We're gonna be talking about some minor side quest plot spoilers in this video ladies and gents, so consider this a spoiler warning. John Hancock is a conflicted character in Fallout 4. He's a thief and a scoundrel who loves a good score, and yet at the same time he's a defender of the helpless and the homeless and a proponent of justice. How are such contradictory world views possible?
How did he get this way? Well, to better understand John Hancock, we need to learn where he came from. Hancock was raised in Diamond City with his mother, father, and his brother.
Look at what happened at Diamond City. Before McDonagh took over, it was a half-decent place to live. I thought he and I had a pretty happy childhood.
But then he decides he's gonna try and get elected with his anti-ghoul crusade. Mankind for McDonagh. Before you know it... You got families with kids lining up to drag folks they call neighbor out of their homes and throw them to the ruins.
According to Hancock, the residents of Diamond City got along with each other perfectly well until his brother became mayor of Diamond City. That's right, John Hancock's brother is Mayor McDonough of Diamond City. You and McDonough knew each other as kids? Oh yeah.
Guy's my brother. Grew up together in a little shack on the waterfront. Guy was the standard big brother, entitled, punchy, liked to shove rotten tatos down my shirt and slap my back. But I never thought he'd be capable of something like what they did to those ghouls.
Mayor McDonough stoked the bigotry of the residents of Diamond City, which caused them to expel all ghouls from the city. The ghouls living there who didn't make it out died in the streets. It could have gone worse.
At least they left with their lives. And how long do you think those folks lasted in the ruins? The city condemned those ghouls to die.
Cowards just got someone else to pull the trigger. This horrified Hancock, and so he went up to the mayor's office to confront his brother. I remember storming into his office above the stands after the inauguration speech. He was just standing there, staring out the window, watching as the city turned on the ghouls. He didn't even look at me.
Just said, I did it, John. It's finally mine. Should have killed him right there, but I don't think it would have changed anything.
Instead, I pleaded with him, begged him to call it off. He said he couldn't. He had nothing against the ghouls, he was just carrying out the will of the people. he couldn't betray the voters.
He couldn't stay in Diamond City after this, he was too disgusted, and so he left for Goodneighbor trying to help another ghoul family find a home. I still wasn't a ghoul at this point, so I didn't have to leave, but I couldn't bring myself to stay in that cesspool after that. I'd been sneaking off to Goodneighbor for years to get decent cams, so I knew the safe routes.
I managed to track down a couple of the families, lead them there, but most couldn't get used to the Good neighbor lifestyle. I brought them food for a couple of weeks, but after a while, they just disappeared. Folks in Diamond City signed their death warrants, and all the good people were willing to just sit by and watch. I felt like I was the only one who saw how screwed up things truly were. Who couldn't just pretend things were fine?
All of this happened before Hancock became a ghoul. He was just another human. At Good Neighbor, he could indulge in his chem addictions.
But he was penniless. He didn't have the influence he had at Diamond City. He was a drifter, like all of the other drifters in Goodneighbor. But the leader of Goodneighbor at that time was a tyrant named Vic. Some ass named Vic ran the town for I don't know how long before that.
Guy was scum. Used us drifters like his own personal piggy bank. He had this goon squad he'd use to keep people in line.
Every so often he'd let them off the leash, go blow off some steam on the populace at large. Folks with homes could lock their doors, but us drifters, we got it bad. There was one night, some drifter said something to them.
They cracked him open like a can of cram on the pavement, and we all just stood there, did nothing. Vic killed a drifter in this horrified Hancock, but what horrified him even more... was that nobody did anything about it. Not even himself.
Wasn't there anyone who could have helped? Who knows? Maybe.
Honestly, we were all so terrified, we couldn't bring ourselves to move until it was over. Let alone get help. It was spineless, the way I acted.
He was so ashamed of the way that he responded that he found comfort in chems. He took an experimental chem that he knew ahead of time would turn him into a ghoul. Cool.
