History YMMV / FallOut

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The FPS series (''3'', ''New Vegas'', and ''4'') have a very healthy fanbase in Japan, despite Japan's own NuclearWeaponsTaboo, though it does help that Fallout pulls very few punches when it comes to displaying the [[AtomicHate downsides]] of unrestricted nuclear warfare.

* MisaimedFandom: Though Caesar's Legion burns down towns regularly (inhabitants included) and the Enclave was more or less written as "Futuristic Nazis", both have large fan followings among the ''Fallout'' community, partly because many see them as [[WellIntentionedExtremist noble in their end goals]].

** Due to the announcement that ''Fallout 76'' would '''not''' be released on Steam, this was taken with ''huge'' backlash. Many people were angry that they would have to download a new client, and others said it was a way of restricting mods.
*** Others are supporting this decision, which has caused even further arguments. Checking the discussions on ''Fallout 4's'' steam discussion page, its a battlefield.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Liberty Prime]]. Either he's the most awesome LargeHam giant robot ever and a standout set-piece that makes the march to the pre-Broken Steel final encounter insanely memorable, or he's emblematic of everything accused of being ''wrong'' with the Bethesda-era Fallouts by removing all the challenge of the final push while gleefully missing the point of the original games' message by being a propaganda spewing, [[NukeEm Nuke-tossing]] middle finger to the anti-establishment and anti-nuke themes. Those who have a more neutral opinion accept Liberty Prime as being a bald-faced parody of such characters, but have complained that the rebuilt version of him in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' being almost entirely ''un''ironic to be completely groan-worthy as he brings the final push against the Institute to a grinding halt to ''salute a war memorial''.

* SoloCharacterRun: Extremely common throughout the series due to ArtificialStupidity. In VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}, companions [[CantCatchUp did not level up, could not change their starting armor]], and were generally liabilities due to friendly fire and obstructing doors or corridors. This situation ''has'' improved as the series progressed.

** There is not generally much overlap between fans of the Interplay/Obsidian games and fans of the Bethesda games (though exceptions certainly exist), and the disagreements between the two groups can get rather… [[SeriousBusiness vehement]]. It even spills over to Website/TVTropes -- much of this page's edit history can be summed up as a permanent low-intensity Administrivia/EditWar between ''Fallout 1'', ''2'', and ''New Vegas'' fans and ''Fallout 3'' and ''4'' fans. Best advice is to [[SacredCow only say positive things]] about ''all'' of the games (aside from ''[[BlackSheep Brotherhood of Steel]]'', of course) and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere flee]] if/when the arguments increase in pitch and fervor.

* {{Misblamed}}: In the Bethesda-era games, expect Todd Howard (and, to a lesser extent, Emil Pagliarulo) to get the bulk of the fandom's bile when complaints are raised about a certain game. While this is admittedly more justified than a lot of other examples since Howard is the FaceOfTheBand for Bethesda Softworks and Pagliarulo is the most vocal member of [=BGS'=] writing team, the Bethesda-era Fallouts are still video games made by at ''least'' a hundred different people, and both Howard and Pagliarulo are only two people out of the entire production staff.

* NarmCharm: ''Fallout'' as a whole is '''really''' good at this. Considering how the series is practically ''made'' of {{Bathos}} and it's telling dark, post-apocalyptic stories that're all set after a nuclear war destroyed a world inhabited by a ([[CrapSaccharineWorld supposedly]]) cheery ''[[Series/LeaveItToBeaver Leave It to Beaver]]''-style 1950s U.S.A., it's been doing this for quite a while and is '''excellent''' at making something silly come across as serious.

* ParanoiaFuel: Sometimes, your settlements can get infiltrated by disguised Institute Synths. There's no knowing about them until they start killing off your population slowly...
* SailorEarth: Want to make an original character who ''also'' grew up in a Vault? Easy, just make up a number between 001 and 999 and add the word "Vault" in front of it! [[labelnote:Note]] Canonically, there are only 122 numbered vaults, but there are still plenty of those up for grabs and the non-canon VideoGame/FalloutShelter lets you name your vault anything with three digits.[[/labelnote]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The Fat Man launchers that appear in the games were inspired by the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) Davy Crockett portable nuclear launching device]]. The real-life example was abandoned for reasons that become immediately obvious to those who use the in-game version without adequate skill and plenty of Rad-Away.

* SailorEarth: Want to make an original character who ''also'' grew up in a Vault? Easy, just make up a number between 001 and 999 and add the word "Vault" in front of it!

** There is not generally much overlap between fans of the Interplay/Obsidian games and fans of the Bethesda games (though exceptions certainly exist), and the disagreements between the two groups can get rather… [[SeriousBusiness vehement]]. It even spills over to Wiki/TVTropes -- much of this page's edit history can be summed up as a permanent low-intensity Administrivia/EditWar between ''Fallout 1'', ''2'', and ''New Vegas'' fans and ''Fallout 3'' and ''4'' fans. Best advice is to [[SacredCow only say positive things]] about ''all'' of the games (aside from ''[[BlackSheep Brotherhood of Steel]]'', of course) and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere flee]] if/when the arguments increase in pitch and fervor.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: Accidentally calling the Vault Boy "Pip Boy" or "Fallout Boy".

