Harold

Harold is one of the most unique denizens of the wasteland. Born five years before the Great War, in 2072, Harold survived it in a vault and witnessed many of the pivotal events and met the most influential people of the wasteland. Rising to prominence as a caravan master in the formative years of the Hub, he would later meet the future Master, travel to Mariposa Military Base, undergo a change into a ghoul-like mutant through exposure to FEV, lose everything, then become a wasteland traveler, leading Gecko into a new future, and eventually becoming an unwilling god for the Treeminders in the Capital Wasteland, on the opposite end of the continent.

While he appears to be a ghoul and is treated as such by everyone he meets (save for the few exceptional individuals who look beyond his horrifying appearance), Harold is technically not a ghoul, but a special kind of mutant created through his limited exposure to FEV. Due to his birth before the War and subsequent growing up in a Vault, shielded from the high amounts of radiation that flooded the world, he was largely untainted and qualified for full transformation into a super mutant, given the right levels of exposure. However, the relatively low amounts of exposure coupled with a number of random, uncontrolled factors, resulted in his transformation into an unique, special kind of mutant. Harold is Harold, just like Talius is Talius. Although hesitant to self-identify as a ghoul at first, Harold eventually embraced his identity and worked to aid his brethren. Fallout Bible 5:

Early life
Born in 2072, Harold was only five years old when the War started and he entered Vault 29. He still remembers the sirens on that day and the terrible days that followed, living in an overcrowded Vault with not enough food and water to go around. The reason was that his shelter, Vault 29, was populated with young children separated from their parents, and placed under the care of Diana, a human scientist immortalized by merging her human brain with a supercomputer controlling the Vault and the Nursery, a repository of seeds and genetic records preserved in case of a global thermonuclear war. Diana would control the unrest by periodically releasing young dwellers to scout the surface and report whether it was safe to settle. They never returned, as Diana would take them to the Nursery, where they'd either be able to join her or leave, after being conditioned to be unable to speak of the Nursery or the Vault. Harold was selected by Diana and initially agreed to stay, before escaping. He kept the Nursery a secret, believing it his duty to protect it from those who would exploit it.

He left in 2090, at eighteen, and began to make his fortune as a trader, making the circuit between survivalist communities that emerged throughout New California. Over the next twelve years, he made a tidy profit, rising to prominence in the Hub. However, all things come at a cost and Harold's success ran up a hefty bill due to attacks by gangers, scavengers and mutant creatures that made it necessary to employ entire armies of guards just to keep them at bay. This was all the more apparent to him since he became the head of his own caravan outfit in 2096.

