Fallout: New Vegas Tribes and Factions Explained

When you wander through the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas, it’s easy to see Vegas itself as the heart of civilization. But the real story lies in the tribes that surround it , fractured, proud, and haunted by old world ideals. The Boomers, the Great Khans, and the Brotherhood of Steel are three of the most fascinating factions in the region, each reflecting a different philosophy of survival and power in a world shattered by nuclear fire.

Let’s dive into their origins, beliefs, and how they shaped the fate of New Vegas.

Mr. House and New Vegas

Location: The Lucky 38 Casino, New Vegas Strip
Values: Order, preservation, technological supremacy, controlled progress
Motto: “The House always wins.”

If the Boomers dream of the sky and the Legion dreams of empire, Robert House dreams of eternity. Once a pre-war billionaire, House was the founder and CEO of RobCo Industries, the company responsible for much of the pre-war robotics that shaped America , from Securitrons to Protectrons and the Pip-Boy itself.

When the Great War came in 2077, House was ready. He foresaw nuclear annihilation years in advance and hardened Las Vegas against it, using RobCo satellites and automated defenses to shoot down incoming warheads. While much of the world burned, Las Vegas survived , its neon glow preserved beneath radioactive skies.

House himself survived too , not in flesh, but in machine. His body, now over 200 years old, is preserved by a life-support system deep beneath the Lucky 38 Casino, his consciousness interfaced with the Strip’s mainframe. From this tomb of steel and code, he rules New Vegas through his robotic enforcers , the Securitrons, each bearing his smiling digital face.

House’s Vision: Logic Over Humanity

Mr. House’s worldview is a form of technocratic immortality. He believes that humanity, left to its emotions, will destroy itself again. His plan is to rebuild society under his rational, benevolent control , not through tyranny like Caesar, nor through democracy like the NCR, but through enlightened autocracy.

To him, the NCR is bloated bureaucracy, and Caesar’s Legion is barbarism. Both are doomed.
Only House , eternal, calculated, incorruptible , can secure humanity’s future.

Yet there’s a quiet tragedy in that vision.
House is a man who saved civilization but lost his humanity.
He cannot touch, age, or feel; his world is run by numbers, probabilities, and machines. Even his voice — calm, aristocratic, clinical , feels more algorithm than emotion.

The Securitron Army

The Securitrons are the backbone of House’s rule , a mechanical police force that never sleeps, never hesitates, and never questions orders. Equipped with 9mm submachine guns, grenade launchers, and riot gear, they patrol the Strip and the surrounding gates with mechanical precision.

But beneath their cheerful exterior lies a terrifying potential. The Courier discovers that these robots are capable of upgrading , becoming Mk II Securitrons, heavily armed with missile launchers and energy weapons once their systems are unlocked from the hidden Lucky 38 mainframe.

This upgrade represents more than firepower , it’s House’s dream of immortality made manifest.
He has transcended flesh, emotion, and frailty , commanding an empire of chrome that will outlast every mortal faction in the Mojave.

New Vegas: The Mirage of Civilization

When the Courier first arrives on the Strip, New Vegas feels like a miracle , lights, music, and life in a world of ruin. But look closer, and you’ll see House’s illusion of freedom. The Strip is divided among three casino families , the Omertas, White Glove Society, and Chairmen , each hand-picked by House to maintain order and entertainment.

They are tribes too , not of savages, but of indulgence:

The Omertas deal in organized crime.
The White Gloves hide cannibalistic traditions behind aristocratic manners.
The Chairmen perform swing-era nostalgia in a post-nuclear wasteland.

Each represents a facet of House’s world , polished, profitable, and controllable.

House calls this system “freedom with structure.” In truth, it’s a dictatorship disguised as prosperity.
He allows visitors to gamble, drink, and dance , but always under the watchful lens of his Securitrons.

In his words:

“The old world failed because it was weak. New Vegas will not repeat that mistake.”

The Boomers: Isolationists Under the Open Sky

Location: Nellis Air Force Base
Values: Self-sufficiency, isolation, technological preservation, air power
Motto: “We keep to ourselves, and the sky is ours.”

The Boomers are the ultimate embodiment of paranoia turned into culture. Descendants of Vault 34 residents, they once lived under the rule of the Vault’s Overseer who hoarded weapons and ammunition. The resulting rebellion flooded the Vault and forced a group of survivors , the future Boomers , to escape into the wasteland, carrying with them an almost religious reverence for firepower.

They eventually settled at Nellis Air Force Base, where their obsession with explosives evolved into a society centered around artillery dominance. Anyone who dares approach their borders is instantly met with a barrage of shells , a literal wall of explosions separating them from the rest of the Mojave.

