Dogmeat

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Dogmeat's design was inspired by the unnamed dog of Max Rockatansky from the 1981 film Mad Max 2. His initial name was "Dogshit," but the final name was derived from the opening scene of the 1975 film A Boy and His Dog, where Vic calls his dog Blood "Dogmeat." Tim Cain noted that art director Leonard Boyarsky had the movie running continuously in his office and remarked that having a dog would be cool. Designer Scott Bennie is credited with settling on the name. In Fallout 4, motion capture was performed by River, a German Shepherd who passed away on June 27, 2021. To honor him, Bethesda Softworks and Xbox donated $10,000 to the Humane Society on July 7, 2021.

In Their Own Story

In the original Fallout (1997), the Vault Dweller meets a stray Dogmeat in Junktown after his owner died at the hands of thugs hired by Gizmo. If fed or if the player wears a leather jacket, Dogmeat follows and fights. Canonically, he was adopted on 30 December 2161 and killed by a force field barrier during an assault on the Master's Military Base on 20 April 2162. In Fallout 2, he appears non-canonically in the "Café of Broken Dreams," where he can be picked up or killed, triggering a revenge attempt by a man named Mel. A completely different Dogmeat appears in Fallout 3 (2277), found after his scavenger master is killed by raiders; if killed, the "Puppies!" perk allows replacement with a dog having 1,000 hit points instead of 500. In Fallout 4, a German Shepherd version cannot be killed and finds items. The 2024 series features a female Belgian Malinois named CX404, born from an Enclave breeding program, who is adopted by the Ghoul and renamed Dogmeat after being abandoned by Thaddeus.

Reader's Guide

Dogmeat serves different roles depending on the entry. In Fallout 3, he finds objects of value across the landscape for the Lone Wanderer. The "Puppies!" perk in Broken Steel replaces a fallen Dogmeat with one having twice the hit points (1,000 vs 500). In Fallout 4, the German Shepherd cannot be killed and retains the ability to locate items. In the 2024 TV series, CX404 is adopted by the Ghoul after being abandoned in a Nuka-Cola dispenser; she tracks Wilzig's scent to his body and later accompanies Lucy MacLean and the Ghoul.

Did You Know?

• The character's initial name was "Dogshit" before being changed to Dogmeat.
• River, the German Shepherd who portrayed Dogmeat in Fallout 4, won "Top Video Game Dog of 2015."
• In Fallout 3, replacing a killed Dogmeat via the Puppies! perk results in a dog with 1,000 hit points instead of the original 500.
• In the 2024 television series, the dog is actually a female Belgian Malinois born from an Enclave breeding program.