“You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal? So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know.”
Charon is a possible companion and the ghoul bouncer of the Ninth Circle in 2277.
Background
A quiet and intimidating ghoul, Charon is Ahzrukhal's personal bodyguard and soldier. Every couple of days, Ahzrukhal sends Charon out to run some kind of errand. He always leaves packed with weaponry, and returns with a bag of caps. He's loyal to whoever holds his contract beyond question and will do whatever his employer orders. Charon never sleeps - a strange trait even for a ghoul - and when he's in Underworld, he hangs out in the bar. There are rumors that he is unhappy with his position but can't leave Ahzrukhal's employ.[1]
Although little is said about Charon's past, Ahzrukhal will tell the Lone Wanderer that he was raised by a group of people who brainwashed him into obeying whoever has his contract. Ahzrukhal insists that he is not a slave, and implies that Charon did something in the past to deserve his "employment" with Ahzrukhal. While the terms of the contract are never shown, if Charon is asked to retrieve the G.E.C.K. in Vault 87, he says that he is only good for combat services and that he is "nobody's errand boy."
Daily schedule
At the Ninth Circle, he is the bouncer. He stands in the corner until needed. If dismissed by the Lone Wanderer, he will return there and sit in a nearby chair.
Interactions with the player character
Interactions overview
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
  |
This character is a permanent companion. | |
  |
This character is involved in quests. | |
Quests
- Hired Help: One can receive Charon's contract for free by killing Greta for Ahzrukhal, or by paying a large amount of caps. After the contract is obtained, Charon will approach Ahzrukhal and murder him in cold blood as revenge for all the dirty work he made him do.
- Take it Back!: With Broken Steel installed, Charon can be ordered to activate the purifier, despite his previous refusal to retrieve the G.E.C.K. in Vault 87.
Effects of player's actions
- The player character can obtain Charon's contract by paying Ahzrukhal 2,000 or 1,000 caps (Barter 50), or by agreeing to kill Greta. Acquiring Charon's contract makes him a potential companion. Once he is no longer bound by honor to serve Ahzrukhal, Charon will kill him.
- Even though hiring him has no Karma requirements, Charon follows a personal moral path. Stealing in Underworld turns him hostile. If the Lone Wanderer kills a good non-player character in Charon's presence, Charon will become upset and, if subsequently fired, turn hostile.
Inventory
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leather armor | Charon's shotgun Charon's combat knife |
Shotgun shells |
Notes
- When his contract is purchased, Charon says he must "chat" with his former employer. Afterward, he walks to the bar, speaks briefly to Ahzrukhal, then shoots and kills him. If questioned about it, Charon replies, "Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard."
- If the player attacks Charon as he pulls out his shotgun to kill Ahzrukhal, Charon will turn on the player character instead, instantly killing them. Attacking Charon at this time is still seen as an act of aggression and will turn the Underworld NPCs hostile. However, attacking Charon after he kills Ahzrukhal will not turn anyone hostile, and one can kill Charon with impunity.
- He will always fire two shots with his unique shotgun when killing Ahzrukhal, even though his former employer dies immediately from the first shot.
- Charon will join the Lone Wanderer regardless of Karma.
- Charon's employment contract in the Pip-Boy reads, "Note - A piece of paper with some writing on it."
- Charon is noticeably taller than the Lone Wanderer and most human/ghoul non-player characters. With a height modifier of 1.11, this makes Charon 6'8" (2.03m) tall.
- Charon will be let into Tenpenny Tower with the Lone Wanderer before even completing the Tenpenny Tower quest.
- Charon is the only companion competent with explosives. If given standard grenades, he will effectively use them when enemies are taking cover, in order to flush them out.
- If Charon is provoked and you try to talk to him, he says, "physical violence invalidates our contract."
Notable quotes
- "Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard. So long as he held my contract, I was honor bound to do as he commanded."
- "Physical violence on your part invalidates our contract."
- "You are my employer and I will do as you command."
- "You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal? So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know."
- "Talk. To. Ahzrukhal."
Appearances
Charon appears only in Fallout 3.
Behind the scenes
- Charon was written by quest designer Erik J. Caponi.[2]
 | The following is based on unverified behind the scenes information and may be inaccurate. |
|---|
- In Greek mythology, Charon (or Kharon) is the ferryman of Hades who carried souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron, which divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.
