Heartwarming / Fallout 4

Main Game

• In the very opening section of the game, during character customization, the husband and wife will playfully tease each other and act very much like a couple in love. It turns tragic shortly after.
  • During the intro, before the sirens go off, you can walk around the house and activate certain items to hear your character comment on them. If you pick a female character, you can go into the bedroom closet to find your husband's military fatigues. Click on them, and you'll hear "I'm so proud of him." Likewise, a male character will say the same thing about his wife if he looks at her law degree on the shelf near the front door.
  • Also during the intro, the soldiers and servicemen trying to get a bunch of panicking people into the vault. They do this as calmly and orderly as possible. The heartwarming comes when you realize that these people could have just as well all jammed into the vault themselves and left everybody else to die, but they kept it together and did their duty despite knowing that they were all going to die for the sake of saving a bunch of civilians. The officer who lets Nate, Nora, and Shaun past to get to Vault 111 makes it clear their Heroic Sacrifice will not be in vain with his last words to them:
    "Good luck, sir/ma'am, and God help us all."
  • Same for the Vault-Tec security guys:
    "We're doing everything we can."
• If you give your companion your deceased spouse's wedding ring, they will equip it and can be seen wearing it if you look closely. Becomes even sweeter and more meaningful if you're in a romance with them.
• If you help him with his dream of rebuilding the Minutemen, Preston will talk to you a couple of times to personally thank you for how much effort you're putting in just to help him.
  • The Minutemen ending not only frees the Commonwealth from the Institute's shadow, but also essentially brings it under their benevolent protection — in the process fulfilling what Elder Lyons hoped to accomplish with the East Coast Brotherhood in the Capital Wasteland. All the while laying the foundations for something like the New California Republic to rise on the East Coast unlike the "Commonwealth of Allied Settlements" mentioned in game.
    Mama Murphy: You're standing with... the people. Working together. United. I see a land filled with hope again. Fear falls away as the brave step forward to join the ranks. You're a hero. A symbol for a better world. Our world.
  • Really, the entire Settlement mechanic is a real heartwarmer, whether the Minutemen are the winning faction or not. With adequate care, it's possible to have up to 30 settlements under your control (not including the 7 added by DLC)^note  Three settlements, Home Plate, the Boston Airport and the Mechanist's Lair are unable to produce food and have a recruitment beacon built, and Home Plate can't be connected to a supply line or have settlers sent there. Potentially, that could mean hundreds of people now have food, water, shelter, and protection— in other words, a future— thanks to you. Turning parts of the wasteland into habitable areas means slowly bringing civilization back to the Commonwealth, which has very few surviving places that could be considered "towns" by the time the Sole Survivor is brought out of cryostasis. It's not much of a stretch to imagine that, thanks to the Sole Survivor, places like Sanctuary or The Castle could, in the years after the credits roll, become the next Diamond City, Goodneighbor or Bunker Hill. Or Shady Sands, the capitol of the NCR.
  • Maxing out affinity with Preston also leads to him revealing to you that he was dealing with severe depression and was an outright Death Seeker before you showed up in Concord and saved him and his group from Raiders. He credits you, however, with saving his life.
    Preston: You made me want to keep living again. I guess that sounds pretty sappy, but it's true.
  • A minor one about settlements- there’s a slight chance that a settler might be a ghoul. Yet you can still treat the ghoul as fairly as you do with the rest of the settlers, showing that you’re not discriminatory like others in the universe are.
  • In your first ever conversation with Preston in the Museum of Freedom, you can ask him what ghouls are. Preston tells you what they are, but tells you that there is a difference between regular ghouls and feral ghouls. He even says that sane ghouls are “just as human as you or me”. So, according to him at least, there isn’t going to be any anti-ghoul bigotry in the Minutemen.
• If you have Dogmeat look around for stuff, he may find a teddy bear and start playing with it like a chew toy. Y'know, just in case he wasn't adorable enough.
  • He can also come back to you with a Fat Man. Funny AND heartwarming.
    • Even more adorably hilarious? Dogmeat can bust open the the Master-locked case in Vault 111 and fetch the Cryolator, giving you a Disc-One Nuke barely an hour into the game.
  • It appears that this ability may be able to find guns that were incorporated into booby traps. This renders the trap completely harmless to the Sole Survivor and has him happily depositing the weapon at their feet.
  • If you have him carry a teddy bear, he will occasionally play with it as well, and it adds to his tricks (for a total of two) when you talk to him and ask if he can do any.
• A lot of Piper's dialogue if you romance her.
  Well, aren't I lucky they thawed you out just for me?
  Blue, I'm on Cloud Nine. Things couldn't be better, and it's all thanks to you.
  Sure don't make 'em like they used to. I'm talking about you, Blue.
  I'm with the person I love, helping those in need. I couldn't imagine a better life.
  • Likewise, if a romanced Cait is asked how she is feeling - particularly when you confess your feelings to her. It's probably the first time in her life anyone has expressed that they love her.
    I'm alive, and I'm in love. That tell you enough?
    My heart, my treasure, my love. All for you.
    We're together, that's all that matters.
• Also counts as a tearjerker, but after you first step out of the Vault, Codsworth can give you something which your spouse intended for you to receive before the bombs fell. What is it? It's a tape recording of Nate/Nora and Shaun thanking you for being a good parent, detailing that they married you for your kindness and loving personality.
• If you gain enough influence with Codsworth, he will admit that he considered you, your spouse, and Shaun to be his family. You can immediately respond in kind.
  • If you talk to Codsworth right before running to the Vault in the beginning, it will be clear the feeling is mutual.
    Sole Survivor: Codsworth - stay safe, buddy/honey.
    Codsworth: And your family as well, sir/mum. Oh my...\\Goodbye, sir/mum. May I just say what an honor its been to serve you and your family.\\ Now don't you worry about me, sir/mum. You have your family to think about. Go on!
    • Even sweeter, you can find the box for Codsworth in the laundry room in the prologue. Your family bought him just recently and already think of him as part of it.
  • He will even go as far as to call you a hero and a paragon of all that is good if you max out his affinity, and outright refuse to think of you as anything less. Even if the Sole Survivor insists they're not a hero.
