Dogmeat (Fallout)



Dogmeat is a dog NPC that can be found in Junktown in 2161. He can be found terrorizing Phil, an old man in Junktown, by 'guarding' the doorway to his house and keeping him out. The protagonist can distract him for the old man and, by doing this, recruit him as a companion.

His previous owner had been killed by thugs hired by Gizmo (most likely the Skulz) about a month previous. In the Vault Dweller's memoirs it is disclosed that Dogmeat died in the military base after running into a force field (although in the game, it is possible to survive the military base with Dogmeat alive - usually by sealing him inside different rooms to protect him from the Super Mutants).

Dogmeat is also a special NPC you can locate and recruit in Fallout 2. He can be found in the special encounter "The Cafe of Broken Dreams."

Recruiting Dogmeat
Give him an Iguana-on-a-stick or wear a Leather Jacket (his previous owner probably wore one) to distract Dogmeat from Phil's house.
 * Fallout

Dogmeat can be recruited simply the player showing his/her Vault 13 suit and speaking to him. (In other words, undress.) He will remember the Vault Dweller from Fallout and join the PC.
 * Fallout 2

Follower Details
He can be obtained as a follower in both games regardless of your Karma.

Dogmeat cannot wear armor or use weapons. You can use Stimpaks on him.

In Fallout, he is incredibly effective in combat, as he can do three medium to high damage attacks per turn, and has the same amount of health points as a full grown man. However, one should think carefully before getting him to follow them. He will become a follower, but will not behave like other NPC's in Fallout. You cannot give him directions or ask him to leave you. In order to remove Dogmeat from your party you have to get him killed. This can be a difficult task for low level characters. This is because you are unable to talk to Dogmeat and give him orders like you can with normal NPC followers in the first Fallout.

Dogmeat was changed in Fallout 2, including making him much more powerful. It is not uncommon to see Dogmeat move obscene distances and attack 5 - 6 times during his turn. He was also given normal scripting commands like the other NPC's in the game, and this means you can command Dogmeat the same as you would command, for example, Sulik.

Appearances
Fallout
 * Junktown, in front of Phil's house.

Fallout 2
 * In the random encounter Cafe of Broken Dreams.

He was not going to appear in Van Buren.

Behind the scenes
Dogmeat is a reference both to Mad Max and to the 1975 movie A Boy and His Dog. Both movies featured a lone wanderer and his dog-companion in a post-apocalyptic world. Scott Bennie was the designer who came up with the name "Dogmeat." The name was initially applied to Jake's dog in the Hub (previously called Dogshit). Later, it was applied to the current NPC Dogmeat, either by Tim Cain or Jason Anderson.