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For a list of player characters, see character. For the player characters in Fallout 76, see Vault Dweller (Fallout 76). |
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The Vault Dweller is the player character in Fallout. In a general sense, "Vault dweller" can also refer to any person who lives in one of the Vault-Tec Vaults, but the "Vault Dweller" is a specific term used for the protagonist of Fallout.
In-game, the player can create a character that is male or female, aged 16-35; they may also choose one of three pre-made characters with their own backstories to be the Vault Dweller: Albert Cole, Max Stone or Natalia Dubrovhsky. The Vault Dweller was later referred to as a man in series canon.(Note)
Background[]
Water chip[]
The Vault Dweller was one of hundreds of inhabitants of Vault 13. He was raised by the community and robotic caretakers, leading an unremarkable life in the Vault. His journey began when the water-purification chip the Vault relied on to create fresh water broke down. Without spare parts or the possibility of a workaround system, the overseer had to send an individual outside the Vault to seek a new one out. With no alternative, the Vault 13 overseer gathered everyone between certain ages, healthy enough to venture out, and made them draw straws. The Vault Dweller pulled out the short one and was sent out to find a replacement chip.[Non-game 3] He left the Vault the next day, on December 5, 2161.[Non-game 4]
The Vault Dweller struggled for the first few days, fighting off rats and the elements. With only the location of Vault 15 to guide him, he started out eastwards. On his way, he happened upon the small settlement of Shady Sands. The Vault Dweller aided them and earned their trust. Tandi and Aradesh in turned helped him, sharing their knowledge. After hiring Ian, the Vault Dweller continued on to the buried Vault. Exploring the ruins, he realized that it would not help as the control room and the water chip were buried under tons of rock, so the duo moved on.[Non-game 3]
After fighting and saving Tandi from the Khans (inadvertently paving the way for the New California Republic's rise),[9] his travels took them to Junktown, where he met Dogmeat, the loyal mutt who would be his most trusted friend for the time they were together.[Non-game 3]
The Vault Dweller continued on to the Hub, the largest city in post-War California. Bigger than both Junktown and Shady Sands combined, it was the most prosperous place he had seen outside the Vault, yet he felt that the citizens of the metropolis had no life, leading a desolate existence under the shadow of the powerful merchant companies. These same companies would help the Vault Dweller, however, providing water to the Vault and extending the deadline for finding the water chip.
A clue he acquired in the city led them to Necropolis, the city of ghouls. There, he fought strange creatures known as super mutants guarding the watershed. The Vault Dweller was devastated to lose Ian, killed by a mutant's flamer, burning him to death. The memory of his burning flesh would forever be etched into the Dweller's mind. However, Ian's sacrifice was not in vain, as the Vault Dweller found the water chip and returned with it to Vault 13.[Non-game 3]
Mutant threat[]
The happiness of his return was marred by the report he logged with the archives. The overseer ran calculations and determined that the kind of mutants witnessed by the Vault Dweller at Necropolis were too much of a threat to ignore. With his knowledge of the mutants, the overseer sent the Vault Dweller out again.[Non-game 3]
This time, he was tasked with wiping out the super mutant threat. In hindsight, the situation was revealed to be exploitative of the Vault Dweller, but at the time he soldiered on, loyal to the Vault.[Non-game 3] He picked up the trail, heading back to the Hub. In the process of unearthing clues, he met Decker and discovered the shady Underground he led. Though they tried to manipulate the Vault Dweller, the hero of the Vault managed to turn the tables and use the criminals instead. In the process, the Vault Dweller also saved Brother Jonathan of the Brotherhood of Steel from Decker's goons in the city's old town.[Non-game 3]
After leaving the town, he journeyed to the Brotherhood. Figuring they would have the knowledge needed, the Vault Dweller tried to join them, only to be sent on a fool's errand to the Glow. Faced with the horror of the atomic devastation, he refused to break and recovered the ancient Brotherhood disk sought by the reclusive order. Shocked to see him returning alive, the Brotherhood shared their knowledge and technology with him, and the Vault Dweller met General General John Maxson, high elder of the Brotherhood at the time.[10]
It was 2162.[10] He proceeded with the information from the Brotherhood, onward to the Boneyard, making a short stop at Necropolis to visit old friends. As soon as he entered the city, he realized that something went wrong. The super mutants had attacked the city shortly after he had left, in retaliation for the mutants' death at the hands of the Vault Dweller. A single ghoul survivor revealed that they were looking for the Vault Dweller, right before he died.[Non-game 3]
The ruins of Los Angeles stretched forever, skeletons of buildings baking in the hot desert sun. Within the city, he found many enemies and a few friends, learning more about the nature of the super mutants and the true foes. On March 3, 2162, he entered the Cathedral.[Non-game 5] Stealing the robes of one of the Master's servants, he penetrated the depth beneath the monumental building. In the old Vault, walking among the misshapen ones, he confronted the most terrifying sight yet: The Master. Taking off his robes and equipping his weapon, the Vault Dweller killed the Master. All evidence of the Master and his plan was incinerated shortly afterward in nuclear fire.[Non-game 3]
Only one target remained; the Forced Evolutionary Virus vats used to create super mutants. On April 20, 2162,[Non-game 6] The Vault Dweller invaded Mariposa Military Base with support from the Brotherhood and Dogmeat, fighting their way to the heart of the facility. Though one of the forcefields claimed the life of Dogmeat, the Vault Dweller managed to trigger the self-destruct sequence, destroying the vats along with the facility. With their destruction and the fall of the Lieutenant, the Unity was no more and the Dweller could return to Vault 13 a hero.