* UncannyValley: The characters from all of the games, to some degree. God bless Black Isle/Obsidian and Bethesda, they all ''try'' their hardest to make the characters look realistic, but this issue still crops up in each game.
** TheMaster from the first game is most definitely an '''intentional''' version, [[NightmareFuel and is a damn creepy one as well.]]
*** Infant Shaun and Mama Murphy are unfortunately unintentional examples. However, [[LackOfEmpathy Institute]] [[SuperSoldier Coursers]] are another ''deliberate'' example, as their awkward facial animations and intentionally monotone delivery makes them come across as something only doing an ''impression'' of acting human...and not really bothering to put that much effort into it anyway.

* GenerationalSaga: Never explicitly stated, but some options on [[MultipleChoicePast the Courier's history]][[note]]Especially with the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC[[/note]] allow the interpretation that s/he's descended from the Arroyo tribe. In full effect for Fallout 1 and 2, as the Chosen One is the Vault Dweller's grandchild.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Liberty Prime]]. Either he's the most awesome LargeHam giant robot ever and a standout set-piece that makes the march to the pre-Broken Steel final encounter insanely memorable, or he's emblematic of everything accused of being ''wrong'' with the Bethesda-era Fallouts by removing all the challenge of the final push while gleefully missing the point of the original games' message by being a propaganda spewing, [[NukeEm Nuke-tossing]] middle finger to the anti-establishment and anti-nuke themes. Those who have a more neutral opinion accept Liberty Prime as being a bold-faced parody of such characters, but have complained that the rebuilt version of him in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' being almost entirely ''un''ironic to be completely groan-worthy as he brings the final push against the Institute to a grinding halt to ''salute a war memorial''.

* IAmNotShazam: The Vault Boy is '''not''' called [=PipBoy=]. Even the developers of ''Fallout Tactics'' fell into that. Vault Boy is the blond, wavy haired man in the blue jumpsuit, and [=PipBoy=] is the redhead pixie in the yellow and orange spacesuit, visible on the [=PipBoy=] itself in the first two games, in case you were wondering. And his name is '''not''' Music/FallOutBoy either, despite his face being prominent in all ''Fallout'' games.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The FPS series (''3'', ''New Vegas'', and ''4'') have a very healthy fanbase in Japan, where first-person games and western [=RPGs=] tend not to catch on, with only [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion a]] [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim few]] [[Franchise/{{Halo}} exceptions]].[[note]]To say nothing of the fact that two of those games were made by Creator/BethesdaSoftworks themselves![[/note]] Adding onto this surprise is the games' popularity despite Japan's NuclearWeaponsTaboo, though it does help that Fallout pulls very few punches when it comes to displaying the [[AtomicHate downsides]] of unrestricted nuclear warfare.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The FPS series (''3'', ''New Vegas'', and ''4'') have a very healthy fanbase in Japan, where first-person games and western [=RPGs=] tend not to catch on, with only [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion a]] [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim few]] exceptions.[[note]]To say nothing of the fact that both of those fames were made by Creator/BethesdaSoftworks themselves![[/note]] Adding onto this surprise is the games' popularity despite Japan's NuclearWeaponsTaboo, though it does help that Fallout pulls very few punches when it comes to displaying the [[AtomicHate downsides]] of unrestricted nuclear warfare.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The FPS series (''3, ''New Vegas'', and ''4'') have a very healthy fanbase in Japan, where first-person games and western [=RPGs=] tend not to catch on, with only [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion a]] [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim few]] exceptions.[[note]]To say nothing of the fact that both of those fames were made by Creator/BethesdaSoftworks themselves![[/note]] Adding onto this surprise is the games' popularity despite Japan's NuclearWeaponsTaboo, though it does help that Fallout pulls very few punches when it comes to displaying the [[AtomicHate downsides]] of unrestricted nuclear warfare.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The FPS series (''3, ''New Vegas'', and ''4'') have a very healthy fanbase in Japan, where first-person games and western RPGs tend not to catch on, with only [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion a]] [[VideoGames/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim few]] exceptions.[[note]]To say nothing of the fact that both of those fames were made by Creator/BethesdaSoftworks themselves![[/note]] Adding onto this surprise is the games' popularity despite Japan's NuclearWeaponsTaboo, though it does help that Fallout pulls very few punches when it comes to displaying the [[NuclearHate downsides]] of unrestricted nuclear warfare.

* CapitalismIsBad: The background of the games features hundreds of corrupt corporations, an oligarchic US government and a nuclear war being fought over oil resources. Just think about who consumes oil for a second.

** ''Fallout 4'' somehow got ''Creator/LyndaCarter'' to record her own songs for the game - and '''all''' are worth a listen to (or a few dozen!).