Eventually, he had enough and on May 22, 2102, financed one of the first adventuring parties in New California together with Richard Grey, a mysterious scientist and doctor from the Hub. the expedition set out from the Hub and tracked the mutants to the northwest, deep into the Californian Central Valley. After fighting through what seemed like an endless stream of mutants, they finally reached Mariposa Military Base on June 23. Penetrating the base's defenses proved no small feat and eventually, the entire group was whittled down to just Harold and Richard Grey. Francine was wounded and Mark was sent to the surface, never to be heard from again. The two of them penetrated all the way into the base's central core, where the vats of FEV were located. The expedition was finally routed when the robotic crane crashed into them, sending Grey into a vat of FEV and badly injuring Harold. He passed out, only to wake up in the wasteland days later, in the throes of change due to exposure to FEV, when he handled a contaminated item in the base. The Vault Dweller: "{128}{}{Where were the mutants coming from?}" Harold: "{133}{HROLD10}{Everywhere! Hell, seemed like you couldn't fart without hitting one. But mostly in the northwest.}" The Vault Dweller: "{134}{}{Did you explore that area?}" Harold: "{138}{HROLD11}{We mounted an expedition. God, Richard. Richard Grey. Led a small group of us up there.}" The Vault Dweller: "{139}{}{Richard Grey?}" Harold: "{146}{HROLD14}{Richard Grey was a doctor. Little older than me, and friend was he smart. He found the source.}" The Vault Dweller: "{147}{}{And what was that?}" Harold: "{160}{HROLD18}{Some sort of old military base. We lost a lotta folks getting in there.}" The Vault Dweller: "{161}{}{How did you know this base was the cause?}" Harold: "{165}{HROLD20}{Because it was like someone went bargain shopping at mutantland! Geez! Cheaper by the dozens! Can't figure any other reason except that being the factory.}" The Vault Dweller: "{166}{}{Did you examine the base closely?}" Harold: "{167}{HROLD21}{We got pretty far inside. Wasn't a lot of us left by then. Grey, me and couple of others.}" The Vault Dweller: "{168}{}{And then?}" Harold: "{169}{HROLD22}{One of them robots got Francine. Mark was wounded, sent him back to the surface. Then it was just me and Grey.}" The Vault Dweller: "{170}{}{What ever happened to Mark?}" Harold: "{172}{HROLD23}{To this day, I don't know. He never made it back here, and...well I...couldn't face the wasteland again, so I...I never looked.}" The Vault Dweller: "{173}{}{What about you and Grey?}" "Harold: {174}{HROLD24}{We made it to some sort of central core, like a plant of some sort. That's when it happened.}" The Vault Dweller: "{175}{}{What?}" Harold: "{176}{HROLD25}{A robot crane crashed into us. Last I saw of Grey, he was flying through the air in-into some sort of acid bath. I was in bad shape and...well I passed out.}" The Vault Dweller: "{177}{}{How did you survive?}" Harold: "{181}{HROLD26}{Well, I have no idea. Woke up in the wasteland, barely hanging on. Got lucky and some traders I knew found me days later. Good thing, since I was already changing. They brought me here, and here I've been since.}" The Vault Dweller: "{182}{}{How did you mutate?}" Harold: "{190}{HROLD28}{All's I know, is it was something inside that base.}" The Vault Dweller: "{191}{}{Do you think it could have been radiation?}" Harold: "{193}{HROLD29}{How the hell should I know? Grey would've known if anybody could. [sigh] Anyway, that's how the deal went down.}" (HAROLD.MSG) He was found by traders four days later, on June 27, and taken back to the Hub. His horrifying transformation caused him to lose his business, as employees and partners turned away from him. Soon, he was left a beggar, living in a derelict ruin in the Old Town.

No country for old mutants
His resolve and hardiness allowed him to survive despite the poverty. By the time he met the Vault Dweller around 2161, he was the oldest person alive in the whole wide Hub, known for his stories and knowledge, not just about days long past, but also contemporary events. For example, he knew how to find the deathclaw suspected of attacking caravans and was aware of the fact that Decker's men captured Brother Jonathan of the Brotherhood of Steel recently, and would happily share that knowledge for a modest amount of bottle caps to keep himself afloat.

Harold left sometime after 2162, having managed to bring a measure of equality between the impoverished population of Hub's Old Town and the rest of the city. He traveled north, accompanied by a sapling (Bob) that took root in his head. By 2238, he arrived in Gecko and noticing that the careless way the power plant was managed, he decided to stick around and do his best to help the ghouls with the running of the facility, becoming the de facto mayor and leader of the local community. He would be one of the key players in the struggle between the ghouls and the bigoted inhabitants of Vault City to solve the Gecko powerplant problem. After the conflict was resolved, he started to travel again. The tree growing out of his head continued to grow larger and bear fruit. Its remarkably tough seeds are able to withstand even the toughest environments and thrive.

Traveler of the Wasteland
After the destruction of the Master's Army, Harold left the Hub and became a traveler who visited various places around the wasteland. It's known that he traveled in Texas to Carbon where he had a sexual encounter with Carbon's prostitute, Ruby, and the ghoul-city of Los around 2208. He wanted to have a good time in Los after leaving Carbon but the arrival of super mutants and the loss of his hand, his toe and his eye in the city changed the deal. The Initiate helped Harold to recover his parts so he could leave the city before its destruction. Harold's travels ended in Gecko in 2238.

Quests

 * Find Missing Pieces - Harold has lost three pieces of his body and asks the player character to retrieve them.
 * Harold's romp with Ruby - the Initiate can remind Harold of his adventures with Ruby, the prostitute from Carbon, for 300 XP.

