The Desert Rangers (Team Alpha and Recruits, Team Echo and Recruits, Team November and Recruits) - Major Antagonists
The Patriarch and the Buchanan Family - Other Recurring Characters
—— Factions and Settlements ——
Arizona and Nevada - California
Colorado (Colorado Springs, The Plains Gangs, Other Factions and Characters in Colorado)
A character sheet for the Buchanan Family from Wasteland 3.
NOTE! Heavy Spoilers Ahead!
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The Buchanan Family
In General
- Dysfunctional Family: Liberty, Victory and Valor all look down on each other at best and loathe each other at worst, and all three hate their father enough to attempt to kill him. It's pretty clear Liberty would kill her brothers given half a chance — she even suggests you do so to Victory, which might well be justified given what he's like; Victory, obviously, would kill them just because he can. Valor never expresses a desire to kill his siblings, but then again, he might just lack the spine to voice such thoughts.
- It's All About Me: They all suffer from this, one way or another.
- Saul wanted to be seen as a larger-than-life figure... Which led to him doing morally reprehensible things to reach the position he is in now. It also means his first priority is about keeping his iron grip on Colorado, not mattering how many people he has to sacrifice to stay in power. It's further implied that one reason he's obsessed with taking Liberty alive is because he's trying to groom one of his kids to be an heir, despite the fact that not only are none of them fit, Liberty is arguably the least fit.
- Liberty attempted to kill her father, not because he was a tyrant, but because he wouldn't step down and pass the position of leader of Colorado Springs to her. The way she puts it, she makes it sound like she was screwed over by him, and even claims he favored her brothers, which a five-minute conversation with Saul proves was the opposite of the truth; Liberty is clearly his favored child.
- Victory was always a monster, with his total inability to care about anyone being the fuel that powered his engine of death. The game takes pains to point out that most of the people he murders in Little Hell were people he knew, and he doesn't even care when you kill his "friends."
- Valor cracked under the pressure of living in his father's shadow and became a selfish Manchild Insufferable Genius; though, perversely, this means he's the least damaged and horrible of his siblings. Like Liberty and Victory, he thinks he's got screwed over.
- The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: None of the Buchanan children are clearly in any way a good choice to be charge of Colorado aside from the fact that they're the Patriarch's offspring - Valor hasn't the backbone to lead, Liberty intends to be a self-absorbed brutal despot, and Victory is an absolutely fucking nuts murderer.
The Patriarch
Saul Buchanan, The Patriarch
The father of Liberty, Victory and Valor, and the man that — according to legend — defeated the Colorado gangs with the help of the Hundred Families and founded the Colorado Springs Community. A self-admitted benevolent dictator, he keeps the peace in Colorado through the Marshalls; a ruthless defense militia that answers to him and the Hundred Families.
He made contact with the Desert Rangers sometime after the events of Wasteland 2 with an offer; capture my traitorous children and I will send all the supplies needed to save the starving people of Arizona.
The Desert Rangers, desperate for supplies — in particular, food — after Ranger Citadel got nuked, agreed, and sent a convoy, kickstarting the game's plot.
- Abusive Parents: He admits that he treated his children more as possible successors rather than children and trained them accordingly, leading to Liberty to become disillusioned with him for his "lack of vision" and wanting to conquer the entire region, Victory to crack under the pressure of living under his father's shadow and becoming a genocidal sadist, and Valor to have an Inferiority Superiority Complex... albeit this is his own take on the situation. Most other citizens believe that Victory, at least, was always going to be what he was.
- Action Dad: He may be old, but he can still crack skulls with his heavy maul. In the ending where you fight him as the Final Boss, he confronts you in a red-white-and-blue tank, Manifest Destiny.
- Anti-Hero: One interpretation of his actions, of a Pragmatic Hero variant. He's done some shitty things to keep Colorado up-and-running, but the results have made his people happy and safe. In one ending, the populace actually puts him on trial for his crimes, and eventually come to the conclusion that the terrible things he's done were necessary to keep them safe, and so they imprison him for life instead of consigning him to execution.
