History Fallout4 / TropesAToC

** Super Mutants keep this trend from their ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' counterparts, despite being seemingly a ''little'' more intelligent. Pretty much all of them save for a few ([[spoiler: namely Strong, Virgil, and Erickson]]) will attack on sight.
** Radstags are an exception, and will only fight if you or -- as is more likely -- your companion attack them first. Leave them to their own devices and they will leave you alone in turn.
*** Doubly subverted thanks to the ''Far Harbor'' DLC. The so-called Devolved Radstags have mutated to the point where they've grown large fangs and attack everything on sight that's not a member of their own species. Yes, that includes humans and every other animal up to and including [[BearsAreBadNews Yao Guai]] and even [[GiantCrab Fog Crawlers]].

* TheBarnum: There's a man hanging out in the South Boston area near the remains of the Minutemen's former base of operations (The Castle AKA Fort Independence) who gives out supposedly useful cards called Charge Cards in exchange for 110 caps each. He claims that these cards are useful in bypassing the need to spend bottle caps with vendors everywhere in the Commonwealth. [[spoiler: In reality, these cards were only valid before the bombs fell and are no longer relevant in the post-apocalyptic world; in other words, he's a scam artist who rips off unsuspecting Wastelanders of their hard earned caps just to satisfy his greed. He even calls you a "retahd" straight to your face whether or not you accept his offer, immediately blowing his guise as a scammer. Surely enough, this puts him into TooDumbToLive territory. [[BrickJoke Brooks in Far Harbor, however, will accept it,]] and even then he takes the card and gives you a hundred caps for it.]]

** Ultimately, the entire [[spoiler: [[CrapsaccharineWorld town]] of [[StepfordSmiler Covenant]] counts as this,]] due to their firm assistance on doing NotQuiteTheRightThing in their [[spoiler: secret war with the [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Institute.]]]]

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Downplayed. Of the three factions that can't be reconciled in the game, the fact that you can choose the one that [[spoiler: [[KillAndReplace kidnaps and murders random people to replace them with robot clones]] in order to more efficiently steal resources from starving Wasteland dwellers]] to side with without feeling you're making the evil choice highlights that ''all'' of the main factions are flawed, and that it's up to the player to decided which faction is [[ALighterShadeOfGrey the lightest shade of grey]]. And even [[UndergroundRailroad the Railroad]], the nominally "good" faction, are [[SingleIssueWonk so fixated]] on [[AndroidsArePeopleToo Synth liberation]] that they're firmly grey as well. The only outright "good guys" in the setting are the [[WeHelpTheHelpless Minutemen,]] who are inadvertently rendered grey themselves by the fact that you can [[spoiler: convince them to side with any other faction, even the Institute]]. The player, however, can subvert this.

** "It's a training exercise." Says the Railroad Sole Survivor to a young Brotherhood Initiate. [[spoiler: Right after you shoot a half-dozen of his older comrades right in front of him in the Railroad ending.]]

** In contrast to ''Fallout 3'', which generally avoided straight boss fights (with the exception of the Super Mutant Behemoths, Commander Jabsco, and General Jiangwei), ''Fallout 4'' has a number of boss fights that occur during the main quest line or major side-quests, such as [[spoiler: the Concord Deathclaw, the Castle Mirelurk Queen, Swan, Elder Maxson (potentially), the Courser Z2-47, and Kellogg himself.]]

** ''Nuka-World'' comes up with PuzzleBoss Colter and FlunkyBoss Oswald the Outrageous, the latter being a SkippableBoss. [[spoiler: All the Raider gang leaders at ''Nuka-World'' count as [[FlunkyBoss Flunky Bosses]] due to being constantly surrounded by their own Mooks.]]

