Khans

The Khans are a band of brutally vicious and semi-organized raiders with a culture based around the basic tenets of Social Darwinism. They are probably the most dangerous of the three raider groups (Khans, Vipers, and Jackals) that originated in Vault 15. Most wastelanders viewed the Khans as the founders of the chem trade. They are also known to make jet, psycho and many other addictive chems. Their main base in 2161 was located southeast of Shady Sands. At least twice, the Khans have suffered a brutal near-defeat, but, "like a Phoenix", the group has always managed to rise again from its ashes.

Characteristics
The Khans once lived the lifestyles of Mongol warriors: raiding towns, burning what they cannot take, and capturing the survivors for use as slaves. By 2281, however, they have been reduced to making and trading chems to the local group of Fiends. They usually travel in small scouting bands, but sometimes roam the wastes as full war parties. The Khans, above all else, respect strength. They are eager in combat to prove their worthiness to the clan by engaging in hand to hand combat with fists or clubs. The Khans prefer melee weapons to firearms, although higher-ups carry a few small arms. Some of them are said to have worn tire armor.

The Khans
During the spring of 2141, four groups left Vault 15 to brave the Wasteland. In the winter of the same year, three of these groups became roving gangs of raiders: the Jackals, the Vipers, and the Khans. The Khans were founded and lead by the father of Garl Death-Hand (known as "The Death-Hand"). He lead them on regular pillage raids. Their primary victims were the village of Shady Sands, a community created by the last of the four groups that left Vault 15. Sometime before 2161, Garl Death-Hand killed his father and became the leader of the Khans. After that, they set up camp in and around an open house to the southeast of Shady Sands, with tents surrounding the main building as basic dwellings and workstations for subordinate and lower ranked members.

He continued the work of his father, continuing pillage against those who had the misfortune to spend too near their camp and on Shady Sands. After a hard day pillaging, they sometimes go to Junktown to relax after and trade their loot with the Hub, mostly for water and ammunition, but sometimes for weapons. In 2161, Garl was ultimately killed when the Vault Dweller came to rescue Tandi, who had been kidnapped by the Khans. The Vault Dweller also killed all other Khans in the Khan camp, except for one young man named Darion. Despite the menacing attitude they portrayed, Ian described them as a "crummy" band of raiders, mostly due to their low numbers.

New Khans
Darion became paranoid and obsessed with revenge against the Vault Dweller and Tandi, who later became President of the New California Republic. He was riddled with survivor guilt because he alone had lived, while the rest of his gang had been slaughtered. Since the Vault Dweller wiped out the Khans, he formed a second generation of Khans, the New Khans. By 2241, Darion led his tribe to Vault 15, the same vault from which the original Khans came. Darion made a deal with the squatters that they could repair the Vault to make a good home for them, while the New Khans make extensive raids on the NCR and the surrounding area. As a result, the newly organized tribe once again lived the lifestyle of the mongol warriors. In an ironic twist of fate, Darion, now an old man, was killed in 2241 by the Chosen One, the grandchild of the Vault Dweller who had killed his companions 80 years earlier.

Great Khans
After the Khans were nearly eradicated in California, Papa Khan led the remaining few to the Mojave Wasteland and formed the Great Khans. After being driven out of the northern Mojave by Mr. House and the local tribes allied with him, the Great Khans settled at Bitter Springs and soon took to raiding the NCR settlers, whom they saw as intruders. After NCR began developing a military presence in the Mojave Wasteland, the Khans began raiding NCR outposts, as well. After so many disputes between the two factions, the NCR began systematically tracking the Khan raiding parties back to their base(s) of operation. NCR soldiers (including 1st Recon snipers) were ordered to seize the town of Bitter Springs, believing it to be a raiding camp and not the Khans' home. The survivors of the attack were driven back to Red Rock Canyon, a place with hardly any resources for survival.

After the massacre at Bitter Springs, the Followers of the Apocalypse offered their services for medical aid and support once the Great Khans reached Red Rock Canyon. They also taught the Great Khans how to make their own chems as a way of survival, but the Khans used this knowledge to make addictive chems instead of medicinal ones, leading to a successful trading business with the Fiends.

To this day, the Great Khan leader, Papa Khan, blames their situation on the NCR. However, he seems to be the only Great Khan higher-up that keeps an ongoing grudge against the NCR, and won't even consider the possibility that the massacre at Bitter Springs happened due to a communication mishap. Because of this, in 2281 he is deliberating on whether the Great Khans should ally themselves with Caesar's Legion, the NCR's main adversary in the Mojave Wasteland.

Appearances
The Khans are the only one of the three raider groups planned for Fallout (Vipers and Jackals being the others) to appear in the game as a faction. They also appear in Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas under a new name.

Behind the scenes

 * Their name is a reference to Mongol rulers known as Khans, mainly Genghis Khan, an infamous Mongolian warlord.