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Wish I had a Stealth Boy instead of this bear trap.

Dog is a psychologically disturbed nightkin who helps Father Elijah by capturing "assistants" for him and fitting them with explosive collars in 2281. His alternate identity, God (referred to by the former as simply "the voice"), is trying to break Dog free of Elijah's grasp.

The "Dog" identity can be triggered by the sound of Father Elijah's voice, and the "God" identity is triggered by the sound of his own voice (via holotape or radio). When one is dominant, the other is said to be in "the cage" or "the basement." The two are never given a collective name, only referred to as their two names collectively.

Dog is the subservient identity who follows Elijah to give him orders like the Master did in his previous life, and God is the independent and intelligent identity that seeks to move on and be free from Elijah's exploitation of Dog's obedience.

Background[]

What little is known about the person who would become Dog/God is that he was a member of the Master's elite nightkin. Like the rest of the mutant army, he was psychically linked to the Master and conditioned to slavishly serve him until death. With the destruction of the Mariposa Military Base, then the Cathedral,[1] and the subsequent loss of connection to the commanders, his grip on reality broke as the two identities emerged.[2][3]

The first identity the player meets is Dog, a slavish, childlike character of pure instinct, built from the conditioning the Master bred its army with. The other, God, is the subconscious voice of reason. As the years went by, Dog would constantly get into trouble, wandering, eating, and listening to those he should not. His ravenous hunger can only be described as gluttonous. Once he starts to feed, anyone and anything that Dog hunts will be crushed, mangled and twisted until he is satiated in an act of uncontrolled greed. He knows what he does is wrong, but simply can't help himself.[4] Eventually the voice of reason couldn't stand the constant self imperilment, nor the cannibalism, and began to emerge to counter Dog. Dog, in response, began self mutilation, eventually going so far as to carve the name Elijah gave him on his chest to remind himself who he is, the pain serving to stifle the "other voice."[5][6] However, as time passed, the other voice became stronger and stronger, and consequently it took more and more pain to stifle the God identity.[3]

Dog's hunger would always drive him to the surface, but when the hunger was satiated and/or fatigue set in, God would emerge. Dog is unaware that the God identity is actually a part of him. He refers to the other identity as climbing into his head and constantly being mean to him in a misinterpretation of God's attempt at protecting them both from harm by locking Dog away. Despite this, God continues to try to protect Dog, seeing him as his younger sibling. Both would grow to resent the suppression of the other being in control, each referring to the other putting them in the cage, or the basement.[3][7] While in the cage, each identity would only perceive glimpses of the other's actions. This has had the effect of allowing them to keep secrets from each other. This, however, is both a "gift" and a curse, for while it helps keep strategic ignorance, it only exacerbates the animosity between the two.

Although God likes to think he was the original, he is completely unsure. While he is in control, he refers to the body as a "shell" and states that it is hard to fight in. This may be a consequence of God being the culmination of the self preservation and reasoning instincts. Calm, articulate and controlling, God seeks to eliminate Elijah to free himself from the need for a master and to eliminate his greedy ravenous hunger.[8][6][9] In contrast, Dog seeks to eliminate the God personality so that he may become pure instinct, and gorge to his contentment on his master's affection and food. As a result, God has developed a hatred for greed, although neither could hide its bloodlust, whether Elijah's, Dean Domino's or the Courier's.[5][10]

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

Interactions
Perk nociception regulator color
This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. Put the Beast Down
Paving the Way
This character is a permanent companion. They grant the Ravenous Hunger (as Dog) or In My Footsteps (as God) perk.
FO76 ui icon quest
This character is involved in quests.

Quests[]

Other interactions[]

  • After recruiting Dog and watching him kill and consume one of the ghost people, the Courier can talk to Dog and, after going through a few speech options, receive the Ghost Hunter perk from him. However, if they have the Cannibal perk, it is possible to get the Ghost Hunter perk from him without fighting.
  • He has unique idle dialogue for locations around the Sierra Madre;
Dog and God's comments
Location and personality Comment
God—Villa clinic, the makeshift mortuary It looks like someone was experimenting... although they were doing so after the collars went off.
Dog—Villa clinic, the makeshift mortuary People missing heads... make mistake coming here. Make Dog hungry.
God–The Sierra Madre vending machine in the Villa Those machines feed on Sierra Madre Chips. There's codes that unlock other things, too.
Dog–The Sierra Madre vending machine in the Villa Pretty circle on machine, all glowing.

