Robert Edwin House, most famously known as Mr. House, is the enigmatic ruler of New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland. His character is complex, inspiring some while infuriating others with his insufferable libertarian ideals. Now that New Vegas is looming on the horizon of the Fallout TV series, it feels natural that we’ll see Robert House appear at some point in Fallout season two.
Mr. House in his life support chamber in the Lucky 38 control room.
In June of 2024, the series showrunners confirmed, “Many of our lead characters are Vegas-bound… Las Vegas in the world of Fallout is Robert House’s town. Robert House will be involved in Season 2.” In fact, we've officially seen Mr. Robert House in the teaser trailer for Fallout season two.
Why Robert House is a Bad Choice - Fallout New Vegas Lore
Who Is Robert House?
Robert House is the founder and CEO of RobCo Industries. His company is the source of much of Fallout’s classic tech, such as the Mr. Handys (the robotic butler we see trying to ‘borrow’ Lucy’s organs in the show) and, of course, the Pip-Boy, a product that was a partnership between RobCo and Vault-Tec.
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Robert Edwin House was born on June 25th, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to the owners of the H&H Tool empire. House was orphaned at age two when his parents died in a freak auto-gyro-lightning-bolt accident. (Fallout is weird.)
House was cheated out of his sizable inheritance by his half-brother Anthony. However, with that chip firmly on his shoulder and a genius IQ under his belt, House persevered. He eventually got into the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, the Fallout universe’s MIT equivalent.
Thanks to House’s impeccable business acumen and intrinsic technical know-how, RobCo became one of the most profitable companies in the world over the next eight years. House was known for his ruthless, excessive corporate expansion. He’d gobble up smaller companies and eventually create a veritable monopoly in some tech markets, especially software.
Portrait of Mr. House.
Robert House as a character was very much in the spirit of Howard Hughes a.k.a. the classic eccentric billionaire trope. But House, and by extension his hobbies, were more bizarrely pragmatic. Another use of House's time while running his company was regularly designing and running mathematical paradigms based on global political and socioeconomic conditions in an effort to predict future events.
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House personally designed mathematical paradigms to attempt to predict major world events. House determined that on October 23rd, 2077, at approximately 8pm EST, nuclear fire would rain from the sky. You gotta give it to the guy.
House's Preparations for the Great War
With the date in mind, House began working towards making sure that Las Vegas would survive the war, and just as important-he would survive the war. Like any good billionaire, House owned a Vegas casino known as the Lucky 38. Using the vast wealth and resources of RobCo, House began outfitting the Lucky 38 so that it could protect Vegas against the brunt of a nuclear assault. He also decided that drastic measures would have to be taken for him to remain alive indefinitely to handle the crisis personally.
House had his fleshy, mortal body sealed into a life support device that would keep him alive-relatively and theoretically-forever. House also created an army of Securitrons to act as his eyes, ears, and hands post-war. The Securitrons are some of RobCo’s stronger combat robots. He knew they would at least be enough to deter most trouble makers that might crop up after the end of the world.
House knew that the current capabilities of the Lucky 38 and the Securitron army that he possessed were not going to be enough to completely spare Vegas. The Strip would likely remain relatively unharmed, but the surrounding environs, not so much.
A new operating system (OS) was designed, one that would upgrade House’s laser grid to better ensure a completely untouched Las Vegas. It would also greatly increase the offensive capabilities of his Securitron army. The OS was downloaded onto the Platinum Chip, and was set to be delivered via courier to House the morning of October 23rd, 2077.
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Integral to the successful execution of House's plans was the platinum chip, containing a vital OS upgrade for his Securitrons and the laser defense network. Even with the inferior operating system, House was still able to stop sixty-eight of the seventy-seven nuclear missiles from hitting Las Vegas. While portions of the city were still destroyed, it was largely spared.
Mr. House After the War
House regained consciousness in 2138. Instead of immediately revealing himself, he opted instead to wait for certain signs and bided his time. He initially chose to bide his time and observe the goings-on of the Mojave Wasteland instead of immediately revealing himself.
Waiting and watching, House made his move when reports of NCR scouts in the area reached him around 2274. The Securitrons finally, after so many years, left the Lucky 38. This action was prompted by the detection of New California Republic scouts arriving at Hoover Dam.
With the hopes of having staff that had pulses, House gave the raiders currently occupying the Vegas Strip three options. They could leave, work for him, or die. Three raider tribes chose to work for him. In order to establish his rule, he enlisted the help of three of the raider tribes who had descended from Vault dwellers and were now living in the ruins of Vegas. These Vault tribes were later renamed as the Three Families: the Chairmen, the Omertas, and the White Glove Society, they rebuilt the city under House's guidance, establishing it as the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas and styling himself as its president, CEO and sole proprietor, just in time to welcome the arrival of the New California Republic Army's advance forces.
Once established and later ensconced within the cultural and economic conscience of the Mojave, House made a deal with the NCR to coexist in relative peace. In exchange for help with Hoover Dam and permission to use the defunct McCarran International Airport as its headquarters, House signed the New Vegas Treaty, ensuring cooperation from NCR and, for a time, protecting the Strip from annexation. The NCR got to have McCarran Air Force Base and an embassy on the Strip. House got to have free power from Hoover Dam, and all the money from the NCR citizens desperate for a vacation.