- Berserk Button: Saying anything about his declining health will get you a very angry tongue-lashing and in your first conversation with him, a hit to your reputation with the Marshals.
- Big Good: He's the ruler of Colorado, he has the capability and willingness to save Arizona, and he's more than happy to offer whatever aid and resources he has on hand to help the Rangers accomplish the mission. That being said, he's not a particularly good individual and depending on what path you take, Saul could very well switch to becoming the Big Bad.
- The Bluebeard: He married three wives in his past, and they were all dead long before him. Players who recruited Victory can bring him to their graves and dig them up. Downplayed, since one of them actually committed suicide with a noose but left a suicide note that clearly indicates she committed suicide only to stop him from killing her first after she left him. As well, it's not entirely clear if he personally murdered the other two or just had them executed. One of them was shot dead through the forehead, and the other attempted to assassinate him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: As ruthless and determined as he is to hold onto his power at all costs, Saul has certain lines he won't cross. He is disgusted by the cruel sadism employed by his son Victory, nor does he approve of the totalitarian regime Liberty wants to install in his place. Kinslaying is also off the table for him, for while his children all hate him and want him dead, he still wants the Rangers to bring them home alive and in once piece.
- Evil Old Folks: Another interpretation of his actions. That all his good deeds were done not to save his people, but to make sure he was the one saving them — and that the Dorseys can be laid directly at his feet — are the main factors pushing this interpretation of events.
- Handicapped Badass: The Patriarch is an old man who has palsy that will kill him in three years. The player can even notice his shaking hands during the intro. It doesn't stop him from being an extremely dangerous combatant who'll wreck all but the highest level players who attack him. Amusingly, he's set up against another Handicapped Badass — Angela Deth, who is also an extremely deadly combatant despite the burn scars on her face and having to replace one of her legs with a prosthetic.
- Hero Antagonist: If Team November opts to bring all the gangs with them to Colorado Springs, he ends up in this role by virtue of being A Lighter Shade of Black from them. As bad as he is, Saul wants to rule a peaceful and prosperous nation, while the Rangers and the gangs just want to murder, burn, and loot.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Inquiring him about his less savory actions gets you these kind of responses. He'll argue that he paid the plains gangs and provided a steady supply of prisoners to the Godfishers to get them to leave Colorado Springs alone because it was either that or let them run roughshod all over the state and kill whoever they wanted. Wiping them out wasn't possible with his current forces, so he chose what he regarded as the lesser evil. It's left up to debate whether or not his actions were justified.
- I Gave My Word: He's a tyrant willing to manipulate and sacrifice anybody to keep his grip on Colorado. Multiple characters, including Ranger supporters, question whether he'll really go through with his deal if he gets what he wants. However, if the Rangers do what he asks and captures all of his children alive, he will fulfill his promise to send food to Arizona.
- It's All About Me: While he's not nearly as monstrous as Liberty, it's revealed that the main conflict with the Dorseys came because they wanted democracy, in the form of the long-promised elections, while Buchanan wanted to keep his power base intact. Though it was Lucia's father that escalated an attempt at intimidation into outright slaughter, Wesson says the Patriarch's only reaction was to tell him to make sure the Dorseys were finished. The Patriarch also spreads a cult of personality such as putting his face on the official currency, having large statues of himself built, and if one Marshall is any indication, teaches children that he personally built the wall that keeps the city safe.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: The Patriarch is not a good man, what with three dead wives, two psychotic children and him willingly giving away people to be used as slaves and sacrifices to the various raiders to keep them away from his city. However, he's far and away the most stable leadership in Colorado, and possibly the entire wasteland, and has some noble qualities like keeping his word and genuinely caring about his people, which is more than can be said for any of his children. Desposing him with Angela Deth will show the import of his stable leadership as Colorado will then usually have quite a rough time with his absence.
