Summary
Fallout 4’s Wasteland is populated by many interesting characters, fromdetective synths like Nick Valentineto keen newshounds like Piper Wright, or members of the Brotherhood of Steel such as Paladin Danse. While many are easily found on the Sole Survivor’s main journey to find their son, there are some inhabitants that some players may never meet when exploring the game’s world, as is evident by one Reddit user’s recent post.
Strange_Ad4922took to the r/fo4 Subreddit to share a clip of a dead Preston Garvey, asking why he was dead when exploring the Wasteland but alive back at their settlement.Garvey is a senior officer of the Commonwealth Minutemen who seeks to protect settlements by answering distress calls, and is one of the first human companions players can meet in the game, meaning that nearly every player would have met them.

What players may not know is thatGarvey has an impersonator, who seems to be the version of the character who is dead in Strange_Ad4922’s footage. While many in the comments did note that this was the case, others such asZappBrannigansburnernoted that even after playingFallout 4for close to 2,000, they had yet to come across the impostor.
Fallout 4: How To Get All 16 Companions
With 16 unique characters to choose from in Fallout 4 the Sole Survivor is spoiled for choice for companions to join them on their journey.
Who Is The Preston Garvey Impersonator?
The Minuteman Impostor Will Ask For A Donation Of 100 Caps
The Preston Garvey impersonator will only appear briefly in arandom encounter- aptly named “Preston Garvey” - in which he will state that the Minutemen are “making a comeback” and that the general has sent him to collect donations from concerned citizens to aid the cause, before requesting 100 caps for the Minutemen. Players will then have a choice as to how they deal with the scam artist, where they can either be sarcastic, condemn the impersonator and refuse to pay, or give the person who very clearly isn’t Preston Garvey the caps and send them on their way.
If the Sole Survivor tells the impostor that they know Preston, or that they are the general of the Minutemen - a moment that can be made even more amusing if players have the Minutemen General uniform equipped at the time, or have the real Preston Garvey standing alongside them as a companion - the impostor will simply run away, and if he survives the encounter, his character name in V.A.T.S. will change to “Preston Garvey Impersonator.” Alternatively,there are no negative effects to killing the impersonator should players feel like dealing out a fairly harsh punishment.

Unfortunately, while it is quite funny to see both Prestons on screen at once, having the real Preston Garvey as a companion during this encounter doesn’t impact how it plays out in any capacity, as neither of the Prestons will even acknowledge each other, which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
There’s no guarantee as to where players will run into the Preston Garvey impersonator across the Wasteland inFallout 4, as this does seem to be purely random, which may be why some players such as ZappBrannigansburner have missed him. While those who haven’t met the impostor are missing out on some amusing dialogue, they shouldn’t be too disappointed, as there’s not much more to the encounter than that.

Sources:Strange_Ad4922/Reddit,ZappBrannigansburner/Reddit
Fallout 4
Bethesda’s action RPG Fallout 4 puts players into the vault suit of the Lone Survivor, a pre-war soldier from an alternate future cryogenically frozen inside Vault 111. After their infant son is kidnapped, they venture out into the irradiated wasteland of the Commonwealth to scour the ruins of Boston for any sign of him. In doing so, they encounter various factions and companions and use an array of skills and abilities to navigate the apocalyptic remnants of society.