Dogmeat is a character featured in the post-apocalyptic role-playing game series Fallout. An NPC, Dogmeat was introduced as an optional companion to the player character in the original Fallout (1997), and made cameo appearances in the sequel Fallout 2 (1998). Other versions of Dogmeat are featured and serve similar roles in Fallout 3 (2008) and Fallout 4 (2015).
The character has been well received, widely regarded as a series highlight, as well as one of the most popular sidekick characters in video games. River the dog's performance was positively received, and has won best video game dog for 2015.
Character design
Dogmeat was inspired by the unnamed dog of Max Rockatansky (Mad Max) from the 1981 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max 2. His initial name had been "Dogshit" and his ultimate name was derived from the opening scene of the 1975 post-apocalyptic film A Boy and His Dog, in which the main character Vic calls his dog Blood "Dogmeat". According to Fallout producer, lead programmer and designer Tim Cain, "Leonard Boyarsky, the [game's] art director ... had that movie running continuously in his office, and I think he remarked on several occasions that having a dog in the game would be really cool. [It's] why we wanted a dog in the first place." Fallout programmer and designer Jesse Heinig was credited by Cain as probably "one person to thank for Dogmeat." Heinig himself said: "My understanding is that [Fallout designer] Scott Bennie settled on the name 'Dogmeat' for the character, and it's likely that he did pick that from the story in question."
In 2009, Fallout designer Chris Taylor said they "never expected that Dogmeat would become such a popular character." Taylor said: "I always intended that the various NPCs that joined up with the player would come to a violent end. I was shocked when I heard of all the work people went through to keep Dogmeat alive to the end – especially the hell that they went through with the force fields in the Military Base." According to Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas designer Chris Avellone, Dogmeat is "arguably the most successful NPC companion ever" for several reasons: "One, he doesn't talk, so the players can project a personality on to him. Two, he's effective in combat ... and three, he's a dog that stays with you through thick-and-thin. I don't think there's a deeper 'awww' sentiment than people have in their hearts for their pets."
In Fallout 4, Dogmeat's motion capture was done by a German Shepherd named River. On June 27, 2021, Fallout 4s senior game designer Joel Burgess confirmed via Twitter that River had died. On July 7, 2021, Bethesda Softworks and Xbox donated $10,000 to the Humane society in honor of Dogmeat.
Appearances
In the original Fallout by Black Isle Studios and Interplay Entertainment, the protagonist player character, the Vault Dweller, first encounters the stray Dogmeat in Junktown. Dogmeat's former owner (an unnamed man closely resembling Max Rockatansky) died at the hands of thugs hired by a local gangster named Gizmo. If the player character feeds Dogmeat or is wearing a leather jacket, Dogmeat will follow them and fight in their defense. According to the series' canon, Dogmeat was adopted by the Vault Dweller on 30 December 2161, and killed by a force field barrier during the Vault Dweller's assault on the Master's Military Base on 20 April 2162. Dogmeat was supposed to appear in the canceled film adaptation of the game as well.
In Fallout 2, Dogmeat makes a non-canonical appearance in an Easter egg type special encounter "Café of Broken Dreams". During the encounter, Dogmeat can be picked up by the player character, the Chosen One, if the player approaches him wearing Vault 13 jumpsuit (or the Bridgekeeper's robes, due to a bug in the game). If the player chooses to kill Dogmeat, a man named Mel (in a reference to Mel Gibson, the actor who played Mad Max in the film) will appear and try to avenge him. Dogmeat has made uncredited cameo appearances outside of the Fallout universe in Troika Games' 2001 Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (created by Fallout designer Tim Cain) and in 2004 The Bard's Tale by inXile Entertainment (headed by Fallout producer Brian Fargo). However, there were no plans to bring back Dogmeat for the original third Fallout game project by Black Isle Studios, the canceled Van Buren.