Maximus

	For the Fallout Tactics character, see Maximus (Fallout Tactics).

Knight Maximus is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel in the Fallout TV series. He is one of the three main protagonists, the other two being Lucy and The Ghoul. His birth name is unknown, as the name Maximus was given to him by the Brotherhood.^[2]

Maximus is a rookie soldier who grew up above ground but, like Lucy, was also raised in a cloistered "family" of sorts: the Brotherhood of Steel. However, unlike Lucy, he has a cynical sense of self-preservation and does not always act honorably.

In the beginning, Maximus has recently been elevated to the rank of squire. In 2296, Maximus is sent by the Brotherhood with his knight as an expendable assistant. His mission leads him towards an artifact from an enigmatic researcher called Siggi Wilzig, causing his path to collide with those of Lucy and the Ghoul.^[3]

Quick Answers

What is the backstory of Maximus in the Fallout TV series?

In the Fallout TV series, Maximus, or Max, is a protagonist and a member of the Brotherhood of Steel. He joined the Brotherhood seeking revenge against those who wronged him. Maximus is portrayed as a character in need of a powerful belief system, like the Brotherhood, to feel empowered. Despite his internal struggles, he is dedicated to the Brotherhood's objective of reestablishing law and order in the wasteland.

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How does Maximus's cynical sense of self-preservation impact his actions in the series?

Maximus's self-preservation is manifested in his affiliation with the Brotherhood, a powerful entity. He believes he is more competent as part of this group, prompting him to act decisively to advance the Brotherhood's mission of establishing law and order in the wasteland, even amid internal strife.

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What is the significance of Maximus's name being given to him by the Brotherhood of Steel?

The name Maximus, bestowed by the Brotherhood of Steel, represents his reliance on a powerful entity to enhance his self-worth. It aligns with the Brotherhood's mission of establishing order in the wasteland, a cause Maximus ardently supports. The naming tradition of the Brotherhood, initiated by founder Roger Maxson, underscores the significance of words and identity, mirrored in the name Maximus.

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How does Maximus's upbringing in the Brotherhood of Steel differ from Lucy's?

While Lucy was raised in the general safety of a Vault, Maximus' upbringing in the Brotherhood of Steel led to him developing a cynical self-preservation sense and not always acting honorably. He was an aspiring soldier who sought the Brotherhood's power to feel more capable. He was ready to do anything to promote the Brotherhood's law and order goals in the wasteland. A paladin convinced him to join the Brotherhood in his teenage years, and he was impressed by the large guns in the Brotherhood's arsenal.

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What role does Maximus play in the Brotherhood of Steel in the Fallout TV series?

In the Fallout TV series, Maximus is a significant figure in the Brotherhood of Steel. Alongside Lucy and The Ghoul, he is one of the three protagonists. Maximus joined the Brotherhood seeking retribution against those who harmed him. He is depicted as needing a cause to believe in, finding it in the Brotherhood, which gives him a sense of empowerment. Maximus is committed to advancing the Brotherhood's mission of establishing law and order in the wasteland, despite his internal battles and personal challenges.

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Background[]

A former citizen of the New California Republic, the boy who would become Maximus had the misfortune of living in Shady Sands. The Republic's capital was destroyed sometime after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam with a nuclear weapon. Although he was on the edge of the crater, he survived inside a milk vending machine. After leaving his hideout, he saw the still-burning crater and charred bodies of other NCR citizens before coming face to face with an armed Brotherhood knight in power armor. The memory was seared into his mind, defining the trajectory of his life.^[4][5]

Orphaned in the nuclear attack, the boy was taken by the Brotherhood force to their base and training camp in New California. He was given a new name, Maximus, as well as food, shelter, education, and a chance to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood.^[6] From the outset, he was an outsider, targeted by Thaddeus for bullying, another kid taken in by the Brotherhood. It wasn't personal, but a matter of deflecting the abuse Thaddeus was receiving to a new, more attractive target. This gambit worked, and so Maximus became the underdog.^[7] Shunned by most of his fellow aspirants, he became close friends with only one: Aspirant Dane.^[8]

While he developed an impressive physique and endurance, allowing him to withstand regular beatings and even strike back at the bullies, he struggled with more cerebral subjects. In particular, technical and scientific subjects proved challenging, earning him the ire of scribes teaching the subjects.^[9] Despite that, he persevered and pushed through, hoping to one day be able to hurt those who hurt him, like those who destroyed Shady Sands.^[6] The Brotherhood earned his loyalty and Maximus developed a steadfast belief in its mission and values, not yet tempered by the reality of the wastelands or the Brotherhood's method of operation.^[8] It is his sincere belief that "a knight's duty [is] to better this fallen world".^[10] However, his lack of life experience makes him prone to hasty decisions and mistakes, some of them very consequential.^[11]

