Joshua Graham

Template:Character

 

Joshua Graham, also called the Burned Man and formerly the Malpais Legate, was a former Mormon missionary and, together with Caesar himself, founder of Caesar's Legion. After the defeat at Hoover Dam, Caesar ordered Graham's execution by being coated in pitch, lit on fire, and tossed into the Grand Canyon to set an example for others. There are rumors that he might have somehow survived this grisly fate.

Background

In 2246, Mormon missionary from New Canaan called Joshua Graham encountered two Followers of the Apocalypse in the Grand Canyon and embarked on an expedition to study tribal dialects. At some point in 2247, Graham, Calhoun and the future Caesar were captured by the Blackfoot tribe for ransom. At the time the tribe was at war with seven other tribes, a war they were inevitably going to lose. Unwilling to be destroyed along with them, and against the wishes of his companions, Caesar chose to use his knowledge to train the Blackfoot tribe in the art of warfare after witnessing their lack of knowledge first hand. He showed them how to clean and maintain guns, operate with small unit tactics, create their own explosives and to strike at their weakest enemies first; divide et impera - divide and conquer. He quickly impressed them enough to the point where he was made their leader. While Calhoun was sent back to the Followers to inform them of what he was doing, Caesar, together with Joshua Graham, formed the Legion out of the tribes that had either been conquered or had chosen to capitulate to avoid total destruction.

Graham, now called the Malpais Legate, was said to be a monster of a man and possibly unkillable. After the Legion was defeated at Hoover Dam by the NCR, Caesar declared that Graham was responsible and ordered his execution. The Legate was coated in pitch, set on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon as an example of the consequences of failure. Afterward, members of the Legion were forbidden to speak his true name.

It is possible that Graham has survived. Graffiti found on a movie screen at the Mojave Drive-In, just south of Nipton, claims that "Joshua Graham Lives" and "The Burned Man Walks!" The same messages appear on the side of a derelict truck next to a radioactive pool of water at the north end of the road near Brooks Tumbleweed Ranch and on a corner of a destroyed building at the Nipton Road Pit Stop. Chief Hanlon mentions that assassination attempts have always failed; five times did 1st Recon Sharpshooters and Rangers reported his death, but each time turned out to be a failure. Legionaries and their slaves speak about the Burned Man as if he were a vengeful spirit, and rumors persist that Caesar's scouts still regularly scour Legion territory for any sign of him, showing even Caesar is worried that Joshua Graham may still be walking.

Interactions with the player character

Van Buren

Cleanup (Issue: not specified)

To meet Nukapedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. Please help by improving the article.

The following is based on Van Buren design documents and is not canon.

• The Prisoner was to encounter somebody hanged by the neck from a pole at Fort Abandon, obviously still alive and enraged. If cut down, the Hanged Man would tag along with the Prisoner. He was wrapped from head to toe in bandages as he had been burned pretty much all over. Save for the fact that he had a connection to Caesar's Legion and was particularly ticked off at them, he would not provide many details about himself.
• Rescuing the Hanged Man would cause all the tribals in the region to be angry with the Prisoner as the tribals would blame him for future crimes committed by the Hanged Man. In addition, the Hanged Man may anger any tribals he encounters and try to butcher any Twin Mothers tribals he could find. Having him in the party would make dealing with tribals and some towns extremely difficult.
• The Hanged Man would not enter New Canaan. Upon arrival, he would initiate dialogue with the Prisoner and tell him/her that he had something to take care of, offering to meet at Burham Springs later on. Bishop Mordecai would be able to reveal some details about him.
• Upon entering Burham Springs, the Hanged Man might quote 2 Chronicles 28, ... and he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons as an offering.... The Hanged Man would laughingly refuse to drop his weapons if commanded to by Phil, possibly even inciting Phil to open fire on the party. It would be very difficult for the Prisoner to defuse the situation.
• The Prisoner was supposed to be able to find all the CNPCs early on, but designers didn't want the Hanged Man to be too good then.
• If Hanged Man was intended to be the first CNPC to join, there are few ways to arrange this: the Prisoner can’t join anybody in Tibbets and could escape only to Fort Abandon or the only other location known to him during escape was Fort Abandon.

Appearances

Joshua Graham was created for the cancelled Van Buren, where he would have been a companion NPC, and would be called the "Hanged Man". According to Chris Avellone the Hanged Man in Van Buren was the poisonous companion and the first person possible to join the party - like having the Pariah Dog with the PC.

In Fallout: New Vegas, he is frequently mentioned and is an important character in the background of Caesar's Legion, but does not actually appear in the game, although graffiti referencing him can be found around the wasteland. Interestingly, the texture file for this graffiti can be found in a folder called "nvdlcgraffiti", and it shares part of its filename, "nvgraffitihonesthearts", with several other texture files, suggesting the possibility that the Burned Man/Joshua Graham will appear in a future DLC.

Sources

Hanged Man was probably detailed in the unpublished Fort Abandon design document. There are some doubts concerning his presence in game or leaving him as background character only. He was mentioned in:

• Cancelled New Canaan design document by J.E.Sawyer
• Burham Springs design document by J.E. Sawyer
• Blackfoot design document by Sean K. Reynolds
• Chris Avellone's interview for NMA
• Leaks on NMA forum

End of information based on Van Buren design documents

References

Template:VB companions