Fawkes

Fawkes is a super mutant and possible companion of the Lone Wanderer in 2277. He is an outsider amongst his kin, as he has retained his civility and intelligence through the rigors of mutation.

Background
When the Lone Wanderer first encounters Fawkes, he is confined to Isolation Room 5, a cell in Vault 87 in which he has resided for as long as memory permits. Fawkes claims that he was able to attain literacy and a civilized personality (things most East Coast super mutants sorely lack) by gleaning as much information as possible from the vault's immense online database (or at least until recently as the terminal that he used was taken away from him). Fawkes credits his intimate knowledge of Vault 87 to being a resident there before being transformed into a super mutant, additionally he wears the tattered remnants of a male Vault 87 jumpsuit, possibly due to him outgrowing it while mutating.

Identity before mutation
A series of unused holotapes which were meant to be found in Vault 87 shed possible light to the identity of Fawkes.

The holotapes are part of a daily diary Shelton started to record, detailing his "life in one of Vault-Tec's newer vaults." The first tape is primarily an introduction, but the later tapes concern some bizarre sounds Shelton hears while on shift, and later something disturbing he witnessed.

Shelton's next recording reveals that his recordings eventually came to the attention of the wrong people. The recording is made as Shelton is hiding in the reactor room.

The fifth and final holotape reveals what eventually happened to Shelton after his capture.

It is important to note that, although Fawkes shares the same voice as most of the Capital Wasteland's super mutants, he is explicitly defined within the game's dialog files as being the speaker in the final recording.

Though nothing is left to document why these recordings were not included in the final version of the game, it is interesting to note that Fawkes' demonstrated intelligence does not appear to be present in the fifth holotape recording, consistent with his statement that he had to work to become as intelligent and well-spoken as he was at the time of meeting the Lone Wanderer.

Daily schedule
Fawkes lives in Isolation Room 05, a cell in Vault 87. Should he find a way out of there, he will be at the Museum of History inside the lobby and right outside of Raven Rock after the quest The American Dream.

Quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden: Fawkes pleads with you to be released from his cell. In exchange for release, Fawkes retrieves the Garden of Eden Creation Kit device from a radioactive section of the vault, and then bids the Lone Wanderer farewell.
 * The American Dream: After the player is incapacitated and taken to Raven Rock, home of the Enclave, Fawkes appears as the Lone Wanderer emerges from the base. He repels any Enclave soldiers with an acquired Gatling laser to aid the player's escape. Any items given to Fawkes before the trip to Raven Rock will be gone when he is encountered yet again, presumably discarded in favor of his new weapon. If your Karma is high enough, the player has the choice to add Fawkes as a companion.
 * Take it Back!: When the player 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 (even though he is immune to radioactivity), stating that the decision is the player's destiny and not his. However, if the player has the Broken Steel add-on installed, the option to send Fawkes in will appear, allowing the player to opt out of entering themselves or Sentinel Sarah Lyons. When this option is used, he states that although he was going to tell the player that the player's destiny lies in that chamber, he has already altered his own.

Other interactions

 * Recruiting Fawkes: Depending on the player's karma, Fawkes may agree to accompany the player on future travels as a companion.
 * If the player's karma is too low, or if the player fires him at any time, Fawkes can be later found wandering around the entrance to Underworld, located in the Museum of History. Fawkes may also return if left on his own for a significant length of time. If you maintain positive karma, you have the option of recruiting him again.
 * Equipment: The player cannot equip Fawkes with different clothing, though his staggeringly large health bar and damage rate are more than enough for almost any situation. He can carry a total of 229 pounds of equipment.
 * Combat: Fawkes is extremely resilient thanks to the inherent thick skin natural to super mutants. Fawkes is highly skilled in all weapon categories (small guns, big guns, energy weapons, explosives, melee weapons, and unarmed).

Inventory
* If you take Fawkes' super sledge, it is replaced with a non-playable sledgehammer.

Fawkes is limited in the weapons he can use, and will only equip weapons from the following list:

Importantly, Fawkes will not equip any unique versions of the weapons in the above list.

Notable quotes
Fawkes shares many sentences with the regular super mutants, but also features many unique quotes of his own, often referring to his and Uncle Leo's possible Zen philosophy.
 * "If you insist but do be careful. I can hardly repay your kindness by waiting back here."
 * "It's amazing people trust you enough not to attack me..."
 * "There are times... I feel... the primal part of me...pulling me away."
 * "You're going to pay for what you did to me!"
 * "No more games, time to die!"
 * "I am sorry my companion but no, we all have our own destinies and yours culminates here, I would not rob you of that."

Appearances
Fawkes only appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * Contrary to a comment about Fawkes' gender made by his voice actor, lead designer Emil Pagliarulo has confirmed "No, Fawkes was absolutely a male. This was a mistake. Wes gave an interview and he was mistaken. Trust me, Fawkes is and was male."
 * Much of the random dialogue heard from Fawkes as one wanders around can be heard as simple wasteland survival advice, but also references Zen philosophy. Examples include "Be aware of the present moment" and "There is safety in mindfulness".
 * Fawkes takes his name from "a man who died for what he believed in." This is a reference to Britain's infamous Guy Fawkes, who attempted to blow up the Parliament building.
 * Fawkes' battle cry of "Wake up... Time to die!" mirrors a quote from Leon to Deckard in Blade Runner.
 * It is entirely possible that Fawkes' back story gives a nod to Alan Moore and David Lloyd's graphic novel V for Vendetta in which the main character, V, was also highly intelligent, imprisoned in a room (room 5 no less), experimented upon, and emulates Guy Fawkes.

Bugs

 * With Broken Steel installed, Fawkes possesses a staggering amount of health at higher levels. At level 20 he has fully several thousand HP, more so than even a super mutant behemoth. This is due to a badly adjusted setting concerning Fawkes' leveling, which grants him in excess of 100 HP per level gained. Dogmeat and Sergeant RL-3 are similarly affected.
 * Fawkes is unable to use any unique weapons, including unique versions of weapons he is otherwise able to use (e.g. Eugene vs. the Minigun). This is caused by the list determining what weapons Fawkes is able to use missing the entries for these unique weapons.
 * If you do not free Fawkes and instead take the GECK yourself then return after escaping Raven Rock and talk to him the speech will options will be the same as if he had come to rescue you from Raven Rock, ("Fawkes, what are you doing out here?").
 * If you kill Fawkes after entering Broken Steel his body may follow you to Adams Air Force Base and back to the Citadel after being taken back via the vertibird.
 * When Fawkes kills something, his Gatling laser may continue to play the sounds, even after he has holstered it. This can be fixed by saving and then loading the saved game.
 * Other fixes include engaging him in conversation and getting him to fire the weapon again.
 * Fawkes will "not speak" to the player. Conversation dialogue initiates but he doesn't say anything. Pressing the "Activate" button doesn't help, making it impossible to trade equipment, fire him, etc. This forces the player to kill Fawkes to obtain the equipment given to him.
 * Fawkes will not be in the Museum of History after you fire him.