Why I (like to) believe that the Lone Wanderer and Courier are the same person

[Geo]

This has always been a controversially debated topic, though most facts would state the Courier CANNOT be the Lone Wanderer because of a few points in the Fallout New Vegas game (e.g. the age slider) and the events at the Divide.

There may still be some linkage however.

The Lone Wanderer was born to James and Catherine in the year 2258 at the Jefferson Memorial, the staging ground of Project Purity. Catherine dies in childbirth, so James abandons the project to provide a safer upbringing for the child, eventually gaining entry to Vault 101. 19 years later (2277), James escapes Vault 101 and the Lone Wanderer follows suit in search of him. The events that followed that same year led to the reunion and death of James, and the activation of Project Purity, which supplied clean water to the Capital Wasteland. Left on his own, the Lone Wanderer retired to his house in Megaton, with no family left and no way to meet his childhood friend from Vault 101, Amata.

Tired and depressed from the life he has lived over the past year, the Wanderer found himself travelling to the Mojave, where he employed the help of Doc Mitchell to remove the scar of his former life, his PipBoy.

He found himself a job as a Courier and settled in a place known as the Divide, a small community in a harsh environment which was connected to a trade route, the one the Lone Wanderer found himself entering the Mojave along. (a possible "Lonesome Road" connection).
The Divide at that time was a fast-growing community, which attracted many new members to it. One man in particular was a man by the name of Ulysses.

2274 was when Ulysses first found the Divide, quoting it as "a nation taking its first breath." He had found it as a frumentarius of Caesar's Legion, who was tasked to walk the wastes of the Mojave as a courier.

Some short time after 2277, the NCR discovered the Divide and annexed it, which gave Caesar a reason to attack the community; in an attempt to wound the NCR and cut off trade routes. Ulysses returned to the divide to intervene, which is when the Lone Wanderer (from now on known as the Courier) arrived with a mysterious package bearing Old World, Pre-war American symbols: artefacts which were discovered by the NCR after they sacked Navarro, an Enclave base near San Francisco.

The symbols were linked to Big MT, which were seen in the Divide as Hopeville (an old missile base located within) was an base of operations for a meterological research project run by those a the Big MT (responsible for a previous event which sparked the endless dust storms which made the Divide the infamously inhospitable area that it became). Side note: the research at the Big MT was initially funded by the US Army, the ancestor of the Enclave, thus explaining the connection.

Anyway, the Courier brought the package, as his contract demanded, to the Divide, which sparked a cataclysmic explosion as the device within the package detonated the underground warheads in the Divide.

Both the NCR and Caesar's Legion forces died along with the community of the Divide; Ulysses was saved by the functioning eyebots (copies of Ed-E), which recognised the Old World symbol on his duster. He then continued on as a courier, returning to the remains of the Divide often to plot his revenge agains the NCR and Caesar's Legion.

In the year 2281, presumably 3 years after the events of the Divide, 7 couriers were tasked by Victor with delivering strange and assumed random trinkets to the New Vegas Strip. Ulysses, who saw the name of the Courier on the list, surendered his job to "Courier Six," knowing full well that the north of the Mojave would most likely kill the Courier for him.

The Courier took the role of carrying the Platinum Chip to the New Vegas Strip but was intercepted by a man named Benny, who took the chip and put a bullet in the Courier's head.

The Courier awoke not long after in Doc Mitchell's house, who gave him his PipBoy and information about Benny, thus starting the story-line of Fallout New Vegas.


Now, on to the possible reasons as to why this may be the case:

Doc Mitchell had no reason to give the Courier his PipBoy, for a simple courier would have no need of one (an arguement which could be brought up if the characters were separate people). He MAY have given him the PipBoy after learning that the Courier had lost his memory, so returned it to him hoping that it would still contain information about who he was. This would confirm that they had met before and that Mitchell DID remove it for him 4 years ago.

Aside from the age selection option at the begining of New Vegas, it can be believed that the Courier is of a fairly young age of adulthood (the theory would suggest he is 23), and all research I have done into the subject has concluded that the Courier is around this age.

Doc mitchell also makes some interesting remarks. When told to chose their name, Mitchell replies, "can't say it's what I'd have picked." (May also be worth pointing out that the doctor asks if he can remember his name, rather than simply ask "what's your name?"). The Doc also mentions he got most of his facial features right (speaking in reality, instead of a face-creator the device he would have handed the Courier would have essentially been a juiced-up mirror). Because it can be assumed the Courier's face was already mangled from scarring, wounds and a great-big hole in his head, Doc Mitchell may have remade the Courier's face out of memory of the person who walked in 4 years ago.

