Lone Wanderer

"That crazy kid from Vault 101..."

- Three Dog

The Lone Wanderer is the player character in Fallout 3.

Background
The Lone Wanderer was born on July 13, 2258 to James and Catherine at the Jefferson Memorial, where they worked on Project Purity. Catherine died shortly after giving birth due to cardiac arrest, causing James' choice to leave the project. He fled with the baby Lone Wanderer to Megaton, and was shortly after able to gain access to Vault 101.

For 19 years, the Lone Wanderer believes to have been born in Vault 101, but in 2277, 200 years after the Great War and the same year of the first battle of Hoover Dam, James disappears without any explanation. The young Lone Wanderer, with the help of Amata, leaves the safety of the Vault to look for James in the ruins of Washington, DC. After finding him, Project Purity is put back on track, but the reunion is cut short when the Enclave demands ownership of the Project. James is unwilling to allow this and, for the sake of humanity, sacrifices himself by filling the control chamber of Project Purity with intense radiation.

The actions of the Lone Wanderer are decided by the player, with the ultimate decision made at the culmination of the game: to follow James' selfless example in sacrificing his own life; to allow Sentinel Sarah Lyons to activate Project Purity; to do nothing at all at the site of Project Purity; or to infect the project (and therefore the entire Capital Wasteland) with the canister of modified FEV that the Lone Wanderer receives from President Eden.

With Broken Steel installed, the Lone Wanderer wakes up in the Citadel's infirmary, 2 weeks after the purifier is started, and goes on to participate in the destruction of the remnants of the Enclave.

Affiliations
The Lone Wanderer can join various factions and organizations in the Capital Wasteland.
 * Inhabitant of Vault 101.
 * Honorary member of Lyons' Pride (when starting the quest Take it Back!).
 * Eden's "Instrument of Annihilation" (if player sided with and spared President Eden, and inserted the modified FEV into Project Purity).
 * Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel (at the beginning of the quest Death From Above in Broken Steel).
 * Captain of Mothership Zeta (upon completion of the respective Main Questline).
 * Slave (during the Unsafe Working Conditions quest and until said quest is finished).
 * De facto Leader of the Pitt (if the Lone Wanderer sided with the Wernher and the slaves).
 * Lieutenant of the Pitt (if the Lone Wanderer sides with Ashur).
 * Tribal of Point Lookout (if the Lone Wanderer sides with Professor Calvert)
 * U.S. Army Paratrooper (during the Operation Anchorage simulation).
 * Citizen of either Megaton or Tenpenny Tower (depending on the player's decision during The Power of the Atom).
 * Member of Reilly's Rangers (after the quest Reilly's Rangers).
 * Slaver (should the player choose to work with the slavers of Paradise Falls).
 * Member of the Railroad (should he/she deliver the android component to Zimmer during The Replicated Man).
 * Collection agent for the Brotherhood Outcasts (after talking with Protector Casdin at Fort Independence).
 * Lawbringer for the Regulators.
 * Contract Killer for Littlehorn & Associates.
 * Tunnel Snake (if the Lone Wanderer recruits Butch).

Appearances
The Lone Wanderer appears in Fallout 3 and its add-ons Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta.

In Fallout: New Vegas he/she never appeared nor was directly mentioned but the book he/she helped Moira Brown write, the Wasteland Survival Guide, appears as a skill book.

Behind the scenes

 * The Lone Wanderer's birth date, 07/13/2258, is a Biblical reference to Micah 7:13 and it reads: "And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, on account of the fruit of their deeds." This verse aptly describes the Great War and the premise of the Fallout series.


 * Using console commands and switching to a 3rd person view in the cutscene where the Lone Wanderer is born will show that the Lone Wanderer's mother is African American. This is not canon, however, as this is just for shading purposes, as it makes her more shaded and less visible.

Gallery
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Protagonist (Fallout 3) Trotamundos Solitario Przybysz z Krypty 101 Одинокий странник