Forum:Charon vs. Fawkes

I've been wondering, who is better Charon or Fawkes. Money is no object for me and I would like to know which one is best so I can have the ultimate side-kick.

You don't have to pay to get either of them to join you. Broeman 12:47, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Anything stopping you from bringing both? Charon can be gained earlier in the game. What's your playstyle? [[Image:User-Mirar_pawprint14.png‎]]Mirar (Talk) 09:56, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

charon refuses to go with me if I bring another companion with me. My playstyle is quite simple, medium-close range shooting anything that moves with my plasma rifle.

Fawkes wouldn't go with me. We basically said our goodbyes and off he went. :( MadamWolfenstein 16:27, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Update - Fawkes just joined me. I like him. There are complaints from a few that he's too powerful, but I like having him with me as we roam the map. I have no idea what the other sidekicks are like, but Fawkes is a really cool character to have. MadamWolfenstein 11:41, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * My personal favorite is Charon, he might be weaker, but he's got that ghoulish attitude. Charon can't take as much damage as Fawkes can, and he can't hold as much gear either. Charon seems to initiate attacks on enemies quicker than Fawkes, but, its difficult to say which follower does more damage over time. One nice thing about Fawkes is that she (yes Fawkes is female) uses a Gatling laser, which draws a line to the target making it easy to tell where the bad guys are. --AshRandom 19:53, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually, at the time of this writing, bethesda has confirmed fawkes is male. Broeman 12:48, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The big guns amuse me. Charon is more efficient due to his slower firing rate, so he hardly ever shoots at dead bodies. More than once I killed an enemy with a frag in VATS, watches as the dead body slowly turned in the air, only to have bits and pieces blasted off by the gattling laser (albeit from Star, not having switched over yet.) --DarkJeff 20:33, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * When I set Fawkes free, I went and got the advanced Rad suit and retreived the GECK myself, blew by him on the way out and got captured by the Enclave. Since I didn't talk Eden into fragging himself, I didn't see Fawkes outside Raven Rock mowing down soldiers with his Gatling Laser - "Look what I found!!" - I haven't seen him since the vault. I wonder if you need that dialog to enable his follower status. 205.156.188.254 19:08, 24 December 2008 (UTC)


 * After a little testing I found that Fawkes can kill a Super Mutant Master in half the time it takes Charon. Another nice thing that should be noted about Fawkes is that she's so huge you can use her for cover when you're out in the open. --AshRandom 16:49, 25 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Fawkes is good at first, but gets boring. She is too powerful, but I suppose it depends when you get her in the game. I had explored most of the area and was at level 20, so there were only a few places where I really needed a sidekick, and I had already learned how to deal with the most powerful enemies. Also hearing the same lines over and over gets tedious, as well as wondering if she is stuck on a rock somewhere, usually when you are relying on her for firepower. She is good for storage though. Blahguy 19:30, 25 December 2008 (UTC)


 * If you give Charon the Blackhawk he guns people down ridiculously fast. --AshRandom 00:08, 27 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Fawkes will use grenades, but half the time she tries to throw them through doorways, so they bounce back on top on you. Blahguy 08:29, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Charon uses grenades as well, plus he has 100 explosives skill, (Fawkes has 75).


 * Charon complements my melee character well, as I can draw an enemy's fire and circle around it to attack as Charon whittles down its health with his shotgun. He kills many enemies before I even reach them, which is about the only downside I've encountered. Don't forget to give him power armor to make him tougher, I gave him the t-51b set, and he's never fallen, even when we've been fighting deathclaws. I haven't tried Fawkes yet. 72.226.139.220 07:55, 31 December 2008 (UTC)


 * What I like about Charon (apart from playing dress-up ghoul) is that he can sneak. Even when he is wearing power armor, I get do do some sneak crits before he enganges the enemy. He is also extremely accurate at range. Vs deathclaws he does need some help (especially because armor does nothing against them), but a single poison dart will do. 131.188.120.74 13:22, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Me and Charon were a good team until that Behemoth killed him. I gave it a nuke in the face for that. -HG


 * Charon, wins it for me, I have him equipped with the Xuanlong Assault Rifle and the Winterized T-51b Armour and he never lets me down, he also sneaks which is fantastic. Fawkes is good but too good, always nicked my XP, also you can't give him/her any armour which is lame.Hazadragon 20:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)(Talk)

I've heard some say Fawkes is a male, but according to the Chief Physicians terminal in Vault 87, "subjects B440, B164 and D624 (all our female specimens) are all exhibiting a unique change. Their bodies are undergoing severe physical changes, losing most of their visible female indicators and transforming to an almost asexual state." According to the computer at Fawkes' door, this is subject D624. D624 is a FEMALE. (are you deaf didnt you hear fawkes say "once they heard me talk they branded me a failure and threw me in here to rot")

