Harold

Harold is a character appearing across the Fallout series.

Background
Harold was only five years old when the war started and he entered Vault 29. He still remembers the sirens on that day and the terrible days that followed, living in an overcrowded Vault with not enough food and water to go around. He left the vault, and began to make his fortune as a trader, making the circuit between survivalist communities that emerged throughout the former state of California.

Over the next twelve years, he made a tidy profit, rising to prominence in the Hub. However, all things come at a cost and Harold's success ran up a hefty bill due to attacks by gangers, scavengers and mutant creatures that made it necessary to employ entire armies of guards just to keep them at bay. Harold and a group of wastelanders decided to explore Mariposa Military Base, but did not realize the level of danger within. The entire group was whittled down to just Harold and Richard Grey, as Francine was wounded and Mark was sent to the surface, never to be heard from again. The two of them penetrated all the way into the base's central core, where the vats of FEV were located. The expedition was finally routed when the robotic crane crashed into them, sending Grey into a vat of FEV and badly injuring Harold. He passed out, only to wake up in the wasteland days later, in the throes of change due to exposure to FEV, when he handled a contaminated item in the base. The Vault Dweller: "Where were the mutants coming from?" Harold: "Everywhere! Hell, seemed like you couldn't fart without hitting one. But mostly in the northwest." The Vault Dweller: "Did you explore that area?" Harold: "We mounted an expedition. God, Richard. Richard Grey. Led a small group of us up there." The Vault Dweller: "Richard Grey?" Harold: "Richard Grey was a doctor. Little older than me, and friend was he smart. He found the source." The Vault Dweller: "And what was that?" Harold: "Some sort of old military base. We lost a lotta folks getting in there." The Vault Dweller: "How did you know this base was the cause?" Harold: "Because it was like someone went bargain shopping at mutantland! Geez! Cheaper by the dozens! Can't figure any other reason except that being the factory." The Vault Dweller: "Did you examine the base closely?" Harold: "We got pretty far inside. Wasn't a lot of us left by then. Grey, me and couple of others." The Vault Dweller: "And then?" Harold: "One of them robots got Francine. Mark was wounded, sent him back to the surface. Then it was just me and Grey." The Vault Dweller: "What ever happened to Mark?" Harold: "To this day, I don't know. He never made it back here, and...well I...couldn't face the wasteland again, so I...I never looked." The Vault Dweller: "What about you and Grey?" "Harold: We made it to some sort of central core, like a plant of some sort. That's when it happened." The Vault Dweller: "What?" Harold: "A robot crane crashed into us. Last I saw of Grey, he was flying through the air in-into some sort of acid bath. I was in bad shape and...well I passed out." The Vault Dweller: "How did you survive?" Harold: "Well, I have no idea. Woke up in the wasteland, barely hanging on. Got lucky and some traders I knew found me days later. Good thing, since I was already changing. They brought me here, and here I've been since." The Vault Dweller: "How did you mutate?" Harold: "All's I know, is it was something inside that base." The Vault Dweller: "Do you think it could have been radiation?" Harold: "How the hell should I know? Grey would've known if anybody could. [sigh] Anyway, that's how the deal went down." (HAROLD.MSG) He was found by traders four days later, on June 27, and taken back to the Hub. His horrifying transformation caused him to lose his business, as employees and partners turned away from him.

The Hub
His resolve and hardiness allowed him to survive despite poverty. By the time he met the Vault Dweller around 2161, he was the oldest person alive in the whole wide Hub, known for his stories and knowledge, not just about days long past, but also contemporary events. For example, he knew how to find the deathclaw suspected of attacking caravans and was aware of the fact that Decker's men captured Brother Jonathan of the Brotherhood of Steel recently, and would happily share that knowledge for a modest amount of bottle caps to keep himself afloat. Harold managed to bring a measure of equality between the impoverished population of Hub's Old Town and the rest of the city. He traveled north, accompanied by a sapling (Bob) that took root in his head. He arrived in Gecko and helped in the struggle between the ghouls and the bigoted inhabitants of Vault City to solve the Gecko powerplant problem. Afterward, he set out once more.

Midwest
Harold can be recruited when becoming a Junior Knight and helping the ghouls in Quincy. Starting at level 11, Harold has four perks, despite being a ghoul with a Perk Rate of 4, meaning that by level 11, he should only have two perks (three at level 12, and then a fourth at level 16). At level 12, he will gain a fifth perk, and can be used to take Mutate! in order to replace Skilled with Gifted, significantly raising all Harold's stats, while still have gotten the benefit of having skilled up until level 11, without any drawback, due to the extra perks. In fact, at level 12, gaining his 5th perk, he would still have more perks than a standard Human with a Perk Rate of 3, who gain their fourth perk at level 12. This is arguably balanced by the fact that the four perks that he has can be considered less than stellar; Die Hard, Rad Child, Bonsai, and Way of the Fruit.