Finally found this experimental radiation drug. Only one of its kind left, and only one hit. Oh man, the high was so worth it. Yeah, I'm living with the side effects, but hey, what's not to love about immortality? The drug that did this to me?
That made me a ghoul? I knew what it was going to do. I just couldn't stand looking at the bastard I saw in the mirror anymore. The coward who'd let all those ghouls from Diamond City die. I was too scared to protect his fellow Drifters from Vic and his boys.
He did it on purpose. He was ashamed of the man that he was. Even then, he wanted to reinvent himself as someone else. The night Vic killed the Drifter, he was so depressed that he consumed a slew of chems and passed away. passed out.
I felt like less than nothing. Afterwards, I got so high, I blacked out completely. When I finally came to, I was on the floor of the old statehouse, right in front of the clothes of John Hancock. John Hancock, first American hoodlum and defender of the people. I might have still went high, but those clothes spoke to me, told me what I needed to do.
I smashed the case, put him on, Started a new life as Hancock. And like a superhero from a comic book, John McDonough died and John Hancock was born. He put away the man who allowed his brother to murder and expel the ghouls from Diamond City. And he was no longer the man who turned a blind eye to the tyrannical rule of Vic. Instead, John Hancock is a man of justice.
Brutal justice. He took it upon himself to make Vic pay. After that, I went clean for a bit, got organized, convinced Cleo to loan me some hardware, got a crew of drifters together and headed out into the ruins, started training. Next time Vixboys went on their tear, we'd be ready for them.
So, the night of, we all got loaded, let Vixboys get good and hammered, and burst from the windows and rooftops where we'd been hiding. They never even saw it coming. We didn't have to fire a shot. We didn't have to.
But we sure fucking did. It was a massacre. Once we'd mopped up, we strolled right into Vic's quarters in the statehouse, wrapped a rope around his neck, and threw him off the balcony.
And there I am, gun in hand, draped in Hancock's duds, looking at all the people of Goodneighbor assembled below. I had to say something. That first time I said him?
They didn't even feel like my words. Of the people, for the people, was my inaugural address. Became Mayor Hancock of Goodneighbor that day. And from then on, I vowed I'd never stand by and watch ever again. It looks like leadership runs in his family.
He then put together the Neighborhood Watch, the guards we find wandering Goodneighbor, to defend all of the residents of the town in case of an attack. Hancock's mayorship has coincided with the fact that Coincided with the safest period of time in good neighbors history This has attracted even more drifters to the town whom Hancock happily embraces as a mayor He's beloved by the people. He's an inspiring Charismatic character who co-ops the language of the American Revolution to use in his very own good neighbor Hey Daisy glad you could make it. How's my favorite girl?
The ski the other day. He wishes. And who's in charge of good neighbor? Gamecock! For the people!
He's generous. He'll reward citizens with chems. Who said that?
Come on up to my office later. You've earned yourself some jet. And even when asked, he'll hand over chems freely to those in need.
Hancock. Thank God. I really need a fix. Please, I'm dying here. You kidding?
Of course. From my personal stash. You have fun with that. And he stridently hates the Institute.
The Institute. They're the real enemy. Not the Raiders. Not the super mutants. Not the...
I'm sorry, Not even those tools over in Diamond City. Now, I want everyone to keep the Institute in mind. When someone starts acting funny. When people are doing things they don't normally do. When family starts pushing you away for no reason.
We all know who's behind that kind of shit. And the only way to stop it is to stick together. They can't control us if we're not afraid.
Now, who's scared of the Institute? Not us! And which town in the... Commonwealth should the Institute not fuck with. In his mind, the Institute is no better than Mayor McDonough, the Slaughterer of ghouls.
Or Vic, the murderer of drifters. The Institute not only enslaves their own kind, but kidnaps and murders people and replaces them with synth clones. That is tyranny, just like Vic, just like McDonough, and so Hancock and Goodneighbor opposes them. I want those synth makers to know that Goodneighbor is off limits. No one gets replaced in my town.
