Codsworth is a Mister Handy robotic butler for the Sole Survivor's family before the Great War. He was bought by the family not long before October 23, 2077, as evidenced by the Mr. Handy box in the laundry room of the Sole Survivor's home. He was not granted entry to Vault 111, as claimed by the Vault-Tec rep,[1] and was left behind when the war was announced on television. Codsworth is reunited with the Survivor after 210 years of roaming around Sanctuary Hills, still loyal to his owner.[2]
At first, Codsworth seems cheerful and oblivious to what has happened. During the first ten years after the war, Codsworth tried to keep himself busy by doing futile housekeeping work, such as keeping the nuclear fallout-tainted floors waxed, dusting a collapsed house, and polishing a rusted car. However, talking to him further reveals that he is actually very depressed about the state of the world, and was deeply affected by his two-centuries-long isolation. To cope, he pretended that nothing happened.[3] At some point after the bombs fell, Codsworth visited the town of Concord—mentioning that the locals only "pummeled [him] with sticks a few times" and "shot at [him] on a few occasions" before he retreated to Sanctuary.[4][5]
Codsworth is known to say the Sole Survivor's chosen name if it is an option, although it may be shortened, extended, or have a word omitted. A list of spoken names can be found here.
Interactions with the player character
Fallout 4
Interactions overview
Interactions
This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. Status expires when Survival mode begins.
Codsworth can be found randomly when taking a card from the loot deck. While Codsworth is the active companion, the player character can exhaust him to trade with any other player character on the map.
When the player character performs the camp action, he will become unexhausted. However, if the player character has the Vilified trait, he must be discarded.
Codsworth will become available as a companion after any of:
Reaching an invisible trigger point in Concord during the quest Out of Time. It is not necessary to complete the quest - simply getting close enough to the Museum of Freedom to start hearing gunfire (up to the playground in Concord should be close enough) and returning to Codsworth will suffice.
When being damaged or destroyed, Codsworth will state that "'Tis but a scratch" and "Sir/ma'am? I... I'm dying...", respectively.
Codsworth's dialogue during Out of Time can change, depending on how far the Sole Survivor has progressed in the storyline. For example, if they have finished the main quests, they can tell Codsworth that Shaun is "with his father/mother" instead of asking about Shaun's whereabouts.
Codsworth can equip the bowler hat and its variant, the Triggerman bowler. However, the +1 Endurance bonus from the regular bowler has no effect, and neither hat can be equipped after upgrading Codsworth at a robot workbench.
If brought to the Boston Airport, Codsworth may mention having accompanied either Nate or Nora, depending on the Sole Survivor's gender, to this location.[7][8]
Codsworth's name and interactions, namely the ability to tell jokes and dispense purified water, are similar to that of Wadsworth from Fallout 3.
Codsworth will correctly say uncommon spellings of names such as Cori and Borri. Cori being the name of a villager from The Elder Scrolls: Arena and Borri being the name of one of the Greybeards from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
Bugs
PCPlaystation 4Xbox One Codsworth may sometimes stay in one place when dismissed to a settlement (even if outside the building boundary), and rarely move around or perform tasks except to fight hostile enemies.[verified]
PCPlaystation 4Xbox One Assigning Codsworth to a settlement resource may have no effect, despite indicating that he is assigned to it in the workshop menu.[verified]
PCPlaystation 4Xbox One Pre-War Codsworth's body will always reflect the Sole Survivor's living room.[verified]
PCPlaystation 4 As stated in the notes section, Codsworth will become available as a companion after discovering Concord on the map. It is not necessary to complete or even start When Freedom Calls. Simply going to Concord and returning to Codsworth is enough. However, if Codsworth is sent to another settlement before the companion dialogue is complete, he will not acknowledge any attempt to speak to him until he is sent back to Sanctuary and the proper dialogue is completed. On PC, this can be cleared with the console command set MQ102SkippedCodsworth to 1. [verified]
PCXbox One Codsworth will refuse to inspect/hack a terminal, despite being equipped with a hacking module at a robot workbench from the Automatron add-on.[verified]
PCPlaystation 4Xbox One Until the quest Out of Time is completed, Codsworth will always return to Sanctuary upon companion dismissal because CodsworthStayOutsidePlayerHousePackage is applied by the quest DialogueCodsworthPostWar until both GlobalVariable MQ102SkippedCodsworth is set to 1 and the Out of Time's stage 200 (waiting until the player character leaves the museum to stop the quest) is complete. The easiest way to resolve this without advancing or disrupting the main quest is the console command stopquest DialogueCodsworthPostWar.[verified]
A diagram showing the components of different robots from the P.A.M. research project within The Railroad
Concept art
Codsworth model at the June 2015 E3 Showcase
References
↑The Sole Survivor: "But there's room for my entire family, right?" Vault-Tec rep: "Of course. Of course! Minus your robot, naturally. In fact, you're already cleared for entrance. It's just a matter of verifying some information." (Vault-Tec rep's dialogue)
↑Codsworth: "A bit over 210 actually, sir. Give or take a little for the Earth's rotation and some minor dings to the ole' chronometer." (Codsworth's dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Codsworth, are you sure you're holding up okay?" Codsworth: "Oh [sir/mum], it's been just horrible! Two centuries with no one to talk to, no one to serve. I spent the first ten years trying to keep the floors waxed, but nothing gets out nuclear fallout from vinyl wood. Nothing! And don't get me started about the futility of dusting a collapsed house. And the car! The car! How do you polish rust?" (Codsworth's dialogue)
↑Codsworth: "What about Concord, sir? Plenty of people there. And last I checked, they only pummeled me with sticks a few times before I had to run back home." (Codsworth's dialogue)
↑Codsworth: "You can't give up, [sir/mum]. What about the city? Concord is nearby, and, well, the people there have only shot at me a few times..." (Codsworth's dialogue)
↑Codsworth: "Thoreau's cabin survived the bombs. I'm sure he never thought it'd take a nuclear war to bring us back to humble living." (Codsworth's dialogue)
↑Codsworth: "I remember eagerly waiting at the airport with the misses on your return from your tour of duty. Forget I mentioned it. Terribly insensitive of me." (Codsworth's dialogue)
↑Codsworth: "I remember eagerly waiting at the airport with sir on your return from overseas. Oh! I... forget I mentioned it, mum. Terribly insensitive of me." (Codsworth's dialogue)