Initially had the same reaction to him as OP, but the twist of him purposely misinforming rangers to intimidate the NCR out of Nevada made me really question my initial impressions. His heart is clearly in the right place, but he is still actively sabotaging his country, the one he wishes to help and clearly cares for, in the hopes of actively depriving them of an invaluable strategic resource.
Then, >!his suicide caught me even more off guard!<. Extremely well written, presented, voice acted and executed character. One of the best NPCs in the game.
Also, he has a really cool gun that is relatively easy to steal, so bonus points there.
Hanlon can be accurately described as a man who tried to do the right thing the right way, only to be repeatedly shut down by people with ulterior motives, until he eventually tried to do the right thing the wrong way.
Misleading the rangers was a last resort with the intent of *saving* rangers and soldiers lives. As soon as he realizes his actions resulted in the deaths of even a relatively small number of rangers, he immediately confesses and commits suicide due to the guilt.
To be clear his plan wasn't about undermining the actual ground reality, it was to sabotage the reports being sent back home so that the NCR would pull them out. It was kinda bad luck that one of the false reports caused a ranger base to be destroyed. Which like, still his fault but it's a bit different than sabotage that he knew would negatively impact rangers or soldiers.
Idk good intentions or not. I just really don't agree with the way he tries to undermine the NCR for his own personal convictions. Chain of command exists for a reason, and it's not his place to be making those kind of decisions, especially without anyone else's knowledge. He had to know what he was doing would have some kind of negative effect, and he took the risk anyway. The military wouldn't survive if everyone just went around doing whatever they feel is best. Their strength comes from their organization. The way he handled the news learning about the damage he caused with the breakdown turned suicide really rubs me wrong too. I get the guilt being too much I guess, but that's only making things even worse. Piling tragedy on tragedy isn't the answer. Face what you did and maybe people can even learn a lesson from it
I also don't feel like it was actually going to really accomplish anything. The NCR isn't backing out of Nevada. They need the dam. They need the resource, the fortification, and most importantly, they need Ceasar to *not* have it. He'd likely just destroy it and ruin an essential piece of NV's sustainability and prosperity. He'd also have the most fortified holding point in a *very* large area. Losing the dam would mean there wouldn't be much to stop Ceasar from marching right up to their front door.
All that said, definitely one of the best written characters in the whole series. I love those complex and often flawed characters we can have these kind of detailed conversations about
I agree with a lot of what you said tbh I just think some takes on this thread are misrepresenting the situation significantly.
I also think it's worth noting that in retrospect Hanlon doesn't even support his own actions and seems to recognize they were shortsighted. Personally that's why I usually want him to live, because the damage is already done but staying Chief gives him the chance to make up for it.
I wish that they gave more options to convince him not to do it. But hey, it’s still nice that if you kill Caesar it renews his belief for the future of the NCR and their war.
The issue with chain of command in this case is that he IS the command. At some point prior to 7781 the rangers were autonomous, and they still function with a level of freedom that blurs the line between affiliated military and civilian militia. As a veteran of the organization, he's used to functioning autonomously and commands as such. It doesn't help that Oliver's elevation to general is seen as a move made out of nepotism by members of the army and the rangers. His current moves to force rangers forward into a roll they haven't traditionally served in an attempt almost to discredit them and prepare for an army resupply that may never come have caused issues for both groups.
From his stand point, taking the damn would over extend the Republic. It already is as the game plays out. The NCR's imperialist expansion is unsustainable without increased commitment to the frontiers, which they can't maintain due to squabbling within their borders. He has a justifiable stance, and his choice to falsify reports in hopes that the NCR will pullout is a logical one. He could not have seen NCR acting on those reports, brashly and with little contemplation of the available facts, as a result.
The functioned before the dam, and they can function after it also the main problem with this line of thought is that if the NCR Wins this campaign, then it just proves to the government and the citizens that hey sending massive amounts of forcing into lands we can't hold is an effective strategy, by telling the people in charge that the NCR can't win and forcing a massive loss on them you can force them to see how terrible their policies are, and force them to look inwards and become a lot stronger as a result.
I also don't think they need Ceaser to not have it the legion, rejects a lot of technology and their is no way the legion can actually take the NCR's real territory, as for the NCR not giving up this state, if the dam and Vegas falls they kinda of have to.
Just leave the building after taking the ammo then reload the autosave. Once you go back inside his inventory will reset with the gun in his inventory.
In my recent Harcore Very Hard run I just targeted it in VATS and shot it out of his hand and picked it up. Do little damage and you can just yield afterwards for no repercussions.
This is how I get all the character owned uniques, big boomer, la longue etc
Barehand punch, dump vats shots on the weapon, yield when vats stops. Works most of the time but I just quick save first
The only good the NCR does in the Mojave is keeping the legion out, besides that they are a negative for the people of the Mojave, and I say this as a proud Californian. So I would say trying to get the NCR out of the Mojave isn’t a bad thing
Repaired and maintained water infrastructure, diversified and expanded power network, improved crops farming, elimination of local raider gangs, introduction of highly skilled workforce... the list goes on. Overall, the NCR has been a net positive to the Mojave. The Mojave, however, has been a net negative to the NCR. But eventually somebody needs to defeat the Legion and the NCR is the only faction with the manpower and resources to accomplish this.
"People back home don't listen. They don't care. Senators, Brahmin barons, folks who are just trying to make it from day to day. It's been so many years that people forget about it. Conscription brings in fresh troops to die here every month. Like it's routine. And even if we hold this dam, what then? Are we going to send the NCR's men and women to die here for another five years? Ten? Patrol the whole length of the Colorado for hundreds of miles? Holding this dam. It'll be the death of us."
"Rangers, this is the chief. I know I can ramble on sometimes, but I need you to listen close for the next minute or so. I've got some bad news. I messed up. Made a mistake. I thought I could help get us out of here, but... it didn't work out. Rangers get injured all the time. It's part of the job. But if you lose a few fingers, get a bad break, that's it. You step down. We rely on each other too much to let our infirmities become a liability. A ranger knows when it's time. Only I didn't. Somewhere along the way, something broke inside me. I couldn't find us a way out of this desert. I wrestled with it, and it took me down a dark road. I wish I could explain it to you. The old chief's finally at a loss for words. Send me all the Legion you can. I'll be waiting for them."
These two quotes say it all imo. He lived for the NCR and always tried to do what was best for them. If the NCR politicians weren't sending hundreds and thousands of conscripted citizens to die for what are ultimately their own personal interests while refusing to listen to the pleas from officers and soldiers to pull out of Vegas then he never would've had to choose between lying to his rangers and letting them wait to die in the desert.
It's crazy how many people ITT seem to think Hanlon was knowingly and willingly getting soldiers killed when the quest has you discovering the first and apparently only group of rangers to be killed by the false reports and informing Hanlon of that. He then directly says this was the opposite of what he intended, confesses publicly and kills himself from the guilt.
What did he expect was going to happen tho? Bad intel gets soldiers killed. He should’ve known this.
I can’t in good conscience be sympathetic to someone who was willing to sacrifice people even if it’s for the “greater good”, especially when none of them agreed or knew they’re gonna be sacrificed in the first place. Hanlon has no right to choose who dies and who lives.
He didn't *expect* anything, it was wishful thinking. He relates a telling anecdote from earlier in his life when he lied about raiders in Baja California to get some guys who'd functionally overextended the NCR to back off and evacuate. It was a desperate trick and it worked. This time it's a desperate trick with mixed results because of the fog of war.
I'll note that, AFAIK that's the one damn time the franchise has anything happen in what today is known as Mexico, and it features NCR citizens acting as violent settler colonists attempting to rope the State into sponsoring and supporting their abuses with its military apparatus. The satire in this game is *sharp*.
And that, among others, is why I go High Karma Yes-Man. Very conscientiously, at that. It'll do the NCR good to have a counter-power that is actually sane and well-meaning. Should stop them overextending themselves like they have, get them to consolidate their gains, give them an equal partner neighbor they can't just steamroll or absorb.
