While Bethesda Game Studios may not have developed everyFalloutgame since they took ownership of the franchise, they have no doubt had a profound impact on the direction of the in-universe lore of the series.
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Fallout 3andFallout 4both sought to take the series into new directions (whether that be for good or ill), and one of the areas this is most obvious is all the new factions likethe Minutemen, characters like Three Dog, and tons of background information that they’ve sprinkled into their games. Here are just some of the additions Bethesda has made toFallout’s lore over the years.
8The East Coast Enclave
WhileFallout 2ends with the destruction of the Enclave on the Californian coast,Fallout 3establishes that many escaped the destruction of the Poseidon Oil Rig. They would eventually take control of Raven Rock, a military installation in the mountains outside Washington D.C. Here they would be led by Colonel Augustus Autumn.
This branch of the Enclave would also have its own president in the form of John Henry Eden, although he is merely a robot who functions as the front-man of the Enclave. It exists for propaganda purposes, delivering radio addresses via eyebots across the wasteland in order to garner support from the local survivors.
7Galaxy News Radio & Three Dog
While Galaxy News Network was shown in the originalFalloutintro, it wasn’t untilFallout 3that players would learn about their radio broadcast division. Three Dog would re-purpose Galaxy News Radio’s old tech to deliver his own radio broadcasts across the Capital Wasteland after the war in order to galvanize support for the “good fight” in his words. This takes the form of public service announcements, music, news reports, and radio plays.
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Three Dog is an avid supporter of the Brotherhood of Steel and their mission in the Capital Wasteland. This somewhat mirrors the old Galaxy News Network’s own support for the U.S. government and its questionable actions just beforethe Great War.
6Synths & The Institute
Both Synths and the Institute were first mentioned inFallout 3’s"The Replicated Man" questline.Fallout 4, however, brought both back in a huge way, making them a central focus of the game’s main story. The Institute is essentially a continuation of Boston’s pre-war scientific community gathered under the Commonwealth Institute of Technology.
Here they conduct a wide variety of experiments of questionable ethics and attempt to influence events in the wasteland above. Whether it’s introducingsuper mutantsinto the surrounding areas or using the synths they create to replace key members of the Commonwealth, the Institute is clearly playing its own game in the post-war world.
5The Dunwich Cult
Fallout 3was the first game in the series to introduce Lovecraftian horror into the lore. This takes the form of the Dunwich cult, which is a mysterious pre-war religious organization that worships a seemingly malevolent entity known as Ug-Qualtoth. References to them can be found in the Dunwich building inFallout 3(as well as its DLC,Point Lookout)and Dunwich Borers inFallout 4.
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Not much is known about the cult’s activities, although they seem to conduct sermons to honor their god and even engage in human sacrifice in its name.
4The East Coast Of Former America
Before Bethesda took over the franchise,Falloutwas mostly set on the western side of the former United States. This changed withFallout 3and4, both of which were set on the East Coast of the U.S. in Washington D.C and Boston, respectively.The Capital Wastelandrefers to the former capital of America and is a heavily irradiated hellscape populated with all manner of mutant monsters and even the psychopathic remnants of the U.S. Government.
The Commonwealth, on the other hand, is not quite as desolate, though it has its own problems. Factions such as the Minutemen, the Railroad, Brotherhood of Steel and the Institute have all taken root in the area, with various settlements propped up in between.
3Children Of Atom
Much like the Hubologists found in San Francisco, theChildren of Atomare a post-war religious group that worships iconography related to the atom, i.e. nuclear power, radiation, atomic bombs, and the like. They can be found in the Capital Wasteland, Commonwealth, and even Far Harbor, where they attempt to spread the word of “Atom” and evangelize his power.
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When first encountered they seem to be a peaceful organization, though by the time ofFallout 4, they have split into multiple sub-factions, some of which are more dangerous than others.
2The Pitt
Pittsburgh is just one of the many new locations brought into the series by Bethesda after they assumed ownership. First seen inFallout 3’sDLC,The Pitt,the once thriving and industrious city is reduced to a skeletal husk of its former self propped up by slave labor.
The city is ruled with an iron fist by former Brotherhood of Steel soldier, Ishmael Ashur, who maintains that one day the city will be free from the sickness and mutated horrors that plague it - just not any time soon. The setting also appears inFallout 76as part of theExpeditions: The Pittupdate.
1Aliens
Aliens have always existed in some form in theFalloutgames, but it wasn’t untilFallout 3that players got a detailed look at who and what these aliens are with theMothership ZetaDLC. In it, the Lone Wanderer is abducted by aliens and along with some other abductees is tasked with liberating themselves from their extraterrestrial captors.
In later games, Bethesda would expand on the alien presence in theFalloutworld with things like the Cabot family, whose insanity and unnaturally long lifespan is a direct result of contact with alien beings, and the Interloper, a mysterious Lovecraftian creature that can be found in the Lucky Hole Mine.
