Four main characters in Season One of Fallout have their own separate Story Enneagrams. The entire season begins with Coop, so let’s start with him. He’s the only character to have a —
LEFTOVER NINE
Cowboy Coop performing tricks for a child’s birthday party is a brilliant choice. We see the pre-apocalypse world, and then the moment when the bombs fall and it all ends. Clues about Coop are dropped: he’s paying alimony, he’s famous (or infamous) for a thumbs-up gesture, and he’s called a Commie. Much later in the season these quick throwaway lines will gain context. However, some moments aren’t explained. Where is Janey? How does Coop go from riding a horse ahead of the fallout to becoming a 200 year old ghoul? Structurally, this is a beautiful Leftover Nine. Hopefully, Season Two will have a Leftover Nine that continues to answer these questions.
ONE
The entirety of Episode One goes by before Coop returns. In the cemetery bounty hunters dig up Ghoul Coop. His character is completely changed, or so it seems.
TWO
In Episode Two Coop meets Lucy in Filly. He already knows that Wilzig is a wanted man. His relationship with these two characters (well, technically, a character and a head) are his Trouble.
THREE
Continuing in Episode Two, Coop stabs and then saves Dogmeat. (I’m happy to see my wish come true. I really wanted Coop’s relationship with his dogs to become a pivotal Three/Six Mirror. For his personal Story Enneagram, it is.)
FOUR
Episodes Three and Four detail Coop’s travels with and torture of Lucy. Some of the misery of this is relieved in Episode Three when Coop’s flashbacks begin. The thumbs-up ad is explained. The ghoul-rule about needing these vials in order to keep from turning feral is — not explained, but established, at least. Hints of sympathy for Ghoul Coop begin.
SWITCH
At the end of Episode Four, Coop lies outside the Super Duper Mart, desperate for vials. Lucy delivers. When Coop goes inside, he finds enough vials to last a long time. The worry about him turning feral is over. He also finds a videotape of his own show. The juxtaposition of Ghoul Coop watching Cowboy Coop settles something for us. These two characters, until now disparate, become one continuous character.
FIVE
Episode Five has no Coop. However, in Episodes Six and Seven a lot of pre-apocalypse Coop information comes out. Barb’s connection to Vault-Tec increases. Coop’s love of his dog leads to the “no dogs allowed” rule becoming a final straw for him. He discovers that the Moldaver who is influential for pre-apocalypse Coop is also someone important for Ghoul Coop. (How she can be in both timelines is never explained. I assume she has a cryopod somewhere, since that’s the rule for Hank, but we can only guess.) The charge that he’s a “Pinko” back at the birthday party is given context. He decides to bug Barb’s Pip Boy, changing their marriage. We never see him ask for a divorce, but the alimony dig from the birthday party makes sense now.
SIX
At the end of Episode Seven Ghoul Coop finds Dogmeat in the Nuka-Cola refrigerator where Thaddeus left her. They are now a team, traveling together. He mentions his beloved Roosevelt from the old days, and that Dogmeat “ain’t him”, but he now has a dog again.
SEVEN
In Episode Eight, the finale, Coop takes action. He chooses to use the bug, follow Barb into the building, and purposefully listen in on her meeting.
EIGHT
Coop’s spying on Barb reveals everything. She’s a monster and an integral part of Vault-Tec’s tactics. We meet young Hank and young Betty in the office there, further reinforcing what we’ll learn about the triangular relationship of Vault 31-32-33. When Ghoul Coop bursts into the Observatory, killing BoS Knights and gunning for Hank, we understand why: “Where is my family?” he asks.
NINE
He and Dogmeat and Lucy will now travel together. When he invites her to join them, the tenderness of Cowboy Coop and the ruthlessness of Ghoul Coop blend into one character. He is complete, ready to begin Season Two when it comes.
ENNEAGRAM
Now we can begin to discern his Enneagram number. We’re not looking at two characters; we need to find one number that explains both timelines of his personality.
He’s an easygoing fellow at first. Barb wants him to do a Vault-Tec commercial, he does it. The director wants him to gun down the villain, something out of character for his cowboy, and Coop does it. He and Codsy sit by the pool avoiding any argument inside at the wrap party.
Possibly, he’s a character Nine. He sidesteps conflict for a while.
However, we never see him do anything particularly physical or Body Type. Cowboy Coop isn’t an action hero.
What about a Three? He’s very good at being an actor and he’s also incredibly good at being a ghoul. I know, it doesn’t sound like a stellar achievement. Think about it, though. The world has no other 200 year old ghoul. The show mentions it many times.
He has a gentle heart, and he is mostly loved and admired. He really just wants to portray his characters well and spend time with his family and his dog. He’s not a fame-chasing Three; he’s just a successful, content man.
A Three would go to Nine in weakness. The way he avoids conflict is not honest, not inherent. We know this because, later, he seeks conflict. And a Three would go to Six in strength. He would begin to delineate right from wrong. No gray. It’s kind of wonderful that a cowboy actor would go from white hat to black hat. His job in the Wasteland is to bring a reckoning. As a Three, he would be very good at it.