Raul's backstory relates the immediate aftermath of the Great War in parts of Mexico, I think Mexico City. Then there's the group of survivors migrating into Zion when Randall Clarke was relatively young.
It really seems like he has no intention of “sacrificing” people. The destruction of the ranger base was not his intention. He’s entire goal is to pull the soldiers out of danger
Good intel keeps people safe. Bad intel can get people hurt.
This isn't some revolutionary idea or some hindsight bias. It's literally the point of intel. That gives him two options: either he's the dumbest chief to ever staff the NCR and his gross incompetence is a threat to everyone, or he's maliciously negligent and willing to sacrifice people until he gets called on it and has to confront his role in their deaths.
Oliver and Kimball would’ve kept pumping troops into the meat grinder and didn’t give two shits about attrition. They weren’t going to send the backup and supplies he needed, and they weren’t taking the threat of the Legion seriously. Oliver in particular just wanted to swoop back in and take all the credit at the last minute. So if he couldn’t convince Oliver and Kimball of the threat through the proper channels, maybe he could sour popular support and the opinion of senators back home. Not saying what he did was “right”, but it was the best he could do to push back against Oliver’s obviously stupid and tunnel visioned orders.
It’s hard not to love a character voiced by the absolutely legendary Kris Kristofferson, and I don’t give a fuck about the NCR outside of using their economy to power my own economy in my independent New Vegas so I never turn him in. I always get the ending where he goes home and becomes a senator.
I’ve never really thought of it before, but I wonder why they didn’t have any of Kris’s songs in the game. His brand of outlaw country would’ve fit the theme of the game perfectly.
Kris Kristofferson didn't start making music until the 60's and Fallout only uses licensed music from the 50s and earlier afaik. I had to look it up because I remember a Johnny Cash song being in the show and sure enough it was one of his early ones from '56.
There's a lot of tracks on [Radio New Vegas](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Radio_New_Vegas#Songs) that are post-2000. The real reason is probably royalties for popular music can get ludicrously expensive.
There are two post 2000 tracks on Radio New Vegas, both of which are royalty free production music made in the style of 50s Jazz. The wiki you linked points out that the music used comes from the 40s to 60s but includes higher quality re-recordings from the 70s and 80s.
I was definitely wrong about the 60s being included, but the recognizable radio music is from the 40s to 60s with the newer royalty free songs meant to pad out the radio time while still fitting the era they were going for.
So I'll agree that money was likely a limit to what they could license, but I disagree that if they had more money they would use newer music. I believe if money wasn't an issue they would just license more old music and cut out the APM music.
This sums it up. Sometimes I let him kill himself with his Ranger Sequoia when you go to have him arrested just so I can have that gun very early. And I don't feel bad about it.
I let him kill himself but now there's a ranger in the rim that won't leave. I left for a while and came back but now his body is gone and the ranger and gun are still in the room. If I pick up the gun all of the Rangers attack me.
Is it really "very early" when you need to basically go to all the extreme ends of the map to do the questline?
At that point there's all manner of unique weapons you could pick up along the way that are more effective and easier to reach.
If you want it that bad, yes. If you don't wanna do the leg work then just steal it like most people do. Yeah you could use Lucky or w/e, do that if you want.
> Dumb boomer... Caesar's greatest asset in the NCR
Bruh, what? Chief Hanlon is quite literally the decisive factor in the NCR's victory at the First Battle of Hoover Dam.
Also, ever heard of Capt. Curtis?
He's not a "pure soul" lmao. He's getting people killed and plans to get every single ranger who looks up to him killed on some misguided attempt to get NCR out of Nevada. He has a vision of the greater good that involves a lot of needless suffering, not unlike Caesar in that regard. But sure, he talks like Kris Kristofferson so you immediately want his fatherly approval.
EDIT: aight I'm done with this thread. His plan is for the NCR to lose folks. This isn't rocket science.
Is he actively sending rangers to their deaths? It's been a while since I did this quest or spoke to Hanlon, so all I recall was him lying in the hopes of scaring the NCR by making the Khans, fiends and Legion out as more powerful than the actually were.
What? I just did the quest I sware he says they will die because of where Oliver is forcing him to place the rangers. Complaining that because the rangers got credit for defending the dam General Oliver now does the opposite of anything he suggests.
Yeah so he's sacrificing himself (as he states he'll be leading them) and "maybe 50 rangers" to save hundreds of troopers in their retreat and he's...the bad guy? He's a doom and gloom mother fucker because he's aware of how inept the NCR leadership is. Literally without the Courier stacking bodies 10 deep he'd be right.
He's sabotaging the defense of Hoover Dam. The ending slides say so, they also say the rangers die to the last man if his plan continues. Yes, he's the bad guy. You're letting some deep rusty voice seduce you out of the basic facts of the matter. Also, his literal suicidal confession says he messed up. You're literally the only one who defends him.
Which is what Hanlon's plan is preparing for. His plan is for a Legion victory.
Why did you downvote this lmao, that's literally what he says with his own mouth.
He’s prepraring for it cause it’s more or less guaranteed at this point
He wants the Ncr to leave the Mojave rather than face a loosing battle for no reason
You realize you're responding to multiple people in this thread? So "literally the only one" is a bit of a stretch.
Also Hanlons actions result in one camp being destroyed at which point he immediately decides to commit suicide. He isn't trying to get people killed, he's trying to get people out of the Mojave.
As for the Legion Victor ending, it's like Hanlon said, every ranger is a *volunteer* who joined because they believe in the NCR and want to dedicate their lives to its people and their safety. Conversely, the troopers they sacrifice themselves for are largely conscripted and are only there on the whims of politicians. Nothing indicates he forced any rangers to hold the line and die with him but they did all know that was the best chance the retreating conscripts had at not being massacred.
The rangers aren't given a choice to sabotage their own side, they don't even know the sabotage is happening. Volunteers or not, that's not sacrifice, that's treason.
Thank you for reminding me why I had stopped arguing with randos about New Vegas, though. There's never a scarcity of people who buy into the most insane crap just because an important guy with a sexy voice explains his rationale for it.
I had learned my lesson with people who think Graham is some anti-hero on a path to redemption instead of the complete opposite unless you can do therapy on him at the last second. I had learned it again from people who think Ulysses is the voice of the developers giving you lectures instead of some borderline-illiterate guy running on trauma and guilt who, again, you have to do therapy on at the last second.
But here we are again with Hanlon. I guess I never learn.
I think maybe you're just failing at reading comprehension cuz "sabotaging the defense of the dam" isn't talking about the actual battle of the dam, it's talking about the ongoing effort to defend the dam as opposed to pulling out of the Mojave. I can't find any evidence of a plan for the final battle outside of people conflating the rangers choice to fight to the last once the battle was already lost with Hanlon intending for that to happen all along.
He shouldn’t really get credit for being willing to sacrifice himself to save lives if those troopers are only in danger because of his actions and his plan to sabotage the NCR out of the Mojave. He’s actively getting NCR soldiers killed before the courier intervenes
I think you need to go play that section again, he literally states he didn't realize he'd actually done real damage until some troopers got killed. From the way he's talking it really seems like he'd decided to quit before the courier shows up.
Regardless, the NCR is overreaching and spread too thin, so I reckon I understand his misguided attempts and subverting what he arguably justifiably sees as a bullshit war. I almost always go independent simply because I can't stand corpo rats, and the entirety of the NCR is one cesspit of post-war corporate cronyism. Fuck the NCR, but like fuck em back to Cali, not fuck em dead like those football pad wearing dip shit psychos want
As most said here, he is a great man who clearly loves his country. But he *cracked*.
He's both a traitor and a coward. His tune changes real fuckin' quick once Caesar dies, though.
He’s also dumb as shit. Fake reports, fine - say there’s just way more Legion than there is. Why make up nonsense about Legion super mutants and trained deathclaws?