Back to Fallout 3. It may not resemble anything, but the final and probably most well-known picture is of the Lone Wanderer walking down a "Lonesome Road." To where? No-one knows.

It is common for people with memory loss to subconsciously recall parts of their forgotten life which may link to why the Courier:

Takes such a strong fondness to the King's dog, Roxie; as the Lone Wanderer did to Dogmeat.
Knows his way around the vaults situated in the Mojave (as though he has been in one before, though a courier's occupation would possibly never lead him into one).
Can identify Mitchell's picture cards with possible relevance to Fallout 3 events: notably space-age technology (Mothership Zeta) and a mushroom cloud (either 3 or the Divide).
Throughout the the quest, For Auld Lang Syne, there is a vibe that the Courier already has some understanding of the Enclave, but helps the Remnants anyway because he has seen the humanity in them, which was absent in Fallout 3.


All of the above is a self-opinionated story-line that I am convinced (for sake of closure) to believe. I like the feeling that the worlds of New Vegas and 3 are connected in another detail, one that makes playing both games with similar (karma and choice) styles, which we all do, reflect the idea that both characters are of the same past.

This is all up to interpretation though; nothing is set in stone.

[Saph]

I like to think of TTW as my headcanon.

[Geo]

TTW is an amazing mod! Little hiccup with the train sequence saying 9 years later instead of 4, but hey, other than that it's a pretty good example.

[Internet Boy]

It's pretty clearly stated that the pip-boy given in Fallout 3 can't easily be removed. See the Gary clone in the Operation Anchorage DLC for confirmation. The Courier is also older than you give him credit for. If you have the Lady Killer perk and you talk to The Lonesome Drifter (who's looking for his dad) you can ask him if he's 17 which implies the Courier possibly impregnated a woman ~18 years ago.

That said there's nothing wrong with headcanon, I like the idea of them being the same character as well. You can even justify the stat reset with the bullet the Courier took.

[Saph]

Originally posted by Dasper Car:

It's pretty clearly stated that the pip-boy given in Fallout 3 can't easily be removed. See the Gary clone in the Operation Anchorage DLC for confirmation. The Courier is also older than you give him credit for. If you have the Lady Killer perk and you talk to The Lonesome Drifter (who's looking for his dad) you can ask him if he's 17 which implies the Courier possibly impregnated a woman ~18 years ago.

That said there's nothing wrong with headcanon, I like the idea of them being the same character as well. You can even justify the stat reset with the bullet the Courier took.

Pretty sure that dialogue option is just there to imply your interest in banging him.

[Internet Boy]

Originally posted by Saph:

Originally posted by Dasper Car:

It's pretty clearly stated that the pip-boy given in Fallout 3 can't easily be removed. See the Gary clone in the Operation Anchorage DLC for confirmation. The Courier is also older than you give him credit for. If you have the Lady Killer perk and you talk to The Lonesome Drifter (who's looking for his dad) you can ask him if he's 17 which implies the Courier possibly impregnated a woman ~18 years ago.

That said there's nothing wrong with headcanon, I like the idea of them being the same character as well. You can even justify the stat reset with the bullet the Courier took.

Pretty sure that dialogue option is just there to imply your interest in banging him.:2016bee:

The Lady Killer perk is straight - male to female, so I doubt that.

[Geo]

Originally posted by Dasper Car:

It's pretty clearly stated that the pip-boy given in Fallout 3 can't easily be removed. See the Gary clone in the Operation Anchorage DLC for confirmation. The Courier is also older than you give him credit for. If you have the Lady Killer perk and you talk to The Lonesome Drifter (who's looking for his dad) you can ask him if he's 17 which implies the Courier possibly impregnated a woman ~18 years ago.

That said there's nothing wrong with headcanon, I like the idea of them being the same character as well. You can even justify the stat reset with the bullet the Courier took.

Good point, which is why the Wanderer requires the help of Doc Mitchell who is clearly stated as a surgeon. He essentially rebuilds your face for God's sake. But yeah, that second statement is kinda hard to argue with.