Due to his traumatic childhood and hard life in the Brotherhood, some of these gaps have left him unaccustomed to creature comforts, borderline unaware that humans can still enjoy a good quality of life even in the post-apocalypse.^[12] The biggest gap in his experience is tied to sex. The Brotherhood does not have a sexual education curriculum, and so Maximus is not entirely familiar with the concept of intercourse, ejaculation, or masturbation. He is actually somewhat repulsed by sex, believing or excusing himself that knights of the Brotherhood are supposed to be celibate.^{[13][11][14] [4][12][15][5]}

Fallout TV series[]

The End[]

Maximus is beaten up by his peers at the training camp, seemingly for no other reason but bullying. Once the group leaves, Dane arrives to check on Maximus' condition.

One day, Dane is promoted to squire instead of Maximus, which frustrates Maximus. Dane's foot is maimed while getting out of bed, causing suspicion to fall upon Maximus.

Maximus is escorted into a repurposed aircraft by Petty Officer Shortsight, where he is to be interrogated by Elder Cleric Quintus and a Brotherhood knight who intimidates Maximus to speak truthfully. When Quintus questions Maximus why he joined the Brotherhood of Steel, Maximus says, "To hurt the people who hurt me." Quintus informs Maximus that his fellow aspirants have accused him of orchestrating Dane's maiming. Maximus denies it, but Quintus asks him if he has the ambition to advance in the Brotherhood and why he would not desire such an outcome on a rival. Maximus admits that he did want Dane to be injured so he could take their spot, but he maintains that he did not do it.

Quintus lectures Maximus that violence against a fellow brother is a sign of weakness and asks Maximus if he is weak. Maximus replies that he doesn't want to be. When given a chance to give any statements in his defense, and feeling that his defense may not be enough to be found innocent, Maximus thanks the Brotherhood for his guidance, giving him a home and a place in the world. Maximus looks at Quintus and says: "If I can help the Brotherhood make it [the world] better... Eden or whatever... even if it means giving my own life... I'll do it. And I'd be grateful to the Brotherhood for giving my life meaning." Impressed by Maximus' character, Quintus believes his defense, clearing him of these charges, and promotes him to be Knight Titus' squire in Dane's place.

Afterward, Maximus checks on Dane at the medical tent. Dane reassures Maximus that their circumstances aren't so bad. When Maximus asks if they suspect anyone of causing their injury, Dane replies they've narrowed it down to any of their bullying peers. Dane informed Maximus that they knew he took their spot, and they both confirmed that they'd both been questioned about whether there was any credibility to the rumor that Maximus was the perpetrator of Dane's maiming. Dane, however, tells Maximus that they told their interrogators that they believed that Maximus wouldn't hurt a fly.

Maximus and Knight Titus are assigned the mission of searching for Siggi Wilzig, a member of the Enclave on the lam, who also has an object that can change the balance of power in their nation.

The Target[]

Maximus soon learns that Knight Titus is callous and a bully since he would order Maximus to perform demeaning work, such as cleaning his codpiece. While en route to their ordered destination of Filly, Titus spontaneously orders the vertibird they were flying in to drop them off midflight because he is bored and wants to kill something. Despite straying from their objective, Titus and Maximus stumble onto one of Wilzig's camps near a yao guai's cave. Despite Titus being better equipped to handle a Yao Guai, Titus orders Maximus to delve deeper into the Yao Guai's den ahead of him, only for the Yao Guai to sneak behind Titus and attack. Maximus was frozen in shock as Knight Titus was overwhelmed by the Yao Guai, and after being disarmed by the Yao Guai, Titus fled the cave in terror until he tripped and smashed his head on a rock. The Yao Guai proceeded to maul Titus until Maximus composed himself and shot the Yao Guai dead.

Titus orders Maximus to remove his helmet, then ruthlessly insults and blames him for his sustained damages. Titus reveals he is contemptuous of the Brotherhood of Steel's purpose and his superiors; he complains of being sent to face the dangers of the wasteland for a "toaster oven." Titus orders Maximus to fetch him a stimpak and threatens Maximus with a torturous death for failing his duties as a squire. Maximus judges Titus antithetical to the Brotherhood's purpose of bettering their fallen world and deems him unworthy of his power armor. Thus, Maximus withholds the stimpak from Titus. Although Titus threatens Maximus by saying that the Brotherhood would kill him, Maximus asserts he won't be punished if he returns with the target. Maximus then watches Titus die of his wounds.

