The Khans are a raider tribe descended from dwellers of Vault 15,[Non-game 1] found in New California in 2161. They camp to the southeast of Shady Sands in New California. After the original Khans faced near-extinction following the Vault Dweller's actions,[1] they were succeeded by the New Khans and then the Great Khans.
Characteristics
A raiding, roving group, their main target was the community of Shady Sands, with whom they once shared a Vault. The Khans believe that their raids on Shady Sands are justified, as they hail from the same Vault.[2] They also believe that they make the lives of the farmers more interesting.[3] Many people of the wasteland believe that the Khans are more dangerous than their counterparts, the Vipers.[4] They usually travel in small scouting bands, but sometimes roam the wastes in full war parties.
Above all else, the Khans respect strength. While descended from Vault dwellers, the Khans will accept recruits from the wasteland, but only if they prove themselves to be tough, bloodthirsty, and extreme.[5] Garl demands that new recruits prove themselves by demonstrating these qualities, for example, by killing two enslaved women.[6] Their respect for strength goes so far that their leader will relinquish valuable items if bested in hand-to-hand combat.[7]
The Khans are superstitious people, believing in ghosts[8] but they do not believe in an afterlife.[9] The Khans will attempt to speak to and reason with those that they believe are ghosts.[10]
History
The Khans are one of three raider tribes to emerge from Vault 15 in the spring of 2141, banding together into raider tribes as the winter came.[Non-game 2][Non-game 3] The Khans adopted the lifestyle of warriors, raiding towns for loot and capturing survivors as slaves. Strength became a key virtue, with worth proven in hand-to-hand combat. The strong rule, the weak perish. For this reason, the Khans would also fight with other raider tribes, their warbands, and larger war parties clashing in deadly combat. One such clash was with the Jackals just four years after their emergence from the Vault. The Khans brutalized the enemy raider clan, forcing them to flee New California northeast in 2155.[Non-game 1]
At some point before 2161, their founder The Death-Hand was murdered and usurped by his son Garl Death-Hand.[11] Garl scrubbed all images of his father from the wasteland[12] and ruled the Khans with an iron fist. His war band became a more or less permanent element of the wasteland. Garl believes that the raiders are the only people strong enough to survive in a dying land.[9] As such, his delusions of grandeur led him to believe that he can take over the world, earning him the mockery of the more law-abiding inhabitants of the wasteland.[13][14][15]
The Khans of New California lasted only 20 years before Garl's dreams of domination were cut short in 2161 when the Khans made a grave error: they kidnapped Tandi, daughter of Shady Sands' leader Aradesh. This attracted the attention of the Vault Dweller, who came into the settlement and slaughtered the raiders. With the largest of the raider bands gone, the stability that followed allowed the New California Republic to emerge.[16] However, the extermination was not complete. Darion, son of Garl Death-Hand, escaped the Vault Dweller's wrath. The lone survivor would go on to slowly reform the Khans, suffering from survivor's guilt and planning his revenge against Tandi. These New Khans would eventually pose a challenge to Tandi as president of the NCR by 2241, eighty years later.[Non-game 4]
Organization
The Khans are ruled by one central leader guided by advisors. In 2161, Garl Death-Hand rules with Gwen as his second-in-command and advisor,[17] along with another advisor Alya who plans the raids.[18] Each of the Khans have individual skills that make them valuable to the gang, such as Diana who is the armorer and Petrox who is a lead raider and trades for supplies.
Their leadership system was also somewhat monarchical, with Garl killing his father to usurp the throne faster than waiting for him to die naturally. Garl's son, Darion, formed the New Khans after the death of his father, adding further evidence to this. The Khans did not shy away from any crime, including kidnapping for ransom, but this lack of restraint was what eventually led to their downfall in 2161 by the Vault Dweller. They are eager in combat to prove their worthiness to the clan by engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
Garl Death-Hand's power over the Khans is absolute, as he is the one who decides right from wrong.[19] He is known for killing those who disobey him, including other Khans,[20] leading many of them to be frightened of his wrath.[21][22] Khans will also ask the ghost of The Death-Hand if he has returned to kill his son,[8] suggesting differing opinions on Garl's usurpation.
