History Characters / Fallout4TheInstitute

* TheBrute: He's the Institute's main surface operative, and since the Institute usually sends Coursers to take care of "delicate" matters, Kellogg ends up being the one they turn to when they need someone good with a gun.

* TheBrute: Of the Institute. He's their main surface operative to do things their synths can't for whatever reason, and since the Institute usually sends synths to take care of "delicate" matters, Kellogg ends up being the one they turn to when they need someone good with a gun.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: Hunting down and defeating Kellogg marks the end of Act 1.

* ArmchairMilitary: The Institute's human staff and personnel [[spoiler:(aside from Kellogg)]] are comprised entirely of [[NonActionGuy civilians whose knowledge on warfare and combat in general are wholly academic in nature]]. However, it's not as much of a problem though when they can input said knowledge into Synths that are more than capable of using it, especially the SRB's Coursers.

** They also all firmly believe that they are technologically superior to all other factions. While they ''are'' impressively advanced, their research isn't really geared towards weapons and combat - Notably, the base damage on their futuristic laser weapons is on par with or even lower than most crude pipe-based firearms.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Of both the [[FantasticRacism fantastical]] and mundane kinds; For the former, the Institute refuses to recognize the sapience of Gen 3 Synths and treats them as a glorified SlaveRace. For the latter, the Institute has a highly classist view of the Commonwealth's surface dwellers, viewing them with at ''best'' CondescendingCompassion and at worst as [[KillThePoor active threats]] to the achievement of ''their'' "utopia."

((The excuses used by some of the Institute's members for why they shouldn't help Wastelanders are reminiscent of how residents of developed Western countries waive off supplying foreign aid to developing nations, right down to a few Institute scientists outright stating "We shouldn't try to think about it, as it's [[BystanderSyndrome much too depressing to discuss right now."]]

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Most of the Institute's darker elements depend upon the player's interpretation of Synth sentience. "Most" is the operative word here, though.

** And to a (comparatively) lesser extent than the above two, they're also one to the Commonwealth Minutemen. While the Institute regards them as an UnknownRival, the Minutemen and Institute's goals are diametrically opposed to one other. Piper also claims that the Minutemen have directly fought against the Institute's armies in the past and have actually ''won''. Furthermore, it's later revealed that [[spoiler: one of the Minutemen's other ArchEnemy factions -- the local breed of Super Mutants -- are the direct result of the Institute's experimentation]].
* ArmchairMilitary: The Institute's human staff and personnel [[spoiler:(aside from Kellogg)]] are comprised entirely of [[NonActionGuy civilians whose knowledge on warfare and combat in general are wholly academic in nature]]. However, it's not as much of a problem though when they can simply input said knowledge into Synths that are more than capable of using it, especially the SRB's Coursers.

* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Their unique laser rifles. Despite their superior rate of fire and shinier appearance, the Pre-War military Laser Rifle simply hits ''harder'' as a semi-automatic battle rifle, and its automatic version straight-up has the same rate of fire, while doing more damage, which allows the Brotherhood's Knights in their heavy armor armed with superior lasers to simply wade through the waves of Synths the Institute throws at it. [[ZigzaggedTrope That being said]], their own unique laser rifles are still more practical from the Institute's own perspective as they're more cost-effective to create in vast quantities.
** Idle dialogue reveals they consider [[PoweredArmour Power Armor]] to be this, which is why they don't use it.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: For all its shady activities, it's pretty clear that many in the Institute buy into the PR to maintain their ForScience pretensions and avoid examining what they're truly doing.

* ConspiracyRedemption: The Sole Survivor can try to drag the Institute towards this, particularly by undermining the SRB in their quests, [[spoiler:eventually framing Justin Ayo and getting him exiled and replaced by Secord, who focuses the SRB on recovering salvage team Synths who are captured and ''want'' to be returned. [[GuideDangIt Getting this done is pretty hard, though,]] since the quest will disappear the moment you meet the Railroad.]] And ultimately, [[ALighterShadeOfBlack the improvement is only relative]].

