This topic is about the Brotherhood of Steel
Founder: Roger Maxson
Leaders: High Elder Maxson (2077—2135)
High Elder Maxson II (2135—2155)
High Elder Maxson III (2155—?)
High Elder Rhombus (After High Elder Maxson III)
High Elder Maxson IV (2231—before 2277) VB
Headquarters: Lost Hills
Locations: Core Region
Midwest
Florida FOT2
Capital Wasteland
Mojave Wasteland
Divisions:Mojave chapter
Midwestern BoS
Capital Wasteland BoS
Circle of Steel
Notable Members: Lost Hills:
High Elder John Maxson
Head Paladin Rhombus
Head Scribe Vree
Capital Wasteland:
Elder Lyons
Sentinel Lyons
Star Paladin Cross
Paladin Vargas
Head Scribe Rothchild
Squire Arthur Maxson
Mojave Wasteland:
Elder Mcnamara
Head Paladin Hardin
Head Scribe Taggart
Journeyman Scribe Veronica
Midwest:
General Simon Barnaky
General Dekker
Paladin Latham
Paladin Lancelot
Paladin Emerald Solo
Origin
The founder of the Brotherhood of Steel was Captain Roger Maxson of the United States Army. He was a member of a military team commanded by Colonel Robert Spindel, originally sent to the West-Tek research facility on January 3, 2076 by the U.S. Army to monitor the experiments being conducted there by West-Tek on behalf of the American government in the interest of national security. On January 7, 2077, all West-Tek military research was moved to the newly-constructed Mariposa Military Base, along with Spindel's team, to enhance the research's security.
On October 10, 2077 Captain Maxson and his men discovered, to their horror, that the West-Tek scientists at Mariposa were using military prisoners as involuntary test subjects in their experiments with the genetically-engineered Forced Evolutionary Virus. Morale in the base broke down, and Colonel Spindel suffered a mental breakdown, eventually committing suicide five days later. Captain Maxson's men turned to him for leadership in the midst of the crisis.
After interrogating Robert Anderson, the chief scientist on the West-Tek research team, and learning about the extent of their scientific experiments on military prisoners, Maxson executed Anderson and many of the other scientists. Maxson, now in control of Mariposa, declared himself to be in full desertion from the U.S. Army via radio on October 20, 2077. Strangely, he got no response from the Army chain-of-command, as the rest of the Army was too busy fighting the Chinese threat. Three days later, on October 23, 2077, the nuclear arsenals of both sides were launched, and the Great War ended two hours after it started, with most of the Earth reduced to a radioactive wasteland.
The Mariposa Military Base survived the nuclear exchange that devastated the United States, the soldiers within protected from the radiation and FEV flooding into the newly created Wasteland by the base's highly-effective nuclear, biological and chemical weapons protection protocols. Two days later at Mariposa, on October 25, 2077, an Army scout in Power Armor (Platner) was sent out to get specific readings on the atmosphere. He reported no significant amounts of radiation in the area surrounding the facility. After burying the bodies of the executed scientists in the wastes outside of Mariposa the soldiers sealed the military base, then headed out into the desert, taking supplies and weapon schematics from the base with them. Captain Maxson led his men and their families to the government fallout bunker at Lost Hills in California ("the Exodus"). In November 2077, after a few weeks in the Wasteland, the soldiers and their families arrived at the Lost Hills bunker. However, they suffered many casualties along the way from the terrible conditions of the Wasteland, including Maxson's wife (but not his teenage son). The Lost Hills bunker became the headquarters of the newly formed paramilitary organization that Maxson created and named the Brotherhood of Steel, intending to use its resources to eventually rebuild human civilization--no matter the cost.
Society
The Brotherhood of Steel is a neo-knightly order that rose from the ashes of the American military of the West Coast in the years following the devastation of 2077. The organization's tenets include the eradication of mutants and worship of technology, and the Brotherhood has never been very keen on sharing their resources with their fellow Wastelanders (who they generally consider too ignorant and irresponsible to deserve such advanced technology).
The Brotherhood is generally beneficial to humanity, but they have their faults: They don't care for mutants; they worship technology (and in many cases put it above human life); and they don't like to share their choicest technological discoveries, despite the obvious benefits their technology could bring to the Wasteland. It's commonly accepted within the Brotherhood that the people of the Wasteland are not responsible enough to use (and maintain) all of the technology the BoS has at their disposal. They are known for trading some of their technologies with frontier communities and NCR states, but they keep the more sensitive technologies to themselves.
Ideology
Although the Brotherhood has always been portrayed as aloof, as time went on more negative aspects of their beliefs have been increasingly emphasized as their power has decreased. Originally they stood for relatively benign goals of preservation. Indeed, in one of the possible endings in Fallout; they voluntarily reintroduce technology, engage in novel research, and actively help the wasteland. Later, in Fallout Tactics, the Midwestern faction eventually would go on to become a near-fascist state, but only if a specific ending is chosen in which this faction assumes the new leadership of a prejudiced General Barnaky. A different ending involves the Midwestern Brotherhood working together with the humans and non-humans of the Midwestern wasteland for the greater good, and create a post-apocalyptic utopia. By the time of Van Buren/New Vegas the main Brotherhood is strongly paranoid, not only seeks to preserve technology but actively remove it from outsiders, is disinterested in nonmilitary assets, and engages in little if any work to actually improve their tech. Much of the Brotherhood's belief system is enshrined in a document known as the Codex, which acts as an important source of information on regulations and rules that members must adhere to.
