged by raiders. The fate of its population remains unclear.

Nick eventually found himself traveling to Diamond City. Although Diamond City holds no small amount of hatred for the Institute and their synths, Nick gained their respect by saving the daughter of the city's former mayor, Henry Roberts, when she ran away with a caravan trader. The caravan trader and his companions were, unbeknownst to the girl, actually kidnappers who proceeded to take her hostage. Nick stumbled upon the kidnappers purely by accident when he was wandering the Commonwealth wasteland, having been almost exclusively itinerant since his "awakening." Finding himself held at gunpoint and likely the girl's only hope, Nick scared the abductors away by claiming that he had a bomb inside him and beeping (Nick claims that he literally just said the word "beep" repeatedly).

When the Mayor's daughter told Nick what had happened, he returned her to her father, who in turn gave him a house in Diamond City as compensation despite the citizens' dismay and objections; Nick gradually eased the citizens' fears by acting as Diamond City's handyman. His formidable detective skills were brought to the forefront when he helped to find a wife who was thought dead: Nick discovered that she had in actuality run away with her lover. In time, people stopped asking Nick to fix things when it became clear that he had found his true calling as Diamond City's private investigator.

While on a case to find a human named Darla, who was believed to had been kidnapped but in fact had run away to join the gang of mobster Skinny Malone, Nick was captured by the gang and imprisoned within their hideout in Vault 114. It was here that he met and was rescued by the Sole Survivor. The two escaped the vault after confronting Skinny Malone. Upon their escape and meeting back up at Nick's office, the Sole Survivor enlisted his help in tracking down their missing son.

Nick eventually opens up to the Sole Survivor and starts the quest Long Time Coming. Nick asks them to help him tie up the last "loose end" of the original Nick Valentine's life: bringing down his old rival Edward Winter. Tracking down all 10 of Winter's old holotapes, Nick and the Sole Survivor use them to decode Winter's hideout and the code to get in. Once inside, Nick confronts Winter (who, predictably, does not recognize Nick). Together, with the Sole Survivor, Nick kills Winter and avenges the murder of the original Nick's fiancee, Jennifer Lands. Nick then shows the Sole Survivor the site where Winter had killed Jennifer, before contemplating who he is and what purpose his life has after that point.

While traveling with the Sole Survivor, Nick finds himself on a case to find the missing daughter of Kenji Nakano (who apparently worked with Nick on a prior case that wound up with Kenji getting shot in the hip). The trail leads to Far Harbor. While on the island, Nick is reunited with DiMA, who is now the current leader of Acadia. Though DiMA is very glad to see his brother again, Nick is reluctant due to not remembering DiMA at all. Upon finding proof of their relationship, the Sole Survivor can convince Nick to accept DiMA as his brother, and the two will occasionally greet each other or chat upon entering Acadia.

The original Nick Valentine
Nick Valentine was originally a police detective from Chicago. He was brought to Boston to lead "Operation Winter's End," an operation to bring down mob boss Edward Winter. Unfortunately, Winter or one of his associates managed to find out about Nick's fiancee, Jennifer Lands and killed her in revenge for Nick's involvement in the operation.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco, Firearms and Lasers received intelligence of associates of Winter discussing her whereabouts, but senior officers decided not to place Jennifer or Nick into witness protection in order to avoid compromising the investigation. To make matters worse, Nick and the rest of the task force on Operation Winter's End discovered that Winter was actually working for the BADTFL and the district attorney against the other mob bosses in exchange for immunity.

In the weeks preceding the fall of the bombs, Winter was released and Operation Winter's End was disbanded. Nick was ordered to seek treatment for PTSD at the C.I.T., where his brain was scanned as part of his treatment. This was how the Institute was able to obtain Nick's pre-War memories.

Companion uses

 * Valentine can be used to hack terminals of any tier by guiding him to the nearest terminal. This will take some time, depending on the difficulty. However, he might fail and be locked out forever. This chance increases with each tier. If he fails and locks himself out of the terminal, the terminal can still be hacked.
 * Valentine will not hack terminals that strictly belong to someone else.
 * Valentine can be used to hack otherwise inaccessible terminals in the game that are actually part of a specific quest.

Effects of player's actions

 * Achieving maximum relationship with Nick Valentine gives the Survivor the Close to Metal perk, which allows one extra attempt when hacking and a 50% reduced lockout time upon failing a hack. His personal quest Long Time Coming must be completed before the perk can be obtained. The quest Dangerous Minds must be completed to trigger quest Long Time Coming if maximum relationship already achieved.
 * He will comment on the Sole Survivor's decisions after completing the main questline. He responds negatively to choosing the Institute.

Other interactions

 * Valentine cannot be romanced.

Appearances
Nick Valentine appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * Nick Valentine's name is similar to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade: Spade is the name of a suit of playing cards while a "Valentine," often given on Valentine's Day, is also associated with a heart-shape (another suit of cards.) And, of course, Nick is inspired by the classic noir detective of which Sam Spade is the archetype. His costume, facial appearance, and voice are also similar to those of Humphrey Bogart, who was famous for his roles as a hard-boiled detective in various films noir, most notably as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon.
 * Nick could also be influenced by the character Pero from the 2001 movie Metropolis as Nick and Pero, after his fatal gunshot wound, have similar appearances, outfits, jobs and even injuries.
 * Nick Valentine's voice shares a number of characteristics with the voice of George Valentine (portrayed by Bob Bailey) from the radio serial "Let George Do It", about a detective-for-hire. His first client in the pilot episode is a Mr. Winters, who dies under mysterious circumstances.
 * The quote "Well Ain't that a blast from the past" is a possible reference to the 1999 film, A Blast from the Past; a film relating to a fallout shelter and (as imagined by some of the film's characters) a nuclear war.