The Courier

"Enjoy your stay."

The Courier (a.k.a. Courier Six) is the main protagonist and playable character of the 2010 video-game Fallout: New Vegas as well as is expansions Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues and Lonesome Road. The Courier is a human but the race and the gender can be chosen by the player. The original appearance of the Courier however is a Male Caucasian with blond hair.

The male Courier is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal and the female Courier is voiced by Laura Bailey.

Background
Sometimes before the events of the game, the Courier was hired by the New California Republic (NCR) to deliver a package to the Divide which they found in Navarro. The package was containing several Pre-War symbols that they didn't recognize, except for the Old World Flag. The package however 'woke up' and the warheads buried beneath the Divide have been detonated, which then turned the place into a radioactive hell. This was also the main reason why the NCR could barely win the First Battle of Hoover Dam and couldn't defeat the Caesar's Legion entirely as their supply route through the Divide was cut off due to the detonations.

Prior to the game's beginning, the Courier was one of the six Couriers hired by the Mojave Express to deliver strange packages to New Vegas. Before they could make it to Vegas, they were intercepted by a few men, one of them wearing and expensive looking tuxedo, outside the town of Goodsprings who stole the package and shot the Courier in the head leaving them to death. the Courier however was rescued by a Securitron Robot named Victor and transported to Goodsprings and nursed back to life by Doc Mitchell, the town's doctor.

In search for the assassin
After the Courier awakes in Doc Mitchell's house, they get a final treatment from the Doc and set out to explore the wasteland and find the man who wanted them dead. The Courier starts at the small town of Goodsprings and is greeted by a girl named Sunny Smiles in the Prospector's Saloon. Sunny briefly reminds the Courier how to survive in the dangers of the wasteland. After this, the Courier sets out to Primm, where they got the package first. There, Deputy Beagle, after saving him from a group of escaped convicts tells them that the man who shot them in the head was headed towards Novac, but also tells them to get there through Nipton since it's safer.

After reaching Novac, the Courier meets a former NCR sharpshooter named Manny Vargas, who tells the Courier that the man who shot them was called Benny, that he is the leader of the Chairmen (one of the three families in control of New Vegas stationed in the Tops in Vegas) and that he was last seen heading towards Boulder City alongside some Great Khans. After this, the Courier reaches the Boulder City, where they encounter a squad of NCR soldiers trying to save their comrades from the Great Khans. After the Courier convinces the NCR officer into negotiating with the Khans, the Courier went to interrogate the Khans about Benny's whereabouts. They told the Courier that Benny had stabbed them in the back and escaped to the Tops in Vegas.

After learning this, the Courier sets out to the New Vegas Strip to find Benny, deal with him and retrieve the Platinum Chip he stole from them. Mr House made contact with the Courier and told them to bring the chip to him (in exchange for 1000/1250 caps). The Courier deals with Benny and retrieve Mr. House's chip from him and leaves the Tops afterwards.

Journey to Sierra Madre (Dead Money DLC)
The Courier travels to an abandoned Brotherhood bunker and is gassed. Waking up in the Sierra Madre wearing an explosive collar, The Courier is given the task (by Father Elijah) to assemble a team of people that will trigger the casino's Opening Gala so they can get inside.

Along the way, The Courier fights many hazards including radios and speakers (which can set off their collar early), the toxins in the air, the strange Ghost People and even traps that others have set up.

When the Gala Event is triggered, Ghost People swarm the streets and The Courier fights their way inside the casino, where the security system gasses everyone. When the Courier comes to, they are contacted by Father Elijah, who tells them to first power the casino up, then to hunt down the other team members (the team's collars do not allow the Courier access to the casino vault).

After dealing with the other members, The Courier heads down to the vault and bypasses all the defenses. After getting to the actual vault, they are contacted by Father Elijah again, who orders the Courier to stay in the vault. From here, the player can either confront Elijah and kill him, or sneak out of the vault, trapping him in the basement when he tries opening the vault door. Either way, he attempts to set off the Courier's collar. However, the collar detaches when The Courier gets out of the vault.