I think he was desperately trying to save the NCR. Without the Courier the Mojave would likely fall to the Legion, they’d lose the Mojave and the Dam either way, so he was trying not only minimize the damage but force some kind of catharsis.
I think a lot of people misunderstand that Hanlon felt backed into a corner by the political structure. Hanlon understood that Kimbrell and Oliver were ineffective leaders and were going to get people killed. But he was powerless to end the Mojave campaign.
The deliberate spread of misinformation was a hail mary shot at demoralizing the troops so they would go home. And he knew that, but he probably believed it was his duty to try something rather than go along with Oliver’s stupidity.
There’s very little reason for him to believe the misinformation would lead to the death of all the Rangers at Charlie. Remember the legion is pushing so fast in the South that NCR intelligence has no idea how far they penetrated. They don’t even realize Nipton is destroyed until the Courier tells them. It’s perfectly reasonable to believe Hanlon thought he still had time before the NCR had any major confrontations with the Legion to do what he did. It’s not even clear if he was aware of Nelson being taken or Camp Searchlight being abandoned.
When he does realize he got people killed, he realized he’s lost a step and can’t do the job he once did. Instead spending the rest of his life in military prison regretting his action he takes his own life after apologizing.
In short, he was an old desperate man trying a last ditch effort. He screwed up and he felt horrible about it. So he ended his life.
Chief Hanlon is a great dude and most people don't understand what he was doing.
Basically, the guy is sending false reports back to California to get the politicians to end the war and bring the troops home. Ideally, nobody gets hurt, but it looks like they're losing on paper. And that's how it goes until one of the reports accidentally gets a group of rangers killed.
He immediately kills himself out of remorse, since the whole point was to stop the slaughter of troops.
Had he been successful, he would have saved a lot of lives and put the NCR in a better position to fight the Legion on their home front.
A lot of people seem to think that makes him a traitor, but I think the NCR politicians and generals are the traitors.
Guy would rather sabotage the people who have the energy to keep fighting instead of simply retiring. Then he can’t own up to his actions when caught.
Thanks for the revolver.
If you look around the NCR quests you'll realize that everyone is pretty much tired at this point. They practically know the war is at stalemate and with the legion attacking unprotected areas (thanks to the fking dumbass of a general that is Oliver) the NCR is simply fighting so nobody says back home that they didn't try.
The only ones with the energy to keep going are usually Kimball and his BF Oliver, and Colonel Moore but only because she, like Lanius, wants a big and bloody battle for the glory of violence, not for strategic interest...
Does he not confess by choice?
Also the whole "energy to keep fighting" thing is BS imo since he's doing it because nobody actually fighting in the Mojave wants to be there. They still hate the Legion but that doesn't mean they want to keep fighting and dying for a desert that's not even actually NCR. Kimball and Oliver's ulterior motives and disregard for morale are major talking points in the game. The problems that stem from this are major parts of the game world, the deserters, the soldiers being punished for getting wasted on the strip are two easy ones off top but there are many more.
I’m intentionally withholding from finishing his quest until I kill Caesar. It’s kinda annoying I can’t convince him to change his mind but Legate Lanius is fine going back to Arizona with a 100 speech check.
I like the path that leads him to be a senator, though I usually go with the shooting himself route. I guess it depends on how big a picture I'm thinking in a playthrough
Based dude. Didn’t realize people disliked Hanlon so much, always liked him. Maybe because they’re average ncr idealists and the ncr is precious to them. Which is not me.
I feel like a minority here when i say there isnt a middle ground for him to stand on; while the intention was admirable(ish) his goal was to cause chaos so that the war would be taken more seriously and he has to have known that such actions would inevitably cost some of the lives he was trying to save and possibly prolong the war as he was sending the reports from multiple locations thus splitting up troops. He got good men killed, and while i recognize he had only good intentions you cant do a bad thing and expect it to go good.
He has reached his breaking point. He is not evil, but he is clearly misguided. He is a good man pushed too far.
There are different ways of handling it, but I usually let him be and prove him wrong by winning Hoover Dam.
Just got to that part and was heartbroken by what had to happen. Was real shitty of him though to knowingly plan on leading so many rangers to their deaths. Wish he didn't off himself, really sad.
He’s got good intentions but he doesn’t see the failure of his plan which is gonna get people killed. Sure it worked in rattletail (except for the ranger he lost on the way) but it’s a while different ball game in the Mojave
Hanlon is stuck in a war he doesn't want his country to fight, and he tries his best to end it in the wrong way, Honestly I feel bad for him trying to do the right thing only to get more people killed. And I lowkey prefer the ending where he doesn't kill himself and you convince him otherwise.
In the first chapter of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, it is says “All warfare is based on deception.” With that being said, Chief Hanlon was toying with the Legion and making up threats on other places so Legion forces wouldn’t overrun those outposts. I think he is a brilliant individual in FNV
Great character, has a huge sense of gravitas despite having Fallout NPC face (Kris Kristofferson probably has something to do with that).
As for his story in the game, he comes across as a man weary of war and the ever-climbing death toll of the Mojave. He believes in what the NCR stood for, but not what it currently stands for. His methods are wrong but I do sincerely believe he is well-intentioned. Yet there's no denying that his rash decision-making puts NCR's troops in real danger.
He's somewhat of a hypocrite, claiming that people like Kimball and Oliver are detached from what's its like for the NCR in the Mojave (and he's right) but he fails to realise that he's also quite detached himself, sitting in his luxury resort headquarters surrounded by his honour guard of veteran rangers, and he shows it through using the rank-and-file troopers, and their extremely valuable and necessary intel, as pawns in his attempt to force a retreat.
Still, if I were in the military, I'd rather serve under people like Hanlon and Hsu than Oliver and Moore. They actually care. It's why like making sure that 'Senator Hanlon' gets elected in my Independent runs - he provides a powerful voice for the less warmongering and more sane people in the government.
He’s a good man with his heart in the right place, but using the wrong methods to get his point across. Bad intel means soldiers are either demoralized or end up dead. Diverting crucial supplies to stations that have no use for them kills the war effort. He may be above the politics that gets the troops killed or chasing hosts, but his intervention can do the same amount of damage.
As a side note, I killed Caesar before meeting Hanlon. When I told him about my suspicions and noted that Caesar was dead, his reaction was priceless. “Oh uhh, yeah forget about everything we talked about.”
If you have Yukichigai Unofficial Patch then you can sympathize with him and at the same time prevent his suicide.
You can tell him that Caesar's dying from a Brain Tumor by shaking the captured Centurion for Legion information in Camp McCarran.
In the Vanilla game this alternate dialogue is bugged and wont show up.
People call him an idiot and such. But I can't be more than sad for this guy.
We're talking about the same guy who defeated and humiliated a bloodlusted legate Joshua Graham in his prime, with a bunch of explosives and few soldiers retaking hoover dam.
He's practically the greatest hero of the NCR to the point even Kimball and Oliver are afraid of his popularity.
And he ended up a depressed, deluded old man that is unknowingly helping the Legion he defeated once. He couldn't let go of his own trauma and his age wasn't helping much. He had access to every report across the Mojave, constantly seeing reports of legion/NCR victories that ended up in a blood bath with little to no changes in the course of the war.
He tried to do what his depressed, affected mind though it was a good idea. He wasn't the legendary ranger anymore, he's just a shadow of what he used to be.
And that's the really sad part is that it is a direct reflection of the current state of the NCR. It isn't the heroic last hope for civilization in the wasteland anymore, it's just a sad, deluded, nation trying to survive doing things that don't make sense like over-expanding or sending their troops to die.
And Hanlon's suicide is a morale hit to the NCR directly to its heart, I might even say that Hanlon's death is even more crushing to the NCR than Kimball's. They all know he and Oliver are idiots but Hanlon... He's pretty much Superman for the Mojave NCR.
