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* KickTheDog: Elder Maxson begins his speech to a recruit PC by talking about how synths are worse than the atom bomb and how it is disgusting that any machine would ever think it could be the equal of a man. At the very least, the [=PCs=] have met Nick Valentine and Codsworth at this point. They may also have met Curie and even helped her become as close to human as she can get. It gets worse if you're in a romance with her.
** There was an NCR-like organization called the Commonwealth Provisional Government, which was going to help the various groups rebuild. The Institute sent a synth operative to destroy the organization's leadership[[spoiler: or did they? Institute logs say that they did their best to support the CPG, and the Institute was scapegoated when the CPG representatives killed each other due to infighting]].
** There was an NCR-like organization called the Commonwealth Provisional Government, which was going to help the various groups rebuild. The Institute sent a synth operative to destroy the organization's leadership[[spoiler: or did they? Institute logs say that they did their best to support the CPG, and the Institute was scapegoated when the CPG representatives killed each other due to infighting]].
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* KickTheDog: Elder Maxson begins his speech The Institute seems to a recruit PC by talking about how synths are worse than the atom bomb and how it is disgusting that any machine would ever think it could be the equal of a man. At the very least, the [=PCs=] have met Nick Valentine and Codsworth at this point. They may also have met Curie and even helped her become as close to human as she can get. It gets worse if you're in been on a romance with her.
puppy-kicking spree for centuries.
** 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 asynth operative [[KillAndReplace synth]] to destroy represent themselves... and it [[http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Massacre_of_the_Commonwealth_Provisional_Government killed the organization's leadership[[spoiler: or did they? other representatives]]. The Institute logs say that they did their best to support claims [[BlatantLies the CPG, and the Institute was scapegoated when the CPG representatives killed each other deaths were due to infighting]].infighting]]]].
** 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
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** 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.]]
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** 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. He works for the Institute.]]
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** The Institute synths in a nutshell. As a focused example, the Courser class synths are basically Terminators: they are different from the other synths as they have sophisticated human disguises, they are also hunters that are dispatched by the Institute if they need someone dead or something goes wrong for them.
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** The Institute synths [[KillAndReplace in a nutshell.nutshell]]. As a focused example, the Courser class synths are basically Terminators: they are different from the other synths as they have sophisticated human disguises, they are also hunters that are dispatched by the Institute if they need someone dead or something goes wrong for them.
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* LeeroyJenkins: As with previous installments, your sneaking abilities are only as effective as your often overzealous companions allow.
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* LeeroyJenkins: As with previous installments, your sneaking abilities are only as effective as your often [[ArtificialStupidity overzealous companions allow.allow]].
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* PrecisionFStrike: Occasionally dropped by the PlayerCharacter in particularly emotional situations. Often doubles as a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
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* PrecisionFStrike: Occasionally dropped by the PlayerCharacter PlayerCharacter, usually in particularly emotional situations. Often doubles as a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
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-->'''Protagonist:''' Fuck yourself, [[spoiler:Kellogg]]!
-->'''Protagonist:''' Where the fuck is my son, you bastard? (also to [[spoiler:Kellogg]])
-->'''Protagonist:''' Where the fuck is my son, you bastard? (also to [[spoiler:Kellogg]])
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-->'''Protagonist:''' Fuck yourself, you, [[spoiler:Kellogg]]!
-->'''Protagonist:''' Where the fuck is my son, you bastard? (also to[[spoiler:Kellogg]])[[spoiler:Kellogg]], [[ClusterFBomb in the same conversation]])
-->'''Protagonist:''' Fucking kill! (when taking [[DrugsAreBad Psycho]])
-->'''Protagonist:''' Where the fuck is my son, you bastard? (also to
-->'''Protagonist:''' Fucking kill! (when taking [[DrugsAreBad Psycho]])
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* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Mags, William, and the rest of the Operators have one goal, and ONLY one goal in mind for taking over the Nuka World theme park: Making as many caps as they possibly can.
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* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Mags, William, and the rest of the Operators have one goal, and ONLY one goal in mind for taking over the Nuka World Nuka-World theme park: Making as many caps as they possibly can.
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* PrecisionFStrike: Dropped by the PlayerCharacter to their trusty CanineCompanion as a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
-->'''Protagonist:''' Ready to ''fuck some shit up?''
-->'''Protagonist:''' Ready to ''fuck some shit up?''
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* PrecisionFStrike: Dropped Occasionally dropped by the PlayerCharacter to their trusty CanineCompanion in particularly emotional situations. Often doubles as a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
-->'''Protagonist:''' Ready to ''fuck some shitup?''up?'' (to their trusty CanineCompanion in the pre-release trailer)
-->'''Protagonist:''' Fuck yourself, [[spoiler:Kellogg]]!
-->'''Protagonist:''' Where the fuck is my son, you bastard? (also to [[spoiler:Kellogg]])
-->'''Protagonist:''' Ready to ''fuck some shit
-->'''Protagonist:''' Fuck yourself, [[spoiler:Kellogg]]!
-->'''Protagonist:''' Where the fuck is my son, you bastard? (also to [[spoiler:Kellogg]])
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** 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 somwhat weaker than mini-nukes, their damage output is still monstrous for something so small.
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** 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 somwhat somewhat weaker than mini-nukes, their damage output is still monstrous for something so small.
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** 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 somwhat 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...
** 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...
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** The ''Nuka-World''-exclusive Nuka-Nuke Launcher can't be outfitted with the MIRV mod but compensates for its lack of carpet-bombing capabilities with a 50% increase to the regular Fat Man's already ridiculously ginormous damage output. It also retains the standard version's longer range. The downsides: It shoots special Nuka-Nukes that must be crafted from regular Mini-Nukes, and it requires completing an [[GuideDangIt annoying collection sidequest]] in order to gain access to it.
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** In ''Nuka-World'', similar mysteries surround Oswald the Outrageous, [[spoiler:a pre-War stage magician turned Glowing One ghoul. The one of his abilities he himself believes to be magic (healing and reviving other ghouls) is actually something any Glowing One can do thanks to the radiation emanating from their bodies. What's never explained at all is his throw-a-smoke-bomb-and-disappear trick, which is a staple of his profession, but in his case it enables him to leave locked rooms without any opening he could possibly fit through, as well as him covering vast distances in the blink of an eye - may he actually be employing teleportation? Another unexplained trait of Oswald's is his ridiculous resilience to lethal injuries. Sure, ghouls are tough, but not even the most powerful ferals in the game can survive a dozen nukes to the face and still ask for more.]]
** Also in ''Nuka-World'', there's the Grandchester Mystery Manor, a haunted house attraction in the southwest corner of the map [[spoiler:whose story revolves around an allegedly possessed girl that killed her parents and was later found hanged in the attic. Enter this attic and a young girl will run past you, laughing cheerfully before exiting the room through a door that's out of the player's field of view. Opening this door reveals that it doesn't lead into an adjacent room, no - there's nothing behind it but a solid brick wall...]]
** Also in ''Nuka-World'', there's the Grandchester Mystery Manor, a haunted house attraction in the southwest corner of the map [[spoiler:whose story revolves around an allegedly possessed girl that killed her parents and was later found hanged in the attic. Enter this attic and a young girl will run past you, laughing cheerfully before exiting the room through a door that's out of the player's field of view. Opening this door reveals that it doesn't lead into an adjacent room, no - there's nothing behind it but a solid brick wall...]]
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* PowerUpFood: Lots of food items in this game give extra benefits beyond restoring health, especially if you cook them in a cooking station. The supreme king of this trope is probably the Nuka-Cide, a refreshing beverage from the ''Nuka-World'' DLC that heals a massive 1200 hp, restores 300 AP, and temporarily raises your max HP by 50, your max AP by 20, your Rad Resistance by 35, and your carry capacity by 35. Of course, it's TooAwesomeToUse given that you've got to lug back a dozen or so Nuka-Colas of various types to a mixing machine just to make one.
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* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted. There's a questline if you want to side with the Institute. (Also applies if you think the Brotherhood is evil and you side with them.)
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* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted.
** There's a questlineif you want to side with the Institute. (Also Institute, if you want. This also applies if you think the Brotherhood is evil and you side with them.)
** There's a questline
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* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted. There's a questline if you want to side with the Institute. (Also applies if you think the Brotherhood is evil and you side with them.)
** Ever wanted to be a Raider? Visit Nuka-World! Interview well and you can send the gangs on the rest of the park, and even the Commonwealth!
** Ever wanted to be a Raider? Visit Nuka-World! Interview well and you can send the gangs on the rest of the park, and even the Commonwealth!
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* MoralEventHorizon: In-universe example: If you [[spoiler:take over a single Commonwealth settlement on behalf of a Raider faction]] in the ''Nuka-World'' DLC, Preston will immediately and irrevocably despise you.
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* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Mags, William, and the rest of the Operators have one goal, and ONLY one goal in mind for taking over the Nuka World theme park: Making as many caps as they possibly can.
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** One of the first mods made for the game, before the Creation Kit was even released, allowed players to attach weapon mods in any combination they wanted. Missile launchers with gatling gun barrels? [[NoKillLikeOverkill Sure, why not]].
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* 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!"
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** A quest in Far Harbor will make you fight a [[UpToEleven Legendary Mirelurk Queen]]. There is also Shipbreaker, a Legendary Fog Crawler.
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** As usual, [[DemonicSpiders Deathclaws and Sentry Bots]]. Quite a few of the higher-level Super Mutants too.
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** As usual, [[DemonicSpiders Deathclaws and Sentry Bots]].Bots, and later Fog Crawlers]]. Quite a few of the higher-level Super Mutants too.
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** Averted with the perks Lady Killer (for males) and Black Widow (for females), which allow the player to do more damage against human enemies of the opposite gender and make persuading them through dialog easier. As there are more generic male enemies in the game, this provides a slight advantage to a female PlayerCharacter.
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** Averted with the perks Lady Killer (for males) and Black Widow (for females), which allow the player to do more damage against human enemies of the opposite gender and make persuading them through dialog easier. As there are more generic male enemies in the game, this provides a slight advantage to a female PlayerCharacter. Though toned down from the previous games since female Raiders and Gunners are just as common as the male.
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** In the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC, you can make your own Vault Gear-doors. However, they look like the smaller doors with the side-arm pulling them away, as in the art style for the original two Fallout games.
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* MiniGame: There are some holotapes hidden in the game that contain minigames playable on computer terminals and your Pip-Boy, including ''Red Menace'' (which is essentially ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''), ''Atomic Command'' (''VideoGame/MissileCommand''), ''Pipfall'' (''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'', [[SerialNumbersFiledOff natch]]), ''Zeta Invaders'' (''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''), and ''Grognak & the Ruby Ruins'' (an old computer RPG in a similar vain to ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}''). The ''Automatron'' DLC adds another game of the same name, which plays like ''VideoGame/{{Robotron 2084}}''.
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* MiniGame: There are some holotapes hidden in the game that contain minigames playable on computer terminals and your Pip-Boy, including ''Red Menace'' (which is essentially ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''), ''Atomic Command'' (''VideoGame/MissileCommand''), ''Pipfall'' (''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'', [[SerialNumbersFiledOff natch]]), ''Zeta Invaders'' (''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''), and ''Grognak & the Ruby Ruins'' (an old computer RPG in a similar vain vein to ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}''). The ''Automatron'' DLC adds another game of the same name, which plays like ''VideoGame/{{Robotron 2084}}''.
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** The crew of the FMS North Star are ghoulified Norwegian sailors who have become raiders, making them zombie vikings.