I'd say that the name Fawkes is ironic. She once was a Fawkes (fox) and now isn't. LVTDUDE 21:33, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

I was just at Vault 87 on my second playthough and that same terminal said that they terminated all of the subjects in those cells. From Fawkes' conversation, it seems that the other Super Mutants locked him up because he was "different". Thecrystalcrow 02:11, 25 February 2009 (UTC)


 * ^^Um, I'm pretty sure that's not what they were going for. Fawkes named herself that after Guy Fawkes. And as for who would be a better partner, that completely depends on your playing style. Charon is the most versatile ally in the game (100 small guns, 100 sneak, and 100 Explosives) and unless you've adapted a Rambo combat style I would go with him. But for any players that have no interest in tactical assaults/sneaking, Fawks is the way to go. --Clean Up 01:33, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Charon is probably my favourite follower because all the others are so damn annoying! Clover is always going on about our love & has a shit haircut, Jericho's voice is grotty & he looks ungainly with that Nail Board. Star Paladin Cross is the worst, her voice is badder than Jericho's. Sergeant RL-3 can't sneak, & although his dialogue is an asset you can get the same talk from the Prototype Medic Power Armor. Fawkes has an ugly run & is too powerful. I haven't gotten Butch DeLoria yet, but people say he's the worst, fight-wise. My favourite thing about Charon is that he's so big. I know Fawkes is bigger, but Charon is believably big, just like a tall, muscly guy. Plus he looks awesome in Metal Armour.

Pararaptor 06:48, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

I know, I hate SPC so much! I mean seriously, I hate giving ammo to my followers, and with her you have no choice, otherwise she gets shot to death trying to beat an Enclave patrol to death with a super sledge. Even when you do give her ammo, all she has is a crappy laser pistol. I prefer my followers to not suck, which is why I use Charon. He's a good fighter, he's easy to get, and he doesn't care what your karma is. Broeman 12:17, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Fawkes might be technically more powerful but Charon is less hassle and looks cooler to boot.

Uhhhh ain't Fawkes a guy? OutcastBOS

There's a lot of debate about that. I read that Fawkes was a female and when I checked the computer at the vault it said the subject in Fawkes room was a female, but others have said that "he" was thrown in there and wasn't the original occupant. I'm inclined to believe Fawkes is actually a male, despite some of the things that point to the contrary. I've also read that Bethesda actually confirmed that he was male, but I haven't actually seen that quote. LVTDUDE 21:44, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Fawkes --MadDawg2552 21:47, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, MadDawg. LVTDUDE 18:54, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

I personally prefer Jericho to both, but i would choose Charon before Fawkes, because you can menuver with him eaiser, giv him weapons and armour, and he won't steal all of your kills.OutcastBOS 18:25, 8 March 2009 (UTC)OutcastBOS hmmm well i got fawkes from the main quest and only recently got charon. i would have 2 say charon is much better, especially with T51b Power armour(which i recently got from killing mr crowly in his sleep with mr sandman and a stealthboy) or tesla armour(which he had until i got T51b power armour) because he 1. can wear armour 2. his shotgun is a good weapon,3. he doesn't steal all my XP like fawkes does and 4. he doesn't get stuck on rocks.

"He doesn't get stuck on rocks." Are you kidding? Charon gets stuck on rocks with me all the time. It's like walking through a mall with a woman. You're walking, walking, walking.....turn around. Where the hell did they go? Stopped about 100 yards back. Dammit! Sorry if I've offended any of our Fallout 3 playing females. :-) LVTDUDE 04:12, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Charon is my fave - Fawkes is cool and fun, but I think you have to complete almost the entire main quest line before you can get him - after that ther eis not much game left to enjoy. Charon you canget right out of the gate and have him tag a long for all of your journeys... also you can have both using the multiple companions glitches - I somehow ended up with SPC, Fawkes, Charon, and dogmeat all at once and any situation we walked into we would shred to bits in seconds...

My current team is: Sergeant RL-3 Charon And Fawkes. i like Charon the best out of them. i fired Fawkes a long time ago since he stole alot of my XP and got star paladin cross instead, i then fired SPC and got butch(as i went 2 the muddy rudder for my 1st time ever which wasn't until about level 23 if it existed.) and then got RL-3 but now i re-hired fawkes and fired butch because now that i am level 20 i don't care about XP. Overall Fawkes is probably the best (because of his shear firepower and ability 2 survive 11 guass rifle shots in the head. Silent.Killa78 >:) 09:14, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

