Eclair is a boy who runs the Spelunkers restaurant inside Little Lamplight in Fallout 3.
Background[]
Previously a casual member of the scavenging team, Eclair is now Little Lamplight's resident chef, cooking and serving cave fungus to the other children.[1][2][Non-game 1] He managed to locate a few pages from a cookbook during his time scavenging, but after being shot in the foot, he became incapacitated for several months and has now resolved to overseeing the town's food supplies.[1][Non-game 1] Where possible, the children source their food from outside, but are otherwise restricted to eating the fungus that Eclair scraps off the cave walls.[3] He is mostly concerned with attempting to take the "stink" off the cave fungus and skimming it in water as preparation, though admits it still tastes terrible, hesitating to even qualify it as "food."[2][3][4] If the Lone Wanderer tells him that cave fungus sounds delicious, he is horrified by the remark, commenting that they must be either a freak or a liar to say so.[5] Subsequently, he is thankful that the fungus is filling enough that a smaller portion is sufficient, particularly as it constitutes most of the "crap" that passes as food for the Little Lamplighters.[3][6][7]
Eclair's disdain for the fungus is to a point where he jokes that if they had a brahmin in town, some of the children might now consider eating its turds.[8] He can be heard rhetorically asking the children if they are ready for roast meat in a ginger sauce, before breaking the news that they will unfortunately continue to be served cave fungus.[9] In an attempt to make the mold sound more appealing, Eclair will ask the Lone Wanderer on first approach what they think of "cave fungus in watery mushroom sauce," though can mockingly remark "bon appetit" if they ask for a serving.[10][11] If the Lone Wanderer tells Eclair they do not give a damn about his food, he nastily tells them it is a shame, as their serving would have included "extra lung butter."[12] In spite of his disdain for the mold, he is grateful for it keeping the Little Lamplighters alive, and is looking for a way to feed it.[3][5] The scavenging team occasionally brings back with them strange meat, which Eclair notes also tastes terrible but the cave fungus enjoys, and can task the Lone Wanderer with finding some for him—in exchange for said fungus.[13] Trading the meat with him has him exclaiming how the cave fungus pools will "gobble this right up," and although he is unaware where the strange meat is sourced from, he continues to ask Zip to bring some back with him when he goes scavenging.[13][14] Similarly, Eclair is unsure of the origins of the cave fungus but notes that it does not grow in other caves and is difficult to find; allegedly, the places where it does grow in Little Lamplight are the pools where the bodies of the "mungos" were dumped by the founding Little Lamplighters.[2][13]
Eclair has taken it upon himself to experiment with his cookbook scraps new ways to spice up the cave fungus, the results of which were unfortunate enough to earn him his nickname after making a fungus eclair, and now he advises others against trying this.[1][Non-game 1] He prides himself on being able to make one "hardly even know" that they are consuming cave mold, although he continues to try and make it taste less like "toenails."[8][15][Non-game 1] Likewise, he tries not to make the fungus taste any worse than it already is, and will lightly chastise Zip for not bringing him kindling as the mold tastes worse when it is cold.[16] As the town has a limited supply of food, he can be overheard asking Mayor MacCready for more surface supplies, particularly as flavor is a concern, even though the mayor has told him to "stop trying to make crap taste like sugar."[17] Eclair is heavily concerned with the food shortage, remarking that the Lone Wanderer is "another pair of choppers" who will eat all their food, and is subsequently resentful when they ask him for some fungus (yet happy to take their caps).[10][18][19] Even after limiting the Lone Wanderer to one scoop of fungus a day, he will complain there are too many people to feed, noting they should not expect any scraps from the Little Lamplighters with how "precious little" there is.[20][21] While he is thankful if the Little Lamplight children are rescued from slavery, he protests over having three more mouths to feed.[7] His complaints are known among the other children, with Mayor MacCready telling Joseph that he is sure Eclair would not mind having less Little Lamplighters to feed if something went wrong during his shooting lessons; likewise, Lucy deadpans that Eclair will be thrilled to know the younger children need to eat more to prevent rickets.[22][23]
Aside from his exasperation with the food shortage, Eclair will express annoyance over jokes about his name, asking that the Lone Wanderer not laugh when he introduces himself, or responding tiredly that he is indeed in charge of the food.[8][21] Alternatively, he can answer more venomously, threatening to carve the Lone Wanderer into steaks if they snicker about it.[24] Asking him about the origin of his name causes him to reply in sarcasm, stating that he did not earn it for being "fat and full of cream."[1] Provided that the Lone Wanderer does not criticize his cooking, Eclair believes that they will be able to get along; praising the idea of cave fungus also renders a positive reaction from him, stating that the Lone Wanderer will fit in with the other Little Lamplighters.[10][5] However, Eclair tends to have cautious tendencies around adults, and can describe the Lone Wanderer as a "mungo" who plans to "screw" them over.[25] His reaction about finding out why Mayor MacCready let the Lone Wanderer into Little Lamplight can have him sarcastically proclaiming that perhaps a deathclaw will be let in next to become the town's mascot.[24] Eclair believes that the only help that the original adults in Little Lamplight provided was when their bodies were dumped into the water, inadvertently stimulating the fungus' growth.[13] As such, causing trouble for the Little Lamplighters can make him threaten to use the Lone Wanderer's corpse as fertilizer for the cave fungus.[26]
