Nick Valentine

Nick Valentine is a synth residing in Diamond City as well as the owner and sole detective of Valentine Detective Agency in the Commonwealth . He is a possible companion of the Sole Survivor.
==Background==
Long believed by himself to be a prototype that was created by the Institute in-between the second generation and third generation of synth development, possibly explaining why he exhibits sapient intelligence and is not innately hostile towards non-Institute humans,Nick Valentine: "Worst of all, no one knows why they do it, what their plan is, or where they are. Not even me, and I'm a synth myself. A discarded prototype, anyway."Sole Survivor: "You're a prototype?"Nick Valentine: "As far as I know. Never seen any other synth like myself. There's the older ones that are dumb as rocks and all metal, then there's the newer ones that are almost human. I'm somewhere in between."(Nick Valentine's dialogue) Nick is generally well respected throughout Diamond City despite his mysterious origins.
===Creation===
In truth, the synth that became Nick Valentine was created over a century prior to 2287 within the Institute. He was one of two prototypes for the Gen 2 model, intended to test if and how synths could handle independent thinking and personalities. Nick himself was implanted with an artificial personality based on memory recordings of pre-war humans while the other, named DiMA, was allowed to develop his own personality based on personal experience.
For years the first synth was experimented on, having various personalities and memories from former humans loaded into him before they achieved success. Despite this, he and DiMA grew a family-like bond to one another due to being the first and only synths of their kind. Gradually, however, DiMA grew to resent the experiments being performed on him and his "brother." At some point, the two synths managed to escape, but not before the Institute uploaded another new personality and memories into DiMA's brother.DiMA: "This all started over a century ago, when we were first created... We were prototypes, Nick. The first synths capable of independent thinking and judgment. I couldn't let them do it to you anymore. We were the only two prototypes they made. I literally saw myself in you... You were my brother, Nick. I helped you escape the Institute. We left together."(DiMA's dialogue)DiMA: "One of the Institute's experiments had to do with how our brains could process personality. If we could handle individualized feelings and behaviors. I was allowed to develop mine based on experience. But with you, they wanted to try transferring an entire personality into you. It took several attempts before the personality imprint worked. I saw you wake up not knowing who or what you were so many times..."(DiMA's dialogue) 
The synth, now identifying himself as a pre-War police officer named Nick Valentine, was left in a state of confusion due to suddenly "waking up" 200 years in the future. With the human Nick's memories taking priority, he attacked DiMA, who he did not recognize, forcing DiMA to knock Nick out and leave him behind.DiMA's Memory #4 After regaining consciousness in a pile of garbage an unknown amount of time later, Nick wandered the wasteland for several weeks.Nick Valentine: "I woke up in a junk pile ages ago. Just another discarded prototype."(CompanionNickValentine.txt)Nick Valentine: "I'm still mechanical, not bioengineered like the fancy synths giving everyone the willies these days. I get tune-ups now instead of check-ups. But my memories, my personality, they're all lifted from some cop who volunteered for an experiment back before the war. They scanned his brain and copied it onto the hardware that runs between my ears."(Nick Valentine's affinity dialogue) Due to the limited capacity of his prototype brain, the memories of his "brother" DiMA were eventually forgotten entirely.Nick Valentine: "If I were your brother, I'd remember!"DiMA: ""(Nick Valentine's companion dialogue and DiMA's dialogue)
===Wandering the Commonwealth===
Due to an unfamiliarity with the Institute and its technology during that time, most wastelanders regarded Nick with equal parts fear and awe. However, he was eventually accepted into a small local community where a mechanic helped repair the damage he had sustained in his travels. During this time Nick befriended a child named Jim who became the first instance of human contact Nick had since escaping the Institute. To him, the community was the first group to treat Nick as a human being rather than a mechanical monstrosity. Nick eventually left that settlement to continue wandering; when he tried to go back years later, he found that it had been destroyed by raiders.Nick Valentine: "Folks didn't really know much about synths back then, so when I finally ran into people, they mostly treated me with caution rather than hostility. But the kids, they weren't afraid. I think his name was Jim. The first person to actually speak to me after I got the boot from the Institute. My first human contact in this world. Grilled me for an hour. Once they'd seen I wasn't going to hurt anyone, the other folks in the neighborhood came out to ogle the mechanical man. It eventually turned into a pretty swell soiree. Local mechanic even gave me a once over, free of charge. Those people, they treated me like a human being. I've been trying to return the favor ever since. It's a surprisingly rare trait out here sometimes. Something I've noticed you got a fondness for. Part of the reason I've stuck around this long."Sole Survivor: "Where's that town? We should go visit."Nick Valentine: "I tried to go back and say thanks, once I'd gotten myself established, but the place was wiped off the map. Raiders. Don't know what happened to the people."(Nick Valentine's affinity dialogue)
