The Khans are a faction from the Fallout series for a long time, existing for over 120 in game years and spanning across 3 games. A lot of people hate them but I love them a lot I think they're cool and interesting and I love thinking about them! If you want to hear me talk about them and share my ideas please continue onwards :)
Who are the Great Khans?The Great Khans are the third iteration of the raider gang know as the Khans. They are led by Papa Khan and as of 2281 live in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. The Great Khans are very different from their original incarnation, and over time have grown from a small gang living in one building to a thriving small nation living out of a canyon. But despite their changes, the Khans have several qualities that remain consistent. Throughout their history they have been known for their fighting skills and kick-ass attitude, as well as their penchant for raiding, each iteration has also had the same basic structure of leadership, with one central leader assisted by a second-in-command and at least 3 advisors. Their design takes inspiration from both the Mongolian Empire of the 13th and 14th century, as well as outlaw biker gangs of the 1970s, but their in-game history takes us back as far as 2125, only 48 years after the Great War of 2077.
To learn more, let's go back to the beginning...
The year the Khans exactly established themselves is a bit murky to say the least. According to Tim Cain the original creator of Fallout, the Vault the Khans hailed from, Vault 15, was designed to open 50 years post war, putting its official opening date at 2127. However, a date that keeps repeating on the Fallout Fandom wiki is 2098-- I have yet to uncover where this date comes from. Later my no.1 enemy Chris Avellone ret-conned this entire pre-established lore because he doesn’t care about Fallout, setting the date of Vault 15’s opening and the Khan’s creation to 2141, a measly 20 years before the events of Fallout 1.
I personally believe that the 2098 date is the most realistic, with the 2127 date coming in second. Many people in Fallout 1 talk about the people who founded their groups as if they were distant ancestors, not people within a few decades of them. Characters also don’t behave as if they were Vault Dwellers 20 years ago, they act like they’ve been in the wasteland for a good few generations.
At any rate: Vault 15 opened its doors and out tumbled a rowdy group of Vault Dwellers who, to their credit, made a valiant attempt to build a community together. However, the first winter proved to be their undoing. The Vault Dwellers shattered into 4 distinct groups, the village of Shady Sands, and the 3 raider groups: the Jackals, the Vipers and the Khans.
| Leader | The Death-Hand |
The Death Hand ruled over the Khans and is the first named leader we know of, who terrorised Shady Sands and most likely everyone else in his life. The Death Hand fathered a son, Garl Death Hand, and Garl suffered a lot of physical abuse at the hands of his father. The extent of this abuse is evident after defeating Garl in hand to hand combat, which involves bringing Garl’s HP down to 0 (or 1 I can’t remember), when Garl will say “Hmm, you fight better then I expected. I haven't had a good beating since my father slapped me around the room” which tragically explains much of Garl's behavior.
The Khans themselves seem convinced that their raiding of Shady Sands is entirely justified, mostly because they came from the same place and so ought to share. This does hold some weight, considering that Shady Sands would have held the Vault’s one and only GECK used to terraform the wasteland into fertile land to be farmed. While that doesn’t exactly justify the Khans use of violence to procure food from the hard working folks of Shady Sands, it does put their conflict in a slightly different light. It also makes me wonder who the people who would found the Khans were like as Vault Dwellers.
A theory I have is that they were mostly made up of the Vault Security team, and took the majority of the Vault’s armory, which to me explains why the Khans have always been the most powerful out of the 3 raider groups. They simply took the best weapon, and had the second best start to the wasteland, with the Vipers coming in 3rd and the Jackals in dead last, hence their reliance on cannibalism just to survive that very first winter. In another lore tibit, Scott Campbell says that the Khans curb-stomped the Jackals in 2125 and the Jackals basically never recovered from this defeat, fleeing North and East. The Vipers, similiarly, were driven off by the Brotherhood of Steel in 2155. You can read about this in Fallout Bible no.6: "Raiders in General".
