History Fallout4 / TropesJToP

* ObliviouslyEvil: The Mechanist [[spoileris convinced they are "saving" the people of the Commonwealth with their robot army. It takes some convincing from Ada and the Sole Survivor that AIIsACrapshoot and their robobrains are deliberately misinterpreting orders and murdering civilians.]]
** Considering that the ones doing the interpretation have human brains, it's more along the lines of HumansAreBastards.

** [[TheConspiracy The Institute's]] Directorate are ''furious'' at [[BigBad Father]] for naming [[spoiler: ''you'' as his successor as the Director of the Institute]]. Considering how the [[spoiler: Sole Survivor]] gained access to the Institute through subterfuge and is largely seen as a dangerous outsider, they're not presented as being wrong for opposing [[spoiler: your appointment]].

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: After killing [[spoiler: Kellogg]], you get to experience a few of his past memories via a virtual reality chamber, thanks to using his cybernetic brain augmenter.
** If you visit the Memory Den prior to meeting Nick Valentine, you can relive your ''own'' memories of [[spoiler: Shaun's kidnapping and Nate/Nora's death]], with the Sole Survivor's thoughts added instead of [[spoiler: Kellogg's]].

* JustAMachine: The Brotherhood of Steel views Synths as machines that [[FinalSolution must be eradicated]]. [[spoiler: When one of them is revealed to be a Synth, Elder Maxson [[KickTheDog immediately referred to him]] as "[[ItIsDehumanizing it]]".]]

*** The Institute is also responsible for [[spoiler: all of the Super Mutants in the Commonwealth. This is one use of the people they kidnap.]]

* KillTheParentRaiseTheChild: The game opens with [[MadScientist The Institute]] killing your spouse and kidnapping your baby, as his genes are uniquely uncorrupted by radiation, and then raising him as one of their own [[spoiler: until he eventually becomes the BigBad]]. Unfortunately for them, as your own genetics make you a decent backup in case of his death, they leave you alive, leading to a RoaringRampageOfRescue.

* LightIsNotGood: The Institute is the white, cleanest, brightest area in the game, designed with a futuristic, heavenly look that would have been impressive even [=Pre-War=]. This doesn't stop them from kidnapping people, experimenting on them, replacing them with Synths, enslaving potentially sentient Synths, and [[spoiler: maybe]] destroying the Commonwealth Provisional Government.

** Settlements. They can be a huge investment in time, resources and perks that could be spent on more direct character upgrades. But if you make that investment, what you'll have is a vast network of heavily defended hubs filled with traders and settlers, continuously producing vast supplies of food, scrap and caps. The former of which can be used to create an unlimited supply of [[CommonplaceRare adhesive]], or simply used to swamp vendors in huge piles of Mutfruit so you can laugh maniacally in [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts Adam Smith's]] face. During the Minuteman quest line you gain access to producing artillery for each settlement. Having each settlement have an artillery piece means you can safely shell hardened positions at a distance and with the maxed-out Explosive Expert perk, you can tell where your flares are going and have the shells hit twice as hard. [[spoiler: This also means that the Minutemen are also the ''only'' group with anti-air capability ''and'' the command structure to make good on it as the Brotherhood learn with the fall of ''The Prydwen''.]]

* MamaBear[=/=]PapaWolf: No matter which parent you play, all of the dialogue options makes your character obsessive on the subject of finding your child. Dialogue ranges from a polite "Where the hell is my son?" to an angry "Where the fuck is my son, you bastard!" Even the sarcastic option when [[spoiler: Kellogg speaks to Nate/Nora via Valentine]] is yelling "Oh, you wanna throw down, asshole?!" to [[spoiler: the (dead) man who stole your child]].

* MassOhCrap: In the ''Nuka-World'' DLC, there is the optional quest “Open Season". In it, [[spoiler: the Sole Survivor decides to ''wipe out'' all the Raiders of Nuka-World along with their bosses and free all their captives]]. The moment that [[spoiler: the Survivor kills the first Raider Boss]], ''every-single'' Raider in the park, regardless of which group they are in, realize what’s happening and that [[spoiler: they are now totally screwed]].

