Arthur Maxson

Elder Arthur Maxson (Registration MX-001E) is the last descendant of the Maxson lineage. He served as a squire in the Citadel in Fallout 3 and is currently the supreme commander of the East Coast chapter of the Brotherhood $$

Background
Born in 2267 to Jonathan and Jessica, Arthur is a descendant of the legendary Roger Maxson, founder of the Brotherhood of Steel. His father, a high-ranking paladin serving just outside the New California Republic, was recently killed in battle, and his mother, Lady Maxson, sent the boy east to be raised under the tutelage of the then respected Elder Owyn Lyons. Squire Maxson tends toward timidity, which is the main reason his mother sent him to the Citadel. Part of the reason were internal conflicts in the Brotherhood out west, which created an unsafe environment for Arthur.

Ever since arriving at the Citadel, Arthur was an attentive student, with a good knowledge of the Brotherhood's triumphs and history. He has also proven himself to be a keen observer, making accurate observations of the local super mutant threat and even observing a behemoth from the Citadel walls once. Overall, he received a top notch education, thanks to excellent teachers and trainers at the Citadel. Of course, he learned the Codex by heart, though the protocols gave him particular trouble, especially when it came to encounters with outsiders. The Codex deemed them untrustworthy, yet Elder Owyn Lyons was content to violate them as he saw fit, such as when accepting the Lone Wanderer into the Citadel without taking the Oath of Fraternity. For a boy whose only real encounters with outsiders were Brotherhood members visiting the Citadel, he was surprised by the decision, but deferred to Elder Lyons' judgement, despite his reservations. He was also trained in combat by Sentinel Sarah Lyons, who on one occasion showed him how to kill people by stabbing them in the kidneys.

Despite being a young boy, Maxson was faced with high expectations as the last of the Maxson line. He was expected to become the Brotherhood's great new leader, and he was told his "soul was forged from eternal steel." He never believed this claim.

Loneliness also weighed heavily on the young Maxson. As the only child at the Citadel, he grew up surrounded by adults, with no one of equal age to spend time with. Given that everyone he worked with was a soldier, he didn't receive kindness or warmth, merely schooling and training. His closest friend was Liberty Prime, an inanimate robot. Scribe Rothchild banned him from the laboratory, emphasizing the futility of trying to make friends with a machine. He snuck into the Lyons Den to read Paladin Vargas' copy of Guns and Bullets without his knowledge since he wouldn't give it to him otherwise.

As a result, the ten-year-old Arthur had a timid and reserved demeanor. It wasn't helped by the fact that the young boy was barred from patrols due to accidentally shooting Sentinel Lyons during one outing. Arthur's reservations and apprehension helped him maintain a level of politeness and decency that would later translate into unmatched charisma.

The key change in Arthur Maxson's life came with adolescence and the death of Elders Owyn Lyons and Sarah Lyons. While the crumbling Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel chafed under the ineffectual leadership of one elder after another, Maxson rapidly developed his talents, the potential inside awakening. At the age of 12, he managed to kill two raiders on a training patrol, saving the squad that was supposed to escort him. With 13 years of age, he managed to single-handedly kill a deathclaw, taking grave wounds in the process and a disfiguring scar that marred his face forever. His key achievement happened at the age of 15, when he killed a super mutant leader named Shephard, who was trying to reorganize the remnants of the Capital Wasteland super mutant infestation. This achievement has revealed another secret, that the West Coast elders were still monitoring their errant brethren. With Maxson's achievement came leadership and promotion to a provisional elder.

Though young, Maxson was ready to lead and reunite the fragmented Brotherhood of Steel forces on the East Coast. At the age of 16, he proved himself to be a capable diplomat, when he brokered a peace with the Brotherhood Outcasts, re-integrating them into the Brotherhood of Steel. The full force of the Brotherhood of Steel appointed Arthur Maxson as the elder, the youngest in Brotherhood of Steel history, and supreme commander of the entire Brotherhood of Steel, with the ability to strike anywhere on the East Coast because of the Prydwen, launched just a year before his rise to power.

As of 2287, Elder Maxson's reign in the Capital Wasteland was uncontested, and his authority and influence were spreading across the East Coast. The Prydwen was a key element of the Brotherhood's power projection, rallying people to his cause. In addition, Maxson had the full support of the elders on the West Coast, who proudly reported that cults existed worshipping Maxson as a god, although these groups had to be eradicated. However, Maxson was offended by the idea of being referred to as a deity, as it goes against his beliefs. Maxson is, instead, satisfied with being (according to the Brotherhood) the perfect human specimen, an example of everything a human being can achieve; assisted, even enhanced, by advanced technology, but still very much human.

His authority is reinforced by his accomplishments, growing the Brotherhood in the East from a moribund group of complacent stragglers occupying a single Citadel into a major military force capable of projecting power along the Eastern Seaboard. Thanks to his tenacity and singular vision, the men that serve under his command do so with pride and unmatched loyalty, with one soldier mentioning they were ready to invade hell itself.

Arthur Maxson, despite his upbringing, is still a young and idealistic leader of the Brotherhood on the East Coast. He has established an amalgam between the ways of his predecessor and tutor Elder Owyn Lyons, who was using technology to help others and the traditional Brotherhood approach of coveting and preserving advanced technology to protect people from abusing it. As a result, he is much more lenient about technology being in the hands of outsiders, and allocates teams of soldiers to combat dangers that would otherwise harm or kill the people of the wasteland, while he has other teams scouring the ruins for technology that could be misused in the wrong hands. Maxson also strongly insists that the Brotherhood has the best interests of the Commonwealth in mind.

He deeply cares for everyone under his command, as he was exceptionally reluctant to allow Ingram into the field as a field scribe despite Knight-Captain Cade's professional opinion that due to her power armor frame (which replaced her legs and much of her lower torso), she was more suited for combat than scribe-work, in fact probably better suited than any knight they could muster. Additionally, he explicitly ordered that all technology was to be traded for food and medicine, and violent confrontation was to be a last resort, which drastically sets him apart from the West Coast Brotherhood, who used violence as a first resort. This shows that not only does he not wish to risk the lives of those under his command, but he does genuinely seem to care about the people of the Commonwealth.

He also approved a request by Senior Scribe Neriah to develop a more effective alternative to the pre-War RadAway, showing that he has also carried on Lyons' efforts of improving technology as opposed to simply hoarding it, which remains the West Coast's goal, as can be seen through a conversation between Nolan McNamara and Veronica Santangelo in Fallout: New Vegas.

Fallout 4

 * (Said in response to the Sole Survivor after telling him they defeated the Institute for the people of the Commonwealth.)

Appearances
Arthur Maxson appears in Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, and Fallout Shelter Online.