Return to the Vault[]
On May 10, he returned, and the overseer met him outside the Vault door, thanking him for their service, but then exiling him indefinitely. The overseer claimed it was all in the name of protecting the Vault, as the Dweller had been changed by life in the wasteland. What if the other dwellers wanted to emulate the Vault Dweller and leave? The overseer had made many hard decisions in his time leading the Vault, but none were nearly as tough as this one.
Bitter and angry, the Vault Dweller left, turning his back on the Vault and never looking back. A group of vault dwellers, disgusted with the overseer's decision, also left, led by Theresa and Lyle. They were never heard from again, leading the remaining dwellers to remove the Vault 13 overseer from power and abolish the position of overseer. He was executed shortly afterwards.[Non-game 3][Non-game 7]
Exile and Arroyo[]
The exile
Stricken with grief, the Vault Dweller wandered the desert surrounding the Vault. He lashed out for a time, but slowly came to terms with the exile, admitting the overseer may have made the right choice, but never forgave him for his betrayal. Soon after, he came across the group of dwellers that left Vault 13. The Vault Dweller helped them survive in the harsh wasteland, saving their lives in the process.[Non-game 3]
On July 10, the Vault Dweller and his group, which was now comprised of regular wastelanders that had joined along the way, headed north. In the inaccessible canyons of southwest Oregon, they founded a village. The Vault Dweller deliberately chose a location beyond a dry valley, surrounded by barren lands that would deter visitors.[Non-game 3] Scouts were sent at first towards the old Vault, but gradually, that stopped in favor of strengthening the village.[Non-game 8][Non-game 9]
On August 18, 2167, the village was completed and named Arroyo.[Non-game 10] The Vault Dweller, now the elder of a tribe, taught his followers the basics of hunting, farming, and other skills.[Non-game 9] He also taught them the basics of engineering and science, so that they could maintain their homes and craft more to survive. In addition, he found love: Pat.[Non-game 3] On October 2, 2188, the couple was blessed with a daughter, the future Arroyo elder.[Non-game 11] Twenty years later, on January 16, 2208, the Vault Dweller left Arroyo, leaving behind his Vault suit, folded on the bed, and their memoirs,[Non-game 12] signed simply The Wanderer.[Non-game 3]
Legacy[]
The Vault Dweller was 67 years old by the time he left the village. The villagers presumed their leader had perished, but others say he was "taken by the sky spirits," while others say that the Vault Dweller knew it was time to allow the new elders to come into their own.[Non-game 13]
His legacy would live on in Arroyo and in the form of the New California Republic: Wiping out the Khans ensured that Shady Sands would survive, and a statue in his honor was erected in front of the Hall of Congress in the NCR capital, to honor his legacy and inspiring example.[9]
Years after the departure of the Vault Dweller, his grandchild, later dubbed the Chosen One, was born. The Chosen One, raised in the village of Arroyo, went on their own journey, culminating in the destruction of an Enclave oil rig, destroying Enclave high command and severely setting back their plans for mass genocide and world domination.