Effects of player's actions[]

  • Wild Wasteland If the Courier has the Wild Wasteland trait, Dog will say "OM NOM NOM" the first time he eats a ghost person. This is a reference to Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.
  • Should Dog/God be killed in the Cantina Madrid and if the area is revisited, his corpse will be shown to have exploded into bloody chunks, due to the fact he ate his collar.

Companion interactions[]

  • God will engage Dean Domino in conversation while they are both dismissed to the Villa fountain by the Courier. He is apparently familiar with Dean and expresses contempt for the ghoul for not leaving the Sierra Madre when he had the opportunity.
  • Similarly, if Dog is a companion, he will engage Dean Domino in a short conversation if they meet at the Villa fountain. Dog will refer to Dean as if he was some kind of food, Dean's reply being "you stay in your corner while I stay in mine." Then, Dean will talk quietly with the Courier, asking them to "keep him away from this thing."

Endings[]

This section is transcluded from Dead Money endings. To change it, please edit the transcluded page.
# Slide Voice-over narration In-game condition
1
Nvdlc01 eg dog
When Dog fell in the Sierra Madre casino, two died as one. Dog died hungry, alone, frightened. The voice in his head died with him. Screaming. Furious. Enraged. But the voice was gone, and Dog was grateful. At least Dog was dead and the voice needed to watch over him no more. In the moment before their lives ended, the wall between the two personalities fell. The two became silent as they saw the chain between them. Hunger and control are twin greeds, something Dog and his shadow had never realized. Dog is dead.
2
Nvdlc01 eg dog
Dog forgot himself, as did the voice that raged within him. After their passing, a new voice spoke within the mutant's shell. It was difficult for the voice to remember the two it once was... there was the beast, Dog consumed by hunger... ...and the other in reverse... the one consumed by control. Both were driven by need for the other. The Courier brought them together, somehow, joined the two into one. All that happened at the Sierra Madre, was a faint memory to the new personality... like a flickering light in the clouds of the mind. The new voice did not think of the Courier again until the battle at the Divide reached his ears. The battle between the two couriers, beneath the torn skies and the Old World flag... each bearing a message for the other. And the mutant prayed the Courier that had saved him... had been saved in return. Dog is alive, God is alive.
3
Nvdlc01 eg dog
Dog, free of the voice inside his head and no longer waiting on the voice of the Master, wandered back West. His hunger never ended. Often, small communities would suddenly vanish. They were assumed to have been hit by Wasteland creatures and dragged away... dogs, brahmin, and humans alike. Only Dog is alive.
4
Nvdlc01 eg dog
Freed of both Dog and the one who held Dog's leash, the other voice resumed control. First the mind, then finally, the mutant's shell. His first act was to tend to the scars on the body with careful hands, slowly healing all the scars except the ragged name torn on his chest. He briefly thought of remaining at the Sierra Madre. But it was a monument built by humans, representing something he no longer needed. He began walking west, in search of others like him. As he did, he spoke of the courier who had set him free and allowed his life to begin again. Only God is alive.

Inventory[]

Apparel Weapon Other items On death
- - - -

Much like Lily Bowen, Dog and God are limited in the weapons they can use. These weapons are:

Since Dog/God cannot equip any weapons unique to Dead Money and outside weapons cannot be brought into the Sierra Madre, Dog/God are effectively restricted to Unarmed fighting, frag grenades and the sledgehammer.

Notes[]

  • Dog's and God's names are a semordnilap, a word that spells a different word in reverse.[11]
  • Dog is set to level as the Courier does, and will reach a maximum level of 45 depending on the order in which each add-on is completed (Dead Money being completed last/close to last). God also levels with the protagonist, but has no maximum allowed level, and also has no minimum level either. Because of this, God/Dog has an extremely high amount of Hit Points at very high levels, in his God incarnation more than any other enemy in the game save for the legendary bloatfly or X-42 giant robo-scorpion. This, combined with his inside 30% DR, can make him a very powerful opponent if the Courier is forced to fight him towards the end of Dead Money.
  • Dog is actually smaller than God, set to a scale of 0.9, whereas God is a normal scale of 1. Like Lily Bowen, Dog and God are both shorter than a normal super mutant, although they still stand a head taller than a normal human, in order to traverse narrow terrain as human-sized followers do.
  • Dog and God have different combat-related personal perks. Dog has the typical nightkin's 30% DR, while God's health regenerates over time.
  • When Dog is dominant, he will occasionally refer to the Mariposa Military Base and the Cathedral in idle dialogue, stating that he misses the base and the church.[1]
  • While Dog/God are in fact a mentally disturbed nightkin with dissociative identity disorder, or a similar mental condition (something that likely started developing when the Master died in Fallout), Elijah seems to be under the impression that he is merely a normal second-generation FEV mutant. God has given him this impression by cleverly not speaking aloud whenever Elijah is listening, exposing him only to Dog's personality, who acts like any second-generation mutant.[12][citation needed]
  • When God is asked about Elijah, it becomes apparent that he knows about HELIOS One and Elijah's failing there.[13]
  • Dog/God has a unique face, a unique body appearance and a unique voice compared to other nightkin.
  • If the Courier's collar explodes while having Dog or God as a companion, his subsequent death will count towards the Super Mutant Massacre challenge.
  • If Dog/God has throwable explosives (e.g. frag grenades) in his inventory, he will use one initially in combat against ghost people, but is then unable to attack when they get close enough to melee.
  • God has no associated game script, which can have a dramatic impact on gameplay. This means he does not automatically heal after combat, and can even die outright without triggering the detonation of the player's collar directly.
  • When asked who he was expecting to meet instead of the player, God says that he wished to see the old man for a chat, hoping that he would come for him physically. It's possible that he turned the old radios back on in the station to block Elijah's communication with him.[14]