** [[spoiler: Madison Li, last mentioned to have left for the Commonwealth, returns as one of the department heads of the Institute.]]
** [[spoiler: LIBERTY PRIME IS REPAIRED AND ONCE AGAIN READY TO DESTROY ALL CHINESE COMMUNISTS!]]
** [[spoiler: ''Nuka-World'' features the return of Sierra Petrovita and the [[ChurchOfHappyology Hubologists]]]].
** [[spoiler: The leader of the kids of Little Lamplight, Mayor [=MacCready=], is all grown up and is currently a mercenary, and available to be a companion.]]
** [[spoiler: The 2024 next-gen update features the return of the Enclave, with a new quest "Echoes of the Past" centered around them. Their forces include PoweredArmor troops in the style of ''Fallout 3'' (as opposed to the X-01 armor which is based on their ''Fallout 2'' armor), Hellfire Troopers, and even a unnamed Colonel who strongly resembles Colonel Autumn. They seem to have lost much of their power base with many of their efforts in the Commonwealth focused around re-obtaining Enclave tech that was lost or stolen. Some of their soldiers even have to make do with non-powered standard combat armor.]]

** In a rare case for a Fallout game, [[spoiler: you cannot persuade Kellogg AT ALL about anything when you finally catch up to him. The only thing you can control is how demanding, desperate, angry or snarky you are when ordering him to tell you where Shaun and the Institute are. The situation inevitably turns violent.]]

** If the player is aligned with the Brotherhood and then begins the ''Far Harbor'' DLC, [[spoiler: the next time they speak with Lancer-Captain Kells will unavoidably initiate dialogue where they report the location of the synth refuge at Acadia and trigger the quest "Search and Destroy", where you have to join up with a group of Brotherhood soldiers and wipe out everyone there (which can include Kasumi Nakano if you've not finished the main quest). The same can happen with the Institute: speaking to Dr Moseley in Advanced Systems will initiate the quest "Forbidden Knowledge", where the Institute invades Acadia and reclaims all the escaped synths. This quest is more optional than "Search and Destroy", however, as Moseley is a far less important character than the radiant-quest-giver Kells. Thankfully, it's easy to ignore the Brotherhood attack group in Far Harbor if you're unwilling to destroy Acadia.]]

** A "Fusion Pulse Charge" is used to [[spoiler:help destroy the Institute's main reactor in 3 endings]]. Another previously appeared in ''Fallout 3'' for an [[spoiler:equally destructive purpose]] -- the [[spoiler: detonation of Megaton's nuclear bomb]].

** The ''Automatron'' DLC brings back The Mechanist, who still has a love of ridiculously dramatic doors [[spoiler: even if its not the same guy from ''Fallout 3'']]. Also. the history of the Robobrain [[spoiler: namely, brains of criminals being forcibly extracted for them]] closely mirrors the history given out by ''Fallout 1'' lead designer Chris Taylor in an old interview, plus the info given in J.E. Sawyer's tabletop RPG.

** The Institute is this. [[spoiler: It's a RaygunGothic paradise on the surface, looking a bit like ''VideoGame/MassEffect's'' Citadel. Everyone is devoted to studying science, chemistry, and using their knowledge for the betterment of mankind. The Synths wandering around are mostly fawning and subservient... and utterly terrified. Inhabitants frequently make comments which indicate the Synths flee or behave in manners which show their intelligence, yet aside from a few {{Internal Reformist}}s, they get dismissed brutally. The Institute also dabbles in darker pursuits, as shown by a hidden FEV lab, stocked by kidnapped Wastelanders experimented on only ForScience]].

*** The Institute specializes in espionage warfare; they have countless spies across the entire Commonwealth, their main agents -- [[SuperSoldier the Coursers]] -- function as primarily assassins and saboteurs, and their [[spoiler: teleportation technology]] allows them to move their forces in incredibly quick and sudden movements to weaken their opponents so they can later infiltrate them and [[CombatPragmatist tear themselves apart]]. But they ''have'' to act like this because their [[CoolButInefficient unique laser weapons are weaker than their Pre-War counteparts]], their ''de facto'' soldiers ([[KillerRobot the countless Gen 2 synths]]) are [[MadeOfPlasticine easily destroyed outside of their armor]], and their military tactics solely rely on [[WeHaveReserves superior numbers]] to turn the tide in battle.
*** The Brotherhood of Steel, conversely, specializes in ''direct'' warfare; their [[PoweredArmor Power Armor-equipped Paladins]] are some of the most dangerous soldiers in the Commonwealth, and their [[GunshipRescue use of Vertibirds]] gives them superior firepower compared to the Institute. However, the Brotherhood also are very easily subverted (even if by coincidence, [[spoiler: like with Paladin Danse and -- potentially -- the Sole Survivor]]) by other forces, and their lack of multiple bases outside of just Boston Airport and Cambridge Police Station gives them [[EasyLogistics weak supply lines]] that [[AvertedTrope leave them open to Institute sabotage]]. The Brotherhood also doesn't have the Institute's [[ThePowerOfCreation manufacturing edge]], meaning that their powerful weapons and armor (like their T-60c Power Armor and the ''Prydwen'') are also hard to replace. In fact, [[UndergroundRailroad the Railroad]] questline shows how even impoverished Wastelanders like them [[BewareTheNiceOnes can infiltrate & sabotage]] the Brotherhood, [[spoiler: crushing them with relative ease]].

