Three Dog is an idiot, a hypocrite and a poser

SouthboundSoul

SouthboundSoul

First time out of the vault
So recently I started replaying Fallout 3 through the Tales of Two Wastelands mod for the first time in over a decade. Now that I'm no longer 16, I definitely understand the massive amount of hate levied at this game. I'm not even that far in and I've already decided to stop playing it.
(Totally not worth the fuck around that was installing that cursed mod)

Everything about the game just infuriates me to all hell - Especially the characters. The last thing I did in this game was reach Galaxy New Radio - And that's where one character in particular stands out as especially badly written and obnoxious: Three Dog.

Not only is his radio personality completely misfitting within the setting, he is incredibly preachy as well as being a hypocrite, an idiot and a complete poser arm chair "activist".

"Oh wow man I'm such a rebel standing up for the little guy! Sitting in my ivory tower protected by a xenophobic militia of techno-fetishists hording all the tech! Wow, man I'm such a voice for the downtrodden! Let me blackmail the protagonist into doing my dirty work because even though I fight the good fight I actually only do things quid pro quo! THREEEEEEEEEE-DAWWWWWG! WOOF WOOOF WOOOF!"

Three Dog lives in an impenetrable fortress preaching about how 'ghouls are people too' while his techno-cult terrorist buddies kill all ghouls they come across without exception. Even in Fallout 3, the goody two shoes version of the brotherhood still hate ghouls, killing them whenever encountered (In Underworld an NPC tells you as much) yet Three Dog has no problem working with them as long as they protect him.

Now, if the game was actually well written or clever, and ACKNOWLEDGED this fact, that might be interesting and deep. Like, if there was a way you could convince him he was a hypocrite and not to work with the brotherhood of steel - Or even if he didn't KNOW the brotherhood did things like that and you could show him the proof and convince him to seek protection by Reilly's Rangers instead.

Or, he could be completely irredeemable, and a commentary on fake activists or a statement about journalistic integrity and how the media misrepresents itself.

But of course, this is Fallout 3 - So Three Dog is a good guy, and the Brotherhood are also good guys - Despite the fact that they are still mostly ambivalent towards everyone else in the wasteland and distribute the water for their own gain. Three Dog is basically a propagandist for a xenophobic technology hoarding and authoritarian terror cell who are occupying the DC ruins as its self proclaimed rulers.

Then, to add insult to injury, he's perfectly happy sending you on a fucking suicide mission to repair a radar dish because "he has to stay here and fight the good fight" (????). He's not cool, he's not subversive - He's just a fucking idiot and a hypocrite.

He's like a wannabe anarchist podcaster whose entire show is about "smashing the state" and "ACAB" and being against government oppression and racial discrimination - But he streams from the headquarters of the fucking FBI and lives with Lockheed Martin CEO father.

What makes him even worse is that his voice actor seems like the most obnoxious self important ass hat ever - Begging Amazon to put him in the show, getting angry every time Bethesda (And Obsidian) don't return his desperate phone calls about coming back in sequels and generally acting like his character is such an integral part of the franchise - Even though he was literally just a radio DJ in the second worst game in the franchise

Dude is lucky he got the role at all, considering he's a washed up-never-was who's most known role prior to this was as a gangster in Homicide Life on The Streets, a TV show as old as Fallout 1.

So yeah, sorry; Rant over. Had to get that off my chest. Even though I was already finding the game a terrible slog but meeting Three Dog was the point in the game where I realized I was completely done.

Unrelated Side Note: I honestly can't believe people who claim that New Vegas "Doesn't any content" and is "empty" compared to Fallout 3 - An objectively false statement for a game with about 15 side-quests in total - Compared to New Vegas, which has like, 50 or 60+ at least. Rose tinted glasses are a hell of a drug.
 
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SouthboundSoul said:
What makes him even worse is that his voice actor seems like the most obnoxious self important ass hat ever - Begging Amazon to put him in the show, getting angry every time Bethesda (And Obsidian) don't return his desperate phone calls about coming back in sequels and generally acting like his character is such an integral part of the franchise - Even though he was literally just a radio DJ in the second worst game in the franchise
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Idk how true it is that he is begging or getting angry as I don't look at his Twitter account but I imagine on some level what you're saying is true in that he'd like to return to work on Fallout. Who wouldn't right now? It's got a lot of positive attention on it currently so it'd be a great potential career boost and possibly a good paycheck while you're at it.

