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Aries, formerly known as Calvin "Cal" van Lowe, is an employee of the Blue Ridge Caravan Company at Big Bend Tunnel. Before changing his identity to Aries and finding Blue Ridge, Calvin was a cryptid hunter, inventor, and engineer working for the Bysshe Company prior to the Great War.
Background[edit]
Life as Calvin van Lowe[edit]
He grew up in Lewisburg, West Virginia and his parents owned Van Lowe Taxidermy. After his parents' death, Calvin's older sister, Shelley, inherited the family business, though Calvin still maintained a residence and office in the building.[1] Calvin was described by Shelley as always being "the odd sort," but highly intelligent.[1] A psychological evaluation described van Lowe as having extremely high mental acuity and cognitive skills.[2] However, he was also described as having a dissociative view of the social world and an inability to associate context with stimuli.[2]
Alongside his high school friends Scott "Scoot" Conroy and Ray Gary, Calvin was a member of the Truth Seekers, a group devoted to hunting cryptids spotted in West Virginia.[3] The group disbanded after Calvin began attending Vault-Tec University in August 2072.[4] Calvin continued his search for and interest in the Sheepsquatch.[5]
Following his graduation from Vault-Tec University, Calvin was hired by the Bysshe Company, an out-of-state energy corporation[1] that gave him the code name "Blacksheep."[6] Bysshe organized for Calvin to move back home to Lewisburg so that he could develop products for the company through various unique projects.[7][8] Living with his sister Shelley in the family home was intended to be a temporary arrangement, but Bysshe invested in building Calvin a secret basement lab while they were meant to be finding a property of his own.[9] Although Shelley technically owned the business, Calvin as the "signing owner" sold Van Lowe Taxidermy to the Bysshe Company without Shelley's consent.[10]
One of Calvin's projects involved fabricating sightings of the Sheepsquatch to stir up public attention using two assaultron units provided by Bysshe.[11][12] Calvin began to fail in his initiatives, requesting more time from corporate via his handler Bo-Peep.[13][14] Calvin attempted to reprogram one of the assaultron units with "Sheepsquatch mating ritual" protocols in an attempt to hasten finding the actual creature but the reprogramming went awry when the unit misinterpreted the word "overwrite" for "override."[15] The assaultron unit escaped the lab, maiming Calvin in the process, and he was subsequently declared missing.[15][16][17]
Shelley, who had no knowledge of the underground lab or Calvin's involvement with Bysshe, contacted the police to investigate his disappearance. The Great War discontinued all search efforts save that of Shelley, who began circulating posters around Appalachia, hoping that someone would be able to bring her some closure with regards to what happened to her brother.[18] When she decided to move on to work for the Timmerman's in Kentucky, she left Calvin a note in case he ever returned.[19][20]
Life as Aries[edit]
Calvin survived the Imposter Sheepsquatch attack with extensive damage to his face.[21] He elected to assume the new identity "Aries" and infrequently comments on his past.[22] His interest in "cryptids, aliens, and killer robots" persists, despite his agitation at the mention of violent robots, enough so that Herschel Klein comments on his "encyclopedic knowledge of everything strange."[23][24]
Aries must now wear a mask to stabilize his injuries and to facilitate breathing.[25] He now serves as a caravan guard for the Blue Ridge Caravan Company.[26] Aries is familiar with the Big Bend Tunnel's engineering, providing knowledge of a gas pipeline tunnel underneath, potentially serving as a safer route for the caravan.[27][28][29] He expresses his support of the incremental differences the caravan company can make on rebuilding the world.[30]
When a group of caravanners went missing in the Harpers Ferry train tunnel, both Aries and Joanna Mayfield were hesitant to continue traveling along the route.[31] Paladin Leila Rahmani and the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force suspected that Aries and the Blue Ridge group may have been directly involved with the disappearances.[32][33]
Interactions Overview[edit]
| Interactions | ||
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| This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed. | ||
| This character is a temporary companion. | ||
| This character is involved in quests. | ||
| This character is involved in events. | ||
Quests[edit]
- Out of the Blue: Aries plays a major role during this quest, as he is dispatched to accompany the Vault Dweller and Paladin Leila Rahmani to the Harpers Ferry Tunnel in their investigation of a missing Blue Ridge caravan.
- Event: Riding Shotgun: Aries is a possible guard for the caravan leading Brahmin through Big Bend Tunnel during this event. His companion will be merchant Rudy Fernandez.
Inventory[edit]
Notes[edit]
- Calvin was a fan of the K.D. Inkwell series before the Great War.[34]
- At some point, Calvin received a "Vigilant Citizen's note" asking him to distribute a series of discoveries and findings related to the "Treasure of Appalachia."[35]
Quotes[edit]
- "Eh, water under the bridge. All of my best friendships start with misplaced suspicion of mass kidnapping." – Aries, to Paladin Leila Rahmani
Appearances[edit]
Aries appears in Fallout 76. Calvin van Lowe was first mentioned in the Wild Appalachia update, while Aries was introduced in the Wastelanders update. The Steel Reign update expanded upon Aries' character and revealed that he was Calvin van Lowe.
Behind the Scenes[edit]
- Developer Carl McKevitt contributed to the design and backstory of the character.[Dev 1] He stated that Aries is a roughly 50-year-old human, and that the reappearance of Calvin as Aries had been planned since the Lying Lowe questline was first introduced.[Dev 2]
- Aries intentionally says "viola" instead of "voila" during the events of Out of the Blue. McKevitt and his team agreed that it would be a good addition and in-character for Aries to say the wrong word. McKevitt stated that he received many community reports from players who assumed it was a typo that made its way into the voice line.[Dev 3]
- McKevitt stated that any glitches that reveal Aries' face are not intended to be his "true" appearance and that he does not have a confirmed in-game appearance. It is modeled after what Kieran Kennedy looked like in initial designs before he was aged up to match the voice actor. As Kieran was the first guard implemented, his actor template was duplicated to Aries, who kept the old face model, obscured by the mask.[Dev 4]
- Colin was going to be Calvin's original name during an early point in his development, but McKevitt opted for Calvin as it was the name of his childhood pet hamster as well as the name of his Fallout 3 player character.[Dev 5]
There is a cut NPC intended to be Calvin's corpse in the game files (Editor ID zzz_P01B_Lying_CalvinVanLoweCorpse and Form ID 00478D3E) named "Colin Van Lowe." There is also a cut key named Colin van Lowe's password.
References[edit]
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- ↑ Fallout 76 developer statements/Characters; Carl McKevitt: Calvin van Lowe, 2021 July 11
- ↑ Fallout 76 developer statements/Characters; Carl McKevitt: Aries, 2021 July 9
- ↑ Fallout 76 developer statements/Characters; Carl McKevitt: Aries' Misread, 2021 July 13
- ↑ Fallout 76 developer statements/Characters; Carl McKevitt: Aries and Kieran, 2021 July 17
- ↑ Fallout 76 developer statements/Characters; Carl McKevitt: Calvin v Colin, 2021 July 11