I have to go with the Lone Wanderer. The capital wasteland is much more dangerous than the mojave. Also the Lone Wanderer fought the enclave and survived, the Courier just fought off some gangs and people pretending to be soldiers.

While you have a point, you have to consider the Courier survived two shots to the head. Not to mention whatever else the player throws at him. While you're right about The Capital Wasteland being more dangerous, Courier Six would be more than capable of surviving it.

I say the Courier.

It's hard to pick. They both capable at surviving the wasteland. Also fought dangerous creatures. But I pick Lone Wanderer because he has a better story then the Courier.

Even back on the old VGU, numerous threads like this were made.

And I always felt that comparisons between the two protagonists were hollow. And that's because with the way the series handled them - unvoiced characters, karma system, extensive character customization even before the use of mods - the characters were avatars of the people playing them and served as an extension of their personalities. Comparing which protagonist is better is like comparing which protagonist in competing MMO's was better. Ultimately, the Lone Wanderer and the Courier's role as vessels in which players use to explore the vast worlds of the Wasteland and the Mojave far outstrip their roles as characters; you, the player, are the protagonist.

The other argument goes like this - the Lone Wanderer and the Courier are both relatively similar protagonists of two relatively similar games. And with the level of customization offered, many people modeled the Courier off the Lone Wanderer anyway. For many people, it doesn't matter as they were essentially the same character... just a different incarnation in each game. Like Link, for example.

But, for the sake of discussion, let's look at a game series that gave you the same system of a protagonist with strong customization and a karma system where you made choices - Mass Effect. Now, I would argue that Shepard is more than just a vessel in which players use to explore the world. He was a real, solid character. Sure, you could customize him but most people picked the default male John Shepard. Sure, you had dialogue choices to make for Shepard, just like for the Courier and the Lone Wanderer but the fact that he was voiced and had a look that most people picked made it feel like we were controlling a real character in the story instead of just avatars of ourselves in the Mojave or the Wasteland.

And perhaps the final argument - mods. Sure, maybe you think that the Lone Wanderer is more badass for doing XYZ or the Courier is more badass for doing ABC. It doesn't matter. At the end of their respective games, they're at equal power levels anyway. Pick the game with the weaker character, spawn whatever shit the stronger character killed that you think made him a badass, and the weaker character will kill it all the same. No difference.

I believe the Lone Wanderer is a great Fallout protagonist but a lot of his story seemed very recycled in my opinion, I thought a new antagonist would be introduced in DC, but bringing back the Enclave wasn't all bad. But Fallout 3's DLC (more so the Pitt and Point Lookout) give an original feel to it. Saying that I still would have to pick the Courier, I like his mysterious past the we know nothing(or very little) about. It gives more opportunity to role play, does he not remember anything after being shot in the head? Who knows, it's really how you want to see it. Also to add, the Courier is a single man in the middle of a power struggle between three armies, four different main endings depending on who you help(or screw over). That's why I believe the Courier is a better protagonist (or antagonist)

Lone wanderer. Mostly because if you think about it the lone wanderer goes across the wasteland just to find his/her dad, but then gets wound up in a giant civil war that no one knows a lot about. The same is with the courier, but it seemed a lot different, like they don't give us a exact reason on why you should just track him down across the wasteland. And everyone already knew about this giant war between the NCR and Legion its just you happened to impress all sides, and i don't exactly understand why you can murder everyone in your path but after benny they are all like "we can be friends ". With the wanderer it is different because its your dad, and everything seemed fine up until that moment, and he just vanishes like...what? Then it makes sense because when you find him and he *spoilers* dies, then you have to take refuge with the brotherhood, showing your skill to them shows them that you should join. Its just with benny and the way the story played out... its not the same.

On a side note I'm a bigger fan of DC and the guns in fallout 3 anyway, and the characters are a lot cooler. So my opinion is kind of biased .

Multech wrote:

I always felt that comparisons between the two protagonists were hollow. And that's because with the way the series handled them - unvoiced characters, karma system, extensive character customization even before the use of mods - the characters were avatars of the people playing them and served as an extension of their personalities.

