open/close all folders
The Settlers
General
Voiced by: Noshir Dalal, Xander Mobus, Chris Parson, Josh Robert Thompson (male); Britt Baron, Kara Kovacich Stewart, Debi Mae West, Fryda Wolff (female)
A group of hard-working and industrious survivors hailing from parts of Pennsylvania. After hearing Appalachia offer some refuge from the wasteland, they settled in the region and establishing their settlement at Spruce Knob, which they dubbed Foundation as of Wastelanders.
- Action Survivor: Even more so than the Responders; unlike them, this group largely lacks formal training but still manages to eke out a living.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Although they're not antagonistic by default and will generally be personable to you, they're dangerous when pissed off.
- The Exile: Their community in Pennsylvania couldn't provide for many of them and the long journey to Appallachia was a way to reduce their population while offering a chance for others to live.
- Foil: A bunch of hard working settlers compared to the ruthless Raiders at the Crater. They're also immigrants compared to the Crater locals.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Settlers from the Pitt recognize that the city's immense toxicity overwhelms any positives that might be had by staying.
Paige
Voiced by: Beau Billingslea
Leader of the Settlers, although he doesn't see it that way. Found inside Founder's Hall, the underground headquarters for the Settlers at Foundation.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Paige is skeptical of the innoculation needed to prevent the Scorched Plague and needs to be persuaded by his doctor, Aubrey.
- Easily Forgiven: Much like Meg, he doesn't hold a grudge against you if you side with Crater over Foundation for the Vault 79 raid. In fact, unlike Meg, he doesn't even passive aggressively hang your decision over your head in future dialogue.
- Invading Refugees: A very-very mild example. When they're first introduced, if they identify as being from Vault 76, Paige says that they might want to kick the Settlers out for coming into their homeland. He then says "tough, we're here to stay."
- Locked Out of the Loop: Not unreasonably assumes the Scorched are just more "burn victims" like ghouls.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Played with as while he is willing to ally with you, he engages in a number of microaggressions with the Vault Dweller, suspecting they want to try to kick the Settlers out and being suspicious of their offer to vaccinate them against the Scorched.
- He'll listen to your proposals about breaking into Vault 79 and will come onboard when you provide evidence it could work - and a good argument for why Foundation should get involved.
Ward
Voiced by: Ray Chase
Day to day operations director for the Settlers from his home near the front gate.
- Reformed Criminal: He used to be a raider in his youth, but had a change of heart and became a much nicer person.
- Secret Test of Character: Some of his daily quests give off this vibe, with Ward claiming that Foundation actually never had any shortage of the supposed "vital equipment" brought back by the Resident to begin with, it's their willingness to help out of the goodness of their heart that matters.
Penelope Hornwright
Voiced by: Judy Alice Lee
Surviving member of the Hornwright family and acting CEO of Hornwright Industrial. Becomes a member of the Settlers' Vault 79 raiding team with providing them access to the Hornwright A.I. drilling machine, the Motherlode.
- Badass Bookworm: She can actually fight pretty well on the few occasions where she would accompany the Resident on specific quests, though she dislikes direct combat due to being an engineer rather than a soldier, and will try to excuse herself from the Vault 79 raid for this reason.
- Heroic Sacrifice: How she became a ghoul. At one point some twenty years prior to the events of the game, Penny bargained with the residents of an unnamed Vault to have them adopt her daughter in exchange for her fixing their malfunctioning door, knowing full well that she would be stuck outside and exposed to radiation.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: She has a pet cat named Tutti Frutti that she adopted after moving to Foundation.
- Nerd Glasses: She's always seen wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, which somehow stays on even though she no longer has a nose or ears as a ghoul.
- The Smart Gal: Penny puts her doctorate to good use by serving as the resident tech and robotics expert of the Foundation crew should the player side with them in breaching Vault 79.
- Sweet Tooth: She loves ice cream. According to several terminal entries, she has been working with Jen to scavenge for components to build an ice cream machine, and her cat is even named Tutti Frutti
to boot.
Jen
Voiced by: Tiffany Wu
Younger member of the Settlers and part of the Settlers' Vault 79 raiding team. Parents were former spies of the PLA and Chinese.
- Child of Forbidden Love: Is the daughter of two Chinese ex-spies, who were forbidden from fraternization or having children.
- Missing Mom: She was held prisoner and became a (non-Feral) Ghoul.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you treat her badly during Invisible Ties, she will steal a part of the gold at the end of the Vault 79 raid and leave.
Agent Mochou (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Voiced by: Grace Lynn Kung
A spy for the People's Liberation Army found in their underground base, The Deep, near the Whitespring Bunker, having been turned into a (non-Feral) Ghoul by radiation with her fellow Chinese operatives. Also Jen's mother she presumed dead with her father. Her stealth suit is needed to help get into Vault 79.
- Defector from Decadence: Originally a loyal operative, she deserted the PLA and fled into the Wasteland after the Great War, having been disillusioned by the realization that both China and America had manipulated and lied to their respective populations.
- Forced into Evil / Mandatory Unretirement: Unwillingly forced back into the PLA after being tracked down by a still-loyal comrade.
- Mommy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: The surviving remnant of the PLA threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't return to the fold.
- The Atoner: If the player makes the right choices during dialogue, Mochou can be convinced to return to Foundation with Jen after the Vault 79 raid if the Settlers were sided with to start a new life with her daughter once her stealth suit is destroyed to prevent being tracked down by Mochou's superiors in the PLA.
Sunny
Voiced by: Wes Johnson
A trio of reprogrammed Responder Protectrons that sell food, ammo, and general goods at Foundation.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: All three Sunnys are identical, which includes being convinced that each one is the "real" Sunny, and that the other two are shoddy knockoffs, and will respond favorably to the Resident playing favorites. This in no way impedes their abilities as merchants.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted in more ways than one. In addition to Foundation's three Protectron vendors all being named Sunny, Steel Dawn introduced a pet cat roaming Foundation's supply room, also named Sunny.
Captain Oliver Fields
Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore
U.S. Army captain of a small task force that followed the Settlers to Appalachia from the ruins of Pittsburgh, AKA The Pitt. Assigns one of his squad, Sergeant Radcliff, to join the Settlers' Vault 79 raid team after getting the necessary tools from the Appalachia RobCo facility. Still believes in the United States despite it having been annihilated in the Great War 25 years ago.
- A Father to His Men: Fought alongside his subordinates Sergeants Radcliff & Thompson throughout the Sino-American War and even after the Great War, with Radcliff even creditng Fields' command as being directly responsible for his survival.
Ashley Ortega
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Describes his late father as a "good man" and a "working man", and mentions he'd heard stories of him fighting against authority to keep his job and feed his family, not unlike the industrial struggles in pre-war Appalachia.
- Forced from Their Home: Was thrown out of his Pennsylvania hometown during a food shortage after the war when he lost a straw lottery. He initially feared he would have to become a raider just to survive, but fortunately he linked up with Paige's group of settlers and travelled with them to Appalachia to establish Foundation.
