Randall Clark

Randall Dean Clark (known as "The Father in the Cave" by the Sorrows tribe), was a survivalist and former soldier inhabiting Zion National Park after the Great War of 2077. Through notes Clark left on computer terminals throughout Zion, a sort of autobiography unfolds, beginning with the war and the loss of his family to the bombs. Clark's tale details how he waited out the worst of the radiation, then set out into the light once more, adapting to the new flora and fauna as it, too, adapted to this new world. It shows him helping others survive, as well as raining vengeance on those who would butcher innocents. It shows him becoming The Father, his life ending with the rebirth of a group of children into the Sorrows tribe, Clark unwittingly immortalized as their deity.

Background
Clark, born February 5, 2053, was an American soldier prior to the Great War. He served in Canada during its annexation, describing the experience not as frightening, but "just sickening, the criminality of it". He had a wife and son in Salt Lake City, both of whom were killed when the city was destroyed in the war. When the bombs fell, Clark was driving home from one of his frequent solitary hiking trips in the wild. Guilt over the fact that he did not die with his family would haunt him for years to come.

A first indication of Clark's unsentimental practicality and ability to choose the best course of action in the face of grim realities is shown in his mercy killing of an old couple who have been blinded by the flash of the nuclear attack. His truck rendered useless by the EMP blast associated with the bombs' detonation, he hiked back to Zion and took shelter in a cave. Fortunately for him, the cave in question was a USGS research site that the associated scientific team hastily abandoned after the bombs fell, probably trying to get back to their families. The abandoned food stores left by the team proved invaluable to Clark, as the radiation levels outside forced him to remain in the cave for several months. This duration surprised him as the Marines had told him that nuclear fallout took only 2-4 weeks to clear.

Once it was safe to go outside, he was astounded by the new life forms that had developed, not the least with his sightings of other humans in Zion. His first encounter with a group of feral ghouls leaves him questioning his own sanity for a time. In his observations of a group of Spanish speaking refugees, having initially been skeptical of these new inhabitants, he ended up feeling compassion when one of the men broke his leg. Clark secretly called for help and left medicine. He tried to intervene directly when a Vault 22 expedition, escaping their mutagen infected home, visited Zion and killed or captured most of the refugees. Clark, unable to save the captives from the cannibalistic Vault 22 dwellers, eventually drove off the intruders using traps, explosives, and his own rifle from the War, along with a recovered set of Desert Ranger combat armor. A holotape that the player can find in a duffle bag at the Vault 22 Dwellers' Guard Camp, entitled BEWARE - A VENGEFUL SPIRIT STALKS THESE CANYONS indicates that by the time the Vault 22 refugees finally fled, there were only 34 of them left alive out of an original 118. Most of the rest have been killed by Clark, to whom the Vault 22 refugees have begun to attribute supernatural powers.

His journals detail his memories of his first family, as well as his romantic relationship with Sylvie, a vault dweller from Vault 22 who was caught in one of Clark's bear traps when escaping from the infection. Over time the two become romantically involved and Sylvie becomes pregnant. Tragically, his would-be new son, Michael, dies during childbirth in a breech position, along with Sylvie who was 'put out' with chems during birth and never woke up. Clark's new found reason for living is once again shattered, the loss of now two families causing him to regularly contemplate suicide but never finding the courage to go through with it.

It would appear Randall suffers from survivor guilt, a mental condition where a person perceives himself or herself to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not. In Randall's case, he blames himself for surviving the Great War while his wife and son, Charlotte and Alex, did not. This hypothesis is further reinforced by the aid he provided to the school children, as many victims divert their survivor guilt into helping others deal with traumatic situations.

Eventually he acknowledges humanity's 'blind drive onward,' becoming a godlike figure to a new group of children who enter the valley. He remains unseen to these, but leaves them notes and other messages preaching the value of kindness and mutual care. He assists them materially as much as he can, passing weapons manuals, medical books, and practical supplies on to them, always remaining concealed. In late 2123 he develops a terminal lung disease, which he guesses is cancer. Reluctant to shatter the illusions of the children by revealing himself, alive or dead, as merely a battered old man, he leaves them his last messages, personalized for each of the child survivors, assuring them that although he will be silent in the future he will be 'still watching and still caring.' In January 2124, realizing his end is near, he climbs up Red Gate to a place where the children will be unlikely to find his corpse and allows himself to die of exposure, looking up into the sky during his final moments.

In his last account, he attributes his long years of survival as a result of him not wanting to let his loved ones go. Their memories in his mind are the best and 'only life' he could have provided them with.

Appearances
's remains appear in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on, Honest Hearts.

Behind the scenes
The Survivalist was designed by J.E. Sawyer, and his diary entries were written by John Gonzalez. He was conceived as a clever ex-military man without a lot of formal education.