Charon (Fallout 3)

Charon is a possible ghoul companion NPC in Fallout 3. Brainwashed as a child he is blindly loyal to the holder of his contract.

He resides in the Underworld as a bouncer in The Ninth Circle. His contract can be bought from Ahzrukhal for 2000 caps (1000 caps if your barter skill is 50 or higher). Alternatively, you can also retrieve his contract from his employer, by killing Greta in Carol's Place. Either way he will loyally follow you. His very first act as your new employee will be to have a "chat" with his former employer.

He is also the only NPC (along with Dogmeat) who can join you regardless of your karma.

During the final mission, Charon will follow you and you can ask him to enter the control chamber of Project Purity. He will decline however, stating something to the effect of "Haven't I saved your ass enough times already. Not this time."

Equipment
By default he uses his unique weapon, Charon's Shotgun, which has infinite ammo as well as infinite durability. Like default weapons for other NPCs, this shotgun cannot be traded.

Compared to the standard Combat Shotgun, Charon's Shotgun has MUCH higher accuracy and longer range with smaller clip size (5 instead of 12). Generally speaking, Charon's shotgun outclasses any other shotguns in game.

Despite its look is identical to standard combat shotgun, Charon's shotgun is pump action type shotgun. Charon pumps his shotgun while firing. If you give him a standard combat shotgun and ammos, he will use it and not pump it. New weapons given to him do not have unlimited ammo/durability, so you will have to resupply him with ammo.

You can equip him with new armor which he will happily wear. He knows how to use Power Armor even if you do not. If you managed to acquire a suit of power armor early on but are unable to equip it yourself, give it to Charon.

Any armor given to him does not appear to degrade with usage.

Combat
Charon seems to fearlessly confront any possible enemies. His perception is very good because he normally says something if enemies are approaching and you have not noticed. Normally he attacks from mid-range with his Shotgun. He is incredibly accurate with his unique shotgun. There seems to be little to no spread when he fires, enabling him to hit targets at medium range with it. He sometimes randomly runs around and ducks for cover.

Charon rarely uses melee weapons and prefers guns for combat. He is very resilient and is able to take a lot of damage before dying. Most enemies are usually no problem for him to deal with unless its a larger group of Deathclaws or Enclave soldiers.

When sneaking or searching, he might pull out his combat knife sometimes.

Trivia

 * Charon is most likely a take on the ferryman of the dead, Charon, of Greek Mythology. Charon is also the name of the ferryman of the river Acheron in Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy", the name being a reference to the bar the character appears in titled "The Ninth Circle", as in Dante's "Inferno" Hell contains nine circles.

Bugs

 * Charon can disappear after the the rescue mission during Project Purity. He is located in the tunnels. Go to the Citadel and there is a sewage grate on the ground outside the Citadel near the river. Back track the exact route you took to rescue the NPCs.
 * On the XBOX 360 and PS 3 Charon will sometimes get stuck and fail to kill Ahzrukhal and thus not follow the player. So make sure to save before you buy his contract.