Inside, however, they’re not just warmongers. The Boomers are a community built on discipline and shared vision. They’ve restored old world machines, cultivated crops in greenhouses, and trained every generation to revere the dream of flight , a symbol of freedom from the chaos below. Their greatest aspiration? To restore a B-29 bomber submerged in Lake Mead and command the skies again.

Helping them achieve that dream earns the Courier their lasting respect . and possibly the support of the most powerful artillery in the desert.

The Great Khans: Outlaws with a Code

Location: Red Rock Canyon
Values: Strength, loyalty, freedom from authority
Motto: “No masters. No NCR. No Legion.”

If the Boomers are isolationists, the Great Khans are survivors of perpetual exile. Their lineage traces back to the original Khans from the days of the Vault 15 survivors, the same Vault that birthed the NCR and the Jackals. But where the NCR sought order, the Khans embraced chaos and raiding , a violent counterpoint to civilization.

They once ruled the wastes around Vault 15 and even New Vegas itself, until the NCR crushed them during the Battle of Bitter Springs, a massacre that left deep scars on the tribe’s identity. By the time the Courier meets them, the Khans have retreated to Red Rock Canyon, licking their wounds and bitterly reminiscing about lost glory.

Yet beneath their rough exterior lies a complex social structure. The Great Khans prize loyalty and honor above all. They see themselves as warriors of a dying culture, too proud to submit to the NCR’s bureaucracy or Caesar’s Legion’s brutality. Ironically, their last major trade connection is with the Fiends , a drug-fueled gang , through the production of Jet and Psycho, highlighting their moral decline.

The Courier can guide the Khans toward three possible futures: total destruction, integration with the NCR, or rebirth in Wyoming as a new, self-sufficient society. That choice defines whether the Khans die as raiders or live as reborn nomads.

They may be a tribe in decline, but their spirit , defiant and raw , captures the essence of post-apocalyptic rebellion.

Brotherhood of Steel: Knights of the Old World

Location: Hidden Valley Bunkers
Values: Technology preservation, secrecy, purity of purpose
Motto: “Ad Victoriam.”

The Brotherhood of Steel is not a tribe in the traditional sense, but in the Mojave, they behave very much like one , insular, proud, and clinging to ancient dogma. Born from the ashes of the U.S. military, the Brotherhood began as a group of soldiers who rebelled against corrupt government scientists at Mariposa Base during the Great War. Over centuries, they evolved into a techno-religious order devoted to preserving pre-war technology , by any means necessary.

In Fallout: New Vegas, the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood is a shadow of its former self. Their numbers are dwindling, their power limited, and their once-grand bunkers reduced to Hidden Valley, a buried fortress haunted by the glow of old ideals.

Under Elder McNamara, they remain cautious and isolated, hiding from the NCR after a disastrous conflict known as the Helios One incident, which ended in a Brotherhood defeat. Meanwhile, internal divisions brew , with Head Paladin Hardin pushing for a more aggressive stance to reclaim their lost honor.

Their philosophy borders on zealotry: they believe only they are fit to wield advanced technology. This puts them in direct conflict with the NCR, who view technology as a public resource. The Brotherhood sees that as heresy , proof of humanity’s inability to handle power responsibly.

In the wasteland, they act as both protectors and hoarders, preserving the old world’s gifts but denying them to others , a paradox that mirrors humanity’s struggle between control and freedom.

The Powder Gangers: Chaos in Chains

Location: NCR Correctional Facility, Mojave Wasteland
Values: Anarchy, self-interest, survival through intimidation
Motto: “Freedom through fire.”

Before the Mojave burned with political tension, the New California Republic (NCR) built a prison near Sloan , the NCR Correctional Facility , to house violent criminals and laborers used for railway expansion. When the NCR armed inmates with dynamite to speed up blasting operations, they unknowingly created one of the most volatile groups in the desert: the Powder Gangers.

When the Great Khans ambushed the supply convoys meant for the prison, chaos erupted. The prisoners revolted, killing their NCR wardens, seizing control of the facility, and arming themselves with more dynamite than discipline.

The result was an anarchist brotherhood of ex-cons and pyromaniacs who ruled by fear and greed. They terrorized caravans, sabotaged rail lines, and burned settlements, proclaiming freedom while mirroring the very tyranny they escaped.

Their “leader,” Eddie, holds power mostly through charisma and fear. Yet the Powder Gangers never evolve beyond their immediate hunger for destruction , they lack vision, unity, and ideology. In many ways, they represent the darkest form of freedom: chaos without purpose.

To the Courier, they are both nuisance and opportunity , a faction that can be wiped out for NCR favor or used as pawns in the wasteland’s larger power plays.

Symbolically, the Powder Gangers are what happens when rebellion loses its direction , a tribe without a future, trapped between NCR oppression and self-inflicted collapse.