I have all the companions using the exploit. I like Charon for his ability to use armor. I've got him in Tesla Armor and he looks wicked. Fawkes is awesome with his gatling laser, but I find that out of all my companions he has the most difficulty keeping up with me. I like to use him and RL-3 as my pack mules, but most of the time I resort to Charon cause Fawkes is either in another area or stuck on something. He eventually frees himself or makes it back to me, especially when I enter a new loading area. Overall I like Charon better.Angelonedge 08:34, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm pretty far along in the game with a level 20 character, and there's not much left to do, but I finally got around to knocking over Evergreen Mills. After killing most of the raiders in the underground bizarre, I was almost to Smiling Jack's shop, when a raider with a missile launcher turns the corner. I pulled out the Victory rifle to take him out before he could get a shot off, but Charon stepped in the way. I shot Charon in the foot, sending him flying over the raider's head. My second shot turned the raider to paste, and Charon got up and continued on around the corner, wearing Linden's Outcast Armor and Torcher's Mask. I plodded after him, but of course by that point I was so ludicrously overburdened I should probably have collapsed into a singularity, and before I could make it a few feet, I hear Charon say, "You want some of this" right before opening up with the Burnmaster. The raider shouts, "You're crazy", then comes running around the corner, on fire, and dies as I watch him running past me.

I sold my loot to smiling jack, then parked Charon out of sight around the corner while I proceeded to punch Jack in his not smiling face (what he gets for having rude dialogue and a handlebar mustache), shoot the Terrible Shotgun out of his hands, pick it up, then holster my sniper rifle like nothing had ever happened. Of course he backed down (yeah, that's what I thought, punk). Thinking everything was fine, and that I'd be able to make it out of there with plenty of caps and ammo but not overweight, I walked around the corner to grab the bobblehead and some cigarette cartons, only to hear Charon and Jack getting into a shouting match. I ran back around the corner and tried to block Charon's shots, but he quickly dispatched the unarmed jack with the Xuanlong assault rifle. Obligated to loot everything I'd just sold, plus the rest of Jack's inventory, I had to plod back out of there like I was dragging a clawfoot bathtub.

Killing power aside, I've never seen Fawkes do anything that funny, though watching him run halfway around Megaton at 60 mph with that goofy stride while trying to find a path to my house comes close. And anyway, with that setup Charon can torch two giant radscorpions about as quick as fawkes could laser them to death (getav puts Charon's big guns skill at like 115 with that armor and mask, whatever his three tag skills are supposed to be).Imp of the Perverse 07:27, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

I prefer Charon, but if im being honest i don't really use a follower very often being a stealth character. For me, Charon's main selling point is that he can sneak, where Fawkes can't. And btw Fawkes IS male. Here's the quote for you disbelievers:

''Contrary to a comment about Fawkes' gender made by his voice actor, lead designer Emil Pagliarulo has confirmed "No, Fawkes was absolutely a male. This was a mistake. Wes gave an interview and he was mistaken. Trust me, Fawkes is and was male." ''This can be found on the Fawkes wiki page.

So there you go he's male. On the Vault 87 that lists the occupant of Cell 5 as female, it also says that the occupant was terminated, meaning that Fawkes' predecessor in the cell was female, and not Fawkes himself.

The Slightly-Lonely Wanderer 20:52, July 24, 2010 (UTC)

Even more to prove Lonely's point, Fawkes was captured by the super mutants, they lack the ability to use computers (cos they're really dumb) so they couldn't have programed it to female, so as he wasn't an original vault 87 dweller the information on the computer is irrelevant.Anyway, he (like all super mutants) is A-sexual so has no gender so should be refured to as 'it' Charon for me, Fawkes takes too much credit for my hard work, plus his little killing sprees in Dave land they're all dead here now, plus i like to change the look of my companion as well as weapon. Both are very hard to do with fawkes. But i like butch, he's funny cos he's so paranoid and thinks he's hard but hes a whip. Sticky's the best .though. 20:59, July 24, 2010 (UTC)

Charon is good in a full suit of power armor but Fawkes is so strong he (when there can be no gender put on something you use male pronouns and Fawkes is a super mutant so is A-sexual but was male) can kill anything by himself he cant wear armor but at level 30 he has 230,400 hp and he has a great gun so you never have to give him anything he cant sneak and he does steal your xp but the pros outweigh the cons.Knight Captain Kerr 22:40, September 8, 2010 (UTC)

To be honest, I prefer Charon, I don't like having a big and bulky mutant following me. (When you don't have Fawkes, Deathclaws are terrifying (Especially on very hard with Mart's Mutant Mod...), and with Fawkes, he'll demolish it before you even smell it.

Doctor L Weegee

When you're level 30, and play on my Realism mode, where a single Giant Radscorpian could easily be the end of you, Fawkes is an invaluable asset.--With care and happiness,  Supermutantslayer450'  YOU. LOSE.  15:49, October 3, 2010 (UTC)

Followers get on my nerves tbh but I prefer Charon over Fawkes because I like to be sneaky ninja wastelander and Charon has sneak tagged. He's also nearly as funny as RL3. --Rooker75 16:02, October 3, 2010 (UTC)