Summary
Bethesda’sFalloutfranchise of games is much loved for the strong theme of its setting, as well as its fun and often quirky quests, and the truly weird and wonderful cast of characters that populate its games. From fan-favorite factions like the Brotherhood of Steel and the New California Republic to more divisive entries such as the Railroad or the Institute, there’s something inFalloutfor everyone.
Present in older entries to the series, the Children of Atom make a major comeback inFallout 4’sFar HarborDLC, being a full-featured faction the player is able to join complete with quests and a major presence in the main story of theFar HarborDLC. And with that comes some of the best Children of Atom NPCs in the franchise.
10Mother Isolde
The Kinder Face of Atom
Mother Isolde is one of only a handful of named, non-hostile Children of Atom NPCs inFallout 4’sCommonwealth. Mother Isolde is a tragic figure, having lost a daughter at some point in the past, and seems to have been a member of the Church of Atom for a very long time.
Presiding over the only peaceful Children of Atom settlement in the Commonwealth, a literal radioactive hole in theGlowing Seacalled Crater of Atom, Mother Isolde assists the player character as part of the main story quest. She shows a softer side to the Children of Atom and is aware of the Church on Far Harbor.
9Brother Ogden
The Only Shop for Miles
Brother Ogden is probably the most useful NPC in the whole ofFallout 4’sGlowing Sea region. This is a vast region with only a single settlement, the Crater of Atom. So despite being full of junk, loot, and various other things the player can - and probably will - pick up, there aren’t many opportunities to offload any of it.
Enter Brother Ogden, who is theonly vendor characterin the entire Glowing Sea. Just for that, he’s one of the best Children of Atom NPCs in the Commonwealth.
8Sister Mai
A Faithful Engineer
Originally fromFallout 4’sCommonwealth region, Sister Mai now lives on Far Harbor at the Children of Atom’s Nucleus settlement. No longer in contact with her family due to fully embracing the Church of Atom and its teachings, Sister Mai is both a general merchant and a mechanic.
In her role as a mechanic, Sister Mai has modified decontamination arches to produce radiation instead of scrubbing them as a means to help Children of Atom in their religious devotions.
7High Confessor Tektus
Leader of the Church
High Confessor Tektus is the supreme leader of the Children of Atom in theFallout 4 Far HarborDLC’sFar Harbor, presiding over a territory affected heavily by the mysterious radioactive Fog, considered holy by the Children of Atom. Tektus is an interesting figure, having been a Child of Atom for a long time - since the days of Confessor Cromwell.
Tektus left Megaton in the Capitol Wasteland on an expedition to settle new lands for Atom and never went back. Tektus is an interesting figure because he’s a strong opponent to the people of Far Harbor, viewing them as heathens and unholy. He can even be replaced by asynth from Arcadia, depending on player choices. He’s even got a cool hat.
6Zealot Theil
A Zealot Worthy of the Name
Considered to be blessed by Atom due to her natural radiation resistance, Zealot Theil was separated from her family as a young girl due to a massive radiation storm. She found her way to Atom’s Spring, a heavily irradiated body of water considered holy by the Children of Atom.
Found by Brian Richter, Theil was raised in the Church of Atom and serves it to the best of her ability with a zeal worthy of her title as Zealot. Tasked with finding and ending the Heretic Gwyneth’s heresy, Theil feels her failure keenly.
5Brother Kane
Brother in Arms… Literally
Brother Kane is a zealous believer in the Church of Atom and its teachings. Believing that he can best serve his community by keeping it armed and dangerous, Kane is an arms dealer living in the Nucleus.
Useful to the player thanks to selling powerful weapons and even apiece of Marine Recon armor,Brother Kane intends for his weapons to be used against heretics, cannibals, and creatures of the Fog. Kane is a great example of the kind of faith the characters inside the Church of Atom have.
4The Archemist
The Doctor
Once a resident of Far Harbor, the Archemist serves as the doctor for the Nucleus despite being in a more or less perpetual state of suffering herself, perhaps due to radiation although this is unclear.
Although being a Child of Atom, the Archemist offers radiation cleansing to the player - a practice the Children of Atom call ‘scouring’, so that they may embrace the radiation of ‘Atom’s Glow’ anew.
3Grand Zealot Brian Richter
Late In Life Convert
Grand Zealot Brian Richter is one of the Children of Atom’s late-in-life converts to the Church, beginning his life with the Enclave instead. Richter was saved from certain death by High Confessor Tektus and nursed back to health by the Archemist.
Richter converts after coming to feel that Atom intervened and saved him. Richter then dedicated the rest of his life to the service of Atom, defending the Children of Atom in Far Harbor from both without and within - even being seen to organize trials of faith and loyalty for the Children of the Nucleus, with ruthless criteria for success.
2Zealot Ware
A Pragmatic Child of Atom
Zealot Ware is interesting amongst the Children of Atom in that he didn’t join because of faith in their deity, but instead because life with the Children of Atom was a much better proposition than life as a trapper in Far Harbor’s wilds.
Zealot Ware even developed a homebrew anti-radiation treatment, which is available to the player as a quest reward. Despite his lack of belief in Atom’s Glow and the promises of the Church, Ware is a fierce warrior for the Children of Atom in Far Harbor and truly cares for his friends and family within the Church, such as Brother Devin.
1Gwyneth
The Heretic
Gwyneth is a fascinating character. Once a dedicated member of the Church of Atom, schooled in its dogma and considered a wise and philosophical person within the Church, Gwyneth came to a shocking realization that the promise of ‘Division’ by Atom was a lie.
This understandably caused a massive rift between her and the congregation, and she fled, cast out as a heretic. Dedicated to her new beliefs, that ‘Nothing’ is the truth and that the Children of Atom worships a lie, Gwyneth set out to desecrate Atom’s holy sites on the island of Far Harbor. Gwyneth can be dealt with in a number of ways by the player, including reintegrating her into the Church.