By 2281, the Vault Dweller's influence and legacy lasts as one of the brave heroes of the early post-War days, with exploits such as defeating the Master and wiping out the Khans. The precise role the Vault Dweller played has faded from memory to a degree, with the person responsible for destroying the raider tribe considered to be just one of the many itinerant heroes commonly found across the wastes, and some versions of the story claiming that the New Khans were wiped out by the same hero, despite the date discrepancies.[11]
Family tree[]
| Vault Dweller | Pat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arroyo elder | Unnamed man | Morlis | Unnamed man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chosen One | Leslie Anne Bishop OR Angela Bishop | Chosen One's sibling | Unnamed spouse | Nagor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Bishop | Unnamed woman | Feargus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Bishop's daughter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interactions[]
| Interactions | ||
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This is the player character. | |
Appearances[]
The Vault Dweller appears as the player character in Fallout, and is mentioned in Fallout 2, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes[]
- Tim Cain said that the situation where the Vault dwellers drew straws to determine who had to search for the water chip was intended to be the overseer's idea. He explained that the overseer would demand everyone draw a straw in order to be truly fair. However, the overseer himself would be exempt from the process.[Non-game 14]
- In the early stages of the development of Fallout 2, it was planned that the main character would again be the Vault Dweller. However, this idea was abandoned due to being difficult for developers to explain the loss of equipment and skills of the hero of the original game. The developers decided to create a new character, a descendant of the Vault Dweller.[Non-game 15]
- In an interview, Leonard Boyarsky mentioned seeing promotional artwork of the Vault Dweller which was outsourced by Interplay's marketing team that dev team never approved of.[Non-game 16]
- ^ (Note) In Fallout, the Vault Dweller can be either male or female at the player's choosing. However, the Vault Dweller is retrospectively referred to with male pronouns in Fallout 2.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Chris Avellone, who worked on Fallout 2 but not Fallout, stated that he was "pretty sure" the Vault Dweller's gender was intended to be ambiguous, based on interactions with Tim Cain.[Non-game 2] Whatever the case may have been, this was evidently not enforced and the person responsible for the NCR map design and the statue in front of the Hall of Congress created an unambiguously male design, which was retained through to release.[6][7]
- Additionally, during an interview for the German PC Games publication, Tim Cain said that "The storyline of the world is that you grew up in a Vault. You're the third generation of a... Vault dweller, you've been in the Vault for all your life and you're 20 years old, and people who've been living in the Vault have been there for 80 years." In-game, the player can choose any age from 16-35 during character creation. It is unclear if Cain's statement is meant to be a literal interpretation of the Vault Dweller's intended age. Cain does not mention the Vault Dweller's gender during the interview, either.[Non-game 17]
- In the Fallout Bible 0 timeline, Chris Avellone gave the Vault Dweller's birth year as 2141. This aligns with Cain's statement of the player character being 20 years old in 2161, during the events of Fallout. However, the timeline also included the following disclaimer: "[This will vary according to your player character's age in Fallout 1.]"[Non-game 1] By contrast, in the same timeline, the Chosen One is given a specific birthdate, including month, day and year, with no disclaimer.[Non-game 18]
In other games[]
- In Fallout 3, the Lone Wanderer is kicked out of Vault 101 after helping its residents in the quest Trouble on the Homefront, if they kill the overseer. Amata Almodovar will echo the Vault 13 overseer's statements to the Vault Dweller by saying, "You saved us," "that makes the rest of this even harder," and "I'm sorry... you're a hero, and you have to leave."
- Also in Fallout 3, Butch DeLoria is trying to think of a name for his gang at the Lone Wanderer's birthday party, Paul Hannon Jr. suggests the name "Vault Dwellers," but Butch dismisses it as stupid.[12]
- In the Classic Pack preorder bonus for Fallout: New Vegas, the Courier receives an armored Vault 13 jumpsuit, a weathered 10mm pistol and a Vault 13 canteen, all items used by the Vault Dweller.
The elderly Vault Dweller in the non-canon game Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
- The Vault Dweller, 47 years older, makes an appearance as an unlockable player character in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. He has become rather jaded about humanity and no longer works for the Brotherhood. He will buy the Vault 13 canteen from the player, if they find it,[Non-canon 1] and alludes several times to his old life underground. In this appearance, he is voiced by Michael Bell.
- The Vault Dweller is briefly mentioned in a cut note from Fallout Tactics, which established further continuity between the Unity and Gammorin's Army.[Non-canon 2]
Gallery[]
Fallout[]
Fallout 2[]
Magic the Gathering[]
References[]
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Non-game
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Non-canon
- ↑ Wasteland stranger: "What's that you've got there, kid? Is that a... a vault 13 flask? Heh. Call me a sentimental old fool, but I'll give you a few caps for it."
(Wasteland stranger's dialogue) - ↑
Journal of Sir Latham; Entry 10.1.4.
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