Mayor McDonough

Mayor McDonough, synth designation M7-62, is the mayor of Diamond City and an Institute agent

Background
McDonough was born close to Diamond City in a shack by the waterfront to Patrick and Martha McDonough. He is the older brother of Hancock, the leader of Goodneighbor.

In 2282, McDonough chose to run for mayor of Diamond City, doing so with an anti-ghoul platform. He sought the support of the Upper Stands citizens by promising to remove ghouls from the city, using the slogan "Mankind for McDonough." The divide between the richer citizens of the stands and working class living on the field was significant enough to result in his election, and the city turned on their ghoul neighbors, throwing them out into the ruins of the Commonwealth. His brother ran to the new mayor's office, begging him to call it off, and in response, McDonough smiled and stated that he couldn't, as it was the will of the people.

Disgusted, his brother left Diamond City, attempting to help refugee families seek refuge in Goodneighbor. Sometime after his election, McDonough was replaced by a synth, assuming his identity and serving as a conduit for intelligence on the location. The mayor now monitors developments in the Commonwealth and compiles reports on matters of possible interest, covertly meeting with other Institute agents to relay reports.

Despite discretion, resident and journalist Piper Wright is skeptical of the mayor, convinced of the mayor's true nature as a synth, publishing her suspicions in a Publick Occurrences news article titled, "The Synthetic Truth." This follows 60 years of paranoia and fear following the Broken Mask incident, where a prototype synth was released for field testing prematurely, its true nature revealed after killing Diamond City residents in the public square. Piper's publication specifically calling McDonough's humanity into question has resulted in the Institute questioning the mayor's usefulness moving forward.

Appearances
Mayor McDonough appears

Behind the scenes
According to Emil Pagliarulo, McDonough was inspired by real-life Boston mayor James Michael Curley.