Maximus takes Titus' power armor and assumes his identity. While playing with the power armor and testing its capabilities, Maximus interrupts a scuffle between a chicken collector and a snake oil salesman. Maximus used the strength of his power armor to subdue the attacking chicken collector, while the snake oil salesman smugly escaped. Maximus then learned that the reason the chicken collector was attacking the snake oil salesman was because he was having sex with the chicken collector's chickens. Maximus was perturbed by such strange behavior but acted as if the matter was resolved satisfactorily.

When Maximus arrives at Filly, he finds that The Ghoul has shot up the town to obtain the bounty on Wilzig and that Lucy MacLean has stood up to The Ghoul to protect Wilzig. Maximus intercedes to shield Lucy from being shot by The Ghoul and tells Lucy that Wilzig is important to him and that he will cover their escape by keeping The Ghoul busy. Maximus' power armor could throw The Ghoul around the town for a while, but The Ghoul used the heavy weight of the armor and the fragility of the town's structure to outmaneuver Maximus. Maximus gets his foot stuck on a fragile platform, immobilizing him. The Ghoul mocks Maximus' inexperience with piloting the power armor and advises him to read its manual before going around him and using his knife to break some of the armor's components. This causes his power armor to malfunction, and although he escapes his immobility by attempting flight, Maximus' malfunctioning suit causes him to fly clumsily. Coupled by The Ghoul using a towing cable to rope Maximus and disrupt his flight pattern, Maximus loses control; he flies and crash-lands somewhere out of the town. Nevertheless, his distraction allowed Lucy to escape town with Wilzig.

The Head[]

After the confrontation with The Ghoul, Maximus's power armor is damaged. He tows his power armor to a nearby stand. As he's checking its condition (finding a damaged component while doing so), Petty Officer Shortsight talks over the radio, attempting to check up on Knight Titus' condition after having missed a check-in. Maximus deepens his voice and pretends to be Knight Titus. He lies to the Brotherhood by telling them that the squire assigned to him (Maximus) had died while in a confrontation with an "abomination"; however, his plan goes wrong as the other party suggests sending a replacement squire. Maximus tries to convince them not to send one, as this would blow his cover. After failing to convince the Brotherhood not to deliver a replacement squire, he intentionally destroys the power armor's radio to cut off communications with the Brotherhood. Afterward, Maximus goes to a local repair stand to have the aforementioned damaged component repaired. Jamila mentions he is one cap short, which he compensates for by selling his tooth.

As he checks in on his power armor, he discovers a group of bandits attempting to take it apart. He attempts to defend his property; however, he is initially overwhelmed by their superior numbers and beaten down. Maximus quickly recovers, grabs iron tongs and a toilet seat for melee weapons, and confronts the bandits again. He manages to knock two of them out, and is nearly defeated when he is pinned to his power armor by the remaining two and beaten; however, he manages to activate the power armor's right arm, crushing one of the bandits' heads with it. The other bandit is scared away by the brutal display.

As he breathes a sigh of relief, a Brotherhood vertibird flies over the town, delivering Thaddeus as the replacement for Maximus as a squire. Before his replacement squire can notice, Maximus returns to his power armor and hurriedly enters it to hide his identity. Initially, Maximus contemplated killing Thaddeus, but ultimately decided to use him as a squire and bully him for his amusement. Repeating his former knight's actions, he orders Thaddeus to clean his power armor's codpiece. Thaddeus relays information about the fact that they "are not the only ones looking for the target," and is told by the Brotherhood to kill anybody that stands in their way.

After leaving Filly, Maximus continues to demean Thaddeus, ordering him to climb a dead tree and look for apples, even though there are obviously none. Thaddeus falls to the ground, much to Maximus's amusement. Thaddeus suggests repairing the power armor's radio to contact the Brotherhood for reinforcements, to which Maximus gets mad and tells him that he will retrieve the target by himself. Afterward, they continue searching for the target. Maximus tells Thaddeus about his encounter with The Ghoul. Thaddeus approves of his knight's idea to let The Ghoul live since all wastelanders carry radiation, which they can trace. Maximus takes credit for this idea, even though he had never considered it.

While following The Ghoul's trail, they stumble upon the rest of Wilzig's headless body. They mistakenly credit the decapitation to be The Ghoul's doing. Thaddeus suggests retrieving the rest of the body, but Maximus thinks the body is useless to them, as whatever was valuable about Wilzing must have been in his head. On a short break while on their journey, Thaddeus attempts to refill the power armor's water bag, to which Maximus gets startled and pushes him away. After realizing Thaddeus was trying to fulfill his duties as a squire, he sits down and allows him to refill it. The two of them converse, with Maximus asking him about his thoughts on Knight Titus' apparently dead squire (himself). Thaddeus starts off by talking positively about him, but Maximus orders him to say something negative about him. He discovers that Thaddeus had only been bullying him because he had been bullied before Maximus' arrival and wanted to redirect the bullying on him instead, making him popular. Thaddeus comments that he wished Maximus had lived long enough to redirect the bullying on someone else himself. Maximus begins to empathize with Thaddeus.