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To Caesar's Legion. While they share a worrying amount of similarities, they also are meant to deliberately contrast with each other. The Institute is technophilic, basing their entire society around the creation of {{Artificial Human}}s. Meanwhile, the technophobic Legion deliberately keeps themselves limited on the tech spectrum because of Caesar's personal beliefs. The Legion is a purely military organization run in a brutal dictatorship that rules over its subjects with harsh and direct punishment. The Institute is a purely civilian organization run in a loose confederacy (the various Institute divisions are mentioned as mostly working independently unless the Directorate personally steps in and wants multiple departments to work together on a single project) that rules over its subjects with cloak-and-dagger tactics that breed paranoia and makes sure people never know who was really holding the smoking gun. The Legion's military is powerful and expansionist, with only the NCR exceeding their might, while the Institute is actually rather weak in a straight fight, only kept safe by their secrecy and focus on espionage. The Legion also intentionally stylizes itself after both the Roman Empire and ancient Sparta since Caesar is invoking ideas from history to create what he felt would be a sustainable government in the Wasteland, while the Institute intentionally tries to avoid established iconography because they see themselves as the ''true'' inheritors of the future and not chained to the past, but in practice take heavy influences from the Soviet Union while living in their own mini-paradise isolated from the surrounding Wasteland.

* CutLexLuthorACheck: The Institute invents some wondrous inventions that would make them the heroes of the Commonwealth if they ever bothered to apply themselves as such. For one, they have [[WeHaveReserves nearly limitless]] amounts of Gen 1 and 2 Synths that they could sic on just about anything from Raiders to Super Mutants to earn the goodwill of the people. [[spoiler:Teleportation would allow them to move people and supplies around the Commonwealth effortlessly.]] The [=BioScience=] division is even shown working on means of growing healthy food efficiently in the wastes. If they really put in the effort to help the people, they would have a much better response compared to kidnapping people in the night and causing mass paranoia. [[JustifiedTrope Possibly justified though]], if their account of what happened to the Commonwealth Provisional Government is correct. Furthermore, it's also shown that the Institute's already struggling for resources as-is, so it can be inferred that part of the reason that they didn't help the Commonwealth more is [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome that they simply didn't have the necessary resources to do so.]]
* CynicismCatalyst: [[spoiler:The abysmal failure that was the Commonwealth Provisional Government. The Institute had been attempting for years to get the towns of the Commonwealth to form a functioning government only for all the representatives to slaughter one another. And as if ''that'' all wasn't enough, the Institute was scapegoated for the fiasco. No wonder they want as little to do with the surface as possible.]]

* DestructiveTeleportation: The Institute is [[spoiler:able to keep its location a secret by]] using a molecular teleporter to send [[spoiler:its agents in and out]]. It's a destructive form of teleportation due to how, as Virgil says, it "de-materializes you in one place, re-materializes you in another". [[spoiler:Coursers have a special chip in their brains that allow them to access the teleporter on a frequency hidden in the Classical Radio signal. The main story quest "The Molecular Level" is about finding a way to access the teleporter frequency to infiltrate the Institute, and so long as you remain in the Institute's good graces, you'll be given free use of the teleporter]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The excuses used by some of the Institute's members for why they shouldn't help Wastelanders are reminiscent of how residents of developed Western countries waive off supplying foreign aid to developing nations, right down to a few Institute scientists outright stating "We shouldn't try to think about it, as it's [[BystanderSyndrome much too depressing to discuss right now."]]

* {{Foil}}: Serves as an EvilCounterpart to the Sole Survivor due to the similarities, and differences, in their pasts. Both are parents who lost their children, but while the Sole Survivor have had a more-or-less happy Pre-War life and eventually becomes a key leader of the Commonwealth, Kellogg grew up in the worst of conditions, and has had nothing but pain in his entire life, leading him to become an amoral gun-for-hire.

