“Dane is a confident and eager Initiate of the Brotherhood of Steel, and Maximus's closest peer. They believe in the mission of the Brotherhood and dream of one day suiting up as a Knight.”— Fallout Season 1 description
Dane was not born into the Brotherhood of Steel. Dane has lived experience in the wasteland and knows the worst of how humanity can be. It is unclear how Dane was recruited into the organization.
In the Brotherhood of Steel, Dane was attracted to the idea of having "brothers" and "sisters" in the Brotherhood, and values learning in school about technology. Dane is attracted to Maximus' fortitude, and has sympathy towards him.[Meta 1]
Dane is an aspirant of the Brotherhood of Steel at their training camp and the only friend Maximus apparently has. After being promoted to squire, Dane is injured when it seems someone stuck razors in their boot. While some accuse Maximus of orchestrating the incident, Dane does not believe those rumors and tells Maximus their belief. Maximus is chosen to replace Dane as KnightTitus' squire.[2]
When Maximus returns to the Brotherhood, Dane is seen wearing a technician uniform, rather than that of a squire. Maximus reveals that Knight Titus is dead and presents Elder Cleric Quintus with a fake head of his target. Quintus has his men examine the head, and they discover it's a fake since it doesn't have the artifact. Quintus accuses Maximus of lying about the artifact, as he lied about his culpability in Dane's maiming. The Brotherhood knights restrain Maximus at gunpoint, with Quintus demanding he confess. Maximus implores Elder Quintus to spare his life, promising to lead the Brotherhood to the artifact if they do so. Dane then interjects, confesses that their injury was self-inflicted, and pleads that Elder Quintus listen to Maximus for the sake of the Brotherhood. Elder Quintus commends such a rare display of loyalty and orders Maximus's release.
Dane later confesses to Maximus that, being terrified and feeling their self unready to venture out into the Wasteland, Dane orchestrated their own maiming. Dane apologized to Maximus for the trouble caused by the self-mutilation. Maximus forgave Dane, alluding to the fact that he never would have met a Lucy MacLean if he had not gone on the mission in Dane's place. Maximus then confesses to Dane his intentions of returning to Vault 33 with Lucy. Dane warns Maximus that nowhere is safe from violence, and that leaving the Brotherhood of Steel is not an option.[3]
Dane fights alongside Maximus in an assault in the Griffith Observatory occupied by raiders made up of former NCR Soldiers led by Lee Moldaver, who is in possession of a cold fusion reactor that can power the ruins of the Boneyard. Maximus and Dane fight their way to the room where Lee Muldaver was hiding, ahead of the main contingent of Brotherhood forces, where they discover that Muldaver is already dead. When the other members of the Brotherhood of Steel arrive and discover Moldaver's corpse, Dane asserts that Maximus dealt the killing blow.
Dane takes the opportunity to credit Maximus with taking down the NCR leader, noting that he would surely be knighted for the feat. Dane and the group's surviving comrades chant for Maximus as "Knight Maximus," and hail him as a hero.[3]
Personality[]
Dane and Maximus looking at power armor
Dane is shown to be kind towards Maximus, the two of them having a shared dream of being able to don T-60 power armor. However, Dane also lacks a bit of foresight as shown by the boot incident, not predicting that Maximus would be blamed for it.
Dane is also shown to lack bravery, frightened by the idea of having to venture into the wasteland to the point that Dane was willing to grievously injure themselves with a razor blade to avoid being set on missions to the wild. Despite this, Dane seemed to be excited about the idea earlier, suggesting Dane was merely putting on a brave face in order to gain the respect of their peers, or conforming to Brotherhood expectations.
Dane feels immense horrendous guilt when Maximus is falsely announced to be dead.
Dane is sent into the battle as a meat shield against the NCR due to punishment for self-mutilation and lying, but they do not resist and discourage Maximus' newfound plans for defecting from the Brotherhood. Dane falsely claims that Maximus killed Moldaver for both of their survival in the Brotherhood, and to protect the two of them from the wrath of the elders.[Meta 1]
Notable quotes[]
"There's nowhere safe, Max. And there's no leaving. I wish there was!"
Aspirant Dane is referred to with they/them pronouns by the clergy, who see great promise in them. They could be described as apparently gender non-conforming, while all of their peers appear to be young cis men. The specific gender dynamics of the Brotherhood in this time and place are not textually discussed or contextually obvious.
Behind the scenes[]
Dane's actor, Xelia Mendes-Jones, is a fan of the Fallout video games and played them before being casted. Xelia said it was a dream come true upon receiving the role.[Meta 1]
Dane is a transmasculine non-binary character, although prefers being seen as more masculine and is okay with being called a guy.[Meta 1]
In our world, using they/them pronouns is considered a form of gender non-conformance. The script of the show itself and character's description on Prime Video[4] refer to Dane with they/them pronouns.
Dane does not declare their relationship with the gender binary in the text of the script, which does not contain scenes where characters expound upon their gender identity using modern common language.
Dane is portrayed by Xelia Mendes-Jones, a trans actor.[Meta 2] Dane is portrayed by non-binary voice actors Alex Delint and Jules Avery in the Latin American Spanish and Dutch dubs of the series, respectively.
Dane using explicitly non-binary first person forms in the Polish translation of the series. "Odparłom" (I replied) is a non-binary form; the feminine would be "odparłam" and the masculine would be "odparłem."
Dane uses explicitly non-binary terms in translations of the series, including Polish (where gender is also marked in the first person), Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and Galician. The Latin American Spanish and European Spanish translations of the script do not contain textual evidence of the character's gender whatsoever.
