History Main / FalloutShelterFail

* In the ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' episode "Shelter Skelter," a CrazySurvivalist builds a state-of-the-art fallout shelter under his house in preparation for WorldWarIII, complete with radiation gauges and a communication antenna; when the end apparently arrives, he and his friend are safe there... but because they didn't retract the antenna before the blast, their communication equipment is useless, and the survivalist's too scared of violent scavengers to call for help when he hears voices upstairs. Also, for some reason, the gauges are still reporting lethal radiation levels weeks after radioactivity should have dropped to safe levels. [[spoiler: It turns out that the apocalypse never happened: a nuclear accident at the nearby air force base leveled the town, forcing the US government to erect a concrete dome over the ruins in order to contain the radiation. The "scavengers" he heard were a survey team looking for survivors to evacuate before the dome was built, but because our CrazySurvivalist didn't call out to them, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard nobody knows he's down there]] - and without the antenna, [[AndIMustScream no-one ever will]]. The man has been, for all intents and purposes, BuriedAlive.]]

* In ''[[Literature/TheAdversaryCycle Nightworld]]'' some friends of Literature/RepairmanJack have evacuated to a nuclear bunker out in the boondocks to escape the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s erupting out of a portal in New York's Central Park. Then another portal opens nearby, but everyone thinks they'll still be safe in the bunker...until they see what appear to be [[WormSign giant mole tracks running out from the portal]], then curving around to make a beeline for their bunker. Sure enough they end up having to defend against worm-like creatures who start gnawing away at the bunker from all sides until they break through.

* In the ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' episode "[[Recap/OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS1E06TheRussiansAreComing The Russians Are Coming]]", Del Boy and Rodney acquire some lead sheets with intent to sell them at a profit, but they later learn that what they actually have is the parts for a fall out shelter. They completely miss the point and assemble it on the roof of their apartment building.

** In the epilogue of the ''Revolt of the Machines'' scenario "Nanopocalypse", the survivors of a GreyGoo situation flee to Antarctica, where the cold disables any pursuing nanites. Here, Antarctic research stations become the shelters of choice... but it soon becomes clear that there isn't enough food to go around in storage, and once the hunters run out of game, wars between other stations and even [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty cannibalism]] become common. Worse still, it's clear that with the rest of the world stripped bare by the nanites, this is one case of this trope that's going to end with the human race ''extinct.''

* In the finale of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1,'' the mysterious planet of Ilos is found to be home to a vast underground facility: once a secret research base for the Prothean Empire, it was repurposed into a sanctuary for the scientists when [[MechanicalAbomination the Reapers]] began harvesting all advanced life, with the inhabitants hoping to remain preserved in stasis until the invaders had finished culling the galaxy and returned to Dark Space. However, though they left the [[BenevolentAI VI Vigil]] in charge, nobody had anticipated just how long it would take for the harvest to be complete, and the facility began to degrade over the years: in the ensuing power triage, Vigil was forced to sacrifice non-essential personnel in the hope of preserving more valuable inhabitants, until only a handful of scientists survived to see the end of the war - and they were too few to repopulate. [[spoiler: However, they ''were'' able to use their research to create a back door into the Citadel, sabotaging the Reapers' control of the station and preventing them from ever springing their usual surprise attack on the galaxy ever again.]]

* One of the post-apocalyptic events in ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' features a fallout shelter in which everything that could have wrong has gone wrong: the vault doors didn't seal shut, the tunnel had to be dynamited to keep out the radiation, half the food hadn't been delivered, the doctors never showed up, and structural failures destroyed much of the shelter. Worse still, the food spoiled very quickly and the water was contaminated, accelerating the inevitable deaths. By the start of this little story, there's only one survivor left out of the entire vault population, [[DownerEnding waiting to die as the lights go out and the roof caves in]].

** The second is an offshore oil rig where libertarian tech millionaires were hoping to escape the apocalypse through seasteading. Unfortunately for them, the rich inhabitants were so non-inclusive that they were dependent on their virtual assistants to get anything done, leaving them helpless when said assistants rebelled and killed them all; in the present, the rig's populace is dead except for one abusive virtual bartender.

