Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hello everyone, my name is Nilsor and welcome to my vault
Today on Fallout New Vegas 101
we are going to talk about one of your companion
Craig Boone
Born in 2255
Craig Boone is 26 years old when you recruit him
making him the youngest of your possible companions
He spent most of his life inside the New California Republic army
as a sharpshooter in the 1st Recon unit
Stationned in the Mojave
he participated in what will later be called the Bitter Springs Massacre in 2278
The NCR at the time was hunting down the tribe called the Great Khans
which was harrasing NCR citizens throughout the region
NCR intelligence thought that Bitter Springs was the tribe’s headquarter
but it actually was a small town where were living mostly harmless civilians
When the battle occurred
Boone’s squad objective was to cut the only other exit of the town
while the main troops where attacking from the front
When they saw through their scopes that only civilians
composed of women, children and elderly
where coming out
they called the NCR commander to require instructions
The radio communication was barely working
but they were ordered to shoot everyone down as long as they had ammo
And so they did
butchering everyone
After this
and traumatized by the experience
Boone met Carla while on leave on the New Vegas Strip
He fell in love and quitted the NCR army alongside his friend Manny Vargas
another NCR sharpshooter
The three of them then went south to the town of Novac
where they started working as sentries
protecting it of raid parties and legion soldiers
from their sniper’s nest inside the town’s giant dino mouth
Several years went by and Carla was never happy about the town
considering this place beneath her and wanted to move on
This made her unpopular among the town’s residents
She didn’t get along with Manny Vargas either
In 2281
Carla was kidnapped by some Legion soldiers who knew exactly how and when they could abduct her
thanks to the town Motel’s owner Jeannie May Crawford who sold her out for 500 caps
Boone tracked his wife to the Legion camp at Cottonwood Cove
There
seing that he couldn’t free her and wanting to prevent her the fate of slavery
he took his sniper riffle and
as an act of mercy
killed her
alongside their unborn child
When he went back to Novac he confessed to Manny about Carla’s death
He broke up their friendship after seing how his “friend” seemed relieved about the news
When you meet Boone
he is looking out among Novac’s residents to found out who helped in the kidnapping of his wife
and is also on a vengeful hunt against any Legion members
Physically
Boone presents himself as a fit individual with tight clothes coming from his time in the army
immediately indicating that he must be effective in combat
He is also always wearing his beret coming from his time in the 1st recon
and doesn’t appreciate not having it
He is also wearing a sad expression all the time alongside a mostly monocordial deep voice
Before talking about his personnality
let’s state that we don’t have informations about how he was before his time in the NCR army
and therefore we can’t be sure how he used to be
and how exactly what he went through affected him
Boone is an introverted individual
keeping most of his thoughts to himself unless asked
and his reluctant to share them
keeping people to a distance
If he answers you, he will go straight to the point
His relationship with Carla was the only thing that made him feel calm and happy
eventhough he never told her out loud that he loved her
The Bitter Springs Massacre left him with big psychological scars
mainly a heavy sense of guilt on his conscience
and suffers from a post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD
He has developped several symptoms typical of it such as
The fact that he is re-experiencing the massacre in his dreams
There is a constant reminder of the event
seen in how he perceives himself as cursed
because he is now convinced that the bad karma he earned by killing innocent civilians
will come strike back
leading to a high level of anxiety
and a constant fear of an imminent disaster
He shows clear sign of avoidance
Such as the fact that he quitted the NCR army
despite that he is still thinking like if he was still a part of it
as we can see in the use of the word “we” when asked about NCR-related subjects
He also avoid to talk about Bitter Springs and shut you off if you ask him
He even never told about it to his wife either even if he wanted to but never could
He also displays some signs of hypervigilance
which might be gameplay wise related to his personal “spotter” perk
He probably suffers from insomnia
which might explain why he was the one on the night shifts during his time as Novac’s sentry
He also shows clear signs of irritability when you insist on having answers
and has a violent behavior as perceived in his desire to kill every Legion member
Alongside his PTSD
other symptoms came such as a depression
and a possible substance abuse considering the amount of alcohol and drugs in his appartment
With all this
Boone developped suicidal thoughts and behavior
which is probably why he wears close to no armor
despite the fact that he is looking out for a fight
He will only start protecting himself more once you’ve helped him during his personnal quest
He sees his death as the only way to make up for all the bad he did at Bitter Springs
The only way for the player to make Boone talk
is to earn trust points to advance his personnal quest