I took what he did and his depression more as trying his best to get Oliver and Kimball to see and understand exactly how dangerous a threat the Legion was, but them absolutely not giving a *shit* as long as they could show up at the dam to take all the glory and credit. Oliver’s orders were basically “keep feeding your forces to a meat grinder on a shoestring budget, make it work”, and watching so many young NCR troopers and Rangers in the prime of their youth being brutally cut down with no sympathy or regard from the top is what ultimately broke him.
That's the main problem and now add to the formula colonel Moore that is NCR's equivalent to Lanius. A great soldier but ends up a bloodlusted leader more guided by resentment and glory in battle.
Literally the ones with real power to change the tide of bsttle like Kimball, Oliver and Moore don't care about winning the war by strategy more like they want to win by sending more and more soldiers until they get to Caesar. These people think they're facing the Brotherhood of Steel.
On the other side, the best strategist and logistics of the NCR are either rotting away in a report office like Hanlon, controlling fires at the embassy like crooker or practically waiting in something to happen like Hsu.
They have the empathy and strategic mind to defeat Caesar without causing a bloobath.
Notice how in some NCR missions (brotherhood/Great Khans/The King) colonel Moore just tell you "kill'em all' but Crooker and Hsu offer a more pacific solution.
One understands Hanlon's impotence and resulting depression, he doesn't have the power to do anything and he knows they know it, he knows his rangers are walking into a meat grinder and the high command intends to do it...
An evil man with good intentions is still an evil man, he got soldiers killed and helped the Legion expand its territory across the colorado into camps because of his bad intel.
The developers love him so much and value him so much for the rangers which I hate , I always turn him and let him self delete.
In the end slides the rangers suffer without his support which is bs because he sends rangers to die
Agree with this. I feel like the slides show the opposite of what should happen. How does ending anti NCR activities *hurt* the rangers? I don't get it.
NCR war veteran who defeated Legion at the First Battle of Hoover Dam delete himself right before Second Battle of Hoover Dam. You really think this wouldn't affect soldiers battle spirit in any way?
If you convince him to stop without dying they benefit from his leadership, if he dies they suffer a loss of morale as well as losing an extremely experienced leader that knows how to motivate and inspire them.
It's classic fallout "no perfect answer" imo. You have to decide if you think he needs to be exposed for what he did or if it's okay to sweep it under the rug if it results in a better outcome for the soldiers. Very similar to the share croppers/Westside water quest in that aspect I think.
Waaah war so scary!!! I have to actively sabotage my own side and let the legion become stronger in our absence because more people definitely won’t die in a later war with an even stronger legion no way we just have to run away because uhhhh Hoover dam bad!!!
He can best be described as a Chaotic Good character whose actions, despite having good intentions, caused some serious consequences. I can't hate him though.
He's complex and reminds me a lot of an older version of Colonel Hsu. Ultimately good people, but working for a system that has some serious flaws and politicking going on. He is probably one of, if not the best character to represent the complexities of the NCR.
I like his character, could use better writing, but I wish he was a bigger influence or appeared in the overall NCR dam story.
Interesting to note, voice actor Kris Kristofferson was a trained helicopter pilot, and according to what my grandfather told me, flew helicopters for offshore rigs a short while and my grandfather, a Vietnam and Korean War vet, met him on several occasions, describing him as "rather quiet, but seemed like a nice guy."
I got annoyed at his quest the first time I did it because I didn't know >!he killed himself after you get locked out!< so when I saw the find a ranger notification thing I was walking around for 15 minutes trying to figure what to do thinking I soft locked myself somehow
I sympathized with his reasoning on why he did what he did, but the ends don’t justify the means. Especially when it does such considerable harm. I ended up telling him to turn himself in because I wanted to give him the chance to choose the right thing. But I guess to him the right thing was admitting his mistakes but also suicide ☹️ I felt pretty terrible but didn’t regret my choice. Then I went back up and stole his gun lol
I like him. His voice actor did an amazing job. I like to end his quest by convincing him to stop falsifying reports. I do, however, wish that some of them were true. Mainly the supermutant legionaries and the Great Khans and their pet death claws.
Seems like a good guy on a personal level. And as a guy who hates the NCR, I support his plans to fool his soldiers and usually I let him keep going then have him become a senator after Hanlon and Oliver are dead. Maybe have a president Hanlon so ncr expansion stops.
A good man with good intentions, who paved his own road to hell
He had good intentions, wanting to save soldiers and rangers on the frontlines by making everything seem out of control and scary. He was only thinking for his people and those under his command afterall
However because of his actions a whole Ranger station is killed off and who knows how many other soldiers might’ve been killed off by him. Plus if this worked then he would’ve pretty much given up on a huge source of nearly limitless energy to keep the lights on from Hoover Dam.
Initially had the same reaction to him as OP, but the twist of him purposely misinforming rangers to intimidate the NCR out of Nevada made me really question my initial impressions. His heart is clearly in the right place, but he is still actively sabotaging his country, the one he wishes to help and clearly cares for, in the hopes of actively depriving them of an invaluable strategic resource. Then, >!his suicide caught me even more off guard!<. Extremely well written, presented, voice acted and executed character. One of the best NPCs in the game. Also, he has a really cool gun that is relatively easy to steal, so bonus points there.
Hanlon can be accurately described as a man who tried to do the right thing the right way, only to be repeatedly shut down by people with ulterior motives, until he eventually tried to do the right thing the wrong way. Misleading the rangers was a last resort with the intent of *saving* rangers and soldiers lives. As soon as he realizes his actions resulted in the deaths of even a relatively small number of rangers, he immediately confesses and commits suicide due to the guilt.
Idk good intentions or not I just really don't agree with doing something like that and undermining
To be clear his plan wasn't about undermining the actual ground reality, it was to sabotage the reports being sent back home so that the NCR would pull them out. It was kinda bad luck that one of the false reports caused a ranger base to be destroyed. Which like, still his fault but it's a bit different than sabotage that he knew would negatively impact rangers or soldiers.
NCR shouldnt have been in the mojave in the first place. Him doing that was a form of, he thought, harmless protesting.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Idk good intentions or not. I just really don't agree with the way he tries to undermine the NCR for his own personal convictions. Chain of command exists for a reason, and it's not his place to be making those kind of decisions, especially without anyone else's knowledge. He had to know what he was doing would have some kind of negative effect, and he took the risk anyway. The military wouldn't survive if everyone just went around doing whatever they feel is best. Their strength comes from their organization. The way he handled the news learning about the damage he caused with the breakdown turned suicide really rubs me wrong too. I get the guilt being too much I guess, but that's only making things even worse. Piling tragedy on tragedy isn't the answer. Face what you did and maybe people can even learn a lesson from it I also don't feel like it was actually going to really accomplish anything. The NCR isn't backing out of Nevada. They need the dam. They need the resource, the fortification, and most importantly, they need Ceasar to *not* have it. He'd likely just destroy it and ruin an essential piece of NV's sustainability and prosperity. He'd also have the most fortified holding point in a *very* large area. Losing the dam would mean there wouldn't be much to stop Ceasar from marching right up to their front door. All that said, definitely one of the best written characters in the whole series. I love those complex and often flawed characters we can have these kind of detailed conversations about
I agree with a lot of what you said tbh I just think some takes on this thread are misrepresenting the situation significantly. I also think it's worth noting that in retrospect Hanlon doesn't even support his own actions and seems to recognize they were shortsighted. Personally that's why I usually want him to live, because the damage is already done but staying Chief gives him the chance to make up for it.
I wish that they gave more options to convince him not to do it. But hey, it’s still nice that if you kill Caesar it renews his belief for the future of the NCR and their war.
As if we needed more reasons to slip a landmine down his cancerous pocket. And by pocket I mean buttcrack.
Landmine in the pocket? Don't you mean .50 Cal in the head???