Sometime after, Nick eventually arrived at Diamond City. Although the people there held no small amount of hatred for the Institute and their synths, due to the combined trauma of the Massacre of the CPG and the Broken Mask incident, Nick gained their respect by unknowingly saving the daughter of Henry Roberts, the mayor at the time, after she ran away with a caravan trader. The trader and his companions were, unbeknownst to the girl, actually kidnappers who proceeded to take her hostage, but Nick managed to stumble upon the scene by pure accident. Finding himself being held at gunpoint, the synth scared them away by claiming that he had a bomb inside him and making beeping sounds (literally by saying the word "beep" repeatedly).Nick Valentine: "Thank goodness I found Diamond City. It's got its flaws, sure, but it beats the hell out of anywhere else in the Commonwealth. Course, when I took up there back when, people were just as scared of the Institute as they are now, maybe more. The massacre of the CPG was still pretty fresh in people's minds at that point, and folks were still losing sleep over the Broken Mask. Plenty of people assumed I was just a saboteur, moving in to melt down the reactor or poison the drinking water. But, at the time, they couldn't exactly turn me away."Sole Survivor: "Why'd they let you in?"Nick Valentine: "Because I'd rescued the mayor's daughter. Gal of about fifteen, pride and joy of the mayor back then, man by the name of Henry Roberts. The young miss Roberts decided she'd run off with some caravan hand she'd known for an evening. Turns out the guy was part of a gang of kidnappers. I didn't even know who I was rescuing, just stumbled on a crying girl and four toughs. I took her home and the Mayor dubbed me a hero, offered me a place in town. Lots of folks protested, said I was a spy, but he wouldn't have it. Taking up in the city was tricky at first, but I never tried to hide what I was and people seemed to warm to that."Sole Survivor: "You took down four guys by yourself?"Nick Valentine: "Didn't have to. Back then synths were even more of an unknown quantity than they are today. I told them I was rigged to explode and started going 'beep, beep, beep.' Hardest part of that rescue was keeping from laughing as they climbed over each other to get away."(Nick Valentine's affinity dialogue)
===Diamond City's Detective===
When the mayor's daughter told Nick what had happened, he brought her back to her father, who rewarded Nick with a house in Diamond City despite the objections of some citizens. Nick gradually eased the citizens' fears by offering to act as the city's handyman, along with continuing to help track down missing people. His formidable detective skills were revealed when he helped to find a wife who was presumed dead; Nick discovered that she had only run away with her lover. In time, people stopped asking Nick to fix things as it became clear that he had found his true calling as Diamond City's private investigator.Nick Valentine: "I started off doing the jobs no one else wanted. I got more banged up being Diamond City's handyman than I ever did living out in the ruins. But I guess folks never forgot I rescued the Mayor's daughter, so they started coming to me when people went missing. Wife runs off with a new paramour and takes the rent money with her? Talk to the Synth. An upset father decides moving him and the kids to Goodneighbor in the dead of night's not the worst damn idea since the bomb? Go get Nick. After a while, the jobs got so backed up, they didn't even ask me to do the handyman stuff anymore. Hell, I was so happy to do it, it was months before I started charging anyone. I never stopped being Nick the Synth, but it was Nick the detective folks came to see. It was about then that things, things finally started feeling normal."(Nick Valentine's affinity dialogue) Eventually, Nick made it official and founded the Valentine Detective Agency, later hiring a secretary, Ellie Perkins to help him manage the influx of cases coming across his desk.
At some point, Nick had an association with Marty Bullfinch, though as he claims, theirs was a shaky partnership due to Marty's alcoholism, and eventually they parted ways on sour terms. Marty visited the agency again at a later time and left a holotape with details about his scheme to uncover the treasure of Shem Drowne by going to Faneuil Hall and recovering the gilded grasshopper, hoping Nick might be interested in helping him.Ellie Perkins: "The Marty Bullfinch case. Marty was Nick's partner. Emphasis on the "was.""Nick Valentine: "Marty and I never exactly saw eye to eye. Mostly because he was usually passed out on the barroom floor."(Nick Valentine's companion dialogue and Ellie's dialogue) In a similar vein, Nick once worked on a case that led to him meeting Kenji Nakano and involved the use of the fisherman's boat to find a lost heirloom; when they returned it to the client, they were double-crossed, and Kenji ended up getting shot in the hip and the lead left inside after he'd healed. Kenji was nevertheless happy to help Nick and still remembers him, to the point that when his daughter goes missing, he immediately turns to Nick for help.The Sole Survivor: ""Kenji Nakano: " "Nick Valentine: ""Kenji Nakano: "We got out, that's all that mattered. And now you can return the favor by finding my daughter..."(Kenji Nakano's and Nick Valentine's dialogue)
Around a couple of weeks before the Sole Survivor woke up in Vault 111 on October 23, 2287, Nick went out on a case to find a missing woman named Darla believed to have been kidnapped by gang boss Skinny Malone (an "old pal" of Nick).Nick Valentine: "Darla's a runaway. Her father wanted me to bring her back home. Turns out she skipped town to be with my old pal, Skinny Malone. Mob boss."(Nick Valentine's dialogue) However, when he cornered Skinny and his gang inside the Park Street station and Vault 114 beneath it, Nick discovered both that Darla wasn't kidnapped but actually joined with Skinny of her own volition, and that Skinny's gang was in control of the Vault as their new hideout. The result was the synth detective getting incapacitated and imprisoned in the Vault overseer's office until the Sole Survivor later came to Vault 114 and fought past the Triggermen to rescue Valentine in order to get his help finding their missing son, Shaun.Events of Unlikely Valentine
==Personality==
Due to having the memories of a police officer from the time before the Great War, Nick has an established moral compass and always tries to act on the side of justice, though even he understands that, in the lawless wasteland, sometimes justice can only be delivered from the barrel of a gun.The Sole Survivor: "I don't get it Nick. Why kill Eddie Winter, even if he is still alive? This sounds like some kind of vendetta." Nick Valentine: (Nick Valentine's companion dialogue) He has little to no love for those who selfishly exploit other people and have no qualms about stepping on the weak who get in their way, like raiders and super mutants. Even so, he's not above cracking wise and laying on a thick layer of snark at times, especially to those he dislikes.Finn: "Well, well, it's the detective. Tracking down another wayward husband to his mistress?"Nick Valentine: "Why, someone stand you up?"(Nick Valentine's companion dialogue)Nick Valentine: "More stairs? Who built this damn Vault, a fitness instructor?"(Nick Valentine's companion dialogue)X6-88: "This is the future of the Institute that you're protecting, unit. Remember that."Nick Valentine: "And we wouldn't want to do anything to upset the Institute, would we?"(Nick Valentine's companion dialogue and X6-88's companion dialogue)