Solid argument, but I think there's a little nuance to add, mostly because of their arcs and motivation. Both characters are a blank slate, but some personality is implied by their plot progression. In FO3, you basically get dropped into the world in a state of shock and panic, woken in the middle of the night, forced to kill your own neighbours to protect yourself and your best friend, then dumped out into a harsh, dead wasteland. You go on a desperate quest to find your one point of sanity and comfort in a mad word: the father who basically abandoned you in favour of his cause. The dialogue choices, though often pretty clumsy, sometimes give you an insight into the character. You can pretty much break down into tears when you're talking to Three dog, or become prickly and defensive, showing how young and immature your character still is .But as you go around chasing your dad's coat tails, you stop thinking so much about yourself, and realise that what he's doing really is more important than you or your relationship, so when the critical time comes, you've matured enough to make the decision and step into the purifier.

In New Vegas, your character's motivation is less easy to gauge. So this guy shoots you twice in the head and steals this mysterious chip. Well, s***. That sucks, but never mind, you survived. Wait, why are we looking for this guy? I don't want to find him... he'll probably just shoot me again, and why do I care about this chip? The dude said it was rigged from the start. You pretty much died in the line of duty for your employer. He can't expect more than that, so why not just let it go? Then what's your motivation? You don't have ties to any of the places in the Mojave, no one to protect, and there's no real moment when it's clear that this becomes your fight, you just keep following the quest markers.

So yeah, the wanderer wins it for me.

For me, they are the same character, so it's impossible to compare them, as every person's experience in Fallout is different, so you could have drastically different characters. You could have a melee badass for the Courier, or have a sniper character as the Lone Wanderer. Comparison is not possible between the two because there is no clear character progression. Comparing NPCs is different because they have set skills and personalities, the player character does not. I would say neither can win against each other. Statistic-wise, however, if counting dlc, then the Lone Wanderer would win because even if both players take the educated perk and have the same intelligence, the Lone Wanderer would have more skill points. Wanderer also has 30 perks as opposed to the Courier's 25. Perks make a big difference and the Wanderer just has more to pick, making him/her stronger. I still don't like making this comparison though because perk and skill selection is up to the player.

Courier, the silent protagonist thing aside, the dialogue choices in fallout 3 always made the character feel kind of like a whiney daddies boy or something of the sort.

The lone wanderer was a badass did it all and is the clear winner

I always pretended that my Lone Wanderer moved after all the stuff in Fallout 3 into Fallout NV so they are the same person for mi

Courier. without dubt the script and the story behind new vegas is absolutely superb in terms of narrative, fallout 3 maybe and i say maybe wins with the atmosphere, but new vegas in terms of story is amazing, the courier and his role the chip, the past to remember the confront with Ulysses such an amazing storyline.

Cook-Cook wrote:

I always pretended that my Lone Wanderer moved after all the stuff in Fallout 3 into Fallout NV so they are the same person for mi

have you tried playing a Tale of Two Wastelands? In that massive mod, you essentially play FO3 and FNV both with the same FNV engine. SO pretty much FO3 with the improvements made in FNV. It's really fun.. and you said you like to pretend that they are same character. In TTW you travel between the two wastelands with the same character! So when you get to that point you can go to the Mojave with the same skills, perks, traits and character as you had in FO3! its really cool!

@thesmallprint said it perfectly, in F3 you have a reason for your actions. In NV you don't, if you got shot in the head, and survived, I wouldn't think you want to go after the guy who almost killed you. Unless you were some hardened badass but your just a courier. There's no motivation besides the game nudging you in a general direction.

EDIT:

Plus Liam Neeson is your dad, why wouldn't you go across the wasteland for him.

hmm I think Courier! I love the whole cowboy/old west feel of new Vegas! so meany different ways to play! tho I cant seem to play the bad gal very well ha ha :p

Lone Wanderer for sure. New vegas has the occasional fiend or gecko or maybe deathclaw attack in certain areas but the Capital wasteland was ripe with Enclave, Yao Guai, Ferals, and best of all Super Mutants. New vegas is a cake walk compared to F03. it feels so much like a wasteland rather than an empty desert that the bombs missed.

......Plus the story was so much better