Manny Vargas

Manny Vargas is a New Californian citizen and former Great Khan who is a veteran NCR Army sniper living in Novac in 2281. Vargas is one of the two former NCR First Recon snipers who are now sentries in Novac. He and Craig Boone alternate shifts in Dinky the T-Rex's mouth.

Background
Born and raised in North Vegas, Manny once ran with the Great Khans together with his cousins. Although he loved the lifestyle and the thrill of being a raider, an unspecified incident made it impossible for him to continue life as one of the Khans. He left the gang and decided to enlist with the New California Republic Army. As an excellent shot, he was assigned to First Recon as Craig Boone's spotter. The military life appealed to him, especially the discipline and travelling to new places in order to make people safe, not to mention Craig, who quickly became his closest friend.

The good run lasted until the Bitter Springs Massacre. Both Manny and Craig were stationed at Camp Golf at the time. Knowing he would have to face his former comrades, Manny faked an illness and stayed back in camp. He is not clear on what happened, just that a lot of people died and many of them did not want to be a part of the fighting at all. Although he harbors no ill will towards the Army, blaming only the chaos of the battlefield for the massacre, it made it impossible for him to continue serving. The fact that people would sometimes call him a murderer to his face when they secured a Mojave town did not help.

Manny and Craig took their papers and left to find a new life in the wasteland. Manny convinced his friend to settle at Novac, where their rifles could do some good. However, things became complicated when Craig met a woman named Carla in the meantime, a woman who did not see eye to eye with Manny. The two constantly bickered, in no small part due to their wildly different backgrounds and the bad blood between the impoverished North Vegas and wealthy New Vegas. The hostility between the two soured relations between Craig and Manny.

When Carla was abducted by the Legion, Craig came to his friend to confide in him, but Manny failed to hide his satisfaction at her disappearance. The grieving husband could not take this kind of reaction from his best friend and turned his back on him. Although Manny hoped Craig would come around, Boone did not. Instead, he disappeared from Novac, eventually returning grim, cold and a shell of a man.

Manny was left without a friend in Novac. He was widely respected for his role as a sniper and leadership in security matters, but although people look up to him and depend on him, nobody really cares about his feelings. Perhaps for that reason, when McMurphy came to Novac with Benny and asked for a safe place to sleep, Manny accommodated them, showing his loyalty to the Khans and letting friends from a past life into his world once more, even if just for a brief evening.

Relationships
Manny was Craig Boone's closest friend ever since their time in First Recon, although their friendship was tested by Carla and her personality. When he later lost his friend's trust, Manny also lost his closest confidante and the only person who seemed to understand what he felt.

Although he's no longer a member of the Great Khans, he is still loyal to them and helps them when they're in need, proving the doubters wrong.

Quests

 * Come Fly With Me: Manny will ask the player to help him with Novac's ghoul problem in exchange for information about the men who attacked them.
 * They Went That-a-Way: Manny has some information that could prove to be useful in tracking the Courier's attackers down.
 * One for My Baby: Manny is one of four people the Courier can ask to stand in front of Dinky the T-Rex, although he is not the true culprit of the crime.

Appearances
Manny Vargas appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.