SD) Lily Bowen (Fallout: New Vegas)

Art by ItsumiCarlo

"Oh my stars, did I do all this?"

Originally code-named Van Buren, the game that would become Fallout: New Vegas was originally intended to be the third mainline entry in the series. Facing financial issues, Black Isle Studios was forced to cancel the title in December of 2003. In 2007, Bethesda purchased the Fallout intellectual property, releasing their version of Fallout 3 the following year. With Bethesda already hard at work on Skyrim, the company still wanted to support Fallout 3 with expansions that they would contract out. Todd Howard lobbied for a full game instead of just an expansion, and suggested Obsidian for the project.

Fallout: New Vegas has, for all intents and purposes, come to define the modern Fallout experience. So much so, that it's hard to talk about Fallout 4 or even the live action series on Amazon without the topic of New Vegas being brought up. A huge part of that legacy comes from the writing. With a focus on greed and excess, themes that resonate strongly with contemporary audiences, the city of Las Vegas serves as a fitting backdrop for a story of post atomic war survival. The Wasteland is divided into those that have, and those that can take. All others are left to wither and die.

Among the cast of big personalities that we encounter during our time in the Mojave, none are as needlessly tragic as Lily Bowen. Born one year after the bombs fell, Lily lived her entire life in the comfort of Vault 17 where she married and eventually had two grandchildren. While little is known about life in her particular vault and whether or not it was home to one of Vault-Tec's numerous social experiments, we do know that it was raided by the Master and his band of Super Mutants who took the 75 year old grandmother, dragging her out into the sun for the first time in her life. She was taken the Mariposa Military Base where she was dipped into a vat of Forced Evolutionary Virus. She would emerge as a nightkin, a type of Super Mutant adept at stealth.

Eventually finding her way to Jacobstown, she found purpose in shepherding bighorners. Dealing with Stealth Boy addiction, which caused her to hear a very aggressive voice named "Leo", she began receiving help from Doctor Henry for her schizophrenia. The anti-psychotic drugs prescribed to her helped to drown out Leo's voice, but also resulted in long-term memory loss, specifically effecting her precious memories of her grandchildren. Thus, she began secretly taking half the dosage she was supposed to, in addition to listening to a holotape made of her last visit with her grandchildren.

When this comes to light, the player has a few choices as to how to advise Lily going forward. We can either encourage her to take the full dose of her medication, continue with the half dosage, or stop taking her medication entirely. Each option has varying in game benefits, but also vary the eventual fate of our big blue grandmother. If we encourage her to take the full dose, she eventually loses all memories of her loved ones. Telling her to stop taking the meds entirely sees her eventually becoming little more than a savage beast, any shred of humanity gone. If she continues the half dosage, her mind remains muddled, and she wanders off in search of any remnant of her past.

None of the potential outcomes are good, a harsh truth that can hit a bit close to home for many. What makes it worse is the fact that every other potential companion in the game is morally gray at best, while Lily, as we get to see her, is literally just a sweet granny inside a hulking Super Mutant body. She's kind, caring, and compassionate, though those qualities go out the window when Leo takes over. It seems unfair and cruel to take away the precious good memories that she has, but it's also cruel to condemn her to slowly losing her mind, or living life clouded and confused.

Being a Nightkin gives Lily a massive boost to her longevity, strength, agility, speed, and endurance, as well as a limited healing factor. She's a master of stealth, even more so when using a Stealth Boy, and while she can use ranged weapons, she prefers to use two handed melee when given the chance. When Leo takes over, she loses all sensibilities, going into a rage and further boosting her physical attributes even further for a short time.

In Shattered Destinies, Lily would quickly take to the role of the doting grandmother of the group. Though some of the others might be hesitant about her at first, her usefulness in combat is undeniable. As in her original game, Lily would likely hide her condition from the group, likely only confiding when someone overheard her listening to the holotape of her grandchildren. Once the nature of her affliction is known, it would cause a debate and potential rift in the party. The more pragmatic in the group would either urge her to stop taking her medication to be more effective in combat or would lobby to kill her where she stood, seeing her as a future problem that could be solved in the now. The more empathetic characters would strive to help her, with the healers in the group willing to defend her life and determined to try and find a cure.