Harold also has four tagged skills, without having taken the Tag! Perk, meaning that when he would take Tag!, he would have a total of five tagged skills, and as opposed to the perks, none of his tags can be considered sub-par. The negative part is that he lacks the Fast Shot trait, integral for a dedicated thrower. Harold already has 10 points in Big Guns, but has otherwise only spent points in tagged skills, making it a good contender for the Tag! perk. Harold also has two stat points more than he should have.

Texas
After the destruction of the Master's Army, Harold left the Hub and became a traveler who visited various places around the wasteland. It's known that he traveled in Texas to Carbon where he had a sexual encounter with Carbon's prostitute, Ruby, and the ghoul-city of Los. He wanted to have a good time in Los after leaving Carbon but the arrival of super mutants and the loss of his hand, his toe, and his eye in the city changed the deal. The Initiate helped Harold to recover his parts so he could leave the city before its destruction.

Gecko
Harold is a very old but still spry-looking ghoul. The Chosen One runs into Harold in Gecko, the ghoul town not far from Vault City. After the destruction of Necropolis, most of the ghoul population of the town migrated far to the north to form a settlement around an old nuclear power plant built by Poseidon Energy before the Great War.

When Harold arrived, the plant was being run dangerously and ineffectively. Harold quickly took over and fixed the reactor. When the Chosen One arrives in Gecko, Harold asks them to help solve the subsequent powerplant problem.

Capital Wasteland
Harold traveled to the Capital Wasteland. Overwhelmed by Bob, he stopped to rest, only to realize that he was unable to move anymore, rooted to the ground by his companion. He became part of the tree, sustained by its photosynthesis and nutrients taken from the ground. He took root in the northern Capital Wasteland and was found by a wanderer. This wanderer, later taking the name Birch, beheld the glory of Harold and knew other wanderers would seek to do the Great One harm. He founded the Treeminders, a group of pure-hearted individuals that would protect the Great One as his last line of defense. Once Harold and Bob truly became a part of the environment, a verdant vale of growth spread from the tree, washing the barren hillside over with life and greenery, and enticing animal life to inhabit the area.

With the Treeminders' care and attention, Bob started to take root further; over time, his root system carried away Harold's internal organs far throughout the cave system below, making it plain that short of a merciful death, Harold would remain forever in one spot. Harold used his ability to spread Herbert's seeds to attract wanderers, at first to amuse himself, and then to find a solution to the problem he was in. The key issue was that the purification ceremony necessary for outsiders to gain access to Harold involved drinking hallucinogenic sap derived from Bob, resulting in psychosis and other severe mental problems in most who came to the Oasis.

He kept trying, hoping to attract someone capable of helping him through his ordeal. Finally, in 2277, he managed to attract the Lone Wanderer. Upon their acceptance into the cult, Harold requested that they kill him, to spare him the agony of being rooted in one spot for all eternity. Suffering from depression, he pleaded with the Lone Wanderer to end his life, something the Treeminders could not do. His requests for them to end his life wound up interpreted as tests of their moral and spiritual aptitude, rather than genuine pleas for mercy.

He and Bob genuinely only enjoyed the company of Yew, the youngest of the group, who listened to him without reservation. Others, treating him as a god, always looked for hidden meanings or had their own designs for him. Tree Father Birch and Leaf Mother Laurel held two opposing views of what should happen: Birch wished to contain Bob's spread to protect Oasis and Harold, while Laurel desired to share their god's gift with everyone. One can decide to fulfill Harold's wish and euthanize him or persuade him to live on and either have Bob spread out or be contained.

The tree growing out of, and eventually, overwhelming Harold, is named Bob. Bob sprouted from Harold's head sometime after his exposure to FEV at the Mariposa Military Base. In the beginning, Bob was a small sprig but its growth accelerated, turning into a full-sized tree, overtaking Harold, and rooting itself to the ground in the Capital Wasteland region. As of 2277, the two have been rooted to the location for over two decades.

Harold considers Bob his friend and speaks to him as if he was thinking aloud. Harold will sometimes jokingly refer to Bob as Herbert and makes several comments regarding the literal and figurative closeness of their relationship. When the Lone Wanderer approaches Bob and Harold for the first time, Harold will share that he was able to see their approach through the leaves of other trees, and although impressive, makes Bob jealous.

Appearances
Harold appears in Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 3, and the Fallout: The Board Game add-on Fallout: New California.

