 | For the Fallout 3 character, see Ian West. For other people named Ian, see Ian (disambiguation). |
|---|
Ian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ian (?–February 13th, 2162) is a potential companion who resides in Shady Sands in Fallout.
Background[]
Ian is a short, stocky caravan guard who adopted Shady Sands as his new home. He was working for the Crimson Caravan company during a routine caravan route to the small settlement. However, routine doesn't mean safe. He was shot by raiders and stayed in Shady Sands to recuperate.[1][2] The Shady Sands townsfolk helped him recover and ultimately Ian decided to stay with them. His experience and skills helped him contribute, as very few of the townsfolk ever left its safe walls. He occasionally makes a run to Junktown and the Hub to do trading. He is strong, confident, and independent. A perfect wastelander.[3]
These traits endeared the Vault Dweller to him. Together, they scouted Vault 15, learning that the water chip was in another Vault.[4] Following a long trek through the wastelands, the two finally reached Necropolis. Engaging the super mutants at the Watershed in battle, Ian lost his life. A flamer unleashed by one of the super mutants burned him to death. The smell of Ian's burning body would haunt the Dweller for years to come.[5]
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
 |
This character is a permanent party member. | |
 |
This character starts quests. | |
Quests[]
- Recruit Ian: This mysterious quest leaves everyone baffled as to what is necessary to do to complete it.
Other interactions[]
- He has unique float dialogue for locations around the northern wasteland;
| Ian's comments | |
|---|---|
| Location | Comment |
| Darkwaters General Store | This is Killian's, a general store. Killian's a good man, and they have plenty of stock. |
| Gizmo's Casino | Gizmo's casino. A hive of gambling and underworld activity. Careful; they say the games are rigged. |
| Beth's gun shop | This is the Weapon Shop. It's run by Beth. She's good for guns, but better for gossip. |
| Jake's gun shop | Jake's weapons. High prices, but really good guns. |
| Water Merchants | Office of the Water Merchants. They're the big movers and shakers of the Hub, since they supply the water that keeps everything going. |
| Crimson Caravan | This is the Crimson Caravan. I did some work for them. They do a lot of high-risk jobs. |
| Far Go Traders | Far Go Traders, run by Butch Harris. He's ot-nay oo-tay ight-bray, if you catch my meaning. |
| Maltese Falcon | Ah, now the Maltese Falcon is the place to be. Good music, good drinks, and good company. |
| Vault 13 | Heard about some of these places before, but never been in one. Seems nice and clean . . . a little too clean for my taste. |
| West Tek Research Facility | What the hell happened here? |
| Mariposa Military Base | This is gonna be a tough nut to crack. |
| Necropolis | This place gives me the creeps. |
Tell me about[]
| Ian's Tell-Me-Abouts | |
|---|---|
| Query | Response |
| Followers, Cathedral, Master, Unity, Set, Watershed, Hall, Library, Overseer, Vault, Vault-13, Vault13, Boneyard, Deathclaw, Exodus, Initiates, Paladins, Scribes, Brotherhood, Vats, Military, Base, Morpheus, Alya, Diana, Gwen, Petrox, Tolya, Zimmerman, Regulators, Scavs, Blades, Nicole, Lieutenant, Experiments, Police | Sorry, bud. Don't know much. |
| War | Happened a few decades back. Basically, a bunch of countries got kind of antsy, and everything went BOOM! |
| Junktown | A medium-sized town made of junk, overseen by a sherrif named Killian. It's just a few days southwest of Shady Sands. |
| Hub | The Hub is the biggest trading center in the New West. It's run primarily by a group called the Water Merchants, but there are some other traders there, too. It's a booming town, but there's a lot of political fighting between the traders. |
| Raiders | There are several different groups of raiders out there. The most organized group is called the Khans; they seem to think they can conquer the world or something. |
| Caravans | Most caravans come from the Hub. They travel all over the place. I worked for a group called the Crimson Caravan before my untimely injury. |
| Chip, Water | No idea what a water chip is. Sorry, friend. |
| Sands, Shady | A small and peaceful village. Probably the most promising community in the wastes. |
| Garl | Garl's some dumb-ass who thinks he can take over the world with his crummy raiders. Yeah, whatever. |
| Necropolis | Isn't that the mythical city of the dead? |
| Medic | Razlo's a great doctor. You should see him if you're hurt. |
| Healing | Razlo does s good job of fixing people up, and his junja juice is well worth it! |
| Killian | Killian's mayor of Junktown. He also runs a store there. He's a decent fellow. Never did any work for him, but he seems okay. |
| Gizmo | Gizmo runs a casino in Junktown. I hear that it's rigged, though. |
| Casino | The casino is Gizmo's big project in Junktown. Brings in a lot of tourists and money, but problems come with it. |
| Store | Killian runs a good general store in Junktown. |
| Children | Yeah, there's some kids in Shady Sands. So? None of 'em are mine. |
| Apocalypse | You know, we'll always have war. Just the next one's gonna be fought with sticks. |