However, ever since realizing his true nature and his supposed origins, Nick has grappled with a severe existential crisis. Troubled by the knowledge that everything he knows, everything that makes him who he is, it all came from someone else, Nick carries a sense of extreme self-loathing, unable to reconcile that he could ever be anything other than the plastic-skinned ghost of a dead man from a bygone era.The Sole Survivor: "You think. You feel. You're more than pretending, Nick."Nick Valentine: "Nice of you to say, but your kind don't usually have to deal with someone else's whole life trapped inside their skulls. Don't get me wrong. I know I'm in Nick's debt. These memories, they've kept me alive. Nick was a hell of a cop, a guy with good instincts, and a good heart. I always counted myself lucky they didn't load me up with some ex-con or whatever type might volunteer to let folks tinker with their gray matter. But it's thanks to Nick that I pass for human. Why I get to live cushy in Diamond City and every other synth is shot on sight. I know I got it good, but... my entire life I owe to Nick. Everything that makes me who I am - my judgment, my speech, hell, even my name - they're his. And I can't do a damn thing about it because without them... without them I'm nothing. A shell. All I want is a life where I have something I can call my own."(Nick Valentine's affinity dialogue)
==Interactions with the player character==
===Fallout 4===
====Interactions overview====
====Companion====
* Nick Valentine becomes available as a companion after picking up the San Francisco Sunlights found in the secret room of Kellogg's house in Diamond City during Getting a Clue.
* He has the unique trait of being able to hack terminals, akin to having the Hacker perk. His chance of successfully hacking decrease in ascending order from Novice to Master. If he fails to hack the terminal in four attempts, then he will be locked out permanently from that terminal, unable to hack it again. It is therefore advised to save right before he begins hacking a high-difficulty terminal to prevent this.
** He will refuse to hack terminals that are marked as "owned" by another person.
** If they are not owned, he can be used to hack otherwise inaccessible terminals that do not become relevant until during specific quests.
* Nick Valentine cannot be romanced.
* He cannot change clothing, as he is restricted to his detective outfit. He may, however, enter power armor, thus the only way to increase Nick's carrying capacity is with power armor. Unlike other characters, Nick will exit the power armor after he is dismissed.
** Nick can, however, be upgraded in terms of defense. If the faded trench coat given by Ellie is customized with ballistic weave after completing Jackpot for PAM in the Railroad HQ, it can then be equipped to Nick. This will restore his right hand, although it appears to be slightly shorter than his left hand.
*** One can restore his original metal hand at any point by re-equipping his unique coat via selecting him in console commands and typing to execute.
* Nick Valentine has about 30-40 more HP than most other companions, with the exceptions of Strong and Curie in her Ms. Nanny body. This is balanced out by his inability to wear armor. However, as a prototype synth, he has an innate damage resistance of 25 (about equal to a full set of girded leather armor) and an energy resistance of 5, offering him some modest protection in combat. This is the same innate damage/energy resistance that Codsworth has. Like Codsworth, this innate resistance receives a moderate increase at very high levels but is less than what would be provided by a good suit of armor.
====Effects of player's actions====
* Achieving maximum affinity with Nick Valentine grants the Close to Metal perk, which offers one extra attempt when hacking and a 50% reduced lockout time upon failing a hack. However, until Long Time Coming is completed, of which itself is not triggered until after completing Dangerous Minds, his affinity rating will remain at 999.
* Nick Valentine will comment on the Sole Survivor's decisions after completing the main questline, responding negatively to choosing the Institute and completing Nuclear Family. He typically will act vaguely disappointed, as he believed the Institute to be the only way to figure out who he really was. Even if the player were to progress the Far Harbor quest line, his reaction will remain the same.
====Other interactions====
* Nick will comment if taken to Nate/Nora's corpse in Vault 111.Nick Valentine: "Now that's not... oh. Oh, I'm so sorry."(Nick Valentine's dialogue)
* If the Mysterious Stranger perk is taken and he makes an appearance in V.A.T.S. while Nick Valentine is an active companion, Nick will comment on it, unlike every other companion.Nick Valentine: "That was him! The Stranger! He was right here! Where'd he go?" / "He was just here. You saw him, right?" / "You! Sto... damn. Vanished." / "What the-- the Stranger... slipped right through our fingers."(Nick Valentine's companion dialogue)
** One can find a case file under Nick's bed in the Valentine Detective Agency building, which details his investigation of the Mysterious Stranger and contains references to the Stranger's appearances in previous games, specifically noting past appearances and rumors of past appearances in Shady Sands (Fallout), the New California Republic (Fallout 2), and the Capital Wasteland (Fallout 3), though the file leaves the Mojave Wasteland (Fallout: New Vegas) unmentioned.
* After completing Dangerous Minds, and following a misc. quest to talk to Nick in the Memory Den, he briefly speaks in Kellogg's voice in an amused and resigned tone, suggesting that part of Kellogg may have survived in some way through Nick. However, this only happens once, and it has no in-game effect afterward as Nick never says anything else in Kellogg's voice. Nick himself will seem unaware of speaking as Kellogg at all, offering the explanation from Doctor Amari that some mnemonic impressions from Kellogg's brain may have remained after the procedure. He will get a little upset if the player character says there might be something wrong with him.
