Arcade Gannon

Arcade Israel Gannon is a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse and possible companion in 2281.

Background
Arcade was an only child, the son of an Enclave officer, born at a military base in Navarro. His father passed away when he was young, but the circumstances and leading to his death were never shared with him. When the New California Republic sacked Navarro, he and his mother fled with troopers from his father's old unit. The group moved south, attempting to integrate, but were still sought by the NCR and Brotherhood of Steel, requiring repetitive relocation to the fringes.

Gannon credits the Followers of the Apocalypse for his knowledge base, including having received his medical training from the group while he lived within the NCR. His drive to help people and enjoyment of learning led him to move to the New Vegas area, where communities were especially in need of assistance. From his tent in Freeside's Old Mormon Fort, Arcade is currently researching alternative treatments for common illnesses and injuries, utilizing local flora such as barrel cacti.

Intentionally deflecting questions about himself at first, he will only describe in detail finding his niche in conducting research, sharing his goals of developing new ways of producing medical supplies as pre-War medical supplies are finite in number. Shortly thereafter, he will admit that the Followers may have overextended themselves by reaching out to the individuals there, but is determined to assist where no one else would. In addition, he will comment that research into his projects are slow going, but that he is enthusiastic about the possibility of his work helping people regardless.

Relationships
He has remained close with the Enclave remnants who he sees as family. His closest bond is with Daisy Whitman, who he describes as being "the only woman in his life" after the death of his mother. He shares with the Courier that he has had many men in his life, but that "lovers make poor confidantes," instead choosing to remain close to Daisy, who never had children of her own and was always willing to listen. Arcade remembers Orion Moreno's unwavering support of the Enclave, and Cannibal Johnson's distain for it. He will also share that Judah Kreger did his best to make Arcade feel welcome in the group, doing so out of a sense of loyalty to his late father.

Arcade laments not being able to completely move past growing up without a father figure, wondering if what he had planned for him, and if those plans aligned with reality. He makes peace with what the remnant members recount about his father's good character, sharing that although he won't attempt to fill his father's shoes, he aims to do his best to follow in his footsteps in terms of making a difference in the lives of others. He feels a strong desire to repay the remnants for their support throughout his life, ultimately accepting that their path and his own were different, and that he is satisfied with having chosen the direction he did.

Personality
Arcade is strongly averse to groups he views as fascist or imperialist, such as the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion. Arcade feels strongly about Caesar's Legion and their potential desirous effects on the area, nothing Caesar's inability to learn from the past, instead recreating it.

Recruiting as companion
There are several ways for the Courier to recruit Arcade while speaking with him. He will agree to accompanying the player character if any of the following requirements are met:
 * The Courier has a high reputation with the Followers.
 * The Courier has successfully completed High Times and given Julie Farkas the needed medical supplies.
 * Note that for this approach, the Courier needs to first ask, "Do you need any help?" after which Arcade will thank the Courier for their work for the Followers and a "join me" option will appear.
 * The Courier can pass a Speech check of 75.
 * The Courier has the Confirmed Bachelor perk.
 * If the Courier has an Intelligence of 3 or lower while speaking with him, Arcade will take pity on them. Temporary Intelligence-reduction effects can be useful in this situation if the Courier who cannot pass any of the other checks.
 * As with Craig Boone, Arcade will refuse to join the Courier if they acquire a positive reputation with the Legion. To bypass this, the Courier can wear NCR faction armor and talk to Arcade again. It will temporarily bypass the faction check and allow Arcade to become a companion. Arcade is not affected by a negative reputation with the Followers of the Apocalypse when the Courier tries to recruit him.

Quests

 * For Auld Lang Syne: After the Courier shifts the balance of power between factions and explores several locations Arcade will recall memories of his days with the Enclave. This will reunite the members of his father's old squad in order to have them render assistance in the upcoming battle at Hoover Dam.
 * Beyond the Beef: The Courier can offer Arcade (or any other human companion) as a substitute main course to Mortimer for the banquet. Mortimer makes remarks about his height and his chin.
 * Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues: Arcade can give Markland the specialized medical training he needs, bypassing the part of the quest that requires the retrieval of Tiny, Tiny Babies: All You Need to Know About Pediatric Medicine and Stress and the Modern Refugee: A Primer.
 * Et Tumor, Brute?: The Courier has the option of selling Arcade into slavery as Caesar's personal doctor, completing the quest but losing Karma.
 * ED-E My Love: When asked about which faction to send ED-E to near the end of ED-E My Love, he will unsurprisingly urge you to give it to the Followers.
 * That Lucky Old Sun: In HELIOS One (and after listening to Fantastic), Arcade will urge the Courier to divert power to Freeside and outer Vegas on the belief that the NCR already has power from Hoover Dam and Mr. House has resources unlike the unfortunate citizens of Freeside.
 * The White Wash: If the player chooses to help Tom Anderson rather than turn him in, Arcade will be very vocal and pleased about it.