  • The tabletop RPG is set a few years before the events of the main game. Codsworth is mentioned, by name, as Sanctuary Hills' sole resident, where he tends to a specific house and insists that his owners will come home some day. There are dogs that aren't quite as loyal as this little robot.
• In any of the endings where you go against the Institute, you have the option of taking synth!Shaun with you. While he's not your son, he thinks he is, and it feels a lot like a second chance. Even more heartwarming because your Shaun sent him to you. Maybe he did care, after all.
• If you're passing a graveyard, you may come across a lone raider sitting quietly in the dirt. Sneak closer, and you'll see that he's just buried one of his friends. He mutters to himself about how he doesn't at all enjoy the violence he enacts on others, how he hates it when they beg for their lives, and insists that he'll leave the gang after one more job. It makes you remember not only that many raiders are only in that life because they see no other choice, but that they can feel as much tenderness and grief for their loved ones as you can.
• Completing "Confidence Man" turns Travis from a bumbling, stammering failure on the Radio to a calm, cool smooth talker reminiscent of Mr. New Vegas. Listening to him act like this on the news is a constant reminder that you helped him overcome his nervousness and made him into a better person.
  • Even more heartwarming is hearing him express his gratitude to the Sole Survivor on the radio. He keeps up his smooth way of talking until the end, where he briefly returns to his original meek tone when thanking the Survivor.
  • Part of Confidence Man is Travis risking his life for one of the few people in the world who treated him with decency and kindness.
• Remember the Vault-Tec salesman that got locked out of the vault? He got Ghoul-ified, and now spends his time at Goodneighbor's Hotel Rexford, bitter and upset about the past. However, if you pass a speech check with him, you can convince him to move in with you and eventually work for you. He's very vocally over the moon about this: "Look at the two of us! Back in Sanctuary! 'Prepared for the Future'!"; a nice Meaningful Echo of the slogan for his old job.
  • If you have him man one of your trader booths ^note  usually bugged in PC, but can be fixed via console commands. , he'll happily stand by it, cleaning it and making sure it looks perfect while proclaiming how great it is that the two of you are working together. While a lot of other vendors wander around at times, he remains at his post and is the first one there and the last one to leave. And it's clear that he loves his new job.
    • Also a case of a Karma Reward; if you put him in charge of a Level 3 Armor Booth he upgrades it to Level 4 and you can buy exclusive armor from him.
• In almost all previous installments of Fallout, we only saw the non-sentient Deathclaws as large Lightning Bruisers that served as hazards. When you go to the Museum of Witchcraft, you can find a Deathclaw Egg. Attempt to return the egg, and a Deathclaw will appear behind you... and leave you alone, knowing you're returning her egg. It just goes to show: no matter how irradiated some of the creatures have become, they're still just animals and perfectly willing to do what's best for their kin.
  • The quest in itself is a reflection of the Sole Survivor's own story and the two (the Survivor and a freakin' Deathclaw) sharing some similarities. The Deathclaw lost their egg while the Survivor lost Shaun, both had their partner killed while trying to protect their offspring (Nate/Nora, the Deathclaw that attacks the player in the Museum just before acquiring the egg), and both are pretty much unstoppable killing machines. On top of that the reward the Deathclaw gives the Sole Survivor for returning the egg is a Deathclaw gauntlet.
  • Companions who are with you for this will remark on how nice you're being...to a Deathclaw. However, most of them will dislike the action (with Danse outright hating it), with the exception of Nick Valentine, Codsworth, and Piper.
• Seeing Curie and Codsworth interact before she becomes a synth. They're just so polite to one another, it borders on saccharine, given how the rest of the companions interact. The way Codsworth's "eyes" widen at the sight of her almost seem to imply he has feelings for her.
• Though it's a Tear Jerker to hear your companions' reactions when you show them your spouse's body, it's strangely heartwarming to hear the usually fight-happy Cait gently tell you that she's there for you to talk to if you need it. Also, hearing Danse tell you to take as long as you need. Hell, even X6-88, the obvious Companion for an evil character, offers his condolences.
• Miss Edna is a Miss Nanny robot that helps the teacher, Mr. Zwicky, teach a room full of children. She will start broaching the subject of love, and ask if it's possible for two extremely different people to fall in love. If you choose "Love Conquers All", you will reply that if you love someone, hold onto it very much, because who knows about the future? She will thank you for the answer and say she's made up her mind about something.
  • Even better? Choose that response, and you can later catch the two of them in the middle of getting married. Yes, equal parts weird and heartwarming to see an old man and a spherical robot exchange their "I do's", but hey! Who are we to judge?
  • Codsworth would love it if you tell Edna that children need love and support her. He's clearly glad your paternal/maternal wisdom remains intact.
• Having Nick Valentine as your companion and being a good person around him is one long heartwarming moment. He revels in your kindness and generosity, and his backstory sort of explains why. (He was a discarded Synth who met with people who gave him a chance and accepted him as a person. What's especially cute is that the first person to approach him without fear was a little kid.)
  • Really, Nick in general is a walking CMoH when he's not being a badass Hard Boiled Detective. When he interviews you about the kidnapping of Shaun, never once does he seem skeptical of the sheer enormity of the case, considering the lack of details. He just approaches it like any other job, either because he really believes that or because he knows it's the right thing to do.
  • After you defeat Kellogg, the Sole Survivor can temporarily lose hope and worry that they've lost Shaun forever. If Nick is with you, he helps you figure out what to do next, and has a short, but sweet and completely sincere word of encouragement.
    Nick: Hey, chin up. I know the night just got darker, but it won't last forever.
  • His maximum approval plus destroying the Institute will bring this line when asked about how the Survivor and his relationship is going: "Not to put too fine a point on it, you're the best damned partner I've ever had."
  • Helping him resolve his personal quest and lay some very old ghosts to rest is a huge one as well, giving him some long overdue closure and come to terms with his identity.
  • Should you accuse Nick of lying, Piper will dislike it, defend him and tell you to calm down. However, Nick will forgive the outburst due to you being stressed over your son's disappearance.
