Colonel James Hsu is a member of the New California Republic Army and the commanding officer of the army headquarters at Camp McCarran in 2281, where he serves as the nexus of NCR military operations throughout New Vegas and the Mojave Wasteland. He appears in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background[]
Sometime prior to 2281, Hsu served alongside Nathan, the future warden of the NCR Correctional Facility for a period of seven years. During this time, Nathan helped Hsu in an unspecified way during an incident in the town of Modoc, for which Hsu allegedly still owed him a favor. Nathan eventually decided to use this favor during his stint as warden to get Hsu to assign more guards to his facility as well as put a stop to the army's siphoning of his current staff to reinforce their defensive positions along the Colorado River against Caesar's Legion. However, Nathan never saw the favor fulfilled as he would lose his life during a mass breakout of convicts orchestrated by Samuel Cooke in late 2281.[1]
One of two ranking colonels deployed during the New California Republic's Mojave Campaign by 2281 (along with Cassandra Moore), James Hsu is considered a level-headed, moderate voice in the NCR Army's upper echelons,[2] recognized as being far more sympathetic to the plight of the Mojave's inhabitants and less of a war hawk compared to Colonel Moore and his superior General Lee Oliver,[3] though this has the knock-on effect of stifling his upward momentum in the army due to being at odds with the foreign policy goals of NCR President Aaron Kimball's administration.[4] He is known to be a staunch believer in diplomacy over the force of arms and emphatically cares a great deal about the soldiers under his command, willing to work steadily to better their situation, as well as giving a fair bargain to the impoverished people of Freeside of which he oversees water and power distribution.[5][6]
As it stands in 2281, Hsu's rank brings with it the responsibility of being the nexus of the NCR's military operations from his position as commander of their headquarters at Camp McCarran that neighbors the New Vegas Strip.[7] The immense effort to manage an entire army's logistics in an unfriendly territory combined with the top brass shutting down any proposals for offensive maneuvers out of fear of losing key positions has left Hsu with little other options than maintain a holding pattern and try to consolidate local resources through the diplomatic annexation of the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas and its casinos,[8] all while forced to maintain a constant vigil due to repeat attacks from the savage Fiends raider gang occupying the South Vegas ruins practically across the street from NCR military HQ.[9]
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
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This character starts quests. | |
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This character is involved in quests. | |
Quests[]
- I Put a Spell on You: The Courier can offer to help Hsu resolve the matter of a suspected Legion spy within Camp McCarran.
- Kings' Gambit: During the mission from Ambassador Crocker to deal with ongoing violence against NCR citizens in Freeside, after and if the King refuses the diplomatic request to stop the violence, Crocker points them to go to the NCR military for aid; he says that while he must officially recommend speaking with Colonel Moore, he personally suggests instead going to Colonel Hsu for the best chance at a peaceful resolution in those circumstances.
- Bounty Killer: The Courier can offer to help Hsu deal with the camp's troubles caused by the Fiends, specifically eliminating the leader, Motor-Runner residing in their stronghold at Vault 3; Hsu also mentions that a Ranger, Anders, went there himself to deal with Motor-Runner but has not reported back.
- Rest and Resupply: Upon achieving a Liked reputation with the NCR and next speaking to him, Hsu will provide the key to the NCR Ranger safehouse.
- Silus Treatment: The Courier can offer to help Hsu's people with interrogating the captured centurion Silus, for which he points them to Lt. Boyd.
Inventory[]
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCR trooper armor Beret |
9mm pistol Combat knife |
NCR safehouse key |
Notes[]
 | The following is based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content. |
|---|
In dialogue originally intended to be heard after the ending quest of Fallout: New Vegas and the conclusion of the Second Battle of Hoover Dam (post-ending gameplay is unimplemented normally but the dialogue is still available in-game while the battle is going on), speaking with Colonel Moore has her state that, upon learning of the NCR's success in the Mojave, her superiors first turned to Hsu since he was in command of operations in the area, but he denied having anything to do with the victory. As a result of his modesty, Hsu was passed over with Moore taking the credit and a promotion to brigadier general instead.[10]
| End of information based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content |
|---|
Notable quotes[]
- "Calm is what you have to be when people look to you. And it's all you can be when things are out of your hands."
Appearances[]
Colonel James Hsu appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes[]
- "Hsu" is the Wade-Giles romanization of several Chinese surnames, mainly 許 and 徐. While most Chinese translations display Hsu's surname as 許, there is no official Chinese translation for Fallout: New Vegas.
- Colonel Hsu is depicted on the 7 of Hearts from the Vault playing cards deck included with the Collector's Edition of Fallout: New Vegas.