Afterward, they continued following the tracks of The Ghoul, leading them to Hollywood Boulevard, which had been flooded with radiated water and inhabited by a gulper. Maximus rebuked Thaddeus for leading them to danger but ordered him to run to safety while he personally dealt with the Gulper. While attempting to take the creature down, Maximus runs out of ammo from his pistol and prepares to fight in close-quarter combat; Thaddeus, however, aids him and shoots at the Gulper with a rifle. However, this alerts the gulper to Thaddeus' location, and he is chased down and dragged by the beast. The gulper nearly swallows Thaddeus, but Maximus comes to aid Thaddeus by grabbing him and pulling him out of the beast's mouth from the opposite side. The tug of war causes the gulper to vomit and die. While recovering from the situation, they find the target (Wilzig's head) to be among the things the gulper vomited and being licked by CX404, who had been searching for Wilzig as well. They celebrate at the sight of this and prepare to return the head to the Brotherhood.

The Past[]

Maximus and Thaddeus are camping for the night at an abandoned rail station. The two banter and reminisce about their epic battle with the gulper. Thaddeus gets the idea for Knight Titus to brand him, unaware that the man in the power armor is actually Maximus. Maximus hesitates at first, but eventually agrees to do it reluctantly after some coaxing from Thaddeus. After branding him, Maximus reveals his identity and opens the faceplate of his power armor, revealing himself. Thaddeus is shocked, but Maximus tries calming him down by proposing they can still be friends. However, he needs Thaddeus to corroborate a made-up story that will help Maximus avoid punishment from the Brotherhood. Thaddeus is reluctant to participate in his scheme, fearing that the Brotherhood will find out Maximus killed his knight and also get him in trouble. Maximus reacts to this with immense disappointment and stands up, telling Thaddeus that he knew "he should not have trusted him"; afterward, he attempts to attack Thaddeus. Maximus can crush Thaddeus' foot, but he manages to avoid being killed due to Thaddeus' mobility advantage compared to his bulky power armor. In the ensuing fight, Thaddeus uses his master key to turn off Maximus' power armor and steals its fusion core, leaving Maximus trapped in the power armor. Thaddeus takes the head and departs, leaving Maximus to be trapped in his armor and die alone.

The next morning, Maximus, still trapped, is swarmed by radroaches. Frightened, he watches as the radroaches nearly eat through his power armor. He survives this encounter after the radroaches are shot down by Lucy MacLean, who opens up his faceplate and recognizes Maximus as the knight back in Filly. Maximus begs her to open his power armor and let him out, telling her someone had stolen his fusion core, but Lucy hesitates to free him. She asks if he remembers the man she left with, who Lucy describes as "with the glasses and the whole body." Maximus is aware of Wilzig as he is also searching for him. Lucy then informs him that she, too, is looking for his head. Lucy starts to vomit, which Maximus diagnoses as radiation sickness. He tells her that he has RadAway in his sleeve and that she can have it if she lets him out. Lucy is once again hesitant, telling Maximus that practically every person she has met on the surface has attempted to kill her. Maximus once again tells her that they would die if she did not let him out. When Lucy asks for his name, he lies to her by telling her that his name is Knight Titus. Lucy then opens up Maximus' power armor and frees him.

Lucy correctly identifies the model of Maximus' power armor as the T-60, which she recalled that the U.S. Army started using them after the Battle of Anchorage. She comments that she had only seen them in old engineering manuals and never in real life. Lucy suddenly faints and is caught by Maximus. She wakes up sometime after Maximus administers RadAway to her. He comments that he had never known that people lived in vaults. Lucy asks him what he thinks are in the vaults, if not people, to which Maximus replies with "monsters." Lucy responds by telling him that the rumor he heard is incorrect, and that the vaults are inhabited by "regular folk like her."

Maximus says that his "squire" stole "something vital" to the Brotherhood, and that he has to go after him. He attempts to depart, before Lucy stops him. She tells him she has a tracker that will lead them straight to the head, which she correctly assumes is what Maximus is looking for. She offers to travel together with him and to catch up to Thaddeus with her tracker, retrieve the head, and return it to the Brotherhood; in exchange, the Brotherhood will lend her "five or six" knights who will assist her in rescuing her father. Maximus is reluctant at first, but is reassured by Lucy that he can trust her. Lucy claims that vault dwellers like her are honorable and that she comes from a place where the worst anyone can do to someone is "forget to say thank you." Maximus comments that it sounds like a nice way to live, with Lucy reaffirming his sentiment. They both shake hands on their deal and depart together.

