Fallout Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Fallout Wiki

It's not fair... nobody to play with... ever again...

Doctor Stanislaus Braun is a scientist, a former member of the Vault-Tec Corporation, and the overseer of Vault 112 in Fallout 3. He appears as a young girl named Betty when in the Tranquility Lane simulation.

Background[]

Working for Vault-Tec[]

Hailing from the German town of Kronach in Bavaria,[1] Dr. Stanislaus Braun was a talented scientist who developed a long, varied career before the Great War. Braun served as the director of Vault-Tec's Societal Preservation Program,[2] as well as the department head of Future-Tec.[3] Braun had a large role in organizing and developing the Vaults' true purpose as sinister scientific experiments conducted on their resident populations, for which he was admired by some such as Valery Barstow.[4] Braun was also in contact with other Vaults including the under-construction Vault 88 in Massachusetts.[5][6]

Among his myriad of other experiments were those in the field of advanced life preservation. The United States Army contracted Braun to develop cutting-edge methods for preserving human life beyond its natural limit in case of nuclear war.[Non-game 1] Braun was eventually credited as the sole developer of the Garden of Eden Creation Kit, distributed to a select number of Vaults prior to the Great War and described as a "fully self-contained terraforming module capable of creating and sustaining life, even amid a desolate nuclear wasteland."[2] When the Great War broke out on October 23, 2077, Braun escaped to the safety of Vault 112.

Ruling the simulation[]

After going through at least two previous simulated scenarios that he eventually became bored with,[7] the third and longest-lasting one, "Tranquility Lane," had Braun create an ideal, pre-War American suburban neighborhood where he took on the identity of a little girl named "Betty." As "Betty," Braun can freely alternate between speaking like a precocious pre-teen girl or his normal, accented voice. Most of the residents of Tranquility Lane are unaware of Betty's nature, though Timmy Neusbaum at least knows that she is "mean."[8] Old Lady Dithers is the only person fully aware of the simulation and Betty's real identity due to her lounger suffering a malfunction; though she is unable to escape like the others, she was able to learn about the existence of Braun's failsafe and its ability to end the simulation for good.[9]

For the past two centuries, Braun has been repeatedly creating and exploring new simulated worlds, at least three of which were "Toucan Lagoon," "Slalom Chalet" and "Tranquility Lane." However, he often became bored with simply watching the Vault inhabitants being miserable and later began using his special access as its creator to directly manipulate the simulations to impose cruelty and agony on the Vault's inhabitants as a means of alleviating his boredom. In his psychopathic hubris, Braun commissioned the inclusion of a "Chinese Invasion" program, loaned and sourced from Virtual Strategic Solutions' in-house Anchorage Reclamation simulation by General Chase, intending to use it as a means to permanently end the simulation once he was finished with his experiments. However, Braun discovered that while initiating the program, called "the failsafe," would result in the permanent deaths of the simulation's inhabitants, hard-coded safety protocols would not allow the program to end his life, in all likelihood leaving him isolated and alone in the simulated world.[10]

Outside problems[]

By 2277, Braun and the captive Vault dwellers have been kept in their loungers for over 200 years, sustained by their life support machines, to the point that Braun believes if any of them, himself included, tried to return to the real world, they would "crumble to dust."[11] A wasteland doctor, James, entered Vault 112 looking for the G.E.C.K. brought there on Braun's orders before the War, in order to use it to jumpstart Project Purity. Having expected to find old notes or data stores instead of the man himself still alive, James unwittingly entered an unoccupied lounger and was trapped in Tranquility Lane, where he was forced by Braun to play the part of a dog named "Doc."[12]

A short time later, James' child, the Lone Wanderer, entered the Vault as well trying to find him. They entered an unoccupied lounger and met Braun as Betty, who asked them to commit a series of heinous acts like making a child cry, breaking apart a loving marriage, culminating in going on a killing spree of all the inhabitants, all to continue entertaining him. The Lone Wanderer either complied with Braun's requests and was eventually allowed to leave along with James while the others were left trapped at Braun's mercy, or they discovered and activated the failsafe, ending the inhabitants' tormented lives and leaving Braun trapped by himself in the simulation.

