History Franchise / Fallout

After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the [[{{RunningGag}} United States is an okay place to live]]. The shift towards nuclear energy gave way to technological wonders previously relegated to science fiction, from [[RobotMaid robot butlers]] to [[SuperWristGadget wrist-mounted computers]]. Unfortunately, the good times would not last: this [[PunkPunk inefficient technology]] depleted fossil fuels even faster than in the real world, causing massive "resource wars" in the early-mid 21st century. In 2066, China and the United States clashed over the Alaskan oil fields, leading to an 11-year military conflict between the two superpowers... then, on October 23, 2077, somebody -- nobody is entirely sure who -- ordered a nuclear launch. And once one missile was fired, everyone else responded in kind.

After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the [[{{RunningGag}} United States has become an rather okay place to live]]. The shift towards nuclear energy gave way to technological wonders previously relegated to science fiction, from [[RobotMaid robot butlers]] to [[SuperWristGadget wrist-mounted computers]]. Unfortunately, the good times would not last: this [[PunkPunk inefficient technology]] depleted fossil fuels even faster than in the real world, causing massive "resource wars" in the early-mid 21st century. In 2066, China and the United States clashed over the Alaskan oil fields, leading to an 11-year military conflict between the two superpowers... then, on October 23, 2077, somebody -- nobody is entirely sure who -- ordered a nuclear launch. And once one missile was fired, everyone else responded in kind.

* LuckBasedMission: Travelling in the first two games (and to a lesser extent in ''Tactics'') if you aren't a fully equipped combat character or have a high outdoorsman stat (which allows you to choose if you actually go into an encounter or not) is this as you can either find a few easy to fight rad scorpions (Which can still be a problem if your character isn't a combat character) or a bunch of raiders equipped with shotguns and 10mm submachine guns who can kill you in 1 turn with no way for you to survive.

** ''Fallout 2'': Just as the people in your subterranean community emerge to try and start a new life for themselves, the Enclave rear their ugly heads and start killing your friends.

After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the United States became an okay place to live. The shift towards nuclear energy gave way to technological wonders previously relegated to science fiction, from [[RobotMaid robot butlers]] to [[SuperWristGadget wrist-mounted computers]]. Unfortunately, the good times would not last: this [[PunkPunk inefficient technology]] depleted fossil fuels even faster than in the real world, causing massive "resource wars" in the early-mid 21st century. In 2066, China and the United States clashed over the Alaskan oil fields, leading to an 11-year military conflict between the two superpowers... then, on October 23, 2077, somebody -- nobody is entirely sure who -- ordered a nuclear launch. And once one missile was fired, everyone else responded in kind.

* DownerBeginning: The series, as a whole, begins with the Great War that leaves the world an irradiated wasteland. It doesn't get much better in the games, where the player character starts off in a terrible situation before setting off. Most entries has them raised in a Vault, where something goes wrong even before they open the door.

** ''New Vegas'': A rare case where you ''start'' from a Vault, you instead play as a Courier who gets caught by some raiders led by a notorious crook, the package you were supposed to deliver stolen before you get shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave. You get better, though.

* DownerBeginning: The series, as a whole, begins with the Great War that leaves the world an irradiated wasteland. It doesn't get much better in the games, where the player character starts off in a terrible situation before setting off:

** ''Fallout 2'': Just as the people in your subterranean community emerge to try and start a new life for themselves the Enclave rear their ugly heads and start killing your friends.

** ''New Vegas'': You get caught by some raiders led by a notorious crook, the package you were supposed to deliver stolen before you get shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave.
** ''Fallout 4'': You, your spouse, and your child are forced to evacuate to a Vault when the Great War begins. Your family is placed into cryogenic stasis, only for a mysterious mercenary to abduct your son and murder your spouse.

** The official ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' comic has "The Vaults were never meant to save anyone," which fans have adopted as an unofficial tagline of the series.

* AfterTheEnd: Nobody knew who fired the first missile that triggered the apocalypse, and by the end of the day, nobody cared. It was considered the end of the world. But still, humanity survived -- mutated, blood thirsty, and completely shattered -- and the world moved on. The Great War wasn't the end, simply one more sad chapter.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Amazingly, the series is idealistic. Yes, the world has burned in nuclear fire and is host to all manner of unsavory characters and vicious animals who will kill you or worse. But civilization has endured, is rebuilding, and there is still goodness and virtue in the hearts of many. And if you play a good character, the good will eventually overcome the evil. ''Fallout's'' part of the reason why tropes like EarnYourHappyEnding exist.

If you're looking for ''radioactive fallout'' see UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons. The series is not to be confused with ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'' or ''Film/TheFallout''.

'''Note: Tropes relating to the series and the Fallout Universe in general goes here. Please put tropes that applies to individual games in the series on their respective pages.'''

*** The Great Khans are a drug-dealing faction that stylize themselves after ancient Mongol warriors.

* ImAHumanitarian: Many have taken to consuming human flesh in the post-apocalypse, from lone travelers to [[TownWithADarkSecret entire towns]]. The player can become one from the third game onward with the "Cannibal" perk, which allows them to devour corpses on the spot in exchange for negative karma and hostility from witnesses (and disapproval from most of your non-cannibal companions in the fourth game). ''New Vegas'' adds the "Ghastly Scavenger" perk as well, which allows you to bypass the risk of retaliation by subtly scavenging bits from dead enemies for later consumption.

