Fallout: New Vegas: What Is the Canon Ending?
One of the best action role-playing games of all time is definitely Fallout: New Vegas. When it came out in 2010, fans and critics did not like the game’s bugs and glitches, but behind that was a masterpiece that will stay in gaming history as one of the best games and stories of all time. The world-building was astonishing, and the game’s characters are still quotable today. The story of New Vegas is branched out amazingly well in the game, and there are various endings one can get after finishing the game. In this article, we will discuss the canon ending of Fallout: New Vegas.
Fallout: New Vegas story explained
Let’s talk about the Fallout: New Vegas story a bit, or at least the game’s premise, since there are many stories involved. Fallout: New Vegas is set in 2281, four years after the ending of the Fallout 3 game and 204 years since the Great War of 2077.
Three major powers seek control of the Mojave Desert and New Vegas area – Mr. House, Ceasar’s Legion, and the New California Republic. The NCR is the returnee to the Fallout franchise after the last appearance in the Fallout 2 game. Since then, the army has extended and has been mostly mismanaged, but they have the most power in the Mojave Desert.
However, they are constantly threatened by the Slave-owning and the Roman army styled Caesar’s Legion, who managed to unite 86 tribes on the east of the Wasteland. Mr. House is a billionaire who integrated himself into a high-tech, life-preservation system from which he controls the New Vegas and the Hoover Dam area.
The Courier was supposed to deliver the platinum chip to Mr. House, who needed the item to upgrade his system. The player character starts his journey with The Courier being left for dead by Benny, the head of Chairmen of New Vegas. However, Courier survives with the help of the securitron named Viktor, who drags you to Goodsprings and takes you to Doc Mitchell.
After being healed and taken care of by the doctor, Doc Mitchell sends you on a journey across the Mojave Wasteland, where The Courier needs to find out who was behind his attempted murder and the deal behind the platinum chip.
Along the way, you’ll meet many characters who are directly or indirectly part of the Fallout: New Vegas ending. There are so many quests, side jobs, and characters you encounter on your journey, which makes it extremely hard for us to list every single one of them. We won’t do that, but we will explain the endings available for Fallout: New Vegas.
What is the canon ending in Fallout: New Vegas?
As we already mentioned, Fallout: New Vegas has over 25 ending slides for each side quest you completed during the game’s walkthrough. Each of those slides and the story is important for the main story’s ending since your character will have to come back to these factions for one last quest.
Over the game, your character is either gaining Good or Bad Karma, which has been part of the Fallout franchise since Fallout 2. The Karma will determine your ending massively, especially if you must recruit minor factions for the last fight over the Hoover Dam.
It is valuable throughout the game, especially if you are traveling through the Wasteland, where you will be attacked by the Raiders and Wastelanders non-stop. The value of Karma points will unlock the special dialogue and some options that will be important for the Fallout: New Vegas ending.
New Vegas has four official endings. Everything you’ve been through comes to the last choice that is determined by choosing which future will await the New Vegas area.
Independent ending
The Courier will discover Yes Man, the AI program that served as Benny’s assistant and right hand. He is an important part of Benny’s scheme to take over New Vegas from Mr. House. You can join forces and continue what Benny intended by installing the virus in Mr. House’s system and killing him. The Courier, together with Yes Man, and Securiton army, manages to control the now Independent Mojave Strip.
If The Courier updates the Securiton robots, the New Vegas Strip would be clean of any crime and run by the strong regime of Courier and Yes Man. If that does not happen, the New Vegas Strip will be in chaos and hardly controlled, but the new Independent force of New Vegas will rise in the middle of the Mojave Wasteland.
Personally, this ending is considered a short-term solution since The Courier doesn’t see them as a person that will be able to control the whole New Vegas area in the best possible way – Caesar’s Legion is still in the Mojave, wreaking havoc, and NCR is weakened. Other smaller factions are still at War and trying to assert themselves in the Wasteland, while Yes Man and Courier need to control and lead the whole, especially the New Vegas Strip.
Some fans argue this ending is in line with what Fallout: New Vegas is trying to display, especially with Lonesome Road DLC, which sets the Independent ending. Ultimately, it is for each of their own, and if you choose this ending, you’ll need to be on your best behavior throughout the walkthrough.
With all being said, the Independent ending is not the true canon ending for Fallout: New Vegas.
Mr. House ending
The Courier helps Mr. House in eight stages – one needs to go through eight quests that are part of the Mr. House ending called House Always Wins. Through the quests, The Courier will have to go to different factions they encountered throughout the game and prepare for the ultimate fight over the Hoover Dam between Legion and NCR. Ultimately, Mr. House, with the help of Courier and Securitons will obtain control of the Hoover Dam and continue to run New Vegas in his way.
Mr. House will use his technology to upgrade life in New Vegas and the streets of Wasteland, which is the best bet in the bigger picture of the future of humanity – Mr. House’s technology can relocate humanity to other planets and save the species of certain extinction.
New Vegas remains the place where dreams are made and broken. Still, with the help of The Courier, good, neutral, or bad, Mr. House will be able to control the Mojave Wasteland the best he can and provide the people with the best technology and future for the suffering people of the Mojave Desert.
This perspective is much different from what we learned about NCR and Legion – two factions want the world how it was before the War and apocalypse, while Mr. House looks at the future. That’s not to say that Mr. House is a saint, quite the opposite, but his solution only makes sense in terms of Fallout: New Vegas and what we learn throughout the game. This opinion is based on my game experience; frankly, Mr. House’s ending made sense for my walkthrough.
Caesar’s Legion ending
Caesar’s Legion is probably the most extreme ending available in the game. The Legion is based on the old regime, which Caesar built on the conquest and enslavement of tribal societies in the American southwest. The Legion took on the traditions of the Roman Empire military and repurposed it for the post-apocalypse. Essentially, the ending sees Caesar and his Legion enter the New Vegas Strip and take over the ruling of the whole Wasteland. Most factions and people are enslaved peacefully, while the other ending suggests that if Caesar dies, his underlings will raid the Strip and kill anyone in the way.
Peacefully savage or chaotically savage, the Mojave Wasteland is now under the rule of the Legion. It does not look good for women and “frail” humans, who will be executed and crushed under the Legion regime. Natural selection and all that.
NCR (New California Republic) ending
The military celebrates its second win in the battle of Hoover Dam and fully takes over control of the entire Mojave Wasteland. The army eventually pursued the unity of the communities like the Strip, Freeside, and more, which completed the ultimate power of NCR.
This ending is the most obvious since the NCR regime goes all the way back to the Fallout 2 game. The players are mostly okay with a bit of corruption and shady dealings of NCR if they will protect the communities and overpower extremist factions like the Legion.
In the end, there is no canon ending to Fallout: New Vegas. Years after the game’s release, players have been discussing the right ending for the game and have yet to agree to one specific ending. Neither Obsidian nor Bethesda had released the true ending of the game, and frankly, the fans will tell you that it is for the best.
Fallout: New Vegas is a staple of the role-playing, storytelling genre of games that only few can replicate since it provides the players the opportunity to truly create the story for themselves and the amazing habitats of the Mojave Wasteland.
In the end, the Fallout: New Vegas canon ending is your own, and the one you decide is the best playing with The Courier, who can be bad, neutral, or good – it’s all in our hands. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!