Little does he know until later in the game that this very thing that he hates so much happened to his own family. After defeating the Institute, we learned that Mayor McDonough in Diamond City is not Hancock's brother. He's a synth.
Spiper, congratulations, you've won. I hope you break your foot trying to kick that door down. Ugh, dammit, it won't budge.
I'm either walking out of the city a free man, or I'm killing as many of you, despite the fact that I'm not a free man. disgusting, filthy savages as I can. The Institute must have kidnapped and murdered Hancock's real brother decades ago, long before McDonagh ever became mayor of Diamond City. We know this because even while Hancock was still a resident of Diamond City, there were a few moments where he kind of thought his brother didn't seem like himself.
And then he smiled. That hideous fucking mile-long smile. He never smiled like that when we were kids. I didn't even recognize him.
Wait. What do you mean you didn't recognize him? I don't know. Just didn't seem like the guy I was looking for.
I grew up with when I first heard the rumors he'd been swapped for a synth thinking back on that night I thought it made a lot of sense, but now I Don't know. I don't think I buy it. I've seen him since then and there's no way they copied him that perfectly.
Even got his tight-ass walk. The McDonagh who turned the entire city of Diamond City against the ghouls and murdered them was McDonagh the Synth, not McDonagh the Human, not Hancock's brother. This is one more evil that the Institute is responsible for.
They're responsible for the genocide of ghouls in Diamond City. And upon learning this, John Hancock expresses regret. that he spent so many years of his life in judging his brother for something that his brother's murderer actually did.
So the Institute replaced him with a synth after all. How many years was I angry at that bastard for the wrong reasons? Despite this hatred of the Institute and personal history of being harmed by the Institute, the sole survivor suffers no permanent consequences from Mayor Hancock if he or she sides with the Institute.
You can still maximize affinity with Hancock, and he will remain your companion, even as director of the Institute. This is unlike Preston. If you join the Raiders in Nuka World, Preston will leave your company. And it's unlike Dance.
If you betray the Brotherhood of Steel, even if you leave Dance alive, he will no longer serve as your companion. He simply becomes another settler in your settlement. Because Hancock has lived as the lowest of the low, he's not a bigoted person.
Just to be clear. Everyone's welcome in Goodneighbor. I don't care if you're a synth, ghoul, or even a super mutant, so long as you play nice. And let me tell you, synths still under the Institute's control don't play nice.
He knows what it's like to be an outcast, to not have a place to go, to be oppressed by a tyrant, and he doesn't want to be a tyrant towards others. Because of this, we learn from Deacon that Mayor Hancock turns a blind eye to the railroad's activities in Goodneighbor. Hancock turns a blind eye to our activities.
Makes Good Neighbor a great place to lay low. Strangely, despite this, Deacon and Hancock are not best buds. They kind of have a bit of a hostility going on.
Let's go then. I'm all ready to go. Taking up with this guy, huh? Your funeral. Funeral?
I don't think I packed a disguise for that. Despite his strident opposition to intolerance, Mayor Hancock plays it cool. He's constantly insulted for being a ghoul, whether he's at Diamond City or in Vault 81 or even on the Prid one.
But when he's insulted, he lets it roll off his back. Even when Paladin Dance is exceptionally rude and cruel to Hancock, Hancock doesn't bat an eye. Let's do it.
Done. Keep away from me, you filthy ghoul. Don't flatter yourself, crew cut. You ain't my type.
Hancock is cool under pressure. He has control of his emotions. These are the characteristics. of a natural leader. He's a charming guy.
He's got a good sense of humor, which can even be self-deprecating at times. You're not going soft on me, are you, Hancock? Hey, everyone's entitled to some softness.
For me, it's pretty much everything below. Oh, the eyebrows. So a ghoul walks into a bar. Bartender says, We don't serve ghouls here. Ghoul says, That's fine.