** In the endings where [[spoiler: you destroy the Institute, the C.I.T. campus and surrounding areas end up getting cratered]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: You get this reaction from [[spoiler: the Mechanist, if you can convince them to accept the truth that their robobrains are directing their bots to kill innocents.]]

* NoEntrance: Despite most of the Commonwealth looking for signs of one for decades, an entrance to The Institute was never found, and the only remnants of the original Commonwealth Institute of Technology are bombed-out ruins. [[spoiler: That's because The Institute has no physical entrances. Getting in requires teleporting in and out several hundred feet below ground.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In the "Hole in the Wall" quest, [[spoiler: you're sent into a secret section of Vault 81 to retrieve a cure for child bitten by a mole rat. The disease isn't just a plot point -- it's something you can actually (and probably will) catch unless you're very careful, and it gives a debuff of -10 max health. There's only one sample of the cure, and you can't split it between yourself and the child. If you use the cure, the child will die, and if you don't, the debuff is ''permanent''.]] Your reward for this quest if you give it to the child? A Syringer rifle that ''is'' valuable and rare, but you can acquire one easier if you know where to look. However, maybe you just want the room in the Vault to use as a player house that they give out of gratitude.

* NoOshaCompliance: At the Dunwich Borers location, many of the terminals in the mine have complaints from the various supervisors in the area that they need safety equipment installed, such as railings and load bearing beams. The management's response to said complaints boils down to "stop falling to your deaths morons!", and complain that safety equipment costs money. Hilariously, during the upcoming holiday event, they also make all the employees pay for it via withholding money on their next paycheck, suggesting the company is either in financial trouble, very greedy, or possibly both. [[spoiler: But since judging by what lurks at the bottom of the mine and considering the Dunwich Building in ''Fallout 3'', this may be voluntary...]]

* NuclearOption: In order to halt the Institute from bring terror upon the Commonwealth with their synthetic humans, you must nuke the entire facility to shut down the Institute for good. The quest name is also called "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Nuclear Option]]". The other option is to join the Institute and change it by [[spoiler: becoming the Director of the Institute itself]].

* ObliviouslyEvil: The Mechanist [[spoiler: is convinced they are "saving" the people of the Commonwealth with their robot army. It takes some convincing from Ada and the Sole Survivor that AIIsACrapshoot and their robobrains are deliberately misinterpreting orders and murdering civilians.]]

** Averted for [[spoiler: [[DefectorFromDecadence Virgil]], who [[LampshadeHanging points out]] that he's a bit sketchy about the details in his teleportation schematics, since he was in the bio-engineering branch of the Institute.]] He might be better described as an Omnidisciplinary Engineer, since not knowing the details of ''how'' it works doesn't prevent him from designing something that ''does'' work.

* OnlySaneMan: While they can be sarcastic, questioning, or pleasant, the Sole Survivor tends to act in a very calm and subdued manner compared to just about everyone else around them. Likewise, their complaints and insults tend to be right on the money for how bizarre and idiotic a lot of the post-Great War stuff around them is. For example, one of the player characters responses is to call Moe a dumbass after Moe explains that baseball used to be played by teams beating each other to death with "swatters." When not making a choice, they tend to be a calm and pleasant person, offput by the utter weirdos surrounding them. Given they're the only survivor of the Pre-War era except for ghouls, [[BrainInAJar Brains In Jars]], Mister House, [[spoiler: the Cabot family, John-Caleb Bradberton]], and Stanislaus Braun, this shouldn't be surprising.

** While [[NobleBigot Elder Maxson]]'s vicious rant [[spoiler:when confronting [[TomatoInTheMirror Paladin Danse]] is at first a straight-forward KickTheDog moment]], he can be talked down and [[spoiler: convinced to simply [[TheExile exile Danse]] from the Brotherhood instead of having him executed]].
** After the Institute [[spoiler: got the unmutated cells they needed from Shaun so as to create [[ArtificialHuman Gen 3 Synths]]]], they accepted him as their own child without prejudice and contempt.

