Van Graff is the matriarch of the Van Graffs of Redding, mother of ten children including Frieda and Gloria Van Graff and Jean-Baptiste Cutting.
Background[]
The leader of the Van Graff family is a woman of immense wealth, beauty, and one of the most vicious opponents of the New California Republic, seeing the nation as a group of corrupt, bullying fools.[2] Although the Van Graffs fought with the NCR for years, she always kept the Van Graffs two steps away from destruction through her almost limitless fortune.[2] Despite her distaste for the Republic and what it stands for, the Van Graff matriarch is a brilliant businesswoman and profit trumps politics every time. Should one of her ten children strike a deal with the Republic without her sanction, they can count on her seeing the profits and turning the connections to her advantage, should see value in it.[3]
Van Graff's daughter Gloria shares that her mother has had ten children, each one from a different father.[4] Casting them aside once she became disinterested, with the exception of Gloria's father and Mr. Cutting, the father of Jean-Baptiste, who died before he was born.[5] She favored Cutting so much that she gave her son his last name to honor him, differing from the rest of Jean-Baptiste's siblings.[6]
The blood bond between the leading Van Graff and her children results significant loyalty. Whenever the Van Graffs open a branch, one of the ten is there to head its operations and ensure that nobody crosses them. The matriarch gives them a broad autonomy in day-to-day operations, running the company from the home office in Redding.[4] However, not all of the children are treated equally by their mother. Gloria Van Graff in particular is the black sheep of the family, due to their constant clashes. Both are ferocious, motivated, and intelligent women, though her position as the head of the family ensures that she wins each argument, leaving Gloria to get all the "shit jobs."[7]
Appearances[]
The Van Graff's mother is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes[]
In the Van Buren design documents, the character is referred to as Tiaret Van Graff.
References[]
- ↑ Jean-Baptiste Cutting: "One day mama took me aside and said, "Boy, you're never going to go very far, but you're going to make a whole lotta people come up short.""
(VFSJeanBaptisteCutting.txt) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Courier: "For starters, what in the hell just happened?"
Gloria Van Graff: "We made a lot of money, that's what. The Legion paid us to deliver weapons, and the NCR paid us to deliver the Legion. Or some of them, anyway."
Courier: "I thought you hated the NCR?"
Gloria Van Graff: "Oh, I do. They're a bunch of corrupt, bullying fools who think they can tell everyone how to live their lives, and my family's fought them for years. But that's just it. Do you know how large the NCR army is? If they wanted to, they could have beaten us a dozen times over. Do you know why they haven't? Money. Every time things have gotten too tense, we've paid them off and laid low for a while. They're an enemy we can live with. This Caesar, on the other hand, is a different animal. We've heard reports for years from our agents to the east. He doesn't tolerate his enemies, he makes examples of them. And he doesn't have friends. Only servants. And the Van Graffs serve no one but themselves. Given that, the choice was rather simple."
(Gloria Van Graff's dialogue) - ↑ Courier: "Just start at the beginning."
Gloria Van Graff: "Caesar has been making overtures to prominent suppliers for some time now. Usually, they're too scared of him to cross him and just pay or flee. I saw an opportunity and negotiated a deal with the NCR - I help draw some of their enemy's troops into a trap and they agree to buy from me. Normally, those stuck-up bastards wouldn't have anything to do with us, but their situation is precarious, and this chance was too tempting."
Courier: "So now the Van Graffs are allied with the NCR?"
Gloria Van Graff: "Well... not exactly. The deal wasn't exactly sanctioned by my mother, but she'll come around when she hears about the profit I made. If she's smart, and she is, believe me, she'll turn this to her own advantage and make a bundle off our new "connections" in the NCR."
Courier: "Wouldn't you have made just as much money dealing with the Legion?"
Gloria Van Graff: "Hardly. They've got a lot of soldiers, and slaves. But they don't come close to having the amount of wealth the NCR has. When I said we were going to be rich, I meant it. The deal I brokered with the NCR netted me fives times what Caesar paid. Keeping Caesar's money was just a bonus."
(Gloria Van Graff's dialogue) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Courier: "Tell me about the Van Graffs."
Jean-Baptiste Cutting: "Our family comes from Redding, to the west. We deal weapons mostly, but trade other commodities, like gold, if there's cash in it. Our mother's been running the show for longer than most of us have been alive, but she stays at the home office. We've got branches all over the place, which are run by my brothers and sisters. Momma's real popular with the menfolk, both for her money and her looks, which is why there's ten of us kids in total, all by different fathers."
(Jean-Baptiste Cutting's dialogue) - ↑ Gloria: "Oh, there's not much to tell. I was born into a big family and don't get along with my parents, so here I am. As far away from them as possible."
(Gloria Van Graff's dialogue) - ↑ Courier: "How come your last name isn't Van Graff?"
Jean-Baptiste Cutting: "Unlike most of my brothers and sisters, Mama didn't get sick of my father and get rid of him. He died right before I was born. Mama had liked him so much, she made me use his last name. Said he deserved that much at least, since he never got to meet me or nothin'."
(Jean-Baptiste Cutting's dialogue) - ↑ Courier: "What about Gloria?"
Jean-Baptiste Cutting: "Glory? Glory's fucking {heavyily stressed}crazy. Some of my siblings are real pieces of work, but I'd bet on Glory if she were facing down a deathclaw with a plastic spoon. She's got the smarts to do whatever she wants, but she and momma are always butting heads, so she gets all the shit jobs."
(Jean-Baptiste Cutting's dialogue)