Is the human fresh? It's like I found a part of myself I never realized was missing. Which happens sometimes. you're a ghoul but he can also be brutal he becomes tough on people when he's owed money as you walk the streets of good neighbors sometimes drifters will walk up to him and apologize for not paying him back he'll respond by getting tough on them and when finn threatens his power when you first meet him he kills finn without a second thought first time in good neighbor he can't go walking around without insurance You hand over everything you got in their pockets, or accidents start happening to you.
Big, bloody accidents. Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out. Someone steps through the gate the first time, they're a guest.
You lay off that extortion crap. What do you care? She ain't one of us.
No love for your mayor, Finn. I said let her go. You're soft, Hancock.
You keep letting outsiders walk all over us. One day, there'll be a new mayor. Come on, man. This is me we're talking about.
Let me tell you something. Now why'd you have to go and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here.
And when Bobby No-Nose comes up with a scheme to steal from Mayor Hancock, Hancock responds tersely. You know, my strong room is surprisingly empty now. No one steals from me.
Nobody steals from Hancock. To become mayor of Goodneighbor in the first place, he had to be strong to defeat Vic and his cronies. He had to be inspiring to convince Cleo to loan him weaponry and other drifters to join him in the fight. And he had to have a strong sense of justice.
This sense of justice gave him the gumption he needed to violently put down a tyrant. But this violence that he is starting to exercise is beginning to worry him. He's not entirely comfortable with what he's becoming.
He was never like this before he became the mayor, but now that he's mayor, he finds himself having to violently oppose people more and more often. After the deal with Bobby No-Nos, Hancock tells us that he's really uncomfortable with what he's becoming. This thing with Bobby had to be done, but...
Damn, look at me. Have I turned into the man? Putting down people's freedom to do what comes natural? That sort of dictatorial shit ain't usually my style.
I just hate seeing guys like me use their sway to do that kind of harm. Hell, that sort of bulls the whole reason I became mayor in the first place. It's not a big deal. See, that's where you're wrong.
Abusing power like that, it is a big deal. Over the last ten years or so of being mayor, he feels like he's kind of forgotten who he actually is. Who is this guy Hancock? Is he the drug addict drifter who just lives for the heights? You just say the word if you want to take a little chem break.
Or is he a leader? who will sometimes inflict punitive justice upon those who deserve it. The world's always going to have tyrants. But if I get my way, there'll be a lot less. He hasn't really decided yet.
He needs some time away from good neighbor, away from being a mayor, so that he can sort this stuff out. This is why Hancock still offers to travel with you, even if you steal all of his money, refuse to punish Bobby Nono's, and kill Fahrenheit. Let's talk about my caps. You were on the hook for a grand. I'm not paying.
What? You thought I was serious? Far be it from me to keep hard-earned caps out of the people's hands.
I gotta take a walk, get back in touch with my fellow lowlifes. That's why I've decided. I'm coming with you.
Hitting my strong room proves you've got that devil-take-me attitude I need to reconnect with. Even if you defy Hancock at every turn, he still offers to go with you because, as he says, he's in a transitional phase. He's becoming uncomfortable with being a leader. His view of leadership is so influenced by his own past, by his brother, who instigated violence towards the ghouls, and by Vic, who would murder drifters in the streets.
He associates leadership with abuse, and he kind of feels like a poser, like he's betraying his true self by being the leader of Goodneighbor, which is why he leaves with the sole survivor. He's got to get out of there to be something else. so that he can find himself again. The nature of good leadership imposes order, and Hancock doesn't really like that.
Hancock prefers anarchy. He says as much when you first meet him. Sounds like anarchy.
The best kind of anarchy. Embrace it, and maybe one day... You'll call this little slice of chaos home.
