Dog and God

"The world's always got another cage, waiting, keeping everything you want... just out of reach."

- God

"Master, where is master? Did he go away? Dog will be good this time."

- Dog

Dog is a psychologically disturbed nightkin who helps Father Elijah by capturing "assistants" for him and fitting them with explosive collars. His alternate personality, God (referred to by the former as simply "the voice"), is trying to break Dog free of Elijah's grasp.

The "Dog" personality is activated by the sound of Father Elijah's voice, and the "God" personality is activated by the sound of his own voice (via holotape or radio). When one personality is dominant, the other is said to be in "the cage" or "the basement".

Background
Hand-picked by the Master to serve in his nightkin army, Dog was crushed by the Master's defeat. He eventually found the Sierra Madre, where Elijah took advantage of his need for a "master" figure in order to enslave him, using him as a tool for bringing in potential treasure hunters and later for activating the Sierra Madre Gala Event. Dog is extremely loyal and will follow the commands issued by his master's voice to the letter, even when it puts him in danger. He also appears to suffer from some sort of eating disorder, as he will eat anything, even ghost people, when hungry. This eventually led to him accidentally eating the explosive collar of a deceased treasure hunter, putting him in the same situation as the many victims he had dragged to the Sierra Madre. Like most nightkin, Dog exhibits severe schizophrenia, resulting in "multiple personality disorder". He hates the voice, and is willing to do anything to be rid of it, going even to the point of self-harm. Pain hurts him, but also quiets the voice, so he will go to extremes such as scarring his body and putting his arm in a bear trap in order to make it stop.

The voice – "God" – is very different from Dog. It is quiet, articulate, controlling, and far less pliable than its counterpart. It claims that it only wishes to help Dog, even confessing a protective brotherly affection for him and believes the best way to do that is to eliminate Elijah - only then can he help Dog overcome his hunger and need for a master. It does not care for the treasure of the Sierra Madre, and frequently comments on the Courier's perceived greed. When in control, however, it is far less adept in combat than Dog, as it is far less used to using the nightkin body and lacks the bloodlust of its other personality.

Quests

 * Find Collar 8: "Dog": The player has to travel to the Villa Police Station and recruit Dog or God.
 * Fires in the Sky: The player has to escort Dog or God to Salida del Sol South to Trigger the Gala Event and hunt down some ghost people for Dog or God to eat.
 * Put the Beast Down: The player must confront Dog or God in the Sierra Madre Casino.

Other interactions
After recruiting Dog and watching him kill and consume one of the ghost people, the player can talk to Dog and, after going through a few speech options, Dog will give the player the Ghost Hunter perk.

Endings

 * If the Courier manages to merge God and Dog, a new personality is created, to whom the former identities and the events that transpired in Sierra Madre are only a faint memory. Although the new personality does not remember the Courier afterwards, he still knows that the stranger helped him overcome a problem, and feels gratitude. He stays at Sierra Madre for a short time to recover from his self-inflicted wounds, before moving on to parts unknown. For a long time he does not think about the Courier, until he hears about the battle at the Divide between the two couriers, and prays for the Courier's safety.
 * If Dog is subdued and God is the only remaining personality, he starts tending to the wounds that Dog inflicted upon his body. After nursing himself back to health he considers staying at Sierra Madre, but ultimately decides against it as the place is intended for humans, whom he feels he no longer needs. Instead he wanders west, looking for other super mutants, all the while spreading word of the Courier who saved him and gave him a new chance.
 * If God is subdued and Dog is the only remaining personality, he no longer has the voice of God to keep him from giving in to his all-consuming hunger; with the death of Elijah, he once again finds himself in need of a master to occupy him. Without a purpose and with no clear goal in mind, he leaves Sierra Madre and starts walking west, brutally assaulting and devouring every living thing unfortunate enough to cross his path. Even small communities are not safe from his hunger, and literally disappear overnight.
 * If Dog dies, God dies along with him. In the final few seconds before life leaves his body, both personalities now see each other eye to eye, at last realizing that their motives, hunger and control, are twin greeds. Dog finally feels at peace as the voice of God goes silent, no longer raging at him.

Inventory
Much like Lily Bowen, Dog and God are limited in the weapons they can use. These weapons are:

It should be noted that no weapons unique to Dead Money itself can be equipped by Dog/God.

Notable quotes

 * "No, you wouldn't. If you did, you won't escape this place alive. I'd shatter every one of your limbs to splinters and leave you here. "
 * "I'll prop your broken body in view of the Sierra Madre so you can see what you came to steal... forever out of reach as you die."
 * "That Pip-Boy... maybe I'll tear it off your arm, wear it around my neck."
 * ''"Where is Master? Did he go away? Dog will be good this time."
 * OM NOM NOM! (Wild Wasteland trait required)
 * Wish I had a Stealth Boy instead of this bear trap.
 * You look like food, smell like food, Dog hungry.
 * Don't like this place. Want to go back, back to the base. Or the church, miss the church.

Appearances
Dog and God appear only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on, Dead Money.

Bugs

 * The Dialog "Who's This Old Man That Brought Us Here?", "So You're the one that knows how I got to the villa", "You Brought Me Here to the villa" and "I Want To Know More About The Man Who Brought Us Here" Do not unhighlight no matter if you talking to Dog or God
 * Sometimes, when clearing out Salida del Sol North with Dog/God, he will fall through the floor and be suspended underneath it.
 * Sometimes God/Dog may be unable to heal when administered stimpaks or after combat.
 * Sometimes when giving the wait command to God/Dog, he will attack the first ghost person he can find and then wait.
 * There is an exploitable bug, where you can obtain God's perk, without him being a companion, by having God as a companion, using Elijah's voice to bring out Dog, and dismissing Dog. This is only temporary, as soon as the player dismisses him at his post for Fires in the Sky, the Courier will lose the perk.

Собака/Бог