** Kellogg lost his wife and child to Raiders and became a scourge on the Wasteland as a result, just like the Sole Survivor. Kellogg, however, never bothers to use it to positive ends and just lets his grief eat him up. Notably, he's fully aware of the similarity and believes this is why the Survivor is the most dangerous man/woman in the Wasteland.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Zig-zagged. They're certainly the most technologically advanced faction on the East Coast, and they've almost perfected Synth technology, but within the wider context of the ''Fallout'' world they're far from the brightest bunch out there. For reference, the Master managed to nearly perfect the FEV more than a century ago, Mr. House built up a deadly and intelligent robot army by himself (though he admittedly did this ''before'' the Great War), and the Think Tank blows pretty much every other group out of the water. Father even laments that all they've done is build up Synth technology and infiltrate the surface world. Even in-game, the Institute laser weapons that Synths wield are ''weaker'' than the Pre-War military issue laser weapon (due to them being made of low-cost plastics), and ''nothing'' compared to what the NCR has (companies in the NCR like the Gun Runners and the Van Graffs can produce far superior energy weapons on an industrial scale, which mercenaries and special forces soldiers from the Republic are shown to use).
** Ultimately, the Institute can be seen as an advertisement for why the social and political sciences exist. Their utter lack of expertise in either field has led to over a hundred years of disastrously counterproductive relations with the surface. This is particularly notable when standing in stark comparison with the Brotherhood, which deliberately and successfully cultivates soft power through good works and publicity.
** However, many of these examples are actually justified to a certain extent. Institute laser weapons are superior to Pre-War lasers in that they are easier to mass-manufacture with less resources than it takes for Pre-War lasers. Furthermore, most of the Institute's efforts are dedicated to building up their own facility than spreading out their influence directly.

* ManipulativeBastard: It's an open secret that they've been running the Commonwealth through various proxies, subterfuge, manufactured crises and various covert activities.

* {{Expy}}: Can be seen as one of Arcade Gannon from ''Fallout: New Vegas''. Both are scientist who belong or once belonged to insular organization most regard as the enemy. However both of them are idealists with a good heart but can't have a really "happy" ending no matter what the player's choices are[[note]]Though Arcade is substantially better off in this department[[/note]]. Depending on the player's choices [[spoiler:they both may even commit suicide after the conclusion of the main story]].

* AscendedExtra: Like the Railroad, they were originally mentioned in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' but are now arguably the most important faction in the game.

* FakeUltimateMook: The Coursers, albeit downplayed to a certain extent in that they usually only appear as part of {{Boss Battle}}s. They're initially built up as immensely effective agents to the point that it's considered unbelievable that the [[OneManArmy Sole Survivor]] could even kill ''one.'' While they are still pretty damn tough, they only have about twice as much hit points as EliteMooks (LevelScaling keeps this consistent), below-average armor, stronger limb health, and average weapons. They're only notable in their use of Stealth Boys, which aren't worth much (presumably, they're much better at infiltration and ambushes than direct combat). It's arguably justified in that Coursers being seen on the surface serve as a pretty good sign InUniverse of you having the Institute's undivided attention... and now you likely won't be that long for this earth. Lampshaded if you bring Paladin Danse with you to kill Z2-47.

*** In the Brotherhood ending, it's Doctor Li, who helps in rebuilding Liberty Prime. [[spoiler:Danse arguably counts too, since he's a Synth.]]

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->'''Voiced by:''' Matthew Yang King

->'''Voiced by:''' Derek Phillips

->'''Voiced by:''' Roger Jackson

->'''Voiced by:''' Dave Fennoy

* ConservationOfNinjutsu; Whenever their synths get forced into open combat, their vaunted Coursers tend to find themselves downgraded from OneManArmy status to mere EliteMook, both at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and if the Institute decides to attack the Castle.

* TakeAThirdOption: The Sole Survivor can either defuse Higgs and Loken's attempted revolt by either hacking a terminal so as to lift their lockdown and [[KillEmAll murder them both]], sneak through the [[spoiler:abandoned [=FEV=] lab]] so as to kill them in a ''different'' way, [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath peacefully talk Higgs and Loken down]] so that they will support you in [[spoiler:becoming the new Director]]...''or'' releasing the Synth Gorillas in the [=BioScience=] division, whereupon they immediately kill both Loken and Higgs.