But this is a paradox, because anarchy leads to tyranny. In societies where anarchy reigns, the strong rule and the weak are persecuted. But Hancock doesn't think about that. He likes anarchy because he's always saying that he wants the common man to be free to do whatever he wants to do. Everyone here lives their own life, their own way.
No judgments. He uses this idea of anarchy and freedom to embrace crime. He expresses a longing to pull off a big stunt like Bobby did.
But I gotta admit, you and Bobby pulled one hell of a job. Almost makes me wish I had done it myself. But what he's not connecting is that if everybody lives just the way they choose, some will choose to live by robbing that very freedom from other people. Which means that anarchy is never truly freedom. With anarchy, a murderer may be free to murder, but the man who is murdered has his life stolen from him.
He's not free. He was not free to finish living his life. A thief embracing anarchy may be free to steal, but the man whose food and livelihood and shelter are stolen from him becomes a slave to poverty and starvation.
Anarchy doesn't lead to freedom. It leads to tyranny. The strong will rule over the weak.
Hancock's heart bleeds for the Drifter that Vic and his cronies killed. That's the entire reason he adopted the costume and overthrew Vic to begin with. But what about the Drifter who was murdered by Triggermen in the alleyway behind the Hotel Rexford? Beat it, chump!
Ain't your concern. Move it. That Drifter is dead not because of some tyrannical governmental oppression, no, that Drifter is dead because of crime. because Triggerman wanted him dead, because organized crime was allowed to thrive in Goodneighbor. We don't know why the Triggerman wanted that guy dead.
Maybe they stole money from him, or maybe the Drifter owed them money. But the reason that they killed the Drifter doesn't matter. What matters is that Hancock's leniency towards organized crime led to the murder of a homeless Drifter, the very type of person that Hancock sought to protect.
The very kind of person that Hancock used to be. What Hancock doesn't realize at this moment in his life is that there are some human behaviors and philosophies that are completely opposed to freedom. They include theft, the disregard for private property, and anarchy, which opens the door to both of those things. But you know what?
This is something Hancock secretly knows. He wants to talk about how he loves anarchy and good neighbor is free and he loves a good score. And he tries to make crime synonymous with freedom. But when a would-be thief named Finn tries to steal from you by extorting you with violence, Hancock's instinct kicks in. And his instinct tells him that, wait a minute, this is messed up.
And so he intervenes, using the force of law. He is the mayor, and he punitively punishes Finn by executing him for simply trying to steal from you. He'll talk about theft like it's a good thing. And... But when it comes down to it, he recognizes evil when he sees it.
He envies Bobby for the great score that she pulled off. He kind of talks about how he wishes he had done that. But when he's stolen from, his instinct kicks in.
And he says, wait a minute, getting stolen from sucks. I've got to do something about this. And so he sends you after Bobby.
Because no one steals from Hancock. And when you kill Fahrenheit, part of him realizes that it wasn't personal. It wasn't because of a grudge. I know you were just trying to get a job done.
I can respect that. But then his instinct kicks in and he says, wait a minute, Fahrenheit was my friend and someone needs to pay. Now, if it was just the money, I'd rough you up, break a few...
you bones, and then we'd be square once you paid me back. But you killed Fahrenheit. That means blood for blood.
You see, Hancock is trying to be two different men. The first man is the man that he was, the immature criminal jet addict who just wants to be able to get away with any crime that benefits him. The second is a more mature leader of men who wants to right wrongs and inflict justice upon the wrongdoers.
When you meet him, he doesn't know which man he wants to ultimately become. He admits that much. By saying that you've caught him in a bit of a transitional stage. You're not coming with me, Hancock.
Well, now, you do owe me one, remember? Here I was being all cool about you stealing from me, and you act like this? You're lucky I'm in kind of a transitional phase. He leaves good neighbor to travel with you as a way of figuring this out. Which man will he be?
The man who embraces crime and anarchy, or the man who embraces freedom and justice? He never quite- gets to the point where he recognizes that justice is the foundation of freedom, and that crime is the thief of freedom. In his mind, he never really makes that leap.
