Craig Boone

"You take out a debt, it's only a matter of time before someone comes collecting."

- Craig Boone

Craig Boone is a possible companion and Novac's night shift sentry in Fallout: New Vegas.

Boone specializes in rifles, carrying his own scoped hunting rifle.

Background
Born in 2255, Boone is a town guard and former NCR sharpshooter in the 1st Recon Sniper Battalion, a unit which has a reputation for being the best of the best. He is bitterly whiling away the hours until he can find out who's responsible for the disappearance of his wife, Carla, and kill them. Hardened and psychologically troubled from his time in the NCR military, Boone vacillates between being a stone-cold killer and a decent human being. Venturing out from the relative safety of Novac brings Boone into close contact with his old life until he is forced to deal with the tragic events that caused him to leave the military.

Before his wife's kidnapping and death, he met Carla while on leave at the Casinos of New Vegas, as described by Boone. Carla was the only thing in the world who made him feel calm and happy in life and how when he listened to her she made him forget about everything he did in the military. While he married Carla, the marriage did not last due to Boone's constant military tours and missions that was far from the safe confines of town. During a security detail at Novac, Carla and Manny, one of his fellow members in 1st Recon argued over Boone's future and Carla left Novac, deceived by one of the townsfolk about finding safe passage back to New Vegas and was kidnapped, driving Boone to finding out who kidnapped her.

After completing several quests with Boone as a follower, it is possible to gain more information about Boone's wife. When she was kidnapped, he tracked down the slaving party in hopes of rescuing her, only to find her being auctioned off with hundreds of other slaves to Legion soldiers. All Boone had was his rifle and the distance between them. Instead of subjecting her to the horrors of Legion slavery, he chose to take her life in a mercy killing. As a result of the psychological trauma Boone endured, he has become suicidal. He has no goal, purpose, or desire in life but to slaughter Legionnaires (preferably by assisting with cranial perforation) until the Legion finally catches up to him. Boone also reveals he was part of the NCR attack on Bitter Springs, where he and his squad were ordered to shoot members of the Great Khans, including women and children.

Craig Boone, despite leaving the military, is still an NCR soldier at heart; he refuses to work with a terrorist against the NCR and will not tolerate the Courier working with Caesar's Legion. In fact, if the player enters the area with Boone, all Legion members become immediately hostile regardless of the player's standing with the Legion.

Quests

 * One for My Baby: Help Boone take care of the person responsible for his wife's kidnapping. The successful completion of this quest makes him available as a companion for the Courier.
 * I Forgot to Remember to Forget: Help Boone deal with the psychological trauma still haunting him. The successful completion of this quest upgrades his armor.
 * Beyond the Beef: The player can offer Boone, or any other human companion, as a substitute to Mortimer for the banquet.
 * You'll Know It When It Happens: Boone will tell the player 3 ways in which president Aaron Kimball can be assassinated. He's right about 2 of the ways he tells the player.

Endings

 * If the NCR holds the Dam and he does not find peace, Boone confirms what he had always suspected - that revenge would never quiet his troubled mind. Side arm in hand, he journeys back to California in search of the NCR officer who had led the attack on Bitter Springs. There, with only two bullets loaded, Boone does the only thing he believes will put an end to his suffering.
 * If the NCR holds the Dam and he finds peace, he looks for a place where he can be of some use, Boone finds himself re-enlisting with his old unit. Though his regrets remain in his thoughts, they coalesce into a purpose, and Boone embraces it. He spends his leave time hunting down slavers in the desert, his First Recon beret "the last thing they never see."
 * If NCR withdraws from the region and he manages to find peace, Boone remains in New Vegas, finding work as a security guard and caravan scout along the highways. While he might have preferred rejoining his old unit, Boone can't bring himself to abandon the city where he'd met his wife.
 * If the Legion takes the Dam and he manages to find peace, Boone refuses to take the Legion's victory lying down. Heading to the hills with his rifle, he begins a deadly campaign against high-ranking Legion officers. And though the price on his head rises to levels previously unheard of, few pursue it, fearing it would be the last thing they'd never see.
 * If NCR withdraws from the region and he is no longer held in check by his conscience, Boone finds lucrative work as a mercenary and assassin. No job is too violent, no target too innocent. As long as the caps are good, Boone will take the job.
 * If he is unable to escape his memories and Caesar achieves victory at Hoover Dam, Boone stages a suicide mission against the Legate. Fighting as he wished he had on the day of his wife's death, he brings down scores of Legionaries before being caught. Before his crucifixion, he is brought before the Legate, who expresses his admiration for Boone's reckless abandon. Boone spits tobacco in his eye, for all of Caesar's armies to see.

