Ulysses

Ulysses is a courier and was an important Frumentarii of the Caesar's Legion. In 2281, he was one of seven couriers hired by Victor to carry strange packages to the Strip North Gate, but his delivery, the platinum chip, was left to the Courier after Ulysses' mysterious disappearance.

Background
Ulysses was once a member of the Twisted Hairs, a powerful tribe in Arizona that forged an alliance with the early formed Caesar's Legion in 2247 to act as scouts for it during his conquest of Arizona. Once the Caesar's Legion had secured victory, Caesar promptly rewarded their aid by breaking the alliance and betraying them; conquering and enslaving them as he had done to all the other tribes of Arizona. Their tribal identity was erased and those that resisted were crucified along the sides of Interstate 40.

Ulysses was enlisted in the Caesar's Legion and thanks to his ability and his forceful personality, he became rapidly an important and particular Frumentarii of the Caesar's Legion, acting sometimes like a scout and can travel vast territories in search of enemies to Caesar. In special order, Caesar told him to kill no courier, since couriers could be members of the Legion. In 2274 after the NCR reach Hoover Dam, Ulysses crossed the Colorado and was the first among the Legion to see Hoover Dam and the NCR, with a proper symbol like the Legion, an idea great enough to challenge Caesar himself. After, he went back to Caesar and spoke with him about Hoover Dam and the NCR. But Ulysses began to change after that time, thinking that Hoover Dam might kill Caesar, whether he won or lost. Sometime after the First Battle of Hoover Dam in 2277, Caesar sent Ulysses in Great Salt Lake as his eye and for rallying the White Legs against New Canaan, to cut off the NCR supply lines running through Utah and to destroy New Canaan, killing the still living Joshua Graham along with it. He told them the values ​​of the Legion, showed them weapons caches like Spanish Fork, taught them the workings of changer and powder, and lying about Caesar's pride in those that used such things. The act of deliberately lying posing some problems in his mind, expressing himself sadly to use the same method as Vulpes Inculta. He was particularly affected when they tried to honor him instead of the Caesar's Legion. After the sacking of New Canaan, the White Legs began to call Ulysses the "Flag-Bearer" and tried to replicate his braided hair out of respect, unknowingly insulting the memory of his old tribe instead.

Sometime later, while tracking couriers for Caesar, Ulysses would discover a community called The Divide which was, in his own words, "a nation taking its first breath", surrounded and shaped by the symbols of the Old World and was "larger than the Bear, greater than the Bull", with the potential to become a real homeland for Ulysses, beyond the lies and everything else. To Ulysses' dismay, the prosperous community was discovered and annexed by NCR, which in turn drew the attention of Caesar, who sent in a small army to take it over. Ulysses had tentative plans to save the community, but before he could act, hired by the NCR, the Courier unintentionally brought a package that activated several of the nuclear warheads that were still underground in their silos since the Great War. The results were immediate and devastating: the settlement was destroyed, the Old World ruins demolished, and the settlers killed. Those of the NCR and Caesar's Legion who survived, however, received a fate worse than death.

In the process the Courier survived, having left before the event occurred and no idea what happened. This would have also killed Ulysses, had it not been for several medical eyebots, who had been activated by the device as well, recognizing the flag of America on his back, and saving him. Ulysses' life was changed that day, showing him how a single individual could change history. Enraged at the Courier for their role in the destruction of the place could have been his true home, he would leave the Caesar's Legion and find a way to reawake America, for having peaceful and strong places like the Divide before this event. Leaving it, he set out looking for ways to change history alone as well.

During the four intervening years, he began to create a bighorner ranch called Wolfhorn Ranch in the Mojave Wasteland and roaming sometimes as a courier, having lost all hope in the future of humanity and the war between the NCR and the Caesar's Legion, knowing that both have no long-term answer. At some point, he found the way to the Sierra Madre. In 2281 however, everything changed when Ulysses was hired by Victor to carry the platinum chip to the Strip North Gate. He comes to Primm at the Mojave Express to receive the delivery order, a job he was about to accept until he saw the Courier's name down next on the list.

He asked if the Courier's name was for real since he thought that the Courier was dead in the Divide. Nash informed him that the Courier was still alive. In his desire to see the Courier dead and by respect of the old order of Caesar, Ulysses refused to deliver the package, only saying, "No, let Courier Six carry the package", wanting that the Mojave Wasteland kill the Courier without having to intervene, and after then, left without another word. During his travel to reawake America, he found by accident Big MT, by following the weather patterns, reminding the Divide sky, coming from man's violence, not nature's. He tracked it like following a river current, leaving the colors of the Old World to mark his way like always, in case someone finds them, like the Courier. When he thought sand and wind would never end, he came to the crater. There, he find the Old World facility and the X-17 meteorological station, still raking the sky with electricity and generators.

