Nick Valentine



Nick Valentine is a synth character and companion appearing in Fallout 4.

Background
An unusual robotic detective, Nick Valentine operates a small agency inside of Diamond City. Complementing his detective skills, Nick is also experienced at hacking computers, picking locks, and adept at both ranged and melee combat. Valentine believes himself to be a prototype between second generation synths and the latest generation of synths, explaining why he is not hostile towards people. Despite being a Synth, he is generally well respected throughout Diamond City.

Although Diamond City holds a hatred towards the Institute and their synths, Nick gained their respect by saving the former mayor of Diamond City's daughter, when she ran away with a caravan trader. The caravan trader and his companions were actually kidnappers that took the mayor's daughter hostage. Nick stumbled upon the kidnappers when he was wandering in the Commonwealth wasteland and scared them away by pretending he had a bomb inside him and started to beep (true to Fallout-style humor, Nick claims that he literally just said the word "beep" repeatedly).

When the daughter told Nick what happened he returned her to the mayor who gave him a house in Diamond City as compensation, to the locals' dismay and objections. Nick began to gain their respect as Diamond City's handyman, however. His detective skills were then noticed when he helped to find a wife who ran away with her lover. People eventually stopped asking Nick to fix things and he became Diamond City's private investigator.

Upon building a positive relationship with Nick, he reveals that his personality and memories are those of a pre-war detective who volunteered to have his memories encoded into an early synth model by the Institute, at the time still known as the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. Upon his synth body waking after the war years later, Nick, having these memories, described his experience to be confusing and disorienting as he attempted to navigate the Commonwealth.

As synths and their associated technology were largely unknown at that time, most wastelanders regarded Nick with equal parts fear and awe, however, he was eventually accepted into a small local community in which a mechanic offered to repair the damage he had sustained in his travels for free. During this time, Nick befriended a child whom he believed was named "Jim" and the pair formed a strong relationship. Nick eventually left this settlement and, upon visiting years later, found that it had been pillaged by raiders, and the fate of its populace left unknown.

Other interactions

 * Valentine can be used to hack terminals of any tier. To do so only guide him to the nearest terminal. This will take some time, depending on the difficulty. Be aware though, that he might fail and be locked out forever. This chance increases with tier. If he fails and locks himself out of the terminal you may still hack it.
 * Valentine cannot be romanced.
 * Valentine will not hack terminals that strictly belong to someone else.
 * Low chance of hacking master terminals.

Effects of player's actions

 * Achieving maximum relationship with Nick Valentine gives the Survivor the Close to Metal perk which allows one extra attempt when hacking and a 50% reduced lockout time upon failing a hack. His personal quest Long Time Coming must be completed before the perk can be obtained.


 * He will comment on your decisions after completing the main questline. He responds negatively to choosing the Institute and the Brotherhood.

Notable quotes

 * "You'd be shocked how many people I've managed to convince I'm just a really sick Ghoul."
 * "Who do you think won the war? No-one, I guess."
 * "I'm gonna run some diagnostics while you're tinkering. Take your time."
 * "There's always another case to close."
 * "It’s synth detective, jackass."
 * "I told them I was rigged to explode and started going 'beep, beep, beep.'"
 * In response to the Brotherhood of Steel scribe who comments "No machine should have free will." Nick replies: "Why? You jealous you had to turn yours in?"
 * When stimpacked: "And that's how they put Nick back together again." A clear reference to Humpty Dumpty, the nursery rhyme.
 * "That was him! Right there! The Stranger! Where'd he go?" upon a Mysterious Stranger visit.
 * When caught in an explosion, such as the death throes of a protectron: "If you find any pieces of my legs, could you pick them up for me?"

Appearances
Nick Valentine appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * Nick appears to be influenced by the character Rick Deckard from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and the movie Blade Runner. Their first names are similar, Nick Valentine used to be a cop while Deckard is one, they share similar clothing, both follow a noir aesthetic, and they both deal with androids impersonating humans.
 * Nick Valentine's name is similar to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade: Spade is the name of a suit of playing cards while a "Valentine", often given on Valentine's Day, is also associated with a heart-shape (another suit of cards). And, of course, Nick is inspired by the classic noir detective of which Sam Spade is the archetype. His costume, facial appearance, and voice are also similar to those of Humphrey Bogart, who was famous for his roles as a hard-boiled detective in various films noir, most notably as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon.
 * Nick could also be influenced by the character Pero from the 2001 Metropolis movie as they both have similar appearances, outfits, jobs and even injuries (Nick looks like Pero post fatal gunshot wound).
 * He shares some characteristics with Odo of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Both struggle to fit in with humanity, were abandoned by their creators, and both serve as law officers (Nick being a detective and Odo being a security officer) with strong crime noir influences.
 * Nick Valentine also bares a remarkable resemblance to the character known as Q the noir styled mysterious fighter from the game Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (1999, Tomoshi Sadamoto, Capcom). From the trench coat and tie to those glowing yellow eyes, although Q is actually a human and Nick is a prototype of the advanced synth model, in a sense the representation of him shows that Nick is visually more human than synth therefore relaying on their uncanny visual comparisons, both sharing mysteries in their past that is shrouded, and as players in both games we're merely given a glimpse into the whole story of either character. Within Q's backstory slides we are shown that he is linked to many murders and unsolved mysteries similarly to that of Nicks detective job which entails many a crime to be solved. Although this comparison is more speculation than fact, so it is yet to be confirmed by a legitimate source.

Bugs

 * Nick may vanish sometimes to an unknown location. Check Piper's office in Diamond City.
 * Nick may become invisible after freeing him from his cell, and choosing to attack instead of stealth. The player character is unable to converse with him while he's invisible, although his quest marker remains above his head, as well as still being able to attack.
 * If Nick is given power armor before entering the memory den during Dangerous Minds the armor will count as stolen if the player character tries to enter it, Nick can still be told to enter it himself.
 * If Nick is in power armor and one trades items with him, "Take All" will remove his hat. It does not show up in the player character's inventory, but returns upon telling Nick to exit his power armor suit.
 * Nick can be given the quest reward Faded Trench Coat and it can be equipped, but doing so makes both of his hands synthetic, rather than one synthetic, one metal.

Gallery
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