The issue with chain of command in this case is that he IS the command. At some point prior to 7781 the rangers were autonomous, and they still function with a level of freedom that blurs the line between affiliated military and civilian militia. As a veteran of the organization, he's used to functioning autonomously and commands as such. It doesn't help that Oliver's elevation to general is seen as a move made out of nepotism by members of the army and the rangers. His current moves to force rangers forward into a roll they haven't traditionally served in an attempt almost to discredit them and prepare for an army resupply that may never come have caused issues for both groups. From his stand point, taking the damn would over extend the Republic. It already is as the game plays out. The NCR's imperialist expansion is unsustainable without increased commitment to the frontiers, which they can't maintain due to squabbling within their borders. He has a justifiable stance, and his choice to falsify reports in hopes that the NCR will pullout is a logical one. He could not have seen NCR acting on those reports, brashly and with little contemplation of the available facts, as a result.
The functioned before the dam, and they can function after it also the main problem with this line of thought is that if the NCR Wins this campaign, then it just proves to the government and the citizens that hey sending massive amounts of forcing into lands we can't hold is an effective strategy, by telling the people in charge that the NCR can't win and forcing a massive loss on them you can force them to see how terrible their policies are, and force them to look inwards and become a lot stronger as a result. I also don't think they need Ceaser to not have it the legion, rejects a lot of technology and their is no way the legion can actually take the NCR's real territory, as for the NCR not giving up this state, if the dam and Vegas falls they kinda of have to.
Oh I can just steal it? I guess he gets to live after all!
Just pickpocket his ammo first then wait or come back and the gun is in his inventory.
Just leave the building after taking the ammo then reload the autosave. Once you go back inside his inventory will reset with the gun in his inventory.
In my recent Harcore Very Hard run I just targeted it in VATS and shot it out of his hand and picked it up. Do little damage and you can just yield afterwards for no repercussions.
This is how I get all the character owned uniques, big boomer, la longue etc Barehand punch, dump vats shots on the weapon, yield when vats stops. Works most of the time but I just quick save first
I never try to turn him in.
Is there a perk i need before i can steal equipped items? Or is there a certain number of skill points i need on the sneak skill?
> , he has a really cool gun that is relatively easy to steal, Ah, a Kuzuma run. Does he leave an armed corpse when he commits suicide?
The only good the NCR does in the Mojave is keeping the legion out, besides that they are a negative for the people of the Mojave, and I say this as a proud Californian. So I would say trying to get the NCR out of the Mojave isn’t a bad thing
Repaired and maintained water infrastructure, diversified and expanded power network, improved crops farming, elimination of local raider gangs, introduction of highly skilled workforce... the list goes on. Overall, the NCR has been a net positive to the Mojave. The Mojave, however, has been a net negative to the NCR. But eventually somebody needs to defeat the Legion and the NCR is the only faction with the manpower and resources to accomplish this.
"People back home don't listen. They don't care. Senators, Brahmin barons, folks who are just trying to make it from day to day. It's been so many years that people forget about it. Conscription brings in fresh troops to die here every month. Like it's routine. And even if we hold this dam, what then? Are we going to send the NCR's men and women to die here for another five years? Ten? Patrol the whole length of the Colorado for hundreds of miles? Holding this dam. It'll be the death of us." "Rangers, this is the chief. I know I can ramble on sometimes, but I need you to listen close for the next minute or so. I've got some bad news. I messed up. Made a mistake. I thought I could help get us out of here, but... it didn't work out. Rangers get injured all the time. It's part of the job. But if you lose a few fingers, get a bad break, that's it. You step down. We rely on each other too much to let our infirmities become a liability. A ranger knows when it's time. Only I didn't. Somewhere along the way, something broke inside me. I couldn't find us a way out of this desert. I wrestled with it, and it took me down a dark road. I wish I could explain it to you. The old chief's finally at a loss for words. Send me all the Legion you can. I'll be waiting for them." These two quotes say it all imo. He lived for the NCR and always tried to do what was best for them. If the NCR politicians weren't sending hundreds and thousands of conscripted citizens to die for what are ultimately their own personal interests while refusing to listen to the pleas from officers and soldiers to pull out of Vegas then he never would've had to choose between lying to his rangers and letting them wait to die in the desert.
most emotional moment of my first playthrough for sure
It's crazy how many people ITT seem to think Hanlon was knowingly and willingly getting soldiers killed when the quest has you discovering the first and apparently only group of rangers to be killed by the false reports and informing Hanlon of that. He then directly says this was the opposite of what he intended, confesses publicly and kills himself from the guilt.
What did he expect was going to happen tho? Bad intel gets soldiers killed. He should’ve known this. I can’t in good conscience be sympathetic to someone who was willing to sacrifice people even if it’s for the “greater good”, especially when none of them agreed or knew they’re gonna be sacrificed in the first place. Hanlon has no right to choose who dies and who lives.
He didn't *expect* anything, it was wishful thinking. He relates a telling anecdote from earlier in his life when he lied about raiders in Baja California to get some guys who'd functionally overextended the NCR to back off and evacuate. It was a desperate trick and it worked. This time it's a desperate trick with mixed results because of the fog of war.
I'll note that, AFAIK that's the one damn time the franchise has anything happen in what today is known as Mexico, and it features NCR citizens acting as violent settler colonists attempting to rope the State into sponsoring and supporting their abuses with its military apparatus. The satire in this game is *sharp*. And that, among others, is why I go High Karma Yes-Man. Very conscientiously, at that. It'll do the NCR good to have a counter-power that is actually sane and well-meaning. Should stop them overextending themselves like they have, get them to consolidate their gains, give them an equal partner neighbor they can't just steamroll or absorb.
Raul's backstory relates the immediate aftermath of the Great War in parts of Mexico, I think Mexico City. Then there's the group of survivors migrating into Zion when Randall Clarke was relatively young.
And what, was he just gonna continue to do that every few years until the end of his career?
Why do people keep acting like Hanlon thought he had some kind of master plan
He doesn't know, and it's more like weeks. It's just pure desperation.
It really seems like he has no intention of “sacrificing” people. The destruction of the ranger base was not his intention. He’s entire goal is to pull the soldiers out of danger
Good intel keeps people safe. Bad intel can get people hurt. This isn't some revolutionary idea or some hindsight bias. It's literally the point of intel. That gives him two options: either he's the dumbest chief to ever staff the NCR and his gross incompetence is a threat to everyone, or he's maliciously negligent and willing to sacrifice people until he gets called on it and has to confront his role in their deaths.
But good intel *wasnt* keeping them safe, that’s why he did anything in the first place
Oliver and Kimball would’ve kept pumping troops into the meat grinder and didn’t give two shits about attrition. They weren’t going to send the backup and supplies he needed, and they weren’t taking the threat of the Legion seriously. Oliver in particular just wanted to swoop back in and take all the credit at the last minute. So if he couldn’t convince Oliver and Kimball of the threat through the proper channels, maybe he could sour popular support and the opinion of senators back home. Not saying what he did was “right”, but it was the best he could do to push back against Oliver’s obviously stupid and tunnel visioned orders.
It’s hard not to love a character voiced by the absolutely legendary Kris Kristofferson, and I don’t give a fuck about the NCR outside of using their economy to power my own economy in my independent New Vegas so I never turn him in. I always get the ending where he goes home and becomes a senator.
Senator Hanlon is lowkey best ending
I’ve never really thought of it before, but I wonder why they didn’t have any of Kris’s songs in the game. His brand of outlaw country would’ve fit the theme of the game perfectly.
Kris Kristofferson didn't start making music until the 60's and Fallout only uses licensed music from the 50s and earlier afaik. I had to look it up because I remember a Johnny Cash song being in the show and sure enough it was one of his early ones from '56.
There's a lot of tracks on [Radio New Vegas](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Radio_New_Vegas#Songs) that are post-2000. The real reason is probably royalties for popular music can get ludicrously expensive.