* If Nick is an active companion during the random encounter where a three-man group of raiders waits until the Sole Survivor gets very close before attacking, there is a chance for one of them to tell the group to stop attacking. He will then remark that had he recognized Nick sooner, they would not have attacked, as Nick apparently helped him in the past. Nick replies awkwardly due to not remembering the incident but is thankful for the peaceful end.
* When fighting mirelurks, one of Nick's comments is to say "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyestalks!", a reference to a battlefield order ("Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!") attributed to Col. William Prescott, and repeated by Israel Putnam at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolution, by which the Continental Army was ordered to reserve ammunition and attack at shorter ranges due to the need to conserve their scarce supplies of gunpowder.
* Vault residents, settlers, and members of the Brotherhood of Steel may occasionally insult Nick when near him, with Nick responding in kind.
** Some Brotherhood members will question if the player character isn't worried that Nick is "a spy." In addition, Elder Maxson will question the Sole Survivor's judgment for traveling with "that thing" if he's brought aboard the Prydwen. Despite this, the Brotherhood will not become hostile to the Sole Survivor or Nick at any point.
* Nick will have different responses if taken to Acadia after completing Best Left Forgotten, depending on whether the Sole Survivor suggested that he refuse DiMA's offer of being familyDiMA: "Good to see you again, Brother."Nick Valentine: "I'd prefer to keep it 'Nick And DiMA' for now."(DiMA's dialogue and Nick Valentine's companion dialogue) or accept DiMA as his brother.DiMA: "Good to see you again, Brother."Nick Valentine: "It's good to see you too, DiMA."(DiMA's dialogue and Nick Valentine's companion dialogue)
====Range of interests====
Affinity reactions	Affinity reactions
Approvals 	Disapprovals
; Likes
* Doing selfless or kind acts.
* Hacking unowned computer terminals.
* Healing Dogmeat.
* Persuading Mama Murphy to lay off the chems and go clean during The Sight.
* Putting the deathclaw egg back in the nest and leaving it there during The Devil's Due.
* Sympathizing with Phyllis Daily's loss at Egret Tours Marina.
* Telling Phyllis Daily the best way to heal is to help others.
* Remarking to Blake Abernathy that farming is hard work.
* Helping the Minutemen retake the Castle during Taking Independence.
* Likening the synths' plight to slavery when speaking to Desdemona during Road to Freedom.
* Saying "Slavery is wrong." when speaking to Desdemona during Road to Freedom.
* Siding against Dr. Roslyn Chambers and the Compound during Human Error.
* Passing Charisma checks to lower a caps payment (asking for more caps will instead garner dislike).
* Complimenting Magnolia in the Third Rail, saying her song "was perfect."
* Humoring Captain Ironsides during Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution.
* Telling the First Mate to "calm down" during Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution.
* Refusing to help the Scavengers during Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution.
* Giving the Vault-Tec rep a new home during Familiar Faces.
* Picking "glimmer of hope" and "good for you" (both earn 2 separate likes) when talking to Kent Connolly during The Silver Shroud.
* Refusing AJ's bribe during The Silver Shroud.
* Telling Kent to "keep fighting" during The Silver Shroud.
* Telling Hancock that the Pickman Gallery was "horrific" during Art Appreciation.
* Convincing Doc Crocker to atone for Earl Sterling's death during The Disappearing Act.
* Convincing Bobbi to leave peacefully during The Big Dig.
* Telling Tony Savoldi at Bunker Hill to help the Railroad.
* Telling Vadim Bobrov one has never been in a bar fight during Confidence Man.
* Helping High Rise reach Ticonderoga during Boston After Dark.
* Giving Sheffield in Diamond City a Nuka-Cola.
* Sympathizing with Jack Cabot's loss after killing Lorenzo Cabot during The Secret of Cabot House.
* Being sarcastic with Finn when he asks for "insurance money" upon first entering Goodneighbor.
* Telling Hancock it "sounds like anarchy" upon first entering Goodneighbor.
* Complimenting Supervisor White on her voice and offering to help her, starting Troubled Waters.
* Fixing the Weston water treatment plant for the robots of Graygarden during Troubled Waters.
* Completing The Gilded Grasshopper by unearthing Shem Drowne's remains.
* Joining the Railroad and completing Tradecraft.
* Telling Malcom Latimer they are "sorry" about killing Nelson Latimer during Diamond City Blues.
* Asking Hancock for more money during Art Appreciation.
* Flirting with Holly at the Slog.
* Telling Ada "Sorry for the loss of your friends" during Mechanical Menace. 
* Accepting Rogue Robot quests. 
* Agreeing to help Pearl with the murder at the Cliff's Edge Hotel. 
* Finding the red paint can during Brain Dead. 
* Extracting an alibi from Keith McKinney after accusing him of murder during Brain Dead. 
* Successfully interrogating Julianna Riggs and her husband during Brain Dead. 
* Curing Andre Michaud at the Bait Shop in Far Harbor. 
* Convincing Andre that he should find a reason to live. 
* Picking "I'm a synth" when first meeting DiMA during Where You Belong. 
* Agreeing to keep DiMA a secret from the Institute (if one has not been banished or destroyed it). 
* Telling Jule the truth about her identity during The Price of Memory. 
* Telling Tektus he should make peace with the citizens of Far Harbor. 
* Convincing Tektus to leave rather than killing him during Reformation. 