• The whole Silver Shroud questline in its entirety is one in addition to being a CMoF. As it turns out, it's not just satisfying Kent's obsessed fandom over an old Pre-War pulp superhero. But rather, it's also his attempt at trying to bring some justice back to the Commonwealth in his own way, bringing a piece of the Pre-War world back to life in the process. And for all the trouble you go through, you get to be the Silver Shroud with all the justice-serving derring-do that entails.
  • If you save Kent while taking down Sinjin, you get this message if you brought Nick or Piper along: "Valentine/Piper loved that."
  • Similarly, telling Sinjin that friendship is a strength; Curie will love it. Heck, even Strong, a blood thirsty Super Mutant, likes it when the Sole Survivor says that. Though he may seem to have trouble understanding that the "milk of human kindness" is an abstract concept, on some subconscious level, he really does understand it.
  • In the middle of the mission, you can find an optional assassination contract for one Shelly Tiller on one of your targets. Tracking her down reveals that Shelly is not some gangster or Raider boss, but rather an ordinary squatter living by herself in the National Guard Office. You don't learn why a hit was put on her, and she does not attack you despite having a weapon on her person; instead nervously saying she doesn't know you and begging to be left alone. Completing the contract nets you 500 caps (and the disgust of morally upright companions like Nick or Piper), but simply tossing out the contract and walking away seems to be worth a whole lot more.
• While the experiment-free control Vaults tend to be okay, the "social experiment" Vaults have a reputation of going horribly wrong/right (depends on the experiment) and killing everybody sooner or later. Boy, does this get subverted with Vault 81. The experiment was taking place in a separate section of the Vault, sealed off from the general population. Without one massive experiment ruining everyone's day, Vault 81 basically ended up a control Vault in all but official designation. By the time the Sole Survivor encounters it, it maintains the distinction of being one of the very few populated and intact Vaults in the entire lineup.
  • The kids of the Vault are little walking bundles of heartwarming by themselves. Try helping Erin find her cat, let Austin give you a tour, or telling the schoolkids about your first encounter with a deathclaw. The whole Vault is pretty much saccharine incarnate, somewhat bizarre in a series like Fallout.
  • The actual Vault experiment never really got off the ground, due to only three of the scientists actually managing to make it inside. As a result of the shortage of able hands, one of them re-programmed a Miss Nanny as a lab assistant, gave her a terminal of her own, and treated her as another member of the staff. Both her and the other scientists considered this a bit weird, but that same scientist later credits her with helping them all remember their humanity. By the time you visit, she has respectfully entombed the three long dead scientists (complete with flowers and their personal effects folded on top) and successfully completed their work in their honor.
  • To clarify about the vault's purpose, it was meant to be a Vault that served as a quarantined population to test various diseases on. The sealed-off scientists were meant to concoct new and virulent plagues to infect the population. Then they would administer the cures in order to create vaccines and eventually breed a new strain of disease resistant humans. The orders for the scientists coldly noted that the only thing they had to ensure was that the Vault maintained a breeding population and that they were meant to incinerate everyone in the main Vault if it looked like they were about to leave the Vault for the outside world on their own volition. The only reason that generations of Vault 81 residents did not suffer and die in these cruel experiments was because the very first Overseer sabotaged the phone lines. When the bombs fell, most of the science staff did not make it to the Vault in time, excepting those who lived in the near vicinity. The three scientists who made it in continued with the Vault's original purpose until that Overseer first sabotaged the disease dispensers and then the incinerators. She then left them to die rather than risk that they complete their work and kill off a huge chunk of her friends and family. Given the propensity of Vault-Tec experiments ending badly, that one Overseer is the only reason Vault 81 had any chance of survival, not to mention the fact that the scientists in question developed a conscience and willingly went along with sealing themselves off. This is in strong contrast to the large number of jerkass Overseers who followed their orders to the letter, human suffering be damned. And in sharp contrast to Vault 111, which did the opposite to tragic results.
  • It's important not to so easily handwave that Overseer's actions as something any decent person would do. Nor is it fair to call those Overseers that went by the book, jerkasses. Why? Because this wasn't just a case of a morally bankrupt company getting their kicks off of running bizarre experiments on humans. This company, and its experiments were backed by the U.S. Government - and not the "nice" part that gets elected and simply has their hand out either. I'm talking about the black ops, gun down an entire vault and write it off as an accident, make entire families disappear part. The part that gets people who wear tinfoil hats excited. Then mix that with the fact that everybody was expecting Vault-Tec and the government to be still around to monitor, and respond to the experiments. When you add all that together, you start to see that this Overseer's actions weren't just heroic, but nearly saint-like levels of self-sacrifice.
  • To illustrate exactly how remarkable that Overseer's actions were, and how absolutely scary the Enclave and Vault-Tec were, it's important to note that she wasn't even the only Overseer to want to protect the residents in their vault - even those who did carry out the experiments as ordered. The reasoning was that if they did follow orders, it would result in more survivors. Because if they did refuse to do the experiments as ordered, there was a real chance that everybody would be "disposed of". After all, if an experiment is compromised or contaminated, then the only recourse is to destroy the samples. In this case, and in the mind of those in charge, the entire Vault, from Overseer on down, is the sample. With that in mind, you could even argue that this Overseer's actions were reckless or even selfish - as by doing the "right" thing, she'd be effectively giving the entire Vault a death sentence. Thankfully, Vault-Tec was wiped out, and the Enclave was in no position to enforce anything, so she is remembered as the hero she deserves to be.
  • Terminal entries show that even though the scientists were effectively abandoned by the Overseer's actions, at least one of them understood, even if they wished they weren't on the wrong side of that decision.