While there he was caught up in the conflict between Knight Royce of the Circle of Steel and Father Elijah. Ulysses would rescue Royce from the Y-17 medical facility, nursing her back to health in a nearby cave. At some point after Elijah spoke with the Think Tank (whom Ulysses regarded as the "Gods" of the locale), Ulysses and Elijah made contact, at which point Ulysses directed him to the Sierra Madre - and his subsequent death, and learned more about the Brotherhood of Steel, that he didn't know. Ulysses, too, spoke with the Think Tank, specifically Doctor Klein, who recalls him as a melancholy fellow who asked a lot about history. The conversation was interrupted twice - once by Elijah's escape attempt, and then again in an event that seems to have been erased from Klein's databanks. Ulysses also spoke with Doctor Mobius. While at the Big Empty, he questioned the Think Tank: "Who are you, that do not know your history?" This question caused them to awake, remembering for a time America, the flag on Ulysses' back — not just a flag, but a place, an idea they had cared for once before. After this awakening, the Think Tank told him what "still carries America's voice", deep in the heart of the Divide.

At some point before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, Ulysses contacts the Courier via a single message: the coordinates for the Canyon wreckage west of Primm, and the words "Courier Six. -Ulysses". Depending on how Dead Money ended, the ending slides say that word would eventually reach both Christine and Dog of some sort of a battle said to take place at the Divide, "beneath the torn skies and the old world flag", between the two couriers, "each carrying a message for the other".

Relationships
Ulysses' dual obsessions with the Courier and the Divide are motivated partly by his being one of the very few survivors of the disasters that happened there, and partly by the fact that Ulysses believes the Courier triggered the disaster at the Divide by delivering a mysterious package containing a device that caused many of the nuclear devices that had remained there since the war to detonate in their silos, devastating the surroundings. The possibility that the Courier may not even be aware of his or her own involvement in the event is also something hinted at by Chris Avellone, who stated cryptically, "I also have a lot of love for Ulysses in Fallout, only because I like the idea of someone hunting my player for reasons of his own, and then hearing the reasons why… and realizing how important even the smallest of my actions are for the people of the wasteland – living or dead".

Quests

 * The Courier: Ulysses is finally confronted by the Courier inside Ulysses' Temple, beneath the flag of the Old World, as he is about to trigger a second nuclear apocalypse. Ulysses can either be fought by the Courier, or convinced to stand down and fight by the Courier's side against the marked men invading the temple.

Effects of player actions

 * If Ulysses is killed by the Courier, the Courier tears down his Old World flag and uses it as his shroud, although whether or of respect or anger is an interpretation "best left to history".
 * If Ulysses is convinced not to fight the Courier, he can be found standing vigil above the Hopeville ruins, just past the Canyon wreckage.

Other interactions

 * If the player chooses to spare him, after the quest The End Ulysses will hang around near the entrance to the Canyon wreckage, where Ulysses will help the Courier make camp fire recipes. Ulysses will also present new dialogue options, e.g. giving hints at how to deal with Legate Lanius and commenting on possible previous player actions in the Mojave (such as e.g. killing House).
 * Ulysses will also supply the Courier with miscellaneous items he found in Hopeville (The Courier's Mile), including rockets, Rad-X, RadAway, MRE, and pre-War books.
 * If he is alive at the conclusion of Lonesome Road, he will offer both the history and recipes of bitter drink and the Snakebite tourniquet.

Appearances
Ulysses was originally supposed to appear in Fallout: New Vegas, but was cut from the final version of the game. He is mentioned indirectly in Dead Money and Honest Hearts, appears in voice in Old World Blues, and makes a full appearance in Lonesome Road.

Behind the scenes

 * During the first dialog with the ED-E clone, you learn that Ulysses was given his name later in life. It was meant to refer to Ulysses S. Grant, a Union general during the U.S. Civil War who Ulysses says, "...fought to unite two tribes under one flag."
 * Ulysses is also a figure from Roman and Greek folklore. The Greeks named him Odysseus.
 * Ulysses was originally supposed to be a companion in Fallout: New Vegas, but was cut from the final version of the game and now only appears in the add-on Lonesome Road and playing cards that came with the Collector's Edition. According to Chris Avellone, "he [...] was a complicated character in terms of some of the hooks into the storyline".
 * In the original version of Fallout: New Vegas, Ulysses-as-companion was designed with a number of goals in mind:
 * He had to reinforce the faction reputation mechanic, which Avellone thought was one of the key mechanics in the game.
 * He had to react strongly to NCR/Legion conflict and the player's role in it, acting as a sounding board when possible.
 * He had to be a Legion sympathetic character and explain Legion backstory elements, since there wasn't much Legion support in the companions.
 * He had to continually remind the player of Hoover Dam as the focus, and his backstory incorporated that (he was the frumentarius who discovered the Dam and NCR long ago).
 * Showcase myth elements. Ulysses was big about symbols, and his take on the NCR flag, the Legion flag was also reflected in their champions (he viewed Legate Lanius as an Eastern myth in the making, and he felt the player could achieve that same mythological status for the West or for the Mojave).
 * He was to complement the cool visual design changes that Josh had included for other companions (similar to Raul and Arcade, Ulysses would have the vest/flag changes, except it would depend on player's end faction allegiance when they completed Ulysses' vision quest).