* {{Cyborg}}: Third generation Synths seem to be this in some form or other; most Coursers sport unemotional personalities, but [=Gen 3s=] having DNA and being indistinguishable from humans is mentioned more than once. [[spoiler: Kellogg]] is also explicitly a cyborg, with one of his parts playing a significant role in the main story. This functions to prolong his life, distorting the Sole Survivor's perception of [[spoiler: how long ago Shaun was kidnapped]].

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Much like '' VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim '', leveling continues on for as long as you want it to. If you do want to [[MasterOfAll fill out every single perk and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute]], then you need to grind like hell to reach level 272, although finding the seven SPECIAL bobble-heads and the "You're SPECIAL" book reduces it to level 264. The effective "hard" level cap is [[UsefulNotes/PowersOfTwoMinusOne 65,535]], but it's near impossible to reach due to the combination of the sheer amount of grinding required to reach it and the fact that even if you ''do'' somehow reach it, the game will crash if you try to go any further.

* CoolVersusAwesome: [[spoiler:You can lead futuristic knights with an American HumongousMecha into battle against a cabal of evil scientists with their own army of Franchise/{{Terminator}}s, or vice versa. ''Or'', you can smack down both factions with your own army of American revolutionaries with wind-up laser muskets and old howitzers, possibly teaming up with a secret spy agency-style Underground Railroad organization in the process.]]

** For PowerArmor, you can get a full set of legendary T-60 armor if you have the Automatron DLC and follow the Brotherhood of Steel questline. You get the Tesla arms and chest from Ivey in Fort Hagen. From the Brotherhood, you can get the Visionary's helm and Exemplar's chest piece as quest rewards and the legs, Honor and Vengeance, can be bought from Proctor Teagan after promotion to Paladin and Sentinel, respectively.

** In contrast to ''Fallout 3'', which generally avoided straight boss fights (with the exception of the Super Mutant Behemoths, Commander Jabsco, and General Jiangwei), ''Fallout 4'' has a number of boss fights that occur during the main quest line or major side-quests, such as [[spoiler: the Concord Deathclaw, the Castle Mirelurk Queen, Swan, Elder Maxson (potentially), the Greentech Courser and Kellogg himself.]]

* ContinuitySnarl: Power Armor in general. Older flavor text said they were powered by Electron Charge Packs and only the T-45s were power hogs, and Power Armor was an all-in-one suit. Here, Power Armor runs on Fusion Cores, all the Power Armor variants are modular pieces that are swapped out on a central frame, and all variants consume the same amount of power. It was also said that T-51 Power Armor was the pinnacle of the technology before the war and the Enclave's Advanced Power Armor (here called the X-01) was not invented until after the war, but here it is said that between the liberation of Anchorage and the Great War, the military created and rolled out T-60 armor as the next generation of Power Armor, and the X-01 armor is also present. The game tries to HandWave the latter by saying the X-01 was still in prototyping stage and the suit sent to Nuka-World was for experimentation, and the Enclave refined the design after the Great War, but nothing explains the T-60's existence. Further, with enough LevelScaling, it's possible to find suits of T-60 and X-01 all over the wasteland at military outposts.

