Ulysses

Ulysses is a courier and was an important Frumentarii of the Caesar's Legion. In 2281, he was one of seven couriers hired by Victor to carry strange packages to the Strip North Gate, but his delivery, the platinum chip, was left to the Courier after Ulysses' mysterious disappearance.

Background
Ulysses was once a member of the Twisted Hairs, a powerful tribe in Arizona that forged an alliance with the fledgling Caesar's Legion in 2247, becoming its scouts during the conquest of Arizona. Ulysses was one of the most succesful scouts in Caesar's employ. Thanks to his ability and his forceful personality, he quickly became an important, indispensible Frumentarius of the Caesar's Legion. He traveled vast distances in search of Caesar's enemies, disguised as a courier. Caesar told him to kill no other member of this profession, since many couriers were, in fact, members of the Legion.

However, once the Legion's campaign ended, Caesar promptly rewarded their aid by breaking the alliance and betraying them; conquering and enslaving them as he had done to all the other tribes of Arizona. Their tribal identity was erased and those that resisted were crucified along the sides of Interstate 40. Vulpes Inculta's pacification of Dry Wells was a particularly painful moment for Ulysses, though his dedication to Caesar and the flag of the Bull prevented his desertion. He instead turned his eyes to the road and walked the wastes as a courier. It was Ulysses who first laid eyes on Hoover Dam. This Old World symbol became an object of obsession for the Legion's master, a great symbol to focus his people on.

Ulysses continued to walk the wastes, encountering the NCR, exploring the wastelands for Caesar. A few years before the First Battle of Hoover Dam, in 2274, he encountered a courier near the fledgling community in the Divide. This seemingly random person delivered a parcel from Navarro before departing. Ulysses was fascinated by the package, bearing the sigil of pre-War America, but one he never saw before. This device turned out to be a messenger of destruction: one of the townsmen activated the device, which began "speaking". Speaking to the nuclear missiles buried deep beneath Hopeville and Ashton, which answered the call in the only way they knew: detonating. The land trembled as underground detonations tore it apart, burying NCR companies holding the area and Legion guerillas dispatched to cut the supply lines running through the Divide to Hoover Dam.

This disaster should've consumed Ulysses' life, but fate had other plans for him. Several medical eyebots, who had been activated by the device as well, recognized the flag of America on his back, and saved him. Ulysses' life was changed that day, showing him how a single individual could change history. As the sole survivor of the Divide (or rather, the sole sane, intact survivor, as the rest suffered a fate worse than death), he held the courier he encountered as responsible. At the same time, they inspired him, showing just how great of an impact a single man can have on history. He returned to Caesar, learning that the Battle of Hoover Dam ended in the Legion's defeat. There he was assigned a new duty: to locate the White Legs in the wastelands surrounding Salt Lake City and watch over them, as they undertake Caesar's test: destroying New Canaan.

The Frumentarius travelled to the remains of the Great Salt Lake, contacting the barbaric hordes. He became their mentor, called the Flagbearer for the flag staff he carried.He taught the White Legs the power that lay in the casings and the weapons provided to them from New Canaan's numerous supply caches and bunkers hidden across Utah. He was an inspiring presence, but not in the way he wanted to be. Rather than Caesar, they began to follow Ulysses. This was a harrowing experience for him, as he observed that the barbarians began to braid their hair into dreadlocks, just like he did. For them, it was a sign of respect for their mentor; for Ulysses it was a hollow mockery of the ways of his destroyed tribe, the Twisted Hairs. He almost lost himself figuring out the meaning behind their braids before remembering that for them, it was meaningless.

Ulysses finished his duties to Caesar and left the White Legs to their own devices. As they destroyed New Canaan, killing a nation the way their mentor taught them: by killing every man, woman and child they found. Ulysses did not care. He retired to Wolfhorn ranch for a time, to collect his thoughts. Appearing to be a succesful bighorner rancher for a time, he eventually abandoned the farm. He returned to the Divide, began researching it. Tracking wind patterns, he journeyed deep into inaccessible wastelands south of the Mojave. There, he found the Big MT, a crater full of Old World misery.

