Mister Burke

Mr. Burke is a mysterious man who can be met in Moriarty's Saloon in Megaton. He's the right hand man of Allistair Tenpenny, who wants the town destroyed via blowing up the bomb.

He can also be murdered without fear of retaliation from the law in Megaton.

Appearances
Burke appears only in Fallout 3. He is voiced by Wes Johnson, who also voiced many characters in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, most notably Lucien Lachance, who speaks in a manner similar to Burke.

The Power of the Atom
He can give the Vault 101 Dweller access to Tenpenny Tower in exchange for installing a Fusion Pulse Charge inside Megaton's bomb.

If you do not follow Mr. Burke's method of completing this quest, Talon Company Mercenaries will show up later in the game, and try to kill you. If you loot their bodies, you will find contracts to hunt and kill you, signed by Burke.

Female players with 'black widow' perk get a special dialog option with Burke - they can claim they live in Megaton and Burke will change his plans.

Note that The Power of the Atom quest is still available from Burke even if Roy Phillips has killed Alistair Tenpenny and taken over Tenpenny Towers. After installing the Fusion Pulse Charge and traveling to Tenpenny Towers, you'll find Roy Phillips and Mr. Burke speaking on Tenpenny's balcony. Phillips is intimidated by Burke and his ability to infiltrate the Ghoul-controlled Tower and make it to the top floor, and allows Burke to convince him to detonate the bomb and destroy Megaton. This act impresses Phillips so much he hires Burke as his new right-hand man.

Related quests

 * The Power of the Atom

Corpse Loot

 * 10mm Round (10)
 * Dirty Pre-War Businesswear
 * Pre-War Hat
 * Silenced 10mm Pistol
 * Tortiseshell Glasses

Behind the Scenes
This character is a reference to William Burke, an Irish serial killer who killed seventeen people in Scotland in 1827-28. He may also be a reference to the fictional character, Burke, in the series of novels by Andrew Vachss, a man with a reputation for doing almost anything as long as he gets paid. He may be a reference to William Birkins from Capcom's Resident Evil series.Finally, he may also be a reference to the fictional character, Carter Burke, in the film Aliens: an unscrupulous company man who orders a family on a remote world to investigate co-ordinates given him by the films protagonist in good faith, in order to discover the aliens and make money for himself.

Alternate versions
Mr. Burke does not exist in the Japanese version of Fallout 3, thus disabling the "detonate the bomb" option in The Power of the Atom as the player cannot get the Fusion Pulse Charge under any circumstances. The player can get the love letters if the Black Widow perk is used.

Bugs
It is possible that after helping Roy Phillips kill the residents of Tenpenny Tower, he will not be among the dead. This itself it not unusual or strange, as he could have gotten away. However it is possible that later, after the tower is restored to its prior state and with Roy living in Tenpenny's suite, that Burke will appear in Tenpenny's suite as well. Also, Roy may not attack him.

Even if Burke is killed before you ever set foot in Tenpenny Tower, such as during the confrontation with Lucas Smith, you may still find that hitmen specifically from the Tenpenny Tower quest possess notes signed by Burke commissioning your character's termination.