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** The crew of the FMS North Northern Star are ghoulified Norwegian sailors who have become raiders, making them zombie vikings.
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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''Far Harbor'', nothing is ever made clear about [[spoiler:the Mother of the Mist]].
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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''Far Harbor'', nothing is ever made clear about [[spoiler:the Mother of the Mist]].Fog]].
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* NoFairCheating: Using mods on the console versions of the game disables Achievements/Trophies. Unfortunately, it disables Steam Achievements as well. That said, there is a [[http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12465 mod]] that re-enables them for people with mods installed, although it's only for the Steam version.
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* NoFairCheating: Using mods on the console versions of the game disables Achievements/Trophies. Unfortunately, it Fair enough. However, because all three versions are essentially the same build, having mods installed on the PC version disables Steam Achievements as well.achievements. That said, there is a [[http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12465 mod]] that re-enables them for people with mods installed, although but it's PC version only for due to requiring the Steam version.''Fallout 4 Script Extender'' to function.
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* LumberMillMayhem: One of the new settlements in Far Harbor is an abandoned lumber mill infested with feral ghouls. Once the Sole Survivor clears it out they can then design their own version of this trope by placing various traps and hazards all around the area.
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Fallout cars are fusion bombs
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** Most of the junked cars scattered around the Commonwealth will explode like a mini-nuke if they sustain enough damage.
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* NoFairCheating: Using mods on the console versions of the game disables Achievements/Trophies. Unfortunately, it disables Steam Achievements as well. That said, there is a [[http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12465 mod]] that re-enables them for people with mods installed, although it's only for the Steam version.
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* MagicPlasticSurgery: The facial reconstruction system in this game is so advanced that it can not only change the Survivor's facial structure, but also their general body structure, and even their ''race'' as well--from White to Black, vice-versa, and everywhere in-between. However, this doesn't stop people from recognizing the Survivor.
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | [[Fallout4/TropesDToI Tropes D-I]]| '''Tropes J-P''' | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | [[Fallout4/TropesDToI Tropes D-I]]| '''Tropes J-P''' | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM [[Fallout4/TropesQToZ Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]Q-Z]] |
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | [[Fallout4/TropesDToI Tropes D-I]]| '''Tropes J-P''' | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | [[Fallout4/TropesDToI Tropes D-I]]| D-I]]| '''Tropes J-P''' | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | '''Tropes D-I''' | [[Fallout4/TropesJToP Tropes J-P]] | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | [[Fallout4/TropesDToI Tropes D-I]]| '''Tropes D-I''' | [[Fallout4/TropesJToP Tropes J-P]] J-P''' | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]
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[[Fallout4/TropesAToC Tropes A-C]] | '''Tropes D-I''' | [[Fallout4/TropesJToP Tropes J-P]] | [[Fallout4/TropesIToM Tropes I-M]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesNToR Tropes N-R]] | [[FalloutNewVegas/TropesSToZ Tropes S-Z]]
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!!!''VideoGame/Fallout4'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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!!!''VideoGame/Fallout4'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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* JetPack: You can mod power armor to have jump jet backpack attachments that let you leap tall buildings in a single bound, the thrust duration of which is provided by Action Points and doing so drains your fusion core like nothing else.
* 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]].
* JumpScare:
** With the new game mechanic, plenty of creatures can now tunnel through the ground and pop up right in front of you, or burst through walls and ceilings unannounced. So prepare for a lot of this and try to not play with a full bladder, especially when said creature is a Radscorpion.
** During "The Big Dig", the player needs to escort a modified Eyebot to clear the fragile walls, leaving a lot of dust and a tunnel behind. While most of them are conveniently empty right behind the walls, a certain one has a Feral Ghoul that will pounce on you through the obscuring dust if you move in too quickly.
** The witchcraft museum in Salem has a few as your progress through the building, culminating in suddenly coming face to face with a very pissed off deathclaw.
** Feral ghouls in general. You see one at a distance, look away for half a second and it's ''right in your face''. They're not the slow, nearly harmless shamblers of ''Fallout 1'' and ''2''.
* JustBeforeTheEnd: The game starts the morning of the very last day of the pre-apocalyptic world, mere minutes before the Great War begins.
* KickTheDog: Elder Maxson begins his speech to a recruit PC by talking about how synths are worse than the atom bomb and how it is disgusting that any machine would ever think it could be the equal of a man. At the very least, the [=PCs=] have met Nick Valentine and Codsworth at this point. They may also have met Curie and even helped her become as close to human as she can get. It gets worse if you're in a romance with her.
** There was an NCR-like organization called the Commonwealth Provisional Government, which was going to help the various groups rebuild. The Institute sent a synth operative to destroy the organization's leadership[[spoiler: or did they? Institute logs say that they did their best to support the CPG, and the Institute was scapegoated when the CPG representatives killed each other due to infighting]].
*** The Institute is also responsible for [[spoiler: all of the Super Mutants in the Commonwealth. This is one use of the people they kidnap.]]
*** During your tour of the Institute, you get to see one of the scientists threatening to scrap a Gen-2 synth with a faulty cleaning chip, saying that maybe something useful will come out of him.
** 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.]]
* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: If you have a high Armorer skill and some spare Ballistic Fiber, then the [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/d/d9/Fo4Sequin_Dress.png/revision/latest?cb=20151120045532 Sequin Dress]] can be made as protective as any regular armour, while still being a glittery dress with a Charisma bonus. It also comes with a smart pair of black and white court shoes.
* KillerRobot:
** The Institute synths in a nutshell. As a focused example, the Courser class synths are basically Terminators: they are different from the other synths as they have sophisticated human disguises, they are also hunters that are dispatched by the Institute if they need someone dead or something goes wrong for them.
** There's also a new type of robot called the Assaultron, a fast, tough and powerful humanoid that can fire lasers from afar or get in close to deal some huge damage. [[OhCrap And they can also use stealth]].
* KillItWithIce: Vault 111 houses a "Cryolator", a prototype ice weapon that functions like a flamethrower that freezes enemies instead of burning them.
* KingMook: The Mirelurk Queen is a gigantic member of their species who soaks up minigun shots like they're water droplets. Given the game is set in Lovecraft Country, the damn thing has been likened to '''Dagon'''.
* KneeCapping: Shooting enemies in their legs can cripple their movements. Can be useful if you have too many attackers and want to fall back to another spot without having too many of them chase you. Or to prevent them from escaping easily.
* LargeHam: Your character can do this when talking to Hancock while wearing the Silver Shroud outfit. He humors you and mostly plays along during this.
* LaserHallway: The Treasure of Jamaica Plains is guarded by such a hallway, linked to three very damaging gatling laser turrets which will turn you into swiss cheese if they catch you in the open. You can disarm all the individual tripwires, but take care to only press the use key when it's centered on a tripwire, as using the turrets by mistake activates them.
* LastOfHisKind: Preston Garvey is the last Minuteman in the Commonwealth. [[spoiler: Unless you decide to help him rebuild them.]]
* LeeroyJenkins: As with previous installments, your sneaking abilities are only as effective as your often overzealous companions allow.
* LetThePastBurn: The Institute symbolically seeks to do this trope in its attempts to erase all traces of Pre-War America and pave the way to ''their'' new order.
* LevelLockedLoot: A side-effect of the new perk system is that even the best weapons will behave poorly until you reach a certain level to unlock their full damage potential. In previous games, skill points could be allocated by the player at their discretion, allowing one to quickly specialize in a single skill [[CripplingOverspecialization to the detriment of everything else]]. The new tiered perk system only allows the player to unlock the next tier at an average of every ten levels or so, with the highest rankings usually requiring between level 40-45 to unlock. This forces the player to broaden their skillset so that they'll be the RedMage until they reach a high enough level to become MasterOfAll.
* LevelUpAtIntimacy5: Once you achieve romantic status with a companion, resting in a bed with them nearby will give you the "Lover's Embrace" perk, which increases the value of experience gains for a limited time.
* LibertyOverProsperity: Should you side with the Railroad [[spoiler:or the Minutemen]] over the Institute, this is the state of affairs for the Commonwealth. [[spoiler:Sure, the Institute's advances in robotics and bioscience are effectively LostForever and the wastelanders above ground will never know any of them, but at least the Commonwealth they live in belongs to them and not a hidden cabal of scientists with very questionable ethics.]]
* LightningBruiser: Wearing upgraded power armor with a heavy hitting weapon will turn you into this. Unfortunately the reverse is true, as enemies wearing power armor will generally be tougher to deal with, especially early on.
** As usual, [[DemonicSpiders Deathclaws and Sentry Bots]]. Quite a few of the higher-level Super Mutants too.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas''. It's quite clear the Commonwealth got the long end of the stick, with significantly friendlier inhabitants and the chance to directly improve things yourself with the Settlement system.
* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition:
** The Pip-Boy Edition, which comes with a wearable Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV, a stand for said Pip-Boy, a Pip-Boy Pocket Guide, a Vault-Tec Perk poster, the game itself in a steelbook case, all in a [=RobCo=] capsule case. Similar to what happened with ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', the Pip-Boy Edition completely sold out. However, the sheer number of people ordering the damn thing caused ''[[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-4-studio-cannot-make-any-more-pip-boy-coll/1100-6429223/ the factory making them to hit their production limit]]''!
** There's a very limited ''Fallout 4''-themed Xbox One appropriately named the "Pip-Box". It looks like the Pip-boy ''2000'' from the original games.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** During settlement building, there are some restrictions on how you can build things, such as a roof needing a wall to support it. However, once the roof is up, you can remove the wall and the roof will stay in place. This allows you to have an elevated defense platform(s) where you can place turrets which will then not only be out of reach from melee attackers, but will also have a much clearer line-of-sight for attacking enemies. As an additional bonus, said platforms will be out of the way, giving your provisioners plenty of room to go in and out.
* LostForever:
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the 20 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads this time around. Previous games had a few missable ones which were located in non-returnable locations. All of the ones in this game can be found no matter what quests or actions have been accomplished.
** Played straight with some unique weapons/armor that are only sold by specific vendors. If they're killed, the items will no longer be available.
** There are several corpses scattered around the wasteland that contain unique keys and holotapes, or exist as set dressing to help tell a story during a quest. Unfortunately, many are set to despawn or simply vanish, along with their unique contents, if you entered the general area and then left without looting them.
** Various random encounters can occur at hotspots all over the map. They will happen at these set locations even if you're just skirting the periphery, distracted by other things. This means potentially unique encounters can play out unnoticed by the player, never to be seen again. Wandering NPC's that can be recruited as level 4 settlement vendors can appear to die off-screen without the player even being aware of them, because they were killed by enemies at the very edge of the currently loaded area.
** There is a collectible magazine located inside [[spoiler:the Institute]]. If you end up [[spoiler:destroying the Institute]] before you have the chance to collect it, it's gone.
** Near the end of the Railroad Quest "Underground Undercover," an as-yet unfixable bug can happen which prevents you from initiating a conversation with Desdemona, thus preventing you from going any further with the Railroad faction and earning two Achievements/Trophies associated with them.
* LoveDodecahedron: Yes, you can have multiple romantic partners. However, most romanced companions will hate it when you flirt with other characters in front of them.
* {{MacGyvering}}: You can build modifications for your weapons out of pieces from microscopes, toy cars, and other seemingly useless "junk" littering the wasteland.