* OverratedAndUnderleveled: Everyone in the Commonwealth speaks of the Institute and their Synths as dangerous boogeymen, the player regularly finds forces of Raiders and Gunners and Super Mutants who have been gunned down by Synths, and the Brotherhood of Steel believes they're the most technologically advanced force in the world and the greatest threat to their existence since the Enclave. While their technological innovations in other fields are impressive, when it comes to warfare, the Institute falls far short of their reputation -- Institute laser weaponry is weaker than the standard lasers used in the Commonwealth for centuries, their armor is comparable to metal armor aside from higher energy resistance (ie, Synth armor is just as bullet-resistant as a rusted plate of scrap metal), and the Synths the player fights usually aren't much of a threat and go down easily. May be considered justified that most of people in the Commonwealth wear padded rags for clothes and carry homemade pipe pistols for defense, and thus indeed would be easy prey for a team of Synths.

** Although they're generally contemptuous of the surface world, those that join their ranks are treated well and don't suffer prejudice from those born within the Institute, as shown by Madison Li rising to lead one of their departments. Another scientist in the Commonwealth has been observed by the Institute for potential recruitment and they've covertly provided him data to encourage his research, and when they ask the player to speak with him they emphasize that you not harm him and tell him his quality of life will improve if his accepts. After abducted Shaun, [[spoiler:they raised him within the Institute, and there's nothing to indicate he received any form of mistreatment -- to the contrary, he's loyal to them as if they were his true family.]]
** Even some of their {{Kick The Dog}} moments have silver linings, like when they replaced the patriarch of a family as mentioned above. The real father was a belligerent and philandering drunk who abused his family. The Synth they replaced him with decided to be a better husband and father to the family, even though doing so was counter-productive to maintaining his façade.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After they got the needed unmutated cells from Shaun, they accepted him as their own child without prejudice or contempt.]]

*** Additionally, while [=X6-88=] and the Sole Survivor are sent to take Gabriel/[=B5-92=] back to the Institute in "Synth Retention" primarily because he's an escapee, it was also done because the Institute was concerned about the many innocent lives being taken by Gabriel's Raiders at Libertalia.

** For all their xenophobic paranoia towards Wastelanders, they treat the ones they do recruit, like Madison Li and T.S. Wallace, as complete equals.

* HiddenDepths: While overall the Institute's residents seem blissfully ignorant and supportive of their technocratic and totalitarian government, there are apparently many citizens who are morally repulsed by the injustices they inflict upon the Commonwealth and actively (though clandestinely) resist it.

* FatalFlaw: [[SevenDeadlySins Pride and Sloth]]. They're convinced that they're humanity's best and only hope for the preservation of the species, and because of that they've sequestered themselves in their base refusing to get involved with the outside world, and have lost sight of any goal beyond continuing their experiments for their own sake instead of using them to ''actually'' try and rebuild society. This directly leads to their downfall in several ways: their tendency to take what they want from the surface by force using synths means they have no goodwill from the Commonwealth; they have no surface operatives aside from Kellogg, a "shoot first, don't brother asking later" mercenary who can't be trusted with delicate matters; a major reason Father is so welcoming to the Sole Survivor and eventually [[spoiler:appoints him his heir as Director]] is because he's frustrated with the Institute's stagnation and believes only an outsider can change that; and the player can convince Dr. Li to [[spoiler:return to the Brotherhood of Steel and help rebuild Liberty Prime]] by pointing out that she's wasting her time and talent working alongside people who aren't actually doing anything of substance with their research.

