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The Raiders only accept the meanest and toughest SOBs around. You have to be bloodthirsty, violent, extreme.Garl Death-Hand

The Khans were a raider tribe descended from one of the three raider clans that originated from Vault 15. They have a long and turbulent history and have been nearly wiped out on three occasions. After the original Khans faced near-extinction following the Vault Dweller's actions, they were succeeded by the New Khans and then the Great Khans.

Characteristics[]

A raiding, roving group, their main targets were the communities of Shady Sands, with whom they once shared a Vault, and Junktown. By 2281, they have been reduced to making and trading chems to the local group of Fiends in the Mojave Wasteland. They usually travel in small scouting bands, but sometimes roam the wastes in full war parties. The Khans, above all else, respect strength. They are eager in combat to prove their worthiness to the clan by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with fists or clubs. Though the Khans prefer melee weapons to firearms, some will carry pistols and other varieties of small arms. Some of them are said to have worn tire armor.

History[]

The Khans are one of three raider tribes to emerge from Vault 15 in the spring of 2141, banding together into raider tribes as the winter came.[Non-game 1][Non-game 2] The Khans adopted the lifestyle of warriors, raiding towns for loot, burning what they cannot use, and capturing survivors as slaves. Strength became a key virtue, with worth proven in hand-to-hand combat. The strong rule, the weak perish. For this reason, the Khans would also fight with other raider tribes, their warbands, and larger war parties clashing in deadly combat. One such clash was with the Jackals just four years after emergence from the Vault. The Khans brutalized the raider clan, forcing it to flee New California northeast in 2155.[Non-game 3]

By 2161, the Khans operated under Garl Death-Hand, a violent man who killed his own father to secure his position.[1] His war band became a more or less permanent element of the wasteland, raiding smaller settlements and communities while trading with larger towns like Junktown and the Hub.[2] Garl's delusions of grandeur led him to believe that he can take over the world, earning him the mockery of the more law-abiding inhabitants of the wasteland.[3][4][5] Their raids gradually intensified, to the point that many settlements up north were facing destruction.[6]

The Khans of New California lasted only 20 years before Garl's dreams of domination were cut short in 2161 when the Khans made a grave error, they kidnapped Tandi. This attracted the attention of the Vault Dweller, who came into the settlement and slaughtered the raiders. With the largest of the raider bands gone, the stability that followed allowed the New California Republic to emerge.[7] However, the extermination was not complete. Darion, son of Garl Death-Hand, escaped the Vault Dweller's wrath. The lone survivor would go on to slowly reform the Khans, suffering from survivor's guilt and planning his revenge against Tandi. These New Khans would eventually pose a challenge to Tandi as president.[Non-game 4]

Organization[]

The Khans, despite having been a more organized and "civilized" raider tribe, followed the same rule of strength and ruthlessness that most other raider tribes followed in some way. The Khans were smart on who they raided, trading with Junktown and the Hub while picking on smaller communities like Shady Sands. It was also somewhat monarchical with Garl killing his father to usurp the throne faster than waiting for him to die naturally. Garl's son, Darion, formed the New Khans after the death of his father adding further evidence to this. The Khans did not shy away from any crime, including kidnapping for ransom, however this lack of restraint was what eventually lead to their downfall in 2161 by the Vault Dweller.

Outside relations[]

The Khans do not have any known allies in 2161 and are an independent raider tribe, relying on extortion and raiding to sustain themselves. Before forming into the Khans, they were a part of Vault 15 residing with residents who would become the NCR, Jackals and Vipers. However, those "friendly" ties have been cut due to differing ideals and competition. Before being almost erased by the Vault Dweller, the Khans would play it smart and trade with larger communities like the Hub and Junktown. The "legality" of these transactions is unknown.

Technology[]

Like most wastelanders and raiders, the Khans have access to the same technology as everyone else has save for advanced technology like the Pip-Boy 2000, energy weapons, and power armor.

Members[]

Notes[]

  • The Khans are the only one of the three raider groups planned for Fallout (the Vipers and Jackals being the others) to appear in the game as a faction.

Appearances[]

The Khans appear in Fallout, and successor tribes appear in Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas under slightly different names.

Behind the scenes[]

The Khans (the one tribe that did make it into the game), had its inception from a real-life biker gang, the Mongols. I was imagining the kind of tough, lawless, SOBs that could survive in the desolation of the wasteland; raiding and killing for their spoils. I could see these guys surviving. So, after a few generations, they became similar to the barbaric marauders they emulated.No Mutants Allowed, Origins of Fallout, R. Scott Campbell.
  • Their name is a reference to Mongol rulers known as Khans, mainly Genghis Khan, an infamous Mongolian warlord.