Apart from the gunshot wound on his foot, Eclair is also missing an eye, which according to Bumble was because a "monster" from Vault 87 bit him in the face; he has also told her that monsters are either green or have more than two arms.[27][28] Eclair makes jokes at his own expense about his missing eye, asking that the Lone Wanderer keep an eye out; he can also react negatively, as when Mayor MacCready confiscated a gun from Zip, it was due to a fear that Zip would take out someone's eye and consequently anger Eclair.[29][30] Aside from having been a member of the scavenging team, Eclair previously used to be an impressive sharpshooter in Little Lamplight, but now claims that Sammy has surpassed him in skill.[31] Although he chastises Zip for forgetting the items he needs from scavenging trips, alongside calling him a "pop-head," Eclair follows up by simply asking him to calm down and remember to do so next time.[14][16] Knock Knock has been telling Eclair fungus jokes, causing him to lament that ever since she said "think fungus just grows on trees? No, it grows in caves," it has been stuck in his head.[2] She has also repeatedly asked him what the name of a mushroom who likes to party is called, to which he begrudgingly replies "fun-guy," before serving her some fungus that he claims is "as good as your jokes."[32] As such, Eclair is baffled that Mayor MacCready likes the cave fungus, to which the latter replies that Eclair's "shitty cooking" complements his own foul language.[33] Eclair is convinced that Joseph is making up words when he asks him for a plate of his "finest mycelium" or some "excellently prepared mycorrhizae," and can correct him and say that it is cave fungus being served.[34][35] In response to Princess bullying others, Eclair has threatened to pee on her cave fungus as she would never find out.[36] In an attempt to make the cooking taste better, Knick Knack has promised Eclair that if he ever gets a microwave oven, it will go straight to him; although, Eclair muses that he would even be happy with a clean set of spoons.[37] When serving cave fungus to Lucy, Eclair can happily comment that he is keeping the masses fed just as she keeps them alive.[38]
Daily schedule[]
Eclair spends most of his time behind a counter in his restaurant, "Spelunkers" in Little Lamplight. He can also sometimes be seen around the restaurant when there are no other non-player characters in the area.
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
Interactions | ||
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This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. | ||
This character starts quests. | ||
This character is a merchant. | Sells: food | 40-100
Quests[]
- Fungus Deal: He will trade cave fungus in exchange for strange meat, provided Mayor MacCready allows it. The player character can also trade at least one cave fungus with him if they have the Child at Heart perk.
Inventory[]
Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
---|---|---|---|
Junior officer outfit Ragamuffin tophat |
Eclair's cooler key |
Notes[]
- Bumble makes a comment that Eclair only has one eye because his face was bitten by a monster from Vault 87, Eclair makes a joke about his missing eye, and Zip also says that a gun was confiscated from him because he might take out someone's eye and upset Eclair.[27][29][30] Despite this dialogue indicating that Eclair is missing an eye, his character model has both eyes intact.
- Although the Fallout 3 Game Guide states that Eclair has been using recipes from multiple cookbooks to cook with, Eclair says he has only found scraps from one cookbook during his time scavenging.[1][Non-game 1]
- Eclair is one of the merchants who sells refined punga fruit and wild punga fruit after the Point Lookout add-on is installed.
- Unlike most merchants, Eclair's shop key is on his person, instead of only appearing after the merchant's death (which is not possible in this case). His merchant container is also unowned. Given these conditions, there is an obvious and relatively easy opportunity for theft.
- He wears a ragamuffin top hat, the only one in the base game, and one of the only two with Point Lookout installed (the other worn by Kenny).
Notable quotes[]
- "Great, RJ let in another pair of choppers to eat up all our food."
- "Oh, really? So you're saying you brought back three more hungry mouths, too? Great, you're just making my day better and better!"
- "They say the fungus grows in the pools where the first Lamplighters dumped the mungos. That's about the most they ever helped us. I don't know how true that is, but I know sometimes the scav team comes back with this strange meat that tastes terrible, but the fungus loves it. I don't know where they find that meat, but if you could bring some back, I'd be glad to trade fungus for it. Of course, MacCready'd have to okay it."
Appearances[]
Eclair appears only in Fallout 3. He is also mentioned by Robert MacCready in Fallout 4.[39]
Gallery[]
References[]
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Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p. 71:
"Eclair:
Thirteen-year-old Eclair used to occasionally scavenge outside, but after getting shot in the foot, he was out of commission for a couple months. During that time, he managed the food, using the scraps of cookbooks he found while scavenging with passable results. He does an excellent job with the cave fungus that makes up most of their food. He occasionally tries to create more elaborate food from his cookbook scraps, often with disastrous results (hence his nickname)."
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