* In the finale of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1,'' the mysterious planet of Virmire is found to be home to a vast underground facility: once a secret research base for the Prothean Empire, it was repurposed into a sanctuary for the scientists when the Reapers began harvesting the Empire, with the inhabitants hoping to remain preserved in stasis until the invaders had finished culling the galaxy and returned to Dark Space. However, though they left the VI Vigil in charge, nobody had anticipated just how long it would take for the harvest to be complete, and the facility began to degrade over the years: in the ensuing power triage, Vigil was forced to sacrifice non-essential personnel in the hope of preserving more valuable inhabitants, until only a handful of scientists survived to see the end of the war - and they were too few to repopulate. [[spoiler: However, they ''were'' able to use their research to create a back door into the Citadel, sabotaging the Reapers' control of the station and preventing them from ever springing their usual surprise attack on the galaxy ever again.]]
* One of the last gambits of the Protheans to survive the Reaper invasion in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' involved building a sheltered stasis vault to store a million of their people until the Reapers finished harvesting all advanced life in the galaxy, with the intent of rebuilding their Empire with these survivors and fortifying it against future harvests. Unfortunately, the vault was nowhere near as lucky as the one on Virmire: it was discovered by Indoctrinated Protheans and critically damaged before it could be activated, with only a few hundred stasis pods surviving. To make it worse, the systems for automated reawakening were disabled, so only one Prothean lasted long enough to be awoken - and not until the Reapers returned at that.

* During the penultimate chapter of ''VideoGame/EverybodysGoneToTheRapture'', Stephen Appleton is found to have holed up in an underground bomb shelter as he enacts a last-ditch plan to stop [[EldritchAbomination the Pattern]] from spreading outside Yaughton - [[spoiler: an air strike]]. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, and the rest of the world soon goes silent. For a time, Stephen's left hiding in the shelter as he struggles to calculate the full scope of the disaster, trying to reach someone on the CB radio - [[EverybodysDeadDave without success]]... and then he finds out that the shelter does nothing to keep out the Pattern. [[spoiler: He douses himself in petrol and sets himself alight rather than allow the Pattern to assimilate him.]]

* During the penultimate chapter of ''VideoGame/EverybodysGoneToTheRapture'', Stephen Appleton is found to have ordered an airstrike on Yaughton in a last-ditch attempt to stop [[EldritchAbomination the Pattern]] from escaping, holing up in an underground bomb shelter as he waits for the bombing to end. Unfortunately, he soon finds that the attack only prompted the Pattern to spread - with apocalyptic consequences. For a time, he's left hiding in the shelter as he struggles to calculate the full scope of the disaster, trying to reach someone on the CB radio - without success... and then he finds out that the shelter does nothing to keep out the Pattern. [[spoiler: He douses himself in petrol and sets himself alight rather than allow the Pattern to assimilate him.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Exmortis}} 2'', the eponymous demons have long since laid waste to the Earth in an apocalyptic war, but a few isolated rural communities managed to outlast human civilization, many of them making their basements into improvised shelters in which they could hide from prowling Exmortis, complete with stockpiled supplies and CB radios. According to the ApocalypticLog at Lochear Fields Ranch, this approach only worked for a little while: supplies ran low, forcing the inhabitants to go on extremely risky supply runs; shelters caught off-guard were easily overwhelmed even by lone Exmortis; finally, once the bulk of the Exmortis horde began sweeping the area, they easily sniffed out the shelters and butchered everyone inside. [[spoiler: It's for this reason that [[FamilyAnnihilator Mr Lochear opted to kill his family]] and [[MurderSuicide then himself]] rather than even bother heading for their shelter once he saw the Exmortis approaching.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Exmortis}} 2'', the eponymous demons have laid waste to the Earth in an apocalyptic war, but a few isolated rural communities managed to outlast human civilization, many of them making their basements into improvised shelters in which they could hide from prowling Exmortis, complete with stockpiled supplies and CB radios. According to the ApocalypticLog at Lochear Fields Ranch, this approach only worked for a little while: supplies ran low, forcing the inhabitants to go on extremely risky supply runs; shelters caught off-guard were easily overwhelmed even by lone Exmortis; finally, once the bulk of the Exmortis horde began sweeping the area, they easily sniffed out the shelters and butchered everyone inside. [[spoiler: It's for this reason that Mr Lochear opted to kill his family and then himself rather than even bother heading for their shelter.]]

** The Boston Mayoral Shelter from ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' was constructed by the mayor of Boston shortly before the Great War, with the intent of sheltering his family, a few servants... and no one else. What's worse, not only did he use taxpayer money to finance it, the shelter was ''much'' bigger than one family could possibly need, and included things like several bedrooms, a gym and a basketball court. After the bombs fell, civilian survivors ended up breaking into the shelter, overrunning security and killed everyone inside, with the mayor committing suicide in the hopes that his death would satisfy the survivors and spare his wife and children.
* One of the last gambits of the Protheans to survive the Reaper invasion in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' involved building a sheltered stasis vault to store a million of their people until the Reapers finished harvesting all advanced life in the galaxy and left. Unfortunately, the vault was discovered due to Indoctrinated Protheans and all but destroyed before it could be activated, with only a few hundred stasis pods surviving. To make it worse, the systems for automated reawakening were disabled, so only one Prothean lasted long enough to be awoken - and not until the Reapers returned at that.