Personality[]

A psychopath and narcissist at heart, Braun is arrogant and has a tremendous ego coupled with an inflated sense of his own intelligence. Coupled with severe anger issues, he lashes out over perceived slights, believes that he is always right and answers even simple questions with lengthy condescending digressions.

He also has a sadistic side, lacking any empathy for the inhabitants of Vault 112 that he's kept trapped in a simulated world where they are routinely killed, resurrected, mind-wiped and killed again, and does not have any mercy as he views them all as mere playthings for his own amusement. Braun views death in the simulation as a minor deterrence as he can normally resurrect them at any time he desires.

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

Interactions
Perk nociception regulator color
This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed.
FO76 ui icon quest
This character is involved in quests.

Tranquility Lane

Quests[]

Tranquility Lane: Braun (as Betty) is the man pulling the strings when the Lone Wanderer enters the Tranquility Lane lounger trying to rescue James. To escape, Braun asks them to complete several instructions that involve harming the trapped Vault inhabitants in different ways:

  • Complying with all of Braun's instructions nets significant bad Karma.
  • Activating the failsafe inside the abandoned house gives good Karma for ending the torment of the residents in Vault 112. A side effect of the failsafe is severing all control Braun had over the simulator, leaving him trapped forever, powerless and alone.
  • Completing all of Betty's tasks except the "kill everyone" task and then activating the failsafe instead will result in neutral Karma. Braun reacts to the failsafe the same way as if none of his tasks were completed.

Other interactions[]

If the Lone Wanderer tries to harm Betty in Tranquility Lane, even after completing the quest, Betty will say they cannot do that in the simulation and make them pay by instantly killing the Lone Wanderer in what appears to be a pulse blast.

Inventory[]

Apparel Weapon Other items On death
Vault 112 jumpsuit

Notes[]

  • As with all "real" Vault 112 residents (i.e. the player character, their Dad and Braun, most pods, including the inhabitants, are just static scenery) in sitting state, Braun is set to both perma-unconscious (closed eyes) and ghost (the player character can target him, but he receives no damage from any source) state.[13] Because of this, even though he is not essential, Braun cannot be killed at all without using console commands. To actually be able to kill him, one must first open his pod by using the console command PlayGroup Forward 1 on it (b724a), and then set ghost 0 on Braun (bd694). Even then, due to him being unconscious, he cannot be targeted in V.A.T.S. (though he can be damaged normally).
  • If the perma-unconsciousness is removed (e.g. by use of console or scripts), he only has the standard dialogue options and voice of a male NPC.
  • Stanislaus Braun is the only person in the Tranquility Loungers that appears to be sleeping, as all the others are permanently awake.
  • Pinkerton mentions in his terminal that he stole a memory chip from Braun's terminal, claiming that it was like "stealing from a little girl."[14]
  • The Lone Wanderer can reference Braun as Betty during Operation: Anchorage before getting in the simulation pod by saying "Great, more psychotic little girls" to Protector McGraw.
  • Braun's research is mentioned in the chief scientist's terminal in Vault 75.[15]
  • Braun was familiar with the Enclave and their role in the Vault-Tec program; the AI of Vault 51, ZAX 1.3c, used this knowledge and impersonated him to have the Enclave send a suit of prototype power armor to the vault.[16]

Appearances[]

Stanislaus Braun appears only in Fallout 3. He is mentioned in Fallout 4[15] and its add-on Vault-Tec Workshop,[17] as well as in the Nuclear Winter update for Fallout 76.[2][16]

Behind the scenes[]