- When having Charon switch from melee combat to ranged weapons, he will make a remark referencing the song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" by The Beatles.[3]
| End of information based on unverified behind the scenes information |
|---|
Bugs
- For some players, after Charon shoots Ahzrukhal, Charon may automatically become your follower, even if you already have a follower with you (including if Dogmeat has also been hired). [verified]
- Charon cannot be recruited if Ahzrukhal is killed before his quest is completed, as Charon's contract can only be obtained through completion of the quest. Charon will simply tell the Wanderer to talk to Ahzrukhal, even if Ahzrukhal is dead. [verified]
- If you hire Charon as a follower, he may not follow you through the concourse but will appear again outside the museum entrance. [verified]
- Sometimes, Charon will not follow you outside of Underworld but will still appear outside of the Museum of History. This can be fixed by saving outside of Underworld then loading the save game and he will appear. [verified]
- Charon may not be able to leave the Ninth Circle, even into Underworld. [verified]
- If you equip Charon with only the Chinese stealth armor and leave the dialogue, he will equip it and be able to become cloaked. If while cloaked you talk to him and give him power armor (possibly any armor) while he is cloaked and leave the trade equipment screen, he will put the power armor on and still be able to sneak allowing you to grab the now unequipped Chinese stealth armor and wear the Chinese stealth armor yourself. [verified]
- When buying Charon's contract from Ahzrukhal, a bug can occur during their interaction that leaves one, or both of them, unable to respond to the player (i.e. Charon will not follow you and/or Ahzrukhal will not talk to you). This bug may happen if Ahzrukhal is asleep. When Charon goes to wake him, Ahzrukhal will say his first line of dialogue and Charon will stay in place. Ahzrukhal will then go to the area he is in originally when you walk in during the day. It can be solved on the PC by using the in-game console command "resurrect" to reset the problematic non-player characters. On the Xbox 360, this bug can sometimes be solved by exiting and re-entering the game. [verified]
- This bug can be avoided altogether by simply waiting for Ahzrukhal to wake up before telling Charon you now own his contract.
- To fix the bug, just type in the console "select Charon", type "disable" then "enable". Charon should continue to kill Ahzrukhal.
- At times, he may shoot dead bodies the same way he shoots Ahzrukhal. [verified]
- If fired, he may become stuck on something while walking and be unable to return to the Ninth Circle. [verified]
- If Charon is equipped with a power helmet, his dialogue options 'cut out' due to a bug related to the sound files of Charon's voice and the voice modulation of the power helmet (requires further confirmation for Xbox 360). [verified]
- If Charon dies when he is still under the contract, you cannot fire him or drop his contract from your inventory, this result makes the player permanently unable to acquire a human companion. This bug can be fixed by loading an auto-save/save file or using the console to remove his contract. [verified]
- If you enter the Outcast Base from Operation: Anchorage, Charon will disappear and not come back. The game will still act as if he is still in your party, so you cannot get another companion. A fix to this is to fast travel to Underworld, wait for 24 hours, then fast travel back to the Outcast Base. Charon will be outside the lift and act as if he was told to wait. Simply talk to him and tell him, "Let's go" to get him to follow again. [verified]
- Taking shotgun shells out of his inventory can cause it to seem as if his shotgun has disappeared. As his shotgun ammo constantly fills back up as he fires, sometimes 2 shotguns will appear in his inventory, one damaged and the other in perfect condition, which is his personal shotgun. Do not remove it from his inventory except in the case of giving him the Terrible Shotgun. [verified]
- Before entering the Tranquility Lane pod, if one has Dogmeat and Charon in their party, they will receive a message saying something about Dogmeat returning to Vault 101. However, they do not receive a message for Charon. This creates a bug that possibly makes Charon disappear. One solution, if The Pitt add-on is owned, is to travel to the Pitt itself, where a message stating that Charon has gone back to the Ninth Circle will display. This should fix the problem and reset Charon.[verified]
Gallery
References
- ↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide, p. 40
- ↑ Fred Zeleny on Twitter: "@q0rt @leighalexander Once, @DoctorSpooky found a CL fantasy-hookup request for Charon, the ghoul he wrote in FO3. He considered responding."
- ↑ The Lone Wanderer: "I want you to use ranged weapons."
Charon: "If that is what you wish, then it is what I shall do. I must say, that I find happiness in a warm gun."
(Charon's dialogue)
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