Christine Royce in Fallout: New Vegas

Christine Royce is an NPC in the Dead Money DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, though she is mentioned or has audio lines in other DLCs/games. She is tasked with tracking down Elijah, from the Brotherhood of Steel, for his crimes but also because he separated her from her lover.

Christine is mute, due to injuries she has suffered, so the player must have high perception, intelligence, and pass other stat checks to communicate with her properly. One combo of PC stats allows the player to ask if the person Elijah separated Christine from was her girlfriend and lover (as opposed to husband, boyfriend, wife, or platonic girlfriend). This discussion can be seen in this video (around 7:00).

If the player has the Cherchez La Femme or Confirmed Bachelor perks, there is another point in the game in which Christine will hold the character’s hand as the PC promises to return for her. It is unclear, and player accounts differ on this, whether this interaction is a sign that she is meant to be read as bisexual.

It is heavily implied, according to some players (see also here, here, and here), that Christine is Veronica’s lover in the game. This is because in the main game of Fallout: New Vegas, Veronica mentions a female lover who left the Brotherhood because her parents were members who felt it was the duty of members to procreate. Based on the dialogue for both characters, however, stories don’t precisely match up. According to Veronica’s dialogue her girlfriend left because her parents were part of a group within the Brotherhood felt members should only be in procreative relationships. She only speaks in high regard of Elijah and we have found no evidence that she blamed Elijah for their separation. According to Christine’s dialogue (as posted), Christine was dispatched to catch Elijah following events that occurred after he left the Brotherhood (long after Veronica’s lover left). In the player readings, Christine went after Elijah in vengeance for having been separated from Veronica, but in terms of temporal order that doesn’t make sense. It is unclear if that is narrative inconsistency, if these two characters are simply unrelated, or if it has been left intentionally vague.

LGBTQ references in this game:

Fallout (1997): Sexaulity

Fallout 2 (1998): Sexuality

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004): Sexuality

Fallout 3 (2008): Sexuality; Carol and Greta; Anthony Ling; Flak and Shrapnel

Fallout: New Vegas (2010): Sexuality; Arcade Gannon; Christine Royce; Veronica Santangelo; Jimmy; Corporal Betsy; Sergio; Major Knight; Alex Richards; Confirmed Bachelor and Cherchez La Femme perks; Mentions of homosexuality

Fallout 4 (2015): TBA

Citations:

  1. Are there lesbians in it? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://aretherelesbiansinit.tumblr.com/games
  2. Ayard, D. (2011, September 24). Fallout New Vegas Dead Money. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joiww-Cm5hE
  3. Christine Royce. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Christine_Royce
  4. Christine Royce’s dialogue. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Christine_Royce’s_dialogue
  5. Christine Royce Permanent Companion? [NPC] [FNV] [HELP] (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutMods/comments/39gtcx/christine_royce_permanent_companion_npc_fnv_help/
  6. Christine Royce: Veronica’s Lover? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/27mjmr/christine_royce_veronicas_lover/
  7. Elijah. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Elijah
  8. LGBT characters in video games. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_characters_in_video_games
  9. Nilsor’s Vault. (2014, April 30). Fallout New Vegas 101: Veronica Santangelo. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-EGgKfqls
  10. *Spoilers* Dead Money: Is Christine…? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/959557-fallout-new-vegas/57578069
  11. Talk:Christine Royce. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Talk:Christine_Royce