  • It is worth another note about how remarkable Vault 81 is. Even control vaults like Vault 76 had systems where, once the vault opened, the life support would be shut off after a time to force the Vault Dwellers out of the safety of the vault and into the wasteland. Even Vault 101, the only other vault known to still be inhabited by vault dwellers (depending on player choices in Fallout 3 and whatever is decided to be canon), is only that way because its experiment was to never open. Which is to say, Vault 81's original Overseer's decision has made it live up to the promise Vault-Tec sold the American people on in a way that even surpasses the vaults that had no ulterior motives (other than data to compare the experiment vaults against).
• Whenever Strong isn't saying something bloodthirsty and/or funny, he's usually talking to you with respect, as if you were one of his "brothers:"
  Strong: Strong protect human.
  Strong: <Whenever you're over your carrying capacity> Human, not need to carry every thing you find!
• Diamond City will redecorate on in-game Halloween and Christmas Day! This is especially moving when you remember that the day the bombs fell was just over a week before Halloween, a truly incorrigible event to take place before what's supposed to be a cheerful and fun holiday, even for how turbulent the time was. But in the end, post-apocalyptic America still remembers a couple of its most cherished holidays.
• Vadim Bobrov is beloved by everyone in Diamond City, even if Yefim and Piper sometimes find him overbearing. He helps fix up his best friend Travis with his crush, the lovelorn waitress Scarlett, and even rigs a fight to help out Travis.
• A Sole Survivor who sides with the Railroad gets this one with the discovery that all of the third generation synths are cloned from Shaun/Father, in essence making all of them your grandchildren. Siding with the Railroad (or Minutemen) means that while Shaun has to die, all of his descendants will then be free from the Institute's tyranny.
  • Although the "Father" name is correct in the general sense of the word (i.e. he "gave birth" to the Synths) - genetically speaking, since he was the only source of DNA for the Synths, they would more accurately be his brothers and sisters. Making all Gen 3 Synths your genetic children.
• If Desdemona rejects the Sole Survivor for admitting they won't lay down their life for a Synth, Deacon will admit that she is a hardass and offer to take them on a quest to prove themselves to her, keeping the offer on the table no matter how much the Survivor complains or insults the Railroad.
• The Billy sidequest has you taking a young ghoulified kid home with the expectation that his parents might be dead. Shockingly, his parents turn out to haven ghoulified as well, giving a happy ending for once.
  • Even Strong approves of helping Billy, saying that "Strong like. Tiny human should be with other humans."
  • Even more heartwarming if you have Danse, who is (at least before Blind Betrayal) generally distrustful of everyone who isn't a normal human — if you tell Billy his parents are probably dead, Danse offers him his sincere condolences, if you refuse to help him find his parents, he calls you "deplorable" for "turning your back on a child," and if you offer to escort him to Quincy to his old house in the hopes that his parents may be there, he agrees that Billy isn't safe where he is and calls your decision "admirable."
    • Or take Valentine along and watch the approval statements stack up. This is what he lives for.
• If you max out Cait's approval after curing her addiction, she admits that her self-destructive behavior and fighting in the Combat Zone was because she didn't want to live anymore, but the Sole Survivor changed her outlook on life. Even if you fail the romance speech check, she says her time with the Survivor is the most positive relationship she's ever had.
• In one quest, you'll fight a Savage/Albino Deathclaw in an enclosed space. After you kill it, you'll find a single pristine egg and a holotape from a dead merc saying a Diamond City trader hired them to take it. You can either fulfill the contract or return it to its nest. If you do return it, a Glowing Deathclaw pops out and covers up the egg, then passively just stands there... looking at you. Guess losing your spouse and having your child kidnapped happens a lot in the Commonwealth (Although if you're fast enough, you can actually grab the egg and leave the museum without killing the Deathclaw, so you don't have to create another broken home if you don't want to).
• It's a Tear Jerker too, but if you go into the Atomatoys factory, you can find a message from a child to her workaholic toymaker father, Arlen Glass, telling him how much she loves and misses him. And then you can give it to Arlen when you find him as a ghoul at one of the settlements. He's saddened, but it also renews his faith in his profession, vowing to make toys for all the children of the Commonwealth.
  • When you do that for him, you may come across a Giddyup Buttercup toy wandering Boston, there will be a note near it signed by him "For a child who needs it.".
  • Due to the mechanics of the game it's possible to fill Arlen's workspace with Buttercup toys that stay there forever.
• If you have a companion with you when Maxson tells you to execute Danse for being a Synth, most of them defend him without question. Especially since Danse hates pretty much all of them yet they still consider him one of their own.
  • These responses especially:
  Codsworth: You may be quick to turn your back on him, but we're not so keen on betrayal.
  Curie: What he asks is just wrong. Monsieur Danse is our friend.
  Deacon: Danse may have a stick up his backside, but he's our pal.
  Piper: The man didn't do anything wrong.
  Preston Garvey: Damn right. You don't go killing your friends without some better reason than they "might" be a synth.
  • Asking them for their thoughts after speaking with Maxson, many of them will express disgust that the Brotherhood could turn on someone as loyal as Danse:
    Codsworth: To think the Brotherhood can so easily turn on someone as loyal as Paladin Danse.
    Curie: Time and time again, scientific understanding is at odds with basic morality. Danse has served the Brotherhood well. Why should it matter if he's a synth or not?
    Hancock: Danse gives his whole damn life to the Brotherhood and they turn on him. So much for loyalty.
    Nick Valentine: Paladin Danse was a loyal soldier. Finding out he was a synth... that man must be going through hell right now.
  • Haylen's request to give Danse a chance shows how much she cares about about him. Companions will comment on this to:
    Codsworth: It's good to know there's still a bit of humanity left in the Brotherhood.
    Hancock: Finally, someone talking some sense on this ship.
    Preston Garvey: She's making a whole lot more sense than Maxson did.
  • And then, if you convince Maxson to let Danse live, a little prompt pops up stating that "Danse loved that."
• A minor, but meaningful one during the evacuation to Vault 111. If you stop and check on each of your neighbors, you'll see two women holding each other on the sidewalk. The implication is that they're a couple. Even in the prewar Fallout world, a hellish parody of the 50's vision of the future, same-sex couples are viewed equally.
