Dog and God

Dog is a Nightkin assisting Father Elijah in finding people to breach the Sierra Madre Casino in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money. Suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), Dog has an alternate personality named God (referred to by the former as simply "the voice"), who 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".

Background
Though it is not made explicitly clear, dialogue with both the "god" and "dog" personalities suggests that god is the re-emergence of whatever remains of the mind of the original human before (s)he was mutated by the FEV virus while dog is the mind created to serve in the masters army.

Hand-picked by the Master to serve in his Nightkin army, Dog was crushed by the Master's defeat. He eventually found Sierra Madre, where Elijah took advantage of his need for a "master" figure to enslave him, using him as a tool for capturing potential treasure-hunters and later for activating the Sierra Madre Gala. 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 he is hungry. This eventually led to him accidentally eating an explosive collar off a dead treasure hunter, putting him in the same situation as the many victims he had dragged to the Sierra Madre. Dog has schizophrenia, like most Nightkin and exhibits true multiple personality disorder. He hates "God" or "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.

God is very different from Dog. He is quiet, articulate, and far less pliable and more sinister than his counterpart. He claims that he only wishes to help Dog, and the best way to do that is to eliminate Elijah. He does not care for the treasure of the Sierra Madre, and frequently comments on the Courier's perceived greed. He is, however, less adept in combat than Dog, as he is far less used to the Nightkin body and lacks the bloodlust of his other personality. Also when you are eavesdropping on him through the radio you can hear him saying "I wonder if I can tear off the Pip-boy on his arm without killing him...hmmm..."

Endings
If the player convinces Dog to obey God, the Nightkin thanks the Courier and promises to keep him safe and one day let him out 'when he understands'. He then goes into the wasteland in search of 'others like him' and tells them about the Courier that saved him.

The player can also, at God's instruction, instruct Dog to break his own neck in the kitchens.

The player can make Dog eat or tear apart God in his mind, after making him into a little ball. Dog then sees the player as Master.

The player can also help merge the two identities, creating a new one which has no memory of the events of Dead Money but still feels a sense of gratitude towards the Courier, despite not remembering why (Speech 85).

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."

Appearances
appears in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on, Dead Money.