History Woobie / Fallout

* Christine Royce is all but stated to be Veronica's former lover, who was forced to leave her, thanks to The Brotherhood's self-destructive traditions and Veronica's unwillingness to leave the only family she's ever known. When you find her, she has had her ''throat torn out'' and left [[AndIMustScream trapped in a malfunctioning auto-doc, where she was alone in a dark cramped space, surrounded by the sound of malfunctioning surgical tools]], leading to her developing {{Claustrophobia}}. Before that, she was trapped in the Big Empty's Y-17 Medical Facility after Elijah set her up as a distraction so he could escape. Once there, she was subjected to lobotomy via electrodes. The brain damage made it close to impossible for her to read or write, though she can still do mathematics just fine. Luckily, Ulysses broke her out before anything worse could happen. After the events of Dead Money, presuming she's still alive, she decides to willingly remain in [[DeathWorld The Sierra Madre]], as it's personal guardian, both to keep people like Elijah out and the horrors in The Sierra Madre in, at the cost of sacrificing any chance she had at a happy life.

* Siri used to have high hopes of becoming a doctor, only to see it all ripped away when the Legion invaded her home and made her a slave, leaving her as little more than a primitive medicine woman who can only craft tribal remedies due to the Legion's prohibition on science and advanced technology. Owe, and this being [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil The Legion]] we're talking about, she has more than likely been raped while in the Legion's base.

* Oswald the Outrageous. He used to be a pre-war survivor who took shelter in the Kiddie Kingdom but became a Ghoul along with the other survivors. The radiation took a toll on the survivors and turned all of them feral over time, except him and his girlfriend Rachel. He dedicated his life to protect his ghoulified friends and the Kiddle Kingdom from the raiders with the use of irradiated gas, illusions and the ability to resurrect feral ghouls due to being a Glowing One. He spent 200 years guarding Kiddie Kingdom while waiting for Rachel to find a cure for going feral, [[spoiler: unaware that Rachel herself was DrivenToSuicide out of despair when she found out there was no cure.]] You can tell him to go help Rachel, [[BrutalHonesty tell him that there's no cure for going feral]], [[KickTheDog give him Rachel's holotape]], [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or outright attack him]]. Either way, if you know what happened to Rachel, no matter how you confront him, what you tell him, [[YouAreTooLate all his hopes are proven to be futile]]. It is hard not to feel sorry for both Oswald and the feral ghouls you mowed down to get to him.

%%Good Afternoon Editors, If you wish to add more woobies, please consult the cleanup thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900&page=1

* Harold in the first three main games. He was only ''five'' years old when the bombs dropped and had to claw his way to top of the [[AfterTheEnd post-Nuclear Armageddon world]], only to be knocked back down from being a successful merchant to a homeless drifter ''repeatedly''. He also had the misfortune of being exposed to FEV during the Mariposa Expedition, which led to the creation of "Bob", a hunk of wood growing out of his head. Things go FromBadToWorse, once we cut to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' Bob the hunk wood, eventually overtook the rest of his body and [[AndIMustScream rooted him into the ground, where was stuck]]. As time went on, Bob into a small forest and Harold was worshiped as deity, by a small cult called the Treeminders, in-spite of his constant attempts to convince them otherwise, because they assume he's just "testing" them. By the time the player meets him in the Oasis that has grown around him, Harold is so [[DrivenToSuicide sick of his miserable existence]], he asks the player to MercyKill him. But the leader of the Treeminders and his wife want him to stay alive to keep Oasis to the cult or spread out Oasis, for the good of all the wasteland respectively, and the player has to choose between ending Harold's suffering and losing potentially vital resource in rebuilding the world (his trees) or [[FateWorseThanDeath allowing it to continue]], but at the benefit of the world as a whole. Though if you choose to help spread his "[[BlessedWithSuck gift]]" across the wasteland, you can at least convince him of how much his "condition" can benefit the world as a whole and [[BittersweetEnding he'll find some solace in that]].