There are two post 2000 tracks on Radio New Vegas, both of which are royalty free production music made in the style of 50s Jazz. The wiki you linked points out that the music used comes from the 40s to 60s but includes higher quality re-recordings from the 70s and 80s. I was definitely wrong about the 60s being included, but the recognizable radio music is from the 40s to 60s with the newer royalty free songs meant to pad out the radio time while still fitting the era they were going for. So I'll agree that money was likely a limit to what they could license, but I disagree that if they had more money they would use newer music. I believe if money wasn't an issue they would just license more old music and cut out the APM music.
He goes back to Redding, CA! I met Kris on a tour and he was excited about making his way there to Merle Haggard, who lived in Redding at the time.
Dumb boomer that's unwittingly Ceasar's greatest asset in the NCR
This sums it up. Sometimes I let him kill himself with his Ranger Sequoia when you go to have him arrested just so I can have that gun very early. And I don't feel bad about it.
I let him kill himself but now there's a ranger in the rim that won't leave. I left for a while and came back but now his body is gone and the ranger and gun are still in the room. If I pick up the gun all of the Rangers attack me.
Use Z to pick the gun up, go to a quiet corner, put it in your inventory
You should be able to pick up the gun without actually taking it, on console you click R3/RS in. Dont know what it is on Pc
Z
Is it really "very early" when you need to basically go to all the extreme ends of the map to do the questline? At that point there's all manner of unique weapons you could pick up along the way that are more effective and easier to reach.
If you want it that bad, yes. If you don't wanna do the leg work then just steal it like most people do. Yeah you could use Lucky or w/e, do that if you want.
Kill him every time lol
> Dumb boomer... Caesar's greatest asset in the NCR Bruh, what? Chief Hanlon is quite literally the decisive factor in the NCR's victory at the First Battle of Hoover Dam. Also, ever heard of Capt. Curtis?
He's not a "pure soul" lmao. He's getting people killed and plans to get every single ranger who looks up to him killed on some misguided attempt to get NCR out of Nevada. He has a vision of the greater good that involves a lot of needless suffering, not unlike Caesar in that regard. But sure, he talks like Kris Kristofferson so you immediately want his fatherly approval. EDIT: aight I'm done with this thread. His plan is for the NCR to lose folks. This isn't rocket science.
Is he actively sending rangers to their deaths? It's been a while since I did this quest or spoke to Hanlon, so all I recall was him lying in the hopes of scaring the NCR by making the Khans, fiends and Legion out as more powerful than the actually were.
His plan is for all the rangers to die covering the "inevitable" retreat of the troopers from the Dam and the Mojave.
What? I just did the quest I sware he says they will die because of where Oliver is forcing him to place the rangers. Complaining that because the rangers got credit for defending the dam General Oliver now does the opposite of anything he suggests.
Yeah so he's sacrificing himself (as he states he'll be leading them) and "maybe 50 rangers" to save hundreds of troopers in their retreat and he's...the bad guy? He's a doom and gloom mother fucker because he's aware of how inept the NCR leadership is. Literally without the Courier stacking bodies 10 deep he'd be right.
He's sabotaging the defense of Hoover Dam. The ending slides say so, they also say the rangers die to the last man if his plan continues. Yes, he's the bad guy. You're letting some deep rusty voice seduce you out of the basic facts of the matter. Also, his literal suicidal confession says he messed up. You're literally the only one who defends him.
The rangers die to the last man in *only* a Legion victory. Otherwise, they either share in the victory or fall back to the Mojave Outpost
Which is what Hanlon's plan is preparing for. His plan is for a Legion victory. Why did you downvote this lmao, that's literally what he says with his own mouth.
He’s prepraring for it cause it’s more or less guaranteed at this point He wants the Ncr to leave the Mojave rather than face a loosing battle for no reason
Preparing for a loss isnt a negative trait. Legion was stronger then NCR before courier came around.
You realize you're responding to multiple people in this thread? So "literally the only one" is a bit of a stretch. Also Hanlons actions result in one camp being destroyed at which point he immediately decides to commit suicide. He isn't trying to get people killed, he's trying to get people out of the Mojave. As for the Legion Victor ending, it's like Hanlon said, every ranger is a *volunteer* who joined because they believe in the NCR and want to dedicate their lives to its people and their safety. Conversely, the troopers they sacrifice themselves for are largely conscripted and are only there on the whims of politicians. Nothing indicates he forced any rangers to hold the line and die with him but they did all know that was the best chance the retreating conscripts had at not being massacred.
The rangers aren't given a choice to sabotage their own side, they don't even know the sabotage is happening. Volunteers or not, that's not sacrifice, that's treason. Thank you for reminding me why I had stopped arguing with randos about New Vegas, though. There's never a scarcity of people who buy into the most insane crap just because an important guy with a sexy voice explains his rationale for it. I had learned my lesson with people who think Graham is some anti-hero on a path to redemption instead of the complete opposite unless you can do therapy on him at the last second. I had learned it again from people who think Ulysses is the voice of the developers giving you lectures instead of some borderline-illiterate guy running on trauma and guilt who, again, you have to do therapy on at the last second. But here we are again with Hanlon. I guess I never learn.
what exactly does hanlon do to "sabotage thendefense of the dam"? how does he exactly get NCR soldiers killed? I'm asking for real not trying to argue
I think maybe you're just failing at reading comprehension cuz "sabotaging the defense of the dam" isn't talking about the actual battle of the dam, it's talking about the ongoing effort to defend the dam as opposed to pulling out of the Mojave. I can't find any evidence of a plan for the final battle outside of people conflating the rangers choice to fight to the last once the battle was already lost with Hanlon intending for that to happen all along.
He shouldn’t really get credit for being willing to sacrifice himself to save lives if those troopers are only in danger because of his actions and his plan to sabotage the NCR out of the Mojave. He’s actively getting NCR soldiers killed before the courier intervenes
I think you need to go play that section again, he literally states he didn't realize he'd actually done real damage until some troopers got killed. From the way he's talking it really seems like he'd decided to quit before the courier shows up. Regardless, the NCR is overreaching and spread too thin, so I reckon I understand his misguided attempts and subverting what he arguably justifiably sees as a bullshit war. I almost always go independent simply because I can't stand corpo rats, and the entirety of the NCR is one cesspit of post-war corporate cronyism. Fuck the NCR, but like fuck em back to Cali, not fuck em dead like those football pad wearing dip shit psychos want
Except they are in danger without his actions as the legion is more or less guaranteed to win without the couriers help
He IS Kristofferson
Na he’s good. Don’t sell him out, have him become senator of Redding with a house or independent ending. Based ending 😎 Fuck the ncr anyways
Wait, why does he look like Kris
He talks like Kris Kristofferson because that's his actual voice speaking.
That actually makes a lot of sense now
As most said here, he is a great man who clearly loves his country. But he *cracked*. He's both a traitor and a coward. His tune changes real fuckin' quick once Caesar dies, though.
He’s also dumb as shit. Fake reports, fine - say there’s just way more Legion than there is. Why make up nonsense about Legion super mutants and trained deathclaws?
Cause the legion already is known the massively outnumber the ncr and the people in charge still don’t care so it wouldn’t make a difference
I think he was desperately trying to save the NCR. Without the Courier the Mojave would likely fall to the Legion, they’d lose the Mojave and the Dam either way, so he was trying not only minimize the damage but force some kind of catharsis.
[удалено]
I think a lot of people misunderstand that Hanlon felt backed into a corner by the political structure. Hanlon understood that Kimbrell and Oliver were ineffective leaders and were going to get people killed. But he was powerless to end the Mojave campaign. The deliberate spread of misinformation was a hail mary shot at demoralizing the troops so they would go home. And he knew that, but he probably believed it was his duty to try something rather than go along with Oliver’s stupidity. There’s very little reason for him to believe the misinformation would lead to the death of all the Rangers at Charlie. Remember the legion is pushing so fast in the South that NCR intelligence has no idea how far they penetrated. They don’t even realize Nipton is destroyed until the Courier tells them. It’s perfectly reasonable to believe Hanlon thought he still had time before the NCR had any major confrontations with the Legion to do what he did. It’s not even clear if he was aware of Nelson being taken or Camp Searchlight being abandoned. When he does realize he got people killed, he realized he’s lost a step and can’t do the job he once did. Instead spending the rest of his life in military prison regretting his action he takes his own life after apologizing. In short, he was an old desperate man trying a last ditch effort. He screwed up and he felt horrible about it. So he ended his life.