* Successfully lying to Tektus that Aubert is loyal to him during Witch Hunt. 
* Suggesting Grand Zealot Richter to talk to Sister Gwyneth during The Heretic. 
* Refusing to execute Gwyneth during The Heretic. 
* Telling Gwyneth to leave the island during The Heretic. 
* Refusing caps from Small Bertha to clear out Echo Lake Lumber after first completing Rite of Passage. 
* Showing concern for the Mariner's "condition" after completing Rite of Passage. 
* Peacefully convincing Uncle Ken to return to Far Harbor during The Hold Out. 
* Offering to help DiMA during Where You Belong. 
* Picking "don't worry" to Kasumi Nakano during Where You Belong. 
* Being sarcastic when Dejen asks for good news during Hunting the Hunter. 
* Picking making peace with Far Harbor when asked by High Confessor Tektus. 
* Helping Sister Mai. 
* Helping Zealot Ware. 
* Confiding in Ware that what Devin is doing is crazy during The Trial of Brother Devin. 
* Convincing Devin that the player character is Atom's messenger during The Trial of Brother Devin. 
* Telling DiMA that synths are impressive. 
* Telling Teddy Wright they wanted to help the people of Far Harbor during Rite of Passage. 
; Loves
* Killing the super mutants slightly northwest of Diamond City.
* Telling Paul Pembroke to calm down during the confrontattion with Henry Cooke during Diamond City Blues.
* Asking Sinjin to spare Kent Connolly during The Silver Shroud.
* Preventing Kent Connolly from dying during The Silver Shroud.
* Killing Eddie Winter during Long Time Coming.
* Letting Nick kill Eddie Winter by himself during Long Time Coming.
* Allowing Jules to go free by picking either "if Jules wanted to hurt them, he would have done this already..." or "make the Institute mad..." during the random encounter.
* Telling X6-88 "It's inhumane" about using Gabriel's recall code during Synth Retention.
* Offer to take Billy back to his house during Kid in a Fridge.
* Asking Bullet what kind of person he is during Kid in a Fridge.
* Tell Bullet that Billy and his parents are under the player character's protection during Kid in a Fridge.
* Successfully convicing Bullet that the Peabody house is empty during Kid in a Fridge.
* Completing Piper's interview during Story of the Century.
* Telling Desdemona "I'd risk my life" to save a synth during Road to Freedom.
* Siding with the Railroad when speaking with Desdemona during End of the Line.
* Telling McDonough he will stand trial during In Sheep's Clothing.
* Giving Danny Sullivan a stimpak during In Sheep's Clothing.
* Freeing the prisoners in the East Boston Preparatory School during Prep School.
* Telling Ada "Don't think that way" after giving her the last robobrain head during Headhunting. 
* Revealing proof of his history with DiMA during Best Left Forgotten. 
* Giving Aubert her note back while confronting her during Witch Hunt. 
* Telling DiMA that Far Harbor has a right to the truth during The Way Life Should Be. 
* Picking "Shut up" when talking to Allen Lee during The Way Life Should Be.	
; Dislikes
* Agreeing to join the Brotherhood of Steel during Call to Arms.
* Saying that they happily would have blown Kellogg's head off again if they had the chance.
* Telling Magnolia the player character doesn't like jazz.
* Being sarcastic.
* Giving chems to Mama Murphy.
* Sarcastically responding to Sheffield when he asks for a Nuka-Cola.
* Using threatening dialogue.
* Stealing items.
* Murder.
* Corpse eating.
* Acting greedy by asking for more caps for doing a job.
* Picking an owned lock.
* Inciting enemies to fight using the Intimidation perk.
* Doing the SAFE test to enter Covenant.
* Accepting the quest The Cleaner.
* Telling Tony Savoldi to "look after himself" instead of helping the Railroad.
* Bribing a Diamond City security officer to let Mel out of jail.
* Betraying Bobbi.
* Helping X6-88 during Synth Retention.
* Telling Enrico Thompson that he screwed things up during Pinned.
* Opening Lorenzo Cabot's cell in The Secret of Cabot House.
* Going along with Deacon's lie to Desdemona at the end of Tradecraft.
* Declining Glory's offer for assistance in Memory Interrupted.
* Demanding answers from DiMA. 
* Telling DiMA they will give Acadia a chance after revealing themselves as a member of the Brotherhood of Steel. 
* Picking "keep what I find" when talking to Kasumi Nakano during Where You Belong. 
* Threatening Uncle Ken during The Hold Out. 
* Agreeing to help Cog keep Jule's past a secret in The Price of Memory. 
* Suggesting destroying Far Harbor when asked by High Confessor Tektus. 
* Accepting Witch Hunt. 
* Accepting The Heretic. 
; Hates
* Killing innocent people (such as traders, settlers, etc).
* Telling Joe Savoldi in Bunker Hill that "saving synths is noble."
* Allowing Danny Sullivan to die during In Sheep's Clothing.
* Destroying the Railroad.
* Killing Trish during Diamond City Blues.
* Attacking the Diamond City security guards.
* Killing Shelly Tiller during The Silver Shroud.
* Betraying the Railroad when speaking with Desdemona during End of the Line.
* Destroying the sentry bot outside of Cabot House.
* Threatening to shoot Madison Li during Liberty Reprimed.
* Agreeing to assassinate Marowski for Malcom Latimer during The Marowski Heist.
* Attacking Irma in the Memory Den.
* Telling DiMA that the existence of synths is a threat to humanity. 
* Telling DiMA "no deal" when he asks the Sole Survivor not to inform the Institute about Acadia. 