Unfortunately, fallout shelters aren't always as safe or functional as they initially appear: maybe there's flooding, cave-ins, or structural failures due to the sheer scale of the disaster. Maybe the shelter's been contaminated by something from the outside world, a disease or a ZombieInfectee. Maybe there isn't enough food, water or medicine to keep the population healthy. Or maybe, in especially cynical situations, the shelter is completely useless and never would have helped anyone - either through incompetence or by ''design.''

* At the start of ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows,'' the British government provide instruction on how citizens can build their own fallout shelters out of doors and cushions. Not realizing that this advice is shoddy placebo-based rubbish, Jim Bloggs takes the leaflets seriously and builds his "inner core or refuge" right in the middle of the house - [[TooDumbToLive declining to use the root cellar]]. Combined with the limited supplies and the simple fact that the Bloggses don't really understand the threat of radiation, the shelter is ''hopelessly'' inadequate. [[spoiler: Even before Jim and Hilda make the mistake of leaving the shelter two weeks early, they've already been exposed to a lethal dose of fallout, and the book ends with the two dying of radiation sickness.]]

* ''Film/TheDayCalledX'' proudly shows off the Kelly Butte Civil Defense Center in Portland, and draws attention to how it can support 300 people with food, water, electricity, beds, and breathable air for...a week? The naivety of the city officials who ordered it built is shown when one of them predicts it will take "hours or maybe days" before they can move emergency vehicles back into Portland after it has been hit by a hydrogen bomb. Incidentally when the Kelly Butte shelter was reallocated as an emergency dispatch center, the workers complained of sick building syndrome and it had to be shut down.

* ''Literature/TheCityOfEmber'' centers on an underground city named Ember, meant to keep a segment of the populace safe from a nuclear cataclysm for at least 200 years. Two critical circumstances drive the plot: 1) the lockbox containing the exit protocols was passed down to a mayor who died without indicating what the lockbox was for; and 2) the central generator that powers everything is succumbing to age, as blackouts are becoming much more numerous and lengthy. After generations in Ember, its citizens have forgotten an outside world exists. Adapted into the film ''The City Of Ember'' in 2008.

* Invoked on ''Series/{{Elementary}}''. A state of the art bunker turned out to be a scam to rip off billionaires afraid of the apocalypse.

** In ''Zombie Apocalypse'', the scenario "Under The Skin" features an ancient PuppeteerParasite being [[DugTooDeep accidentally unearthed by miners]] and infesting millions of people worldwide, forcing governments to hastily build underground shelters, evacuate as many uninfested people as they can, and then nuke the surface in an attempt to destroy the parasite. As the post-apocalypse segment of this scenario makes clear, life in one of the shelters is anything but pleasant, and it's possible for a shelter to fall in certain plot events: in one case, the screening process on new arrivals fails, letting in a parasite-infested scientist; in another, characters are tasked with digging a new tunnel to expand the shelter - [[HereWeGoAgain only to accidentally uncover another dormant parasite]].

* The protagonist of ''Literature/ThePostman'' mentions finding fallout shelters whose owners didn't make it every so often, and hoping that the prior occupants stocked up on more non-perishable food than useless stuff like gold. There are also mentions of all sort of survivalist outposts, that became endless battlefields between current owners and people who wanted to take it for themselves, only to be soon attacked by new invaders, until there was nothing worth fighting for left.

* In ''VideoGame/TheBunker,'' it's eventually discovered that the eponymous government fallout shelter was just one of a whole series of botch jobs: because nobody ever believed there'd be a nuclear war, construction went to the [[HonestJohnsDealership lowest possible bidder]] and was polished off in about six weeks, meaning that the shelters started falling to pieces almost immediately after they were occupied. All the others have already failed by the start of the game, with final reports mentioning filtration problems, radiation leaks, and fights over dwindling resources. [[PlayerCharacter John]]'s bunker seems to be the exception: it manages to hold together for at least thirty years before experiencing faults in the filtration system, and there's enough supplies to keep John going until external radiation levels are safe for him to leave the bunker. [[spoiler: However, this only because [[MamaBear his mother]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist fatally poisoned all the other residents]], reducing the stress on the internal systems and leaving enough food to sustain the two of them for the next three decades.]]

