| For the 18th president of the United States, see Ulysses S. Grant. |
Ulysses is a courier and former Frumentarii of Caesar's Legion in the Fallout: New Vegas DLC Lonesome Road.
Background
Ulysses was once a member of the Twisted Hairs, a tribe in Arizona that forged an alliance with Caesar's Legion. He served as a scout for the Legion, during which time he used his knowledge of medicine to cure those he traveled with. His tribe's name came from the distinctive hairstyle members had, which was based on their medicinal knowledge and tied in knots to communicate messages to other tribe members.[1][2] Caesar betrayed the Twisted Hairs and sent Vulpes Inculta to enslave and murder the group at Dry Wells.[3]
Ulysses worked as a courier, living in the Hopeville area before it was destroyed.[4][5] The cities were destroyed by the detonation of underground nuclear missiles, triggered by a package delivered by the Courier.[6][7][8] Ulysses survived the detonations and angered by the loss of his home, he seeks revenge, blaming the Courier for the events that took place.[9]
Storyline
Old World Blues
Ulysses traveled to Big MT, caring for an injured member of the Brotherhood Circle, Knight Royce, who was hunting the rogue former elder, Father Elijah.[10][11] He discovered the Think Tank, who recalled him as being a "melancholy fellow" who had questions about history.[12] It was the Think Tank that explained to him what happened in the Divide, and how the nuclear missiles were activated.[13][14]
Honest Hearts
Caesar ordered Ulysses to lead the White Legs to New Canaan in an attempt to kill Joshua Graham, the former legate, along with the rest of the New Canaanites.[15] The effort was to gain entry into the Legion, and also included murdering caravans and cutting off NCR supply lines to and from the Mojave.[16] Ulysses helped the White Legs dig out bunkers and supply caches, acquiring powerful weaponry and teaching the tribe how to use them.[17][18] After these events, Ulysses still describes members of the Legion as his brothers, "even as misguided as they are."[19]
Lonesome Road
He was one of seven couriers hired by Mr. House to carry packages to the New Vegas Strip, but he turned down the job, resulting in the Courier carrying the Platinum Chip.[20][21]
Ulysses attempted to lure the Courier back to the Divide, leaving messages for them in the form of graffiti near the Canyon Wreckage and transmitting a radio signal.[22] Ulysses watches the Courier's progress from various locations in the Divide, including the top floor of the still-standing base of The Crow's Nest and in the building south of the Sunstone Tower Roof. He leaves decals throughout the Divide and Big MT that appear as red, white, and blue flags. The red color indicates hostile areas, white marks the way forward, and blue denotes hidden caches.
Interactions overview
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
| This character is a temporary companion. | ||
| This character is involved in quests. |
| |
Effects of player's actions
- If Ulysses is killed, the Courier tears down his Old World flag and uses it as a shroud.
- If Ulysses is convinced not to fight the Courier, he can be found sitting vigil above the Hopeville ruins, just at the entrance to the Divide.
- Ulysses will also help the Courier make campfire recipes and teaches the recipe for Bitter Drink. He supplies the Courier with miscellaneous items he found in Hopeville including Rockets, Rad-X, RadAway, MREs, and Pre-War Books.
Inventory
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items |
|---|---|---|
| Ulysses' Duster Ulysses' Mask |
Old Glory 12.7mm Submachine Gun Anti-Materiel Rifle Frag Grenade x6 Flash Bang |
Stimpak x6 Stealth Boy x2 Med-X x3 |
Notes
- Ulysses is 15% faster than a normal human character and the game's only human character with more than 1000 health points.
- He cannot be knocked down or pickpocketed.
- In his temple, Ulysses is escorted by a Medical Eyebot and a Repair Eyebot. The former will regenerate Ulysses's health throughout the fight.
- The reason why Ulysses never blinks is due to his head, hair, and mask all being one unique model on top of his real head, and if the mask or outfit is looted, Ulysses' model will still appear to be wearing them.
- The Ulysses that stalks the Courier has a separate ref ID and cannot take damage or be killed via console commands.
- Ulysses is one of only three characters in the game to have 10 points in all the SPECIAL stats. The other two are Colonel Royez and Gaius Magnus. The only other non-player character in the Fallout series with ten points in all SPECIAL attributes is Frank Horrigan in Fallout 2.
- The Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide describes Wolfhorn Ranch as Ulysses' former home.[Pub 1]
Bugs
- Ulysses has several combat barks, but due to them being improperly set up, only one of each type will play.
- This is fixed in version 1 of YUP.
Quotes
- "You got lives in you, hard to kill. Storm, bullets, sand and wind, yet still you walk. For now."
- "If you feel its loss... remember you could have turned away at any time. Gone back home, and none of this would have happened. But you had to make one last delivery, and that's why I knew you'd come, Courier. Couldn't stay away, it's who you are."