Other interactions

 * When recruiting Arcade with ED-E or Rex as a companion he will make a comment on either of them.
 * Wearing a Legion outfit before recruiting Gannon and trying to activate conversation with is impossible as he will refuse to talk to the player character, stating he is only willing to talk after saying "take off that ridiculous Legion uniform. It's insulting."
 * When putting Nuka-Cola in Arcade's inventory, Arcade will eventually drink the Nuka-Cola leaving only empty bottles and bottle caps.
 * Arcade will comment on many quest events as the player character finds or completes them, such as when Vulpes Inculta gives the player character the Mark of Caesar commenting that Vulpes is the Legion's "most notorious" spy, when being asked to plant a bug in the Lucky 38 by Emily Ortal, or activating ARCHIMEDES II.

Making him quit
Arcade will get fed up with the Courier if they do or say things that he dislikes. He has an internal counter of "dislike" points that are increased by doing or saying stupid or mean things or doing things that hurt the Followers. Once he has accumulated 3 "dislike" points, he will warn the Courier that they are "acting crazy." Most of these possible "dislike" points may be obtained during The White Wash quest. At 6 points, he will leave permanently. He also tracks "like" points, but those are only used to decide if he will start the For Auld Lang Syne quest early or not.

The "dislike" points are triggered by the following statements or actions:
 * Relating to The White Wash quest:
 * 1 point for saying "Right. The Followers don't endorse his actions, and all that." when Arcade comments on Anderson, when visiting Westside after already having completed The White Wash without Arcade.
 * 1 point for saying "They profit from crime, now I profit, too." when Arcade chastises the Courier if they finished the quest by extorting money from the Westside Co-op.
 * 2 points for saying "Anderson killed White. He deserved to pay for what he did." when Arcade challenges the Courier if they finished the quest by killing Anderson.
 * 1 point for saying "What's done is done." when Arcade challenges the Courier if they finished the quest by killing Anderson.
 * 1 point for saying "You're assuming a motive without evidence. Please be rational." (which requires Intelligence 7), followed by "It was either this or spend the rest of his life in an NCR chain gang." when Arcade challenges the Courier, if they finished the quest by killing Anderson.
 * During the first visit to The Fort with Arcade along:
 * 2 points for saying "With how messed up New Vegas is, do you really think Caesar has nothing to offer?" followed by "Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting." when Arcade asks why they are there.
 * 1 point for saying "He seemed smart to me." after meeting Caesar for the first time when Arcade is a companion.
 * After speaking to Thomas Hildern (any conversation that ends with "Yes...Goodbye" or "Wrong turn?...") with Arcade (one time) he will talk about Hildern's motives.
 * 1 point for saying "But in the end, doesn't it all just come down to numbers anyway?"
 * 1 point for murdering non-hostile innocents. (Dislike is not raised until Arcade comments negatively.)

Arcade will leave immediately and permanently if any of the following happens:
 * The Courier responds to one of his challenges with some variation of "If you don't like it, leave."
 * They enter the Legate's camp in preparation to help Caesar attack Hoover Dam.
 * Convincing the Remnants to support Caesar's Legion during the For Auld Lang Syne quest.
 * Activating Archimedes I. He will also turn hostile if the player character responds that it's "Time for the NCR to roast." (Diverting power to Archimedes II is not a problem.)
 * Reporting back to Caesar after assassinating Kimball. He will leave regardless of the Courier's preparation to move on to the final mission. He will stay as long as the quest is unfinished.

Inventory

 * * Only worn if fighting at Hoover Dam.
 * ** Because Arcade's Plasma Defender uses magical companion ammo instead of energy cells, it does not have the -2 DT effect that comes from using standard energy ammunition. Otherwise, the weapon has the same statistics as the standard version.

Appearances
Arcade Israel Gannon appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * Arcade's middle name of Israel is not indicative of his ethnicity but as a reflection of his struggle to remain moral in an immoral world. Joshua Sawyer's preferred interpretation of Israel is "one who struggled with god".
 * He was originally set to appear in Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios (see Arcade Gannon).
 * Arcade Gannon was one of several player characters J.E. Sawyer used while playing a Fallout tabletop RPG developed by Chris Avellone. As a character, he is also inspired by Sawyer's idealism.
 * Sawyer possesses a notebook of his original design for Arcade's character, created during the course of this tabletop game. During an October 2020 livestream, Sawyer revealed some content from this notebook, including the reference image used for Arcade (see gallery). In Arcade's profile, he is stated to be 34 years old and around 145 pounds. His middle name was originally "Daniel."
 * When brought to The Fort, Arcade will get upset with the Courier and ask "What's going on? Am I playing Virgil to your Dante?" This is a reference to Dante's Divine Comedy.
 * Arcade's worst ending directly mimics the suicide of Cato when Julius Caesar became ruler of Ancient Rome; Cato slipped over while attempting to stab himself, and was forced to disembowel himself to succeed in what he sought; Caesar was unhappy at his death.
 * If questioned about the Legion's use of Latin, Arcade will respond that "Caesar can cite Cato to suit his purposes." This is a paraphrase of the line "The devil can cite scripture for his purpose," from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.

Developer quotes