Travis Bickle Build

A guide on how to become Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver (1976) in Fallout: New Vegas.

Thumbnail Source: https://picrew.me/image_maker/366843

Character Summary

“Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.” — Travis Bickle

After serving with the United States Marines in the Vietnam War, Travis Bickle arrives in New York City. Loneliness, depression, existential crises and severe insomnia plague Bickle constantly, so he decides to occupy most of his time with his newly-acquired job as a taxi driver, working grueling 12–14 hour shifts late at night in dangerous neighborhoods. He is visibly angered by his customers who tend to be pimps, drug addicts and thieves, and he begins fantasizing about "cleansing" such "filth" from the streets. After a failed pursuit at a relationship, Bickle decides to act out his fantasies...

Character Creation

Appearance

• Bedraggled
  
  
  
• Terrorsaur (optional)
  

Apparel

• Sunglasses (optional)
  

Weapons

• .44 Magnum revolver
  
  
  
• 9mm pistol
  
  
  
• Police pistol (has DLC "Dead Money"; optional)
  

Aid

• Beer
  
  
  
• Nuka-Cola
  
  
  
• Sugar Bombs
  
  
  
• Whiskey
  
  
  
• Variety of chem tablets (Buffout, Mentats, etc.)
  

SPECIAL

• Strength: 7 (Beach Bully)
  
  Bickle is in great physical shape, as he does extreme exercises every morning, such as 50 pushups and 50 pullups. He was also able to effortlessly jam his knife's entire blade through another person's hand (also see header text "Skills (Major)" for "Melee Weapons", and "Perks" for "Super Slam!", "Piercing Strike" and "Slayer").
  
  
• Perception: 4 (Unsuspecting Trout)
  
  Bickle has a lack of situational awareness. When one of his co-workers was talking to him, he was lost in his own thoughts, completely unaware of his friend talking to him at all. In another case,during the apartment massacre, he was entirely focused on killing the bouncer while moving away from him, and he paid no attention to the mafioso at his right side. The mafioso would shoot at his arm, injuring him and causing him to fall.
  
  
• Endurance: 9 (Bullet Proof)
  
  Bickle was able to hold his fist inches above fire and seemed unfazed by it. He was also able to continue fighting after being shot in the neck and in the arm.After the apartment massacre, he responded very well to treatment and recovered (also see header text "Perks" for "Toughness", "Life Giver" and "Nerves of Steel").
  
  
• Charisma: 3 (Creepy Undertaker)
  
  Bickle has trouble connecting with other people, as he is socially awkward and inept. Despite this,he was able to ask his crush, Betsy, out for lunch. Later on, he would unfortunately take her to an adult theater as a date, which causes her to leave, showing his lack of social awareness.
  
  
• Intelligence: 5 (Knowledgeable)
  
  Bickle has had "some" education. After all, he was able to build his own sleeve gun device (see header text "Skills (Major)" for "Repair").
  
  
• Agility: 7 (Knife Thrower )
  
  Bickle is able to hold a gun and draw it pretty well.
  
  
• Luck: 5 (Coin Flip)
  
  Bickle's luck is similar to a coin flip.He was unable to assassinate his target, Charles Palantine, because while he was reaching for his gun to kill him, he was spotted by Secret Service agents and had to run away. In another case, he was able to survive his bullet wounds from the apartment massacre and made a full recovery.

Skills (Major)

• Guns
  
  Bickle is very familiar with guns.
  
  
• Melee Weapons
  
  Bickle was able to effortlessly jam his knife's entire blade through another person's hand.
  
  
• Repair
  
  Bickle was able to build his own sleeve gun device and modify his bullets for more damage.

Skills (Minor)

• Unarmed
  
  Bickle most likely learned some form of hand-to-hand combat during his service with the United States Marines, as he has shown a karate-like stance on one occasion.

Traits

• Fast Shot
  
  
  
• Built to Destroy
  
  
  
• Hot Blooded (has DLC "Old World Blues"; optional)
  

Perks

1. Intense Training (Level 2)
   
   
   
2. Friend of the Night (Level 2 | PE 6, Sneak 30)
   
   Bickle works as a taxi driver late at night, enabling him to adapt quickly to the low-light conditions.
   
   
3. Run 'n Gun (Level 4 | Guns 45/Energy Weapons 45)
   
   
   
4. Bloody Mess (Level 6)
   
   
   
5. Gunslinger (Level 6)
   
   
   
6. Toughness (Level 6 | EN 5)
   
   
   
7. Commando (Level 8; optional)
   Bickle presumably has experience with two-handed weapons since he served with the United States Marines.
   
   
8. Quick Draw (Level 8 | AG 5)
   
   
   
9. Strong Back (Level 8 | ST 5, EN 5)
   
   
   
10. Super Slam! (Level 8 | ST 6, Melee Weapons 45)
    
    
11. Finesse (Level 10)
    
    
    
12. Night Person (Level 10)
    
    
    
13. Life Giver (Level 12 | EN 6)
    
    
14. Piercing Strike (Level 12 | Unarmed 70)
    
    
    
15. Center of Mass (Level 14 | Guns 70)
    
    
    
16. Jury Rigging (Level 14 | Repair 90)
    
    
    
17. Action Boy (Level 14 | AG 6)
    
    
18. Better Criticals (Level 16 | PE 6, LU 6)
    
    
19. Concentrated Fire (Level 18 | Energy Weapons 60, Guns 60)
    
    
20. Grim Reaper's Sprint (Level 20)
    
    
21. Slayer (Level 24 | AG 7, Unarmed 90)
    
    
22. Nerves of Steel (Level 26 | AG 7)

Character Behavior (optional)

Personality

Bickle is a deeply troubled man who has experienced loneliness his entire life and has become disillusioned with society. Most of his loneliness comes from the fact that he is socially awkward and inept. Although he desperately wants to fit in, his flaws lead him to the only solution he found that made any sense: enacting violence upon anyone that needed to be corrected. He saw the world and all its flaws on full display, but he never managed to find the flaws in his own character, believing himself to be the one sane man in a world of insanity, and he thoroughly believed that he is a selfless man standing up to evil when others wouldn't, but he is actually just trying to live out his own desire to make a change and find purpose in his life by solving the world's problems, real or perceived.

