The Fallout series depicts an alternative reality of a post-apocalyptic world. Gamers gain insight into what life would be like in the aftermath of a nuclear war. While many lifeforms mutated into radiative creatures, others survived underground inside of vaults.
In a majority of the series, gamers control the fate of their character. They can create a savior of the Wastelands or someone so despised that they’re immediately outcast from most settlements. It’s up to the player to make choices on how to create a better world. Fallout 2 showed us what helping others could accomplish. The new owner of the Fallout franchise gave us a glimpse of how other regions of the countries suffered. This proves that there’s always work to be done to help America recover.
The protagonists of Fallout are on a quest, but they often take out time to hear the requests from others. Many side quests make a long-time impression. Others are confusing and make gamers upset.
Since the Fallout series has been owned by two separate developers, making the lore make sense has cause conflicts among the company and its long-time fans. While many players don’t pay attention to inconsistencies, others do, making Bethesda feel pressured to explain their decisions. They either make new choices or have fans forget lore established from previous games. These stories may have been mentioned but never fully explored. Even worse, the story wasn’t intended to be as important as the online gameplay.
Our list compiles some storylines Fallout’s developers hope are forgotten over time. There are major spoilers for the entire series throughout our list.
25 Protecting The Herd
While traveling through Modoc in Fallout 2, a butcher named Grisham asks the Chosen One if they’re looking for work. Accept, and he’ll request that you protect his herd of Brahmin from wild dogs. This side quest is frustrating for many players because the Brahmin keep moving around the Chosen One, making them easier targets for the dogs.
With every Brahmin destroyed, your reward goes down.
If you managed to get all of the Brahmin eliminated in battle, you have to pay Grisham $1,500. At least we know why this quest was hidden in the first place.
24 An Underground Family
Within Meresti Metro station lives “The Family,” a group of settlers who consider themselves vampires. Their leader Vance has them so convinced that they’re vampires that they don’t realize they’ve been lied to this entire time.
The Lone Wanderer can stop The Family in the side quest “Blood Ties.” With some convincing, The Family will stop attacking settlements for fresh victims or agree to join their cause. After completing the quest, the Family remains underground and hidden away, making you wonder why you bothered with them in the first place.
23 Can’t Go Home Again
The Lone Survivor flees Vault 101 after their father, James, unexpectedly leaves the vault. Everyone becomes angry with their childhood friend. They believe the Lone Survivor knew about the escape.
Once the Lone Wanderer is away for a while, Vault 101 calls out for help. Gamers can return to the vault, help out Amata, and even encourage Butch to leave and explore the world. After leaving the Vault for a second time, Amata permanently bans you for returning. All your efforts are almost useless, as they don’t welcome you back and close off the doors to the outside world.
22 Exploring The Map
Fallout: New Vegas has some quests that will take you all over the map. “Return to Sender” is a New Californa Republic quest that leads you through six different Ranger stations. The Courier has to upgrade all of the towers alone. The towers can’t be fixed at the same time, so you’ll have to invest a few hours in resolving the problem.
While you do gain some insight into the personal stories of the NCR, it’s a quest that will take you all over the map for little gain.
Thankfully, this mission is optional and you won’t face any consequences for skipping it.
21 Never Ending Quests
Most video games with open worlds have radiant quests. They’re repeatable quests that send you all over the map, recovering items for a few caps. Fallout 4’s most known radiant quests are provided by Preston Garvey of the Minutemen. Though it opens up new settlements to build upon, his requests never seem to end.
Garvey isn’t lying when he says there’s always work to be done. Though these quests can earn you additional items, they mean little in the game. The end slides don’t mention how the Sole Survivor saved a single settlement several times in one playthrough.
20 Saving A Settlement’s Water Problems
The city of Necropolis is Fallout 1’s Ghoul haven. It’s where all of the Ghouls have taken shelter after being outcast from other settlements. Similar to the Vault Dweller, the residents of Necropolis are having trouble with their water pipes. They offer the Vault Dweller a deal: if he fixes their water pipe, the water chip is his.
