“White Legs, they were born for war, they run to it, hungry for battle ... yet their hunger is to be a part of history, something larger. Like the Legion.”— Ulysses, Ulysses log Y-17.22
The White Legs are a tribe in Zion Canyon in the Fallout: New Vegas DLC Honest Hearts.
Background[edit]
The White Legs are a post war tribal group from the ruins of Salt Lake City,[1] known for raiding and scavenging.[2] The White Legs periodically raided northeast of Caliente until the Desert Rangers were absorbed into the NCR.[3] Afterwards they regularly raided that stretch of I-15, causing travelers to avoid the area.[3] Later they would destroy the bridges across the Virgin River in Arizona.[3] After the Legion's defeat at the First Battle of Hoover Dam, Joshua Graham returned to New Canaan.[4] Caesar ordered New Canaan to be destroyed and the White Legs, intent on joining the Legion, were a given a rite of passage to eradicate the city.[5] Ulysses helped teach the White Legs to wage war on New Canaan, leading them to an armory near Spanish Fork.[6] Inside the armory the White Legs discovered large submachine guns, which the tribe refers to as "storm drums".[6]
In the Great Basin and Colorado Plains each tribe was known for a specific weapon and the White Legs would become notorious for their use of .45 Auto Submachine Guns. The tribesman began braiding their hair as a tribute to Ulysses for providing them with weaponry. This appropriation of the Twisted Hairs' hairstyle would insult Ulysses however.[7] The White Legs attacked New Canaan at night, killing many of the city's inhabitants.[8] After the attack, they nailed the corpses of New Canaan's citizens to cliffs and salted the earth so nothing could grow again.[9][10] After the destruction of New Canaan, they began raiding deeper into Zion Canyon[11] and would make camp at Three Marys.[12]
The tribe is led by Salt-Upon-Wounds, a cruel leader known for killing countless warriors and crushing tribes.[13] The warriors of the tribe specialize in different roles, with White Legs Sappers laying traps like Bear Traps, White Legs Pain-Makers utilizing melee weapons like Fire Axes or Shishkebabs, White Legs Bone-Breakers who are well versed in unarmed combat and White Legs Storm-Drummers using .45 Auto Submachine Guns. Like the Dead Horses and Sorrows, the White Legs view pre-war buildings as taboo.[14]
Characters[edit]
| Image | Name |
|---|---|
|
Salt-Upon-Wounds |
|
White Legs Bone-Breaker |
|
White Legs Light-Bringer |
|
White Legs Pain-Maker |
|
White Legs Sapper |
|
White Legs Storm-Drummer |
|
White Legs Tribal |
Locations[edit]
- New Canaan
- Caliente
- Great Salt Lake
- Spanish Fork
- Zion Canyon
- Three Marys
- Crossroad Cavern
- Glass Chime Cave
- Bighorn Bluff (during the Advance Scouts)
Dialogue[edit]
In the game files, script notes translate what each White Leg dialogue statement means, listed below.
| Dialogue | |
|---|---|
| Phrase | Script notes |
"Do'an poin aiti ay me!" |
Don't point weapons at me! |
| "Subai thah, tsahh." |
Stop that please. |
| "Grenah!" |
Grenade! |
| "Boomb!" |
Bomb! |
| "Maiku." |
Okay. |
| "Ahm naaiyawi wichoo!" |
I'm playing with you! |
| "Deyai-yoo!" |
Die, you! |
| "Yoocan no nikumpa me!" |
You can't fight me! |
| "Bai-thah!" |
Look out! |
| "Shits!" |
Shits! |
| "Yoo murdah my hainji!" |
You killed my friend! |
| "No! Net yoo!" |
No! Not you! |
| "Tek thees!" |
Take this! |
| "Kuna-boomb!" |
Fire bomb! |
| "Baika-ker!" |
Killer! |
| "Devil!!" |
Devil!! |
| "Ahm stih bui-neeking." |
I'm still searching... |
| "Haganai yoo?" |
Where are you? |
| "Ahn yoo here stih?" |
Are you heres still? |
| "Baika-good, fren!" |
Good kill, my friend! |
| "Ahm sunhai tihda!" |
I'm lucky today! |
| "Tsaande-job!" |
Good work! |
| "Ahm nananga yoo." |
I am listening for you. |
| "Mabe yoo gaihaiwa?" |
Maybe you're gone? |
| "Nokihn run, yoo!" |
No, you can't run! |
| "Thah no!" |
That's it! |
| "Deyai-yoo, maikku!" |
You die now! |
| "Eno." |
Enough. |
| "Ah no see gaihinnim." |
I don't see anything. |
| "Ahm matenka look." |
I am done searching. |
| "Ahm mane look." |
I'm taking a look. |
| "Ah heer sumning." |
I hear something. |
| "Hagai?" |
What? |
| "Your deyaipe!" |
You're dead! |
| "Baika-dems!" |
Kill them! |
| "Nikkumpa!" |
Attack! |
| "Wes run!" |
Let's run! |
| "Nikumpa me!" |
Fight me! |
| "Deyai-yoo, devil!" |
Die, devil! |
Endings[edit]
| # | Slide | Voice-over narration | In-game condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
With Daniel dead, the White Legs soon overran Zion and drove the Sorrows and Dead Horses from the Valley. The White Legs plundered all of the pre-War buildings the Sorrows had marked off-limits, their squalor an affront to Zion's natural beauty. By year's end, little trace remained that the Sorrows had ever made the valley their home. |
Kill Daniel. |
| 2 | |
After the White Legs drove the Sorrows from Zion, they celebrated by destroying all traces of the valley's former inhabitants. They appealed to the Legion for assimilation, but were denied. Their failure to eradicate the New Canaanites in Grand Staircase and farther up the Colorado had not gone unnoticed. The White Legs made a half-hearted effort to find the New Canaanites, but were driven off by Dead Horses trained in the ways of Joshua Graham. The White Legs lost all hope of joining the Legion and disintegrated into a number of petty raiding bands, leaving Zion Valley a polluted cistern. |