* MacrossMissileMassacre:
** The Big Boy is a unique Fat Man launcher which fires two mini nukes at the cost of one. And if you combine it with the MIRV mod, the Big Boy MIRV fires '''[[UpToEleven 12]]''' nukes at once, it is in doubt if anything can survive that. (Including you. It sets them off at about half of the maximum flight distance, far too close for comfort.)
** If you mod a weapon in Creation Kit, you can decide how many projectiles to fire from your original weapons, if it happened to fire 12 missiles per shot, be it with a standard Missile Launcher, [[HandCannon Broadslider]] or a [[UpToEleven Minigun]]...
* MadeOfExplodium: There are tanks and barrels scattered throughout Boston that you can blow up by shooting at them.
* MadeOfIron:
** Maxing out the Toughness and Refractor perks gives you an innate 50 points of ballistic and energy resistance respectively, combined with any half decent armor and you can tank anything.
** Sentry Bots, both literally and metaphorically.
* MadeOfPlasticine:
** Feral ghouls are so decayed that a solid whack will tear their limbs right off. This won't stop them unless you manage to kill in the same hit, but an armless ghoul is a lot less of a threat than an intact one.
*** On the other hand you can sever one or both legs leaving even a high level ghoul helpless.
** The robotic synths are similarly fragile, though some are armored to let them survive longer.
* MadnessMantra: Found on Bedlam's terminal in Dunwich Borers: "I'm safe in the light."
* MadwomanInTheAttic: Fairline Hill Estates is an abandoned settlement with no story significance or unique loot. Most of the homes are completely empty with no signs of violence or recent habitation. However, one house is locked from the inside, heavily trapped to prevent entry, and once you find your way inside you'll find the skeleton of the house's previous owner clutching a pistol (possibly suggesting suicide) outside a chained up room which turns out to contain a pair of feral ghouls. One possible interpretation of this is that the home's previous inhabitant's ghoul friends[=/=]family members started to turn feral, and he[=/=]she locked them up in the spare room and eventually committed suicide.
* MagikarpPower:
** Modding. At low levels, you're likely to loot more helpful items than you can make. If you spend the 17 points necessary for all the modding related perks, you can make weapons and armor far better (and complimentary) than the random loot you come across.
** 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 [[SubvertedTrope laugh in]] [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts Adam Smith's]] face.
* MakeSureHesDead: Encouraged with feral ghouls, as some of them play dead or lie under objects to pop out as you pass by. Confirmation shots on any suspicious looking bodies can trigger or kill them from a more manageable distance, preventing them from getting the drop on you. Pulling up VATS will also target ghouls just playing dead.
* 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!"
** The reason for the Deathclaw at the Museum of Witchcraft? Some Gunners stole its eggs, and it slaughtered its way through them to get it back. If you return the egg to its nest, said Deathclaw's mate will leave you alone... but if you try to take it back and leave, it will attack.
* MaximumHPReduction:
** Radiation damage now reduces your maximum health by a percentage, making it extremely important that you get that [=RadAway=] ASAP.
** The mole rats in Vault 81 are diseased, and if they hit the player ([[GameBreakingBug or their companions, or the protectron if activated]]), they transmit the disease. It permanently reduces the player's max health by ten points unless cured, and there's only one cure. If you use it, you have to let a child who's also infected die.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''Far Harbor'', nothing is ever made clear about [[spoiler:the Mother of the Mist]].
* MeaningfulName:
** Sanctuary Hills is your first available settlement in the game. It's also one of the few with a river going through it, allowing you to plant the higher-tier water purifiers, as well as providing a lot of materials from the junk that's accumulated around the neighborhood.
* MechaMooks:
** The robots are still around, of course, and now there are the rather common Synths.
** The ''Automatron'' allows the player to build their own as companions, mixing and match parts from Sentry Bots, Protectrons, and Assaultrons.
* MiniGame: There are some holotapes hidden in the game that contain minigames playable on computer terminals and your Pip-Boy, including ''Red Menace'' (which is essentially ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''), ''Atomic Command'' (''VideoGame/MissileCommand''), ''Pipfall'' (''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'', [[SerialNumbersFiledOff natch]]), ''Zeta Invaders'' (''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''), and ''Grognak & the Ruby Ruins'' (an old computer RPG in a similar vain to ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}''). The ''Automatron'' DLC adds another game of the same name, which plays like ''VideoGame/{{Robotron 2084}}''.
* MolotovCocktail: One of the available grenades (and the only one that can be built without taking ranks of the Demolitions perk), and unlike in ''New Vegas'', it will detonate on impact and will burn the ground for a short time. It's also far more realistic in regards to making them; you need to use actual oil to make it rather than alcohol. Still no regards to characters reaction to the heat of the bottle, though...
* MoneyForNothing: Even worse than the previous two games for several reasons- weapons and armor no longer break and need to be repaired so you won't have to pay people to fix it for you, there are relatively few expensive unique weapons and armor in the game to be bought and you can easily find randomly dropped Legendary weaponry that is of similar (or possibly better) power, and with the right perks you can build your own shops that will supply you with infinite income.
* MoneySpider: The fourth rank of the Fortune Finder perk adds a chance of any enemy spraying out caps when killed.
* MonsterIsAMommy: If you decide to investigate the Museum of Witchcraft, there will be a dismembered corpse with an ApocalypticLog detailing an attack on a group of Gunners delivering a secret package being attacked by something. Inside the museum are several other bodies, including one [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity supplied with a missile launcher and a dozen missiles]]. On the second floor of the museum is a huge Deathclaw that serves as the area's boss. After killing it, you'll find another tape and a Deathclaw egg, which explains that the Deathclaw tracked the Gunners for miles and slaughtered them to retrieve the egg. If you choose to return to egg to its nest, the Deathclaw's mate will approach you, [[WhyIsntItAttacking but it won't attack]]... [[MamaBear unless you choose to steal the egg back]].
* MonumentalDamageResistance:
** Many recognizable places and landmarks located in Boston, such as the Bunker Hill Monument and the Paul Revere Monument, are shown to be relatively intact despite the post-apocalyptic setting. [[WordOfGod Director Todd Howard]] confirmed that only one bomb was launched at Boston, then ''missed'' the city and landed southwest of Natick, minimizing damage to Boston and its surrounding areas.
** Flat out averted by the crew of the U.S.S. Constitution, who leveled a bank with said ship and later demolish the top of a sky scraper if you help them out. However, their famous warship remains largely intact ''despite being made of wood''.
** In the endings where [[spoiler: you destroy the Institute, the C.I.T. campus and surrounding areas end up getting cratered]].
* MookHorrorShow: If you are seen slaughtering some raiders and then hide, the survivors can become panicked and jumpy instead of just [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim playing the violence off]] as a [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy trick of the wind]]. They may draw their weapons, become verbally terrified and can occasionally start shooting at shadows they've mistaken as the player stalking up on them.
** Invoked in the Museum of Freedom. If you sneak up on the two raiders on the second floor, you can eavesdrop on them talking. One of them mentioned that there is another guy shooting the place up (or in other word you) and there is nothing they can do to stop you, so they better run while they can, but the other raider refuses thinking that you are just another wastelander.
** In Hunter/Hunted, both you and the Courser you are chasing after are doing this to a group of Gunners, before finally having a duel after you wiped out most of the Gunners.
** The last part of The Silver Shroud, you can continue to act like the titular hero and chew the scenery which will cause Sinjin's mooks to let out an OhCrap and run away in fear, if you do this, they will continue to run in fear and not fight back even after you killed Sinjin, double points if you choose to stick around and brutally kill them one by one ''Punisher''-style.
** Pickman's Gallery is a dark, intensely creepy home of a serial killer filled with [[BodyHorror paintings and other "art" crafted from the remains of his victims]]. It's filled with Raiders who are there looking for Pickman to get revenge. After you start killing them, they'll begin panicking and accidentally shooting each other or falling into the house's many death traps.
** The Gunner group who happened to stupidly swipe a deathclaw egg and was chased into the Museum of Witchcraft by an angry MamaBear deathclaw.
* {{Mordor}}: The Glowing Sea. It's ground zero for the one atomic bomb that hit Boston. It covers the entire lower left corner of the map, and the entire zone is completely devoid of vegetation, buildings (except for mostly-submerged ruins) or signs of civilization in general. There is a permanent radioactive storm going on, all the water is horribly polluted, and it's home to some of the deadliest creatures in the game. The radiation is so severe you'll quickly suffer radiation poisoning without power armor or a hazmat suit. Rad-X is powerful enough to keep you protected there, but each application only lasts a small while, while the affected area is quite large. And you HAVE to go there during the main campaign.
* MoreDakka: Automatic weapons and the minigun make liberal use of this trope.
* MoreFriendsMoreBenefits: The more allied settlements you have working for you, the more Minuteman support you have around the Commonwealth. Firing a flare gun into the sky will summon up a handful of allied Minutemen (in greater numbers if you have a lot more nearby settlements) and later on, you get artillery unlocked which lets you get something equivalent to a multiple Fatman-launch on any target you can throw a smoke grenade to. Random minutemen will start appearing around your settlements and in the wasteland the more areas you unlock.
** There's a point in the game where you can be allied with ''all'' the major factions. Synths ignore you, Brotherhood knights assist you in battle, Minutemen come whenever you call for them, and so on. At that point, you only have to worry about monsters, raiders or Super Mutants.
* MultipleEndings: Similar to ''Fallout: New Vegas'', the ending of the game is determined by which faction you side with at the end of the game, leading to a final mission in which you act to assure your faction's dominance over the Commonwealth. Regardless of which faction you choose, the game's ending cinematic and narration is the same (as it is simply the main character reminiscing about how far they've come), but the consequences for the in-game world vary quite a bit.
** [[spoiler:'''Brotherhood of Steel''': After wiping out the Railroad, the newly repaired Liberty Prime leads an assault against the Institute, blowing a hole in its roof with a nuclear device. The Brotherhood then storms the Institute and detonates its nuclear reactor, assuring the Brotherhood's control over the Commonwealth.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Institute''': The Institute wipes out the Railroad. They then assault the Brotherhood of Steel's base of operations, kill Elder Maxson in a final battle, and re-program Liberty Prime to target and destroy the ''Prydwen'', allowing the Institute to continue its control over the Commonwealth for the greater good.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Railroad''': The Railroad infiltrates the ''Prydwen'' and crashes it, decimating the Brotherhood of Steel. They then use their contacts within the Institute to launch an invasion, evacuate the synths inside, and detonate the facility's reactor, leaving the Commonwealth free from the control of any major faction.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Minutemen''': Essentially the game's "Wild Card" ending, for players who don't want to side with any of the above. The Minutemen infiltrate the Institute through a hidden maintenance tunnel and storm the reactor, destroying the organization once and for all. Depending on the player's actions, they may also have to contend with the other factions: if the player does not activate the evacuation signal before destroying the Institute, the Railroad will blame them for the deaths of all the synths inside. Should the player become enemies with the Brotherhood at any point prior to or after the ending, the Minutemen will shoot down the ''Prydwen'' with their artillery.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Filicide''': The only ending that doesn't involve choosing a faction. This ending will occur if the Sole Survivor kills Father at any point prior to receiving one of the other endings. Afterwards, the player is free to continue the other faction storylines to their completion if possible.]]
* MultiMookMelee: If one confronts The Mechanist the usual way, they will have to face off lots of eyebots, trashbots, swarmbots, and a duelbot in a closed arena, the first two of which will continuously spawn until the power gets cut (twice).