Caesar’s Legion: The Empire of Pain

Location: Fortification Hill (east of the Colorado River)
Values: Order through domination, unity through fear, rejection of pre-war decadence
Motto: “Ave, true to Caesar.”

If the Powder Gangers are chaos, Caesar’s Legion is order , brutal, absolute, and regressive. Led by Edward Sallow, a former Follower of the Apocalypse who rebranded himself as Caesar, the Legion is a militant empire modeled after ancient Rome. It spans the eastern wasteland, absorbing tribes through conquest and assimilation.

Caesar’s ideology is rooted in disgust for the old world. He sees democracy, luxury, and personal freedom as the reasons humanity fell. His solution: an authoritarian structure where every man has his place and every tribe is reforged into a disciplined war machine.

The Legion’s methods are horrific , slavery, crucifixion, and forced assimilation are the norm. Yet to Caesar’s followers, this cruelty is justified by results. The Legion brings order, security, and unity , even if it costs humanity its soul.

Their elite warriors, the Centurions and Legionaries, are fanatically loyal, indoctrinated to see Caesar as divine. Women serve as slaves or servants, reflecting the Legion’s rejection of equality and modern ideals.

Caesar’s ultimate goal is to conquer New Vegas, believing it to be the symbolic heart of pre-war corruption. He sees himself not as a tyrant, but as humanity’s savior , the man who will burn the old world so that a stronger one may rise from its ashes.

Even Lanius, the Legion’s brutal military commander, carries this philosophy to extremes, embodying obedience and the cold efficiency of Caesar’s vision.

To the Courier, Caesar offers a paradoxical alliance: civilization through barbarism. Joining him means embracing order without freedom , a pact that tests the player’s moral compass like no other faction in the game.

The House Always Wins

In Fallout: New Vegas, Mr. House isn’t just a man , he’s the embodiment of control. He represents the last flicker of the old world’s arrogance: that technology, intellect, and capitalism can save humanity from itself.

Each major faction stands as a philosophical counterpoint to him:

Faction	Belief	Conflict with House
NCR	Expansion through democracy	House sees them as inefficient and corrupt
Legion	Order through conquest	House rejects their brutality as primitive
Brotherhood of Steel	Preservation through secrecy	House despises their hoarding of technology
Boomers	Isolation and self-reliance	House sees them as irrelevant dreamers
Great Khans	Tribal freedom	House views them as uncivilized obstacles
Powder Gangers	Rebellion and chaos	House crushes them as vermin

To House, only one truth matters: Progress must be engineered, not voted on.

The Mojave Mosaic

When seen together, the Mojave’s tribes and factions form a living map of human ideology after the apocalypse.

Faction	Core Belief	Approach	Symbolism
Boomers	Isolation through power	Protect themselves with technology	Technological rebirth
Great Khans	Freedom through strength	Reject all authority	Tribal pride
Brotherhood of Steel	Control through preservation	Hoard technology	Old-world elitism
Powder Gangers	Freedom through anarchy	Violence for survival	The failure of rebellion
Caesar’s Legion	Unity through domination	Enslavement and discipline	Order without humanity

Every one of these tribes is both a warning and a reflection of humanity’s potential.
They show that the apocalypse didn’t destroy human nature , it merely amplified it.

The Boomers cling to dreams of the sky.
The Khans cling to memories of freedom.
The Brotherhood clings to relics of control.
The Powder Gangers explode in rebellion.
The Legion enslaves in the name of salvation.

Each faction believes it’s building a better world , yet all risk becoming prisoners of their own ideals.

The Courier’s Role

When the Courier steps into the Lucky 38, they become the wild card in House’s equation.
You can:

Serve House, ensuring his eternal rule over the Strip.
Side with the NCR, expanding bureaucratic civilization.
Join Caesar, burning the old world for a new empire.
Or betray them all, taking Vegas for yourself : Independent New Vegas.

Each path offers a different future for the Mojave:

House’s Vegas becomes a sterile utopia ruled by logic and machines.
NCR’s Vegas becomes another colony, slowly suffocating under bureaucracy.
Caesar’s Vegas becomes an empire of slaves and order.
Independent Vegas , run by the Courier , becomes unpredictable freedom, a new experiment in survival.

In the end, your choice defines not just the fate of the city, but the soul of humanity in the Mojave.

Final Reflection: The King in the Desert

Mr. House stands alone at the top of the Lucky 38 , a digital pharaoh staring down at the wasteland he saved, ruling a kingdom of light surrounded by ruin.
He is both savior and tyrant, visionary and prisoner.

Every faction around Vegas , from the Boomers’ cannons to Caesar’s legions , represents a way of surviving.
But House represents something greater: a way of enduring.

He doesn’t want to survive the apocalypse.
He wants to outlive it.

“From my throne, I will watch the old world fade , and the new one begin under my hand.”
, Robert House