Outside relations
Before forming into the Khans, they were a part of Vault 15, along with the residents who would eventually form Shady Sands, the Jackals, and the Vipers.[Non-game 1] However, those "friendly" ties have been cut due to differing ideals and competition. The Khans pray on Shady Sands to sustain themselves, with many residents of Shady Sands very fearful of them.[4] Curiously, some of the farmers know that the Khans are imitating historical groups of the past,[23] though it is not clear where they got this information. Despite their hostility towards Shady Sands, Garl does not wish for the town to be destroyed.[24]
Despite their tendency towards raiding, the Khans are said to visit Junktown to relax,[25][26] however, Killian Darkwater claims that they have been attempting to take over the town for many years without success.[27] The Khans also trade with the Hub for water and ammunition.[28]
Technology
The Khans use spears when attacking Shady Sands,[29] and appear to prefer melee weapons to firearms. Some will carry Desert Eagles and other varieties of small arms. Some of them are said to have worn tire armor. Most Khans use leather armor, with their leader wearing metal armor.
Members
Notes
- The Khans are the only one of the three raider groups planned for Fallout (the Vipers and Jackals being the others) to appear in the game as a faction.
Appearances
The Khans appear in Fallout, and are mentioned in Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. Their successors feature in Fallout 2 as the New Khans and in Fallout: New Vegas as the Great Khans.
Behind the scenes
- Their name is a reference to Mongol rulers known as Khans, mainly Genghis Khan, an infamous Mongolian warlord.
Gallery
Fallout
References
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Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fallout Bible 6: "In some ancient design documentation that I think was written by Scott Campbell, one of the original designers (I'm still checking if it was him, so I may need to print a retraction on the credits), there was actually supposed to be three groups of raiders: The Jackals, the Khans, and the Vipers. Not only did they raid local towns and caravans, but they also preyed on each other - as you'll see from the descriptions below, their behavior and habits in F1 dictated (or were dictated by) their name choice.
The Khans: The last group, the Khans, is probably the most dangerous. They live the lifestyles of Mongol warriors, raiding towns, burning what they cannot take and capturing the survivors for use as slaves. They usually travel in small scouting bands, but sometimes they roam as full war parties. The Khans above all else respect strength. They are eager in combat to prove their worthiness to the clan by engaging in hand to hand combat with fists or clubs. The Khans carry very few firearms (since they are for cowards). Anyone showing superior strength is worthy of their respect. The leader of the Khans is so because no one has beaten him in combat.
One interesting thing listed in the original documentation is that all raider bands were supposedly all from Vault 15 after it opened, but they all splintered off into different groups from the overpopulated Vault.
All of these raider groups officially exist in the Fallout universe, though only the Khans are in southern California at the start of Fallout 1. The handful of Vipers that survived Rhombus' campaign of extermination in 2155 fled North and East, following the same path the Jackals took after they had their asses handed to them by the Khans thirty years before." - ↑ Fallout Bible 0: "2141 Spring Vault 15 opened."
- ↑ Fallout Bible 0: "2141 Winter Raiders begin to form in the region as food supplies run low. The Khans and the Vipers begin terrorizing local settlements."
- ↑ Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets p.201-202: "10. Doc Jones. The good doctor here in the medical bay (see Figure 10.9) is a prisoner of the gang. From him, you can find out that this gang of Raiders is none other than the descendants of the Khans, the Raiders who kidnapped Tandi in Fallout 1. Darion, the leader of the reborn Khans, is the son of Garl and would like to destroy Tandi for the havoc she, and your ancestor the Vault Dweller, visited upon his father's band of Raiders. After you learn of that from the doc, he'll heal you if you need it, as long as you haven't hurt any of the squatters (#1)."
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