As they walk down a railroad line, Lucy asks Maximus to give her history of the last 200 years. She claims that she knows about the Great War, the bombs falling, and the 320 years of American history before then, yet she needs help with the last 200 years "after the bombs fell." Maximus responds that the bombs fell when he was a kid, to which Lucy asks if that's what they tell him in the Brotherhood. Maximus responds by saying that she is the one who grew up in a box underground. He also teases Lucy about her encounter with The Ghoul in Filly, asking if she really thought she would just "show up to some warlord, with no armor, no help, and expect him to just turn over a hostage to her," and asks her if she really thought that would work. Lucy responds by saying that she had the head, to which Maximus says that they don't even know what's in it, and Lucy concedes that he has a point. Lucy tells Maximus that she comes from a place where "the world is what you make of it," that it is not like the surface and that they are really naive down there; adding that up until she was six years old, she really thought the "the big light" on their farm in the vault really was the sun. She additionally adds that her mom used to take her out to play under the sunlight. She swears that she could actually feel the sun, but states that after her mom was gone, she realized that it was just her mom's presence that made it feel real. She then asks Maximus if they (presumably referring to surface dwellers) think the Earth is round or flat.

The duo encounters two weary-looking travelers opposite them while attempting to cross a rail bridge. With both groups distrustful of each other's intentions, Maximus asks Lucy to give him her gun, but she refuses. Lucy then offers a peaceful solution: both groups would simultaneously cross the bridge with their hands up. Midway through the crossing, however, the travelers shoot at them. Maximus reflexively grabs Lucy's gun from her gun holster and shoots both of them dead. However, he was shot and wounded in his left arm when he returned fire. After inspecting the travelers' corpses, Maximus reveals their attackers are members of the Fiends. Lucy asks him what a Fiend is, and Maximus tells her they are cannibals.

The two of them eventually arrive at Shady Sands. Lucy, puzzled, looks at the town's welcome sign. Maximus asks her what she is confused by. Lucy questions the sign's content, asking Maximus for confirmation on whether it is real. Confused, Maximus asks her if she had never heard of the New California Republic, to which Lucy, even more confused, asks if 34,000 people really lived in the city after the War. Maximus confirms it and tells her he used to be one of them. This seems to contradict the entire purpose of "Reclamation Day," which she realizes is meaningless since the entire purpose of her vault was to come up to the surface one day and restart civilization; that is what kept all of them going. After thinking about it, she sadly said it had already happened without them. In an attempt to make her feel better, Maximus replies that it didn't work out.

He then directs her to follow him, leading her to a massive crater in the city, from a nuclear blast. Maximus says that it's "always the same thing that happens," and that "everybody wants to save the world, they just disagree on how." After recalling childhood flashbacks, of which he hid in a milk vending machine during the bombing of Shady Sands and was found by a Brotherhood knight, Maximus tells her that they should keep moving. Lucy stops Maximus to check on his wound, only to discover he has lost a sizable amount of blood. Seeing the severity of it, she comments that they have to find supplies to treat his wound. She leads Maximus to Hawthorne Medical Laboratories, a pre-War subsidiary of Vault-Tec. Maximus hesitates to enter, citing his worries that anything could be in there. Lucy enters anyway without him, which prompts Maximus to follow her in. After entering, Maximus is confused as Lucy is nowhere to be seen. Above him, a series of blinking lights are leading him in a direction, which he follows; he attempts to get into medical supplies, but discovers that the handle of the door leading to it is just a decal. He attempts to get out, but finds out that the door behind him is locked, and in a panic, he screams for Lucy's help. The room is then filled with sleeping gas, and a trap door below him opens, leading him into Vault 4. Lucy and Maximus wake up inside an isolated room in the vault. When Maximus asks where they are, Lucy replies by telling him they are in a safe location and he'll be alright. When Maximus asks what the place is, Lucy tells him they are in "the best place in the world," a vault.

The Trap[]

Maximus is treated by the Vault 4 doctors, who tell him he needs a couple of days to recuperate before he's safe for travel. Although Maximus says he's fine so they can return to their quest, the doctors assert that he is in no condition to travel. Birdie, one of the Vault's leaders, insists Lucy and Maximus stay at the vault to recuperate and even have their surface foragers retrieve Maximus' power armor, which is being kept in the vault for safekeeping. Lucy and Maximus are taken to stay in a quarantine room for a few hours to ensure that they don't track in any contamination into the Vault. While in quarantine, Maximus mentions to Lucy that she smells good. Noticing that Maximus is attracted to her, Lucy invites Maximus to have sex with her. Having never received any sex education, Maximus grew up being afraid to use his genitals, as he came to believe that sexual responses like arousal and ejaculation were likened to a pimple popping and were considered weird. Lucy reassures him that such sexual responses are completely natural and even encouraged. Even so, Maximus shyly said the Brotherhood of Steel wasn't supposed to participate in such activities.

