Paladin Danse

Paladin Danse, unit designation M7-97, registration DN-407P, is the commanding officer of the Brotherhood of Steel unit known as Recon Squad Gladius, deployed to the Commonwealth in 2287. He is a possible companion in Fallout 4.

Background
Prior to joining the Brotherhood of Steel, Danse was an orphan living in the Capital Wasteland. As a child he made a dangerous living by scavenging the D.C. ruins until he could afford to open his own junk stand in Rivet City. It was around that time he befriended a man named Cutler, and together the two scraped by as traders.

When the Brotherhood of Steel began recruiting both Danse and Cutler agreed it was "the best way out of [their] nowhere lives". Under the command of Paladin Krieg they became successful soldiers, but roughly a year after being posted to the Prydwen Cutler disappeared on assignment. Danse spearheaded a three-week search for the missing squad which ultimately led him to a super mutant hive. There it was revealed that Cutler's team had been killed, and Cutler himself had been exposed to the Forced Evolutionary Virus. Danse, saddened to discover his friend had been mutated, killed Cutler. The experience incited an intense hatred in Danse of most non-humans, including super mutants, ghouls, and synths.

By the year 2287 Danse, by then a paladin, had risen to become one of Arthur Maxson's most respected officers. He was assigned a reconnaissance team and dispatched to the Commonwealth to investigate the the Institute, but misfortune quickly reduced the recon team to only three members. When the Sole Survivor first encounters Paladin Danse he and what's left of his squad are holed up in Cambridge Police Station, unable to proceed with their mission. Danse enlists the aid of the Sole Survivor to help him retrieve an item from the nearby ArcJet Systems complex. Afterward Danse offers the Survivor the rank of Initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel, should they wish to join.

Danse will become a full companion following Shadow of Steel, provided the Survivor joins the Brotherhood. Over time he will reveal he is burdened by the losses he's suffered during is tour, including those of his recon team and his former CO. He asserts the Institute and its synths are too dangerous to let live, and both must be eradicated for the safety of mankind. Ironically, after the Survivor provides the Brotherhood with a copy of the Institute's mainframe, it is revealed that Paladin Danse himself is actually a synth.

Danse, or unit designation M7-97, is warned by Scribe Haylen that his life is in danger and flees to Listening Post Bravo. Elder Maxson orders the Sole Survivor to find and execute their former mentor, saying the existence of a such a creature cannot be allowed. Once located, a suicidal Danse is adamant that he did not know he was a synth. The disgraced paladin then encourages the Survivor to carry out their orders to kill him, insisting that he "must be the example, not the exception." The Survivor must then choose to either execute Danse or convince him to leave the Commonwealth. Should Danse survive the events of Blind Betrayal he will thank the Survivor and, with Maxson's promise not to have him hunted down, stays to aid the Survivor in their mission.

Quests

 * Call to Arms: The Sole Survivor explores ArcJet Systems with Paladin Danse, which is overrun with Institute synths.
 * Semper Invicta: The Sole Survivor has to help Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys.
 * The Lost Patrol: The Sole Survivor is asked to find what happened to the last Brotherhood recon team.
 * Shadow of Steel: The Sole Survivor and Paladin Danse board the Prydwen.
 * Liberty Reprimed: The Sole Survivor must secure a nuclear payload. Once found, Danse stays onsite to protect the cache.
 * Blind Betrayal: Elder Maxson orders the Sole Survivor to find and execute Danse after it is discovered he is a synth.
 * Airship Down: If Blind Betrayal has not been completed, and if Paladin Danse is still alive, he will make his last stand with the Brotherhood of Steel.

Effects of player's actions

 * Maximum approval with Danse awards the Know Your Enemy perk, which grants +20% more damage against ghouls, super mutants and synths.
 * Danse is a potential candidate for romance, an option that unlocks after reaching the highest level of affinity.
 * It is impossible to max out the relationship with Danse before completing Blind Betrayal.
 * Siding against the Brotherhood before Blind Betrayal turns him hostile, removing him as a companion.
 * If he survives Blind Betrayal and the Survivor becomes an enemy of the Brotherhood of Steel, Danse will no longer interact with the player character. This appears to be a bug since the Survivor can still get the Lover's Embrace bonus by sleeping near him. The issue effectively removes Danse as a companion, but it will not remove his perk.
 * The only way to keep Danse as a full companion following the endgame events is to either A) side with the Brotherhood, or B) side with the Minutemen and choose not to become enemies with the Brotherhood of Steel. The Railroad and Institute endings both force the player character into conflict with the Brotherhood.

Other interactions

 * Danse has the authority to grant the Sole Survivor membership into the Brotherhood of Steel.

Appearances
Danse appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * Unused dialogue suggests that Paladin Danse and the Sole Survivor were originally able to challenge Maxson's authority as Elder through combat according to "the Litany". Through his defeat, it would have allowed Danse to regain his status as Paladin and grant the Sole Survivor the rank of Elder within the Brotherhood.