* MundaneUtility: The one kind of salvage that not a single companion will give you flak for picking up over and over? Adhesives. They're used in almost every single weapon and armor mod, and even though they can be found consistently, they're rarely found in bulk. That means you'll have serious consideration between taking an awesome new plasma rifle or a pack of duct tape when your inventory starts filling up. And this adhesive is strong enough to make night vision scopes out of (among other high-tech mods, like Power Armor voltaic charge paint).
** Using an old/spare suit of Power Armor for transporting large amounts of goods between settlements is perfectly viable. Mostly because fast traveling doesn't drain the fusion core, and even a bare Power Armor frame gives massive bonuses to carrying capacity.
* MurderousMannequin: Seemingly invoked. 1st Generation [[KillerRobot Synths]] look like {{Skelebot}}s, and 3rd Generation Synths can [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots pass for humans]], but 2nd Generation Synths are at an uncomfortable middle ground and appear as porcelain-white, expressionless, [[BarbieDollAnatomy genderless]] mannequins ([[RoboticReveal until they take battle damage]]). Coincidentally, the game is the first in the ''Fallout'' series to feature actual mannequins hanging around the ruins of Boston. And if you get both 2nd Gen Synths and mannequins in the same area...
* 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.]]
* MythologyGag: Quite a few appear.
** The game's vault jumpsuits are closer to the tight spandex design of the first two games, rather than the baggier boilersuit designs of ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas''.
** [[FortuneTeller Mama Murphy's]] [[FunctionalMagic psychic visions]] tell her that Dogmeat has a habit of finding worthy soldiers and leading them where they're needed. Given that every Dogmeat in the series is (somehow) a direct descendant of the first Dogmeat, Mama Murphy probably knows how important his lineage is.
** The first trailer begins in a manner similar to the intro of the first game, by slowly panning out from a TV set to show the ruins of the wasteland around it.
** The character generation starts with a pre-war rush to get to a Vault, like the tech demo for ''VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren''.
*** On the note of ''Van Buren'', it was supposed to reveal that the earliest versions of Power Armor originally ran on small energy cells, but ended up draining them ridiculously fast. Just replace "small energy cell" with "fusion core", and you have your ''Fallout 4'' Power Armor.
*** Acadia in the ''Far Harbor'' DLC, and the associated quest to find more memory storage for [=DiMA=], both resemble ''Van Buren's'' [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Boulder_Dome Boulder Dome]] and its quest to find the ZAX computer more memory.
* MysteriousProtector: The ''Mysterious Stranger'' perk appears yet again. This is lampshaded when you search through Nick's office. He has a file on the guy that lampshades his improbable appearances and help.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: A DownplayedTrope example notable for the fact the Brotherhood of Steel's FantasticRacism has reached genocidal levels under Elder Maxson. Likewise, he's established a cult of personality which focuses on RousingSpeech, cool toys, and conquest. There's also the DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything purity test it gives new recruits.
* NecessaryDrawback:
** Added to the now massively beefed up power armor: it actually works like power armor should, but it takes fusion cores to properly function, the cores drain quickly to keep the player from steamrolling everything everywhere all the time, and it's also the only equipment in the game that degrades from damage. Although the ''Nuclear Physicist'' perk can double the amount of use you can get out of fusion cores if you take all three ranks.
** The ''Automatron'' DLC lets you make robots by mixing and matching parts of Assaultrons, Protectrons, and Sentry Bots. Each of these has its pros and cons. Assaultron parts are fast and very good at melee, but with lower carrying capacity. Protectron parts are tough, but slow and clumsy. Sentry Bot parts are huge and have a lot of hit points, but this comes at the expense of limited mobility in smaller spaces.
* NecessaryWeasel: Like the Capital Wasteland, the entire Boston area has no real greenery in it 210 years after the great war because it's a staple of ''Fallout'' games to be set in barren brown wastelands full of dead trees.
* NeckLift: Deathclaws are now capable of this, should you be bold enough to face them without PowerArmor. If you have enough health they'll slam you to the ground. If not, then they'll disembowel you with their other hand. ''Lovely.''
* NeverFoundTheBody: One would suspect the nuclear destruction of the world and the passage of 200 years would be enough to kill an insignificant character like the Vault Tech representative from the opening scene, but he turns up later alive and well as a ghoul.
* NeverRecycleABuilding:
** After 210 years, most of the major buildings in the Boston area are still intact and boarded up. A few are used by raiders and Super Mutants as bases, but there has been no large scale rebuilding and re-habitation of the Commonwealth. Boston is supposed to be one of the least damaged and more civilized places in the post-war world, yet all the buildings you enter have useful junk laying around, ranging from pre-war tech, weapons and ammo, to old clothes and food still on the shelves of many shops. The whole setting would make much more sense if it was set 20 years after the bombs fell instead of 210. Partly justified due to the Institute trying to keep any form of civilization in the Commonwealth limited to self-contained settlements that are completely ignorant of the Pre-War world.
** Averted by the local scavengers. Unlike previous games, where a building would stay empty after you cleared out any raiders or ghouls that were camping out in it, this time around a new group will move back in after a while.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The first official game trailer made it seem like Boston was rebuilt as a thriving and populated city like [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]] was. Nope. It's a filthy ruin filled with raiders and Super Mutants all trying to kill you. The only major population center is confined to a baseball stadium converted into a fortress town. Evidently, nobody has tried to clean up and rebuild in 210 years.
** According to some dialogue, the Commonwealth of Allied Settlements had tried, but the Institute infiltrated and destroyed them before they could make significant progress.
* NewEraSpeech: In the Institute path, you're eventually given the chance to give one of these on behalf of the Institute. You can adjust some of the words to make it sound more benevolent or more tyrannical.
* NewTechIsNotCheap: And Prewar tech is even more expensive. The town of Covenant is built like a fortress on the outside but looks spotless and Prewar on the inside. A glimpse at a terminal reveals the town's supported by an outside budget and is vastly more expensive to maintain than the shacks most people use for houses.
* NiceGuy: The Sole Survivor, no matter what, is pretty much forced to be a lot more heroic than other ''Fallout'' heroes. At their worst, they're a JerkWithAHeartOfGold hitting up people for money and being rude to everyone they meet, while at their best they are a Wasteland Messiah akin to the Good Karma Lone Wanderer or Vault Dweller.
* NiceHat: While there are plenty of nice hats, there are none quite so nice as that of the captain of the U.S.S. Constitution, a Sentry Bot with a period naval hat befitting the ship he commands.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In Vault 81, Bobby De Luca hides a stash of jet in a previously unknown area of the Vault. Austin, one of the boys living there, sees it, and ends up exploring the ruins of the secret Vault 81. Unfortunately he's bitten by a rabid molerat, and nearly dies from it. Or really dies if you've contracted the disease while attempting to retrieve the cure, and then use it on yourself.
* NicknamingTheEnemy: Many wastelanders call the Institute's android replicants "Synths", both as a FantasticSlur and for convenience's sake.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Several:
** The crew of the U.S.S. Constitution are robot sailors (complete with accents and ranks befitting the theme) and have attached rockets to said ship, which makes them robot sailors on a flying ship.
** The crew of the FMS North Star are ghoulified Norwegian sailors who have become raiders, making them zombie vikings.
** Nick Valentine is a clockwork dick.
--->'''Nick:''' That's ''Synth Detective'', jackass.
* NintendoHard: Besides five main difficulties of Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard, there's Survival, which a recent patch has transformed from a HarderThanHard difficulty level into a downright ''brutal'' new mode. In Survival mode, you can only save by sleeping in a bed, fast travel is disabled, carry weight is harshly reduced (and ammo now has weight), enemies no longer show up on your compass, you have to regularly eat/drink/sleep or else face severe stat penalties, companions will return home if they're downed and not healed, you must contend with a slew of all-new infections and sicknesses (which chems and Stimpaks make you even ''more'' susceptible to), and damage from all sources - including you - is greatly amplified. ''New Vegas'''s Survival mode is an absolute cakewalk in comparison.
* NoCanonForTheWicked:
** The Brotherhood of Steel obviously survived the events of ''Broken Steel'', given they're now powerful enough to potentially take over the Commonwealth and are led by Elder Maxson. This means that the Lone Wanderer chose to nuke the Enclave's Mobile Base Crawler rather than betray the Brotherhood.
** At one point Megaton is briefly mentioned as having expanded in influence since the time period of ''Fallout 3'', suggesting the Lone Wanderer sided with Megaton over Tenpenny Tower in regards to the nuclear bomb.
** Also, like in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', the Wasteland Survival Guide by Moira Brown and The Lone Wanderer is one of the skill magazines you can get. This time, some of the copies resembles what you have to do in ''Fallout 3''.
* 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.
* NonStandardGameOver: This can happen ''very'' early on if you spend too much time dallying around Pre-War Sanctuary Hills when the Great War occurs.
* 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.
* NoticeThis:
** If you run out of a crafting component, you can tag it, meaning that items with that component in it have a little magnifying glass next to their name. You can take the trope further by choosing to make such objects (and containers they're in) glow with your HUD color when you get near them.
** Getting lost in a dungeon? Look for a red light on the wall. In one particularly blatant case, the red light is flashing.
* NotSoDifferent:
** The Brotherhood of Steel under Elder Maxson's command have since reverted to their old traditional beliefs utilized by the original West Coast chapter (though they still recruit Wastelanders much like their counterparts from both ''Tactics'' and ''3'') and, with their heightened FantasticRacism towards non-humans as well as their newly acquired technology after the events of ''3'', are getting [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope dangerously close]] to becoming another Enclave.
** Of all things, this can happen between the player ''and a Deathclaw''. [[spoiler:The Museum of Witchcraft contains a leveled Deathclaw, which, after it's probably killed by the player, has an unhatched Deathclaw Egg nearby. If the player chooses to return the egg, they're put in a similar situation to the Deathclaw at the nest- having their spouse killed and their child kidnapped (and found again).]]
** Likewise, potentially between you and [[spoiler:Kellogg, who also suffered the loss of his wife and child after being helpless to protect them; the key difference is that instead of bouncing back, he let his depression get the best of him and became a completely cold-hearted killer. One of the dialog options after seeing this is to lampshade it and decide whether or not you want to cut him a little slack.]]
** The Brotherhood of Steel and the Institute themselves are more similar than either faction would be comfortable to admit; both factions rely on superior technology and limiting interaction with the locals (In the Institute's case they're the Commonwealth's bogeymen, in the Brotherhood it is mentioned that unauthorized fraternizing with wastelanders is a ''punishable offense''), both believe they're the best hope for the Commonwealth and by extension the post-apocalyptic world, and both see synths as less than human, though in the Brotherhood's case they see them as abominations to be exterminated while the Institute sees them as mere tools with no actual free will.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Averted if you have power armor. In some of the skyscrapers, players often amuse themselves by jumping off the top. Or waiting for a band of raiders and ghouls to pass through down below and do a DynamicEntry on the rabble.
* NuclearNasty: ''Fallout 4'' features many of the same grotesquely mutated creatures from previous games, such as giant mole rats, yao guai, deathclaws, radroaches, bloatflies, ghouls and super mutants. It also introduces two new creatures, the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Bloodbug]], a monstrous insect mutated from the common mosquito, and the Stingwing, a giant, mutated, actually venomous scorpionfly.
* NukeEm: The Fat Man nuclear catapult returns.
** Taken to the extreme with the MIRV Mod - similar to ''Fallout 3'', it make the Fat Man fire ''multiple'', in this case ''six'' mini-nukes at once. And it can be applied to a legendary Fat Man known as the Big Boy, which fires two mini nukes for the price of one, meaning you can rain down ''twelve rounds of atomic fire'' for the price of one. Deathclaws will wish that they had [[BringMyBrownPants brought their brown pants]].
