When you fire up your very first Fallout game, one thing is made perfectly clear: the world ended in a massive nuclear war that transformed the planet’s surface into a desolate, radioactive wasteland. Mutated creatures and humans roam the surface, attacking any and everything that gets in their way. The few humans who cling to life in small communities range from psychopathic, drug-addled maniacs to Super Mutants and would-be do-gooders trying to make the world a better place. This is all evident right away, but what isn’t always clear is how things got this way.
Videos by ComicBook.com
As you play the games, much of the franchise’s lore unfolds via stories told by NPCs, found documents or log entries in computers, and general inferences. As of writing, there have been five mainline Fallout games, six spin-offs, and a hit Amazon Prime TV series, so the lore has expanded significantly since the first game debuted in 1997. If you enjoy playing the games but don’t read every scrap of information you come across, you likely missed some of the story of how the world was transformed into a nuclear-fueled pseudo-utopia to become a horrifying wasteland, so we’ve laid it all out for you in this article.
Everything Was Wonderful Until the Bombs Dropped
First and foremost, that’s a lie. Everything wasn’t wonderful in the world of Fallout before nuclear annihilation destroyed it. Some aspects of daily life were ideal, but while people lived in a nuclear-fueled alternate history that presented a duality of technological achievements, with some stuck in the 1950s as others advancing into the late 21st century, life was much like it was during the Cold War of the 20th century. The so-called “American Dream” of American exceptionalism had further alienated the nation, dividing much of the world along ideological lines of capitalism in the West and communism in the East.
Unlike the 20th century, tensions between the U.S. weren’t with Russia, but with China. The two nations and many others fought several bitter resource wars, beginning in 2051 with the U.S. invasion of Mexico. The following year, global conflicts erupted elsewhere. The first major conflict was fought in Europe, leading to a European Civil War and the destruction of much of the Middle East. Then, in 2066, the Sino-American War broke out between the U.S. and China. This involved skirmishes all over the world, resulting in the U.S. annexation of Canada and a prolonged threat between both participants to use the “bomb” in a final military confrontation between the world’s two superpowers.
Finally, in 2077, the so-called “Great War” broke out between all surviving nuclear powers, resulting in bombs detonating all over the world’s most populated cities. Much of the world’s environments and biomes were destroyed as the planet was awash with radiation. The bombs dropped on October 23, 2077, causing global destabilization of the climate, the fall of all governments, and the world became a wasteland. For a select few, Vault-Tec’s vaults offered sanctuary from the devastation, but unbeknownst to the Vault Dwellers, only 17 of the 122 vaults were “control vaults,” as the others conducted inhumane experiments on their occupants, proving far worse than the hellscape happening on the surface.
Who Dropped the Bomb?
In the Fallout TV show’s first season, it’s made perfectly clear that the organizations that dropped the bomb were all of the major pre-war corporations: Vault-Tec, RobCo Industries, West Tek, Big MT, and REPCONN. They conspired together to start the Great War so they could monopolize recovery and reconstruction, effectively taking complete control of the planet as they saw fit. Things didn’t go according to plan, and while aspects of these corporations lingered on for 200+ years, reclaiming the world often falls to the Vault Dweller (player character) from the many Fallout games. What’s the lesson of Fallout’s world-ending war? Don’t let corporations put profits over people because no matter who’s in charge, “War never changes.”
Which is your favorite Fallout game, and why is it New Vegas? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Image Courtesy of Devolver Digital -
Image Courtesy of Netflix
