Neal

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> *"It's easier to head out there and gun down shit when you know you've got nothin' left to lose."*
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## General Information

**Name:** Neal Murphy

**Age/Birthdate:** 245 (35 during the time the bombs fell, when he became ghoulafied); February 22, 2042

**Prewar Occupation:** construction worker; he was previously chef, but had to quit his dream of a culinary career when his father passed away and his mother got cancer and needed someone to take care of her while Abby was in law school.

**Postwar Occupation:** mercenary; eventually began to work as a triggerman for Skinny Malone after acquiring a large gambling debt; now working for the Minutemen

**Physique:** 195 at 6'3, most of it muscle; slim, but has quite a bit of upper arm strength

**Appearance:** Pre-ghoul, he had green eyes and a full head of gorgeous red hair. Now his eyes are completely black, his hair stringy and partially missing. He wears what's left of his hair in a ponytail most of the time. He takes extremely good care of it, as he always thought his hair was his best feature. While he dressed more casually during his pre-war days, he now prefers dressing up in suits. He believes this gives him a more intimidating look (whether or not that's really true).

**Current Whereabouts:** Commonwealth, working for the Minutemen. Makes his 'home' in Sanctuary, but is constantly on the move, helping out other settlements. This is much easier said than done.

**Family:**

* Noah Murphy (father) *Deceased 2069, lung cancer*
* Martha Murphy (mother) *Missing since 2080, presumed dead*
* Abigail Fisher (younger sister) *Alive; Sole Survivor of Vault 111*

## Statistics and Favored Gear

**Favored Weapons:**

* Rifles
* Pistols
* Grenades
* Machine Guns
* Neal's philosophy is that anything can become a weapon with the right attitude!

Big Leagues
Steady Aim
 **P** | 5
Locksmith
Demolition Expert
 **E** | 4
 **C** | 8
 **I** | 4
 **A** | 7
Commando
Moving Target
 **L** | 2

## Backstory

### **Prewar Life:**

Neal grew up in Salem. His father was in the military and encouraged his son to learn how to handle guns from an early age. At age 10, his mother gave birth to a baby girl named Abby. While he found her to be annoying at first - late night crying and so forth - as she grew older he took a fondness for her and became a very protective big brother. Coming home from the shooting range to have pretend tea parties with his sister and her stuffed animals wasn't uncommon for him. When Abby was old enough to hold a rifle, he took her on trips to the woods to teach her how to shoot. It was all fun and games until he tried to take her hunting. His sister, having a very soft spot for animals, reacted badly to killing a deer. After this incident, Neal promised her that he would never shoot a living creature ever again, saving his ammo for bottles and tin cans.

While Abby viewed her big brother as a sweet, protective person, in reality he was quite the bully. At school, he found that throwing his weight around caused people to fear and respect him. He didn't like picking on weaklings, however - he would go after those who he felt deserved a beating. While it did mean that nobody messed with him, it also caused the issue where he could never quite tell if his friends were truly friends or just using him. It was because of this that he felt the closest to Abby - someone he knew loved him genuinely.

After graduating high school, Neal decided he wanted to go to culinary school. He found that cooking was one thing that he enjoyed, and seeing people react to it with joy rather than fear (unlike the usual reactions he received) was different, but exciting. Unfortunately, his father didn't feel the same. He had expected his son to sign up for the military. Knowing the promise he had made to his sister about never turning a gun on another living creature, however, was one of many reasons he had declined. As a result, he had a heated argument with his father and was kicked out of the house. He did what he could, working odd jobs for restaurants here and there. After years of working hard, he finally was able to take out a loan for his own diner. The diner did decently to support Neal, which was good enough for him.

And then, just like that, everything fell apart. Neal's father passed away. Abby was away at law school during this time, leaving their mother living alone and struggling with cancer. Neal took her in, trying his best to make things work. When the bills became too much, however, he had to file for bankruptcy, losing his diner. He took up a job with construction. His mother eventually went into remission, but it didn't last for very long before a relapse occurred.

