Courier

The Courier, also known as Courier Six, is the player character and main protagonist of Fallout: New Vegas.

Background
Most of the Courier's past is shrouded in mystery. What is known is that sometime before taking the fateful contract to deliver the platinum chip, the Courier lived as a drifter, earning a reputation as a veteran of the trail who had traveled all over New California (according to Ulysses the Courier has been to Circle Junction, New Reno, Vault City, Fort Abandon, and on brahmin drives at the Big Circle). Yet the Courier had some sort of connection to the budding community of the Divide in southern California (Ulysses claims that the Courier regularly traveled through the area, and contributed a great deal in keeping it alive).

After the New California Republic attacked and sacked Navarro, they recovered a piece of tech they didn't fully understand, but they recognized several symbols (such as the Old World flag). They later linked these symbols to similar markings they saw in the Divide. The Courier took on the job to return it there, perhaps because the markings reminded them of home. But after making the delivery, the package turned out to be a detonator that contained missile launch codes. According to Ulysses, the package "woke up" and sent the detonation signal to missiles locked in the silos, resulting in massive earthquakes and powerful storms wiping out the community in its infancy, leaving Ulysses as the only survivor. The Courier was apparently not present when the destruction happened, and therefore didn't know of it.

In 2281, the Courier was one of six messengers hired by the Mojave Express to deliver packages to the New Vegas Strip, with the Courier carrying the parcel containing the only item of worth: Robert House's platinum chip, delivering it all the way from near Hub, California. The Courier got the job after Ulysses pulled out when he learned that the Courier's name was next on the list. The Courier was intercepted by Benny, who then shot the Courier in the head twice and left them for dead, buried alive in a shallow grave in the Goodsprings cemetery. The Courier was dug out by Victor, a friendly Securitron under Mr. House's control. The Courier was then nursed back to health by Doc Mitchell, the resident doctor of Goodsprings.

Information through dialogue
The player character can make several suggestions about their past through in-game dialogue options. Since these are, as the name suggests, optional, it can be assumed that these are down to player choice and as such, do not form part of the player's background until they have been selected.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of elements of the character's past which can be explicitly expressed by players during gameplay:
 * During a conversation with Bruce Isaac in Novac, the Courier can state that they have been to New Reno before and attended one of his shows.
 * Dialogue with Little Buster suggests that the Courier was a bounty hunter or at least had experience hunting bounties.
 * The Courier is initially unaware of the rarity and value of the Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps as Malcolm Holmes says the Courier did not express any emotion upon finding their first one.
 * Even if the Brotherhood of Steel from Hidden Valley have not made contact, the Courier has heard of them when conversing with Veronica Santangelo for the first time and, upon passing an intelligence check, when interacting with Christine in Dead Money. The Courier is also seemingly aware of their technology obsession, the Codex, and their hostility with the NCR and Legion.
 * It can be inferred during dialogue with Veronica that the Courier does not know where they come from.
 * The Courier can tell Cass that they [the Courier] do not know what fish is. Or, on the contrary: an intelligent Courier may test her knowledge about fish, clearly aware of their nature although they are practically non-existent in California or the Mojave Wasteland and may only be found in Lake Mead or Zion Canyon.
 * In Dead Money, it is implied that the Courier does not know what FEV is through their interaction with Father Elijah.
 * Further conversing with Elijah when he mentions the "Big Empty" makes the Courier claim they never have heard of it before.
 * Before setting off to New Canaan, the Courier can tell Jed Masterson that they have not been to Utah in some time, suggesting that they have been there before. This also explains how the Courier knows the Dead Horses' and the Sorrows' languages, which is itself implied by a Dead Horse scout who remarks upon being spoken with, "You know our tongue - smart owslander."
 * Dialogue choices throughout Honest Hearts heavily imply that the Courier has never heard of Christianity, or at least the Mormon faith.
 * In Old World Blues, the Courier is revealed to have a special brain condition due to being shot in the head in just the right spot and surviving.
 * After Old World Blues, the Courier becomes a cybernetically augmented human ("cyborg"). Even if they get their brain, heart, and spine back, there will still be some advanced technologies that remain in place.
 * The Courier has a high understanding of RobCo technology. In Honest Hearts, a Courier with a high Science skill can call out Ricky's incompetence with his locked Pip-Boy. In Old World Blues, the Courier can recognize the RobCo signals that 8|Doctor 8 transmits.
 * The Courier's brain will curse at its previous owner for pursuing a reckless hunt after Benny from "ill-conceived" revenge.
 * One of the epilogues of Old World Blues states that the Courier knows very little about communism or high schools, though this is an inference from the X-8 computer system.
 * According to Ulysses, the Courier has been to Circle Junction, New Reno, Vault City, Fort Abandon, and on brahmin drives at the Big Circle.
 * The Courier has very limited knowledge of the Midwest, as when ED-E from the Divide plays the log from when a child found it, asking it where that occurred will have ED-E respond with Chicago, Illinois. The Courier knows about Illinois if they have met the Mojave ED-E ("Illinois? So that's where you got that plate. The other you, I mean."), but is unaware of it if they haven't ("Illin-what? Come on you're making that name up."). Regardless of if they have met the Mojave ED-E, the Courier doesn't know about Chicago, asking "What's a Chicago?".
 * An intelligent Courier has at least passing knowledge of snipers and spotters, as Boone can be recruited by simply noting that snipers are supposed to work in pairs.
 * A male Courier with the Lady Killer perk can ask if the Lonesome Drifter is 17, and then express relief after the Drifter says he is 28, implying the Courier impregnated (or believes he impregnated) a woman in Montana around 18 years ago.
 * The Courier is also apparently able to understand ED-E's incomprehensible beeping and is even able to tell the difference between its emotions through its beeping.
 * It would appear the Courier is irritated with the mentioning of Benny during the conversation with Emily Ortal who worked with him. She claims to understand that the Courier does not wish to talk about him.
 * An intelligent Courier can understand and speak fluent Latin, as during Silus Treatment, the Courier can deceive Silus into thinking that they are a Legion assassin by speaking Latin phrases. However, the Courier's knowledge of the language may be limited as they do not understand one of Arcade Gannon's Latin phrases.
 * Dialogue with Raul shows that the Courier has at least a passing knowledge of Spanish.
 * A conversation option with ED-E of Lonesome Road reveals the Courier is sympathetic with the robot.
 * After hearing one of ED-E's recordings and discovers that ED-E is trying to find his way home, The Courier can remark that they feel the same way and adds "Why do you think I became a courier?"

After Hoover Dam
It is stated in the endings for Old World Blues, that in the years following the Second Battle of Hoover Dam that the Courier returned to Big MT and watched over it, keeping a close eye over the sciences and goings-on of the facility while gradually reintroducing sciences both forgotten and new back into the Wasteland as needed.

Appearances
The Courier appears in Fallout: New Vegas and all of its add-ons, and is mentioned in the graphic novel, All Roads.

Behind the scenes
Originally, the player would have been able to choose the Courier's race. Obsidian planned for the options of human, ghoul and super mutant; however, Bethesda strongly advised against on the bases of reworking armor and weapons for each race. Obsidian followed Bethesda's advice and left the Courier human.