*** The Brotherhood of Steel, conversely, specializes in ''direct'' warfare; their [[PoweredArmor Power Armor-equipped Paladins]] are some of the most dangerous soldiers in the Commonwealth, and their [[GunshipRescue use of Vertibirds]] gives them superior firepower compared to the Institute. However, the Brotherhood also are very easily subverted (even if by coincidence, [[spoiler: like with Paladin Danse and -- potentially -- the Sole Survivor]]) by other forces, and their lack of multiple bases outside of just Boston Airport and Cambridge Police Station gives them [[EasyLogistics weak supply lines]] that [[AvertedTrope leave them open to Institute sabotage]]. The Brotherhood also doesn't have the Institute's [[ThePowerOfCreation manufacturing edge]], meaning that their powerful weapons and armor (like their T-60 Power Armor and the ''Prydwen'') are also hard to replace. In fact, [[UndergroundRailroad the Railroad]] questline shows how even impoverished Wastelanders like them [[BewareTheNiceOnes can infiltrate & sabotage]] the Brotherhood, [[spoiler: crushing them with relative ease]].

** Before the climactic encounter with Kellogg, a Fat Boy and ammo can be found shortly before. Bethesda realized that the DiscOneFinalBoss encounter might be too difficult for certain builds, so players could just blast him and his henchmen even before opening dialog with him.

** Enemies armed with the [[NukeEm Fat Man]] are extremely unpredictable because they treat it as if it was a normal ranged weapon, seemingly unaware of its power or arcing fire. They'll occasionally blow themselves up when firing it from cover or enclosed spaces, miss often by only taking direct shots without factoring in splash damage, and disregard all potential collateral damage to their allies. What's more they think nothing of firing it at point blank range in an [[TooDumbToLive unintentional suicide attack]], so you can't dead-zone them.

** During the "Defend the Castle" quest, it quickly becomes clear why the Minutemen lost control of the castle in the past. They seem to have no understanding of the value defensive fortifications, as they will mindlessly charge out of the castle to attack the oncoming Synth army instead of staying behind the walls and letting the enemies come to them. They will also turn on you if you accidentally hit one of them with a stray round or explosive, which is hard to avoid when they are constantly charging in front of you to rush the foes. This severely limits your weapon selection for this quest, as a few stray rounds or splash damage from a grenade can actually turn your own garrison against you in the middle of the battle.

** A non-villainous one is Ricky Dalton, a Railroad "tourist" who's overbearingly insulting and confrontational no matter how helpful the Sole survivor tries to be with him. You can do a hard speech check to convince him to [[WeNeedADistraction run interference on the Synths infesting the Railroad's old headquarters while you infiltrate the compound]], which everyone involved seems to be aware [[SuicideMission will get Dalton killed, and invariably does]]. Deacon doesn't have a problem with it, either. [[WhatTheHellHero Companions like Curie and Hancock won't, though.]]

*** Piper is a little more intermediate, with you likely meeting Preston and Danse before finding her whinging at the Diamond City gates. As a companion, she has average health and carrying capacity, doesn't have any talent and has a tenancy to pipe up. However, unlike Preston who you have to save a settlement for or Danse who only joins up after backup arrives, all Piper wants from you is a quick interview that can be done in two minutes tops before agreeing to join you on the road. Unlike Dogmeat and Codsworth, you can dress her in and arm her in whatever you please, proves a shockingly deadly combatant for a mere journalist, and if you find yourself falling for her, she can be romanced. She also provides snacks like bubblegum and Nuka-Cola on the road.

** In contrast to ''Fallout 3'', which generally avoided straight boss fights (with the exception of the Super Mutant Behemoths, Commander Jabsco, and General Jiangwei), ''Fallout 4'' has a number of boss fights that occur during the main quest line or major side-quests, such as [[spoiler: the Concord Deathclaw, the Castle Mirelurk Queen, Swan, Elder Maxson (potentially), and Kellogg himself.]]

** Irrespective of which faction you support, [[spoiler:your son Shaun dies. If you helped the Brotherhood, the Railroad or the Minutemen, you meet your son on his deathbed for a poignant last scene as your forces storm the Institute and destroy his life's work. But at least with the Institute gone, the Synths are finally free from their slavery, the remaining scientists can join the Minutemen and actually help the surface world, and the people of the Commonwealth can sleep easy as a new society is formed. It's likely the Synths will be reduced to a DyingRace, but HopeSpringsEternal.]]

