Throughout mankind's history, humans have strived for better weapons and armor in an age of constant warfare. As technology improved, the conflicts grew larger; more devastating. But with all its violent tendencies, humanity never had the capability to destroy itself. Well, until 70 years ago. World War 2 brought on the ultimate deterrent. The Nuke. For the first time in history, humanity harnessed the power to annihilate itself in its own atomic armageddon. In our timeline, the 1950s was an era of American exceptionalism and happy optimism. The suburban family with their white picket-fence, juke box diners and classic post-war nostalgia are looked back on as a different time. It passed. The cold war ended and the red scare along with it -- but what if that era... that mindset... Never went away? What if technology improved -- But the cold war, fear of communism and the culture of the '50's continued on in to the 21st century and beyond? Welcome to the world of Fallout™. The game series "Fallout™" has a deep lore based on alternate history In a timeline that differentiates from our own. The world went down a much darker path and in result the nuclear holocaust came. In Fallout™ the nuclear war was just the end of a chapter in mankinds history -- And in the rubble, brought on another. Because even though society itself was destroyed, and the land radiated beyond reason -- New factions still arose And humanity found new reasons to kill each other in a world populated by ghouls and mutants. That is why in the Fallout™ universe the saying stays true-- War. War never changes. This video is to give you a summary of the world of Fallout™ and to catch you up on the lore of this universe before the big kahuna itself comes out. The Fallout™ games take place in an alternate timeline that diverts from our own in the mid 20th century. Sometime after World War II in the 1950's and 60's -- The United States drastically changed itself in an attempt to stop political strife and better organize its own government. The U.S. divided the states among 13 different Commonwealths, The Commonwealth would be one step higher than the State but below the Federal Government -- and consist of multiple states. However, the Commonwealths began competing against one another and only weakened the country as a whole. As in our timeline, the "Red Scare" was in full effect throughout the post-war era. In this alternate timeline, the Soviets grow weaker -- China comes in to take its place. The U.S. has a new enemy on the global scale And at the turn of the 21st century it was still U.S. foreign policy to do everything to destroy the communists. As the decades went on the global oil supply began to run thin -- Leading to higher oil prices and competition. The United States went deeper and deeper in to hostilities with former allies and neighbors The already divided country began to lash out once the resources ran thin. In 2051 the United States accused its southern neighbor, Mexico, of destabilizing the border. The U.S. placed sanctions on the country causing it to collapse in to political instability. To protect oil interests, the U.S. invaded Mexico to maintain a constant supply between the two nations. This brash foreign policy reflected the dying nature of oil in the middle of the 21st century. Texas -- once booming in the early 21st century -- now is covered in empty wells. This was seen throughout the globe. As prices rose, the middle east countries held on to their oil. To combat the high oil prices, the European Commonwealth (basically an evolved EU) sent troops in to the middle east. The Resource Wars had begun. The middle east nations and Europe would fight a drawn out, bloody conflict over the oil wells of the region-- Until they ran dry just 8 years later. Nukes were used on middle east cities-- Causing the Americans to fear the possibility of a nuclear war at some point. Project Safehouse was born. Its official objective was to provide shelters in a supposed nuclear exchange. The Vaults were born. Meanwhile, across the ocean, Europeans were left with nothing after the fighting-- And the Commonwealth fell in to civil war by 2060. As oil wells shriveled up across the globe, Alaska's wells remained-- Soon becoming the last place on earth for cheap oil-- Making it a target to The People's Republic of China in the east. The Americans saw that Alaska was in danger and set up a defense force to deter the Chinese, but the inevitable happened and China sent an invasion force in to Alaska in 2066, sparking the Sino-American War. This was the war that would define the Fallout™ series. Over the next 10 years of fighting, the United States and Chinese would dedicate their greatest minds to creating new and powerful weaponry to one up the other. The U.S. created robots for war-- and Power Armor to devastate the enemy forces. However, even with the advancement in the U.S. miltary, the war would rage for a decade. Canada would be stuck with allowing U.S. forces on to their land-- Which made tensions sour between the traditionally allied nations. As the war against China grew the Americans wanted an easier route to combat the communists and so in 2076, Canada was officially annexed by the United States. In a bid to direct Chinese forces away from Alaska, the U.S. invaded mainland China with soldiers wearing Power Armor. The objective was to cause enough damage at home that the Chinese would need to take troops off of the Alaskan Front. And it worked. The soldieres in China were trapped in Asia but after nearly a decade of fighting-- The Americans fought off the Chinese and reclaimed Alaska by 2077. With Alaska reclaimed the war appeared over-- At least on the American front. Countless lives were lost in the fighting-- But it ended in an American victory-- So, to