| Mutants | I saw some weird things when I was guarding caravans for the Hub. Mutated coyotes and mantises and scorpions and such. |
| Khans | They're a sorry group of raiders who attack [[Shady Sands[[ and think that they're gonna take over the world or some such crap. |
| Tandi | She's Aradesh's daughter. She's pretty sweet, but I've got someone waiting for me back home. |
| Booze | Got any beer? |
| Chems | I used some Psycho once on a caravan raid. It made me twitchy. Odd. |
| Seth | Seth is the captain of the guards. Between you and me, he couldn't guard a fruit if it was nailed to his leg. |
| Aradesh | Aradesh is the leader of Shady Sands. A kind and patient man, although he's kinda looney. |
| Razlo | Hey, if you need help, Razlo's the man to see. He's a great doctor. |
| Psychics | I dunno. I think there's something to it, yeah, but there's just not enough evidence. |
| Merchants | Some merchants come from the Hub to trade with Junktown. That's all I know. |
Inventory[]
 |
 |
Leather jacket |
|---|---|---|
 |
10mm pistol | |
 |
72x 10mm JHP 63 Bottle caps 2 Stimpaks | |
 |
empty |
Notes[]
- Ian is an excellent companion throughout the game, though his low armor rating makes his survival problematic when going against heavy weapons and rayguns. He is a good shot with the 10mm submachine gun early on. He becomes excellent with the .223 pistol or the Power Fist.
- He can use weapons that use unarmed, knife, pistol, and submachine gun animations.
- Automatic weapons are a mixed blessing, as he can hit the player with them. In fact, the tendency for players to give him the 10mm submachine gun early on made him a character infamous for his tendency to blast the player character apart.
Behind the scenes[]
- Ian was a test case character designed to see if the engine could handle non-player-controlled followers who would move from map to map with the Vault Dweller's character. Though the initial implementation required some troubleshooting, it functioned well enough for the team to decide to implement more followers.[6]
- The character of Ian is roughly based upon Ian Dunteman, roommate of designer Jess Heinig. However, the developer found it hard to portray the real-life Ian's characteristics in just a few short lines of dialogue.[6]
- Ian's response to "Apocalypse" is based on Albert Einstein: "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
- In the Cafe of Broken Dreams, Tandi mentions that Ian may be a part of the Abbey.
- In Fallout 2, Ian was meant to appear as an old man living in Vault City, who mistakes the Chosen One for the Vault Dweller and reminisces on the past before giving the player a gun to keep them safe in a city of bigots.
Appearances[]
Ian appears in Fallout and Fallout 2.
References
- ↑ Ian: "{1106}{}{Most caravans come from the Hub. They travel all over the place. I worked for a group called the Crimson Caravan before my untimely injury.}"
(IAN.MSG) - ↑ Katrina: "{136}{}{I know very little of the outside world. I escaped from a Vault when it was attacked. Unfortunately, I was very hurt and do not remember much of what happened. But Dharma was watching over me, and I was found by the people of Shady Sands. I live here now. Have you spoken with Ian, yet? He is a merchant guard who was hurt. He is recovering in the guardhouse over there. [She points to the east] He is more widely travelled than I.}"
(SSGUIDE.MSG) - ↑ Ian: "{112}{}{I was a guard for the merchants of the Hub. However, I was shot during a raid by bandits. I've been staying here, since the people have helped me recover. Still, my knowledge of the outside world and my experience make me useful here. Shady Sands is my home now. Occasionally, I even get to visit Junktown or the Hub to do some trading, since I'm the only person here who has ever really left town.}"
(IAN.MSG) - ↑ Vault Dweller's memoirs: "With their knowledge, and the help of a man called Ian, I continued on my way to Vault 15. The ruins of Vault 15, to be more specific. Ravaged by the elements, scavengers, and time itself, Vault 15 was no help for my people. The control room that contained their water-chip was buried under tons of fallen rock, and I had to move on."
- ↑ Vault Dweller's memoirs: "The Hub was a larger city than both Junktown and Shady Sands combined. You could drop the Vault in there, and you probably would not notice. But the people of the Hub had no life, and it was a desolate place just the same. It eased my mind, however, to hire some merchants to bring water to the Vault. Looking back, it was probably a mistake to do so, but I was still innocent of the evils that lurked through the ruins of civilization. A small clue led me to the city of the ghouls, the place they called Necropolis. It was there that I encountered large mutants, armed with weapons of an unknown origin. It is with heavy sadness that I say that Ian lost his life in the city of the dead. A super mutant burned him to death with a flamethrower. The passage of time is no proof against the memory of burning flesh. His sacrifice was not in vain, as I did find the water-chip buried beneath the city. It was with easier steps that I returned to Vault 13."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jesse Heinig, a Fallout designer
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||