In the process the Courier survived, having left before the event occurred and no idea what happened. This would have also killed Ulysses, had it not been for several medical eyebots, who had been activated by the device as well, recognizing the flag of America on his back, and saving him. Ulysses' life was changed that day, showing him how a single individual could change history. Enraged at the Courier for their role in the destruction of the place could have been his true home, he would leave the Caesar's Legion and find a way to reawake America, for having peaceful and strong places like the Divide before this event. Leaving it, he set out looking for ways to change history alone as well.

During the four intervening years, he began to create a bighorner ranch called Wolfhorn Ranch in the Mojave Wasteland and roaming sometimes as a courier, having lost all hope in the future of humanity and the war between the NCR and the Caesar's Legion, knowing that both have no long-term answer. At some point, he found the way to the Sierra Madre. In 2281 however, everything changed when Ulysses was hired by Victor to carry the platinum chip to the Strip North Gate. He comes to Primm at the Mojave Express to receive the delivery order, a job he was about to accept until he saw the Courier's name down next on the list.

He asked if the Courier's name was for real since he thought that the Courier was dead in the Divide. Nash informed him that the Courier was still alive. In his desire to see the Courier dead and by respect of the old order of Caesar, Ulysses refused to deliver the package, only saying, "No, let Courier Six carry the package", wanting that the Mojave Wasteland kill the Courier without having to intervene, and after then, left without another word. During his travel to reawake America, he found by accident Big MT, by following the weather patterns, reminding the Divide sky, coming from man's violence, not nature's. He tracked it like following a river current, leaving the colors of the Old World to mark his way like always, in case someone finds them, like the Courier. When he thought sand and wind would never end, he came to the crater. There, he find the Old World facility and the X-17 meteorological station, still raking the sky with electricity and generators.

While there he was caught up in the conflict between Knight Royce of the Circle of Steel and Father Elijah. Ulysses would rescue Royce from the Y-17 medical facility, nursing her back to health in a nearby cave. At some point after Elijah spoke with the Think Tank, Ulysses and Elijah made contact. The courier directed the rogue elder to the Sierra Madre, which eventually became Elijah's grave. From Christine he learned more about the Brotherhood of Steel, enough to decide that the Brotherhood was not able to forge the future he wanted to live in.

Ulysses spoke with the Think Tank, specifically Doctor Klein, who recalls him as a melancholy fellow who asked a lot about history. The conversation was interrupted twice - once by Elijah's escape attempt, and then again in an event that seems to have been erased from Klein's databanks. Ulysses also spoke with Doctor Mobius. While at the Big Empty, he questioned the Think Tank: "Who are you, that do not know your history?" This question caused them to awake, remembering for a time America, the flag on Ulysses' back — not just a flag, but a place, an idea they had cared for once before. After this awakening, the Think Tank told him what "still carries America's voice", deep in the heart of the Divide: the nuclear missile silos scattered across the ravaged landscape. Ulysses departed with access codes to the missile network, deciding to reshape the post-apocalyptic world single handedly, much like the Courier reshaped the Divide.

In 2281, before implementing his plan, Ulysses was hired by Victor to carry the platinum chip to the Strip. He comes to Primm at the Mojave Express to receive the delivery order, a job he was about to accept until he saw the Courier's name down next on the list.

He asked if the Courier's name was for real since he thought that the Courier was dead in the Divide. Nash informed him that the Courier was still alive. In his desire to see the Courier dead and by respect of the old order of Caesar, Ulysses refused to deliver the package, only saying, "No, let Courier Six carry the package", wanting that the Mojave Wasteland kill the Courier without having to intervene, and after then, left without another word. He then contacted the Courier via a single message: the coordinates for the canyon wreckage west of Primm, and the words "Courier Six. -Ulysses".