* JerkassHasAPoint:
** Most of them protest when Father [[spoiler:names you his successor]]. Considering how they don't really know you, you can betray them whenever you like, and Father didn't even discuss it with them before, their protesting is perfectly reasonable.
** A holotape you find reveals that the infamous Broken Mask Incident in Diamond City wasn't caused intentionally, but by a ''malfunctioning'' Synth that was deployed without being properly tested. Combining both that and what the Mechanist did in ''Automatron,'' it's far more understandable why they want to keep their Synths on such a tight leash.
** The Institute has (more or less) written off the entire surface as a lost cause and thinks the future of humanity is with themselves underground. This outlook is [[KickTheDog remarkably cruel]] and short-sighted...but not ''entirely'' unmerited, given not only how [[CrapsackWorld utterly hellish the Wasteland truly is]], but also how most Post-War societies seen in the series are shown to be incredibly flawed and downright self-destructive (the New California Republic's military over-extension and incompetent/corrupt bureaucracy spring to mind, for instance). Furthermore, the [[spoiler:dismal catastrophe that was the Commonwealth Provisional Government]] can make it pretty understandable why they want as little to do with the surface as possible.

* AmbiguousSituation: The ultimate fate of the Commonwealth Provisional Government, and how involved the Institute was in its downfall.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Institute's residents have been led to believe that the surface world is a lost cause impossible to save [[spoiler:(in part after the dismal failure that was the Commonwealth Provisional Government)]]. Thusly, in their eyes it's perfectly acceptable to screw with the surface, as the people up there are essentially "dead men walking." Or, to put it more succinctly, they see helping the surface as tantamount to "trying to bail out the ''Titanic'' with a wastebucket."

** They are quick to decry the chaos and lack of civilization on the surface of the Commonwealth and why they must isolate themselves from it, but a lot of the hell on the surface is a result of ''their'' own meddling:
*** Their use of their Synth armies to kidnap people for experimentation.
*** Their use of Synth replacements to infiltrate, monitor and experiment on people as well as strike at any group that might advance to a technological level high enough to threaten them, sowing the seeds of distrust and self-destruction on the surface.
*** Their sabotaging the creation of the Commonwealth Provisional Government. Their actions furthered paranoia and division among the people of the Commonwealth. [[spoiler:However, one of the loading screen hints reveals that it wasn't ''completely'' their fault. All the representatives at the talks started fighting due to mutual distrust, with the Institute rep being the only survivor and the Institute taking the blame for everything.]]
*** Their [[spoiler:creation of Super Mutants in the Commonwealth by abducting people, exposing them to FEV,]] and then discarding them like trash.
*** The University Point Massacre, where they sent an army of Synths led by Kellogg to [[KillEmAll kill the entire population]] of one of the Commonwealth's biggest and most stable settlements, just because the people didn't hand over some scientific data a girl had discovered to them quickly enough.

* WeaponOfChoice: Their synths are always armed with the Institute laser pistols and rifles, a bulky raygun that fires out weaker blue lasers at a faster rate than their red laser pre-war counterparts. Additionally, their Synths wield electric stun batons for close-ranged combat and their Coursers liberally use stealth boys to even the playing field since they don't use power armor.

* KickTheDog: There was no real reason for him to murder Nate/Nora, and even less to turn off life support for everyone else in Vault 111 save for the Sole Survivor except for orders from the Institute.
** The AmbiguousSituation behind the University Point Massacre makes it uncertain if it was committed under the Institute's orders, or if it was just out of impatience on Kellogg's part (he did shoot a person for refusing to let him kidnap their baby, after all).

* ELiteMooks: Generation 1 Synths are nothing more than metallic skeletons that can provide some basic locomotion, and can dispatched easily even by pipe guns. As such, when facing superior firepower, Generation 2 Synths are often deployed, and they generally always put up a better fight due to having plastic shells and synth body armor that can protect their more delicate internal components.

** The massacre of University Point three years prior. [[spoiler:It used to be a thriving settlement, until a girl found the secret Army lab under the Bank. Then the Institute demanded the lab's contents be given to them. When the town didn't immediately agree to do it on that day's town meeting [[note]]they had not categorically refused either, with some of the townsfolk even wanting to give them the girl along with the tech to placate them[[/note]], rather than wait or negotiate the Institute returned three days later with armed Synths and killed everyone in University Point. Ironically, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they screwed themselves over by killing/driving off the only person]] who knew where it was and ended up never finding it.]]