- "The day I set my flag down, it'll be over my body or over a nation I believe in."
- "All these roads, you walked. These packages you carried. Think it wasn't your choice? Of course it was your choice. You could have stayed in the Mojave. But you chose to come, couldn't let be - not in you to let go."

- "You don't see, listen - even when it's all around you, no matter if I nailed it into your head like a gift from Caesar."

Appearances
Ulysses appears in the Fallout: New Vegas DLC Lonesome Road. He was mentioned in Old World Blues and Honest Hearts.
Behind the Scenes
- Chris Avellone stated that he has "a lot of love for Ulysses in Fallout" because he "likes the idea of someone hunting my player for reasons of his own, and then hearing the reasons why… and realizing how important even the smallest of my actions are for the people of the wasteland – living or dead."[Dev 1]
- Avellone explained that the writing for Ulysses changed as soon as he heard Roger Cross' voice, and he "kept his audition playing in the background while I was writing, and it helped me give direction for the character."[Dev 2]
- Ulysses was intended to be a companion and had to be unused in the base game due to lack of space.[Dev 3][Dev 4][Dev 5][Dev 6]
- Avellone discussed Ulysses in part three of the Unmasking the Gamers interview. He stated that he was cut from the base game, and wasn't intended to be part of the DLC's narrative arc until the end of Dead Money's production, although he is very different in Lonesome Road than his original design for the base game. He also mentioned his goals for the character as a companion: he had to "reinforce the faction reputation mechanic," had to react strongly to the NCR/Legion conflict, he was intended to be the Legion-aligned companion who would provide Legion backstory, continually remind the player of Hoover Dam as the focus (additionally, he was a Frumentarii who discovered the dam and the NCR), showcase myths and symbolism, and had a companion vision quest which changed his appearance similar to Raul's Vaquero outfit, though it was based on the player's end faction allegiance.[Dev 7]
- Ulysses describes Ulysses S. Grant, as the inspiration for his name.[23]
Gallery
Ulysses in an endings slide
References
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- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.420: "Wolfhorn ranch: What was once a profitable Bighorner ranch has recently been abandoned, and its owner-a man named Ulysses-is nowhere to be found. Scour the place, especially the farmhouse itself (which has most of the items you want). Down at the bottom of the garden is a well and a tank with irradiated water (only sip if you're desperate). and an allotment with a few plants to pick."
- ↑ (Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements; Unmasking the Gamers Chris Avellone - Part 2)
- ↑ (Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements; Unmasking the Gamers Chris Avellone - Part 1)
- ↑ Matt London: "Have you ever written a quest or character that you loved but for whatever reason could not implement in the final game?"
Chris Avellone: "Yep, it happened in Fallout: New Vegas. There’s a character on one of the trading cards, Ulysses, who was supposed to be a companion. Oddly enough, tearing him out of the game was almost as hard as putting him in because companion scripts touch almost everything (and he also was a complicated character in terms of some of the hooks into the storyline). Maybe he’ll come back at some point. I miss him."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements; Chris Avellone, Game Designer, Fallout New Vegas) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas 10th Anniversary Charity Stream (reference starts at 2:19:16)
Joshua Sawyer: "'What was the issue with Ulysses as a companion?' His dialogue was... his recorded dialogue was so big it literally wouldn't fit on the disk. [laughter] I don't remember how many lines it was, it was like... Cass was our second-biggest companion after Ulysses, and then Ulysses, was like, much, much, much more than her and literally just wouldn't fit. He was too big - too powerful. [...] 'Couldn't you cut a lot of his dialogue?' It happened so late in development that that didn't seem practical. Yes, if we had realized that earlier in development then probably, yes." - ↑ Joshua Sawyer: "Ulysses was cut because his character VO literally would not fit on the disc. His dialogue node count was something like 2x or 3x higher than any other companion, including Cass, who had the second highest (hers was ~615 IIRC and I think Ulysses was... ~1500??). I genuinely consider "original" Ulysses being cut as a big loss for F:NV overall because Avellone's original critique was right: we needed a Legion-sympathetic companion."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements/Characters; Joshua Sawyer: Ulysses being cut, 2020 September 27) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas 10th Anniversary Charity Stream (reference starts at 3:40:51)
Joshua Sawyer: "Basically the only character that was meant to be a companion that didn't become a companion was Ulysses. That's it. Any other character that you can think of was never meant to be a companion. [laughter]" - ↑ (Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements; Unmasking the Gamers Chris Avellone - Part 3)
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