Mr. House in Fallout New Vegas.
The Platinum Chip and the Courier
Even after bringing some of Vegas' luster back to the wasteland, Mr. House's top priority remained re-acquiring the platinum chip from its decades-old resting place. For years before the NCR's arrival, House spent cumulative millions of caps on scavenger teams and prospectors to dig it out of the ruins of Sunnyvale. This massive expenditure ultimately paid off in 2281 when the platinum chip was found after 204 years.
Mr. House is the character who hires the Courier, the protagonist of Fallout: New Vegas, to deliver to him an object of immense value known as the Platinum Chip. With this Chip, Mr. House would be able to control a new army of robots he had been working on and planned on using them to defend New Vegas from the NCR and Caesar’s Legion. However, he also planned on allowing both armies to battle each other for control of Hoover Dam, then mop up the survives and take the water source for himself to expand his power base.
Yet again, however, the platinum chip's delivery was halted. While being carried by Courier Six to New Vegas, they were intercepted by the Chairmen's leader, Benny around Goodsprings after he was informed of the chip's existence and the route by the modified Securitron Yes Man using a backdoor into House's datastream. Benny intended to leverage the chip as a means to gain control of the Strip and make it an independent power in the wasteland, free of his employer's machinations.
Though not initially aware of Benny's involvement, House learned the truth after a Securitron, Victor, he had planted in Goodsprings had reported back to him on the chip's theft. Incensed at the betrayal, as he considered Benny a potential protégé as his right-hand man able to achieve tasks he alone could not, House nevertheless had to mask his knowledge of Benny's duplicity until the time came that he could act on it through a new agent. After learning through Victor that the Courier had survived the ambush and was making their way from Goodsprings to the Strip, Mr. House sought to utilize them.
Mr. House's Ideology and Goals
Mr. House seeks to restore New Vegas to its pre-War glory as a crown jewel of technological innovation and a bright neon paradise of business and fortune. Having experienced pre-War Vegas first-hand, he has long been enamored with the city's beauty and grandeur.
His vision of autocracy and disillusionment with democratic society stems from his resentment towards the attitudes and actions of the increasingly desperate pre-War United States, whose decline was precipitated by the failure to adequately research and develop alternative technologies. His ultimate goal is to guide civilization's progress and forge a new future for mankind, free of the corrupting influences of the past. His own strategies and decisions are largely based on mathematical calculations, and he is confident in his own ability to succeed.
He styles himself as an "autocrat," viewing New Vegas as his rightful dominion, and is dismissive of other factions vying for control, comparing them to "two snarling dogs fighting over a curve of bone." He further disparages both groups as nothing more than "regurgitations of the past" drawing parallels between the two as attempts to revive past civilizations rather than offer a palpable future.
Focused only on achieving his goals, he has little interest in monitoring or controlling the lives of others. He allows the casinos autonomy, and is largely reliant on the few information networks at his disposal and his Securitron patrols to maintain order. He takes great pride in his achievements, seeing himself as a visionary and his own life as the embodiment of great leadership. He takes great interest in the Courier, seeing them as a valuable asset to be utilized for overcoming obstacles too challenging for his other agents. Though their relationship is mainly professional, Mr. House comes to regard the Courier with respect and shows appreciation for their services, should they choose to help Mr. House.
The Fate of Mr. House
Much of Fallout: New Vegas hinges on the player’s decisions, as does the fate of Mr. House. The player can choose to side with him, however, the AI of his robot army known as “Yes Man” will encourage the Courier to betray House and use the army to take over the Wasteland themselves. The player can agree to this or can pass the Platinum Chip back to House, allowing him to wipe out his enemies.
Should the player choose to betray House, they can either kill him or leave him alive but cut off from his network, essentially dooming him to a terrible purgatory for his crimes against the people of the Wasteland. If the player sides with Caesar’s Legion or the NCR, they can do the same, but they can also use Yes Man and the robots to betray those factions too. Or they can use the robots to support those factions, securing their victory.
Mr. House's defeat.
The “Good” ending of Fallout: New Vegas involves siding with the NCR, destroying House and Caesar’s Legion while creating an alliance between the NCR and Brotherhood of Steel. It also involves encouraging groups like the Enclave Remnants, the Boomers, and the Great Khans to join the alliance, ridding the Mojave Wasteland of the Legion and Houses’ influence.
The fact that LA’s chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel is thriving in the Fallout TV series may be evidence that the good ending of New Vegas is canon. However, Mr. House appears in a flashback and is revealed to be the former owner of Rob-Co - which is new information for Fallout fans. This could be the TV show setting up Mr. House to be the next “Big Bad” and having him retroactively confirmed as the man behind Rob-Co also explains his connection to robotics, and how he was able to use them to take over Las Vegas.
Lucy and her allies make their way to Shady Sands in the Fallout TV show and find that the NCR’s base of operations has been nuked, with the faction nowhere to be seen. Could it be that Mr. House took revenge on his old enemies? Looks like we’ll have to wait until Season 2 to find out more.
Whether he is a visionary or a villain, Mr. House's impact on the Fallout universe is undeniable, and his role in the upcoming season promises to be significant.
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