*** [[spoiler:Especially more bitter if you executed Danse or failed to save him from Maxson. Maybe even more bitter if you betray the Brotherhood and destroy the ''Prydwen'' as stated down below, avenging your friend.]]

** [[InternalReformist Liam Benet]], a.k.a. "Patriot" gets one of his own in the Railroad ending. As the person responsible for getting rogue Synths out of the Institute in the first place, Liam was basically the reason that the Railroad was able to exist. After the Railroad storms the Institute, all the Synths are freed, the Commonwealth is rid of its boogeyman, and [[spoiler: [[PunchClockVillain everyone]] and [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas everything]] Liam ever cared about is atomized by the explosion of the Institute's reactor. He [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] after reaching the Railroad HQ. His suicide note is a bitter indictment of both the Railroad [[WhatTheHellHero and the Sole Survivor.]]]] Desdemona keeps his fate secret between her and the Sole Survivor, giving him a hero's funeral for the sake of Railroad morale.

*** Piper is a little more intermediate, with you likely meeting Preston and Danse before finding her whinging at the Diamond City gates. However, unlike Preston who you have to save a settlement for or Danse who only joins up after backup arrives, all Piper wants from you is a quick interview that can be done in two minutes tops before agreeing to join you on the road. Unlike Dogmeat and Codsworth, you can dress her in and arm her in whatever you please, proves a shockingly deadly combatant for a mere journalist, and if you find yourself falling for her, she can be romanced.

** Dogmeat, Codsworth and Piper as far as companions go. While they aren't as strong, versatile or talent as the other companions you come across later in the story or further on your travels, you come across them early in the story when you're underpowered and weak, require little to no effort to recruit, are generally easy to please if you're not a dick and could mean the difference between life or death if the only thing keeping a drugged out raider from you is a strong set of jaws, a buzzsaw or a 10mm.
*** If you're more of a cat person, Dogmeat is a little less fun to bring around due to being unable to converse with you and having low carrying capacity and no ranged attack. However, he's a stone throw's away from the vault, would join you as soon as you pet him and occasionally brings you goodies. He will also never judge you for your actions, so you can bring him along without having to tip-toe around your words and worry that he'll hate you.
*** Like Dogmeat, Codsworth has no ranged attack aside from a sporadic flamethrower, leaving him hacking at his enemies with a buzzsaw, and he can't bring dressed up in more than a spiffy bowler hat. However, as shown when you first meet him and tour around the neighbourhood, he'll make kashi out of radroaches and bloodbugs even without you firing a bullet. He provides good company on the road, is fawningly loyal if you're a decent person and serves up purified water on the regular, a godsend in Survival Mode. And if you had the ''Automaton" mod installed, you can fit him with turrets that would put Danse to shame.
*** Piper is a little more intermediate, with you likely meeting Preston and Danse finding her whinging at the Diamond City gates. However, unlike Preston who you have to save a settlement for or Danse who only joins up after backup arrives, all Piper wants from you is a quick interview that can be done in two minutes tops. Unlike Dogmeat and Codsworth, you can dress her in and arm her in whatever you please, proves a shockingly deadly combatant for a mere journalist, and she can be romanced.

*** Piper is a little more intermediate, with you likely meeting Preston and Danse finding her whinging at the Diamond City gates. However, unlike Preston who you have to save a settlement for or Danse who only joins up after backup arrives, all Piper wants from you is a quick interview that would be done in two minutes tops. Unlike Dogmeat and Codsworth, you can dress her in and arm her in whatever you please, proves a shockingly deadly combatant for a mere journalist and she can be romanced.

** Dogmeat, Codsworth and Piper as far as companions go. While they aren't as strong, versatile or as a few of the companions you come across later in the story or further on your travels, you come across them early in the story when you're underpowered and weak, require little to no effort to recruit, are generally easy to please if you're not a dick and could mean the difference between life or death if the only thing keeping a drugged out raider from you is a strong set of jaws, a buzzsaw or a 10mm.