Theme Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ9SvXXgnE0

Aid

Bickle would bring along a variety of alcoholic beverages and chem tablets with him, becoming addicted to them eventually. He would also eat Sugar Bombs along with whiskey.

Combat

Bickle has lots of combat experience since he served with the United States Marines. He carries around a pistol or revolver, however, it is presumed that he has experience with heavier firearms since he served with the Marines. He tends to charge into combat with little to no regard for his health and will also take his enemy by surprise depending on the situation.

Companions

Bickle has had some companionship with people, notably Betsy and Iris. However, he is alone for most of the time. His socially awkward and inept behavior, as well as his lack of social awareness makes him extremely lonely. Despite this, he is still able to communicate with others.

• Arcade
  
  Bickle isn't that much of an intellectual compared to Arcade, and he'll probably grow tired of the scientist's acerbic wit.
  
  
• Boone
  
  Bickle heavily sympathizes with Boone, as they both are bitter and mentally unstable military veterans. In combat, their tactics compensate each other since Bickle is good with close-quarters combat while Boone is good with sniping.
  
  
• Cassidy
  
  Bickle somewhat likes Cassidy, however, her independent nature would distance himself from her.
  
  
• Lily
  
  Bickle is initially creeped out by Lily, however, he would soon learn to see her as a human being. If he could, Bickle would convince her to take her medication.
  
  
• Raul
  
  Bickle likes Raul because of his straightfowardness, experience, charm, and knowledge of guns, but would ultimately not relate to him that much because of his social awkwardness and ineptitude.
  
  
• Veronica
  
  Bickle's view of Veronica is similar to that of Iris. He sees Veronica as "pure" and "untainted" by the Mojave Wasteland.

Factions

Bickle has little to no understanding of the factions, but will attempt to fit in with one of them if it means ridding himself of his loneliness, however, if any of them were to get in the way of his mission, he'll wipe them off the streets.

• Boomers
  
  Bickle views the Boomers quite positively, seeing it as an example of how a community should be.
  
  
• Brotherhood of Steel
  
  Bickle would be far more interested in the Brotherhood's firepower than their goals.
  
  
• Caesar's Legion
  
  Bickle empathizes with the Legion. He would support their policy against chem dealers and addicts, however, Bickle is known to be a hypocrite when it comes to consuming chems, alienating him from the Legion. His ego would also see the Legion as unworthy of "cleansing" because he sees himself as the one that should do it.
  
  
• Followers of the Apocalypse
  
  Bickle has a mixed opinion of the Followers. He likes them for being caring towards the weak, but dislikes that they are also helping the "scum".
  
  
• Free Economic Zone of New Vegas
  
  Bickle hates Mr. House, seeing him as the orchestrator of all the decadence and filth in the Mojave Wasteland.
  
  
• Great Khans
  
  Since the Great Khans are involved in the chem trade, Bickle would hate them and attempt to disrupt their operations whenever possible.
  
  
• New California Republic
  
  Bickle views the Republic as a failing society, one which has been corrupted by hedonism and vice.
  
  
• Powder Gangers
  
  Bickle despises criminality and will act like a vengeful vigilante against the Powder Gangers.
  
  
• White Glove Society
  
  Bickle hates high society and will hate them even more once learning some of them are cannibals.

Ending (Independent)

Bickle would lead New Vegas independently. With him in charge, he would immediately launch social cleansings on locations he deemed "filthy". He would also fight alongside his Securitrons, killing so-called "scum".

Bickle would then launch major offensives on NCR and Legion territories, forcing the NCR and the Legion to form an unlikely alliance against Bickle. After several months, both forces close in on the New Vegas Strip. Bickle and his remaining Securitrons fight on until he either commits suicide or gets killed, leaving behind a city he considers "cleansed".

[Ginke]

Also, it would be cool if he used the boomer flightsuit

[Ginke]

I would like to add that Travis must have little combat experience, seeing as he was badly injured in the brothel shootout despite having killed several. I believe he only served a few tours in the Vietnam War

[a potential scoundrel]

you mention he uses knives so why not have the cosmic knife cleaned not the the rusty cosmic knife since it likely wasn't rusty when he stabbed someone and not the base knife since its also rusty if it just doesn't look like the knife he uses then fuck

[Ginke]

Interestingly, I wasn't the only one who thought of this roleplay idea. The vibe of New Vegas matches the atmosphere of the movie and 70s New York.

[Cauann]

taxi driver in New Vegas, i love

[Zalastor]

God's lonely man in the Mojave

[walkmahone]

This is top notch. I will use this on my new playthrough. I'm going to go through New Vegas again in honor of Matthew Perry's (Benny) passing.

[Smocaine]

can you do a the mask build

[WaterDrinker]

could you make how to be super mario

[ZeeDDD65]

this was unironically fantastic