Lone Wanderer

The Lone Wanderer is the player character

Childhood
The Lone Wanderer was born on July 13, 2258 to James and Catherine at the Jefferson Memorial. Their parents were engaged in research on Project Purity, an initiative to remove radiation from water and make it drinkable on a massive scale. Catherine died shortly after giving birth, due to cardiac arrest.

James suspended the project and traveled to Vault 101 via Megaton with the help of Star Paladin Cross who defended James and the baby from monster attacks along the way. James and Cross stayed at the Moriarty's Saloon in Megaton.

The Lone Wanderer grew up in the vault, their origins kept secret in order to shelter them from the outside world. James would often tell his child about their mother's favorite passage from the Bible, Revelation 21:6, which mentioned the waters of life. The Lone Wanderer became friends with Amata Almodovar, daughter of the overseer, and when the Lone Wanderer turned ten years old, their birthday party was organized by Amata and their father.

During the party, the overseer gave them a Pip-Boy 3000, Old Lady Palmer gave them a sweetroll, Beatrice writes them a poem, and their father and Jonas Palmer gifts them a BB gun. Between the ages of ten and sixteen, the Lone Wanderer pitched four strikeouts in the Vault 101 baseball games. When the Lone Wanderer was sixteen, they took their GOAT exam to help them determine their role in the vault.

Escape and Project Purity
When James disappeared from the vault without explanation, the Lone Wanderer is blamed and must escape. They traveled across the wasteland following their father's trail and rescued him from a virtual simulation called Tranquility Lane and are reunited back at Project Purity. Their reunion is cut short when the Enclave arrive, led by Colonel Autumn, demanding ownership of the project. The Lone Wanderer is unable to save their father, who sacrifices himself to prevent the Enclave from taking control of his work.

The Lone Wanderer then fled the Jefferson Memorial with surviving Project Purity staff, led by Dr. Madison Li. The group takes refuge in the Citadel, where they enlist the help of the Brotherhood of Steel and Elder Owyn Lyons to destroy the Enclave and retrieve a G.E.C.K. from Vault 87, enabling them to enable Project Purity.

Add-ons
With Broken Steel, the Lone Wanderer wakes up two weeks after the base game's end to face the consequences of their decisions. They are enlisted into the Brotherhood as a knight and given the mission to distribute the purified water and to hunt the Enclave.

The Lone Wanderer can also participate in a simulation of the Anchorage Reclamation to aid the Brotherhood Outcasts, visit the industrial city of the Pitt, intervene in a centuries-old feud in the swamps of Point Lookout, and venture among the stars aboard an alien spacecraft named Zeta.

Appearances
The Lone Wanderer is the player character of Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * The Lone Wanderer as a baby was voiced by Jake Howard, the son of Todd Howard, on his first birthday.
 * According to the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Collector's Edition afterword, according to Moira Brown, "people can't even agree on whether the Wanderer was a man or a woman, much less a saint or a monster. But they all agree on one thing: the Lone Wanderer changed the Capital Wasteland."
 * The Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Collector's Edition lists six pre-made potential identities for the Lone Wanderer: Ralph Peabody, Davey MacDonald, Mavis Quackenbush, Bob (Last Name Withheld), Porkchops The Fish Lady, and Nostrildamus.