- Narcissist: While he refuses to admit it, the fact that he has plenty of statues of him in Colorado Springs and children are taught to see him as a larger-than-life figure that single-handedly united the Hundred Families and defeated the Colorado Gangs. There's even a museum dedicated to his legend. This is his true motivation for all his good deeds; at day's end, Saul Buchanan wants to be thought of as a hero, and will do whatever it takes to keep that reputation.
- Noble Demon: For all the horrible, horrible things he's perfectly happy to do, he is quite willing to uphold his end of the deal.
- Parental Favoritism: Liberty is the clear favorite of his children. Saul is contemptuous of both his sons, viewing Valor as weak, Victory as maniacal, and neither as suitable heirs to his throne. Liberty, for all her faults, at least has leadership abilities, and in the ending, he still wants her to be his successor.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He has no interest in conquering more territory because he doesn't want to spread his forces too thin. This is also ultimately why he's interested in offering humanitarian aid to Arizona; he wants to form an alliance with another rising nation-state so that both can empower one another through cooperation and collaboration.
- Pride: His chiefest sin. With a bit of Wrath when he can get away with it.
- Wasteland Warlord: As the autocratic ruler of Colorado Springs and with the Marshals at his command to help enforce his reign.
His Children
Liberty - The Traitor
Liberty Buchanan
The Patriarch's daughter and second child. A woman that prefers to rule over rather than coexist with the other factions of Colorado, believing that a single, strong leader is needed to bring stability to the region and that her father was not doing enough to establish a strong nation-state.Feeling snubbed by her father's refusal to step down from his position of leader, she led a coup attempt alongside her brothers to take over but failed and was forced to run away, eventually finding and taking over the Scar Collectors; a gang of sadistic cyborgs.
- Affably Evil: In the epilogue if Liberty is captured, she is nothing less but unfailingly polite to her wardens. The Rangers rotate guards constantly to ensure they don't get enraptured.
- Big Bad: For most of the game, she and the plains gangs under her control are the most obvious threat to Colorado. Hunting her down and confronting her at Yuma marks the Point of No Return. But stopping her reign of terror before it begins is only the beginning, as now you must decide what to do about Angela Deth and her plans for the Patriarch.
- Blue Is Heroic: Inverted — her face paint and armor are predominantly blue, but she's a Card-Carrying Villain who believes Despotism Justifies the Means. It's possible she adopted the habit from the Godfishers.
- Braids, Beads and Buckskins: Arapaho on her mother's side, her hair is tied back in a stylized version of a traditional feather headdress, with a sort of crown made up of metal hoops and chains, blood-red feathers running through her hair, and bright blue war paint — albeit she probably picked up the last part from the Godfishers.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: She doesn't bother to pretend her brutal reign would be a good thing for anyone other than her. It is simply, to her mind, the most effective, secure means of holding power. In some ways, she's so mono-focused on this goal that it actually hampers her effectiveness; she refuses to consider more subtle paths to power than simply running over everyone else with guns.
- Ironic Name: She's named Liberty while she's also an unapologetic despot who has no care for anyone other than herself.
- It's All About Me: Her biggest flaw according to her father — which is ironic, given his own troubles with this trope. The Patriarch even says that she would have been a good heir, if not for the fact that she wants to rule, not govern.Ranger: You want subjugation, not peace!
Liberty: Subjugation for them, peace for me. - Know When to Fold 'Em: Take her health down by half, and Liberty will quickly surrender and allow herself to be taken into custody — and will curse Team November if they decide to simply put her down anyway.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Downplayed - while on a personal level Victory is obviously the scarier Buchanan between the two due to being murderously psychopathic, and Valor is entirely unthreatening to one's life compared to Liberty, the story clearly portrays that Liberty is the biggest threat to Colorado Springs out of the Buchanan children due to her unsubtle desire for power.