* Harold in the first three main games. He was only ''five'' years old when the bombs dropped and had to claw his way to top of the [[AfterTheEnd post-Nuclear Armageddon world]], only to be knocked back down from being a successful merchant to a homeless drifter ''repeatedly''. He also had the misfortune of being exposed to FEV during the Mariposa Expedition, which to the creation of "Bob", a hunk of wood growing out of his head. Things go FromBadToWorse, once we cut to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' Bob the hunk wood, eventually overtook the rest of his body and [[AndIMustScream rooted him into the ground, where was stuck]]. As time went on, Bob into a small forest and Harold was worshiped as deity, by a small cult called the Treeminders, in-spite of his constant attempts to convince them otherwise, because they assume he's just "testing" them. By the time the player meets him in the Oasis that has grown around him, Harold is so [[DrivenToSuicide sick of his miserable existence]], he asks the player to MercyKill him. But the leader of the Treeminders and his wife want him to stay alive to keep Oasis to the cult or spread out Oasis, for the good of all the wasteland respectively, and the player has to choose between ending Harold's suffering and losing potentially vital resource in rebuilding the world (his trees) or [[FateWorseThanDeath allowing it to continue]], but at the benefit of the world as a whole. Though if you choose to help spread his "[[BlessedWithSuck gift]]" across the wasteland, you can at least convince him of how much his "condition" can benefit the world as a whole and [[BittersweetEnding he'll find some solace in that]].

* Christine Royce is all but stated to be Veronica's former lover, who was forced to leave her, thanks to The Brotherhood's self-destructive traditions and Veronica's unwillingness to leave the only family she's ever known. When you find her, she has had her ''throat turn out'' and left [[AndIMustScream trapped in a malfunctioning auto-doc, where she was alone in a dark cramped space, surrounded by the sound of malfunctioning surgical tools]], leading to her developing {{Claustrophobia}}. Before that, she was trapped in the Big Empty's Y-17 Medical Facility after Elijah set her up as a distraction so he could escape. Once there, she was subjected to lobotomy via electrodes. The brain damage made it close to impossible for her to read or write, though she can still do mathematics just fine. Luckily, Ulysses broke her out before anything worse could happen. After the events of Dead Money, presuming she's still alive, she decides to willingly remain in [[DeathWorld The Sierra Madre]], as it's personal guardian, both to keep people like Elijah out and the horrors in The Sierra Madre in, at the cost of sacrificing any chance she had at a happy life.

* Harold in the first three main games. He was only ''five'' years old when the bombs dropped and had claw his way to top of the [[AfterTheEnd post-Nuclear Armageddon world]], only to be knocked back down from being a successful merchant to a homeless drifter ''repeatedly''. He also had the misfortune of being exposed to FEV during the Mariposa Expedition, which to the creation of "Bob", a hunk of wood growing out of his head. Things go FromBadToWorse, once we cut to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' Bob the hunk wood, eventually over the took the rest of his body and [[AndIMustScream rooted him into the ground, where was stuck]]. As time went on, Bob into a small forest and Harold was worshiped as deity, by a small cult called the Treeminders, in-spite of his constant attempts to convince them otherwise, because they assume he's just "testing" them. By the time the player meets him in the Oasis that has grown around him, Harold is so [[DrivenToSuicide sick of his miserable existence]], he asks the player to MercyKill him. But the leader of the Treeminders and his wife want him to stay alive to keep Oasis to the cult or spread out Oasis, for the good of all the wasteland respectively, and the player has to choose between ending Harold's suffering and losing potentially vital resource in rebuilding the world (his trees) or [[FateWorseThanDeath allowing it to continue]], but at the benefit of the world as a whole. Though if you choose to help spread his "[[BlessedWithSuck gift]]" across the wasteland, you can at least convince him of how much his "condition" can benefit the world as a whole and [[BittersweetEnding he'll find some solace in that]].