* 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.]]
* 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.
* ObviousRulePatch: You no longer get EXP from enemies who die solely at the hands of your companions. 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.
* OffscreenTeleportation: Your companions will do this to catch up to you if you wander too far away from them. Hilariously they can also spawn in mid-air if you're exploring the roof of a tall building, and fall to the ground, though thankfully this doesn't kill them. Keep in mind enemies and NPC's are capable of this as well, if you're far enough from them, and not looking at them at the moment, which may allow enemies to bypass some of your defenses in your settlements.
** Becomes especially humorous with the game's frequent elevators. Your companions' AI normally isn't smart enough to have them get into the elevator with you, but if you activate the elevator and then turn around 360° they will magically be behind you.
* OhCrap:
** Everyone in the pre-war scene has this reaction when the news announces confirmed reports of nuclear detonations along the Eastern Seaboard. Even Codsworth sounds scared and the Sole Survivor and their spouse literally run for the hills to reach Vault 111 before the bomb hits. In fact, the elevator descends in to the vault ''just'' as the blast wave reaches the vault.
** Nick has this reaction on finding out you have to go into [[{{Mordor}} the Glowing Sea]]. He remarks that he will be fine. You, on the other hand...
** At certain points [=NPCs=] panic when boss level enemies show up (the raiders at Concord when the Deathclaw shows up or the Minutemen when the Mirelurk Queen attacks the Castle).
** Your [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmGMKo_2ntc companions' reactions]] upon seeing the Brotherhood of Steel's ''[[ZeppelinsfromAnotherWorld Prydwen]]'' roll into town.
* OncePerEpisode: Numerous elements from previous ''Fallout'' games return in the fourth entry.
** The protagonist gets a mangy CanineCompanion with pointed ears, a la ''Film/MadMax2'', who they name Dogmeat.
** Creator/RonPerlman intones the series ArcWords "War. War never changes."
** A new model of power armor (the T-60) makes its first appearance.
* OneHitKill:
** The Ricochet perk has a chance of making bullets that hit the player [[AttackReflector fly back to the attacker]]... killing the attacker instantly.
** Once you're at a high enough level with the right perks and upgraded weaponry, you can do this regularly against lower level enemies, especially if it's a sneak attack.
* OneManArmy: The Sole Survivor if you travel without a companion, or with just Dogmeat.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Ghouls can now still survive and fight with their limbs severed. If you take off a leg, though, they become totally helpless, only wriggling about on the ground until you finish them off.
* 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, pointing out the Brotherhood of Steel's entirely holy mission is self-serving greed). When not making a choice, they tend to 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, Mister House, [[spoiler: Cabot]], and Braun, this shouldn't be surprising.
* OutOfGenreExperience: There are hints of Lovecraftian horror to be found out in the Commonwealth, most especially the quest line involving [[spoiler:Cabot House]].
* OutWithABang: Taking this trope to its most literal extreme, in one of the abandoned buildings in the wasteland, there are a pair of skeletons intertwined in each other's arms. Their positioning indicates that the woman was being ravished by her lover the very moment the bomb fell. He still has most of his clothes on, but she has none.
* PatrioticFervor: Downplayed, but the Minutemen and Railroad in their own ways invoke benevolent memories of Pre-War America in their own ways. Whether it's the Revolutionary War for the former or the Civil War and fight against (synth) slavery in the latter.
* PistolWhip: You can now smack your enemies with your firearms. You can even give your guns special mods such as bayonets in order to increase their melee damage and can upgrade the damage with the Basher perks.
* PlayingPossum: Feral Ghouls can often be found pretending to be corpses, often lying near actual corpses, only to get up when the player approaches. This has he benefit of allowing a fast or sneaky player to kill one before it can retaliate. However, where there's one there's usually two or three more, and you usually won't catch all of them in time. This becomes a lot easier to deal with if you have power armor fitted with a targeting HUD mod for your helmet, since the ghouls playing possum will be glowing red and you can easily pick them off.
* PlotArmor: All NPC characters that play a vital role in the main story quests are immortal. Pump as many rounds as you want into them, they will never die.
* PlotHole: The male PC's backstory is that he was recently discharged from the army -- this explains how he's able to shoot easily, tinker with his firearms and (possibly) use Power Armor. However, the female PC's backstory is that she got a law degree, with her military or government service only implied.
* PointOfNoReturn: When it comes to the main storyline, it's a '''polite''' event horizon, since the quest that locks you in one faction's path typically involves killing your contacts in another faction, which tends to make reconciliation afterwards impossible. Subverted for The Minutemen path, which is like the Wild Card Ending of New Vegas, since it's always available as an option and no faction will target them.
* {{Polyamory}}: In what has been stated by WordOfGod to be intentional, it's possible to carry on multiple romantic relationships with your Companions. Apparently, they don't sweat this sort of thing in the Commonwealth. This fan theory is further supported by the programming in the game sometimes resulting in multiple people all going to sleep on the same mattress at night.
** Actually attempting to conduct a polyamorous relationship can be difficult, since many of the romanceable companions still get jealous if you flirt with someone else in front of them.
* PostApocalypticDog: Dogmeat.
* PostClimaxConfrontation: [[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.]]
** A war between the Minutemen and the Railroad is also possible after the main quest, if you failed to order evacuation of the Institute. The Railroad does not directly attack the Castle, but its members become hostile, and the Railroad now can only be destroyed.
* PostEndGameContent: The game doesn't end with the main story, unlike ''Fallout 1'', ''3'' (sans ''Broken Steel''), and ''New Vegas''.
* PoweredArmor: Power armor, high tech suits that grant increased strength, radiation shielding, and so forth, make a return. Unlike previous games, power armor is no longer an [[{{Hammerspace}} inventory-stored apparel item]], but a big, methodically plodding wearable tank that you have to climb into and out of, and potentially leave behind. Or, better yet, you can leave it in your home or the garage.
** Combine this trope with PostApunkalypticArmor, and you have the new [[OhCrap Raider power armor]].
* PrecisionFStrike: Dropped by the PlayerCharacter to their trusty CanineCompanion as a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
-->'''Protagonist:''' Ready to ''fuck some shit up?''
* {{Prequel}}: Subverted. The game appears to be this way for the first half-hour (just before the Great War nukes obliterate the world). However, once you're brought into a cryogenic stasis chamber for purification, you remain stuck in there till 10 years after ''Fallout 3.''
* PrinciplesZealot: The Brotherhood of Steel has more or less become this. But while Elder Maxson insists on upholding the old ways Elder Lyons sought to change, he nonetheless still believes that it's for the good of the Commonwealth. They still are willing to recruit Wastelanders into their ranks, though.
* PurelyAestheticGender:
** Played straight in general. Not only does the player character's gender have no effect on their stats, [[EveryoneIsBi it doesn't even have an effect on who you can sleep with]] this time around.
** Averted with the perks Lady Killer (for males) and Black Widow (for females), which allow the player to do more damage against human enemies of the opposite gender and make persuading them through dialog easier. As there are more generic male enemies in the game, this provides a slight advantage to a female PlayerCharacter.
* PuttingOnTheReich: The Brotherhood of Steel under Elder Maxson, which seeks to exterminate all non-humans and conquer the ordinary people of the Wasteland "for their own good".
* 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]].
* JumpScare:
** With the new game mechanic, plenty of creatures can now tunnel through the ground and pop up right in front of you, or burst through walls and ceilings unannounced. So prepare for a lot of this and try to not play with a full bladder, especially when said creature is a Radscorpion.
** During "The Big Dig", the player needs to escort a modified Eyebot to clear the fragile walls, leaving a lot of dust and a tunnel behind. While most of them are conveniently empty right behind the walls, a certain one has a Feral Ghoul that will pounce on you through the obscuring dust if you move in too quickly.
** The witchcraft museum in Salem has a few as your progress through the building, culminating in suddenly coming face to face with a very pissed off deathclaw.
** Feral ghouls in general. You see one at a distance, look away for half a second and it's ''right in your face''. They're not the slow, nearly harmless shamblers of ''Fallout 1'' and ''2''.
* JustBeforeTheEnd: The game starts the morning of the very last day of the pre-apocalyptic world, mere minutes before the Great War begins.
* KickTheDog: Elder Maxson begins his speech to a recruit PC by talking about how synths are worse than the atom bomb and how it is disgusting that any machine would ever think it could be the equal of a man. At the very least, the [=PCs=] have met Nick Valentine and Codsworth at this point. They may also have met Curie and even helped her become as close to human as she can get. It gets worse if you're in a romance with her.
** There was an NCR-like organization called the Commonwealth Provisional Government, which was going to help the various groups rebuild. The Institute sent a synth operative to destroy the organization's leadership[[spoiler: or did they? Institute logs say that they did their best to support the CPG, and the Institute was scapegoated when the CPG representatives killed each other due to infighting]].
*** The Institute is also responsible for [[spoiler: all of the Super Mutants in the Commonwealth. This is one use of the people they kidnap.]]
*** During your tour of the Institute, you get to see one of the scientists threatening to scrap a Gen-2 synth with a faulty cleaning chip, saying that maybe something useful will come out of him.
** 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.]]
* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: If you have a high Armorer skill and some spare Ballistic Fiber, then the [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/d/d9/Fo4Sequin_Dress.png/revision/latest?cb=20151120045532 Sequin Dress]] can be made as protective as any regular armour, while still being a glittery dress with a Charisma bonus. It also comes with a smart pair of black and white court shoes.
* KillerRobot:
** The Institute synths in a nutshell. As a focused example, the Courser class synths are basically Terminators: they are different from the other synths as they have sophisticated human disguises, they are also hunters that are dispatched by the Institute if they need someone dead or something goes wrong for them.
** There's also a new type of robot called the Assaultron, a fast, tough and powerful humanoid that can fire lasers from afar or get in close to deal some huge damage. [[OhCrap And they can also use stealth]].
* KillItWithIce: Vault 111 houses a "Cryolator", a prototype ice weapon that functions like a flamethrower that freezes enemies instead of burning them.
* KingMook: The Mirelurk Queen is a gigantic member of their species who soaks up minigun shots like they're water droplets. Given the game is set in Lovecraft Country, the damn thing has been likened to '''Dagon'''.
* KneeCapping: Shooting enemies in their legs can cripple their movements. Can be useful if you have too many attackers and want to fall back to another spot without having too many of them chase you. Or to prevent them from escaping easily.
* LargeHam: Your character can do this when talking to Hancock while wearing the Silver Shroud outfit. He humors you and mostly plays along during this.
* LaserHallway: The Treasure of Jamaica Plains is guarded by such a hallway, linked to three very damaging gatling laser turrets which will turn you into swiss cheese if they catch you in the open. You can disarm all the individual tripwires, but take care to only press the use key when it's centered on a tripwire, as using the turrets by mistake activates them.
* LastOfHisKind: Preston Garvey is the last Minuteman in the Commonwealth. [[spoiler: Unless you decide to help him rebuild them.]]
* LeeroyJenkins: As with previous installments, your sneaking abilities are only as effective as your often overzealous companions allow.
* LetThePastBurn: The Institute symbolically seeks to do this trope in its attempts to erase all traces of Pre-War America and pave the way to ''their'' new order.