Notable quotes[]

Dog[]

God[]

Appearances[]

Dog and God appear only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money.

Behind the scenes[]

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 The dialogue options "Who's this old man that brought us here?", "So you're the one that knows how I got to the villa," "You Brought Me Here to the villa" and "I want to know more about the man who brought us here" remain highlighted even if you have selected them. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 Sometimes, when clearing out Salida del Sol North with Dog/God, he will fall through the floor and be suspended underneath it.
  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 Sometimes Dog/God may be unable to heal when idle or given stimpaks. [verified]
  • Xbox 360Xbox 360 Sometimes when he is ordered to wait, Dog/God will attack the first ghost person he can find before waiting. [verified]
  • Xbox 360Xbox 360 There is an exploitable bug where you can obtain God's perk without him following you. By having God as a companion, use Elijah's voice to summon Dog's persona. This is only temporary, however; as soon as you dismiss him at his post for Fires in the Sky, this perk will be lost. [verified]
  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 Dog/God is prone to getting stuck in walls around the villa and may be unable to follow the player in the same cell. [verified]
  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 Sometimes Dog will bug and repeat the phrase "Let Dog out. Hungry, hate being in here" after you have brought him to the fountain. This is because the game still thinks Dog is in the cage at the police station due to the result of buggy dialogue options when you are convincing him to leave the cage. [verified]
    • FIX: If updating the game or returning to a previous save is not an option, the console is the only solution. Go to Dog and open the console, then click him. Remember the first two digits of the number at the top then type set xx000FBF.bDogFreed to 1. Replace XX with the two digits from before.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Dog: "Don't like this place. Want to go back, back to the base. Or the Church, miss the Church."
    (Dog and God's dialogue) Note: This line is spoken both as a random idle line and can be listened to over 631.08Hz ULF radio signal.
  2. The Courier: "Why did you put emphasis on the word 'Master' before?"
    God: "[SUCCEEDED] The 'Master' - Elijah... reminds Dog of someone from long ago. His leader, commander. Commanders. The Master was a strong personality... personalities as well. Dog is slavish, was conditioned to serve the Master until death. The Old Man... Elijah merely came along and opened that door in Dog's mind. Now Dog does whatever the Old Man wants."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Courier: "You have multiple personality disorder. Some trauma caused this?"
    God: "[SUCCEEDED] Trauma... yes, in a manner of speaking. Do you see these wounds of his, covering his skin...the bear trap on his arm? He placed his own hand in it. The name he carved in his chest? To remind him of who he is, he inflicts pain on himself to silence me, when all I try to do... Hrr! ...he cuts, hurts, and tries to murder me out of him. He won't succeed. Just makes me angrier. Dog is the beast, we simply change cages. Like the ones here."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)
  4. The Courier: "How the hell did you... or whoever... eat one of these collars?"
    God: "They... detach. When segmented, they look like nothing more than metallic Radscorpions... and if they're attached to neck flesh, warm, red... Dog doesn't care what's on the body he's crushing in his hands, he'll mangle it, twist it, make it fit until he's full. Dog can't help himself... hungry... greedy. And now the collar's inside, alive again. And we're trapped here until it goes cold."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)
  5. 5.0 5.1 God: "Touched by radiation, and you choose to spend your time here. You could have just left... but you're too obsessed to let go."
    Dean Domino: "I used to know a ventriloquist with more skill than you. At least he had the sense to know his own name, without carving it into his chest."
    God: "Mirrors tell me my name when needed... and I have a name for you, several. Thief, coward... showman. Radiation couldn't kill the truth, could it."
    Dean Domino: "The truth, buddy, is this: you and me, we're now family as long as we got these bowties on. So watch your mouth, you don't scare me."
