The Complete Story of Harold and the Bob Herbert Tree in Fallout

Harold was born in 2072 and was only 5 years old when the Great War began in 2077. He was locked up in Vault 29 from the horrors of a nuclear war. [ 1 ]

Start

Harold's new home was originally populated by the children Diana had gathered. Diana was a human brain connected to a supercomputer. For the inhabitants of the Vault, she became a goddess. In the case of internal unrest, Diana chose a test specimen that was released from the Vault ahead of time. The test instance was supposed to go back and tell the inhabitants of the shelter about the state of the surrounding world, and whether it is possible to leave the shelter already. Of course, not one of them returned, and this did not contribute to the appearance of volunteers, and everything calmed down again.

Harold was one of these test pieces in 2090. He was released from the Vault, but he was stunned by the security system and delivered by a robot to the Reserve [ 2 ], where Diana was based.


Nature Reserve [ 2 ]

In the Reserve, he was given a choice: to stay with Diana or go on an exploration of the outside world. However, if he decides to go on a trip, Diana will operate on him so that he can not tell the outside world about Diana and the Preserve.

Harold agreed to stay with Diana, but eventually managed to escape. During his wanderings, he kept secret information about the Reserve. He felt that it was his duty to the world to keep the gift intact until this world was ready.

Merchant Career

Old Town [ 3 ]

After some time, the doors of the Vault opened, and Harold began a successful career as a merchant traveling in the wasteland. Over time, he became an important member of the Hub (Old Town) team. Then he noticed how much more often mutated animals began to attack caravans. Frustrated, he decided to deal with these outrages, going on an expedition in search of the reasons for the new misfortune.

The expedition began in 2102, when Harold was 30 years old. The group of travelers included Richard Gray, a doctor in the Hub, who was intrigued by strange mutants. They tracked the mutant populations and eventually found the source of their appearance: the old military base of Mariposa.


Mariposa Military Base [ 4 ]

Inside, most travelers were destroyed by mutants and automatic security systems. But a small group of travelers, along with Harold and Richard, were able to break into the base, where they found huge vats with green slurry, which, it seems, was the reason for the mutation of animals. Then the robotic arm dropped Richard into one of the vats, where he turned into the Master of mutants (Harold decided that he simply died there). Harold was stunned and woke up already in the desert, starting to mutate. There he was picked up by a passing caravan and taken to the Hub, where he settled and began to eke out a miserable existence.

Beggar in the hub

The hero of Fallout 1 meets him in the Hub when Harold was already very old, sick with a beggar. He became eccentric and talkative. Many of his stories are hopelessly outdated, but the hero, in exchange for a trifle, can find out a lot of useful things from him: about the Maripoz military base, the story of Richard Gray, a flock of Death Claws near the Old Town.

Somewhere between 2162 and 2241, a small tree began to grow on Harold's head. Harold calls him Bob, but at times jokingly teases Bob Herbert. This is a completely new kind of tree, as unique as Harold himself.

Traveler

Harold in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

After the events of the destruction of the Master and his army, Harold left the Hub and became a traveler, having traveled to many corners of the wasteland. It is known that he visited Carbon in Texas, where he had fun with a local prostitute Ruby. Harold was about to leave this city due to the approaching army of super mutants, but was forced to linger, because as a result of his sexual amusements he lost his hand, finger and eye in the city. The Brothers of Steel Rookie helped him in search of lost body parts, and Harold set off for the city of Guly Los in the region of 2208. These journeys ended in Gekko in 2238.

Gekko Nuclear Power Station

In 2241, Harold was still just as old, but still very active in the ghoul. Everyone considered him a ghoul, but Harold himself never recognized himself as such. The Chosen One meets with Harold in Gekko, in the city of Gulya, not far from the Vault City. After the destruction of the Necropolis (in the first Fallout), a large part of the ghoul population migrated far north and formed a new city around the old nuclear power station built by Poseidon Oil even before the Great War.