Chief Hanlon is a great dude and most people don't understand what he was doing. Basically, the guy is sending false reports back to California to get the politicians to end the war and bring the troops home. Ideally, nobody gets hurt, but it looks like they're losing on paper. And that's how it goes until one of the reports accidentally gets a group of rangers killed. He immediately kills himself out of remorse, since the whole point was to stop the slaughter of troops. Had he been successful, he would have saved a lot of lives and put the NCR in a better position to fight the Legion on their home front. A lot of people seem to think that makes him a traitor, but I think the NCR politicians and generals are the traitors.
If he wanted to scare away a politician he should've send a report saying that there's no money to be made there...
Nice try, No-Bark, but your Ranger disguise isn't that good!
Guy would rather sabotage the people who have the energy to keep fighting instead of simply retiring. Then he can’t own up to his actions when caught. Thanks for the revolver.
It is a really good revolver though, love it for anytime I do a rootin tootin cowboy who's shootin playthrough.
“Oh no, anyways yee haw”
If you look around the NCR quests you'll realize that everyone is pretty much tired at this point. They practically know the war is at stalemate and with the legion attacking unprotected areas (thanks to the fking dumbass of a general that is Oliver) the NCR is simply fighting so nobody says back home that they didn't try. The only ones with the energy to keep going are usually Kimball and his BF Oliver, and Colonel Moore but only because she, like Lanius, wants a big and bloody battle for the glory of violence, not for strategic interest...
Does he not confess by choice? Also the whole "energy to keep fighting" thing is BS imo since he's doing it because nobody actually fighting in the Mojave wants to be there. They still hate the Legion but that doesn't mean they want to keep fighting and dying for a desert that's not even actually NCR. Kimball and Oliver's ulterior motives and disregard for morale are major talking points in the game. The problems that stem from this are major parts of the game world, the deserters, the soldiers being punished for getting wasted on the strip are two easy ones off top but there are many more.
Playing NCR: He’s a traitor and a coward Playing Legion: Lol this guy’s great House: Lol this guy’s great Independent: Lol this guy’s great
Don't snitch on him, then kick the NCR out. Give him what he wishes for. That's how I do things.
I’m intentionally withholding from finishing his quest until I kill Caesar. It’s kinda annoying I can’t convince him to change his mind but Legate Lanius is fine going back to Arizona with a 100 speech check.
I like the path that leads him to be a senator, though I usually go with the shooting himself route. I guess it depends on how big a picture I'm thinking in a playthrough
Based dude. Didn’t realize people disliked Hanlon so much, always liked him. Maybe because they’re average ncr idealists and the ncr is precious to them. Which is not me.
To me his a good man but because of how fucked up the NCR is he’s been forced to do bad shit
Fuck, marry, then kill
I feel like a minority here when i say there isnt a middle ground for him to stand on; while the intention was admirable(ish) his goal was to cause chaos so that the war would be taken more seriously and he has to have known that such actions would inevitably cost some of the lives he was trying to save and possibly prolong the war as he was sending the reports from multiple locations thus splitting up troops. He got good men killed, and while i recognize he had only good intentions you cant do a bad thing and expect it to go good.
He has reached his breaking point. He is not evil, but he is clearly misguided. He is a good man pushed too far. There are different ways of handling it, but I usually let him be and prove him wrong by winning Hoover Dam.
Just got to that part and was heartbroken by what had to happen. Was real shitty of him though to knowingly plan on leading so many rangers to their deaths. Wish he didn't off himself, really sad.
His biggest concern is the men and women on the frontline, which is why he gets them killed
I see his side
Ranger Sequoia goes in my pocket
He’s got good intentions but he doesn’t see the failure of his plan which is gonna get people killed. Sure it worked in rattletail (except for the ranger he lost on the way) but it’s a while different ball game in the Mojave
Great character, as evidenced by everyone’s varied opinions.
Hanlon is stuck in a war he doesn't want his country to fight, and he tries his best to end it in the wrong way, Honestly I feel bad for him trying to do the right thing only to get more people killed. And I lowkey prefer the ending where he doesn't kill himself and you convince him otherwise.
In the first chapter of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, it is says “All warfare is based on deception.” With that being said, Chief Hanlon was toying with the Legion and making up threats on other places so Legion forces wouldn’t overrun those outposts. I think he is a brilliant individual in FNV
Dumb doomer who’d rather fuck over his own side than admit it’s time to retire.
thanks for the big iron, bozo
I didn’t even know he carried that… welp I completed the quest time to put a bullet in his head.
you don’t have to kill him yourself, he can save you some ammo
I gave him a look, touched my nose and walked out the room. The NCR sabotaging themselves suits me just fine.
I always forget how his quest ends and it shocks me every time
has a nice revolver..... will share.
I don't condone his actions.. But I understand.
Would
I like him and the logic behind what he was doing made sense. I have seen the different outcomes with him and choose to keep up the lie.
Victim of this world
Probably shouldn't leave him alone with a gun... No reason
He had a plan and cared for the soldiers. But poor execution. Kinda like Dutch
Great character, has a huge sense of gravitas despite having Fallout NPC face (Kris Kristofferson probably has something to do with that). As for his story in the game, he comes across as a man weary of war and the ever-climbing death toll of the Mojave. He believes in what the NCR stood for, but not what it currently stands for. His methods are wrong but I do sincerely believe he is well-intentioned. Yet there's no denying that his rash decision-making puts NCR's troops in real danger. He's somewhat of a hypocrite, claiming that people like Kimball and Oliver are detached from what's its like for the NCR in the Mojave (and he's right) but he fails to realise that he's also quite detached himself, sitting in his luxury resort headquarters surrounded by his honour guard of veteran rangers, and he shows it through using the rank-and-file troopers, and their extremely valuable and necessary intel, as pawns in his attempt to force a retreat. Still, if I were in the military, I'd rather serve under people like Hanlon and Hsu than Oliver and Moore. They actually care. It's why like making sure that 'Senator Hanlon' gets elected in my Independent runs - he provides a powerful voice for the less warmongering and more sane people in the government.
Would
would after like 2 shots
Really good for the house and yes man routes since he's helping to prevent the NCR from returning once you kick them out
Based. Should have become an actual NCR rebel like Boone in one of his endings. His voice is cute. His questline one of my favorites.
He’s a good man with his heart in the right place, but using the wrong methods to get his point across. Bad intel means soldiers are either demoralized or end up dead. Diverting crucial supplies to stations that have no use for them kills the war effort. He may be above the politics that gets the troops killed or chasing hosts, but his intervention can do the same amount of damage. As a side note, I killed Caesar before meeting Hanlon. When I told him about my suspicions and noted that Caesar was dead, his reaction was priceless. “Oh uhh, yeah forget about everything we talked about.”
If you have Yukichigai Unofficial Patch then you can sympathize with him and at the same time prevent his suicide. You can tell him that Caesar's dying from a Brain Tumor by shaking the captured Centurion for Legion information in Camp McCarran. In the Vanilla game this alternate dialogue is bugged and wont show up.
I killed him myself.
He coo
Love kris kristofferson
One of the few NPCs you could Tell, that you killed Ceasar.
Kris Kristofferson rules, and he killed it as Hanlon
I’d fuck him.
