“Before I had to escape, I was working on a serum that would serve as a cure for my... condition. I wasn't able to bring it with me. It's still in my lab, and... well, look at me. I need it.”
Dr. Brian Virgil (Institute username Virgil.B)[1] is a super mutant living in the Commonwealth in 2287. He can be found in the rocky cave and he helps the Sole Survivor find a way into the Institute.
Background[]
Dr. Brian Virgil was a member of the Institute at some point before 2287. He was in charge of a project involving the Forced Evolutionary Virus and the creation of super mutants in the BioScience division. Virgil took control of the program after his predecessor, Dr. Syverson, passed away. Overcome with guilt from the pain and suffering he had inflicted on so many innocent people, he decided to leave the Institute. Virgil destroyed the lab equipment and all of the research, which is logged as "Incident V" in terminal entries. He then escaped the Institute, afterward infecting himself with a unique strain of FEV in order to survive the high levels of radiation in the Glowing Sea. The Institute was aware of his presence in the Glowing Sea[2] and sent Kellogg to kill him,[3] a mission that would never be carried out.
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
  |
This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. | |
  |
This character starts quests. | |
  |
This character is involved in quests. | |
Quests[]
- The Glowing Sea: After heading through the Glowing Sea and being asked by the Sole Survivor for information on the Institute, Virgil will ask the Sole Survivor to recover an experimental serum that he claims will make him a human again, but isn't sure if it exists or not. The player character must agree to this if they want to complete the quest and continue the main storyline, however, the Sole Survivor need not follow through with this promise.
- A Loose End: Unless convinced to spare him through a Charisma check, Kells will order the Sole Survivor to kill Virgil.
Effects of player's actions[]
- After getting the serum, the player character has two options:
- They can simply give Virgil the serum, and certain companions will react differently to this choice. For example, John Hancock, Piper, Nick Valentine, Codsworth, Deacon and Curie like the player's choice to cure Virgil, but Danse won't like it at all; this is due to what happened to his friend Cutler. Strong also won't like it as he prefers being a Super Mutant and is angry with the doctor's ambitions to cure the others.
- They can also lie to Virgil through a sequence of three speech checks, claiming that the serum wasn't there. The checks' difficulty increases with each one. After the first two checks, the player character still has the option to give the serum to Virgil through breaking and re-initiating dialogue with him. After the third speech check, Virgil asks the player character to kill him and Virgil's Cure will fail. If the player has visited Swan's Pond, and read the notes there, they can ask Virgil if he remembers Edgar Swann after the first speech check. This will lead to a medium speech check to convince him to end his life (bypassing the hard check).
- If the player character gives Virgil the serum and waits three days, they can go back and see that Virgil is now a normal human. After this, all the items inside the cave become available for looting.
- If the player character is wearing a power armor helmet with a Targeting HUD mod when returning to complete the quest The Glowing Sea, the Sole Survivor will immediately fail the quest upon re-entering rocky cave with the serum. Remove the helmet before entering the cave.
- If upon first entering and leaving the Institute (even if the player does not get the serum) the player character waits before bringing the serum to Virgil for around a week, Virgil is then found completely turned hostile and the quest "The Glowing Sea" will immediately fail upon re-entering the rocky cave.
- If the Sole Survivor destroys the Institute, Virgil will confront them about it the next time they enter his cave. No matter how the Sole Survivor responds, he states that "innocents died," and replies that they have nothing more to speak about, and tells them to leave his cave. The Sole Survivor can stay however long they want, regardless of what Virgil says, as he will not turn hostile.
- If the Sole Survivor destroys the Institute before giving the serum to Virgil, he may turn hostile after a monologue.
Inventory[]
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Institute lab coat (as a human) | Virgil's rifle | Fusion cell x7 |
Notes[]
- As a super mutant, Virgil has a unique body model consisting of a ragged Institute jumper, alongside a blue rag scarf, a makeshift backpack with a rope harness, and a pair of glasses. This is part of his character model and cannot be removed.
- Despite being from the BioScience division, who wear green lab coats, Virgil's mutant form will wear rags in the Robotics division's orange color (visible on one partially torn sleeve) and a blue Advanced Systems lab coat as a human.
- If the Sole Survivor tells Virgil his research needs to stop, Virgil will become hostile. Strong will like this action.
- Even though X6-88 ordered Kellogg to kill Virgil, bringing X6-88 to Virgil has no effect, nor does he even bring it up. In addition, he will dislike it if the player allows Virgil to let them kill him.
- He will mention the Sole Survivor's Pip-Boy having a radio installed even in situations where he can't possibly know about them possessing such a device, such as the Sole Survivor wearing a full suit of power armor.
- Triggering the evacuation signal before destroying the Institute will not affect Virgil's behavior if the player character destroyed the Institute.
- Recruiting Madison Li from the Institute to the Brotherhood will allow Virgil to send a note about his cure. Madison accepts the note, but it does not change her mind about the Brotherhood.
- The third entry on Virgil's terminal suggests that he is losing his memory, and as a result, his sanity, due to being a mutant.
- Even if the player character becomes director of the Institute and subsequently gives Virgil the serum, there is no option via dialogue to have the now-human Virgil return to the Institute.
- If the Sole Survivor travels to his laboratory before Dangerous Minds is completed, he will be absent, likely to prevent sequence breaking of the main questline by encountering Virgil before the start of The Glowing Sea quest.
- Virgil was previously bald, and if given the serum a side effect is that he regrows his hair.[4]
- Virgil has a fully cleaned and undamaged Institute lab coat when he returns to normal.
Appearances[]
Virgil appears in Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter Online.
Behind the scenes[]
- Brian Virgil takes his name from the Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro, in particular his depiction in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, where Virgil guides Dante into the circles of hell. Similarly, Brian Virgil leads the Sole Survivor into the Institute, which is also underground.
- In English, Virgil is voiced by Matthew Waterson. In localized versions of the game, Virgil's voice is dubbed by Fernando De Luis (Spanish).
Bugs[]
He will turn hostile (together with his Protectron and turrets) when returning to him (when returning him the serum, or once he is cured) if the cave is entered in power armor.[verified]
- This is caused by the "Targeting HUD" helmet upgrade (others upgrades may or may not affect this). Simply unequip the helmet on the power armor before entering the cave.[verified]
- The Tesla coil power armor upgrade may attack Virgil's turrets upon returning to the cave towards the end of the quest, making Virgil and the turrets hostile.[verified]
- All of Virgil's super mutant textures are extremely low-res even on high-end gaming rigs with all graphics settings set to maximum.[verified]
- Destroying the Institute before giving Virgil the serum may result in him not becoming human, even after waiting for three days.[verified]
- This can be fixed by waiting for another 3–4 days on the chair in his cave, after which the quest to talk to him in his human form will appear in the Miscellaneous tab.
Gallery[]
Full in-game appearance
From The Art of Fallout 4
Virgil's hero card in Fallout Shelter Online
Shop icon
Virgil's maxed hero card in Fallout Shelter Online
As shown in the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game corebook
References[]
- ↑ FEV lab terminal entries, terminal, 2286.4.10
- ↑ X6-88: "We know he's hiding somewhere in the Glowing Sea. Here's his file."
(X6-88's dialogue) - ↑ X6-88: "Affirmative. Your only mission is to locate and eliminate Virgil."
(X6-88's dialogue) - ↑ Sole Survivor: "This is a 'qualified success'?"
Brian Virgil: "There were some side effects to the process. I appear to have hair again. And I've retained some muscle mass. The genetic resequencer needs some work."
(Brian Virgil's human dialogue)