* Telling the Brotherhood of Steel about Acadia, starting Search and Destroy. 
* Joining Allen Lee to attack Acadia during The Way Life Should Be. 
* Extorting caps from Captain Avery to keep her secret during The Way Life Should Be.
====Location comments====
Comments 	Comments
Location/Requirement 	Comment
Diamond City, entrance 	""
Goodneighbor, entrance 	""
Combat Zone, exterior 	""
Boston Airport, before the barricades 	""
Boston Airport, before the barricades after the Brotherhood of Steel arrive 	""
Cabot House, exterior by the shrubbery 	""
Parsons State Insane Asylum, entrance foyer on the rug just past the front door; during the quest The Secret of Cabot House. 	""
Jamaica Plain, northwest road entrance, by the diner 	""
Vault 81, entrance walkway 	""
 	""
 	""
Trinity Tower, base of the tower 	""
 	""
The Castle, before completing Taking Independence 	""
The Castle, after completing Taking Independence 	""
Covenant, gate exterior 	""
Bunker Hill, base of stairs to the monument - before the gate 	""
Parking garage, after entering the parking garage 	""
 	""
Sentinel site, bomb storage room entrance 	""
Sentinel site, gantry 	""
Sentinel site, exterior entrance 	""
 	""
Ticonderoga, penthouse foyer 	""
Old North Church, catacombs 	""
Old North Church, nave 	""
Trinity Tower, on very top floor with the jail cell 	""
 	""
Hubris Comics, shop floor 	""
Hubris Comics, top floor studio 	""
 	""
 	""
Yangtze-31, bridge 	""
Starlight Drive-In, in the projection room 	""
Starlight Drive-In, at the screen 	""
Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ, Arlen Glass' office 	""
Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ, foyer display 	""
Wildwood Cemetery 	""
 	""
West Everett Estates, backyard bunker 	""
 	""
Walden Pond, just in front of said cabin. 	""
Milton General Hospital, basement morgue 	""
Milton General Hospital, waiting foyer 	""
Vault 95, Overseer's office 	""
 	""
Museum of Witchcraft 	""
Museum of Witchcraft 	""
Vault 75, combat training room 	""
Vault 75, entrance 	""
Vault 114, entrance construction 	""
Vault 111, cryonic stasis room 	""
Trinity Church, theatrical rigging 	""
Trinity Church, nursery 	""
Thicket Excavations, near the waters edge; before the conclusion of the quest Pull the Plug. 	""
 	""
Gwinnett Brewery, brewing floor 	""
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Combat Zone, front row 	""
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 	""
Thicket Excavations 	""
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Boston Common, just in front of the APC 	""
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South Boston military checkpoint 	""
Skylanes Flight 1981 	""
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Sandy Coves Convalescent Home, captain's room 	""
Rocky Narrows Park, at the playground 	""
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Robotics disposal ground, in front of the sentry bot 	""
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Revere Beach station, end tunnel raider encampment 	""
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Quincy ruins, southeast entrance 	""
Boston Police rationing site, in front of the trailer kiosk 	""
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Poseidon Energy, generator room - the part past the raider defenses. 	""
HalluciGen, Inc., demonstration control room 	""
HalluciGen, Inc., entrance 	""
Pickman's Gallery 	""
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Fiddler's Green Trailer Estates, entrance 	""
Neponset Park, 	""
Natick power station 	""
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Nahant Oceanological Society, second floor 	""
Nahant Oceanological Society, research laboratory 	""
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Gorski Cabin, root cellar workshop 	" "
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University Point, just inside the gate 	""
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Mass Fusion disposal site 	""
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Mahkra Fishpacking, basement store room 	""
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Vault 81, observation room 	""
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Libertalia, at the top of the main structure 	""
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Kingsport Lighthouse, at the top beacon 	""
WRVR broadcast station, control room 	""
Jamaica Plain, treasure room 	""
Jamaica Plain, security room 	""
Jalbert Brothers Disposal, at the barn with the barrels 	""
Super-Duper Mart, front counters 	""
Irish Pride Industries shipyard, at the corpse of Rory Rigwell 	""
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Cambridge crater, edge 	""
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Hub City Auto Wreckers, while on the crane 	""
Hester's Consumer Robotics, entrance: showroom floor 	""
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College Square, the square 	""
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Fort Hagen, command center – outside the gated main room, next to the door 	""
Greater Mass blood clinic, basement storage 	""
The Slog, next to the swimming pool of tarberries 	""
Atom Cats garage, unable to determine due to bugged content. 	""
Gunners plaza, cafeteria – before the staircase 	""
Gunners plaza, main entrance of the atrium writer's room 	""
When walking on a mirelurk infested beach, between Reeb Marina and Gibson Point Pier. 	""
General Atomics factory, quality assurance test chamber 	""
Back Alley Bowling, at the lanes 	""
General Atomics Galleria, at the gate 	""
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Fort Strong, sublevel in the room before the main mini nuke storage room. 	""
West Roxbury station, platform 	""
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Federal Surveillance Center K-21B, gantry overlook 	""
Faneuil Hall, the hall 	""
Concord Civic Access, main pipe room 	""
Concord Civic Access, the tunnel near the deathclaw 	""
Fairline Hill Estates, at the fortified house 	""
Fairline Hill Estates, at the entrance to the cul-de-sac 	""
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Easy City Downs, northern corner fence hole to the racetrack, next to the stands 	""
East Boston Preparatory School, third floor torture chamber 	""
Dunwich Borers, at the entrance of the submerged tunnel with Kremvh's Tooth 	""
Dunwich Borers, the vertical chamber where Bedlam is at 	""
