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This page is about the psychic disembodied pre-War scientist. For an overview of the name "Calvert", see Calvert. For other brains in the series, see Brain. |
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Professor Calvert (also known as The Brain by Desmond Lockheart and The Transcendent One by Jackson's tribals) is the psychic, disembodied brain of a pre-War scientist residing in Point Lookout, serving as the main antagonist of in the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout.
Background[]
Pre-War[]
Professor Calvert (first name unknown) was a member of the prestigious and influential Calvert family before the Great War, and an accredited expert in the field of cognitive robotics. At some point, he and Desmond Lockheart become rivals and took part in what Desmond refers to as the Great Game that has lasted since the years leading up to the nuclear apocalypse and far beyond. At some point, Calvert also communicated with Hugo Stolz and shared a dinner meal with him and his wife Cassidy (which the two men deliberately shunned Desmond from), and Calvert later shared some of his research of which Stolz appropriated in eventually designing the Storm Goliaths at the Hawksbill weather station at Shenandoah National Park in Appalachia.[2]
Whereas his rival chose to welcome the wasteland by undergoing ghoulification, after an unspecified interference by Desmond, Calvert was forced to extract his brain from his flesh-and-blood body and preserve it using experimental technologies similar to the US military's robobrain project, conducted in an underground lab hidden beneath the lighthouse in Point Lookout, Maryland. This technology has allowed him to survive for over 200 years and develop psychic abilities including being able to telepathically communicate with other people over a distance at least as great as the former Point Lookout National Park.[Non-game 1]
Post-War activities[]
By 2277, Calvert's ultimate goal became to use his powers to achieve "psychic domination" over the surrounding area of Point Lookout and perhaps beyond. However, for decades since their Great Game began, Desmond Lockheart has stood in his way, and their enmity has deepened as Calvert also desires revenge for Desmond's actions that led to him giving up his former body.[Non-game 1] Sometime prior to 2277, the professor's telepathic abilities allowed him to communicate with a man named Jackson, coming to be revered as a godly figure called "the Transcendent One" as Jackson formed a zealous tribal cult regularly indulging in the noxious punga fruit that is dedicated to the will of their "god."
Despite the cult's usefulness as living agents and tools, the Professor is frequently frustrated by their misinterpretation of his orders as religious instruction, and he longs to recruit someone more capable to carry out his plans where he cannot.[Non-game 1]
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
| Interactions | ||
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This character is involved in quests. | |
Quests[]
- Hearing Voices: The Lone Wanderer speaks to Calvert in Jacksons' inner sanctum, he instructs them to find a way to destroy Desmond's jamming device.
- Thought Control: Desmond gives the Cogwave jammer to the Lone Wanderer and instructs him/her to place it on the Wonder Wheel. Before they can, Calvert telepathically orders the Lone Wanderer to throw the jammer in the trash compactor.
- A Meeting of the Minds: The choice arises whether to kill Calvert or Desmond. However, the Lone Wanderer must kill Calvert in the end regardless of their choice.
Effects of player's actions[]
The Lone Wanderer must choose to kill either Desmond or Calvert at the end of the Meeting of the Minds quest; However, Calvert must be killed regardless of outcome.
Notes[]
- When encountering The Brain in the Underground Lab, if collisions are turned off, the player character can go into the tank and find a bobblehead that runs the talking scripts.
- In some cases, even after killing Calvert, one will occasionally receive the pop-up "The Brain is unconscious." This is typically due to a hostile non-player character attacking an Essential and normally inaccessible conversation stand-in located near the Wonder Wheel.
- A human version of Professor Calvert, identified as "The Brain," is located in a non-openable Pulowski Preservation shelter inside the non-enterable Cuppa Joe north of the Wonder Wheel near the Point Lookout pier. He is visible on the compass as a friendly non-player character. This version is the source of Calvert's voice inside of the Lone Wanderer's mind during the mission to stop the transmission between him and the tribals.
- Occasionally, one may find the human version of him near the wonder wheel. He can not be pickpocketed and, if attempting to kill him, he will revive in a matter of seconds. This may cause him to become hostile, though he will flee instead of attacking unless a weapon is lying anywhere near him, in which case he will attack the player with it. While he is dead he cannot be looted.
- After destroying the brain tank, the brain will fall out onto the floor of the room at the bottom of the lighthouse. It can be carried and dropped although it can't be added to inventory. It can also be shot, vaporizing it into red mist.
- Unlike the brains of the Think Tank, Calvert has developed psychic abilities. This is because he is using a modified version of the bio-med gel.[3]
In Fallout: New Vegas, if one asks Mr. House if he achieved his longevity by keeping his brain in a jar (like a robobrain), he will say that this method of preservation would not allow him to maintain his thoughts or personality, retroactively indicating that Calvert's sanity has clearly suffered as a consequence of such measures, and his onset megalomania is proof of the latter supposition.
- The Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues features a group of scientists known as the Think Tank that preserved their brains in a similar way to Professor Calvert, and have suffered from the same type of insanity, as indicated by Dr. Mobius. The only reason these brains haven't wrought havoc on the Mojave Wasteland is they have been forced into a recursion loop, causing them to forget about the existence of the outside world.
Calvert's world model was reused for several brains found in the X-8 facility in Old World Blues.
Appearances[]
Professor Calvert appears only in the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout. He is also mentioned in the Fallout 76 update Skyline Valley.
Behind the scenes[]
The concept of a living brain kept preserved in a jar/vat while remaining aware of itself is a common device in sci-fi movies, TV shows, games, and literature.
Gallery[]
References[]
Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.91: "Professor Calvert
Professor Calvert, once a brilliant government scientist, is now reduced to a power-mad brain in a jar. He retains his brilliance, but hundreds of years in isolation have left him a maddened, scheming figure, constructing elaborate plans to dominate the rest of the world. Now that he has a way of contacting people outside of his lab, he intends to follow through on his plans—especially if he can include revenge on Desmond, the agent responsible for his lack of a living body."
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
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