Behind the scenes
''Tim Cain: I know we treated him as a ghoul, but not a Necropolis one. He may have been irradiated before or after. All I remember was that he went in there with the guy whose name I forget (the one who fell into the vat and became the Master), and only Harold came out. Harold's memory is totally whacked, btw. Most people don't know when they get irradiated, so he [Harold] just may not know what happened to him. I do know that radiation and FEV do not mix. Mutants are immune to radiation effects, but an irradiate human is killed by exposure to FEV. So one thing is sure: Harold is not a mix of radiation and FEV. He's got to be one or the other, and I think he's a ghoul.'' According to Chris, ghouls are irradiated humans exposed to FEV. According to Tim, ghouls are due solely to radiation. ''Both agree Harold is special. And I don't mean handicapped.'' ''Officially: Ghouls are a mix of FEV and radiation. Harold is a mutant who resembles a ghoul. Harold may have had some radiation damage before he was exposed to FEV, but his mutation (outside of his surface appearance) makes him different than a ghoul. Most ghouls are the result of extreme radiation + FEV exposure, but Harold's change was due primarily to FEV exposure (again, he could have sucked up a few rads in the wastes without him knowing, especially considering how long he ran caravans in the wastes).'' He is hideously mutated enough so that he looks like a ghoul, but he's not technically one, and this is the mistake that Loxley makes (Loxley only judges a book by its cover, and he knows nothing about genetics or anything beyond a surface appearance). You can call him a ghoul if you want, but the official answer is: ''"Harold is Harold." Harold's special.'' ''BTW, glowing ghouls are ghouls that suck up too many rads after they have become ghouls. We originally wanted Lenny in F2 to be able to turn into a glowing ghoul when he drinks too much radioactive liquor, but we didn't put it in." {1102}{hrold302}{Mutants. Doesn't matter what they call themselves.} I think it doesn't necessarily mean that he's not a ghoul. It just means that he doesn't want to be called a 'ghoul'. He says, that the ghouls are mutants, just like him, and it doesn't matter how they call themselves. I think the name 'ghouls' was either created for them by the Necropolis ghouls themselves, or by people who considered them monsters. As he looks like a ghoul, i think he would be considered one by both. Ghouls are not like supermutants, they are not all the same. It's only a name for people twisted by radiation or FEV (or both). There may be ghouls created only by radiation, and ghouls created only by FEV. I also think, though Harold was mutated in the Vats, that if you say that all the ghouls were created by the FEV, then there isn't much difference between Harold and other ghouls.'' Chris Taylor wrote: "Actually, a dip in FEV has a chance of modifying Intelligence, but it doesn't always increase it. Some people do gain increased intelligence, a larger majority lose intelligence and most people remain the same. It also depends if people have enough radiation damage to be turned into ghouls or super mutants. If so, then people dipped in the Vats can become ghouls instead of supermutants, if they are radiated. I think that easily matches Harold's case... Fallout 2: {100}{}{You see a particularly leathery-looking Ghoul.} {101}{}{You see Harold.} {102}{}{You see a very old but still spry-looking ghoul.} {172}{}{Put a sock in it ya smelly old ghoul. Goodbye.} Loxley (F1): {244}{LOX_69}{Harold? He's a good enough sort, for being a ghoul an all. Lives on the south side.} As you can see, Harold is called a ghoul in the game. Butch (F1): ''{233}{BUTCH46}{Alright, so it wasn't the Death Claw. But what would the mutants in Old Town want with our caravans? Unless it's some kind of conspiracy.}'' ''As you can see, there are more muties in the Hub Old town, not only Harold (though we don't see them in the game). And they are all called both 'mutants' and 'ghouls'.'' ''I think the point is that you call 'ghouls' only the ones that were exposed to 'wild' FEV in the air and radiation, and not the ones that were screwed-up results of dipping (like Harold and Talius). I think both kinds should be called 'ghouls', because, though they were created with different methods, the result is identical, and they were both result of radiation and FEV (ghouls of Necropolis are radiated people that were exposed to mutated FEV in the air, and Harold and Talius are result of dipping people with radiation damage - think this is what Chris Taylor meant).''"
 * He was planned for inclusion in cancelled projects Van Buren and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2.
 * He is mentioned in the Fallout Bible.
 * Chris Taylor described Harold as a special type of mutant, in that, "Ghouls are a type of mutant. Harold is a ghoul. Super Mutants are humans with no or minimal radiation damage who have been exposed to FEV. Ghouls are humans with significant radiation damage exposed to FEV. Harold is, well, Harold." Fallout Bible 5: All good points - Tim Cain and Chris Taylor agree with you, and they say Harold's a ghoul. To quote statements within the past week: Chris Taylor: Ghouls are a type of mutant. Harold is a ghoul. He's also a little special.Super Mutants are humans with no or minimal radiation damage who have been exposed to FEV. Ghouls are humans with significant radiation damage exposed to FEV. Harold is, well, Harold.
 * Tim Cain stated that the developers "treated him as a ghoul, but not a Necropolis one." He explained that "Harold is not a mix of radiation and FEV. He's got to be one or the other, and I think he's a ghoul."Fallout Bible 5: "27. I disagree with making Harold not a ghoul. During Fallout 1 the name "ghoul" was not yet as widely used as in F2. Harold could have disagreed with calling his mutant kind with such a name (which is not very nice). When you ask him about the ghouls he says:

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