the people, the peace seemed to be won. But -- it was only a pause. On October 23rd, 2077 -- the Great War began-- And lasted only 2 hours. This nuclear exchange destroyed cities across the world. So many bombs were fired that it completely transformed the earths surface. Water became irradiated. The environment itself was cancerous. Barely any organisms survived at all Thus the story of the Pre-War nations ended in a blaze of nuclear fire. However, people did survive. Either out in a new Wasteland or inside of massive fallout shelters scattered across the old United States. Officially, 122 "Vaults" (as they were called) were constructed by Vault-Tec during Project Safehouse. The vaults official goal was to provide safe harbor inside the shelters in case of nuclear war. They were capable of holding enough supplies and equipment that dwellers could survive inside the vault for long stretches of time. Each vault was given two Garden of Eden Creation Kits-- or "G.E.C.K.'s" So that the dwellers could recolonize once radiation levels went to healthy limits. That was the supposed story. The United States and Vault-Tec in this alternate timeline had darker plans. Inside the government (and major economic titans) there was a faction who believed themselves superior over the common American-- And accepted that not many would survive the coming apocalypse. They made plans to preserve their own existence-- These people formed what is now known as The Enclave. The American government funded the creation of the Vaults-- In which special American citizens could find safe harbor. However, this was just a ruse. The true purpose of the vaults was to conduct physical, psychological and social experiments on unsuspecting subjects. The vaults weren't meant to save the U.S. population. It was simply to use vault dwellers as human guinea pigs. The Enclave's true plan was not just to repopulate the Earth, but to build themselves a spaceship to recolonize another planet. Using live human subjects would help the Enclave know how people react in long period of isolated confinement. Each vault had its own specific experiment. For one example, people from Vault 11 were told via intercom they had to sacrifice one of their own or they would all be slaughtered. The angry people chose to sacrifice the overseer, the leader of the vault. And so every year the position of overseer was a position of being sacrificed until one year the dwellers had enough and chose not to. A message played congratulating them for being good people and not killing anymore. Before the nuclear exchange, the Enclave who consisted of the most powerful and influential in America fled the secret bunkers throughout the globe. The owners of Robco Vault Tec Poseidon Oil used their resources to protect themselves. The Enclave remained on an oil rig, harnessing the technology from their wealthy connections and creating new weapons to eventually reclaim the land they believed they'd lost. In two centuries after the Great War, new factions rose and now fight over the nuclear wasteland. Most of the history that we know of takes place in the West. Around after a century after the war, the region New California was split among isloated villages. Raiders and mutants terroized innocent civilians. In some cases, vault dwellers left their shelters and set out to reclaim the wasteland, banding into small tribes and villages. Vault 15 suvivors founded the community of Shady Sands. After a century, the growing settlement ambitiuosly renamed itself the New California Republic. It absorbed other small towns under its flag and soon more towns followed suit to join its ranks. The NCR is not only a faction -- It is the closest thing, in the post-war era, that resembles a nation. With over 700,000 citizens, the NCR has modeled itself off of values from before The Great War. Even organizing its government in to three branches -- The NCR boasts the largest military in the known world-- But consists of mostly rifle infantrymen While the NCR has provided order within their lands-- Even going so far as to collect tax-- By the events of Fallout™ New Vegas© the NCR has grown to become imperialist in nature. Sometimes forcing villages under its banner and bullying its neighbors into submission. The NCR has fought major wars against other factions Including their most recent rival-- Caesar's Legion in the east. Caesar's Legion is pretty much the exact opposite of the democracy-valued NCR. Controlling the land east of the Colorado River, Caesar's Legion is a dictatorial slave-state. Which gained its power by absorbing the tribes of the Mojave. Caesar himself is actually a man named Edward Sallow He impressed the native tribes with his knowledge of basic military strategy. They declared Sallow their leader-- And in response he declared himself the name Caesar. Caesar's new faction had a goal: To bring everyone, and everything, under their rule. The would go on a campaign of total war against the surrounding tribes-- Slaughtering and decimating the population-- Enslaving the survivors and indoctrinating them into the ideology of The Legion-- Using the men of each tribe as disposable slaves to wage war. However, even though Caesar ruled as a murderous dictator, his people worshipped him-- Fanatical in their devotion to serving him Caesar is the leader of his own personal religion. The Cult of Mars. Which teaches that The Great War was punishment from the God of war himself. The Legion's growth brought them in to contact with the NCR, where conflict raged between the two. With The Legion losing to the NCR in the first Battle of Hoover Dam. But while The Legion and NCR are the largest in the west-- That does not mean they have the most fighting power. Of course I'm talking about The Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood is an elite organization of highly trained, devout and honorable soldiers. With origins dating back to the old U.S. Military. The Brotherhood prides itself on its preservation and investment in technology. To them their weapons and armor are the most important things above all else. The Brotherhood was founded by American Army Captain Roger Maxon in the days before The Great War-- After he and his men went AWOL upon learning of U.S. sponsored experiments on prisoners. The experiments had prisoners injected with the Forced Evolutionary Virus. The F.E.V. was researched by the government to create soldiers capable of being stronger and more resistant-- Instead it made them in to Super Mutants. There was never a response from the U.S. at Maxon's desertion-- As The Great War came just days after. After the war, the group seized the futuristic technology from the facility-- Guns and Power Armor. Glossing over a lot of history-- The Brotherhood fought numerous campaigns against raiders, the Super Mutants and the NCR. In their search for more technology, The Brotherhood has spread throughout the old United States. However due to the vast distance among them, ideologies are different between each group. The Western Brotherhoods numbers are small, practically never allowing outsiders in to their ranks-- But because of their collection of pre-war weaponry and highly-trained soldiers-- The Brotherhood is capable of putting up a valiant effort against their enemies. The Western Brotherhood believes Wastelanders cannot handle, or be trusted with, the powerful arsenal-- And so they keep their technology Top Secret. The Western Brotherhood is the original Brotherhood-- as the group has origins in California. That search for technology sparked members to send missions on airships across the continent-- One of which crashed in the ruins of Chicago, forming the Mid-West Brotherhood. The Brotherhood eventually reached the Capital Wasteland-- The old ruins of Washington D.C. Here the Super Mutants were larger and more violent than in the west-- And so the Capital Brotherhood adopted an ideology of protecting the Wastelanders over protecting technology. Even recruiting natives in to their ranks. This created a split among the Eastern Brotherhood-- The soldiers devoted to finding technology deserted and formed The Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts. The Western Brotherhood learned of the Easts ideology-- A clear violation of the factions code-- and so The Capital Brotherhood was cast out. Other members of The Brotherhood dot the U.S. such as in Texas and The Commonwealth-- Neither of which we know much about so far. The Brotherhood isn't the only pre-war faction that's still around-- Remember The Enclave? The Enclaves' descendants remained on the rig, harnessing the best technology their connections could buy-- Being out of the blast range, they believed that they were the last remaining humans untouched by nuclear radiation-- Making them, in their mindset, True Humans. The Brotherhood and Wastelanders are practically mutants in their eyes-- And so their mindset turned genocidal-- To kill the populace of the Wasteland and to start anew. The Enclave saw themselves as the continual government of the United States-- And the rightful population to sustain it. Using their technology and flying Vertibirds, they can challenge even The Brotherhood in power. However, they are practically gone in the West and remain considerable in the Eastern United States-- Yet, even though there are considerable factions that control areas of the West and the East--- Much of the old United States is still left unclaimed-- And even in areas under faction control, tribes and villages are the primary organization for Wastelanders. If I wanted to go in to extreme detail with the entire history of each faction, that video would take hours-- And it's fun to discover the deeper lore by playing the games. This was a way to introduce new people to the world of Fallout™ And to hype up returning fans. Like on Facebook and Subscribe if you have not done so! This is Cody -- from the Alternate History Hub. (music plays)
This video never even mentions that one of the biggest contributions to EVERYTHING happening the way it did was the transistor not being invented when it was in our timeline. That's what lead to more power hungry technology and a resource scarcity.
People should also know Fallout universe radiation doesn't work like real radiation but more like 'cartoon' radiation.
More entertaining version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqm_pPD-aQ&list=PL7pGJQV-jlzD17YNNbt103xp0PkkUCoPU
Guys makes really cool videos, actually. Watched a few others, subscribed.
I knew much less of this than I should have.
I'm glad some people are considering others like myself who feel super excited about fallout 4 but have never touched any other fallout game. I eventually will play the older games but fallout 4 being so close I want to jump in it. so I'm glad to watch these lore videos and get a basic brush up on what I should know. so thank you for posting this.
Really, everything you need to know is in the original Fallout 1 intro. It's short, concise, and narrated by Ron Pearlman. It's perfect.
Even for someone who's played hundreds of hours of Fallout this video was still a blast. I just can't get enough of that 50s aesthetic.
I'm pretty sure the whole start of the game is basically going to be there to get new people up to speed on what happened in this world.
The lore is OK, but I found it not needed to jump into any of the games starting from Fallout 3 forward. The narrator voice over at the start is always great, but I think living through the bombs falling is going to be amazing.
I could listen to a very long version of this lol