* If you decide to be a terrible person, you can make Amata's life hell growing up. Teaching bullies to mock her weight, killing her dad, destroying her home, and causing [[spoiler:her to be captured by the Enclave and shot to death for not revealing where Vault 101 is.]]

* Veronica was forced to part ways with her old girlfriend, because the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel needs everyone member to be in a relationship that actually allows them to produce a child, because they refuse to just recruit new members. She is also treated with very little respect and often kept away from the other members, because she questions the Brotherhood's self destructive traditions, despite being the only one who's actually ''trying'' help them survive in the long run. [[spoiler: If you finish her companion quest, I Could Make You Care, by persuading her to leave, she'll attempt to join the Followers of the Apocalypse, which results in a group of Brotherhood Paladins destroying a small outpost and its inhabitants. She not only blames herself for this, but is so traumatized by what's happened that she refuses to enter the Brotherhood bunker with you anymore. Even not counting that, she still has to come to the realization that no matter what she does, her people will never change the ways, [[HonorBeforeReason even if it destroys them in the end.]]]] No matter what you do, she's left with [[BrokenBird her spirit broken]].

* Christine Royce is all but stated to be Veronica's former lover, who was forced to leave her, thinks to The Brotherhood's self destructive traditions and Veronica's unwillingness to leave the only family she's ever known. When you find her, she has had her ''throat turn out'' and left [[AndIMustScream trapped in a malfunctioning auto doc, where she was alone in a dark cramped space, surrounded by the sound of malfunctioning surgical tools]], leading to her developing {{Claustrophobia}}. Before that, she was trapped in the Big Empty's Y-17 Medical Facility after Elijah set her up as a distraction so he could escape. Once there, she was subjected to lobotomy via electrodes. The brain damage made it close to impossible for her to read or write, though she can still do mathematics just fine. Luckily, Ulysses broke her out before anything worse could happen. After the events of Dead Money, presuming she's still alive, she decides to willingly remain in [[DeathWorld The Sierra Madre]], as it's personnel guardian, both to keep people like Elijah out and the horrors in The Sierra Madre in, at the cost of sacrificing any chance she had at a happy life.
* The ''Old World Blues'' DLC has [[CuteMachines Muggy]], a neurotic miniature [[MechaMook Securitron]], built as an in-universe TakeThat to Securitron creator Robert House, that Dr. 0 (who has a serious bone to pick with House) can take out his frustration on, largely by designing him to be obsessed with cleaning coffee mugs, but depriving him of access to any, so he's constantly begging for mugs. He's also not treated well by the other appliances in the sink. [[spoiler: Plus in his Bad Ending, his tire gives out, just as he's about to reach a coffee mug, leaving him stuck with the mug he wants so badly just out of reach. But on the bright side, in the GoldenEnding, he finds himself in Higgs Village, the resting place of the Think Tank's now abandoned homes, from when they were still human, where Muggy finds all the coffee mugs and other dishes, he could ever want to wash. He even gets a little personnel revenge on Dr. 0, by leaving his dishes to gather dust, while he cleans everyone else's.]]
* [[PosthumousCharacter Randall Clark]] "The Father in the Caves", from the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC, was a former soldier who lost his family and home during [[WorldWarThree The Great War]] and spent '''decades''' on the verge of committing suicide, while wracked with survivors guilt and feeling as though he had no purpose life. Whenever he finally finds something to live for, both in the form of a family of survivors that tried to help survive and a chance to start a new family with another women, [[YankTheDogsChain it was yanked away from him.]] But he did [[EarnYourHappyEnding eventually find peace]], after becoming the guardian and mentor of a lost band of children, that years down the line, would became The Sorrows Tribe and would regard him as a god.

* While all the Fallout protagonists have Woobie elements, this installment has the woobiest yet. Not only is there the usual tragedy of having to leave home into the devastated world, but [[spoiler: your spouse is dead, your infant child has been kidnapped,]] and you know firsthand what the world used to be like. As is addressed in game in a conversation with the pre-war ghoul shopkeeper Daisy, the protagonist actually knows the difference. Comes off as an IronWoobie fairly early given their response to the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, [[spoiler: the death of their spouse]], and [[spoiler: kidnapping of their son]] is to become a wandering do-gooder who builds settlements. The issue is addressed in the interview with the Sole Survivor having the option of being devastated about the world, impressed with the way people are still trudging along, or sarcastic the biggest city left is a shanty-town in his/her favorite baseball stadium.

