Fawkes

Fawkes is an unusually intelligent and sophisticated super mutant, found in Vault 87. Fawkes is clad in a tattered Vault Suit, and wields either a Super Sledge or a Gatling Laser.

Fawkes begs the Vault 101 Dweller to release him from his cell, which he has resided in for as long as memory permits. He also reveals that he was able to attain literacy and a civilized personality by gleaning as much information he could from the vault's immense database. Fawkes has an intimate knowledge of the vault, for which he credits with his possible former life as a human resident of the very same vault he is imprisoned in.

In exchange for his release, Fawkes retrieves the Garden of Eden Creation Kit device from a radioactive section of the vault, and bids the Vault 101 Dweller farewell. After the Vault 101 Dweller is incapacitated and taken to Raven Rock, the base of The Enclave, Fawkes aids in the escape, and devastates the Enclave soldiers with an incredibly powerful gatling laser.

Depending on the player's karma, Fawkes may agree to accompany the Vault 101 Dweller on future travels. If your karma is too low, he is found wandering around the entrance to The Underworld.

Fawkes, thanks to the inherited thick skin natural to Super Mutants (or, as he prefers, 'Meta-Humans'), is extremely resilient. Coupled with his powerful Gatling Laser, Fawkes is a very useful ally. However, the player cannot equip Fawkes with clothing, somewhat limiting his effectiveness in combat. In spite of this, Fawkes can still be instructed on which weapon to arm himself with (super sledge, gatling laser, or a gun (possibly only Big?) that Fawkes has ammunition for), and on which tactics to utilize in battle (stay close or hang back). Despite Fawkes' drawbacks, he's still possibly the most powerful follower in the game, as he can take several direct missile hits before dying. Also, his gatling laser seems to have infinite ammo.

One major issue is that he often gets stuck due to his size, and in small areas can even block off the player entirely if he gets stuck.

When the Vault 101 Dweller is faced with the climactic decision at the conclusion of the game, Fawkes politely declines to enter the radioactive room in lieu of the player, stating that is the player's destiny, not his.

Appearances
Fawkes appears in Fallout 3.

Related quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden

Behind the scenes
His name is a reference to Guy Fawkes, a 16th century English Catholic famed for his involvement in an assassination attempt known as the Gunpowder Plot. Their goal was to assassinate the protestant King James I of England including most of his government and install his catholic daughter, Elizabeth Stuart, as Queen. The plot was eventually foiled and Guy Fawkes was executed. Fawkes the Mutant says he found the name in an historic entry in his computer and used it because Guy Fawkes was "a man who was willing to fight and die for what he believed in."

Additionally, his name references the character "V" of V for Vendetta. Both characters identify with Guy Fawkes, are subjected to experimentation that has granted them superhuman abilities, and have been imprisoned in room 5 (or V).

Bugs

 * If you have a vault or science theme active at your Megaton house, do NOT go to bed with Fawkes following you. If you do, you will become trapped, as he will block the door exiting your bedroom. To get him to move out of the way, ask him to stop following you (fire him).  He will begin to walk out of the house to make his way towards underworld; simply catch him before he gets to your door and re-hire him.  Problem solved. (On the PS3, he doesn't seem to leave even if you fire him. He just stands there and you remain stuck. Even if you sleep, he just won't go. And he is very hard to kill. One must go back to a previous save.)