  • In addition, there are black and white families living together in harmony. The aforementioned lesbian couple is also interracial. Normal 1950's morals would never have allowed that.
• Kent Connolly, the operator of Silver Shroud Radio and probably the most friendly ghoul you'd ever meet. The Sole Survivor gets to share a fanboy moment with him over a pre-War radio serial, and he genuinely expresses his hopes that the Silver Shroud, which means you, will make Goodneighbor a better place.
  • It helps that the Mayor of Goodneighbor also likes cosplay and punishing evil. ^note And getting rid of a rival.
• Maxing out your relationships with your companions can be massively heartwarming, especially by performing actions that they "love". As you raise their affinity, they'll start to open up more, explaining why they see the world as they do or even how thankful they are for your help. As affinity rises further, they come to "admire" or even "idolize" the Sole Survivor. When it reaches its maximum level, many of them explain how broken and beaten they were before you came along; particularly poignant with Cait and Preston, who both admit that they might have been suicidal after all the crap they went through. All of them are wholly thankful and honest with you and vow to follow you till the bitter end.
• Taking the synth Shaun at the end of the game and listening to the holotape explains how its creator hoped that you would be able to provide the future it deserved, presumably the life he wished he'd had with you himself.
• A subtle one crossed with Tearjerker, but the Sole Survivor can stumble upon an intact mural celebrating the brave men and women of the US Armed Forces over the centuries in all its affectionate (if tongue-in-cheek) Patriotic Fervor. The fact that the Survivor's also done a great service to his/her country and can do so again for the Commonwealth's inhabitants mean that their sacrifices, seemingly rendered pointless by the War, weren't entirely for nothing.
• Think there's nothing Heartwarming to be found in an ending where you side with the Institute? You'll notice some of your companions want to speak on the matter. Preston will be his usual level-headed self. Nick will be understandably irritated at your actions, but sounds more resigned and disappointed than anything. Piper will take it the hardest, though, arguing with you in a cool, cold manner and not accepting any rationality for what you did. One could be forgiven for thinking that will be the end of your relationship then and there, until you read the latest issue of Publick Occurrences, 'Fear the Future?,' wherein she drops her inflammatory tendencies and acknowledges that despite what people may have thought about them, the Brotherhood and the Railroad were largely disinterested in helping the average person and, while the Institute has never been much of a boon before, she trusts in their new leader and believes they could make a difference.
  • The final scene with Father, aka Shaun, is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking. With the Institute's future, and Shaun's lifetime ambitions, secured, the Sole Survivor gets a proper chance to stay with Shaun on his deathbed, during which he expresses how grateful he is for the time that they had, even if it was cut short by his terminal illness. He then passes peacefully, content with knowing that, under the Sole Survivor's guidance, the Institute will continue to thrive, long after he's gone.
    Father: Thank you... Mother/Father... you've helped a boy achieve his dreams...
  • When siding with the Institute, the Sole Survivor has to hijack Diamond City Radio to broadcast a New Era Speech. By picking the right dialogue options, you can transform the straightforward "don't fuck with us" speech into an appeal for calm and a reassuring offer of help for the Wasteland.
• Changing companions can result in some heartwarming moments as your partners exchange brief dialogue:
  • Codsworth in particular is extremely polite, pretty much always either complimenting the companion taking his place or asking that they take care of the Sole Survivor. The feeling is typically mutual.
    Codsworth: Mister Valentine, I couldn't have picked a more worthy replacement!
    Nick Valentine: (chuckling) Codsworth, you flatter me. You take care of yourself.
  • Curie also is polite to most (though her oblivious nature is part of that). She asks MacCready if he needs any medical assistance before he heads out, and assures Preston that "with more people like you, civilization will rise again".
  • Hancock, when swapping for Curie, drops his usual snark and sincerely asks her if she'll be able to take care of herself.
  • Despite always being serious and by-the-book, if you team up with Danse while swapping out Dogmeat, the stoic soldier will reassure the dog. "Don't worry, boy. I'll make sure this soldier comes back alive."
  • The interaction between Nick and Deacon for the first time is especially heartwarming. Those two really like each other.
  • Strong voices his approval of a few companions' strength when switching with them. MacCready, Hancock, and Danse are prime examples. Plus, the fact that he actually refers to MacCready by name (well, tries to).
  • X6 compliments MacCready, saying he's confident the latter can handle whatever threats he encounters.
  • X6 actually shows some respect for Preston of all people, noting he has a "strong sense of duty".
• If you defeat the Institute and have completed Travis's quest, then you'll hear him say that an old friend told him once to "fight the good fight". It looks like Three Dog's message reigns eternal.
• A lot of your companions have unique dialogue with Takahashi, head chef of Power Noodles. Some of it can be pretty hilarious, such as Piper and Deacon pretending to have interesting yet utterly unintelligible gossip or Danse accusing him of being a Chinese spy despite the obvious use of Japanese. Your robotic companions, on the other hand, give you a better impression of Takahashi himself; a protectron that's been doomed by faulty RobCo hardware, only able to verbally repeat a single sentence. Codsworth will try to cheer him up by reassuring him that spare parts will one day be found, Curie will talk to him in Japanese, and Nick Valentine will check on him like an overprotective dad and declaring him the only other robot in Diamond City that he can stand.
  • It's really hard not to feel bad for Curie. She starts out excitedly noting he's speaking Japanese, before introducing herself in that language. When he repeats the same line again, she dejectedly notes he must be broken.
• While it might be more bittersweet than anything, there's something about the rather intact Prost Bar that's more than just a direct Shout-Out to Cheers. Namely how, even with the old world falling apart, the bar's patrons still managed to enjoy one more beer before they died.
• If you complete MacCready's side quest, and find the cure for his son, he'll go to Goodneighbor to get it delivered. He playfully flirts with Daisy, not caring that she's a ghoul and even trusting her with his son's health, and Daisy asks the Sole Survivor to watch after MacCready. She even calls the jaded, bitter, world-weary mercenary 'One of the good ones.'