Journey to the Divide (Lonesome Road DLC)
The Courier is contacted by a man named Ulysses, who tells them to come to the Divide.

Independent Vegas questline
The ending considered canon, the Courier meets with Yes Man, who tells him/her that Benny's plan was to kill Mr House and take over New Vegas. The Courier arranges things with groups around the Mojave (Great Khans, Boomers, Brotherhood of Steel etc) before killing Mr House and activating/destroying an army of Securitrons under Caeser's Fort. Afterwards, The Courier took part in the Battle of Hoover Dam and drove both the NCR and the Legion out of the Mojave.

New California Republic questline
After leaving the Lucky 38, the Courier is approached by an NCR trooper who told the Courier to meet Ambassador Crocker down in the Strip at the NCR Embassy. The Courier travels there and speaks with the Ambassador and learns about the approaching Second Battle of Hoover Dam. The Ambassador tasks the Courier to gain the support of a group called "Boomers" stationed at the Nellis AFB to the northeast of Vegas who are rumored to possess a dramatically high amount of fire power. The Boomers, however are known with their extreme xenophobia and will shoot at anyone who attempts to approach their base. The Courier makes through the artillery barrage and makes it to the gates. After passing a heated conversation with the gate guard, they are taken into the base and told to speak to Pearl, the leader of the Boomers who gives the Courier an opportunity to gain the trust of her people. After doing several jobs for them and lifting a Crashed B-29 from Lake Mead, they ask Pearl to help the NCR at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. She accepts and the Courier goes back to the embassy to receive further orders.

The next task for the Courier is to stop the violence against the NCR citizens in Freeside. The Courier pays a visit to the King, who is the leader of the gang in Freeside known as Kings and asks him to stop the violence in Freeside. The King tasks the Courier to do a few jobs for him and finds out that there was a soup kitchen in the Freeside but only serving the NCR citizens and not the Freesiders. But the Courier also reveals that the NCR had sent an envoy to the King but he could never reach him so the King could never know of it. The King sends the Courier to the NCR officer to tell that he's willing to cooperate. After this, he agrees to stop the violence against the NCR citizens in the Freeside so the Courier returns to the Embassy. From that point, the Courier is tasked to go to Hoover Dam and meet Colonel Moore, who is the leading officer of the NCR troopers at the Dam to receive further orders.

Caesar's Legion questline
After exiting The Tops, the Courier is greeted by a disguised Vulpes Inculta (or a Frumentarius named Alerio if Vulpes was killed in Nipton), the leader of the Frumentarii caste of the Legion. He gave the Courier the Mark of Caesar as an invitation from Caesar himself. After receiving the Mark, the Courier travels to Cottonwood Cove, where the Mojave base of the Legion is located. There, the Courier has to speak with the ferryman, Cursor Lucullus who will help the Courier to reach the Fort, the Legion's main base which is actually located to the east of Colorado River in Arizona. After reaching Caesar's tent, the Courier is greeted by Caesar himself who tells the Courier that he's aware of the Securitron army located beneath the Fort and asks the Courier to destroy it. Since the base beneath can only be accessed with the Platinum Chip, Caesar gives it to the Courier to do the job.

Trivia
If the Courier is female, she can seduce Benny into having sex with her and after he fell asleep, has the option of either killing him or falling asleep. The Courier's own ending depends on what side the player sides with:
 * If killed, the Courier will be able to get the Platinum Chip out of his corpse.
 * If spared however, he will dump the Courier and travel to the Fort in an attempt to unlock the bunker beneath it, only to be captured by Caesar's Legion.
 * If independent, they are recognized as the person who freed New Vegas.
 * If NCR, they are given the Golden Branch: the highest civilian award in the Republic.
 * If Mr House, they are given every luxury at House's disposal out of gratitude (or fear depending on the Courier's karma in the end).
 * If the Legion, Ceaser honours the Courier by minting a golden coin with their face.