Later, Maximus and Lucy eat breakfast at the cafeteria. Maximus suspects the vault dwellers are trying to trap them and urges them to leave. Lucy trusts them since a lot of them are survivors of Shady Sands. She also reminds Maximus that he needs time to recuperate, so they can't leave. Maximus accuses Vault 4 of being a cult since they are all so happy and content, yet Lucy argues they are that way because the vault is a safe place and the people there look out for one another—especially since they all recognize that they need each other. Lucy holds Maximus' hand and likens the intimate bond of the vault dwellers to the one they have with each other. Lucy is later introduced to Overseer Benjamin, who only has one eye. When she notices that many of the vault dwellers have mutations, Lucy becomes suspicious of them, although Maximus seems more concerned by their happy behavior than their physical differences.

After discovering that a fusion core powers Vault 4, Maximus attempts to steal it to power his power armor. During his attempted theft, he is interrupted by Birdie, who says that he may be having trouble adjusting to a safe environment as he has been conditioned to think that the cutthroat lifestyle needed to survive the surface is the only norm. She gives Maximus access to his own room, Unit 428, and advises him to enjoy its comforts to aid in his transition. Maximus experiences the luxurious comforts of vault life for the first time and finds it pleasing. When Lucy visits him at his unit, he excitedly shows Lucy all the comforts he has indulged in and even awkwardly consents to her earlier invitation for sex. However, Lucy had just witnessed the vault dwellers perform a strange ritual and now thinks they are insane. Maximus downplays Lucy's fear and tries to find excuses to remain in Vault 4. Lucy tries to persuade Maximus that although life in Vault 4 may be more appealing than the horrors of the surface, she is certain that the vault dwellers are hiding something nefarious from them and will prove it to him.

The Radio[]

Maximus continues to enjoy the comforts of his unit until he sees Lucy being carried away by the vault dwellers for some offense she has committed. At that moment, Maximus resolves to rescue Lucy and leave the vault together. Maximus steals Vault 4's fusion core and uses it to fuel his power armor. After equipping his armor, Maximus interrupts Lucy's trial and demands that the vault dwellers release her. Maximus begins to manhandle the vault dwellers and destroy their property until Lucy stops him and explains that they were releasing her to the surface and were being helpful to do so. Surprised by this information, Maximus embarrassingly apologizes to the vault dwellers and advises them to check on the people he just attacked. Maximus leaves the vault with Lucy and his power armor, but Lucy stops them to mention that without Vault 4's fusion core, Vault 4 can only survive on auxiliary power for a few days. Lucy thinks they should return the fusion core, but Maximus is reluctant to do so because without it, his power armor would be useless, and he wouldn't be able to be a heroic knight or help Lucy rescue her father. Lucy argues that her father wouldn't want to be rescued at the expense of innocent people. Ultimately, Maximus and Lucy return the fusion core to Vault 4 together.

Lucy tells Maximus that he is the best stranger she has ever met and that he is a good person. After rescuing her father, she invites Maximus to live with her in Vault 33. Maximus discloses that he isn't really Knight Titus and reveals his real name to her. He explains that Knight Titus was a person he let die because he was threatening him and took his armor for himself afterward, and so admits he isn't the good person she believes him to be. Lucy admits that she threw acid at an innocent man's face during her investigation of Vault 4, and she has only been in the wasteland for two weeks. She chooses not to hold Maximus' past against him and invites him to live with her in her vault again. This time, Maximus happily accepts.

Maximus and Lucy eventually catch up to Thaddeus at the KPSS radio station in Hollywood Hills. As the two approach Thaddeus, Thaddeus shoots at them but misses every shot. Maximus and Lucy approach him peacefully with their hands up and explain they only want the head. Thaddeus steps on one of the traps littered throughout the radio station and gets a crossbow bolt lodged in his neck. Surprised that he hasn't died, Thaddeus takes out the crossbow bolt, only for his wound to be instantaneously healed. Maximus suspects that Thaddeus may be turning into a ghoul, causing Thaddeus distress as the Brotherhood of Steel will surely kill him now. With the Brotherhood already en route to him, Maximus instructs Thaddeus to give him the head, and he'll return to the Brotherhood to slow them down so Thaddeus can escape to safety. Thaddeus thanks Maximus and gives the two abrupt apologies and farewells. Maximus then gives Lucy Wilzig's head so she can use it to free her dad and go home, while he takes a disfigured, fake head from a nearby corpse and passes that one off as Wilzig's head to the Brotherhood. Although Lucy is reluctant to leave Maximus, they kiss and part ways. She tells Maximus to find her and to seek out Vault 33 someday.

