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He's dead - nobody, no matter how tough, can survive a fall into the Grand Canyon!Antony when the Courier asks him about the Burned Man

The Grand Canyon, sometimes referred to as the Magnum Chasma within Caesar's Legion,[1] is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona.

Background[]

Sometime prior to the Great War, Frederick Sinclair would choose a site close to the Grand Canyon to construct the Sierra Madre, an entirely self-sufficient casino and resort largely away from civilization.[2]

In 2247, two members of the Followers of the Apocalypse, Bill Calhoun and Edward Sallow, were sent out east to the Grand Canyon to learn some of the dialects of the local tribes. To help them in this task, they were joined by Joshua Graham, a translator from the New Canaanites. The three young men ventured down into the canyon, and encountered members of the Blackfoot tribe. Despite amiable interactions at first, the tribe eventually turned on them (Graham later believed a mistranslation by him caused it), imprisoning the three.[3] At that time, the Blackfoots were at war with seven other tribes in the canyon. Seeing that they were certain to lose and their captives put to death with them, Edward, with Graham's translating, taught the Blackfoots how to create weapons and utilize viable warfare tactics, soon taking leadership of the tribe. He led the Blackfoots in an attack on the Ridgers' village, where he ordered the defeated enemy to surrender. When they refused, every man, woman, and child was killed under his order. The Kaibabs were then surrounded by the Blackfoots, and were also asked to surrender. When they too refused, a Kaibab envoy was forced to go to the Ridgers' village, observing the fate of those who resist; the Kaibabs soon capitulated and joined up with the Blackfoots. The Fredonians followed suit, also joining with the Blackfoots' growing numbers. Soon, Sallow had led the tribe to conquer the entire region of the Grand Canyon. It was after this that Edward Sallow vanished, and in his place, the newly crowned "Caesar," along with Graham as his first lieutenant, the Malpais Legate, heralding the rise of his Legion.[4]

Approximately 30 years later, in 2277, as a punishment for losing the First Battle of Hoover Dam to the NCR Rangers, Caesar returned to the Grand Canyon where the Malpais Legate was covered in pitch, set alight, and thrown off the steep cliffs to be left for dead. This was meant to serve as an example to the rest, that failure would not be accepted even at the highest level of Legion authority.[5] Despite the clear lethality of Graham's sentence, rumors began to emerge among some of the slaves and soldiers of the Legion, that he had somehow survived his fall into the canyon in defiance of the will of Caesar himself. Such was the birth of the fabled "Burned Man."[6][7][8]

Notes[]

Appearances[]

The Grand Canyon is mentioned in Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas and its add-ons Dead Money and Honest Hearts, and Fallout 76. The location was set to appear in the canceled Fallout 3 project Van Buren by Black Isle Studios.

Behind the scenes[]

The Grand Canyon is based on the real-world location of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Inscription on the back of Legion denarii
  2. The Dead Money intro begins with a slide of the Grand Canyon and transitions to a slide of the Sierra Madre.
  3. The Courier: "Was one of those men Caesar?"
    Joshua Graham: "No, not then. Back then he was just Edward. Smart man. Young, but we all were. We thought we could hike into the Grand Canyon and talk to Blackfoots. We did, and the Blackfoots were friendly enough at first, but eventually... I've thought back to that day so many times. I must have mistranslated. Something must have been mixed up, because the Blackfoots decided we weren't going to leave. The rest is history, assuming Edward hasn't changed it."
    (Joshua Graham's dialogue)
  4. The Courier: "What changed you from a Follower to dictator?"
    Caesar: "When I was 20, the Followers sent me East to Grand Canyon. It was my first expedition, just me and a physician named Calhoun. As an anthropologist and linguist, my assignment was to learn the dialects of the Grand Canyon tribes. What a fucking waste of time!"
    (Caesar's dialogue)
  5. The Courier: "What happened to Graham after Hoover Dam?"
    Hanlon: "Losing the dam was the worst defeat the Legion ever suffered. Graham had been with Caesar since the beginning, but he had to set an example. The praetorians covered Graham in pitch, lit him on fire, and down into the Grand Canyon he went."
    (Hanlon's dialogue)
  6. The Courier: "Tell me about the Burned Man."
    Siri: "A vengeful spirit, some of the more superstitious women claim. He was a great leader of the Legion before he failed Caesar. The story says he was set on fire and thrown into the Grand Canyon, but his angry spirit rose from the ashes of his corpse, looking for revenge. Nonsense, probably, but there's no doubt that many in the Legion believe he's still alive somehow."
    (Siri's dialogue)
  7. The Courier: "What do you know about the Burned Man?"
    Antony: "He's a story to frighten the younger Legionaries. He's dead - no man, no matter how tough, could survive a fall into the Grand Canyon."
    (Antony's dialogue)
  8. Fallout: New Vegas loading screens: "After the Legion lost the Battle of Hoover Dam, Caesar had his legate, Joshua Graham, covered in pitch, set on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon. Superstitious legionaries and tribals believe he lives on as the Burned Man."
  9. The Chosen One: "{130}{}{What do you mean?}"
    Harold: "{138}{hld6}{Need a little time on the whetstone yourself, huh? I mean they are not too bright. Here’s an example. The other day I get a report. On it, it says the main coolant valve should be shut down. That woulda caused a meltdown that would make the Grand Canyon look like a pig wallow.}"
    (Harold's dialogue)
CaesarLegionSymbol
Caesar'sLegionVexillum
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