Doctor Borous is a scientist living in Big MT in 2281.
Background
Before the Great War, the boy who would later become Borous was a child prodigy who had been bullied in American High by a classmate named Richie Marcus. He also had an unrequited crush on another student, Betsy Bright, who had turned him down for Richie and picked on him as well. His only friend was his dog, Gabe.
Later in his life, he became a part of Big MT's staff as head of the X-8 cyberdog project, and began cruelly experimenting on his own dog Gabe, feeding him various drugs such as psycho. Numerous other animals also fell prey to his vicious experiments, but only Gabe remained faithful and loyal, answering malice and cruelty with love and attachment. Sometime before the Great War, Gabe was eventually transformed into a prototype model of the cyberdog. However, due to errors in programming, he was forcibly sealed in an unfinished section of X-8's test areas, as a "...precaution.".
After the Great War, together with the rest of the Big MT "Think Tank" executives, the doctor became a think tank to continue his work at Big MT. However, when he started to show symptoms of the insanity that began to consume his comrades, Doctor Mobius, the sole sane researcher, wiped his pre-War memories, hacked his data banks and gave him the name "Borous", all to keep him and his colleagues forever trapped in the Big MT, so that they could never unleash the horrors of the crater on the unsuspecting world around them.
Doctor Borous is the "Head of Animalogy, Beastology, and DNA-Scrambling technology" at the Big MT, and created both the night stalkers and cazadores. He also claims to be responsible for creating the radar fence around the crater.
Interactions with the player character
Interactions overview
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
  |
This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. | |
  |
This character is a permanent companion. They grant the - perk. | |
  |
This character is a temporary companion. | |
  |
This character starts quests. | |
  |
This character is involved in quests. | |
  |
This character is a doctor. |
|
  |
This character is a merchant. |  -Sells: - |
  |
This character can repair items. | Max Repair condition: - |
  |
This character can modify weapons. |
- |
  |
This character rents beds. | -.
|
  |
This character plays Caravan. | They can bid caps. |
Quests
- Old World Blues: If Klein can't be convinced otherwise, Borous, along with two other members of the Think Tank, are needed to convince Klein to give up trying to escape the Big MT. If the player doesn't have enough support from the other scientists to convince Klein, then Borous has to be killed, along with all the other Think Tanks, to prevent their escape.
- Picking Your Brains: After completing 'Welcome to the Big Empty', the player needs to talk to Borous and the rest of the think tanks to complete this quest.
- Welcome to the Big Empty: The player has to talk to Borous as with the rest of the think tank to complete the quest.
- A Brain's Best Friend: After Gabe's bowl is returned to him, he feels an overwhelming sense of remorse and regret towards how he treated his dog, as Gabe was a loyal companion to him. This feeling is quickly repressed, however, and Borous' personality remains unchanged on the surface.
Effects of player's actions
If the player has shown Borous Gabe's bowl before completing Old World Blues, and the player doesn't have a 100 in Science or 85 in Medicine to convince Dr. Klein, Borous will side with the player in convincing Klein to back down.
Other interactions
After A Brain's Best Friend has been completed, once a day, the player can ask Borous what animals he's experimented on today and he'll give the player some of their parts:
- three cazador poison glands and nightstalker blood jars, if Dr. Borous was caused to feel guilty over the treatment of Gabe.
- three cazador eggs instead, if A Brain's Best Friend has been completed by passing the Speech 45 or Animal Friend check.
Inventory
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | Brain beam Brain mesmetron |
- | Electron charge packs, over charge Energy cells Fission batteries Microfusion cells, over charge Scrap electronics Scrap metal Sensor module |
Notes
- Doctor Borous proudly states that he is the 'Head Chief First Researcher' of labs Z-9 and Z-14, where he created night stalkers and cazadores. But because of the hack by Mobius, he claims that they are sterile and contained within Big MT, regardless of what the Courier tells him.
- When Mobius mentions what the Think Tank scientists have forgotten, he mentions "the thrill of discovery" as an important characteristic. This is probably referring to Borous as he expresses the lack of desire to leave Big MT and due to that, he refuses to believe the Courier that his mutant creations have not only escaped but thrived well in the Mojave (and as far as Zion Canyon in the case of the cazadores).
- If you have Gabe's bowl but have yet to complete the X-8 Residential Test, you can ask him if the bowl looks familiar. He can't remember, thinking it might be a cazador skull or a Bowlian. Then he tells you to find more information somewhere in Big MT.
- Test Lab X-8 is a re-creation of his high school with Dr. Borous acting as the "Doctor-Principal".
- After you complete the add-on, Doctor Borous will still act as if Doctor Mobius is still a threat, saying, "If there is a next time, for any of us", though it may just be general nihilism.
- In Borous's house in Higgs Village, in the same room you find the key to the basement, you may find a knife stuck into a crayon picture of a monster with the word "DAD" written on it on the floor near the bed, suggesting a poor relationship with his father.
- Borous is suggested to have a sadistic side. Not only he experimented on his own dog, Gabe, there is evidence of animal cruelty in his house within Higgs Village and one of the rooms within The Think Tank facility. Examples include bloody surgical instruments and animal cages.
- Borous has unique dialogue if Gabe is spared. He will thank the Courier if Gabe is left alive or if killed, he will still provide gratitude, albeit with some disappointment.
- He may mention how Vault-Tec once competed for human test subjects, displaying he is one of the handful of individuals aware of their experiments.
Notable quotes
- "You may know me as the Head Chief First Researcher of Labs Z-9 and Z-14. There I fought valiantly to preserve rattlesnake DNA, and put it right where it belongs, in the husk of another feared predator. Oh, and the tarantula hawk. Can't splice enough, I always say, especially if you can make a magnificent Cazador!"
- "Attention students! This is the prerecorded voice of your prerecorded principal, Doctor-Principal Borous!"
- "FIRST WAS THE HEART! Uh - wait... I mean SECOND WAS THE HEART! Brain was first. THIRD WAS THE SPINE!"
- "A GUN! Are you MAD?! We can't give it a GUN! GUNS kill."
- "Fwooooooosh! That... is the sound of FLUSHING."
- "Down at the end of the hall is BALL storage. For jocks who like BALLS, like RICHIE MARCUS. Do you hear me, Betsy? RICHIE likes BALLS."
Appearances
Borous appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Behind the scenes
- The name Borous is a reference to the name of the ancient symbol Ouroboros, which is typically depicted as a snake eating its own tail - another looping and infinite figure which follows the naming convention of the other members of the Think Tank. The misspelling of "Boros" was an error on Mobius' part.
- Doctor Borous' speech often parodies that of a stereotypical 1950's science-fiction movie narrator, emphasizing certain word or phrases in an extremely over-dramatic manner.
Gallery
![Borous before becoming a think tank.[1]](/wiki/File:BorousHuman.png "BorousHuman.png (38 KB)")