* LevelLockedLoot: A side-effect of the new perk system is that even the best weapons will behave poorly until you reach a certain level to unlock their full damage potential. In previous games, skill points could be allocated by the player at their discretion, allowing one to quickly specialize in a single skill [[CripplingOverspecialization to the detriment of everything else]]. The new tiered perk system only allows the player to unlock the next tier at an average of every ten levels or so, with the highest rankings usually requiring between level 40-45 to unlock. This forces the player to broaden their skillset so that they'll be the RedMage until they reach a high enough level to become MasterOfAll.
* LevelUpAtIntimacy5: Once you achieve romantic status with a companion, resting in a bed with them nearby will give you the "Lover's Embrace" perk, which increases the value of experience gains for a limited time.
* LibertyOverProsperity: Should you side with the Railroad [[spoiler:or the Minutemen]] over the Institute, this is the state of affairs for the Commonwealth. [[spoiler:Sure, the Institute's advances in robotics and bioscience are effectively LostForever and the wastelanders above ground will never know any of them, but at least the Commonwealth they live in belongs to them and not a hidden cabal of scientists with very questionable ethics.]]
* LightningBruiser: Wearing upgraded power armor with a heavy hitting weapon will turn you into this. Unfortunately the reverse is true, as enemies wearing power armor will generally be tougher to deal with, especially early on.
** As usual, [[DemonicSpiders Deathclaws and Sentry Bots]]. Quite a few of the higher-level Super Mutants too.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas''. It's quite clear the Commonwealth got the long end of the stick, with significantly friendlier inhabitants and the chance to directly improve things yourself with the Settlement system.
* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition:
** The Pip-Boy Edition, which comes with a wearable Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV, a stand for said Pip-Boy, a Pip-Boy Pocket Guide, a Vault-Tec Perk poster, the game itself in a steelbook case, all in a [=RobCo=] capsule case. Similar to what happened with ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', the Pip-Boy Edition completely sold out. However, the sheer number of people ordering the damn thing caused ''[[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-4-studio-cannot-make-any-more-pip-boy-coll/1100-6429223/ the factory making them to hit their production limit]]''!
** There's a very limited ''Fallout 4''-themed Xbox One appropriately named the "Pip-Box". It looks like the Pip-boy ''2000'' from the original games.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** During settlement building, there are some restrictions on how you can build things, such as a roof needing a wall to support it. However, once the roof is up, you can remove the wall and the roof will stay in place. This allows you to have an elevated defense platform(s) where you can place turrets which will then not only be out of reach from melee attackers, but will also have a much clearer line-of-sight for attacking enemies. As an additional bonus, said platforms will be out of the way, giving your provisioners plenty of room to go in and out.
* LostForever:
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the 20 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads this time around. Previous games had a few missable ones which were located in non-returnable locations. All of the ones in this game can be found no matter what quests or actions have been accomplished.
** Played straight with some unique weapons/armor that are only sold by specific vendors. If they're killed, the items will no longer be available.
** There are several corpses scattered around the wasteland that contain unique keys and holotapes, or exist as set dressing to help tell a story during a quest. Unfortunately, many are set to despawn or simply vanish, along with their unique contents, if you entered the general area and then left without looting them.
** Various random encounters can occur at hotspots all over the map. They will happen at these set locations even if you're just skirting the periphery, distracted by other things. This means potentially unique encounters can play out unnoticed by the player, never to be seen again. Wandering NPC's that can be recruited as level 4 settlement vendors can appear to die off-screen without the player even being aware of them, because they were killed by enemies at the very edge of the currently loaded area.
** There is a collectible magazine located inside [[spoiler:the Institute]]. If you end up [[spoiler:destroying the Institute]] before you have the chance to collect it, it's gone.
** Near the end of the Railroad Quest "Underground Undercover," an as-yet unfixable bug can happen which prevents you from initiating a conversation with Desdemona, thus preventing you from going any further with the Railroad faction and earning two Achievements/Trophies associated with them.
* LoveDodecahedron: Yes, you can have multiple romantic partners. However, most romanced companions will hate it when you flirt with other characters in front of them.
* {{MacGyvering}}: You can build modifications for your weapons out of pieces from microscopes, toy cars, and other seemingly useless "junk" littering the wasteland.
* MacrossMissileMassacre:
** The Big Boy is a unique Fat Man launcher which fires two mini nukes at the cost of one. And if you combine it with the MIRV mod, the Big Boy MIRV fires '''[[UpToEleven 12]]''' nukes at once, it is in doubt if anything can survive that. (Including you. It sets them off at about half of the maximum flight distance, far too close for comfort.)
** If you mod a weapon in Creation Kit, you can decide how many projectiles to fire from your original weapons, if it happened to fire 12 missiles per shot, be it with a standard Missile Launcher, [[HandCannon Broadslider]] or a [[UpToEleven Minigun]]...
* MadeOfExplodium: There are tanks and barrels scattered throughout Boston that you can blow up by shooting at them.
* MadeOfIron:
** Maxing out the Toughness and Refractor perks gives you an innate 50 points of ballistic and energy resistance respectively, combined with any half decent armor and you can tank anything.
** Sentry Bots, both literally and metaphorically.
* MadeOfPlasticine:
** Feral ghouls are so decayed that a solid whack will tear their limbs right off. This won't stop them unless you manage to kill in the same hit, but an armless ghoul is a lot less of a threat than an intact one.
*** On the other hand you can sever one or both legs leaving even a high level ghoul helpless.
** The robotic synths are similarly fragile, though some are armored to let them survive longer.
* MadnessMantra: Found on Bedlam's terminal in Dunwich Borers: "I'm safe in the light."
* MadwomanInTheAttic: Fairline Hill Estates is an abandoned settlement with no story significance or unique loot. Most of the homes are completely empty with no signs of violence or recent habitation. However, one house is locked from the inside, heavily trapped to prevent entry, and once you find your way inside you'll find the skeleton of the house's previous owner clutching a pistol (possibly suggesting suicide) outside a chained up room which turns out to contain a pair of feral ghouls. One possible interpretation of this is that the home's previous inhabitant's ghoul friends[=/=]family members started to turn feral, and he[=/=]she locked them up in the spare room and eventually committed suicide.
* MagikarpPower:
** Modding. At low levels, you're likely to loot more helpful items than you can make. If you spend the 17 points necessary for all the modding related perks, you can make weapons and armor far better (and complimentary) than the random loot you come across.
** 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 [[SubvertedTrope laugh in]] [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts Adam Smith's]] face.
* MakeSureHesDead: Encouraged with feral ghouls, as some of them play dead or lie under objects to pop out as you pass by. Confirmation shots on any suspicious looking bodies can trigger or kill them from a more manageable distance, preventing them from getting the drop on you. Pulling up VATS will also target ghouls just playing dead.
* 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!"
** The reason for the Deathclaw at the Museum of Witchcraft? Some Gunners stole its eggs, and it slaughtered its way through them to get it back. If you return the egg to its nest, said Deathclaw's mate will leave you alone... but if you try to take it back and leave, it will attack.
* MaximumHPReduction:
** Radiation damage now reduces your maximum health by a percentage, making it extremely important that you get that [=RadAway=] ASAP.
** The mole rats in Vault 81 are diseased, and if they hit the player ([[GameBreakingBug or their companions, or the protectron if activated]]), they transmit the disease. It permanently reduces the player's max health by ten points unless cured, and there's only one cure. If you use it, you have to let a child who's also infected die.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''Far Harbor'', nothing is ever made clear about [[spoiler:the Mother of the Mist]].
* MeaningfulName:
** Sanctuary Hills is your first available settlement in the game. It's also one of the few with a river going through it, allowing you to plant the higher-tier water purifiers, as well as providing a lot of materials from the junk that's accumulated around the neighborhood.
* MechaMooks:
** The robots are still around, of course, and now there are the rather common Synths.
** The ''Automatron'' allows the player to build their own as companions, mixing and match parts from Sentry Bots, Protectrons, and Assaultrons.
* MiniGame: There are some holotapes hidden in the game that contain minigames playable on computer terminals and your Pip-Boy, including ''Red Menace'' (which is essentially ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''), ''Atomic Command'' (''VideoGame/MissileCommand''), ''Pipfall'' (''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'', [[SerialNumbersFiledOff natch]]), ''Zeta Invaders'' (''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''), and ''Grognak & the Ruby Ruins'' (an old computer RPG in a similar vain to ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}''). The ''Automatron'' DLC adds another game of the same name, which plays like ''VideoGame/{{Robotron 2084}}''.
* MolotovCocktail: One of the available grenades (and the only one that can be built without taking ranks of the Demolitions perk), and unlike in ''New Vegas'', it will detonate on impact and will burn the ground for a short time. It's also far more realistic in regards to making them; you need to use actual oil to make it rather than alcohol. Still no regards to characters reaction to the heat of the bottle, though...
* MoneyForNothing: Even worse than the previous two games for several reasons- weapons and armor no longer break and need to be repaired so you won't have to pay people to fix it for you, there are relatively few expensive unique weapons and armor in the game to be bought and you can easily find randomly dropped Legendary weaponry that is of similar (or possibly better) power, and with the right perks you can build your own shops that will supply you with infinite income.
* MoneySpider: The fourth rank of the Fortune Finder perk adds a chance of any enemy spraying out caps when killed.
* MonsterIsAMommy: If you decide to investigate the Museum of Witchcraft, there will be a dismembered corpse with an ApocalypticLog detailing an attack on a group of Gunners delivering a secret package being attacked by something. Inside the museum are several other bodies, including one [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity supplied with a missile launcher and a dozen missiles]]. On the second floor of the museum is a huge Deathclaw that serves as the area's boss. After killing it, you'll find another tape and a Deathclaw egg, which explains that the Deathclaw tracked the Gunners for miles and slaughtered them to retrieve the egg. If you choose to return to egg to its nest, the Deathclaw's mate will approach you, [[WhyIsntItAttacking but it won't attack]]... [[MamaBear unless you choose to steal the egg back]].
* MonumentalDamageResistance:
** Many recognizable places and landmarks located in Boston, such as the Bunker Hill Monument and the Paul Revere Monument, are shown to be relatively intact despite the post-apocalyptic setting. [[WordOfGod Director Todd Howard]] confirmed that only one bomb was launched at Boston, then ''missed'' the city and landed southwest of Natick, minimizing damage to Boston and its surrounding areas.
** Flat out averted by the crew of the U.S.S. Constitution, who leveled a bank with said ship and later demolish the top of a sky scraper if you help them out. However, their famous warship remains largely intact ''despite being made of wood''.
** In the endings where [[spoiler: you destroy the Institute, the C.I.T. campus and surrounding areas end up getting cratered]].
* MookHorrorShow: If you are seen slaughtering some raiders and then hide, the survivors can become panicked and jumpy instead of just [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim playing the violence off]] as a [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy trick of the wind]]. They may draw their weapons, become verbally terrified and can occasionally start shooting at shadows they've mistaken as the player stalking up on them.
** Invoked in the Museum of Freedom. If you sneak up on the two raiders on the second floor, you can eavesdrop on them talking. One of them mentioned that there is another guy shooting the place up (or in other word you) and there is nothing they can do to stop you, so they better run while they can, but the other raider refuses thinking that you are just another wastelander.
** In Hunter/Hunted, both you and the Courser you are chasing after are doing this to a group of Gunners, before finally having a duel after you wiped out most of the Gunners.
** The last part of The Silver Shroud, you can continue to act like the titular hero and chew the scenery which will cause Sinjin's mooks to let out an OhCrap and run away in fear, if you do this, they will continue to run in fear and not fight back even after you killed Sinjin, double points if you choose to stick around and brutally kill them one by one ''Punisher''-style.