The Beginning[]

Maximus is transported to Filly, which the Brotherhood of Steel has recently conquered. Once there, he is brought before Quintus, who notes that he is wearing Knight Titus' clothes. Maximus reveals that Knight Titus is dead and presents Quintus with the fake head. Quintus has his clerics 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 and point a gun to his head, with Quintus demanding he confess. Maximus implores Quintus to spare his life, promising to lead the Brotherhood to the artifact's location if they do so. Dane then interjects, confesses that their injury was self-inflicted, and pleads for Quintus to listen to Maximus for the sake of the Brotherhood. Quintus commends such a rare display of loyalty and orders the knights to release Maximus.

Quintus and Maximus have a private talk, where Quintus asks Maximus about the circumstances of Titus' death to which the squire coldly reveals that Titus died running. Seemingly unsurprised by this revelation, Quintus disappointedly admits that the Brotherhood had lost its way before reminiscing about when they ruled the wasteland on the West Coast. He adds that power must be taken and not given, which is a lesson that he believes Maximus has learned and experienced well. He continues by saying that by leading the Brotherhood to the relic, the two of them will be able to take power, allowing them to start a new Brotherhood, with Quintus as its leader and people like Maximus as its sword. He then reminds Maximus about his lifelong search for a home and offers him a chance to build one together.

Maximus prepares to fight at Griffith Observatory and thanks Dane for speaking in his defense. Maximus is surprised to find that Dane will be fighting alongside him. Dane explains it's punishment for maiming themself and apologizes to Maximus for their deception, as they had no idea he would be blamed for it. Maximus tells Dane there's nothing to apologize for as he believes he was meant to go on that mission, elaborating that he met Lucy because of it. He's not only going to fight the upcoming battle to rescue her, but also to leave with her to live in her vault. Maximus describes her vault as a "... place that's peaceful... and safe. Where nobody ever goes to war." Dane replies that there is nowhere that's safe, and there is no leaving the Brotherhood, even though they wish there were.

Maximus fights in the battle to take the observatory. After defeating Lee Moldaver's NCR forces in the courtyard, during which Maximus shoots at least one NCR soldier, Maximus' squadron breaches the observatory. Once inside the observatory, Maximus' squad is ambushed by the Ghoul and suffers heavy casualties; only Maximus is shown to escape, and the others' fates are left unseen. One of the knights the Ghoul decapitates inadvertently breaks through the control room doors where Lucy and her father, Hank MacLean, are being held. Maximus enters the room, frees Lucy's father from his cage, and proceeds to try to shepherd Lucy to an escape from the battle. Lucy stops him as she refuses to return with her father, who she reveals was responsible for the bombing of Shady Sands. Enraged by this information, Maximus attempts to attack Hank, but Hank has equipped the fallen Brotherhood knight's power armor and knocked Maximus out.

When Maximus regains consciousness, he notices that Lucy and her father have disappeared. Moldaver, who was grievously injured with a gunshot wound, arrives to activate the artifact and uses it to create cold fusion. With the cold fusion reactor activated, Maximus and Moldaver watch as it powers Los Angeles with unlimited energy. Moldaver insinuates that the Brotherhood of Steel will abuse the unlimited energy that they will acquire after the battle. She warns Maximus about what the Brotherhood would do with unlimited energy and entreats him to try stopping them if they are corrupted by their newfound power, but is uncertain if he will succeed. Ultimately, she concludes that his trying is all anyone can expect of him. Moldaver succumbs to her wounds and dies. Dane finds Maximus with Moldaver's corpse and asserts that he killed her. Maximus attempts to correct Dane, but they have already started spreading the narrative to the rest of the Brotherhood forces present and begin calling for Maximus to be promoted to Knight Maximus for the feat. Hailing Maximus as a hero, the Brotherhood forces begin chanting for all to hail "Knight Maximus," though he is no longer happy about it like he may have been in the past.

Personality[]

Maximus is someone who needs something to believe in to keep him going. He is said to be someone who yearns to cling onto something powerful, such as the Brotherhood because it makes him feel more capable than he is on his own.^[16] He will do anything to further the Brotherhood's goals of bringing law and order to the wasteland.^[3][17] He is experiencing internal conflict and is said to be someone who has a war going on within himself.^[18] His biggest fear is weakness and he seeks power as a means to shield himself from the violence and dangers of the Wasteland.^[19]

Maximus has a tendency to think in the moment and not think critically in his situation or plan ahead. For instance disguising himself as Knight Titus rather than simply claiming he fell in battle, which leads to the assignment of his rival Thaddeus as Squire necessitating that he keep up the ruse. Or when he assumes that Lucy is to be executed in Vault 4 and he rushes to his power armor when she had simply been exiled. This could also be inferred from his belief that the Great War and its atomic bombings refers to the destruction of Shady Sands, and his misconceptions regarding sexual intercourse.