But Garl did not stay a child forever. One day he was big enough and strong enough to overpower his father and kill him, seizing the Khans for his own. As Garl says "No image of him remains to this day." suggesting that Garl scrubbed his likiness from the wasteland.
| Leader | Garl Death-Hand |
| Second in Command | Gwen |
| Tactician | Alya |
| Armorer | Diana |
| Cook | Tolya |
| Supplier | Petrox |
Unfortunately, Garl’s rule was much the same as his father’s. The cycle of abuse did not end with him, and it can be assumed that he treated his own son Darion similarly to how he himself was treated. Garl had numerous advisors, most of whom were women, but he also had at least two enslaved women kept in his bedroom. In fact, his right hand woman, Gwen, also appears to double as a bodyguard for Garl.This percentage of women in governing jobs could be a homage to the real life workings of the Mongolian Empire, where women did much of the planning and handling of money while still often being seen as property by men. Gwen is acknowledged by all other Khans as Garl's second in command, though their relationship to one another is unknown. It is also unknown what Gwen and the other women think of Garl's slaves, though it is likely that this is used as a form of threat to keep Gwen and the ladies in line for fear of becoming like the enslaved women Garl keeps. It suggests there may be little solidarity amoungst the women in the Khans beyond that of simply being Khans.
Garl himself has an interesting mindset, moralising his raiding as the only brave thing left to do in the world, stating “This world is dying, and I shall take what I want! You will never realize the strength required to make such a decision!” suggesting a cynical outlook driving his actions and beliefs. He does not believe in an afterlife, nor does he believe in a future for humanity. All he wants is short term pleasures.
The Khans during this time still raided Shady Sands, but also enjoyed visiting Junktown “to relax after a hard day pillaging." though it’s unknown what exactly they do in Junktown, it should either be visiting Gizmo’s casino or the bars in town. Many Khans also have hobbies, such as Alya who enjoys collecting and sharpening knives, as well as telling campfire stories.
One of my favourite Khans in Fallout 1 was actually cut from the game. The Lone Khan Raider was part of a cut event in game where Shady Sands was destroyed by the Unity Army if you left it too long to defeat The Master. The Lone Khan would have been found as part of a random encounter, wandering the wasteland where Shady Sands used to be. By the time you catch up to him, the Khan is near death, the rest of his war-band having died to radscorpions. Upon discovering that the area has been wiped out by mutants, the Lone Khan swears revenge stating: “I long to avenge our dead, and even the dead of Shady Sands. Any mutant that crosses my path will die! Go forth, friend! Go forth and kill! Death to the mutants!” suggesting that the Khans really did see Shady Sands as equals. Another part of the Lone Khan Raider I find nice, if a little sad, is that he knows he is too weak to fight you, and says “You are too strong for me, and I am tired by many days in the wastes. I do not wish to die. Though it shames me, I surrender. If you wish to fight, I'll fight. If you wish to go in peace, you have my word as a Khan that I will not attack.” However if you are already a Khan, he will reply merrily and request stories from your conquests, despite knowing that he is dying. If you tell him you are saving your stories for the campfire he shall simply say “I shall enjoy hearing them. Farewell, brother!”, which may well be his final words.
Garl made his final mistake in 2161 by kidnapping Tandi, the daughter of Aradesh (Shady Sand’s leader) from the town and holding her in his camp. In response to this, Aradesh sends you—the Vault Dweller—to rescue her. It is confirmed in Fallout 2 that the canonical ending for the Khans is to be all but destroyed by the Vault Dweller as a result of this transgression, with only one survivor who I will get into later.
Another event I enjoy, is the 9 luck event where the Khans mistake the Vault Dweller as The Death Hand, Garl’s father. In this event, the Vault Dweller must be a man wearing the leather jacket and have 9 points in the Luck stat. All the Khans will flee in terror at the sight of the so called ghost of the Death Hand, and some will even ask “Excuse me, Death-Hand. I'm sorry to disturb you. Have you come back to kill your son?” when approaching Garl himself, he will stop them and—if he is feeling favourable (you pass some speech checks to convince that you are his father)--will demand to know why his father has returned. From there it is possible to make a number of requests, including riches or the life of Tandi. If at any point a speech check is failed, or the Vault Dweller asks too much or fumbles their disguise, Garl will order his death.
I like to consider this event to be canon to the Khan’s story, although with a random traveller rather than with the Vault Dweller, as I think it could make for some interesting legends to form among them. The idea that the dead return to life to haunt those who have wronged them feeds well into the story that follows the Khans both in Fallout 2 and New Vegas.
Let’s dial back, in 2161 the Khans were destroyed by the Vault Dweller. Every member was killed, bar one, Garl Death Hand’s teenage son, Darion, escaped the bloodshed. Maybe he hid, maybe he ran, all we know for sure is he remembered Tandi and at least saw the Vault Dweller, and both those people would stay on his mind for the next 80 years. And so begins the new age of the Khans.