In an interview with 1UP.com, Emil Pagliarulo stated that Betty's presence in the Tranquility Lane simulation was partially inspired by the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life," in which a small, willful child who was born with godlike powers is able to isolate his small Ohio hometown and its inhabitants from the rest of the world, forcing them to always be nice to him no matter what he does or else he punishes them.[Non-game 2]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Tranquility Lane terminal entries; Vault 112 auxiliary command terminal, Dr. Braun Entry: Tranquility Lane
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Vault 94 terminal entries; G.E.C.K. monitoring station terminal, Introduction to the G.E.C.K.
  3. Vault 51 terminal entries; terminal, ZAX Console Log: 10/23/2080
  4. Vault-Tec Workshop loading screens: "The Overseer is the person responsible for every aspect of a Vault's operation - including any bizarre social experiments cooked up by Dr. Stanislaus Braun, the Director of Vault-Tec's Societal Preservation Program."
  5. Valery Barstow: "Here we are. Here. Among these papers is my life's work. I'd like to share it with you. Doctor Braun tasked me with something vital. A series of prototypes and their related... well, experiments, that could redefine society. But as you can see things did not go according to plan."
    (Valery Barstow's dialogue)
  6. Vault 101 terminal entries; overseer's terminal, Letter from Doctor Stanislaus Braun
  7. Tranquility Lane terminal entries; Vault 112 auxiliary command terminal
  8. The Lone Wanderer: "What can you tell me about the neighborhood?"
    Timmy Neusbaum: "It's okay, I guess. I don't really have nobody to play with. Except for Betty... and she's kind of... well, she's mean."
    (Timmy Neusbaum's dialogue)
  9. The Lone Wanderer: "Who are you talking about?"
    Old Lady Dithers: "He calls himself Betty now, but he's still the same. He can put on a new face all he likes, but underneath he's still evil. Braun. Bastard thinks because he helped create this place he's God here. But I know he still uses the Failsafe terminal. I know it."
    (Old Lady Dithers' dialogue)
  10. Vault 112 auxiliary command terminal, Failsafe Program Documentation
  11. The Lone Wanderer: "You don't need to stay here. You can live in the real world again."
    Stanislaus Braun: "The "real world"? Ha ha ha. This world is more real than anything outside. My body has been seated in the same chair for 200 years. It's sustained by machines. Were I to so much as stand up, my body would crumble to dust. But here, I've moved beyond that frail physical form. I am so much MORE here. And now our little diversion is at an end. It's time you do something else for me."
    (Stanislaus Braun's dialogue)
  12. The Lone Wanderer: "What are YOU doing here? You could've been killed!"
    James: "Well I didn't expect Dr. Braun to be alive and insane. I thought I'd just find notes, or holotapes. I needed information about Braun, and his work on the G.E.C.K."
    (James' dialogue)
  13. Vault112ResidentScript
  14. Rivet City terminal entries; Pinkerton's private computer, Android log 2
  15. 15.0 15.1 Vault 75 terminal entries; chief scientist's terminal, PRIME DIRECTIVE
  16. 16.0 16.1 Vault 51 terminal entries; terminal, Re: Hellfire Prototype Requisition Request
  17. Valery Barstow: "This last experiment is my pride and joy. Following in the footsteps of Doctor Braun and the others, I have spent my time devising my very own prototype. Its premise is this. We are all flawed creatures. Each with our own vices. What if our Vault didn't pointlessly try to stamp out these predilections and instead harnessed them?"
    (Valery Barstow's dialogue)

Non-game

  1. Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.70: "Doctor Stanislaus Braun/Betty
    A preeminent scientist, Doctor Braun headed up many astonishing experiments in his long and varied carrier, but of most interest were his theories on advanced life preservation. It is said that the U.S. Army had contracted Braun to develop various methods of sustaining human life in the case of an atomic war. When war did come, Braun escaped to the safety of Vault 112 and is there to this day, his wizened and wrinkled form given new (virtual) life as a pigtailed little scamp named Betty..."
    (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
  2. Emil Pagliarulo, "Fallout 3 Afterthoughts" on 1UP.com: "As for the gameplay there, Betty was inspired partially by the Billy Mumy character in the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life," in which this little kid with godlike powers terrorizes the inhabitants of a town, and "wishes" them into the cornfield when they're bad."
Major antagonists
Advertisement