Mel (Fallout 3)

Mel is an ineffective would-be robber the Lone Wanderer may come across as a random encounter. He wants you to give him all your money. He will appear as friendly on radar, and his clearly unassertive and stammering speaking voice make his demands laughable.

There may be several conversation options, depending on your skills:
 * (Speech) Back off or I'll make you regret threatening me.
 * (Speech) How about I give you 5 caps and you leave me alone.
 * (Intelligence) Bullshit, A mugger in the Wasteland? A real Raider would've shot me already.
 * (Perception) That gun doesn't look loaded.
 * All right. I haven't killed anyone all day.  Let's go.
 * I can't give you all my stuff, sorry.

If you refuse to give him anything, he will not turn hostile, but you can kill him and not lose Karma. You'll find a Merc Cruiser Outfit and a Sawed-Off Shotgun on his corpse. He will also drop a finger for those with the Lawbringer perk. No Shotgun Shells cannot found on his corpse. [Obvious]

After speaking with you, Mel will hang around the area where you encountered him for the rest of the game. You are unable to speak with him, however, as the game informs you that he is fleeing (despite not moving at all).

Mel will fight any roving hostiles that travel near him (i.e. Raiders or critters), but since his shotgun is unloaded, he's limited to fighting with his fists. He's about as tough as an average Raider, although without weapons he's a limited threat.

Appearances
only appears in Fallout 3.

Trivia

 * Mel may be tribute to Mel Gibson, the actor who played Mad Max, though this guy doesn't have an Australian accent. Being low on ammo fits the role though. Also, in Mad Max 2 Gibson threatened other characters using an unloaded sawed off shotgun

He also may be a reference to the mugger from the movie "The Fifth Element". The perception speech check is the same as Bruce Willis's line to the mugger before taking his gun.

Bugs

 * Mel's appearance may cause slowdowns, especially after his conversation is completed. It is recommended that he be killed immediately,or use Mesmetron and turn him into a slave, solve the slow down problem and earn some caps.
 * Mel's shotgun may "levitate" upside down on his hand. If he turns hostile, it looks like he's hitting the player with his gun. Of course, this is a common bug with many NPCs. This author has personally seen it happen with Charon multiple times.
 * At various times you may not be able to equip his shotgun.