He probably not only wants to return to the game or be on the show because of that but his character was well liked by many at the time so he probably feels like he's justified in (or at least that this is convincing enough) asking to come back in some way. He also did a voice for Skyrim and their digital card game so I doubt he couldn't get another role in a Bethesda game.
 
SquidWard said:
Idk how true it is that he is begging or getting angry as I don't look at his Twitter account but I imagine on some level what you're saying is true in that he'd like to return to work on Fallout. Who wouldn't right now? It's got a lot of positive attention on it currently so it'd be a great potential career boost and possibly a good paycheck while you're at it.

He probably not only wants to return to the game or be on the show because of that but his character was well liked by many at the time so he probably feels like he's justified in (or at least that this is convincing enough) asking to come back in some way. He also did a voice for Skyrim and their digital card game so I doubt he couldn't get another role in a Bethesda game.
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I remember back in the day before Fallout 4 came out, in maybe 2012, he did all this clickbaity stuff about Fallout 4 on his twitter and then when he was questioned about it he came out like "PSYCH! I DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT". Plus, PC Gamer runs constant articles about him trying to get on the Fallout TV show and getting angry that he was "excluded" from Fallout 4.

I get that he's proud of a role that he did, but he also seems to have a huge ego and overinflated opinion of himself - Much like the character himself.
 
Yossarrion said:
Just go kill him and you get him replaced with some annoyed lady it's pretty funny
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You know, I really am tempted to restart the game from the door of vault 101, and just literally kill everyone because it would be so cathartic. I dont think there's a single likable character outside of MAYBE Fawkes because hes kind of cool even if he is one dimensional as hell.
 
SouthboundSoul said:
You know, I really am tempted to restart the game from the door of vault 101, and just literally kill everyone because it would be so cathartic. I dont think there's a single likable character outside of MAYBE Fawkes because hes kind of cool even if he is one dimensional as hell.
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I like Lucas and the Christian missionary in point lookout
 
Yossarrion said:
I like Lucas and the Christian missionary in point lookout
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I mean, I don't dislike him. But he's not really a character, more an archetype who happened to have a talented voice actor. Like, what is his character? He's a Sheriff, he's kind of gruff but also friendly? He also turns his back on an armed man who planned to blow up the whole town.
 
SouthboundSoul said:
He's like a wannabe anarchist podcaster whose entire show is about "smashing the state" and "ACAB" and being against government oppression and racial discrimination - But he streams from the headquarters of the fucking FBI and lives with Lockheed Martin CEO father.
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*snips most of this*

Uh yeah.

Except I feel like you haven't gone far enough with understanding the satire. THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT TO REBEL AGAINST. This is part of the humor of Three Dog, I feel, and something that needs to be accepted in its full glory. Three Dog is rebelling against a society and state that does not exist. The Capital Wasteland has no government, has only a handful of societies, and is slowly suffering an extinction level event. It is not rebuilding, it is not getting better, and everyone would have been sent off as a slave to the Pitt with the Wasteland as empty as Appalachia pre-Wastelanders if not for the fact that the Lone Wanderer manages to personally stop it all.

Three Dog is intentionally a ridiculous cariacture because he's trying to inspire people but there's almost no one left to inspire and the BOS are the only people fighting Super Mutants and Raiders to any extent--and only because Elder Lyons has delusions of being the messiah.

Even so, you seem to be overly harsh as you can persuade him with a pretty easy Speech check to tell you where your dad went.
 
CT Phipps said:
*snips most of this*

Uh yeah.

Except I feel like you haven't gone far enough with understanding the satire..
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I honestly don't think Emil Pagliarulo is that clever or self aware. Three Dog really doesn't feel like he's an idiot on purpose. It really does feel like he's just terribly written.
 
SouthboundSoul said:
I honestly don't think Emil Pagliarulo is that clever or self aware. Three Dog really doesn't feel like he's an idiot on purpose. It really does feel like he's just terribly written.
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I feel that whatever you think of the Bethesda Fallout games, they're at least acutely aware of how ridiculous their world and deliberately so.
 
In my play-through of FO3, (still never finished the main quest), I had my PC drop a dozen land mines around Three Dog's sleeping cot. I left the otherwise empty building, and waited. Eventually Three-Dog triggered the mines... There was a station break with a new DJ; female. The announcement was a condemnation of Three-Dogs killer.

IIRC, this took place within the span of about three minutes real time.
 
Gizmojunk said:
In my play-through of FO3, (still never finished the main quest), I had my PC drop a dozen land mines around Three Dog's sleeping cot. I left the otherwise empty building, and waited. Eventually Three-Dog triggered the mines... There was a station break with a new DJ; female. The announcement was a condemnation of Three-Dogs killer.