Any person would die from high doses of radiation, but the walks of radiation was only good. When Harold arrived there, the power plant was in disrepair and operated exceptionally carelessly. He quickly took control of the good-natured but dumb leaders of Gekko, and restored the reactor to a more or less tolerable state. When the Chosen One arrived at Gecko, Harold asked him for help in the repair.

In his travels, the Chosen One still learned some rumors about Harold. Judging by them, his tree became even larger and even grew one fruit. The fruit seeds were surprisingly persistent, and some of them even sprouted in the most barren parts of the wasteland.

Disease

In 2250, Harold fell ill. The tree on his head began to languish from an unknown disease. To his surprise, Harold discovered that Bob's disease also affected him. He doubted that he would die from this, but he felt that "something was wrong in his head."

So he went on a journey in search of a cure. This was not an easy journey. People really did not want mutants hanging around next to them. He continued his quest until he arrived at the Twin Mothers tribe, formed from the descendants of his old home, Vault 29.

To his surprise, the tribe accepted him for what he had become. He explained his problem to the leaders, and they went for advice to his goddess. A few days later, a shaman visited him and handed him a mysterious elixir. The drink was disgusting, but it worked. Bob felt better, and he became happy again.

Moved Harold offered his help to the tribe in any business. They thanked, smiling, but rejected his offer. Instead, they offered to introduce him to their goddess. Then he was escorted to their sacred temple for a personal audience. He was not very surprised by the woman’s hologram, but he was shocked by the proposal where he could find her - in the Reserve nearby. His return to the Reserve delighted Diana and Harold himself, as his childhood memories faded over the years.

He spent a lot of time alone. He even considered settling in the gardens of the Reserve for the rest of his life. However, once again went on a journey further east.

If the Prisoner (the main character in Van Buren - the canceled game of Fallout 3) gives Diana information about the FEV (the mutant liquid of the Master) and the New Plague, then Diana will create a cure for the virus in the form of a small fruit, artificially grown from the Harold tree.

Oasis

Over time, Harold became "overloaded" with the rapid growth of Bob, and once found himself rooted directly to the ground. This happened during his travels in the northern part of the Capital Region. Then he was discovered by several people who began to worship him as a god, having formed a small secretive cult of the Drevins.

Bob blossomed and many plants grew in the area, creating a unique green corner of life. At this time, Harold developed a mutation, with the help of which he became able to see the district beyond the Oasis through the trees that grew from the seeds of Bob.

Harold used this ability to bring strangers to himself in the hope that one of them would end his suffering. Unfortunately, the Drevins greeted all guests with a mandatory rite of purification through the drinking of sacred juice. Many simply refused the dubious offer, and those who agree lost the rest of their minds. But once his patience is rewarded (in 2277) and the Lone Wanderer (Fallout 3) comes to him and Harold orders his trees to let him go.

After drinking dubious juice, the Wanderer loses consciousness and wakes up next to Harold, who tells his story of turning into a tree. He begs the hero to finish him off, since standing in one place for decades is a real torture for him. For some time he was entertaining in the role of the Wood-God, giving his followers amusing tasks, but this entertainment very quickly got bored.

He asked them to kill themselves, but the Drevens refuse to take his words literally, believing that this is a test of faith. Only two members of the cult (the leader and his wife) interpret his request more actively. The leader believes that the oasis should be kept secret, and for this to stop its growth. And his wife wants to accelerate his growth, spreading life in the Wasteland as soon as possible. Harold insists on his murder through the destruction of his heart, which was moved deep into the caves by the roots of Bob. Harold can also be burned with the appropriate weapon, but he said this prospect is too scary.

If the Wanderer decides to finish the quest with the option of saving his life, then in a subsequent conversation with Harold, he will continue to complain about the painful, standing life. However, the Wanderer can convince him that he was given a unique gift, and with the help of this gift he saves the lives of so many, and the trees without him will die at all. After that, Harold will understand how selfish his motives were, consult with Bob about this noble goal, and finally find peace of mind.

Now Harold is finally happy.

List of references

1. History of Harold (eng)
2. Reserve with Diana from Vault 29
3. Hub / Old Town
4. Military base Mariposa