History Fridge / FallOut

* In the opening scene of Fallout 3, with the nuclear devastation, and that opening song involving not wanting to set the world on fire, and only wanting to start a fire in your lover's heart. Now compare that to John Henry Eden, who speaks of his country that he loves so much, even referring to it as his "dear, sweet America," and who says he wants to reach out into you, the listener's, heart. Now, remember that [[spoiler: Eden is an amalgam of the personalities of dozens of Presidents, including the warmongering ones who triggered the nuclear war with China.]] And note Eden's long-term goals. They may not have wanted to set the world on fire, but....

* The Vaults play only a minor role in the game, but the game has to start you out with a Vault Jumpsuit anyway for consistency's sake. But why Vault 21? 21=7*3. 777. JACKPOT.

* Also, in a similar vein as the post above: think about the cover for a second. The first Fallout game that didn't have a suit of power armor on it's cover, but an NCR Ranger. Even though Power Armor as a symbol for old-world technology still is powerful, it gets replaced after 200 years with the symbols of the new world, just like the factions tied strongly to the old world get exchanged with new structures.

* ''{{Fallout}} 3'' - opening scene, with the nuclear devastation, and that opening song involving not wanting to set the world on fire, and only wanting to start a fire in your lover's heart. Now compare that to John Henry Eden, who speaks of his country that he loves so much, even referring to it as his "dear, sweet America," and who says he wants to reach out into you, the listener's, heart. Now, remember that [[spoiler: Eden is an amalgam of the personalities of dozens of Presidents, including the warmongering ones who triggered the nuclear war with China.]] And note Eden's long-term goals. They may not have wanted to set the world on fire, but.... --UnknownTroper
** Likewise the opening song for New Vegas (Frank Sinatra's Blue Moon) was how Victor saved you from certain death. Since in an uncaring wasteland where your death will just be another casualty. It was really rare to see someone save you from certain death. Very meaningful indeed.
** In many reviews of the game I had read, snarky attention seemed to be paid to the fact that so much of the Capital Wasteland was still standing and often relatively unmolested after a nuclear conflict and 200 years of exposure. At first I was inclined to agree, but then I thought of the cultural divergence between the ''Fallout'' universe and ours. Society seemed stuck in a perpetual and idealized version of the 50's from what seemed to be post-World War II up until 2077. That's over a century of Cold War paranoia, which means that ''society had been nuke-proofing everything up until the Great War.'' Along with whatever technological advances afforded the process, of ''course'' things like large buildings, power generators, and the like would still be standing; they were built to last. --BigWheel
** I heard complaints about how in Fallout 3 somehow everyone is surviving off of 200 year old food, but I picked up a package of fancy lad's snack cakes one day and realized- They're twinkies! Everyone is eating tv dinners and junk food stuffed full of so many preservatives they could last for 200 years. Which makes me wonder, just what are "Dandy Boy Apples?" - Rantingdude
*** My Fridge Brilliance for that is similar, because I wondered why there were so much food in cans and packets, all instant and stuff. Then I realised: in the Fifties, ''people ate basically no fresh food'', because preserved food was all New and Sciency. This is thus the perfect explanation for why there's so much food around. - Tropers/AirOfMystery
** I always wondered why the world of Fallout was stuck in the 50s. And then it hit me: This is a world that runs by 50s science. It's not stuck in the 50s, it practically IS the 50s! - gumbal1
** When I came across the giant fire ants, I stood back and shot them to death because I knew they'd shoot fire at me because of the name. It wasn't until much later I realised that the name wasn't meant to indicate they shot fire, but that they were literally a giant version of fire ants, and their shooting of fire had nothing to do with their name. When I heard stories of people getting killed by the flames because they pulled out a baseball bat or something and tried to smack them in the head, the brilliance struck me.
** When the Overseer banished you, I have thought "Damn the overseer", but when you realize that in the sequel, he knew about the experiments and Enclave. He knew you can't stay here since you will be at risk of being captured by the Enclave eventually so he sends you off north to hide from the Enclave hoping that at least one of them made it out alive. Your tribe did...for a while.
*** Let's re-bastard him for a bit. He knew about the experiments and the Enclave. He knew they needed the Vault citizens as a control group; but also needed some Vault stock to leave, settle down, and generally be able to be abducted by the Enclave otherwise 13's experiment would fail. The Overseer '''set you up.''' Ignoring FO2's Guardian of Forever encounter (Which, given FO2's general tone, is probably a non-canon joke anyway), you have to wonder how much of FO1's plot was a set up. You have to wonder if the Water Chip failure was accidental or intentional on behalf of the Overseer. If it weren't for the existence of the the Master and the Military Base, how likely would it have been that the Vault Dweller would have been exiled soon afterwards for some spurious reason? The exile was planned, the resulting mutiny by some of the other Dwellers was planned, Arroyo was planned. Everything happened because the Enclave required it, and the Overseer was a bastard for letting it happen.
*** Correction: a)the Enclave didn't have a special need for Vault 13's unmutated population before they started experimenting with FEV between the games. b) Vault 13 was intended to be sealed and undisturbed for 200 years to research long-term isolation (kind of important data when planning non-FTL space travel). Thus putting the Vault in a situation where the Overseer ''had'' to open the Vault door prematurately under extremely stressful climate would be unbeneficial and indeed the situation led to Dwellers revolting against him and freeing themselves from the Vault experiment. the Overseer is still a bastard for not letting people go because Enclave wouldn't like it, though. There is till some Brilliance to it: [[StrawmanHasAPoint Overseer wasn't completely full of shit]] when he said that encouragement to leave the Vault would result in much misery. Attempting to live off dead, irradiated land didn't exactly fare well for [[DoomedHometown Arroyo]].
* Always wondered why both Arcade and Veronica were StraightGay and then I realized it was rather symbolic, both were part of the remnants of what's left of civilization and that with them swinging the other way, it was effectively the end of the Enclave and Brotherhood and the fact that the people related to it are slowly but surely dying out

* I ''just'' had one while reading this page. Above there's constant mentioning of the 50's and the Cold War fears. That made me realize that Fallout is basically a combination of what the future was to people in the 50s (ray guns and cheesy-looking robots) and their greatest fears (a nuclear holocaust). The weapons changed to meet the expectation of the future while many of the appliances (radios, soda machines, [[FridgeBrilliance refrigerators]]) stayed the same as in the mid to late 50s. We're playing the same thing that was NightmareFuel for someone living in the Cold War.

* That the vaults weren't ever meant save anyone they were meant to test different forms long term space travel.Think about it the Enclave's original plan was to colonize another another planet colonize.Think about different experiments used for the vaults

** You're a communist.

* The Brotherhood of steel are essentially communist, and the Enclave are the remnants of the old Pre-war Government. I'll let that one sink in.

* Always wondered why both Arcade and Veronica were StraightGay and then I realized it was rather symbolic, both were part of the remnants of what's left of civilization and that with them swinging the other way, it was effectively the end of the Enclave and Brotherhood and the fact that the people related to it are slowly but surely dying out