Summary
Despite taking place in the Mojave Wasteland,Fallout: New Vegasfeels almost lively at some points, flourishing with nameless and uniquely named NPCs. As you pickpocket, kill, or talk your way throughout New Vegas, you meeta lotof characters. It’s only reasonable you’d start questioning how many uniquely named NPCs there are.
A unique name doesn’t include NPCs with “title” designations, like “NCR Soldier” or “Powder Ganger.” We are also only including the base game, with NPCs that you’re able to meet in the flesh (whether they are robotic, dead, or alive) rather than characters that are mentioned only in the base game’s dialogue (like Joshua Graham).
There Are Over 380 NPCs In Fallout: New Vegas
There are just over 380 uniquely named NPCs scattered throughout the entirety of Fallout: New Vegas. Mixed in with the “nameless” fodder NPCs, the wasteland begins to feel just a little bit more inhabited and lively. There are definitely areas where they bunch up in bulk,such as The Strip, which contains the largest number of unique, named NPCs, just shy of 50.
Some of these NPCs you may encounter while wandering through the wastelands, but for the most part, they tend to group up near relatively stable civilizations. Others, like the Khans, can be really difficult to reach depending on your level.
You Can Kill Almost Every NPC
There are only a handful of NPCs that are marked as essential in Fallout: New Vegas. Essential simply means that they can’t be killed - they can be knocked out or temporarily incapacitated, but they can’t be killed. This is usually because they’re important to the story or they serve some purpose to you while you’re drifting through the Mojave Desert.
Of those 16 NPCs,half of them are permanent companions. There’s not much of a reason to go on a rampage and kill every NPC, given that most of them (especially the merchants and doctors) will help you out, but it’s your game - do as you please.