    (Dean Domino's and Dog and God's dialogue) Note: NVDLC01GodToDeanTopic01
  6. 6.0 6.1 Dean Domino: "Why are you so carved up - that a bear trap on your arm?"
    Dog: "Reminds me, keeps the voice out of my head. He can't talk when the pain's howling at me."
    Dean Domino: "Eh... wait, so you're not just slow, you're screwy, too? Some crew we are... we are never getting into the Sierra Madre."
    Dog: "Dog is hungry. Tired of your voice... when do we eat?"
    Dean Domino: "Don't like the way this guy is looking at me. You better be his leash."
    (Dean Domino's and Dog and God's dialogue) Note: VDLC01DeanToDogTopic02
  7. The Courier: "What happened to your voice?"
    God: "I'm the voice of reason. I sleep sometimes... down in the basement, in the cage. Now that I'm awake, Dog goes back in the cage. Dog knows I'm here, but can't do anything about it. I'm his... conscience. Keep him tame, keep him from hurting us... doing foolish things. I've been trapped in here for some time, then you come along and let me out. So... you opened my cage for a reason. Now... I want to know why."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)
  8. Dean Domino: "Where the hell did you get this one. 'Dog?' What, so you don't forget your name?"
    Dog: "I don't remember you. Who are you."
    Dean Domino: "A little slow, huh? Uh... Dean. Dean Domino. I... live here."
    Dog: "You look like food, smell like food. Dog - hungry."
    Dean Domino: "All right, pal, you stay in your corner, I'll stay in mine. Do not leave me alone with this thing."
    (Dean Domino's and Dog and God's dialogue) Note: VDLC01DeanToDogTopic01
  9. Dean Domino: "Stop looking at me, you idiot. I can hear your stomach growling from here, I don't like it."
    Dog: "Run from Dog? Dog knows how to hunt. Dog will find you, tear you apart."
    Dean Domino: "That a bet you want to take? Cause I'll see that and raise you a few bullets to the skull."
    Dog: "Dog's been shot before, many times. Won't stop me from catching you."
    Dean Domino: "I hope you've got this one under control, because he's giving me a nasty itch on my trigger finger."
    (Dean Domino's and Dog and God's dialogue) Note: VDLC01DeanToDogTopic03
  10. God: "You could have left the Sierra Madre. Left this Villa, joined your own kind."
    Dean Domino: "Sierra Madre's mine, my heart's right where it belongs."
    God: "You can't abide it. There's no heart. You hate it, I can hear it in your words."
    Dean Domino: "Sounds like you need your hearing checked. Sierra Madre, it's meant for me."
    (Dean Domino's and Dog and God's dialogue) Note: NVDLC01GodToDeanTopic02
  11. The Courier: "That name carved on your chest... are you Dog?"
    God: "The carving's a reminder, for mirrors and for Dog. Dog, who you heard coming in, howling and hungry, as always. I've been trapped in here for some time, then you come along and let me out. So... you opened my cage for a reason. Now... I want to know why."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)
  12. The Courier: "If Dog put a collar on me, why didn't he say so?"
    Elijah: "Dog? Hnh. Appropriate. It's what I called him. You've met him. You know why he forgot - his brain was ruined by FEV, his memory, wreckage. He may know the way back, somewhere, deep down. I doubt it. He tracks by smell and instinct. Still, he could be trained."
    (Elijah's dialogue)
  13. The Courier: "This Old Man, what do you know about him?"
    God: "Elijah. Human, weak like all of you are. Feeling age circling him like starved dogs, howling for blood. To me, he reeks of age and failure. And madness. To me, he is simply the 'Old Man.' To Dog, he is 'Master.' His name, meaningless. Running out of years, hopes and dreams running through his withered hands like sand from the Big Empty... and scorched by the sun."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)
  14. The Courier: "If you weren't expecting me, who were you waiting for?"
    God: "Don't play stupid, I already have to mind one child. You must have figured it out by now. The Old Man obsessed with the Sierra Madre... riddled with greed. Hoped you might be him when I woke up. All you are is his hand... ...you're the same kind of greed. Followed the radio, the broadcast, and now you're here, all confused. Not for long. You'll figure it out."
    (Dog and God's dialogue)

Non-game

  1. Chris Avellone on Twitter: "Yeah. Hyde from the (comic) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a big inspiration, but I couldn't write as well as Mr. Moore."
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