Pinkerton

Dr. Horace Pinkerton, a self-described talented electrician, scientist, and surgeon, is a reclusive inhabitant of Rivet City's broken bow in 2277. He was at one time a former council member of Rivet City who was replaced by Madison Li after a disagreement between them that resulted in Pinkerton storming out.

Background
Horace Pinkerton was born in 2217. At the age of 60, he is a bitter old man who helped turn Rivet City from a ruined aircraft carrier into a livable community. He's grown tired of people and spends the remainder of his days isolated within his broken bow workshop, which also serves as his living quarters. Most of the residents would be surprised to find that he is still on the ship, let alone living there. Belle Bonny knows that he lives in Rivet City still, and is willing to release this bit of information through conversation. Doctor Li and Seagrave Holmes remember him from the early days, but assume he left Rivet City decades ago.

In his early twenties, he helped lead the remnants of the Naval Research Institute in a search for new lab space until they came across an abandoned aircraft carrier around 2237. After clearing out the mirelurk infestation, he and his team moved into the carrier and set up their science lab. Soon after, the population within their new home began to grow, leading Pinkerton to name the aircraft carrier Rivet City and to even form a council in 2239, which consisted of himself along with Annette Holmes and Brad Danvers.

After Doctor Li arrived in Rivet City, Pinkerton's science team became enamored with Project Purity, and left Pinkerton to conduct his research on his own. Angered by this turn of events, Pinkerton expounded his views on the futility of Project Purity. Eventually, he was forced out of the Rivet City council and replaced by Doctor Li. In a self-imposed exile, Pinkerton moved his home and lab into the broken bow of the ship. Years later, most of the inhabitants of Rivet City are no longer even aware of the location of Pinkerton or his hidden science lab. To many, his existence has become a legend.

Pinkerton is the doctor who performed facial reconstruction surgery and a mind wipe on the android Harkness in order to help the Railroad hide him from the Institute. A brash and talented scientist, Pinkerton is the only known person in the Capital Wasteland who has the skills to perform such complicated surgery.

Quests

 * The Wasteland Survival Guide: Pinkerton will give information on the origins of Rivet City, to satisfy an optional part of this quest for the history of the city.
 * The Replicated Man: Pinkerton will give information about the android.

Other interactions

 * During and after "The Replicated Man" quest, he will offer the player character facial reconstruction surgery free of charge.

Appearances
Horace Pinkerton appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * Pinkerton's name may be taken from a Mark Twain short story The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.
 * Pinkerton is possibly based on the character J.R. Isidore from the Phillip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis for the Blade Runner franchise. In Replicant Night, the second sequel novel by author K.W. Jeter, Isidore is revealed to have performed a similar role to Pinkerton, in giving escaped Replicants (the basis for the Synths of Fallout) new appearances and memories in order to avoid detection, along with implanting a secret memory recall trigger in them.

Bugs

 * When the player chooses to get a facial reconstruction, there is a possibility that the Lasergrafter will not center on the character's face; it will only show the top half of it. When the player clicks "Done," the character view is shifted properly, but if the player selects "no" (to return to the facial editor), the view will shift back to only showing the top half of the face.
 * Making the Lone Wanderer's skin darker using facial reconstruction, not saving the game and loading the previous save, will result in having a dark skin color, but a much lighter colored face.
 * After choosing a lighter skin tone, the right hand of the Lone Wanderer will remain dark until the game has been restarted.