- Powered Armor: Wears a unique set of blue power armor with rebar Spikes of Villainy.
- Tribal Face Paint: Vivid blue This Means Warpaint under her eyes and across the bridge of her nose, two sharp points running down her cheeks.
- The Unfavorite: According to her, her father didn't take her seriously and began grooming Victory and Valor as possible heirs. However, Saul claims the opposite and explains that she was going to be his heir; from all evidence outside the family, it appears that Saul is telling the truth. What changed his mind was Liberty's sheer bloodthirst and tyrannical ways — but they didn't change his mind very much. If Liberty lives, she'll spend the next few years uncomfortable with her father's attempts to mold her into the successor he wants, since he still hasn't given up on her taking the throne.
- Wasteland Warlord: A brutal despot with eyes set on her father's throne, she has successfully assembled all the Plains Gangs under her banner into one massive army ready to march on Colorado Springs.
Victory - The Psychopath
Victory "Vic" Buchanan
The Patriarch's first son and eldest child. A man with cruel and sadistic tendencies, he joined his sister's coup attempt to depose their father and after it failed, he ran away and found and took over the Breathers; a gang of murderous raiders addicted to hypno-happy gas.- Asshole Victim: If Team November decides to kill him, rest assured he deserves it. The game apparently agrees; there is no route that leads Buchanan alive except staying in jail forever. On routes where he joins the Rangers, he will always die to a group of Payasos feeding him a Clown Burger.
- Ax-Crazy: He tortures and kills people and animals purely because he's sadistic and batshit insane.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Like Liberty, he has aspirations to attack Colorado Springs and overthrow his father. Unlike Liberty, he has neither the smarts nor the military might to pull it off. The most he's done is develop some poisonous gasses that can kill or hypnotize their victims, but by the time the game begins, they're still in a highly experimental state.
- Chainsaw Good: You find the aftermath of it in Little Hell.
- Explosive Stupidity: One of his possible endings when meeting him - choosing to attack him cause him to respond by setting off a flashbang by his feet. Except the idiot actually set off a fragmentation grenade which proceeds to blow off his own legs and end his life in short order. It probably wouldn't have worked much better if he actually set off a flashbang as intended either, since the flashbang would have surely incapacitated him anyway.
- Hated by All: Everyone in Colorado hates his guts and wants him dead. Even the Patriarch is implied to have little to no love for him and outright says he blackens the Buchanan name. Pretty much the only people who can be said to like or respect Victory are the Breathers, and that's only because he's drugged them into compliance.
- Ironic Name: He might be named Victory, but his possible fates in 3 only include an impromptu death or lifetime imprisonment.
- It Amused Me: His brutality seems to serve no purpose other than that he clearly finds it enjoyable.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: As crazy as he is, he'll surrender without a fight once you confront him at Aspen, having killed his entire personal army to reach him. Heck, he'll offer to join your crew if you'll have him.
- Last Disrespects: He's planning to do...something to Larra Buchanan's bones after the Patriach is dead if you bring Victory to her grave and dig it up. Also, quite unsurprisingly if he winds up killed by your actions, the ending describes "his grave has been more beshat than any other in Colorado history".
- Laughing Mad: Crossed with Giggling Villain. Vic's having a GREAT time.
- Practically Joker:
- Victory "Vic" Buchanan is a purple-haired, flamboyantly dressed, giggling sadist who's rigged up Aspen full of elaborate deathtraps and turned it into the aptly-named Little Hell. He does this while murdering and torturing his way through the families he grew up with in Colorado Springs, purely for fun. He controls his goons, the Breathers, through "hypno-happy gas", paints ironic slogans in blood on the walls and floors a la The Dark Knight's Joker, and generally thinks of the wasteland as his private playground where nothing he does matters.