** [[spoiler: If you take the Minutemen ending path, but have antagonized the Brotherhood of Steel along the way, the Minutemen will go to war with the [=BoS=] in the post-endgame after the defeat of the Institute. This involves using a combined artillery strike from all of your settlements to shoot down the ''Prydwen'', then defending the Castle from the final assault from the remaining Brotherhood army. Unlike the Railroad ending path, going to war with the Brotherhood as the Minutemen is entirely optional. If you complete the game without making them enemies, they'll instead just be miffed that you didn't invite them to the party.]]

** Using mods naturally disables platform Achievement/Trophies. There is a [[https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12465 PC exclusive mod]] (due to requiring the ''Fallout 4 Script Extender'' to function) that will restore the ability to get UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} Achievements, however.

* MassOhCrap: In the ''Nuka-World'' DLC, there is the optional quest “Open Season. In it, [[spoiler: the Sole survivor decides to WIPE OUT the Raiders of Nuka-World, and free all their captives. The moment you kill the first Raider Boss]], ''every'' Raider in the park realize what’s happening and that they are now totally screwed.

* PowerMisidentification: Downplayed with the "Ghoulish" Perk. The perk's in-game description advertises the ability as "regenerating lost health when being irradiated." This is ''not'' how the perk works in-practice; instead serving more as a buffer against how much health you lose when you're taking Rad Damage; compensating a portion of it per Rank. The Nuka-World [=DLC=] adds an extra rank to the Perk that works per the initial pitch, decreasing your Rads and regenerating health at a set rate.

* PowerMisidentification: Downplayed with the "Ghoulish" Perk. The perk's in-game description advertises the ability as "regenerating lost health when being irradiated." This is ''not'' how the perk works in-practice; instead serving more as a buffer against how much health you lose when you're taking Rads, that buffer stronger per Rank. The Nuka-World [=DLC=] adds an extra rank to the Perk that works per the initial pitch, decreasing your Rads and regenerating health at a set rate.

* MoreDakka: Automatic weapons and the minigun make liberal use of this trope. Special mention goes to the Accelerated minigun, which fills the screen with bullets and munches ammo like a hungry pig.

** Nick Valentine is a clockwork dick. And his vaguely necrotic rubbery skin makes him a ''zombie'' clockwork dick {{From A Certain Point Of View}}.

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: One way to get into Boston Public Library is to enter an employee ID number. If the Sole Survivor guesses "123456", the entry system says "Hello Mister Mayor!"
** The password to get into the Railroad's [[ElaborateUndergroundBase Elaborate Underground Base]] is...[[spoiler:"Railroad."]] This can even get [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by the [[PlayerCharacter Sole Survivor]] when talking to the Railroad's leaders later on, with them attempting to justify it by pointing out that in the [[DeathWorld Commonwealth]], the ability to actually ''spell'' their password isn't very common.

* PreferableImpersonator: One quest revolves around The Institute replacing a homesteader with a Synth. The original homesteader was a belligerent drunk who beat his wife and kids, and although they don't know the reason why, his kids will tell you that he suddenly became a lot nicer a short time ago.

** Players who are unwilling to lug around the very heavy Fat Man will have a lot of fun with the far handier Nuka Grenades. While these are somewhat weaker than mini-nukes, their damage output is still monstrous for something so small.
** Last but not least, there's no nastier surprise than suddenly hearing the rapid fuse countdown of a [[OhCrap Nuke Mine]] hidden somewhere in the underbrush...

* OutOfGenreExperience: There are hints of Lovecraftian horror to be found out in the Commonwealth, most especially the quest line involving [[spoiler:Cabot House]].

* NicknamingTheEnemy: Many Wastelanders call the Institute's android replicants "Synths", both as a FantasticSlur and for convenience's sake.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: Transitions into and out of larger buildings result in a load screen, particularly annoying at the National Guard base which involves going in and out of various doors to get into different parts of the same building. Averted when traveling the larger world, where you can walk from one end of the map to the other without interruption (except for the things that will try to kill you).

