“I was a guard for the merchants of the Hub. However, I was shot during a raid by bandits. I've been staying here, since the people have helped me recover. Still, my knowledge of the outside world and my experience make me useful here.”
Ian is a short, stocky caravan guard who adopted Shady Sands as his new home. He was working for the Crimson Caravan company during a routine caravan route to the small settlement. However, routine doesn't mean safe. He was shot by raiders and stayed in Shady Sands to recuperate.[1][2] The Shady Sands townsfolk helped him recover and ultimately Ian decided to stay with them. His experience and skills helped him contribute, as very few of the townsfolk ever left its safe walls. He occasionally makes a run to Junktown and the Hub to do trading. He is strong, confident, and independent. A perfect wastelander.[3]
These traits endeared the Vault Dweller to him. Together, they scouted Vault 15, learning that the water chip was in another Vault.[4] Following a long trek through the wastelands, the two finally reached Necropolis. Engaging the super mutants at the Watershed in battle, Ian lost his life. A flamer unleashed by one of the super mutants burned him to death. The smell of Ian's burning body would haunt the Dweller for years to come.[5]
At one point in the planning for Fallout 2, Ian had survived and was living in Vault City under the name of Old Joe. According to his dialogue, Ian would mistake the Chosen One for the Vault Dweller and would reminisce about events from Fallout before realizing the mistaken identity. Commenting on the prejudiced nature of Vault City's citizens, he would give the Chosen One a gun, apparently, his old Colt 6520 10mm pistol before sending them away, encouraging the Chosen One to "make proud" the memory of the Vault Dweller.[6]
Ian is one of the possible companion NPCs in Fallout. As a companion, he is notorious for his problematic lack of discretion with automatic firearms. He will - more often than not - make burst shots, and accidentally hit the Vault Dweller and other non-hostiles if they are in the same line of fire.
Because of his experience from being a former caravan guard, he can inform the Vault Dweller about the locations of several towns.
Ian will turn hostile if the people in Shady Sands are attacked without his company.
Comments
He has unique float dialogue for locations around the northern wasteland;
The Hub is the biggest trading center in the New West. It's run primarily by a group called the Water Merchants, but there are some other traders there, too. It's a booming town, but there's a lot of political fighting between the traders.
There are several different groups of raiders out there. The most organized group is called the Khans; they seem to think they can conquer the world or something.
Ian can be acquired at the shop by any player character that has Charisma. Prior to starting a fight with him as the active companion, the player character can exhaust him in order to lower the enemy's level by one, to a minimum of 1. However, he also damages the player character in the process, dealing two points of friendly fire.
When the player character performs the camp action, he will become unexhausted. However, if the player character does not have Luck at this time, he must be discarded.
He is effective with a 10mm SMG early on but becomes a liability with it when more companions join. Very capable with the .223 pistol and a 14mm pistol.
He can accidentally shoot the Vault Dweller during the battle, especially when using burst fire weapons.
Despite having the Big Guns skill secretly tagged, Ian cannot use large weaponry like miniguns due to his sprite set not having animation frames for them.
In Fallout 2, a Chosen One with an Intelligence below 4 can say to Angela Bishop that they traveled with someone named "Iam," who kept burst-shooting them from behind. This is a reference to Ian's reputation of accidentally causing friendly fire with SMGs.
The following is based on unverified behind the scenes information and may be inaccurate.
Ian was a test case character designed to see if the engine could handle non-player-controlled followers who would move from map to map with the player's character. Though the initial implementation required some troubleshooting, it functioned well enough for the team to decide to implement more followers such as DogmeatTycho and Katja.[7]
The character of Ian is roughly based upon Ian Dunteman, the roommate of designer Jess Heinig. However, the developer found it hard to portray the real-life Ian's characteristics in just a few short lines of dialogue.[7]
End of information based on unverified behind the scenes information
Ian's line when asked to tell me about "Apocalypse" is a reference to a quote by Albert Einstein: "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
↑Ian: "{1106}{}{Most caravans come from the Hub. They travel all over the place. I worked for a group called the Crimson Caravan before my untimely injury.}" (IAN.MSG)
↑Katrina: "{136}{}{I know very little of the outside world. I escaped from a Vault when it was attacked. Unfortunately, I was very hurt and do not remember much of what happened. But Dharma was watching over me, and I was found by the people of Shady Sands. I live here now. Have you spoken with Ian, yet? He is a merchant guard who was hurt. He is recovering in the guardhouse over there. [She points to the east] He is more widely travelled than I.}" (SSGUIDE.MSG)
↑Ian: "{112}{}{I was a guard for the merchants of the Hub. However, I was shot during a raid by bandits. I've been staying here, since the people have helped me recover. Still, my knowledge of the outside world and my experience make me useful here. Shady Sands is my home now. Occasionally, I even get to visit Junktown or the Hub to do some trading, since I'm the only person here who has ever really left town.}" (IAN.MSG)
↑Vault Dweller's memoirs: "With their knowledge, and the help of a man called Ian, I continued on my way to Vault 15. The ruins of Vault 15, to be more specific. Ravaged by the elements, scavengers, and time itself, Vault 15 was no help for my people. The control room that contained their water-chip was buried under tons of fallen rock, and I had to move on."
↑Vault Dweller's memoirs: "The Hub was a larger city than both Junktown and Shady Sands combined. You could drop the Vault in there, and you probably would not notice. But the people of the Hub had no life, and it was a desolate place just the same. It eased my mind, however, to hire some merchants to bring water to the Vault. Looking back, it was probably a mistake to do so, but I was still innocent of the evils that lurked through the ruins of civilization. A small clue led me to the city of the ghouls, the place they called Necropolis. It was there that I encountered large mutants, armed with weapons of an unknown origin. It is with heavy sadness that I say that Ian lost his life in the city of the dead. A super mutant burned him to death with a flamethrower. The passage of time is no proof against the memory of burning flesh. His sacrifice was not in vain, as I did find the water-chip buried beneath the city. It was with easier steps that I returned to Vault 13."
↑Old Joe: "{125}{}{Well, the Vault Citizens think very highly of their bloodline and don't care much for people like me and you. You take this gun. It'll protect you if things get a little out of control. You probably shouldn't be seen talking with this crazy old man. Best get on your way.}" (Vcoldjoe.msg)
↑Fallout Bible 6: "In FO2, the random encounter Café of Broken Dreams Tandi says Ian is some ware in FO2 is this true and if so, where?"
↑Fallout Bible 8: "Ian was actually slated for the Abbey and the Den that I know of, but something that Ausir (I think) pointed out, he was actually in Vault City before he was cut from the game."
named Killian. It's just a few days southwest of Shady Sands.