- Oddly enough he apparently came up with the idea on his own, and has nothing to do with the Monster Clowns of the Payasos, who likewise revel in believing the world is one big, sick joke. They're also better at it than he is. It's Deconstructed in his ending if he joins you — crazy as Vic is, he's just one man, and unlike the Joker, who has protection due to his popularity with comic book writers and fans, Vic doesn't. He's easy prey to the Payasos, who are more organized than he is and more dangerous. He dies after being force-fed a clown burger by the first band of Payasos he tries to take over.
- Sadist: He tortures and kills people for no other reason than for his sick amusement.
- Token Evil Teammate: He's one of three bloodthirsty raiders that can join the Rangers.
- Too Dumb to Live: He makes a very stupid decision which leads to his demise if you try to attack him - he sets off a fragmentation grenade right in front of himself, mistaking it for a flashbang, which proceeds to blow off his legs and quickly kill him. Not only are actual flashbangs pretty obviously different in appearance to fragmentation grenades, anyone with experience with flashbangs would know setting one off right in front of yourself will just deafen and blind yourself temporarily. Granted, this would still "even" things up between your squad and himself for a little while since everyone in the room will rendered be deaf, blind, and barely to stand up (if even that) for its duration, but it wouldn't in any way facilitate his escape from your squad.
- The Unfought: While he's a decent fighter if you take him as a companion, he doesn't get a chance to prove it at Aspen, since he's either gunned down mid-surrender by November or kills himself with his own grenade.
- If you choose to side with the Patriarch, Vic will threaten to gun you down. He gets incapacitated very easily by Greatski, konking him from behind with a baton.
Valor - The Zealot
Valor Buchanan
The Patriarch's second son and youngest child. A man with an incredible intellect and a huge ego but weak of will, seeing no leadership potential in him, the Patriarch send him as a peace delegate (read: hostage) to the Gippers; a cult of Ronald Reagan worshipers that control the production and exportation of oil to Colorado. He accidentally deactivated the security systems of Colorado Springs during his sister's coup attempt to depose their father, but feels no remorse about it.- A God Am I: He's perfectly onboard with becoming the physical vessel of the Reagan AI, believing that doing so will turn him into a god. What he doesn't realize is that the AI's mind will completely wipe out his own, functionally killing him and stealing his body.
- Death of Personality: If the Reagan AI is transferred into his body, it overwrites his personality, which in a sense kills him.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Due to feeling as the unfavorite among his siblings because of his lack of leadership skills and will, he has the need to prove everyone that he's the smartest person around.
- Insufferable Genius: His personality in a nutshell. He knows how smart he is and can't help but brag about it, talking down to everyone around him with playground insults — despite the fact that he's never actually accomplished anything on his own.
- Ironic Name: "Valor" is entirely lacking in the stuff, being a Non-Action Guy.
- Non-Action Guy: In direct contrast to his siblings, Valor isn't a combatant and can't put up much of a fight if one decides to kill or arrest him — hence embedding himself in the trigger-happy Gippers, at the heart of their heavily fortified compound.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Valor is convinced he’s the smartest guy in the room at all times and looks down on everyone else as his intellectual inferior. Never mind the fact that the Gippers are planning to kill and use him as a meatsuit for their AI and he doesn’t have near the ruthlessness or cunning of Victory or Liberty. The only way he survives is if the player arrests him where he’ll spend the rest of the game impotently threatening the warden.
- The Unfavorite: While all of the Patriarch's children are clearly unsuitable to take over his throne, Valor's lack of grit sees the Patriarch express the most contempt for him out of all of his children. This is in spite of the fact that most people's moral compasses would declare Valor to be the comparative white sheep of the family since he doesn't try to either "Kill anyone who gets in their way and rule over everyone else with an iron fist" or "Kill anyone they want in eyesight because they want to".
- Unwitting Pawn: Valor is happily assisting the Gippers with their technical needs out of the belief that they respect him and will greatly reward his efforts. He's unaware that they're functionally using him as a sacrifice to their god.