• There's an out-of-the-way catwalk on the Prydwen where you can find toys and chalk drawings. Apparently, the squires have a place where they sneak off to be kids.
• During the Railroad's questline, you find Glory when she's nearly-dead. Even Cait, MacCready, and Strong show some respect and dislike it when you try to ignore her... Well, except for Strong.
• "Shaun 2" (a.k.a. the original's synth copy) can fill you up with a lot of heart-warming with his ever-hopeful outlook on the world, his pleasure that you're doing good things for the Commonwealth, and that he feels secured when you're around. Considering who he was created and programmed by, it seems very...fitting.
  • Sending Shaun 2 to the Sole Survivor, even after a rather bitter last parting while storming the Institute, seems like an apology by the original Shaun for disappointing their parent, and giving the Sole Survivor what they were expecting to find: a curious, intuitive child filled with idealistic potential.
  • After a fashion, there's some heartwarming with the "abandon Shaun" option with the Railroad ending, with Tinker Tom refusing to leave the synth child behind and expressing that he'll get the boy "somewhere safe."
• You'll first meet Piper on the verge of exile, with the mayor threatening to throw her preteen sister out with her if he has to. If you romance her, it's almost guaranteed you'll adopt Nat when you finally settle down, finally giving her a stable home, a dutiful butler in Codsworth, a pet and protector in Dogmeat, and a super-powered robot brother (technically nephew) if you adopt Shaun 2. And she'll also have a bunch of new honorary aunts and uncles, including family friend Nick, and of course you, her new brother/sister-in-law. Best thing that ever happened to her, indeed.
• In an unmarked factory on the coastline near the Yangtze, a terminal on the second floor features the reflections of the head of Teamster's Union on his time in the military and references a warning from a woman named Lavonne about the bombs being dropped. Citing a "union issue", he allows his men to get out of town with their families before the bombs dropped.
• If the player sides against and destroys the Institute with the Minutemen, one of the radiant quests involves setting up a new settlement for the survivors.
• Mac Cready is a widower whose wife Lucy died by the hands of a pack of feral ghouls. He misses her dearly and has never been in a relationship since, but if you romance him, his heart finally opens back up to love; he resolves to let Lucy's memory rest and allows himself to move on. If, after romancing him, you find yourself fighting feral ghouls, you very well may hear him say, "Not this time!" The man will not let the past repeat itself — he will not lose the person he loves.
• The main theme. As one Youtuber put it:
  Is it odd that, for me... I find this oddly uplifting. I know for some this seems a sad song, a song for the end of the world... but like the game, I feel it is a song that proves that no, the world will not end. Even in the darkest moment, the worst moment... the world WILL go on. Different, yes, changed yes... but it will go on. War never changes... But neither does hope.
  Hope... hope never changes.
• Surprisingly, even the Institute has some. If you side with them, the relationship that develops between you and Father/Shaun is quite touching. This is especially true of the ending where he sincerely thanks you for helping him fulfill his dreams and tells you how grateful he is that you got to get to know one another even if it took years of waiting.
  • The alternate interpretation of this is no less heartwarming: the 'boy' he refers to is Synth Shaun and by siding with the Institute, you're laying the foundations in which he will be able to achieve his dreams.
• If you freed the synths in "The Battle of Bunker Hill" and confess it to Shaun afterwards, he will be outraged, but will still forgive you and cover it up if you apologise.
• During the chat with Doctor Amari at the tail end of "Dangerous Minds", the Sole Survivor has the option to actually forgive Kellogg (albeit posthumously), the man who killed their spouse and took their child, after getting a first-hand look at just what he went through. And when the subject of Kellogg comes up during the Sole Survivor's first conversation with Father, they can admit to pitying the mercenary, much to Father's surprise.
• Take a companion with to a church and wait. They will sit in a pew and then pray. This becomes even more poignant when you see your Synth companions doing it.
• In the Jamaica Plains town hall basement, where the titular treasure of the "Treasure of Jamaica Plains" sidequest is hidden, you can find a janitor's personal terminal. Most of the entries are what you'd expect, documenting the construction of the treasure chamber, grumbling about the project being expensive, being overworked, etc. However, one of the entries is touching — the janitor recounts that he got called up to the break room to fix a light and found a surprise party with cake waiting for him to celebrate his 25th year working for the city, something he'd nearly forgotten about. It's a small but meaningful gesture that the town staff remembered the date and threw a party for the maintenance worker who spends most of his day in a dimly lit basement.
• For cat lovers, seeing cats still around will invoke this. Especially if you take to account that they were implied, if not outright stated to be extinct in the previous games. Namely in Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas.
  • There's even something for dog lovers as well. The Sole Survivor can occasionally come across a man named Gene being followed around by a junkyard dog in a random encounter. He makes a living running a "business" of raising and selling dogs to people as protectors. However, it's always hard for him, and indeed he makes you jump through more than one dialogue option just to be able to actually buy the dog because he becomes that much attached to them while raising them from puppies, that it's hard to actually do any business. He admits that every time he sells one, he's "blue for weeks until I [Gene] get a new puppy and start all over again". Just goes to show, even in the Wasteland where canines have come to be considered equal parts a nuisance and a meal on four legs, there are some people still willing to see them as what they once were, friends to the end.
• In spite of the horrible things people say to Piper and the negative reputation of a nosy reporter she gets because of her profession, there are some Commonwealth citizens, typically in Goodneighbour, who genuinely enjoy her newspaper, showing that her work is still appreciated.
• If you get addicted to chems, almost every other companion just scolds and yells at you. Preston Garvey's responses, on the other hand, are gentle, and show genuine care and concern for the player. In particular, one of his lines will probably really hit home for anyone who has struggled with addiction in real life.
  Preston Garvey: You don't need those, you know. You have people who care about you.