Inventory
Boone's initial armor is considered normal armor, and can be taken from him. He doesn't have a default outfit beneath it. He can equip NCR or non-faction affiliated armor, and may use any melee weapons and firearms. He is very accurate and has a high critical hit head shot chance. Boone performs best when equipped with a powerful conventional rifle, though his default hunting rifle still puts out immense firepower. After completing the quest I Forgot to Remember to Forget, he will gain a set of armor, either 1st Recon survival armor or 1st Recon assault armor, depending on the path that the conversation takes. Boone will still equip better armor e.g. Remnants power armor or otherwise if it is given to him, and his 1st Recon upgraded armor will not be in his inventory.

Appearances
Craig Boone appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes
Craig Boone was written by Eric Fenstermaker.

Bugs

 * After applying patch 1.2.0.31x Boone may no longer move his head to track nearby targets, and will holster his weapon while in combat approximately every five seconds. This error is caused by a code added to his main dialogue script, which causes him to re-evaluate his current AI package every five seconds.
 * An unofficial patch has been released which corrects this bug.
 * Due to a glitch regarding armor stats, every time Boone switches equipment, the PER bonus from his beret gets added again and again, which leads to Boone having over 10 perception. This can be reset by taking his beret away, and then giving it back to him.
 * If the player takes Boone's beret, then give it back to him, it may disappear from his inventory. If you give him the one remaining in your inventory, it will disappear upon transfer.
 * This can be done by giving to him any apparel does not allow face or headgear. Thusly, he'll also take his sunglasses off.


 * Boone seems to occasionally switch to melee (or if unavailable, unarmed) without prompt. This can be fixed by changing his combat style to melee in the companion wheel, and then back to ranged.
 * If you fast travel after earning enough history points to unlock the quest I Forgot to Remember to Forget, but before Boone asks you to return to Bitter Springs with him, Boone will not fast travel with you. You may correct this by loading the auto-save file if you have not changed the game's default auto-save settings.
 * If Boone has NCR faction armor AND a better set of armor in his inventory, he will sometimes switch between them for seemingly no reason.
 * If Boone is a companion and you part ways with him, say to meet up at the Lucky 38, and eventually accept him as a companion again, he will repeatedly talk to you without prompt. on the Xbox 360, he won't leave the Presidential Suite either. and fast traveling also causes him to disappear from the game permanently. This can be fixed only by going to The Fort and killing Caesar, although Boone will not appear. Upon killing Caesar, fast traveling to Cottonwood Cove will fix the glitch, provided there are enemies nearby.
 * After a fight Boone may get stuck at reloading his weapon endlessly and not following you any more. Let him switch to melee and back to ranged gets him out of that loop. Yet only confirmed for PC, happened after fast traveling to Nevada Highway Patrol Station and fighting 10+ Jackal Gang Members.
 * Sometimes when you're at the beginning of the game Boone will be shown as a companion but in Novac even if you haven't recruited him (Once I looked there near Novac it showed his name on the map at the beginning of the game).
 * You can fix this bug by closing out of the game or turning off your console then back on.
 * Sometimes when giving Boone a pair of Authority glasses they turn out misshapen on his face. His rifle also will glitch out, and either disappear off his back or be inside of him. This also causes him to switch equipment. This can be fixed by taking the glasses, completely leaving the companion wheel, then going back and giving them back. (Confirmed for Xbox 360)
 * If Boone is a companion while using the Mark of Caesar to boat your way to The Fort Boone may appear on the dock next to you even if asked to wait far away. He will spawn in water therefore unable to fight the boat guard.
 * If Boone is wearing gear that the player has given him, and then receives another set of apparel (not necessarily better than his current Armour) he may remove his sunglasses and beret despite them being the only head-wear he has. (This occurred for me when Boone was wearing Metal Armour, and I later gave him a Radiation Suit)