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: Transitions into and out of larger buildings result in a load screen, particularly annoying at the National Guard base which involves going in and out of various doors to get into different parts of the same building.

*** There was an NCR-like organization called the Commonwealth Provisional Government, which was going to help the various groups rebuild. Each group sent a representative. [[spoiler: The Institute sent a [[KillAndReplace synth]] to represent themselves... and it [[http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Massacre_of_the_Commonwealth_Provisional_Government killed the other representatives]]. Possibly subverted since the Institute claims the deaths were due to infighting, and due to too many {{Unreliable Narrator}}s on both side], [[AmbiguousSituation we don't really know which one is right anymore]]]].
*** The massacre of University Point of 2285. [[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.]]

*** Almost literally, [[spoiler: you can find cats in the FEV lab that they were apparently giving to the Super Mutants, either as playthings or food. None are left alive by the time you get there]].
*** [[spoiler: Leaving the Sole Survivor in Vault 111 even after they had human-looking Synths by 2229, only two years after taking Shaun. Even Father admits there was no reason for keeping them there for so long.]]

*** Kellogg gets one even after he [[spoiler:murders your spouse and steals your child. All of the cryogenically frozen people in Vault 111 were actually alive and fine until he awoke them, then let everyone suffocate in their cages except you. It was an act of mass murder on a grand scale. Relatedly, he works for the Institute, who ordered him to do so.]]

* ObviousBeta:
** The 1.3 patch, in addition to a variety of cross-platform bug fixes and feature tweaks, promised to dramatically increase object fading distances on consoles. This was not a game-breaker, but if the developers could not find the time to fully optimise the game for fixed, well-known, popular platforms before release, then they may have been rushing it a bit.
** When the ''Far Harbor'' DLC was released, it had much worse performance on [=PS4=] than on Xbox One, mainly because of different handling of the fog effects. This was eventually fixed.
** The game itself has delicate zone geometry compared to any of the previous Bethesda games or even other mainstream WideOpenSandbox, especially in the Boston downtown area, where many of the buildings have multiple levels and non-separate interiors. This, on top of the denser Commonwealth world design (where the Commonwealth lacks miles of open fields commonly seen in previous Bethesda games), larger base texture and addition of new special effects like Godrays, results in an uneven framerate no matter which version you play. Tinkering with the settings of the PC version or installing mods that reduces several clutter objects might help somewhat, but another technique called "Previs" or "Precombine" might cause issue with pre-rendered static objects, which, if wasn't handled carefully, might lead to things like objects popping up and disappearing, appears "stacked" on top of each other, to downright crashes.
* ObviousRulePatch: You no longer get EXP from enemies who die solely at the hands of your companions. [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas The days of sitting back and letting Boone snipe enemies to death before you even knew they were there for free EXP are over]]. Though, fortunately, if you get at least one legitimate hit in, you still get the EXP. Or completing quests, doing stuff that requires skills such as lockpicking, hacking, also building settlements where every part awards EXP.

* NonStandardGameOver: This can happen ''very'' early on if you spend too much time dallying around Pre-War Sanctuary Hills when the Great War occurs.

** [[AbsoluteXenophobe The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel]] under [[AFatherToHisMen Elder Maxson]] have a rather unnerving streak of {{Fantastic Racism}} a mile wide towards [[ProudWarriorRace Super Mutants]], [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Ghouls]], [[ArtificialHumans Synths]], and [[AIIsACrapshoot intelligent A.I.]]. However, the vast majority of [=BoS=] members (most notably Elder Maxson himself) are shown to hail from [[VideoGame/Fallout3 the Capital Wasteland]], one of the most hostile [[DeathWorld Death Worlds]] seen in the entire series. Further elaborating on that, the reason why the Capital Wasteland is such a {{Crapsack World}} is because it's been constantly run roughshod over (until the [=BoS=] arrived) by [[TechnicallyLivingZombie Feral Ghouls]], [[ImAHumanitarian Vault 87 Super Mutants]], and [[KillerRobot malfunctioning robots]] for the last two centuries. Considering all ''that'', it's not a surprise they have no love for mutated humans and self-aware AI.

[[/folder]]