** Pickman's Gallery is a dark, intensely creepy home of a serial killer filled with [[BodyHorror paintings and other "art" crafted from the remains of his victims]]. It's filled with Raiders who are there looking for Pickman to get revenge. After you start killing them, they'll begin panicking and accidentally shooting each other or falling into the house's many death traps.
** The Gunner group who happened to stupidly swipe a deathclaw egg and was chased into the Museum of Witchcraft by an angry MamaBear deathclaw.
* {{Mordor}}: The Glowing Sea. It's ground zero for the one atomic bomb that hit Boston. It covers the entire lower left corner of the map, and the entire zone is completely devoid of vegetation, buildings (except for mostly-submerged ruins) or signs of civilization in general. There is a permanent radioactive storm going on, all the water is horribly polluted, and it's home to some of the deadliest creatures in the game. The radiation is so severe you'll quickly suffer radiation poisoning without power armor or a hazmat suit. Rad-X is powerful enough to keep you protected there, but each application only lasts a small while, while the affected area is quite large. And you HAVE to go there during the main campaign.
* MoreDakka: Automatic weapons and the minigun make liberal use of this trope.
* MoreFriendsMoreBenefits: The more allied settlements you have working for you, the more Minuteman support you have around the Commonwealth. Firing a flare gun into the sky will summon up a handful of allied Minutemen (in greater numbers if you have a lot more nearby settlements) and later on, you get artillery unlocked which lets you get something equivalent to a multiple Fatman-launch on any target you can throw a smoke grenade to. Random minutemen will start appearing around your settlements and in the wasteland the more areas you unlock.
** There's a point in the game where you can be allied with ''all'' the major factions. Synths ignore you, Brotherhood knights assist you in battle, Minutemen come whenever you call for them, and so on. At that point, you only have to worry about monsters, raiders or Super Mutants.
* MultipleEndings: Similar to ''Fallout: New Vegas'', the ending of the game is determined by which faction you side with at the end of the game, leading to a final mission in which you act to assure your faction's dominance over the Commonwealth. Regardless of which faction you choose, the game's ending cinematic and narration is the same (as it is simply the main character reminiscing about how far they've come), but the consequences for the in-game world vary quite a bit.
** [[spoiler:'''Brotherhood of Steel''': After wiping out the Railroad, the newly repaired Liberty Prime leads an assault against the Institute, blowing a hole in its roof with a nuclear device. The Brotherhood then storms the Institute and detonates its nuclear reactor, assuring the Brotherhood's control over the Commonwealth.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Institute''': The Institute wipes out the Railroad. They then assault the Brotherhood of Steel's base of operations, kill Elder Maxson in a final battle, and re-program Liberty Prime to target and destroy the ''Prydwen'', allowing the Institute to continue its control over the Commonwealth for the greater good.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Railroad''': The Railroad infiltrates the ''Prydwen'' and crashes it, decimating the Brotherhood of Steel. They then use their contacts within the Institute to launch an invasion, evacuate the synths inside, and detonate the facility's reactor, leaving the Commonwealth free from the control of any major faction.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Minutemen''': Essentially the game's "Wild Card" ending, for players who don't want to side with any of the above. The Minutemen infiltrate the Institute through a hidden maintenance tunnel and storm the reactor, destroying the organization once and for all. Depending on the player's actions, they may also have to contend with the other factions: if the player does not activate the evacuation signal before destroying the Institute, the Railroad will blame them for the deaths of all the synths inside. Should the player become enemies with the Brotherhood at any point prior to or after the ending, the Minutemen will shoot down the ''Prydwen'' with their artillery.]]
** [[spoiler:'''Filicide''': The only ending that doesn't involve choosing a faction. This ending will occur if the Sole Survivor kills Father at any point prior to receiving one of the other endings. Afterwards, the player is free to continue the other faction storylines to their completion if possible.]]
* MultiMookMelee: If one confronts The Mechanist the usual way, they will have to face off lots of eyebots, trashbots, swarmbots, and a duelbot in a closed arena, the first two of which will continuously spawn until the power gets cut (twice).
* MundaneUtility: The one kind of salvage that not a single companion will give you flak for picking up over and over? Adhesives. They're used in almost every single weapon and armor mod, and even though they can be found consistently, they're rarely found in bulk. That means you'll have serious consideration between taking an awesome new plasma rifle or a pack of duct tape when your inventory starts filling up. And this adhesive is strong enough to make night vision scopes out of (among other high-tech mods, like Power Armor voltaic charge paint).
** Using an old/spare suit of Power Armor for transporting large amounts of goods between settlements is perfectly viable. Mostly because fast traveling doesn't drain the fusion core, and even a bare Power Armor frame gives massive bonuses to carrying capacity.
* MurderousMannequin: Seemingly invoked. 1st Generation [[KillerRobot Synths]] look like {{Skelebot}}s, and 3rd Generation Synths can [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots pass for humans]], but 2nd Generation Synths are at an uncomfortable middle ground and appear as porcelain-white, expressionless, [[BarbieDollAnatomy genderless]] mannequins ([[RoboticReveal until they take battle damage]]). Coincidentally, the game is the first in the ''Fallout'' series to feature actual mannequins hanging around the ruins of Boston. And if you get both 2nd Gen Synths and mannequins in the same area...
* 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.]]
* MythologyGag: Quite a few appear.
** The game's vault jumpsuits are closer to the tight spandex design of the first two games, rather than the baggier boilersuit designs of ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas''.
** [[FortuneTeller Mama Murphy's]] [[FunctionalMagic psychic visions]] tell her that Dogmeat has a habit of finding worthy soldiers and leading them where they're needed. Given that every Dogmeat in the series is (somehow) a direct descendant of the first Dogmeat, Mama Murphy probably knows how important his lineage is.
** The first trailer begins in a manner similar to the intro of the first game, by slowly panning out from a TV set to show the ruins of the wasteland around it.
** The character generation starts with a pre-war rush to get to a Vault, like the tech demo for ''VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren''.
*** On the note of ''Van Buren'', it was supposed to reveal that the earliest versions of Power Armor originally ran on small energy cells, but ended up draining them ridiculously fast. Just replace "small energy cell" with "fusion core", and you have your ''Fallout 4'' Power Armor.
*** Acadia in the ''Far Harbor'' DLC, and the associated quest to find more memory storage for [=DiMA=], both resemble ''Van Buren's'' [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Boulder_Dome Boulder Dome]] and its quest to find the ZAX computer more memory.
* MysteriousProtector: The ''Mysterious Stranger'' perk appears yet again. This is lampshaded when you search through Nick's office. He has a file on the guy that lampshades his improbable appearances and help.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: A DownplayedTrope example notable for the fact the Brotherhood of Steel's FantasticRacism has reached genocidal levels under Elder Maxson. Likewise, he's established a cult of personality which focuses on RousingSpeech, cool toys, and conquest. There's also the DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything purity test it gives new recruits.
* NecessaryDrawback:
** Added to the now massively beefed up power armor: it actually works like power armor should, but it takes fusion cores to properly function, the cores drain quickly to keep the player from steamrolling everything everywhere all the time, and it's also the only equipment in the game that degrades from damage. Although the ''Nuclear Physicist'' perk can double the amount of use you can get out of fusion cores if you take all three ranks.
** The ''Automatron'' DLC lets you make robots by mixing and matching parts of Assaultrons, Protectrons, and Sentry Bots. Each of these has its pros and cons. Assaultron parts are fast and very good at melee, but with lower carrying capacity. Protectron parts are tough, but slow and clumsy. Sentry Bot parts are huge and have a lot of hit points, but this comes at the expense of limited mobility in smaller spaces.
* NecessaryWeasel: Like the Capital Wasteland, the entire Boston area has no real greenery in it 210 years after the great war because it's a staple of ''Fallout'' games to be set in barren brown wastelands full of dead trees.
* NeckLift: Deathclaws are now capable of this, should you be bold enough to face them without PowerArmor. If you have enough health they'll slam you to the ground. If not, then they'll disembowel you with their other hand. ''Lovely.''
* NeverFoundTheBody: One would suspect the nuclear destruction of the world and the passage of 200 years would be enough to kill an insignificant character like the Vault Tech representative from the opening scene, but he turns up later alive and well as a ghoul.
* NeverRecycleABuilding:
** After 210 years, most of the major buildings in the Boston area are still intact and boarded up. A few are used by raiders and Super Mutants as bases, but there has been no large scale rebuilding and re-habitation of the Commonwealth. Boston is supposed to be one of the least damaged and more civilized places in the post-war world, yet all the buildings you enter have useful junk laying around, ranging from pre-war tech, weapons and ammo, to old clothes and food still on the shelves of many shops. The whole setting would make much more sense if it was set 20 years after the bombs fell instead of 210. Partly justified due to the Institute trying to keep any form of civilization in the Commonwealth limited to self-contained settlements that are completely ignorant of the Pre-War world.
** Averted by the local scavengers. Unlike previous games, where a building would stay empty after you cleared out any raiders or ghouls that were camping out in it, this time around a new group will move back in after a while.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The first official game trailer made it seem like Boston was rebuilt as a thriving and populated city like [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]] was. Nope. It's a filthy ruin filled with raiders and Super Mutants all trying to kill you. The only major population center is confined to a baseball stadium converted into a fortress town. Evidently, nobody has tried to clean up and rebuild in 210 years.
** According to some dialogue, the Commonwealth of Allied Settlements had tried, but the Institute infiltrated and destroyed them before they could make significant progress.
* NewEraSpeech: In the Institute path, you're eventually given the chance to give one of these on behalf of the Institute. You can adjust some of the words to make it sound more benevolent or more tyrannical.
* NewTechIsNotCheap: And Prewar tech is even more expensive. The town of Covenant is built like a fortress on the outside but looks spotless and Prewar on the inside. A glimpse at a terminal reveals the town's supported by an outside budget and is vastly more expensive to maintain than the shacks most people use for houses.
* NiceGuy: The Sole Survivor, no matter what, is pretty much forced to be a lot more heroic than other ''Fallout'' heroes. At their worst, they're a JerkWithAHeartOfGold hitting up people for money and being rude to everyone they meet, while at their best they are a Wasteland Messiah akin to the Good Karma Lone Wanderer or Vault Dweller.
* NiceHat: While there are plenty of nice hats, there are none quite so nice as that of the captain of the U.S.S. Constitution, a Sentry Bot with a period naval hat befitting the ship he commands.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In Vault 81, Bobby De Luca hides a stash of jet in a previously unknown area of the Vault. Austin, one of the boys living there, sees it, and ends up exploring the ruins of the secret Vault 81. Unfortunately he's bitten by a rabid molerat, and nearly dies from it. Or really dies if you've contracted the disease while attempting to retrieve the cure, and then use it on yourself.
* NicknamingTheEnemy: Many wastelanders call the Institute's android replicants "Synths", both as a FantasticSlur and for convenience's sake.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Several:
** The crew of the U.S.S. Constitution are robot sailors (complete with accents and ranks befitting the theme) and have attached rockets to said ship, which makes them robot sailors on a flying ship.
** The crew of the FMS North Star are ghoulified Norwegian sailors who have become raiders, making them zombie vikings.
** Nick Valentine is a clockwork dick.
--->'''Nick:''' That's ''Synth Detective'', jackass.