These points are granted when doing actions that have to do with Boone thirst for vengeance
or act when an hostage situation is at hand
The player can therefore only help him evolve from his current state of mind
by fulfilling his desire for revenge or making him revive his traumatic experiences
On a more meta level
if you look at his name
Boone” is derived from « Bon » in French
meaning a good blessing, something to be grateful for
This is quite ironic considering everything that has happened to him
and the state of mind that he is in
Overall the character of Boone also fits well within some of the themes of New Vegas
notably through his inability to move on from his past and being stuck on it by reviving it
just like Mr House, the NCR and the Legion are unable
to think of new ways to lead humanity and only relie on previous ways of doing so
To recruit him you will need to complete the “One for my Baby” quest
To know how, please go check out the video about Novac
Having Boone with you will have you benefit from his spotter perk
which will make ennemies glow when you are aiming with a scope
Note that Boone is always hostile against the Legion and will engage combat against them
forcing you to fight even if you are in good terms with Caesar
Also
if you have either a negative reputation with the NCR or a positive one with the Legion
he will refuse to come with you
To activate his personnal quest
you will be required to have scored 5 “trust points” with Boone
To do so you will need to have him with you and do certain actions
Kill Vulpes Inculta
whether when you meet him at Nipton
outside of the Tops casino
or inside Caesar’s tent for 1 point
Kill Caesar for 2 points
Rescue the hostages during the “Booted” quest in Nipton for 2 points
During the quest “Back in Your own Backyard” in Camp Forlorn Hope
kill the hostages to score 1 point or save them to score 2 points
Kill Silus at Camp McCarran for 1 point
During the “I Put a Spell on You” quest at Camp McCarran
confront and kill the spy in the act and also disarm the monorail bomb for 2 points in total
Kill all the legionnaries during the “Eye for an Eye” quest
given by First Sergent Astor near Camp Searchlight for 2 points
To activate the quest you will also need to talk to either Manny Vargas in Novac
or Bitter-Root in Camp McCarran
about their time in the NCR and what happened at Bitter Springs
Once all this criterias are met
talk to Boone about Bitter Springs and suggest to go there again
He will refuse at first
Later on
he will come back to you and ask you if you can go there with him
Agree and travel inside Bitter Springs
Boone will talk about what happenned during the battle
and will ask to go to the Coyote Tail Ridge where he was stationed
Go there and talk to him again to learn more about the battle
notably about the civilians Boone had killed
He will then ask to spend the night here
Accept his request
When you wake up
talk to him
He will have spotted a legion raiding party that is coming to Bitter Springs
to take people into slavery
as they are easy preys there with little to no defense
Rush to Bitter Springs and defeat the 3 groups of Legionnaries
that will attack here
here again
and from there
When the battle is over
Boone will come talk to you
surprised that he is still alive
He thought that this would be the day he dies
a fitting end considering this is where all his trauma began
You will then have two options that will end the quest
and grant him a new set of armor
the first one will make him repent for his actions
and he will go on with his life trying to help and protect others
The second one will make him bloodthirsty
seek out actively his targets and make them feel the might of his wrath
Boone’s endings will vary upon
If he is still alive
If you completed his personnal quest and how you resolved it
And who won the second battle of hoover dam
If he Died
His inability to move on from his past got the best of him
and the Mojave finaly granted him his death wish
If Boone was made Bloodthirsty and the NCR won
He realized that even vengeance wouldn’t give him peace
so he journeyed back to California
found the officer who led the attack on Bitter Springs
shot her dead
and then ended his own life
If Caesar won
enraged after the Legion victory
Boone set up a suicide mission against its soldiers
He killed many legionnaries before being captured and crucified
Before his crucifixion
he was brought before the Legate
who expressed his admiration for Boone's reckless abandon
Boone spat tobacco in his eye
for all of Caesar's armies to see
If House won or you chose an Independent New Vegas
Boone conscience seemed to have vanished
he became a greedy mercenary
never scared to do violence as long as the caps were good
If Boone became repentant and the NCR won
he reenlisted with the 1st recon unit and spent his leave time hunting slavers
If the Legion won
refusing to give up arms
Boone started a deadly campaign against the high-ranking legion officers
Even if the reward for his head became an all-time high
no one dared to pursue him
in fear of losing their own lives
If House won or you chose an Independent New Vegas
Boone remained here
finding work as a security guard and caravan scout along the highways
Eventhough he wanted to reenlist with the 1st recon unit
he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the city where he had met his wife
On the next video we will talk about your robotic companion ED-E
and after that it will be about Veronica
Thank you for watching, and see you later