[Internet Boy]

Originally posted by GeeO:

Originally posted by Dasper Car:

It's pretty clearly stated that the pip-boy given in Fallout 3 can't easily be removed. See the Gary clone in the Operation Anchorage DLC for confirmation. The Courier is also older than you give him credit for. If you have the Lady Killer perk and you talk to The Lonesome Drifter (who's looking for his dad) you can ask him if he's 17 which implies the Courier possibly impregnated a woman ~18 years ago.

That said there's nothing wrong with headcanon, I like the idea of them being the same character as well. You can even justify the stat reset with the bullet the Courier took.

Good point, which is why the Wanderer requires the help of Doc Mitchell who is clearly stated as a surgeon. He essentially rebuilds your face for God's sake. But yeah, that second statement is kinda hard to argue with.

I remember playing this little game a few years ago in which you had to prevent your date from dying. Each time your date would die you could restart and get new dialogue options to warn her. Eventually the story tried to kill her so much that aliens started invading and meteorites fell from the sky. You can't save the girl, and the entire point of the game is that you should be dissatisfied with how it ends. The game then tells you that if you don't like how the story ends then just think up a better ending.

I feel like this is a pretty valid point. If you want the Courier and the Wanderer to be the same person then they're the same person. Your canon is just as valid as Obsidian's canon and if it makes you enjoy the games more then that's great.

[Geo]

Honestly doesn't affect my gaming at all. Just a thought I thought I'd like to share. But thank you, anything valid enought can be considered canon if enough people believe it to be so. Everything, canon or not is debatable, which is what is so great about video games having so much of their lore and theory built by fans of the respective franchises.

[OXY]

Doesn't Doc Mitchell give the Courier his pipboy when you're about to leave his house? Pretty sure he does.

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by GeeO:

This has always been a controversially debated topic, though most facts would state the Courier CANNOT be the Lone Wanderer because of a few points in the Fallout New Vegas game (e.g. the age slider) and the events at the Divide.

1. Its not a 'controversially debated topic'. In fact, its not even a debated topic.

2. FNV starts 4 years after FO3. Events of the DLC put the Courier in the west at the same time the dude from FO3 is doing his thing.

19 years later (2277), James escapes Vault 101 and the Lone Wanderer follows suit in search of him

Some short time after 2277 . . . which is when the Lone Wanderer (from now on known as the Courier) arrived

There simply isn't enough time to get out of the vault, get the FO3 stuff done, and then get to Nevada.

There is, canonically, no way they could be the same person.

TTW gets around that by fiddling with the canon timeline to increase the gap to 10 years.

[Saph]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

Originally posted by GeeO:

This has always been a controversially debated topic, though most facts would state the Courier CANNOT be the Lone Wanderer because of a few points in the Fallout New Vegas game (e.g. the age slider) and the events at the Divide.

1. Its not a 'controversially debated topic'. In fact, its not even a debated topic.

2. FNV starts 4 years after FO3. Events of the DLC put the Courier in the west at the same time the dude from FO3 is doing his thing.

19 years later (2277), James escapes Vault 101 and the Lone Wanderer follows suit in search of him

Some short time after 2277 . . . which is when the Lone Wanderer (from now on known as the Courier) arrived

There simply isn't enough time to get out of the vault, get the FO3 stuff done, and then get to Nevada.

There is, canonically, no way they could be the same person.

TTW gets around that by fiddling with the canon timeline to increase the gap to 10 years.

Given that you can run the breadth of the entire Capital Wasteland in less than a day, I'd say it's not entirely impossible for the player character to have traversed most of the US all the way to Nevada in the span of four years. You can do all the main quests and DLC for 3 in the span of two in-game months if you rush it and BS only adds two weeks on top of that.

Regardless, there is no canon material explicitly proving or refuting the plausibility of the wanderer and the courier being the same person. That's why it's headcanon, fan speculation. It's not officially correct in any capacity, but neither has it been officially debunked. What harm does it do to imagine that it is the case either way?

[Elric]

I personally hate the idea, but whatever makes it enjoyable for you.

[Ladez]

The fact that the Courier has walked all over the West coast, supported by dialogue with multiple characters, while the Lone Wanderer was doing his thing in the East conclusively refutes this theory.

Also, the Courier is not an amnesiac.

[76561198282327372]

No dice.
It's nice that you think that though.

[Elric]

Originally posted by . . .:

Originally posted by OXY:

Doesn't Doc Mitchell give the Courier his pipboy when you're about to leave his house? Pretty sure he does.

Yes. Doc Mitchell came from a vault.

Vault 21, or is it 22? I need to play New Vegas again