The Vault Dweller can help out the Ghouls. If he’s feeling particularly devious, he can take the chip and leave the water pump alone. The ending slide will show that the Ghouls all passed away from dehydration.
19 The Battle Stays On A Screen
Operation: Anchorage is a military simulation sidequest. The Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts asks the Lone Wanderer to use their Pip-Boy 3000 to access the terminals. Once the Lone Wanderer begins the simulation, all of their inventory is removed. They’ll travel through the icy terrain of Anchorage.
After completing the quest, the Lone Wanderer can pick up any weapons or armor they want from the armory.
The simulation isn’t real and has no effect on the world outside the screen. Though you’ll have access to a few more weapons, it may not be worth the effort for most gamers.
18 A Tale Of Alien Immortality
The Cabot House is the only pristine home within the ruins of Boston. If you choose to accept the quest, you’ll learn more about the Cabot family. Once the Sole Survivor begins to get to know them, they’ll learn the Cabot family has been alive since the late 1800s. Thanks to alien technology, they’re immortal. Help them take out the family patriarch, Lorenzo, and you’ll have almost limitless access to their immortality serum.
Accepting Lorenzo’s proposal to stop the Cabot bloodline will make this quest almost pointless. Even though the Cabots lived for centuries, they made little impact on the world.
17 All Your Eggs In One Basket
The Thorn is an underground fighting ring where settlers fight Wasteland creatures. The Courier can sign up to participate, or help Red Lucy obtain more monster eggs. If you prefer to avoid fast travel, be prepared for a lot of walking.
Lucy has you searching for the eggs of a Giant Mantis, Radscorpion, and even a Deathclaw. After returning the eggs to her, she’ll award you with caps and named shotgun, the Dinner Bell. If you really enjoyed hunting for eggs, the quest is repeatable. Many end up avoiding the search because it takes so much time to hunt down all those eggs.
16 An Unusual Canine Friend
When the Sole Survivor leaves Vault 111, they find a dog waiting at Red Rocket. The German Shepherd named Dogmeat has no other purpose other than to follow the Sole Survivor.
Fans have speculated about the history behind Dogmeat.
They wonder how the dog found the Sole Survivor and why he would know where Kellogg is located. Gamers believed Dogmeat was a synth sent by Father to protect the Sole Survivor. In previous Fallout games, the protagonist finds the dog in trouble or has to recruit it. The recent games want you to believe Dogmeat has “chosen” you as his new master.
15 Were There Supplies Inside?
There was little warning when the Great War began. Nate and Nora ran to Vault 111 for protection. Children like Billy jumped inside a refrigerator for protection. He lived inside the fridge for over two centuries.
Fallout 1 established that Ghouls needed air, food, and water to survive. Billy lived two hundred years without basic necessities. “Kid in a Fridge” is the only quest where it’s mentioned that Ghouls can survive. Other quests in the game, such as “Duty or Dishonor” directly contradict Billy’s claims, stating that the Ghouls need food, especially to stop them from becoming feral.
14 One Strange Valentine
Looking for Shaun leads the Sole Survivor to Diamond City. Nate or Nora teams up with the Synth Detective Nick Valentine. The Detective can travel with you until the end of the quest. He even offers to implant Kellogg’s memories in his brain to help the Sole Survivor.
After finding out more about young Shaun, the Sole Survivor talks to Valentine about what happens. Surprisingly, Valentine has retained some of Kellogg’s lousy attitude and threatens the Sole Survivor. When asked what happened, Valentine, and the game, drops the issue.
13 No One’s Happy
Vault 81 was built to infect its residents with various diseases, then test cures on them. The Overseer managed to bypass this terrible experiment. The Vault Dwellers live in peace. One of the residents, Austin, becomes infected with an unusual Molerat virus.