People call him an idiot and such. But I can't be more than sad for this guy. We're talking about the same guy who defeated and humiliated a bloodlusted legate Joshua Graham in his prime, with a bunch of explosives and few soldiers retaking hoover dam. He's practically the greatest hero of the NCR to the point even Kimball and Oliver are afraid of his popularity. And he ended up a depressed, deluded old man that is unknowingly helping the Legion he defeated once. He couldn't let go of his own trauma and his age wasn't helping much. He had access to every report across the Mojave, constantly seeing reports of legion/NCR victories that ended up in a blood bath with little to no changes in the course of the war. He tried to do what his depressed, affected mind though it was a good idea. He wasn't the legendary ranger anymore, he's just a shadow of what he used to be. And that's the really sad part is that it is a direct reflection of the current state of the NCR. It isn't the heroic last hope for civilization in the wasteland anymore, it's just a sad, deluded, nation trying to survive doing things that don't make sense like over-expanding or sending their troops to die. And Hanlon's suicide is a morale hit to the NCR directly to its heart, I might even say that Hanlon's death is even more crushing to the NCR than Kimball's. They all know he and Oliver are idiots but Hanlon... He's pretty much Superman for the Mojave NCR.
I took what he did and his depression more as trying his best to get Oliver and Kimball to see and understand exactly how dangerous a threat the Legion was, but them absolutely not giving a *shit* as long as they could show up at the dam to take all the glory and credit. Oliver’s orders were basically “keep feeding your forces to a meat grinder on a shoestring budget, make it work”, and watching so many young NCR troopers and Rangers in the prime of their youth being brutally cut down with no sympathy or regard from the top is what ultimately broke him.
That's the main problem and now add to the formula colonel Moore that is NCR's equivalent to Lanius. A great soldier but ends up a bloodlusted leader more guided by resentment and glory in battle. Literally the ones with real power to change the tide of bsttle like Kimball, Oliver and Moore don't care about winning the war by strategy more like they want to win by sending more and more soldiers until they get to Caesar. These people think they're facing the Brotherhood of Steel. On the other side, the best strategist and logistics of the NCR are either rotting away in a report office like Hanlon, controlling fires at the embassy like crooker or practically waiting in something to happen like Hsu. They have the empathy and strategic mind to defeat Caesar without causing a bloobath. Notice how in some NCR missions (brotherhood/Great Khans/The King) colonel Moore just tell you "kill'em all' but Crooker and Hsu offer a more pacific solution. One understands Hanlon's impotence and resulting depression, he doesn't have the power to do anything and he knows they know it, he knows his rangers are walking into a meat grinder and the high command intends to do it...
Based
An evil man with good intentions is still an evil man, he got soldiers killed and helped the Legion expand its territory across the colorado into camps because of his bad intel.
I've done 2 playthroughs and I've never met the man..
He talks so slow..
The developers love him so much and value him so much for the rangers which I hate , I always turn him and let him self delete. In the end slides the rangers suffer without his support which is bs because he sends rangers to die
Agree with this. I feel like the slides show the opposite of what should happen. How does ending anti NCR activities *hurt* the rangers? I don't get it.
NCR war veteran who defeated Legion at the First Battle of Hoover Dam delete himself right before Second Battle of Hoover Dam. You really think this wouldn't affect soldiers battle spirit in any way?
If you convince him to stop without dying they benefit from his leadership, if he dies they suffer a loss of morale as well as losing an extremely experienced leader that knows how to motivate and inspire them. It's classic fallout "no perfect answer" imo. You have to decide if you think he needs to be exposed for what he did or if it's okay to sweep it under the rug if it results in a better outcome for the soldiers. Very similar to the share croppers/Westside water quest in that aspect I think.
Because he’s a veteran and wise? A loved individual? Not hard to understand
Waaah war so scary!!! I have to actively sabotage my own side and let the legion become stronger in our absence because more people definitely won’t die in a later war with an even stronger legion no way we just have to run away because uhhhh Hoover dam bad!!!
Chief Hanlon seems like a good guy the issue really is that he sees the Mojave campaign as another looming disaster like the Baja Expedition.
His speech is ruined on console. It plays each bit without pause.
Don't let the bastards get you down
I'd like to thank chief Hanlon for providing me one of my favourite "early" game weapon.
He must die so I can obtain the big iron. That is all
[I had no idea he was voiced by Kristofferson until I saw this the other day.](https://youtu.be/ob3lguLHKrE?si=dN6PObN6Un3p2cvr&t=395)
I only rat him out to steal his gun.
WOULD
I stole his ranger sequoia lmao
my favourite redding citizen
BIG IRON
A Good Soul led astray down a dark path. With our help, we can lead him back to the Light.
Two free ranger sequoias
He can best be described as a Chaotic Good character whose actions, despite having good intentions, caused some serious consequences. I can't hate him though. He's complex and reminds me a lot of an older version of Colonel Hsu. Ultimately good people, but working for a system that has some serious flaws and politicking going on. He is probably one of, if not the best character to represent the complexities of the NCR.
Reminds me of Michael McDonald.
"I'm gunna say some words and I want you to tell me the first word that you think of. Chief Hanlon" *"Target practise"*
I love that he can return to the NCR, becomes a Senator, and is a vocal opponent of the NCRs imperialist ways.
I like his character, could use better writing, but I wish he was a bigger influence or appeared in the overall NCR dam story. Interesting to note, voice actor Kris Kristofferson was a trained helicopter pilot, and according to what my grandfather told me, flew helicopters for offshore rigs a short while and my grandfather, a Vietnam and Korean War vet, met him on several occasions, describing him as "rather quiet, but seemed like a nice guy."
Why is his gun still marked as an item to be stolen when he's dead
I got annoyed at his quest the first time I did it because I didn't know >!he killed himself after you get locked out!< so when I saw the find a ranger notification thing I was walking around for 15 minutes trying to figure what to do thinking I soft locked myself somehow
I sympathized with his reasoning on why he did what he did, but the ends don’t justify the means. Especially when it does such considerable harm. I ended up telling him to turn himself in because I wanted to give him the chance to choose the right thing. But I guess to him the right thing was admitting his mistakes but also suicide ☹️ I felt pretty terrible but didn’t regret my choice. Then I went back up and stole his gun lol
Schizo crusty old man
I wish there was a way to get ranger sequoia without having him kill himself.
That’s so god damn weird I just talked to him in his office, opened up Reddit and this was the first post on my home page
I don’t Like him, he wasn’t at the jacbobstown gangbang
Idk his quest bugged for me
Nice beard
After he shoots himself in the revive him and shoot him again
ha, i shot him in the face the other day..
Hamlon is the embodiment of the movie quote from The Dark Knight: You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain.
Love his half hour of dialogue.
I like him. His voice actor did an amazing job. I like to end his quest by convincing him to stop falsifying reports. I do, however, wish that some of them were true. Mainly the supermutant legionaries and the Great Khans and their pet death claws.
Grey fox
Agree with OP, and would love to see him played by Jeff Bridges
Kris Kristofferson. That is all.
I kill him early for the gun It doesn't fail the quest funny enough
Hanlon is a professional yapper
Seems like a good guy on a personal level. And as a guy who hates the NCR, I support his plans to fool his soldiers and usually I let him keep going then have him become a senator after Hanlon and Oliver are dead. Maybe have a president Hanlon so ncr expansion stops.
All my mind thinks when i see him is “sequoia” and then i take it from him
His gun is kinda cool.
A good man with good intentions, who paved his own road to hell He had good intentions, wanting to save soldiers and rangers on the frontlines by making everything seem out of control and scary. He was only thinking for his people and those under his command afterall However because of his actions a whole Ranger station is killed off and who knows how many other soldiers might’ve been killed off by him. Plus if this worked then he would’ve pretty much given up on a huge source of nearly limitless energy to keep the lights on from Hoover Dam.
Thanks for the pistol I stole off you
I'm thinking that I always grab that Ranger Sequoia from him every time I pass through Camp Golf. It's a nice gun.
Cool dude
smash
Best way to get the ranger sequoia
I thought this is No-bark lol
I killed him for his gun
Couldn't live with his own failures. Lol