Leader of Gecko
In 2241, Harold is a very old but still spry-looking ghoul. The Chosen One runs into Harold in Gecko, the ghoul town not far from Vault City. After the destruction of the Necropolis following Fallout, most of the ghoul population of the town migrated far to the north to form a settlement around an old nuclear power plant built by Poseidon Oil before the Great War. Anyone else would likely be killed by long term exposure to radiation, but the ghouls just find it pleasant. When Harold arrived, the plant was being run dangerously and stupidly. Harold quickly took over from the well-meaning but inept leaders of Gecko and got the reactor into some kind of working order. When the Chosen One arrives in Gecko, Harold asks them to help solve the Gecko powerplant problem.

The Chosen One still heard mention of Harold from time to time. Apparently, the tree growing from his head has gotten larger, and, if rumors are to be believed, fruit is growing from it. The seeds are said to be remarkably tough, and several of them have taken root even in the most barren stretches of the wasteland.

Back home
By the 2250s, Harold was ill. The tree in his head developed an unknown disease and was dying. Much to his surprise, Harold found himself affected as well. He didn't think he was going to die, but he just didn't feel right in the head.

So, he set out on a quest for a cure. Naturally, he didn't have an easy time of it either. People just didn't seem to want a mutant around any more, but Harold didn't let that stop him. He persisted in his quest until he came upon the Twin Mothers tribe, which originated from his home, Vault 29.

Much to his surprise, the tribe took him in and accepted him as he was. He explained his quest to the tribal leaders and was told that they would consult their goddess. Days later, Harold was approached by the tribal shaman and given a potion to drink. It was a foul concoction, but it worked. Bob, the tree, got better and was happy again.

Harold couldn't let such a good deed go unrewarded, so he offered to help the tribe in any way that he could. They smiled at him, and thanked him, but declined his help. "The goddess will provide," they always said. Harold said that he would like to pay his respects to the goddess, and was taken to the tribal shrine to be granted a private audience. He wasn't really surprised when the projected image of a woman appeared before him, but he was taken aback when she told him where he could find her. His return to the Nursery was a moment of joy for Diana and a "new experience" to him, as much of his early memories faded with age.

Harold traveled to the Nursery and spent considerable time there. He even considered settling down and spending the remainder of his day in the tranquility of the gardens. However, eventually he left and traveled even further east.

If the Prisoner gives Diana the information on the FEV and the New Plague from the Boulder ZAX, Diana will be able to create a cure to the New Plague virus in the form of a small fruit, by genetically engineering it from Harold's tree.

Ascension
Harold's tireless legs eventually carried him all the way to the opposite end of the continent, to the Capital Wasteland. Overwhelmed by Bob, he stopped to rest, only to realize that he was unable to move anymore, rooted to the ground by his companion. He became part of the tree, sustained by its photosynthesis and nutrients taken from the ground. He took root in the northern Capital Wasteland and was found by a wanderer in the late 2250s. This wanderer, later taking the name Birch, beheld the glory of Harold and knew other wanderers would seek to do the Great One harm. He founded the Treeminders, a group of pure-hearted individuals that would protect the Great One as his last line of defense. Once Harold and Bob truly became a part of the environment, a verdant vale of growth spread from the tree, washing the barren hillside over with life and greenery, and enticing animal life to inhabit the area.

With the Treeminders' care and attention, Bob started to take root further; over time, his root system carried away Harold's internal organs far throughout the cave system below, making it plain that short of a merciful death, Harold would remain forever in one spot. Harold used his ability to spread Herbert's seeds to attract wanderers, at first to amuse himself, and then to find a solution to the problem he was in. The key issue was that the purification ceremony necessary for outsiders to gain access to Harold involved drinking hallucinogenic sap derived from Bob, resulting in psychosis and other severe mental problems in most who came to the Oasis.

He kept trying, hoping to attract someone capable of helping him through his ordeal. Finally, in 2277, he managed to attract the Lone Wanderer. Upon their acceptance into the cult, Harold requested that they kill him, to spare him the agony of being rooted in one spot for all eternity. Suffering from depression, he pleaded with the Lone Wanderer to end his life, something the Treeminders could not do. His requests for them to end his life wound up interpreted as tests of their moral and spiritual aptitude, rather than genuine pleas for mercy.

