“Angle? I'm head-on, baby, flat-out, all stops pulled, full steam ahead. Side bets are for losers. I'm playing to win.”
Benny is the head of the Chairmen in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background[edit]
Benny was a member of the tribal gang called the Mojave Boot-Riders before Mr. House took over Vegas. As one of the three tribes who agreed to House's new rule, the Boot Riders were assigned to renovate The Tops casino. They were given suits and ties and renamed "The Chairmen."[1] Benny saw the potential of New Vegas, but the tribe's chief at the time, Bingo, wanted to stay nomadic. To determine the direction of the tribe, Bingo challenged Benny to a knife fight, and the winner would be the leader of the tribe. Benny stabbed Bingo in the throat, killing him and winning the fight.[2]
Benny's long-term goal is to control New Vegas.[3] After disabling one of Mr. House's PDQ-88b Securitrons with a Pulse Grenade, Benny "yanked some wires" and brought it to his workshop.[4] He enlisted the help of Emily Ortal, who reprogrammed its new neuro-computational matrix and created a new personality, known as Yes Man.[4][5] Yes Man was designed to obey every command given to him, regardless of who is asking.[6] Once Yes Man reconnected to Mr. House's data network, Benny was able to obtain information regarding his activities.[4]
Benny utilized this information to learn the time and location of a courier carrying the Platinum Chip.[4] He hired Jessup, McMurphy and Chance to help him finish the job. The Courier was bound, gagged, shot in the head, buried in an unmarked grave at Goodsprings Cemetery, and left for dead.[7] After betraying his Great Khan accomplices, Benny made his way to the Tops and stayed in the casino area with four loyal bodyguards.[8]
Interactions Overview[edit]
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
| This character is involved in quests. |
| |
| This character offers miscellaneous services. |
| |
| This character is allied with the following faction(s). | ||
Inventory[edit]
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items | On death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benny's Suit | Maria | 9mm Round Benny's Suite key Platinum Chip The Tops Presidential Suite Key | 250 Caps |
Notes[edit]
- After killing him, he only has a single 9mm round on his corpse.
- Pursuing an NCR victory does not require to interact with Benny upon entering the Strip, allowing him to survive until the end of the game.
- He can be stolen from for no Karma loss while being detected.
- If Benny is still tied up at the Fort when Caesar dies, he will say "What a scrapper you are," then give the option of freeing him, leaving him, or killing him once finishing the dialogue.
- The Gun Runners' Arsenal challenge Talk About Owned requires the Courier to kill Benny with his own pistol, Maria. Likewise, killing him with a Light Machine Gun, Minigun, or any submachine gun counts towards the Nyah! See? challenge.
Quotes[edit]
- "Maybe Khans kill people without looking them in the face, but I ain't a fink, dig?"
- "Truth is, the game was rigged from the start."
- "I hit what I was aiming for. Guess you had brains to spare. Or are you just thick-skulled?"
- "Anyhow, baby, you didn't come here for vengeance. You came to get clued in."
- "Baby, getting outplayed and getting cheated ain't the same thing."
- "A lifelong-learner is you, hey? Then make your questions count, because your lifelong is running lifeshort."
- "It's the House edge, baby. The key to stacking the odds in Mr. House|his favor - or was, until I swiped it. There's more to it, but we don't have the time. By which I mean you don't."
- "Angle? I'm head-on, baby, flat-out, all stops pulled, full steam ahead. Side bets are for losers. I'm playing to win."
- "Baby, ease off the gas. The Chip belongs in the hands of someone who can use it. As in me, not you."
- "What I did to you was rotten, but if you think Mr. House, the NCR or Caesar won't kill to put Vegas in their pocket, I really did blow out your brains."
- "It's a game, and games have winners and losers. I prefer the former, how about you?"
Appearances[edit]
Benny appears in Fallout: New Vegas and the graphic novel All Roads.
Behind the Scenes[edit]
- Benny is a Joker in the deck of Vault Playing Cards included with the Collector's Edition of Fallout: New Vegas. A Benny Ace of Spades card appeared in promotional shots of the Collector's Edition and as a framed decoration at E3.
