Dad

James, the father of the Lone Wanderer in Fallout 3 is the cause of many events within Fallout 3. Most of his past including his birthplace is unknown. Indeed, the earliest known fact in his life is him working on Project Purity with his wife, Catherine. They conceive a child together, but Catherine dies during childbirth. Mourning his dead wife, James abandons Project Purity and leaves under the protection of Star Paladin Cross to Vault 101. He probably got in because he then becomes Vault 101's physician, but still continues his work on Project Purity.

Nearly twenty years after his child's birth, he abruptly escapes from Vault 101, sealing the fate of his friend Jonas Palmer as the Vault 101 Overseer decides that he, James and the latter's child must die to preserve the secret of the Vault. James left because he learned of the G.E.C.K.'s creator, Doctor Stanislaus Braun, and was determined to locate him. In his travel, he sought out Three Dog of Galaxy News Radio and returned to Rivet City, finally ending back where it all began, at Project Purity in the Jefferson Memorial. Going over all his gathered information, he was able to discover the location of Doctor Braun at Vault 112 and quickly makes his way there.

Confronting Doctor Braun in his virtual reality, James annoyed him with his questioning, for which Braun turned James into the amusing form of a dog. He was rescued by his progeny, who managed to defeat the Tranquility Lane programming. Surprised by his offspring's presence (though not ungrateful for the rescue), he brings the former up to speed. Meeting again at Rivet City, he requests help in rebuilding Project Purity. His child obliges, and after several errands (including Commando Pest Eradication, Fed-Ex fixing and pipe-plumbing) they manage to bring Project Purity back to operational status.

At this point, Enclave verti-assault squads arrive on location and secure the perimeter, headed by Colonel Augustus Autumn himself. The Colonel confronts James and demands control of the purifier. After witnessing the death of scientist Janice Kaplinski, murdered by The Enclave Commander, James begrudgingly agrees to activate the purifier... but what he really does is activate a devastating radiation blast, severely radiating everyone in the room, the very amount of radiation killing them all. James dies afterwards, while Colonel Augustus Autumn, having injected himself with a special drug, is rushed to Raven Rock and resuscitated.

Behind the scenes
The father's voice is provided by actor Liam Neeson.

"This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game", said Todd Howard, Executive Producer of Fallout 3. "Liam is absolutely amazing to work with".

"It’s been a pleasure bringing the father to life and working with the wonderfully talented people at Bethesda on Fallout 3", said Neeson. “I hope the fans of the franchise and the game will be excited by the results".

Appearances
James appears only in Fallout 3. Your father's facial features and race will vary based on the ones you choose for your character.

- For PC users, Dad can even take the appearance of mod-added races or mods that unlock otherwise unplayable races (such as ghouls or child races) if the player chooses them.

Items
There actually is a way of getting your father's outfit. One way to get this item is to reverse-pickpocket an outfit with more protection onto your dad either when he is talking with Doctor Li, or while he is standing in the Jefferson Memorial Rotunda. After that leave the room and return, your father should be wearing whatever you put on him, as long as it has more protection. After that pickpocket it off of him, if you don't mind the slight Karma loss.

Another way to get this outfit is by standing directly in front of the airlock door in the Jefferson Memorial Rotunda right after his death, so that you are right in front to your dad's corpse, then hold down the camera button and slowly rotate the camera about half-way until you see the message "Search Dad" on the bottom of the screen. This is easiest to accomplish if his body falls close to the door.


 * Dad's Wasteland Outfit
 * .32 Pistol

Related quests

 * Following in His Footsteps
 * Scientific Pursuits
 * The Waters of Life