Mister Burke

Mister Burke is Allistair Tenpenny's right-hand man in 2277.

Background
Mister Burke spends his days at Moriarty's Saloon, drinking and talking to Moriarty or asking Gob the Ghoul probing questions about being a ghoul, the effects of radiation on his body, and what it's like to live among the non-irradiated populace. He also likes to eat at the Brass Lantern restaurant, where he can keep an eye on the atomic bomb.

Burke was born in 2221, making him 56 years old.

Daily schedule
He can be found sitting in a chair in Moriarty's Saloon before the start of the quest "The Power of the Atom". If the player accepts the fusion pulse charge, he will go back to Tenpenny Tower once the task of re-arming the bomb is done, and wait for the player to rendezvous with him. Alternatively, if the player disarms the nuke, he will leave Moriarty's Saloon and travel to Tenpenny Tower (this might take him a few days, and he may be killed in the wasteland).

Quests

 * The Power of the Atom: Burke attempts to hire The Lone Wanderer to detonate Megaton's bomb.

Effects of player actions

 * If the player has the Black Widow perk, she can seduce Burke. When seduced, he will refer to her as his lover and plan to go to Tenpenny Tower to convince Tenpenny to not blow up Megaton. Although he travels to Tenpenny Tower after leaving Moriarty's Saloon, he will still send four love letters to Colin Moriarty to give to the player. In the last one he will finally break up with the player.
 * If you refuse Burke's offer or disarm the bomb without speaking to him, hitmen will show up at random encounters and try to kill you.
 * If the player accepts the offer but reports Burke to Sheriff Simms, Simms will attempt to arrest Burke, but get shot. The player can intervene and save Simms, but this can only be accomplished by killing or disarming Burke before he opens fire, or by attempting to speak to Simms while he is confronting Burke.
 * If the player has helped Roy Phillips take over Tenpenny Tower before meeting Burke at Megaton, Phillips will make Burke his right-hand man.
 * If you kill Burke, you gain positive Karma, but can still detonate the bomb if you have already accepted the offer.

Notable quotes

 * "Any moment now, you'll be dead! Are you excited to see what that's like?"
 * "Why do you knuckle-draggers insist on doing things the hard way? Very well."
 * "You just made a powerful enemy. Best watch your back, kid."
 * "It was a wonderful thing you did. Inspirational...Truly."
 * "The fusion-pulse charge is rigged? Excellent. EXCELLENT!"

Mister Break
Mister Break is a character found in the Sacred Bog area of Point Lookout. He is a part of the hallucination that occurs after the Lone Wanderer consumes punga seeds and is seen leaning against an atom bomb, similar to the Megaton bomb but much larger. After interacting with him, the bomb explodes, and the Lone Wanderer wakes up outside of the Sacred Bog. Mister Break is a delusional image of Mister Burke. His clothes are the same as Mr. Burke's. When spoken to, he will respond in Tobar the Ferryman's voice (it is later revealed that it was indeed Tobar talking to the player), and he gives a warning to not get up, saying "you might hurt yourself." Mister Break is an essential character.

Appearances

 * Burke appears in Fallout 3.
 * Mister Break appears in the Point Lookout add-on.

Behind the scenes

 * 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, which was done for cultural reasons.

Bugs

 * If the player kills Burke, after a long while he may respawn, and can be found standing beside the bomb if it is disarmed, though he cannot be engaged in conversation.
 * If you kill Burke and disarm the bomb, you will still encounter hitmen. If you loot one of their bodies, you will find a contract instructing them to kill you, signed "-B", as though you hadn't killed Burke.