IIRC, this took place within the span of about three minutes real time.
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After pax told me what happens I just turned off collision and console command killed him then toggled collision on to watch him sling shot into a corner
 
Dang, how did I miss this post!?

Anyways yeah, when you do a deeper analysis on Three Dog as a character, he's terribly written. And like you said, they could've been clever with what his character represents if they played their cards right, being a virtue signaling fake activist & all. Sadly, he's just yet another example of Bethesda's horrible writing, damn shame.

:-? :-x


Also, "SECOND WORST GAME IN THE SERIES"... whoa, so which game in the series do you consider to be the worst!?

:confused:
 
Now, if the game was actually well written or clever, and ACKNOWLEDGED this fact, that might be interesting and deep. Like, if there was a way you could convince him he was a hypocrite and not to work with the brotherhood of steel - Or even if he didn't KNOW the brotherhood did things like that and you could show him the proof and convince him to seek protection by Reilly's Rangers instead.
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Or, he could be completely irredeemable, and a commentary on fake activists or a statement about journalistic integrity and how
There are several idiotic things in Fallout 3 that would've been so much better if the game let you acknowledge how dumb they are.

Three Dog's a great example. It'd be fine to have a hypocritical dickhead of a character like him... if the game didn't basically force you to agree that he's a good guy. Roy and Tenpenny Tower would be great examples of subverted expectations and muddy morality... if the game didn't pretend Roy isn't a psychotic murdering racist.

Shit like that is what holds TTW back for me. I think FO3 had a better open world with more to do than FNV, but it's shackled to a terrible story that you can't avoid or ignore.
 
I want to hate Fallout 3 for it's worldbuilding, but I just can't. Unlike you, my 16 years old memory kept showing and my brain really like to fire those parts of synapses. I hate Mad Max, Rage series, Outer World, Fallout 4, dislike Wasteland 2 (but I like Wasteland 3). It's just for Fallout 3 I just can't. Maybe I just can use AI to edit few lines that problematic or other details. But the game is just kind of special. I have to admit I am very biased. For me, FO3-FNV is such fine combination along with whatever details that Van Buren and Fallout Tactic should give us. In this early 2010s depiction of Fallout, which is so rare these days thanks to contamination by FO4, F76, and Fallout Tv Show. Basically in those days where I watched Nuka Break.
 
I think you misunderstand the character, and I think others in this thread also misunderstand the character.

Three-Dog is not a hypocrite, nor is he attempting to rebel against a non-existent hierarchy. Starting with the second point, Three-Dog (pre-Enclave reveal) only jokingly pokes fun at the Enclave station that's broadcasting nonsense propaganda. The majority of what he does is provide updates contingent upon the player's actions, and provide useful survival tips along with trying to uplift people's spirits.
We all know the dangers of radiation, but with the right precautions, you CAN prevent accidental death or even eewww ghoulification. Keep your eyes on those geiger counters, kids. Tick, tick, tickety means run your ass outta there, and then pop some RadAway for good measure. If you do need to head into the heat, be smart give yourself a nice boost of Rad-X first. Remember, only you can prevent human flesh fires
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Listen kiddos, never forget the importance of periodic weapon maintenance. Rifle, pistol, police baton I don’t care which. If your weapon is falling apart, the only Wasteland asshole it’s gonna kill is you. So be smart. Salvage those parts and make repairs whenever you can.
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There are more but I won't be pedantic and list every single quote, but you get the point. Three-Dog is not trying to convince the listener to pick up a gun and go off to fight a non-existent "FASCIST REGIME". Three-Dog is trying to convince the listener not to pick up that gun and put it in their mouth.

Addressing the first point about hypocrisy, there's nothing concrete to suggest Willow's comment about the BoS shooting ghouls on sight is true. It could be, but I doubt it. The BoS would know the difference between a feral and non-feral ghoul, and nothing in the BoS dialogue suggests that the BoS wants to exterminate them. (Unless you're counting Fallout 4, in which case we can have a whole separate discussion on the difference between the BoS of 3 and the BoS of 4)

Ultimately I don't think this post or most people in the thread are correct.
 
Imo, worst Fo3 character would be the one who writes the survival guide, but 3dogs is a serious contender with how much space he could take up in the game, considering the game could be quite long to complete (if you go through the fillers, hoping for actual content) and how limited and global the radio stations are.
 
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