- Joshua Sawyer stated that Benny's appearance is a reference to Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.[Dev 1] John Gonzalez corroborated this point and also mentioned that the Rat Pack's demeanor also influenced the character.[Ext 1]
- Chris Avellone stated that "if there'd been time and the inclination, having Sunny Smiles, Yes Man, Benny, Vulpes, Victor and others as potential companions would have been great."[Dev 2]
- In Benny's dialog, an unused topic named VDialogueBennyBennyTopic001 contains the text, "Here, Benny - special delivery. <Punch Benny in the face.>"[9]
- Benny was written and created by John Gonzalez.[Dev 3]
- In the Fallout 3: New Vegas First Story Draft, Benny's gang was called "The Checkers" and his casino was called the "I & the Needle" and was based on the Space Needle of the Stratosphere.[Doc 1] Additionally, instead of hiring Great Khans he brought along two members of the Checkers to kill the player.[Doc 2] There is also a scenario described where two drunk Checkers members can be found near the starting area, and let them "pass on the message" to Benny which results in Checkers hit squads attacking the player near The Strip.[Doc 3]
- In the Caesar Dialogue Plan, more methods for dealing with Benny were planned: beheading, crucifixion, the breaking wheel, attacking Benny when he is helpless, one-to-one combat, and forgiveness (Caesar double checks and then chooses a method).[Doc 4]
Bugs[edit]
If one chooses to crucify Benny, he will end up being crucified outside of The Fort. Sometimes, both the crucified and regular versions of Benny will appear, and the regular version can be killed for Maria. One cannot receive Maria twice; it will only be on the Benny that is standing up next to the cross. Talking to Benny next to the cross will result in you deciding to kill him again.- If one kills Benny before talking to him in his casino without getting noticed, the guards will continue to stand in their positions as if they were still protecting him.
- If the player character has Benny come up to the presidential suite with them, and lets him survive, he will move to the front of The Tops lobby. With a barter skill of 35, one can then repeatedly choose (what do you have in mind?) and (The suite's a nice touch...), which will provide 500 caps and 250 The Tops chips every time.
- Sometimes after talking to him in his suite, his bodyguards will not come in and attack, but if one rescued him from the Fort and talked to him back in his suite, after ending the conversation he will get up, walk out of the door and his guards will enter the suite. This bug also makes him disappear from the game completely.
Gallery[edit]
Benny as he appears during the game intro
Benny draws Maria and prepares to kill the Courier
Benny with members of the Great Khans in the Fallout: New Vegas intro
Benny, crucified at The Fort
As he appears in All Roads
On the Joker playing card
Concept art, Behind the Bright Lights & Big City
Promo decoration at E3
Collectors Edition promo
MTG Card which features part of the intro scene, with Benny, Jessup and McMurphy present.
Extended Art
MTG Card
.jpg)
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Title | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Benny | Untranslated |
| French | Benny | Untranslated |
| German | Benny | Untranslated |
| Italian | Benny | Untranslated |
| Russian | Бенни | Benny |
| Polish | Benny | Untranslated |
| Czech | Benny | Untranslated |
| Japanese | ベニー | Benny |
References[edit]
|
Developer Statements
- ↑ Question: "Can you tell me if Fallout: New Vegas' Benny is based on or a reference to the American gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel? His name, looks, checkered suit and location (Las Vegas) indicate that."
Joshua Sawyer: "Yes."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements/Characters; Joshua Sawyer: Benny's appearance, 2012 February 5) - ↑ Chris Avellone: "If there'd been time and the inclination, having Sunny Smiles, Yes Man, Benny, Vulpes, Victor and others as potential companions would have been great. So would have Muggy (we wanted to, but adding a full companion through the DLCs that worked in the core game would have taken more time than allowed)."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements; The Making of Fallout: New Vegas) - ↑ John Gonzalez: "Hi KingGodzilla100. My work on FNV focused on, but wasn't limited to, the "main quest." When FNV was greenlit, we already knew it would begin with you getting shot in the head and left for dead in a shallow grave (a very Vegas intro) and climax with the NCR vs Legion battle for Hoover Dam. My first job was to figure out what would transpire between that Alpha and Omega. Along the way I created and wrote Benny, Mr. House, and Yes-Man, and wrote Caesar (whose concept was originally developed for the canceled "Van Buren" Fallout Game) and created the concepts for the tribes and casinos on the Strip. I also wrote side quest and tribal content, such as "Come Fly with Me" and much of the Boomers and Great Khans. I didn't write any of the companions, and there was a lot of side content I didn't touch (the game is huge!). Chris Avellone did some writing for the game (e.g., Lanius) but was finishing up Alpha Protocol when FNV got started, so he had more time available when the team got to work on the DLCs (on which my involvement was minor, really just a few characters and the Survivalist diaries from Honest Hearts)."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements - Miscellaneous; John Gonzalez: Work on the Game, 2025 December 16)
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