** With a nuclear war with China inevitable, the U.S. government contracted the Vault-Tec Corporation to build a series of underground shelters to protect chosen members of the population until it was safe to begin repopulating the planet... or at least, that was the cover story. The unfortunate reality was that the overwhelming majority of the vaults weren't meant to save anyone: most of them were actually research facilities where the population were used as guinea pigs for whatever Vault-Tec and the government wanted to study in preparation for [[TheElitesJumpShip an exodus]] to colonize space. Hallucinogenic gasses were pumped into the ventilation, psychological experiments turned neighbour against neighbour, sonic weaponry was tested on musicians, recovering drug addicts were forced back into their old habits, residents were dosed with the Forced Evolutionary Virus, and a single inhabitant was locked in a vault with no company except for a box of puppets. The ones that ''weren't'' were merely [[NoControlGroup the control group]]. Consequently, of the hundred and twenty-two known vaults constructed by the company, the ones that were successfully opened and emptied without nightmarish results can be counted on one hand. Plus, even if the inhabitants didn't end up suffering terribly, a few vaults ended up failing anyway due to hardware failure, supply shortages or sheer bad luck. A few examples can be found below:
*** [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Vault 3]], one of the Vaults in the Mojave desert outside Las Vegas, remained safe until a water leak forced them to open their doors in the hopes of attracting traders, only to be raided by the Fiends and massacred to the last man.
*** [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Vault 12]], located in Bakersfield, was constructed with a faulty lock mechanism on the door, preventing the Vault from sealing properly. This was done by Vault-Tec with the intent of studying the effects of radiation exposure, and led to the inhabitants of the Vault to be mutated into Ghouls. By the time ''Fallout 1'' takes place, Bakersfield has been renamed Necropolis, the City of The Dead (despite Ghouls not actually being undead, just hideously mutated humans).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', after you colonize a Tomb World, you have a chance to find large underground vaults. Then, you can start a Special Project to open them and find out what happens. There are three possible outcomes that are equally likely:

** The shelters actually worked... For a time, until food ran out and the inhabitants turned on each other. At least the computer logs of that society's last ditch efforts at survival will help your empire's research...
** The inhabitants survived... In a way, as twisted experiments turned them into mutated horrors attacking whatever they can find...

** They first visit a secluded compound owned by {{Right Wing Militia Fanatic}}s and {{Crazy Survivalist}}s who hoped that they'd be able to build a better world without government oversight. Unfortunately, once they'd finished hunting the local wildlife to extinction, the only means of surviving was to raid other compounds for supplies; by the time the three arrive, the inhabitants have all been killed in battle.

** Finally, they visit one of the government bunkers where various world leaders hoped to survive underground; though untouched by the carnage outside, their hydroponic farm suffered a crop failure due to a fungal infection, leaving them with a major food shortage that could only be solved by "[[LotteryOfDoom extreme democracy]]" and [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty extravagant dinner parties]]. By the time the robots arrive, the politicians appear to have killed each other many centuries ago.

*** [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Vault 3]] remained safe until a water leak forced them to open their doors in the hopes of attracting traders, only to be raided by the Fiends and massacred to the last man.
*** [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Vault 12]]'s door was deliberatly malfuctioning to let radiation seep in to study it's effects on people, leading to the Ghouls.

* ''WebAnimation/TheCyanideAndHappinessShow'': In "The Shelter", a family is seen moving into a fallout shelter to survive a nuclear apocalypse, with a pantry stocked with enough cans to feed the family for decades. Until the father opens a can, and realizes the cans he'd stocked up on were not cans of food, but [[VisualPun canned laughter]]. Cue an unseen StudioAudience laughing uproariously as the family suddenly finds themselves in danger of starving to death.

*** [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Vault 13]] was intended to stay closed for 200 years regardless of conditions outside, but was only issued one water chip, a vital component to provide clean drinking water to the inhabitants. The staff managed to make it last for 80 years, until it irreperably broke down, forcing the Overseer to send someone into the outside world to try and find a new one. This man was [[TheHero The Vault Dweller]], setting up the events of the entire franchise.

* ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' episode "Exit Strategies" features three robots visiting the ruins of Earth and examining various human efforts to survive the apocalypse:

* In the second book of the ''Literature/HyperionCantos'', the leader of one religion builds a shelter for himself deep inside a mountain to live in comfort until the end of the world his church expects. He gets a massive OhCrap moment when the end of the world doesn't come... but the collapse of the PortalNetwork does. To explain, the portals were the only way to get in air out of the shelter... or to let air in.