Automatron DLC

• With the release of Automatron, any Minutemen aligned Sole Survivor can build a Sentrybot and name it S.A.R.G.E. 2, and then assign it to guard The Castle.
• If you let Isabel live at the end of Automatron, returning to the Mechanist's lair at night will sometimes result in you finding the de-suited Mechanist curled up in bed with Sparks hovering protectively above.
  • And, naturally, the Mechanist - Well-Intentioned Extremist is overstating it, as the orders given to the Robobrains was literally "Help people" - unfortunately, the Robobrains determined that the best way to help people was to prevent a lifetime of pain and suffering, all without the Mechanist's knowledge or awareness.
• Another Automatron example: after completing "Headhunting", talking to Ada will reveal that she's still beating herself up over failing to protect her caravan and wishes that she couldn't feel such guilt over it. Upon hearing this, the Sole Survivor can try and cheer her up by pointing out that her personality is what's allowing her to be so committed to stopping the Mechanist. Even if you fail the speech check, Ada will still say that she appreciates the sentiment.
• Modifying Codsworth. After 2 centuries of wear and tear, you can finally spiff up your loyal robot buddy.

Wasteland Workshop DLC

• Very minor, but after all the crap he's gone through, it's really good to hear the Sole Survivor so relaxed and laid-back in the Wasteland Workshop trailer.
  "One thing about humans: we keep trying to destroy this planet. And the planet just won't let us. Life always finds a way."

Far Harbor DLC

• Erickson marks the return of the "friendly and intelligent Super Mutant" character ala Marcus and Fawkes^* While Strong is friendly to the Sole Survivor in so far as being a companion guarantees a good fight almost constantly, his deference to Hulk Speak combined with his liberal interpretation of Macbeth and the "milk of human kindness" really stretches the meaning of "intelligent". Although he isn't a companion, he's very audibly happy to trade with you, and he even raises dogs in his spare time that he'll sell to you to send to your settlements.
  • And as a bonus, if you meet Erickson with Dogmeat as your companion, he'll give you a cute li'l bandana as an accessory for your loyal Canine Companion.
• While the Children of Atom are still massively creepy, should you stay on friendly terms with them, their quests offer surprisingly peaceful resolutions.
  • One quest involves being sent to kill Sister Gwyneth, a heretic who went a little crazy after discovering the Awful Truth ^note rather, she realized that atoms are actually really small and most of the universe is an empty vacuum. You can end it peacefully by deciding to convince the cult she's dead after you find her.
    • You can also convince her to return to the rest of the Children, who will welcome her back with open arms.
  • One quest involves you helping Zealot Ware convince Brother Devin to stop trying to commune with their God. Why? Because the two are the only ones who are vulnerable to the radiation. He's basically the normal religious dude who knows to put basic living needs before ideological fanaticism, and is just looking out for his fellow man.
  • Another involves you helping Sister Mai modify a decontamination system to instead heavily irradiate its users. However, you're also given the option to instead fix it up to, well, decontaminate people of their radiation.
  • Confessor Tektus will meet with you alone if you've done enough quests with the Children. If so, you can convince him to leave The Nucleus. Otherwise you just have to kill him.
• If you can convince Kasumi Nakano to return home, her reunion with her parents is 100% this. Nick even comments on how this type of ending is rare, and a big win for everyone.
• A very minor example, but buying a Mutant Hound from Erickson and sending it to one of your settlements. Watching them, you'll see that although big slobbering monsters they may be, deep down, they're still dogs.
• Though it's sad that the Mariner's lifelong dream amounted to a teeny mirelurk with inexplicably glowy eyes, that occasion is the only time we hear the Sole Survivor laugh so much. After all the shit they go through, it's nice to see them so amused and carefree. Similarly, if you encourage the Mariner to stretch the truth a bit about the physical threat that the Red Death posed, then she's given an earnest hero's welcome by the normally-jaded Harbor citizens.
• The entire community of Far Harbor slowly but surely opens up to you the more you do good.
• A rarity for Fallout in general, but digging through the various terminals in the Vim! Pop factory shows the company is not as heartless as many of the other pre-Great Companies that players tend to encounter. Instead, Vim! is presented as a company slowly dying under the weight of an attempted buyout by Nuka-Cola, with the CEO not only trying to save his family's legacy, but who genuinely seems to care about the well being of his employees as they face numerous dirty pool tactics from Nuka in the buyout attempts, ranging from staged bar-fights to Nuka attempting to blow up the factory when the bombs hit.