He thinks that a man is only free when he can do whatever he wants, regardless of how those actions affect others. But in his actions, he recognizes how much freedom relies upon justice, and how punitive actions against would-be tyrants allows for more people. to enjoy greater freedom. He may not ever be able to admit this with his mouth because he hasn't quite connected the dots in his mind, but he admits it with his deeds.
He admits it with his instinct. And if anything, Hancock is wholly a man. of instinct. I ain't really the ponderous type.
When an instinct takes hold, I listen. Hancock is one of the companions in the game that can be romanced. But unlike many of the other romanceable companions, he doesn't take romance very seriously. And that's what we are? Friends?
Well, now that you mention it, I have been having slightly more impure thoughts than usual. Maybe we'll get to act on those. To him, you and he are really good friends, and he's open to the idea of that friendship becoming sexual. He admires you, you're good buddies, and he's kind of sexually attracted to you. So, yeah, he's open to the idea of getting down and dirty with the sole survivor, but he doesn't give his heart to you.
Not the way that Kate gives her heart to the sole survivor. Not the way that Preston is humbled and so thankful. when he finds you the love of his life, and not the way MacReady bears his soul to you and is thankful and utterly grateful that you don't crush him.
Instead, Hancock questions your judgment with a joke and then counts himself lucky. Who I fall for is my decision, and I've fallen for you. Wouldn't expect that kind of lapse in judgment from you.
But I guess that works out for me then, doesn't it? Moments like this, I know all that karma stuff is bull. Because no one like me should be this lucky.
Your thoughts? What we got feels better than the chems. Alright, maybe like 80% is good.
Your thoughts? Guess you were the piece I'd always been missing. That and that toe I still can't find. Your thoughts?
I'm gonna be real mad if this turns out to be one. One big jet flashback. With Hancock, he's got to be the cool guy. Everything is kind of a joke to him.
After romancing him, he even admits that what you have might not be permanent. You know, we figure out how to turn you ghoul. We could do this long term.
Something to think about. He would really only contemplate a long-term, permanent relationship with you if you were a ghoul, like he is. This is a joke, he's not being serious, but there's a seed of truth there. What he has with you...
it's not really a long-term, committed relationship. What you two have is a sexual friendship. It's nice, but he recognizes that it may go away someday. But that's not to say that Hancock is not sincere.
He sincerely hates the Institute. He sincerely hates tyrants. And he's not gonna let you get away with just murdering anyone.
If you go on a killing spree, even in Diamond City, Hancock's gonna leave your company. He is not impressed. But if you walk the wasteland in a way that he approves, if you're kind to the weak and the powerless and to life's outcasts, and if you stomp down bigotry against ghouls and synths when you see it, then Hancock begins to admire you. And eventually the two of you become genuine, fast friends. You become a man or woman that he respects.
Not just for your fighting prowess and your strength. Never expected I'd ever meet my match. Nice to be wrong. but also because of your principles, because of your sense of justice. I know I run my mouth, but having someone who sees the world for what it is and is willing to do something about it, it's meant a lot to me.
I feel damn lucky to have you as a friend. He's okay with it if you sneak a little bit on the side, steal some ammunition here and blamko mac and cheese there, because Hancock admires practicality, stealing as needed to increase your wealth to get the job done. but also in magnanimity, not extorting from those in need, giving them the power to do what they want. Yeah, you got the same plan.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a profile on Hancock, a conflicted man with seemingly two contrary personalities, but a man who has a rich and interesting history, a man who is rewarding to get to know. But what are your thoughts on Hancock, ladies and gentlemen? Let me know in the comments section below. I read through all of your comments, and I use them as inspiration for my future videos. This is my fourth character profile.
I've done one on Preston, Garvey, Kate, and MacReady. Who would you like to see next? Let me know in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss that next character profile when I publish it.
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