If MacCready is with you, he “dislikes” the choice of saving Austin’s life.
MacCready’s unusual reaction goes against his backstory. His son, Duncan, is also dealing with an illness. The developer either wants the Sole Survivor to make MacCready happy or save a child from a rare disease. Either way, someone isn’t going to be satisfied with your decision.
12 Fly To Outer Space
The Bright Brotherhood is a group of Ghouls. They have an unusual dream. The group wants to repair a rocket ship and launch it into space. The Courier can help them accomplish this dream in “Come Fly With Me.” The Courier has to fetch several different items, which is frustrating.
After repairing the ship, the Ghouls launch into the sky. Their trip turns out to be successful, and they return to Earth. They use their knowledge to help others in the Mojave. Their adventure into space should have had a more significant impact. Unfortunately, it was not mentioned again in future games.
11 Megaton’s Atomic Problem
Megaton was built around a giant atomic bomb. Unfortunately for the residents, the bomb is still active. The Lone Wanderer can either disarm or detonate the bomb. Your decision has little impact on the game.
If you choose to detonate it, Megaton is gone for good, but Moira Brown is alive and well at the Museum of History. James mentions that he’s disappointed in you. The side quest gives you a choice to either hurt or help others, but with no serious repercussions in the future. Wasteland Residents slowly forget about the explosion and continue their lives as if nothing ever happened.
10 Travel To The Midwest
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel was a tactical RPG developed by Micro Forté. The game takes us to the midwest where we get to know another faction of the Brotherhood of Steel.
While the game wasn’t as poorly received as the action RPG on consoles, there were inconsistencies within the lore.
One of the most significant differences was the number of modern weapons that could be found today. Though it’s true the Brotherhood of Steel has factions across America, there were too many inconsistencies for Bethesda to consider this game part of the Fallout canon universe.
9 Have To Pay To See The Ending
Project Purity was made possible by the Lone Wanderer’s parents and their friend, Dr. Madison Li. The only issue was that turning on the water purifier was dangerous. The button was inside an irradiated chamber that would instantly destroy a normal human. The Lone Wanderer could easily ask their companions, Charon the Ghoul or Super Mutant Fawkes for help.
In the original game, they would both refuse. Fans were upset because this ending made no sense. Bethesda later released the Broken Steel DLC, which allowed Charon or Fawkes to press the start button. They hoped fans would forget the original ending.
8 The Brotherhood Heads To Texas
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was one of the first games to bring us to the South. The game contained premade characters. The game was the first to have a release on the PlayStation 2 and XBox. The game tells the story of three Brotherhood of Steel initiates throughout different zones of Texas.
The game itself had poor reception, and the story contained inconsistencies within the lore, such as the Brotherhood being formed by escaped FEV subjects instead of former military soldiers. In an interview regarding Fallout 3, Todd Howard stated that the game was non-canon.
7 Who Needs A Guide, Anyway?
Moira Brown is an upbeat writer who wants to help the people of the Capital Wasteland. She asks the Lone Wanderer for help exploring different regions of the map. What makes this request so unusual is that people have been surviving the horrors of the Wasteland for 200 years.
The information in the Wasteland Survival Guide is already known to almost everyone.
The only people it would be useful for are Vault Dwellers, but they aren’t always open to new visitors. Moira Brown never leaves Megaton or The Museum of History so her efforts will be in vain.
6 Origins Of The Super Mutant
Richard Grey fell into a vat of FEV, which mutated him into a horrific creature. He turned into a super mutant and computer hybrid. For decades, it was understood that super mutants were first created by the Master. Later games would change this.
In Vault 87, Vault-Tec was already experimenting with the FEV to create super mutants. Fallout 76, which is a prequel, completely changes the lore that Super Mutants were first created by poisoning the water supply with FEV. Bethesda no longer wants us to believe that the Master was the first producer of these horrific creatures.