Vault-Tec Workshop DLC

• Choosing to run Ted's experiments. They all genuinely improve your settlers' lives.
  • Instead of setting up an exercise cycle that shocks its user or injects them with performance-enhancing drugs, you can have it produce pleasant scents and calming sounds to create a more relaxing exercise experience for your settlers.
  • Rather than serving soda spiked with appetite suppressants or mood enhancers, you can simply tweak the formula to be tastier. Your settlers even consider it better than Nuka Cola!
  • While you can build a phoropter that gives off subliminal messages or spies on its users, you can also just build one that works even better than the original design. Now you can offer even more comprehensive medical care to your settlers.
  • Perhaps the most humorous is the slot machine, which can be set to induce gambling addiction, profile user behaviors... or let your settlers win more often than not, which predictably makes them very happy.

• Building and populating Vault 88. After all the horrendous deeds perpetrated by Vault-Tec, all the lives they claimed, and experiments they ran, it's beautiful seeing a truly thriving community come about. If you thought Vault 81 was sweet, this feels twice as good, just because it's yours.

• Clem. Ditz as he may be, he's still incredibly chipper and friendly. While Barstow singles him out to be Vault 88's main test subject, choosing the harmless test options sees him eagerly try out the various prototypes while often enjoying himself in the process. He's just happy to be there.

Nuka-World DLC

• Nuka-World was crafted as an "evil" type DLC reminiscient of working for Paradise Falls. It's hard to find anything heartwarming in working with these raiders. However, good-aligned players can still do something about these gangs: Wipe them all out, and turn Nuka-World into a trading emporium.
• The player and Sierra Petrovita find Nuka-Cola inventor John-Caleb Bradberton's still living head preserved in a jar, immobile and imprisoned for 200 years. He begs the player to shut off his life support and put him out of his misery, telling them that it would open the storage room with cool experimental weapons and the Nuka-Cola recipe. However, Sierra declares that she'll stay with Bradberton and keep him company, thinking he's suicidal because he's lonely. She is willing to give up the recipe (although she says that Bradberton might give her that information) and even gives up her cherished limited edition Nuka-Cola jumpsuit, all so Bradberton can live.
  • If you decide to kill Bradberton, Sierra will be angry and petulant, but can be reasoned with and told that Bradberton was miserable and wanted death.
  • Even better, if you do leave them together, when you go back down to visit them, Bradburton actually seems happy to have Sierra around, and regains some of his will to live.
• The Arc Villain of Kiddie Kingdom is Oswald the Outrageous, an eccentric ghoul magician and a Glowing One, to boot. He protects the resident feral ghouls like family and tries to cure their feral-ness, which he sees as a medical condition.
  • You can end the area without killing him if you give him the holotape from his Driven to Suicide girlfriend, upon which he's heartbroken, but he'll leave Kiddie Kingdom peacefully with all the ferals in tow, determined to find a cure even if Rachel died thinking there might not be one at all. He'll also give you his hat and sword as an apology for misjudging you, having thought you were only there to exterminate his 'sick' friends.
• Cito is a Tarzan expy who loves his ghoulrilla family. The ghoulrillas, as the name implies, are gorillas that have been ghoulified, but he loves them anyway.
  • The fact that said Ghoulrillas are still passive towards you^note Unless you attack them, of course is heartwarming in and of itself, when you consider the fact that so many wild animals go feral when ghoulified. Despite the radiation rotting at their bodies, they still don't lash out at the world around them.
  • Giving the Safari Zone to The Pack results in Cito liking their presence, as the way they like to train animals is familiar for him.
  • You can mock and insult Cito and it flies over him because he can't understand sarcasm, but he thinks you're funny and calls you his friend. He may be simple, but he's very nice.
• Returning the power to Nuka-World. Even if you sided with the raider gangs, there's something heartwarming about reveling in your achievements as you watch fireworks go off and the lights power back on.
• Those who journeyed south of Nuka-World can stumble upon a location called Evan's Home. Evan himself is a super-friendly and chill guy who welcomes you and invites you to take what you need from his house freely; he'll even give you the Nuka-Love recipe if you make friends with him. The whole thing comes off as pretty random until a post on Reddit cleared things up: Evan is a tribute to a real Fallout fan who suddenly fell ill and passed away at the age of 24. A video showing the encounter and telling the entire sad but sweet story in full can be found here.

Creation Club DLC

• This is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. In the main quest of the CR-74L Combat Rifle creation, you encounter the body of Mary Jane, whose final wish was that her wedding ring be returned to her wife, Lily. Tracing MJ's journey across the Commonwealth, it is slowly revealed that she was fulfilling her wife's final wish for MJ to finish the travel guide they were both working on before Lily was diagnosed with cancer. By the end of the quest, you grant MJ her final wish and give her ring to Lily, placing it beside hers atop her grave.
  • Another piece of heartwarming goes to MJ, whose response to her wife's diagnosis was to get second opinions from every doctor she could find. She loved Lily so much that she absolutely refused to let her die from the cancer.

• Capital Wasteland Mercenaries truly goes to show just how powerful a force for hope Three Dog and the Good Fight is that it can reform even the most vile of people. Of the named characters of the Good Fighters faction, we have a former slaver, a bounty hunter (implied to have also been a slaver), an ex-raider and a frickin' super mutant. And all of them fought the Good Fight in the end.
  • Furthermore: Mercy, the raider member of the Good Fighters? She was once Made a Slave by the Good Fighters' leader in the past and she wanted revenge on him, which is why she joined the Good Fighters. Her job was to spy on them for Talon Company, but in the end, she was so moved by the Good Fight that she couldn't bring herself to kill him, even if she could fully forgive her former slaver. Unfortunately, her old employers killed her and the rest of the Good Fighters for her betrayal.