* NintendoHard: Besides five main difficulties of Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard, there's Survival, which a recent patch has transformed from a HarderThanHard difficulty level into a downright ''brutal'' new mode. In Survival mode, you can only save by sleeping in a bed, fast travel is disabled, carry weight is harshly reduced (and ammo now has weight), enemies no longer show up on your compass, you have to regularly eat/drink/sleep or else face severe stat penalties, companions will return home if they're downed and not healed, you must contend with a slew of all-new infections and sicknesses (which chems and Stimpaks make you even ''more'' susceptible to), and damage from all sources - including you - is greatly amplified. ''New Vegas'''s Survival mode is an absolute cakewalk in comparison.
* NoCanonForTheWicked:
** The Brotherhood of Steel obviously survived the events of ''Broken Steel'', given they're now powerful enough to potentially take over the Commonwealth and are led by Elder Maxson. This means that the Lone Wanderer chose to nuke the Enclave's Mobile Base Crawler rather than betray the Brotherhood.
** At one point Megaton is briefly mentioned as having expanded in influence since the time period of ''Fallout 3'', suggesting the Lone Wanderer sided with Megaton over Tenpenny Tower in regards to the nuclear bomb.
** Also, like in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', the Wasteland Survival Guide by Moira Brown and The Lone Wanderer is one of the skill magazines you can get. This time, some of the copies resembles what you have to do in ''Fallout 3''.
* 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.
* NonStandardGameOver: This can happen ''very'' early on if you spend too much time dallying around Pre-War Sanctuary Hills when the Great War occurs.
* 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.
* NoticeThis:
** If you run out of a crafting component, you can tag it, meaning that items with that component in it have a little magnifying glass next to their name. You can take the trope further by choosing to make such objects (and containers they're in) glow with your HUD color when you get near them.
** Getting lost in a dungeon? Look for a red light on the wall. In one particularly blatant case, the red light is flashing.
* NotSoDifferent:
** The Brotherhood of Steel under Elder Maxson's command have since reverted to their old traditional beliefs utilized by the original West Coast chapter (though they still recruit Wastelanders much like their counterparts from both ''Tactics'' and ''3'') and, with their heightened FantasticRacism towards non-humans as well as their newly acquired technology after the events of ''3'', are getting [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope dangerously close]] to becoming another Enclave.
** Of all things, this can happen between the player ''and a Deathclaw''. [[spoiler:The Museum of Witchcraft contains a leveled Deathclaw, which, after it's probably killed by the player, has an unhatched Deathclaw Egg nearby. If the player chooses to return the egg, they're put in a similar situation to the Deathclaw at the nest- having their spouse killed and their child kidnapped (and found again).]]
** Likewise, potentially between you and [[spoiler:Kellogg, who also suffered the loss of his wife and child after being helpless to protect them; the key difference is that instead of bouncing back, he let his depression get the best of him and became a completely cold-hearted killer. One of the dialog options after seeing this is to lampshade it and decide whether or not you want to cut him a little slack.]]
** The Brotherhood of Steel and the Institute themselves are more similar than either faction would be comfortable to admit; both factions rely on superior technology and limiting interaction with the locals (In the Institute's case they're the Commonwealth's bogeymen, in the Brotherhood it is mentioned that unauthorized fraternizing with wastelanders is a ''punishable offense''), both believe they're the best hope for the Commonwealth and by extension the post-apocalyptic world, and both see synths as less than human, though in the Brotherhood's case they see them as abominations to be exterminated while the Institute sees them as mere tools with no actual free will.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Averted if you have power armor. In some of the skyscrapers, players often amuse themselves by jumping off the top. Or waiting for a band of raiders and ghouls to pass through down below and do a DynamicEntry on the rabble.
* NuclearNasty: ''Fallout 4'' features many of the same grotesquely mutated creatures from previous games, such as giant mole rats, yao guai, deathclaws, radroaches, bloatflies, ghouls and super mutants. It also introduces two new creatures, the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Bloodbug]], a monstrous insect mutated from the common mosquito, and the Stingwing, a giant, mutated, actually venomous scorpionfly.
* NukeEm: The Fat Man nuclear catapult returns.
** Taken to the extreme with the MIRV Mod - similar to ''Fallout 3'', it make the Fat Man fire ''multiple'', in this case ''six'' mini-nukes at once. And it can be applied to a legendary Fat Man known as the Big Boy, which fires two mini nukes for the price of one, meaning you can rain down ''twelve rounds of atomic fire'' for the price of one. Deathclaws will wish that they had [[BringMyBrownPants brought their brown pants]].
* 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.]]
* 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.
* ObviousRulePatch: You no longer get EXP from enemies who die solely at the hands of your companions. 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.
* OffscreenTeleportation: Your companions will do this to catch up to you if you wander too far away from them. Hilariously they can also spawn in mid-air if you're exploring the roof of a tall building, and fall to the ground, though thankfully this doesn't kill them. Keep in mind enemies and NPC's are capable of this as well, if you're far enough from them, and not looking at them at the moment, which may allow enemies to bypass some of your defenses in your settlements.
** Becomes especially humorous with the game's frequent elevators. Your companions' AI normally isn't smart enough to have them get into the elevator with you, but if you activate the elevator and then turn around 360° they will magically be behind you.
* OhCrap:
** Everyone in the pre-war scene has this reaction when the news announces confirmed reports of nuclear detonations along the Eastern Seaboard. Even Codsworth sounds scared and the Sole Survivor and their spouse literally run for the hills to reach Vault 111 before the bomb hits. In fact, the elevator descends in to the vault ''just'' as the blast wave reaches the vault.
** Nick has this reaction on finding out you have to go into [[{{Mordor}} the Glowing Sea]]. He remarks that he will be fine. You, on the other hand...
** At certain points [=NPCs=] panic when boss level enemies show up (the raiders at Concord when the Deathclaw shows up or the Minutemen when the Mirelurk Queen attacks the Castle).
** Your [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmGMKo_2ntc companions' reactions]] upon seeing the Brotherhood of Steel's ''[[ZeppelinsfromAnotherWorld Prydwen]]'' roll into town.
* OncePerEpisode: Numerous elements from previous ''Fallout'' games return in the fourth entry.
** The protagonist gets a mangy CanineCompanion with pointed ears, a la ''Film/MadMax2'', who they name Dogmeat.
** Creator/RonPerlman intones the series ArcWords "War. War never changes."
** A new model of power armor (the T-60) makes its first appearance.
* OneHitKill:
** The Ricochet perk has a chance of making bullets that hit the player [[AttackReflector fly back to the attacker]]... killing the attacker instantly.
** Once you're at a high enough level with the right perks and upgraded weaponry, you can do this regularly against lower level enemies, especially if it's a sneak attack.
* OneManArmy: The Sole Survivor if you travel without a companion, or with just Dogmeat.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Ghouls can now still survive and fight with their limbs severed. If you take off a leg, though, they become totally helpless, only wriggling about on the ground until you finish them off.
* 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, pointing out the Brotherhood of Steel's entirely holy mission is self-serving greed). When not making a choice, they tend to 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, Mister House, [[spoiler: Cabot]], and Braun, this shouldn't be surprising.
* OutOfGenreExperience: There are hints of Lovecraftian horror to be found out in the Commonwealth, most especially the quest line involving [[spoiler:Cabot House]].
* OutWithABang: Taking this trope to its most literal extreme, in one of the abandoned buildings in the wasteland, there are a pair of skeletons intertwined in each other's arms. Their positioning indicates that the woman was being ravished by her lover the very moment the bomb fell. He still has most of his clothes on, but she has none.
* PatrioticFervor: Downplayed, but the Minutemen and Railroad in their own ways invoke benevolent memories of Pre-War America in their own ways. Whether it's the Revolutionary War for the former or the Civil War and fight against (synth) slavery in the latter.
* PistolWhip: You can now smack your enemies with your firearms. You can even give your guns special mods such as bayonets in order to increase their melee damage and can upgrade the damage with the Basher perks.
* PlayingPossum: Feral Ghouls can often be found pretending to be corpses, often lying near actual corpses, only to get up when the player approaches. This has he benefit of allowing a fast or sneaky player to kill one before it can retaliate. However, where there's one there's usually two or three more, and you usually won't catch all of them in time. This becomes a lot easier to deal with if you have power armor fitted with a targeting HUD mod for your helmet, since the ghouls playing possum will be glowing red and you can easily pick them off.
* PlotArmor: All NPC characters that play a vital role in the main story quests are immortal. Pump as many rounds as you want into them, they will never die.
* PlotHole: The male PC's backstory is that he was recently discharged from the army -- this explains how he's able to shoot easily, tinker with his firearms and (possibly) use Power Armor. However, the female PC's backstory is that she got a law degree, with her military or government service only implied.
* PointOfNoReturn: When it comes to the main storyline, it's a '''polite''' event horizon, since the quest that locks you in one faction's path typically involves killing your contacts in another faction, which tends to make reconciliation afterwards impossible. Subverted for The Minutemen path, which is like the Wild Card Ending of New Vegas, since it's always available as an option and no faction will target them.
* {{Polyamory}}: In what has been stated by WordOfGod to be intentional, it's possible to carry on multiple romantic relationships with your Companions. Apparently, they don't sweat this sort of thing in the Commonwealth. This fan theory is further supported by the programming in the game sometimes resulting in multiple people all going to sleep on the same mattress at night.
** Actually attempting to conduct a polyamorous relationship can be difficult, since many of the romanceable companions still get jealous if you flirt with someone else in front of them.
* PostApocalypticDog: Dogmeat.
* PostClimaxConfrontation: [[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.]]
** A war between the Minutemen and the Railroad is also possible after the main quest, if you failed to order evacuation of the Institute. The Railroad does not directly attack the Castle, but its members become hostile, and the Railroad now can only be destroyed.
* PostEndGameContent: The game doesn't end with the main story, unlike ''Fallout 1'', ''3'' (sans ''Broken Steel''), and ''New Vegas''.
* PoweredArmor: Power armor, high tech suits that grant increased strength, radiation shielding, and so forth, make a return. Unlike previous games, power armor is no longer an [[{{Hammerspace}} inventory-stored apparel item]], but a big, methodically plodding wearable tank that you have to climb into and out of, and potentially leave behind. Or, better yet, you can leave it in your home or the garage.
** Combine this trope with PostApunkalypticArmor, and you have the new [[OhCrap Raider power armor]].
* PrecisionFStrike: Dropped by the PlayerCharacter to their trusty CanineCompanion as a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
-->'''Protagonist:''' Ready to ''fuck some shit up?''
* {{Prequel}}: Subverted. The game appears to be this way for the first half-hour (just before the Great War nukes obliterate the world). However, once you're brought into a cryogenic stasis chamber for purification, you remain stuck in there till 10 years after ''Fallout 3.''
* PrinciplesZealot: The Brotherhood of Steel has more or less become this. But while Elder Maxson insists on upholding the old ways Elder Lyons sought to change, he nonetheless still believes that it's for the good of the Commonwealth. They still are willing to recruit Wastelanders into their ranks, though.
* PurelyAestheticGender:
** Played straight in general. Not only does the player character's gender have no effect on their stats, [[EveryoneIsBi it doesn't even have an effect on who you can sleep with]] this time around.
** Averted with the perks Lady Killer (for males) and Black Widow (for females), which allow the player to do more damage against human enemies of the opposite gender and make persuading them through dialog easier. As there are more generic male enemies in the game, this provides a slight advantage to a female PlayerCharacter.
* PuttingOnTheReich: The Brotherhood of Steel under Elder Maxson, which seeks to exterminate all non-humans and conquer the ordinary people of the Wasteland "for their own good".