* Nick Valentine. Despite being a synth originally designed as an infiltrator, he is one of the nicest and most moral People in the Commonwealth. His artificial skin's also slowly tattering away over the years (exposing his internal components), at least two of the major power players in the region want him dead or enslaved just for existing, and he suffers severe existential angst/despair due to knowing that his memories, personality and morality base all come from the man his Neuralnet was based on, to the point of feeling that nothing he does is truly "his own". Nick's had at least one shuddery moment thinking about what he'd be like if they'd uploaded someone like a Vault-Tec exec or condemned criminal instead. And to make matters worse, he's constantly having flashes of memories/events from his "former" life.
* Paladin Danse, if you pursue his unique perk. [[spoiler: The loyal and dutiful Brotherhood Paladin, one who believes in their mission to wipe the Institute and synths from the face of the Commonwealth, is revealed to be a synth himself, and he never even realized it! Elder Maxon will have none of it, and orders him executed. You can save him from being killed, but he will be forced into exile. Everything he had lived for is completely turned on its head.]] What makes it even worse is that even when he knows the truth, he stubbornly keeps to his believes about synths, and demands that he be exterminated to set an example.

** Corporal Betsy was '''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped]]''' by [[CompleteMonster Cook-Cook]] an act that was so traumatic, she feels to need to [[StraightGay hit on every woman]] that comes into camp to still feel in control and refuses to seek help, despite all of her squad mates wanting her to.

** Who could for get about the "abominations". Humans that were tortured and experiment on, till they became [[TragicMonster mindless and violent, half-alien monster, incapable of reason]].

** Corporal Betsy was '''[[RapedIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped]]''' by [[CompleteMonster Cook-Cook]] an act that was so traumatic, she feels to need to [[StraightGay hit on every woman]] that comes into camp to still feel in control and refuses to seek help, despite all of her squad mates wanting her to.

** Possibly the biggest example on the ship is ''Elliot Tercorien'', like the rest of the team (with exception The Lone Wanderer and Somah) he is a FishOutOfTemporalWater, but unlike them, who take that part of their situation in stride, he is devastated to learn of that the country that he and his fellow soldiers fought so valiantly to protect has been destroyed and the battles they fought in were rendered moot. While in the alien's cryogenics lab, he sees three of his former squad mates '''butchered''' on the operating, causing him to go on a brief RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Then afterwards, you and him find a couple more of his former squad mates still alive and frozen in the lab, but so badly injured from the alien's experiments, that they are guaranteed to die in short time, if they are unfrozen, leaving you and him with the tough choice of whether to give them a [[MercyKill painless death by cutting off their oxygen]] or unfreezing them, so they can spend their last few moments fighting the aliens alongside the both of you, before they succumb to their wounds.

* [[PosthumousCharacter Randall Clark]] "The Father in the Caves", from the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC, was a former soldier who lost his family and home during [[WorldWarThree The Great War]] and spent '''decades''' on the verge of committing suicide, while wracked with suaver survivors guilt and having no purpose life. When he finally found something to liver for, in the form of a family of survivors that tried to help survive, [[YankTheDogsChain they are massacred.]] Though he did eventually find peace, after becoming the guardian and mentor of a lost band of children, that years down the line, became The Sorrows Tribe.

* Ian West is scared and confused young man, who's under the impressions that he [[spoiler: ''[[SelfMadeOrphan murdered his own parents]]'' in a fit of homicidal and cannibalistic rage]] and with no one else to turn to, allows himself to be taken under the mentor-ship of Vance, who, [[AmbiguousSituation may or may not be the one responsible for murder his parent]].