* {{Zeerust}}: The surviving pre-apocalypse architecture and technology is highly reminiscent of '50s Pop Art: complete with muscle cars, vacuum tube computers, and tin-can robots. Background material establishes that America (and by extension, the world) never really moved beyond the 1950's in terms of values. The 60's revolution was either much less influential, only effected music, or both, and there was no 80's technological shift due to microelectronics never becoming widespread. As a result, even though the world "ended" in 2077, culturally, it had barely progressed at all.

** Post-War societies tend to borrow from ancient cultures as well, though often warped interpretations of them. Romans in Vegas, Old West towns, Mongol-ish nomads, American Revolutionaries...

* AfterTheEnd: Nobody knew who fired the first missile that triggered the apocalypse[[note]]although several clues imply that China shot first[[/note]], and by the end of the day, nobody cared. It was considered the end of the world. But still, humanity survived -- mutated, blood thirsty, and completely shattered -- and the world moved on. The Great War wasn't the end, simply one more sad chapter.

** Vault-Tec performed horrible social experiments on the inhabitants of the Vaults, unless you were lucky enough to end up in a control Vault. The effects of these experiments can be seen with several of the factions across the Wasteland. [[spoiler: It's also been widely speculated and later confirmed by the TV series that they started the Great War for their own ends.]]

* AlternateHistory: The ''Fallout'' timeline diverges from the real world some time between the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the early sixties. Due to a number of unspecified factors, the social, political, and technological status quo of TheFifties endured well into the late 21st century. The changes are minor at first but continue to cascade as the decades go by. Briefly: rather than progressing to thermonuclear bombs, the military focuses on smaller-yield atom bombs to increase their tactical utility, however the design of the bombs never progresses past the large Fat-Man style of WW2 era nuclear weapons. ICBMs serve alongside airplane dropped bombs and submarine launched missiles, forming the nuclear trifecta. The transistor is also not invented until the late 2070s, causing computing technology to remain reliant on vacuum tubes and large bulky monitors. The space race unrolls differently (although the first moon landing is off by only a few days.) Federal power snowballs as the military-industrial complex takes over entirely. The states are rebuilt into 13 'commonwealths.' Communism continues to thrive in China, and it's been implied several times that it is ''also'' stuck in their 1950s mentality, albeit how it was when UsefulNotes/MaoZedong was in power during that time period The space race unrolls differently (although the first moon landing is off by only a few days.) Federal power snowballs as the military-industrial complex takes over entirely. The states are rebuilt into 13 'commonwealths.' Communism continues to thrive in China, and it's been implied several times that it is ''also'' stuck in their 1950s mentality, albeit how it was when UsefulNotes/MaoZedong was in power during that time period (Russia, though still Communist, seems to play a minor role). A-bombs are joined by practical laser, gauss, and plasma-projection technology. Foreseeing trouble, the US commissions private industries (notably Vault-Tec) to construct bunkers that will allow at least some Americans to survive the war[[note]](and for... [[ForScience other reasons]])[[/note]]. Through the mid-21st century, struggles over resources erupt into wars, leading to wars between a united Europe and the Arabian states. This is followed by a larger dispute between China and the US over oil; at least one significant battle fought on the Moon (at the Sea of Tranquility); the invasion of Alaska; the US annexing Canada; and, finally, unlimited atomic war. Eighty years later, ''Fallout 1'' begins.

* '''''{{Series/Fallout|2024}}''''' (2024): A live-action TV series developed by Bethesda in partnership with [[Creator/PrimeVideo Amazon Prime Video]] and Kilter Films, the studio behind ''Series/{{Westworld}}''. Executive produced by ''Fallout 3'' and ''4'' director Creator/ToddHoward and fully canonicaly to the games, it follows a vault dweller from [[UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Santa Monica, California]] as she journeys into the wasteland.

** Using VATS to [[GroinAttack shoot a woman in the crotch]] hurts them every bit as badly as it does a man. Plus you [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender get a special funny message out of it]].

* AlternateHistory: The ''Fallout'' timeline diverges from the real world some time between the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the early sixties. Due to a number of unspecified factors, the social, political, and technological status quo of TheFifties endured well into the late 21st century. The changes are minor at first but continue to cascade as the decades go by. Briefly: rather than progressing to thermonuclear bombs, the military focuses on smaller-yield atom bombs to increase their tactical utility. The space race unrolls differently (although the first moon landing is off by only a few days.) Federal power snowballs as the military-industrial complex takes over entirely. The states are rebuilt into 13 'commonwealths.' Communism continues to thrive in China, and it's been implied several times that it is ''also'' stuck in their 1950s mentality, albeit how it was when UsefulNotes/MaoZedong was in power during that time period (Russia, though still Communist, seems to play a minor role). A-bombs are joined by practical laser, gauss, and plasma-projection technology. Foreseeing trouble, the US commissions private industries (notably Vault-Tec) to construct bunkers that will allow at least some Americans to survive the war[[note]](and for... [[ForScience other reasons]])[[/note]]. Through the mid-21st century, struggles over resources erupt into wars, leading to wars between a united Europe and the Arabian states. This is followed by a larger dispute between China and the US over oil; at least one significant battle fought on the Moon (at the Sea of Tranquility); the invasion of Alaska; the US annexing Canada; and, finally, unlimited atomic war. Eighty years later, ''Fallout 1'' begins.