Joshua Graham

Joshua Graham, nicknamed Hanged Man or Hanged Criminal, was a possible companion NPC in Van Buren.

History
According to New Canaan design document:
 * In year 2238 the Mormon missionary Joshua Graham encountered two Followers of the Apocalypse at the Grand Canyon and started to lead them around the outer north and east edge. One of encountered Followers became Caesar.
 * Joshua Graham was involved in the rise of Caesar and eventually became Caesar's right hand man, shaming the Mormons.
 * After a failed attack on Hoover Dam, Caesar had Joshua burned and thrown into the Grand Canyon by the tribals . Graham probably was responsible for this defeat.

Features
According to Chris Avellone the Hanged Man was the poisonous CNPC encountered as first person possible to join the party - like having the Jinxed Dog with the PC. According to leaks:
 * The Hanged Man was one of the most evil characters around, who committed all sorts of evil acts, like rape, murder and robbery.
 * Some tribals feared and hated him already when he was a member of Caesar's Legion. Even the civilized people were scared of him because he was a man with a seemingly infinite amount of lives.
 * The Hanged Man was intended to be the best combat CNPC in the game. Fists, knives, guns - he was master of them all.
 * He was burned all over, wrapped in bandages and survived being thrown into the Grand Canyon. The fact that he was still quite mobile and dangerous was a testament to his badassness.

Game plot

 * The Prisoner was to encounter somebody hanged by the neck from a pole at Fort Abandon, obviously still alive and enraged. If cut down, the Hanged Man would tag along with the Prisoner. He was wrapped from head to toe in bandages as he had been burned pretty much all over. Save for the fact that he had a connection to Caesar's Legion and was particularly ticked off at them he would not provide many details about himself.
 * Rescuing the Hanged Man would cause all the tribals in the region to be angry with the Prisoner as the tribals would blame him for future crimes committed by the Hanged Man. In addition, the Hanged Man may piss off any tribals he encounters and try to butcher any Twin Mothers tribals he could find. Having him in the party would make dealing with tribals and some towns extremely difficult.
 * The Hanged Man would not enter New Canaan. Upon arrival, he would initiate dialogue with the Prisoner and tell him/her that he had something to take care of, offering to meet at Burham Springs later on . Bishop Mordecai would be able to reveal some details about him.
 * Upon entering Burham Springs, the Hanged Man might quote 2 Chronicles 28, ... and he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons as an offering... . The Hanged Man would laughingly refuse to drop his weapons if commanded to by Phil, possibly even inciting Phil to open fire on the party. It would be very difficult for the Prisoner to defuse the situation.

Game mechanics

 * The Prisoner was supposed to be able to find all the CNPCs early on, but designers didn't want the Hanged Man to be to good then.
 * If Hanged Man was intended to be the first CNPC to join, there are few ways to arrange this: the Prisoner can’t join anybody in Tibbets and could escape only to Fort Abandon or the only other location known to him during escape was Fort Abandon.

New Vegas
There is graffiti on the back of billboards in New Vegas, proclaiming that "The Burned Man Walks!". Given the degree to which elements of Van Buren have influenced the design of New Vegas, it seems a likely reference to Graham himself. Whether or not he makes an appearance, in any form, is unknown.