Help the Sorrows evacuate. |
| 3 | |
Demoralized by the Dead Horse and Sorrows attack the Courier and Joshua Graham led against them, the White Legs retreated to Great Salt Lake. Their days were numbered. Word soon reached the 80s tribe that the White Legs' spirit was broken, their war chief a dim shadow of his former self. By year's end, the 80s would overrun the White Legs' camps, scattering the tribe to the winds and claiming the Great Salt Lake for its own. |
Help Joshua Graham defend Zion Valley and exterminate the White Legs, then convince Joshua Graham to spare Salt-Upon-Wounds. |
| 4 | |
Joshua Graham's chilling execution of Salt-Upon-Wounds seared into their minds, the surviving White Legs retreated to the Great Salt Lake. Unable to shake the memory of their brutal defeat and the Dead Horses' savagery in battle, the White Legs feared further reprisals. They fled north, out of Utah, into Wyoming. The wilderness was harsh, and the first winter claimed over half the tribe. When spring came, the survivors parted ways in small bands. And so the White Legs died a quiet, ignominious death. |
Help Joshua Graham crush the White Legs and then allow Joshua Graham to execute Salt-Upon-Wounds. |
| 5 | |
Despite their defeat at Three Marys, and the death of their war chief, the White Legs were determined to pursue the other New Canaanites. But when they finally tracked down their prey in Colorado, they discovered the tables had been turned. The White Legs who survived the New Canaanites' ambushes were hunted down by Dead Horses before they could reach the safety of the Great Salt Lake. When word of the White Legs' diminished numbers reached the 80s tribe, war was declared, and by year's end, the White Legs had been wiped out. |
Help Joshua Graham crush the White Legs and kill Salt-Upon-Wounds yourself. |
Appearances[edit]
The White Legs appear in the Fallout: New Vegas DLC Honest Hearts. They are mentioned by Ulysses in the Fallout: New Vegas DLC Lonesome Road.
Behind the Scenes[edit]
- A White Legs ending was discussed during the development of Honest Hearts, but was not possible due to the add on's short development timetable.[Dev 1][Dev 2]
- All White Legs color themselves white to blend into the Great Salt Lake.[Dev 3]
- The line spoken by Joshua Graham to Salt-Upon-Wounds is not Latin, but a variation of Spanish.[Dev 4]
- In response to the translation inquiries, Sawyer explained that he believes authors of content should leave the interpretive aspects of their work as-is once released. He continued, stating that he thinks content should be discussed but not be re-framed.[Dev 5]
- Their hair is actually not a hairstyle, but rather a unique non-player character-only headwear that cannot be accessed by players without console commands.
References[edit]
|
- ↑ Joshua Sawyer on Tumblr: "We talked about it briefly, but the time schedule for Honest Hearts was very short, so it never seemed like something we could feasibly support."
- ↑ Sawyer: "Helping the White Legs wouldn't really help the Legion in any substantive way unless you consider helping Caesar clean up an embarrassing mistake to be inherently pro-Legion. It's worth noting that if you do Chaos In Zion and actually kill Joshua Graham yourself, the White Legs still aren't accepted into the Legion. Caesar just wants Graham dead and the White Legs are the scumbags to do it. We discussed doing a White Legs-oriented path through Honest Hearts but a) it would have been out of scope and b ) it still would likely have ended with you doing essentially Chaos in Zion: killing Daniel and/or Joshua Graham.
In retrospect, associating the White Legs with the Legion was probably my key mistake. Take the exact same tribe doing the exact same thing and remove their association with the Legion and people would not conclude that opposing them [equals] opposing the Legion or that helping the New Canaanites [equals] helping the Legion's enemies. The New Canaanites, though fundamentally opposed to the Legion, aren't really the parties in conflict. Caesar hates Joshua Graham, regardless of the lack of threat posed by New Canaan, the Sorrows, and the Dead Horses."
Joshua Sawyer on Bethesda forum (Archived) - ↑ Josh Sawyer's tumblr "The White Legs initially colored themselves white to blend into the Great Salt Lake "
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas developer statements; Joshua Sawyer Formspring posts, 6 June 2011
- ↑ "Question: Any reason why you wont tell us what JG said to Salt Upon Wounds?"
Joshua Sawyer: "Years ago, Ridley Scott changed Blade Runner. He decided to change an ambiguous aspect of the central character to something not ambiguous at all. The movie that Blade Runner fans fell in love with because of that central uncertainty lost something because the author simply changed his mind years after the fact. I think that authors of content should leave the interpretive aspects of their narrative work alone once it goes out into the world for consumption. I think we should discuss it, argue about it, but we shouldn't try to re-frame it. It shouldn't really matter whether what's there is intentional or accidental. It's what's in the game and what the player experiences that matter."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements; Joshua Sawyer Formspring posts, 4 July 2012)