Relationships
Ulysses' dual obsessions with the Courier and the Divide are motivated partly by his being one of the very few survivors of the disasters that happened there, and partly by the fact that Ulysses believes the Courier triggered the disaster at the Divide by delivering a mysterious package containing a device that caused many of the nuclear devices that had remained there since the war to detonate in their silos, devastating the surroundings. The possibility that the Courier may not even be aware of his or her own involvement in the event is also something hinted at by Chris Avellone, who stated cryptically, "I also have a lot of love for Ulysses in Fallout, only because I like the idea of someone hunting my player for reasons of his own, and then hearing the reasons why… and realizing how important even the smallest of my actions are for the people of the wasteland – living or dead".

Quests

 * The Courier: Ulysses is finally confronted by the Courier inside Ulysses' Temple, beneath the flag of the Old World, as he is about to trigger a second nuclear apocalypse. Ulysses can either be fought by the Courier, or convinced to stand down and fight by the Courier's side against the marked men invading the temple.

Effects of player actions

 * If Ulysses is killed by the Courier, the Courier tears down his Old World flag and uses it as his shroud, although whether out of respect or anger is an interpretation "best left to history".
 * If Ulysses is convinced not to fight the Courier, he can be found standing vigil above the Hopeville ruins, just past the Canyon wreckage.

Other interactions

 * If the player chooses to spare him, after the quest The End Ulysses will hang around near the entrance to the Canyon wreckage, where Ulysses will help the Courier make camp fire recipes. Ulysses will also present new dialogue options, e.g. giving hints at how to deal with Legate Lanius and commenting on possible previous player actions in the Mojave (such as e.g. killing House).
 * Ulysses will also supply the Courier with miscellaneous items he found in Hopeville (The Courier's Mile), including rockets, Rad-X, RadAway, MRE, and pre-War books.
 * If he is alive at the conclusion of Lonesome Road, he will offer both the history and recipes of bitter drink and the Snakebite tourniquet.

Appearances
Ulysses was originally supposed to appear in Fallout: New Vegas, but was cut from the final version of the game. He is mentioned indirectly in Dead Money and Honest Hearts, appears in voice in Old World Blues, and makes a full appearance in Lonesome Road.

Behind the scenes

 * During the first dialog with the ED-E clone, you learn that Ulysses was given his name later in life. It was meant to refer to Ulysses S. Grant, a Union general during the U.S. Civil War who Ulysses says, "...fought to unite two tribes under one flag."
 * Ulysses is also a figure from Roman and Greek folklore. The Greeks named him Odysseus.
 * Ulysses was originally supposed to be a companion in Fallout: New Vegas, but was cut from the final version of the game and now only appears in the add-on Lonesome Road and playing cards that came with the Collector's Edition. According to Chris Avellone, "he [...] was a complicated character in terms of some of the hooks into the storyline".
 * In the original version of Fallout: New Vegas, Ulysses-as-companion was designed with a number of goals in mind:
 * He had to reinforce the faction reputation mechanic, which Avellone thought was one of the key mechanics in the game.
 * He had to react strongly to NCR/Legion conflict and the player's role in it, acting as a sounding board when possible.
 * He had to be a Legion sympathetic character and explain Legion backstory elements, since there wasn't much Legion support in the companions.
 * He had to continually remind the player of Hoover Dam as the focus, and his backstory incorporated that (he was the frumentarius who discovered the Dam and NCR long ago).
 * Showcase myth elements. Ulysses was big about symbols, and his take on the NCR flag, the Legion flag was also reflected in their champions (he viewed Legate Lanius as an Eastern myth in the making, and he felt the player could achieve that same mythological status for the West or for the Mojave).
 * He was to complement the cool visual design changes that Josh had included for other companions (similar to Raul and Arcade, Ulysses would have the vest/flag changes, except it would depend on player's end faction allegiance when they completed Ulysses' vision quest).