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USS Constitution, after quest the completion of the quest Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution 	""
Weatherby Savings & Loan, before the completion of the quest Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution 	""
D.B. Technical High School, basement – after killing Bosco or at the throne 	""
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Croup Manor, basement 	""
Crater House, edge of crater 	""
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Corvega assembly plant, entrance of the assembly line room 	""
Coast Guard Pier, either at the corner of the pier by the tower, or the center of the building. The super mutants were supposed to be wearing Coast Guard hats.	""
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Chestnut Hillock Reservoir 	""
Shaw High School, library 	""
Shaw High School, cafeteria 	""
Charles View Amphitheater 	""
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Cabot House, laboratory 	""
Cabot House, living room 	""
Bunker Hill, base of the monument - by the scaffolding 	""
Breakheart Banks, at the building 	""
Boston Public Library, hall where defenses are 	""
Boston Public Library, outside near the lion statue? and inside at the main entrance 	""
Boston mayoral shelter, at the basketball court 	""
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Beantown Brewery, bottling room floor 	""
Fallon's Department Store (West Roxbury township), by the fountain 	""
Fallon's Department Store (West Roxbury township), by the escalators 	""
Joe's Spuckies sandwich shop, speakeasy stairway 	""
The Switchboard, the foyer of the agency 	""
BADTFL regional office, evidence lockup 	""
Vault 118, entrance 	""
Vault 118, artificial beach room 	""
Vault 118, atrium 	""
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====Quest comments====
Quest comments 	Quest comments	Quest comments
Location/Quest 	Comment 	
Fort Hagen: Reunions, on the roof while The Prydwen passes overhead, into the Commonwealth. 	"" 	
The first quote occurs after becoming "Admired" by Nick Valentine, the next two during Long Time Coming.	" "
""
" "	
The Nucleus: After activating the nuclear payload and destroying the Children of Atom. 	"" 	
===Fallout: The Board Game===
Nick Valentine can be acquired at the shop by any player character that has Charisma. When the player character has him as the active companion and there is an enemy within two spaces, the player character can exhaust him to move the target enemy one space in any direction. When the player character performs the camp action, he will become unexhausted. However, if there are any active level 3 enemies on the map at that time, he must be discarded.
==Inventory==
==Notes==
* Meeting Nick Valentine in Vault 114 before visiting Diamond City will automatically start Unlikely Valentine. After leaving Vault 114, he will have unique dialogue asking about how they found him.
* After Dangerous Minds, conversing with Nick in the Memory Den and choosing an option where Nick does not accompany the player character, Nick may say, "I'll return to Diamond City..." However, if one has had Nick as a companion prior to Dangerous Minds, and at some point dismissed him and sent him to a settlement, he will actually go to the last settlement he was assigned to. This may account for some of the reports of Nick disappearing - the player character has previously assigned him to a settlement, forgotten and the game dialogue hasn't accounted for that.
* While normally essential and therefore unkillable, Nick Valentine has a death quote, "Not like this..."
* Despite being an early model synth and therefore made of "gears & sprockets" as he puts it, when injured as a companion, Nick can be revived with a stimpak as if he were flesh and blood.
* Like with Preston Garvey, random townspeople may occasionally offer Nick a gift for his help in the past. However, he will not accept, and nothing will be found in his inventory afterward.
* During the latter half of Reunions, Nick may be waiting only in his or Piper's office, even if sent to a settlement.
* During The Glowing Sea, while he will recommend that they take him with them into the Glowing Sea, as he is immune to radiation, because the game makes all human companions immune to environmental radiation, Nick is as good a choice as Piper or MacCready.
* During Long Time Coming, it's advisable to ask Nick to leave his power armor before collecting the last tape, otherwise he will remain in it until the quest is finished since the "Talk" option will trigger quest-relevant dialogue instead of the usual options which include the prompt to exit power armor. However, it may be still possible to get him out by trying to "Talk" again right after answering his question.
* Nick appears briefly in the Fallout 4 official trailer walking under a streetlamp outside the Memory Den in Goodneighbor.
* If sent back to a settlement, before visiting the Memory Den during Dangerous Minds, he will instead go to the Memory Den and his movement will be locked to the quest progression.
* If sent to Longfellow's cabin, Nick may spend his time wandering around the outskirts of Far Harbor instead.
==Notable quotes==
==Appearances==
Nick Valentine appears , , , and .
==Behind the scenes==
===Voiceover===
* Talking about his performance as Nick Valentine, voice actor Stephen Russell stated he took inspiration from the style of noir detective that Nick is based upon, in particular the actor Humphrey Bogart, whom Russell said he has seen just about every film he starred in. Russell stated that Nick is one of the "most soulful" characters he has played, owing to his moral compass and being "intentionally ironic" in a way, given his status as a synth with the memories of a human. When recording for Nick, Russell did not yet even know what the character looked like, as he only had a script to work with. After seeing the in-game model, he thought that Nick's final appearance ultimately fit the character very well.LIVE Interview with the voice of CODSWORTH and NICK VALENTINE, Stephen Russell! (37:03)
* Nick's voiceover in Far Harbor is somewhat different from the tone and pitch of his voice in the base game, being slightly deeper and slower in delivery. Although Russell returned for Far Harbor, Nick sounds moderately different in the two appearances due to taking place in different recording sessions happening at different times.