- Colonel Hsu was written by Eric Fenstermaker, who was one of the area designers working on Camp McCarran and wrote for the NCR leadership characters at the location.[Non-game 1][Non-game 2]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ NCR Correctional Facility terminal entries; warden's terminal, [Draft of complaint to NCR command.]
- ↑ The Courier: "You seem calm given that things are as bad as they are."
James Hsu: "Calm is what you have to be when people look to you. And it's all you can be when things are out of your hands."
(Colonel Hsu's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Is Moore in charge of all the NCR troopers out here?"
Hanlon: "No, and thanks to General Oliver for that. Colonel Hsu is at McCarran. Most of the New Vegas troopers are under his command. He's more sympathetic to the locals than Moore, but he's got the Fiends to deal with."
(Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Do you know Colonel Hsu at all?"
Craig Boone: "Yeah. He introduced himself to me once. I shook his hand. Doubt he'd remember me now, though. When he looked at you, you could see he understood. After some of the things we'd seen, that meant something. What I heard, he'd be a general right now if Oliver didn't know the president."
(Craig Boone's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "So what do you suggest?"
Dennis Crocker: "I'd suggest you speak to Colonel Hsu over at Camp McCarran. He's much more level-headed about this sort of thing. He's also in a better position to bargain with the people of Freeside, seeing as how he's in charge of water and power distribution in the area. Still, I'm only mentioning it as an option. My official orders are to direct you to Colonel Moore. Godspeed."
(Dennis Crocker's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Ambassador Crocker said to come see you about the situation with the Kings in Freeside."
James Hsu: "Ah, that. I'm surprised he didn't send you to Colonel Moore. That'd be her jurisdiction."
The Courier: "He said those were his official orders, but suggested seeing you anyway."
James Hsu: "Because he's looking to avoid a bloodbath. I get it. He knows me. All right. Moore's not gonna like it. But that's for Crocker to worry about. Go to the leader of the Kings and tell him that I'll make sure Freeside gets more water, power, and food as long as the violence there stops."
(James Hsu's dialogue - ↑ The Courier: "Are you in charge of the NCR around here?"
Cassandra Moore: "I command the garrison here at the dam, yes, but Colonel Hsu over at McCarran is technically in charge of the area's forces."
(Cassandra Moore's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "How are things going for the NCR around here?"
James Hsu: "Could be better, I'll say that much. We set up here with our sights set on annexing New Vegas. That's a lot of resources that could do a lot of good for us. But that hasn't happened. If anything, they annexed us. They rake in the profits from our soldiers and we're stuck protecting them from the Legion. Not exactly the plan."
The Courier: "Where does that leave you?"
James Hsu: "Now we're trying to secure the Strip and the Dam at the same time, and it's costing us. And in the meantime General Oliver won't approve any offensive maneuvers because he doesn't want to risk losing our positions. So we're in a holding pattern here. And Caesar's on the other side of the river, planning."
(James Hsu's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "I'm here to provide support. Is there anything I might be able to help with?"
James Hsu: "Hmm... you don't cook by any chance, do you? Farber's doing his best, but it's hard to manage an army with half my staff in line for the latrine. Honestly, we're fighting a lot of fires right now. The Fiends keep pressing their position from Vault 3. We've got the Legion breathing down our necks across the river. We actually took an officer alive last week, but so far he hasn't spoken a word."
The Courier: "The Fiends?"
James Hsu: "As in chem fiends. Biggest gang of raiders I've ever seen. Nothing like addiction to swell your numbers. Psychotic, and completely unpredictable. They've set up shop in Vault 3 to the west. Every day they attack our positions and my men repel them. But every day there's more of them and less of us. I sent one of my rangers after their leader to try and destabilize them. He didn't return. Hell of a thing, losing a ranger. You come to depend on them. And they come through for you so often, you forget it can happen."
(James Hsu's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "How have things been since the battle?"
Cassandra Moore: "Surprisingly good. Our forces have managed to secure the region with little resistance, and trade should soon reach an all-time high. The brass was particularly surprised by the lack of domestic threats in the area. They were prepared to spend months pacifying known troublemakers. When they found those threats absent, they turned to the man in charge of the area, but Hsu being Hsu, he denied having anything to do with it. So now the men have to answer to Brigadier General Moore, and both they and I have you to thank for it. We made a good team. I hope we can work together again in the future."
(Cassandra Moore's dialogue)
Non-game
- ↑ Joshua Sawyer on Something Awful Forums: "Eric Fenstermaker - Veronica, Boone, a lot of Novac and Helios One (Fantastic), a lot of Camp McCarran (Silas, Curtis, et al.), the White Gloves, Vault 11, some Goodsprings"
- ↑ "Camp McCarran" on Robert Lee's website
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