He also displays poor charisma on multiple occasions, such as failing to convince a repairwoman to fix a part at a cheaper price, or to convince Thaddeus to work with him on his impersonation of Knight Titus, or trying to proposition Lucy.

Despite holding up the Brotherhoods ideals, he admits his primary motivation for fighting for the Brotherhood is to 'hurt the people that hurt me', and displays an eagerness to escalate to violence. He deals with a lot of pent up anger as an initiate when doing latrine duties, refuses to de-escalate crossing paths with a pair of wastelander cannibals, and contemplates harming Thaddeus when he has been assigned his squire (under the guise of Knight Titus). While seeing Thaddeus grovel before him as squire, he reconsiders but continues to demean him with pointless tasks until Thaddeus reveals sorrow at Maximus' (informed) passing. However Maximus was still willing to attempt to murder Thaddeus, crushing his foot, when he fails to convince Thaddeus to maintain the fiction of his assumed identity, despite both having saved the others life in an encounter with a Gulper.

Perhaps correspondingly when shown the comfort, safety, and relative luxury of Vault life in Vault 4, he becomes willing to settle down and integrate into the community, abandoning his post with the Brotherhood and his mission. However when he thinks that Lucy's life is in danger he goes to intervene knowing that it he will no longer be able to stay in Vault 4. He likewise displays a callousness to the survival of Vault 4 having stolen their Fusion Core and wanting to keep it to maintain his T-60 Power Armor after having been banished from the Vault, but Lucy still manages to convince him to return it.

However Maximus also demonstrates an altruistic side, idealizing Brotherhood Knights and their role in protecting the wasteland and being gravely disappointed by Knight Titus being unable to meet that standard. He intervenes when seeing one wastelander trying to kill a snake-oil salesman, and releases him when the confrontation passes. He also steps in to save Lucy from the Ghoul in Filly, shielding her with his power armor.

Inventory[]

Fallout Shelter

	Outfit
	BOS casual
	Weapon
	T60 pistol

Notes[]

• Maximus' rank is "squire." In past series entries, the rank of squire was only used to refer to child trainees in the Brotherhood, with older combat-ready trainees being called initiates instead.
  • Fallout 76 indicates this was a conscious decision by the original founder Roger Maxson, as some adult recruits considered it insulting for them to use a title traditionally reserved for children.^[20]
  • The culture and power structure of "the Brotherhood" varies significantly by region and time period, which accounts for this discrepancy in the ranking system.
• Maximus's exact age is not specified in the series. Co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet has stated that it's 20-30 years.^[1]

Notable quotes[]

• "To hurt the people who hurt me." – Maximus on why he joined the Brotherhood
• "I just… I just… I-I want to thank you. For your guidance and… for giving me a home. I-I had no place in the world. So… if I can help the Brotherhood make it better… Eden or whatever… even if it means giving my own life… I’ll do it. And I’d be grateful to the Brotherhood for giving my life meaning."
• "It is a knight’s duty to better this fallen world. You don’t deserve that armor."
• "Stand down or be cut down."
• " the same thing always happens. Everyone wants to save the world, they just… they disagree on how."
• "You want to make my cock explode now?"

Appearances[]

Maximus appears in the Fallout TV series (in all episodes except "The Ghouls") and Fallout Shelter.

Behind the scenes[]

• The Fallout social media account recommends a Fallout 76 perk loadout for Maximus:
  • Strength: Pain Train, Bear Arms, Full Charge, Heavy Gunner, Strong Back
  • Perception: Crack Shot
  • Endurance: All Night Long
  • Charisma: Bodyguards, Squad Maneuvers, Tenderizer
  • Intelligence: Portable Power, Fix It Good, Wrecking Ball, Stabilized, Power Patcher, Power User
  • Agility: White Knight
  • Luck: Mysterious Savior, One Gun Army

Gallery[]

TV series[]

Maximus in a flying Vertibird with a Brotherhood member wearing T-60 power armor sitting on his left on a poster

Amazon preview

Dane and Maximus

Maximus in his dormitory

With the Brotherhood

Maximus wearing the damaged T-60 power armor

Maximus' power armor's faceplate opening and closing

With Lucy on his left side

With Lucy

Maximus and Dane in the Battle of Griffith Observatory

Making his way to the NCR's Griffith Observatory

Maximus in combat while armed with a Colt 6520 pistol

Merchandise[]

Phone case

Miniature box for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare and Fallout: Factions

References[]