Gallery[]

Fallout[]

Fallout: New Vegas[]

References[]

  1. The Vault Dweller: "{118}{}{I should have killed you when you were a child.}"
    Garl Death-Hand: "{119}{}{You should have. Now it's too late. I am Garl Death-Hand. I rule the Khans. You should be dead in your grave, and you will be again!}"
    (Garl Death-Hand's dialogue)
  2. The Vault Dweller: "{1002}{}{Junktown}"
    Garl Death-Hand: "{1102}{}{They are to the southwest. We sometimes go there to relax after a hard day pillaging.}"
    The Vault Dweller: "{1003}{}{Shady}"
    Garl Death-Hand: "{1103}{}{Miserable little piss ant community. I could crush them.}"
    The Vault Dweller: "{1007}{}{Sands}"
    Garl Death-Hand: "{1107}{}{Miserable little piss ant community. I could crush them.}"
    (Garl Death-Hand's dialogue)
  3. The Vault Dweller: "{116}{}{Can you tell me about the bandits?}"
    Ian: "{120}{}{There are several. They come from various groups. They steal our food and occasionally shoot a few people. Seth organized the guards to help fight them off.}"
    The Vault Dweller: "{122}{}{There are different groups? Who are they all?}"
    Ian: "{128}{}{There are three groups: the Khans, the Vipers, and the Jackals. They pretty much hate each other, but they all raid Shady Sands.}"
    (Ian's dialogue)
  4. The Vault Dweller: "{133}{}{Tell me about the raiders.}"
    Ian: "{128}{}{There are three groups: the Khans, the Vipers, and the Jackals. They pretty much hate each other, but they all raid Shady Sands.}"
    (Ian's dialogue)
  5. The Vault Dweller: "{1044}{}{Khans}"
    Ian: "{1144}{}{They're a sorry group of raiders who attack Shady Sands and think that they're gonna take over the world or some such crap.}"
    (Ian's dialogue)
  6. The Chosen One: "{241}{}{I'd like to hear your story.}"
    Tandi: "{242}{tand29}{Figures. (sigh) Well, I was pretty young when we met. There was a gang of raiders - The Khans - Who'd gotten hold of me. Things were looking pretty bad when, all of a sudden, this stranger shows up and rescues me. Your Vaultdweller.}"
    (Tandi's dialogue)
  7. Fallout ending: "In Shady Sands, Tandi helps her father Aradesh bring a new community and new life out of the broken remains of the world. They are responsible for the New California Republic, whose ideals spread across the land."

Non-game

  1. Fallout Bible 0: "2141 Spring Vault 15 opened."
  2. Fallout Bible 0: "2141 Winter Raiders begin to form in the region as food supplies run low. The Khans and the Vipers begin terrorizing local settlements."
  3. Fallout Bible 6: "In some ancient design documentation that I think was written by Scott Campbell, one of the original designers (I'm still checking if it was him, so I may need to print a retraction on the credits), there was actually supposed to be three groups of raiders: The Jackals, the Khans, and the Vipers. Not only did they raid local towns and caravans, but they also preyed on each other - as you'll see from the descriptions below, their behavior and habits in F1 dictated (or were dictated by) their name choice.
    The Khans: The last group, the Khans, is probably the most dangerous. They live the lifestyles of Mongol warriors, raiding towns, burning what they cannot take and capturing the survivors for use as slaves. They usually travel in small scouting bands, but sometimes they roam as full war parties. The Khans above all else respect strength. They are eager in combat to prove their worthiness to the clan by engaging in hand to hand combat with fists or clubs. The Khans carry very few firearms (since they are for cowards). Anyone showing superior strength is worthy of their respect. The leader of the Khans is so because no one has beaten him in combat.
    One interesting thing listed in the original documentation is that all raider bands were supposedly all from Vault 15 after it opened, but they all splintered off into different groups from the overpopulated Vault.
    All of these raider groups officially exist in the Fallout universe, though only the Khans are in southern California at the start of Fallout 1. The handful of Vipers that survived Rhombus' campaign of extermination in 2155 fled North and East, following the same path the Jackals took after they had their asses handed to them by the Khans thirty years before."
  4. Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets p.201-202: "10. Doc Jones. The good doctor here in the medical bay (see Figure 10.9) is a prisoner of the gang. From him, you can find out that this gang of Raiders is none other than the descendants of the Khans, the Raiders who kidnapped Tandi in Fallout 1. Darion, the leader of the reborn Khans, is the son of Garl and would like to destroy Tandi for the havoc she, and your ancestor the Vault Dweller, visited upon his father's band of Raiders. After you learn of that from the doc, he'll heal you if you need it, as long as you haven't hurt any of the squatters (#1)."
The Khans
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