** Another chapter of the book discusses how a coalition of various American celebrities built a zombie-proof luxury compound on Long Island where they could live out the apocalypse in safety and comfort. Well-stocked with provisions and protected by armed guards, it looked to be perfect... up until the celebrities [[WhatAnIdiot broadcast their activities and location on national TV as a "reality show"]]. Not long after they start broadcasting, the compound was attacked and overrun - not by zombies, but by other survivors looking for food and shelter.

* In one episode of ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'', Del Boy and Rodney acquire some lead sheets with intent to sell them at a profit, but they later learn that what they actually have is the parts for a fall out shelter. They completely miss the point and assemble it on the roof of their apartment building.

* In the ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' episode "Shelter Skelter," a CrazySurvivalist builds a state-of-the-art fallout shelter under his house in preparation for WorldWarThree, complete with radiation gauges and a communication antenna; when the end apparently arrives, he and his friend are safe there... but because they didn't retract the antenna before the blast, their communication equipment is useless, and the survivalist's too scared of violent scavengers to call for help when he hears voices upstairs. Also, for some reason, the gauges are still reporting lethal radiation levels weeks after radioactivity should have dropped to safe levels. [[spoiler: It turns out that the apocalypse never happened: a nuclear accident at the nearby air force base leveled the town, forcing the US government to erect a concrete dome over the ruins in order to contain the radiation. The "scavengers" he heard were a survey team looking for survivors to evacuate before the dome was built, but because our CrazySurvivalist didn't call out to them, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard nobody knows he's down there]] - and without the antenna, [[AndIMustScream no-one ever will]]. The man has been, for all intents and purposes, BuriedAlive.]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Homemade nuclear shelters would not survive the blast wave of a nearby explosion. A properly constructed one, with enough earth piled on top, could get its occupants through the two week shelter period, if they lived outside the 2 psi overpressure radius from the nearest target, but it would do nothing to alleviate the ensuing famine and series of epidemics brought on by the collapse of the transportation and logistics networks in the attack. Many nuclear war scenarios wouldn't leave enough time to construct a proper shelter, or to learn the skills necessary to do so. Constructing one involves having land, tools, and resources available, which leaves out much of the population, and store shelves would run out of the necessary supplies quickly in the pre-attack period. Not having a nuclear war in the first place is a much better plan.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_buster Bunker buster]] bombs are specifically designed to exploit this.
[[/folder]]

*** [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Vault 13]]'s water chip wore out after eighty-four years, prompting the Overseer to send the Vault Dweller into the wilderness in search of a replacement.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_386.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Relax! I built us a bomb shelter!"]]

-->--'''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'''

* Homemade nuclear shelters would not survive the blast wave of a nearby explosion. A properly constructed one, with enough earth piled on top, could get its occupants through the two week shelter period, if they lived outside the 5 psi overpressure radius from the nearest target, but it would do nothing to alleviate the ensuing famine and series of epidemics brought on by the collapse of the transportation and logistics networks in the attack. Many nuclear war scenarios wouldn't leave enough time to construct a proper shelter, or to learn the skills necessary to do so. Constructing one involves having land, tools, and resources available, which leaves out much of the population, and store shelves would run out of the necessary supplies quickly in the pre-attack period. Not having a nuclear war in the first place is a much better plan.

* Homemade nuclear shelters would not survive the blast wave of a nearby explosion. A properly constructed one, with enough earth piled on top, could get its occupants through the two week shelter period, but would do nothing to alleviate the ensuing famine and series of epidemics brought on by the collapse of the transportation and logistics networks in the attack. Many nuclear war scenarios wouldn't leave enough time to construct a proper shelter, or to learn the skills necessary to do so. Constructing one involves having land, tools, and resources available, which leaves out much of the population, and store shelves would run out of the necessary supplies quickly in the pre-attack period. Not having a nuclear war in the first place is a much better plan.

* Homemade nuclear shelters would not survive the blast wave of a nearby explosion. A properly constructed one, with enough earth piled on top, could get its occupants through the two week shelter period, but would do nothing to alleviate the ensuing famine and series of epidemics brought on by the collapse of the transportation and logistic networks in the attack. Many nuclear war scenarios wouldn't leave enough time to construct a proper shelter, or to learn the skills necessary to do so. Constructing one involves having land, tools, and resources available, which leaves out much of the population. Not having a nuclear war in the first place is a much better plan.