His sole real companion was Yew, the youngest of the group, who listened to him without reservation. Others, treating him as a god, always looked for hidden meanings or had their own designs for him. Tree Father Birch and Leaf Mother Laurel held two opposing views of what should happen: Birch wished to contain Bob's spread to protect Oasis and Harold, while Laurel desired to share their god's gift with everyone. It was up to the Lone Wanderer to decide whether to fulfill Harold's wish and euthanize him or persuade him to live on and either have Bob spread out or be contained.

Nature of Harold
To the untrained eye, Harold appears to be an ordinary ghoul. This is not so, however. Ghouls are the result of massive and/or long-term radiation damage to a human body; Harold is a product of the Forced Evolutionary Virus. Unlike most people who are exposed to FEV, Harold did not become a super mutant, but is the result of a unique combination of radiation damage from constant low-level environmental exposure, indirect exposure to FEV (it is unclear how Harold was infected with FEV as he blacked out for a while during his exploration of Mariposa) and a fair amount of random chance. Thus he's not a ghoul, and certainly not a super mutant, though it could be argued that he is somehow a hybrid of the two. To quote Tim Cain, "Harold is special."

Furthermore, Tim Cain has this to say on the subject: "As for contact [with FEV], any contact at all will infect the subject, but the amount of contact determines the result. For example, I imagine Harold had some contact with the virus, but he was not fully immersed in it, so he became a different mutant than the Master's subjects. Full immersion, of course, is the preferred method of infection, as it provides the virus a large surface area for infection."

Another similar FEV-created, ghoul-like mutant is Talius.

Harold behaves unusually in treating Bob as if the plant were actually sentient. Although at no point does the plant indicate that it can convey feelings, Harold certainly is not stupid, and perhaps only crazy in the humorous sense, yet he still insists on hearing out the plant's opinions on certain matters that he might otherwise take seriously. Given Harold's newfound ability to "see" through the trees that are descended from Bob through the use of extreme concentration, it may not be much of a stretch to suggest that both are deeply linked in some unknown way, almost certainly as a result of FEV exposure. Because of his mutation, it is no surprise that Harold is afraid of fire.

Despite his appearance, Harold is a kind-hearted soul with a comical personality. He has made many friends throughout his travels, potentially including the Vault Dweller, the Chosen One and the Lone Wanderer. He is also good with kids, as evidenced by his friendship with Sapling Yew in Oasis, of whom he is particularly fond.

Quests

 * Find the missing caravans: Beth tells the Vault Dweller to go to Harold to obtain more information on the missing caravans.

Quests

 * Solve the Gecko powerplant problem: Harold is concerned that if the pollution does not cease, Vault City will assault Gecko and kill all of the ghouls.

Quests

 * Oasis: Birch wants to stop Harold's influence on the wasteland, Laurel wants to spread his influence and Harold just wants to die.

Quests

 * Find Missing Pieces: Harold is having trouble keeping parts of his body on, so he sends the Initiate to look for his missing body parts.

Fallout: New California
Harold can be acquired at the shop by any player character that has Endurance. When shopping with him as the active companion, the player character can exhaust him in order to gain an additional two bottle caps for every item they sell.

When the player character performs the camp action, he will become unexhausted. However, if the player character does not have Charisma at this time, he must be discarded.

The Armageddon Rag

 * "Be kind to the Smoothskins. One saved the world once. 'Course, they broke it to start with."

Appearances

 * Harold appears in Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and the Fallout: The Board Game add-on Fallout: New California. A mutant named "Harold" with a tree growing out of his head appears in Fallout Tactics, although it is unclear whether this is actually the Harold.
 * Additionally, Harold was to appear in both Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios and Interplay's Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2. A cult called the Church of Harold was set to appear in Project V13.
 * A group called "Harold's Cult" is mentioned in a piece of concept art by Adam Adamowicz, which was released after Adamowicz' death. It portrays three characters in clothing similar to that of the Treeminders.

Gallery
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