Marked men Marked men are ghoul inhabitants found in the Divide in 2281 . Background . Marked men are the remnants of the New California Republic and Caesar ' s Legion soldiers stationed at the Divide . The Courier unintentionally brought a package to the Divide from Navarro containing a mysterious ICBM detonator , causing the nuclear warheads that were still underground in their silos since the Great War to detonate . The result of the warheads exploding , on top of Big MT ' s man - made disasters such as the earthquakes and violent storms present there that were an experiment gone awry , soon tore apart the entire area and all those residing within . The storms in particular had a profound effect on the NCR and Legion remnants ; their skins were flayed off , leaving their skeletal muscle tissue exposed . At the same time , the radiation had caused a unique " ghoulification " process that had kept them alive , making them suffer from their heavy wounds . In dialogue between the Courier and Ulysses , it can be confirmed that such injuries and radiation would have killed ordinary ghouls . This makes the marked men unique in that it is that level of radiation that is keeping them alive . Despite belonging to completely different factions with opposing ideologies when they were humans , the pain united them both into a single group . Their hate for the NCR and the Legion was turned against the Divide and its intruders . Some former legionaries of Caesar ' s Legion crafted crude versions of Legate equipment closely resembling Lanius ' s gear , using the metal from the Divide . Others shaped crude blades as weapons , in hopes of holding on to their identity that the Divide had snatched from them . Former NCR soldiers held on to their guns , raining fire on their victims from a distance . Characteristics . Biology . Marked men are hardened ghoul s with a fiery red color , with their skins peeled off by the violent storms of the Divide . Because of this , their skeletal muscles are exposed , giving them their red appearance . They are considered ghouls , in that the intense radiation of their surroundings is keeping them alive . To protect their exposed bodies ( or more likely , themselves ) , they continue to wear tattered clothing from their respective factions . They maintain their clothing with scavenged pieces of scrap , such as fallen road signs , license plates , and other bits of metal . In order to feed themselves , marked men have resorted to cannibalism , evident in the hunks of human meat and flesh found nearby their encampments . Gameplay attributes . Marked men level with the player , have a high amount of health for humanoid opponents , and are moderately protected by the tattered armor they wear ( albeit far less than properly maintained regular versions of their armor ) . They are overall on par with the White Legs tribal s of Zion Canyon , and the lobotomite s of the Big MT , in terms of health and armor . They carry a variety of powerful melee and ranged weapons , and at higher levels ( above level 40 ) have the unique attribute of being the only faction that almost universally uses non - standard ammunition for their weapons ( i . e . slugs and armor - piercing rounds ) , increasing their combat proficiency against well - protected targets . Additionally , many marked men make simultaneous use of both firearms and grenades . At times , they can be found using , making them harder to detect . When near sources of radiation , they regenerate health rapidly , even more so than ordinary ghouls . However , they tend to be few in numbers , and it is rare to find more than a dozen in any particular location , unless the player is a high level . Variants . Marked men hunter . Marked men hunters appear to be former NCR troopers , equipped with powerful ranged weapons . They may carry guns like trail carbine s , assault carbine s , or s at lower levels ( level 1 to level 30 ) , and anti - materiel rifle s , brush gun s , or Marksman carbine s at higher levels ( level 30 or above ) . For energy weapons , they may be seen carrying s or s . Most of them are found wearing ruined NCR trooper armor ( now known as the marked trooper armor ) , while some of them may be wearing Legion armor ( called the marked scout armor ) . Marked men marauder . Marked men maurauders are higher - ranking marked men that specialize in heavy weapons . They carry s and light machine gun s at lower levels ( below level 30 ) , s , s , , and plasma caster s at higher levels ( above level 30 ) , and shoulder mounted machine gun s at all levels . They wear either marked tribal armor or marked patrol armor , suggesting that they are a mix of former and former high - ranking legionaries . As such , they are slightly better protected than lower - ranking marked men . Marked men ravager . Marked men ravagers appear to be former Legionaries , and specialize in melee weapons . They often carry the Blade of the West , as well as s and at lower levels ( below level 30 ) . At higher levels ( above level 30 ) , they carry s , s , and thermic lance s . They also carry and use s . Most ravagers wear marked scout armor , and sometimes marked trooper armor . Marked men scout . Marked men scouts appear to be former Legionaries equipped with both firearms and s . They generally carry either pistols , one - handed submachine guns , or shotguns . They are equipped with flare gun s and plasma defender s at all levels , and 12 . 7mm pistol s , hunting shotgun s , and hunting revolver s at lower levels ( below level 30 ) , as well as 12 . 7mm submachine gun s and riot shotgun s at higher levels ( above level 30 ) . As their former ranks suggest , they usually wear marked scout armor . Some of them can be found wearing marked trooper armor . Irradiated marked men hunter . Irradiated marked men hunters are marked men that have been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . They are found scattered around the Courier ' s Mile . Irradiated marked men marauder . Irradiated marked men marauders are marked men that have been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . They are found scattered around the Courier ' s Mile . Irradiated marked men ravager . Irradiated marked men ravagers are marked men that have been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . They are found scattered around the Courier ' s Mile . Irradiated marked men scout . Irradiated marked men scouts are marked men that have been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . They are found scattered around the Courier ' s Mile . Irradiated heavy trooper . Irradiated heavy troopers are the ghoulified remnants of NCR heavy trooper s stationed at the Long 15 outpost . After the Courier launched the nuclear missiles from the Divide at the outpost , the radiation left behind turned them into ghouls , leaving them hostile to all others . They look like regular NCR heavy troopers with the added ability of regenerating health while irradiated . Irradiated Legion explorer . Irradiated Legion explorers are the ghoulified remnants of Legion explorer s that have been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . They are found in Dry Wells . Irradiated legionary prime . One irradiated legionary prime can be found in Dry Wells . He is the ghoulified remnant of a Prime legionary that has been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . Irradiated legionary veteran . Irradiated legionary veterans are the ghoulified remnants of Veteran legionaries that have been irradiated from the missile launched by the Courier . Three are found in Dry Wells . Appearances . Marked men appear only in the " " " Lonesome Road " . Behind the scenes . An additional , unused variant of the irradiated heavy trooper exists within the resources of " Lonesome Road " . Also called " irradiated heavy trooper " , this version differs primarily in that it uses the default SPECIAL statistics for NCR trooper s - 5 for all statistics . It also is equipped with a Minigun loaded with 5mm AP rounds , rather than the random weapon selection found in the standard version . Internally this version has the Editor ID NVDLC04NukeNCRColonel , indicating that this may have been an early stand - in for Colonel Royez . Bugs . Marked men who carry Plasma Defender s are given the incorrect ammunition , rather than the correct . This renders them unable to use the weapon entirely .