And then the bombs dropped, changing everything.

### **Post War Life:**

Neal and his mother managed to survive the bombs, but at the cost of becoming ghouls. Neal just focused on keeping his mother comfortable and alive at first. As time passed, he began to think perhaps the war was a blessing in disguise. He no longer had to worry about his debt and the cancer seemed to have no impact on his mother anymore. He missed his sister, but knew her death had been quick. It never occurred to him that she could have become a ghoul or survived by other means. He just assumed the worse.

As time passed, his mother became more and more reclusive, never leaving the basement where their family photos had survived. Neal managed to coax her into eating, but he was pretty sure she never slept. He wasn't sure if ghouls really needed either, but it didn't seem to matter - whether or not she ate or slept, her mind continued to deteriorate.

One day, Neal headed out in search of supplies. When he returned, his mother was nowhere to be found. He was aware of the feral ghouls that plagued the area. He stuck around for awhile, searching for her, but he knew deep down that she was either dead or feral. He finally left Salem, taking up mercenary work. He needed to survive somehow, and shooting is what he knew. He hated to break his promise to Abby, but she was dead as far as he knew.

He eventually started to gamble his caps, losing everything. Skinny Malone offered him a job in exchange for his debts, but it would mean he practically owned Neal. Not seeing any other way around it, Neal agreed and became a triggerman for the gangster. He hated working for Malone, just doing what he could to get through the day. He no longer lived - he simply survived.

Then one day, someone broke into the vault that Skinny used as his base. He had almost forgotten what his sister had looked like after all these years, but there she was - Abby, accompanied by the Diamond City reporter and the Mayor of Goodneighbor. Neal almost got himself killed trying to convince his fellow triggermen to not fire upon Abby. Fortunately, he survived - even if he was met with a beating by his sister afterwards. To say she was unhappy about him working for Malone was an understatement.

After everything was said and done, Neal left the vault with his sister and her companions, Malone making it clear that he would kill Neal if he ever saw him again. Abby eventually asked Neal to escort the Vault Tec representative to Sanctuary, where he's now stationed and working for the Minutemen.

## Fanfic & Creation

Neal belongs to a-gutter-of-ghouls and appears in her Fallout 4 fanfic, "Skin Deep". A spin-off story for Neal called "Bullets and Brulee" is now available, though it is updated less frequently than its counterpart. It is recommended that you read "Skin Deep" before "Bullets and Brulee".

## Notes

* The lack of spices in the Commonwealth haven't discouraged Neal from his passion of cooking! If anything, he sees it as a challenge. He makes an excellent Deathclaw wellington (when supplied with the appropriate ingredients).
* He tends to take a pessimistic view on things, believing that even when life starts to look up, it'll just be a matter of time before everything goes to hell. Funny enough, he can't stand people who are perpetually negative.
* He has a pretty good sense of humor about most things.
* He's currently conflicted on several issues. Abby pretty much threw a wrench into the machine that was his life and now he's just trying to sort through everything and figure out where to go from here.
* He is pan-sexual, but has never been in a serious relationship. He can be quite the flirt, but becomes pretty awkward when put in a situation where someone actually seems interested in him.
* ~~Abby is currently trying to hook him up with someone, feeling sad that her brother has never experienced 'true love'. This is a disaster waiting to happen.~~ It looks like he may have found true love with Travis! Only time will tell!

## Gallery

Neal chibi by vectoberNeal reference sheet by vectoberAbby and Neal by skizohNeal and Toby by pretty-odd001Neal by railroad-bluesvectober's Cory Smooches Neal for "Kiss an OC Week"Neal Lego by rina-vToby admires Neal's glorious hair! by vectoberart by vectoberNeal and Travis (OTP!) by Railroad-BluesNeal and Travis are adorable - art by SkizohNeal and Travis, by vectober