** Although Nick and DiMA are both voiced by Russell and share many scenes with each other, their lines were recorded by him in different sessions.Stephen Russell Answers Fans (Part 1)Stephen Russell Answers Fans (Part 2) One challenge that Russell encountered while voicing DiMA was balancing the need to differentiate him from Nick with a different voice range to show that while they are brothers, they are two different entities with differing personalities.LIVE Interview with the voice of CODSWORTH and NICK VALENTINE, Stephen Russell! (44:22)
* In localized versions of the game, Nick's voice is dubbed by Jorge García Insúa (Spanish), Shigeru Ushiyama (Japanese) and Renzo Ferrini (Italian).
===Development===
* According to Emil Pagliarulo, Nick was one of the first characters created for Fallout 4. An original design document contained concepts for Nick even before the setting of the game was finalized.The History of Bethesda Game Studios: "It was set somewhere else, and I still have the design doc in my desk, the original design doc. And in that design doc, the one thing, the one holdover is the character of Nick Valentine. He was conceived even way back then, he was like the first character they came up with." His origins lie in a sketch by Adam Adamowicz during the early pre-production of Fallout 4, which describes an idea for a "scraped up metallic ken doll detective" inspired by The X-Files.The Art of Fallout 4, p. 45: "scraped up metallic ken doll detective - x files - agate blue eye set in pink plastic" Pagliarulo then created a deeper concept for Nick based on his love for film noir detectives.Pixel.tv interview with Emil Pagliarulo (reference starts at 4:00):Emil Pagliarulo: "It's always like a film noir detective character, and sort of the companion to Nick Valentine. That's why Nick Valentine came about, that's why I cretaed him, because I'm so into that stuff."
* Emil Pagliarulo and Jeff Gardiner, lead designer and lead producer respectively, have both stated that Nick is their favorite character in the entire Fallout series. Pagliarulo enjoyed seeing designers Liam Collins and William ShenEmil Pagliarulo on Twitter: "Thank you, Mitch! :) I created Nick, his background etc., and he was fleshed out by designers Will Shen and Liam Collins." take the concept of Nick and flesh it out into a well-developed character.Fallout 76 Gamescom 2020 DEV Interview Highlights:Alina Ullrich: "Who is your favorite NPC ever in every Fallout ever?"Emil Pagliarulo: "Wow. Favorite NPC ever? That's actually hard for me to answer because I've created a lot of the NPCs, and therefore..."Alina Ullrich: "[laughter] But there is always a favorite one, isn't there?"Emil Pagliarulo: "What's really fun for me is creating a character and then having other designers take that character and flesh them out and do them justice. And so... Nick Valentine is probably..."Jeff Gardiner: "That's mine, yeah."Emil Pagliarulo: "I love Nick Valentine. When... I had this idea in my head when I created him, and Liam Collins, one of our designers, took that character and really fleshed him out and gave him life. I've always loved the Master, too. Back in the old games. There's something about...yeah."
===Cultural references===
* Nick displays an awareness of human culture and literature throughout the game. He quotes Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven if he is present when the Prydwen arrives in the Commonwealth. He also quotes Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias" if he is brought to General Atomics Galleria and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World during his second approval talk if one chooses to ask him what he remembers about the Institute. In addition, he quotes William Shakespeare's The Tempest and paraphrases Polonius from Hamlet at different points.
* If he is present during the explosion of the Nucleus, he quotes the Bhagavad Gita, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." This exact sentence was quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer after witnessing the first nuclear test detonation.
==Bugs==
==Gallery==
===Fallout 4===
Nick in office.jpg|Inside the Valentine Detective Agency
Nick Valentine.jpg|Inside the Memory Den
Adamowicz Nick Sketch.png|First concept sketch by Adam Adamowicz, from The Art of Fallout 4
FO4 Art Nick Valentine.jpg|Later concept art, from The Art of Fallout 4
Scollay Square.png|Nick in the Fallout 4 trailer, walking under a streetlamp outside the Memory Den
Nick Valentine Cherry Bomb pose GOTY promo.jpg|Nick Valentine Cherry Bomb promo image, released with the GOTY edition
Nick perk icon.png|Nick's icon from the Close to Metal perk
===Fallout: Wasteland Warfare===
FOWW,NickValentine.webp|Nick Valentine in Fallout: Wasteland Warfare
FOWW,NickValentineUnitCard.jpg|Unit card
FOWW,UnusualAlliesSet.webp
FOWW,UnusualAlliesSetOverview.webp
===Fallout Shelter Online===
UI C ShopIcon Nick01.png
FSO UI C ShopIcon Nick.png|Nick's hero card in Fallout Shelter Online
FSO UITex YS C Bg HeroShare nikewaluntan.png|Nick's maxed hero card in Fallout Shelter Online
FSO Nick dialogue.png|Nick's dialogue icon in Fallout Shelter Online
FOSO Nick Piper.png|Nick and Piper in a video for Fallout Shelter Online
===Magic: The Gathering===
Fallout Magic Nick Valentine, Private Eye.png|Nick Valentine, Private Eye
Fallout Magic Nick Valentine, Private Eye Extended Art.png|Extended Art
Fallout Magic Nick Valentine, Private Eye art.jpg|Card art full
Fallout magic Heroic Intervention.png|Nick in Heroic Intervention
Fallout magic Heroic Intervention Extended Art.png|Extended Art
==External links==
*Nick Valentine on Wikipedia
==References==
Non-game
Category:Fallout 4 synth characters
Category:Fallout 4 companions
Category:Far Harbor synth characters
Category:Fallout: The Board Game companions
Category:Diamond City characters
Category:Fallout: Wasteland Warfare characters
Category:Fallout Shelter Online characters
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uk:Нік Валентайн
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