History YMMV / Fallout4

** Clayton Holdren is one of the better-liked Institute members for having some more genuinely useful and interesting experiments, and being more reasonable and non-malicious than many of the other department heads.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: The Brotherhood Of Steel. They're intended to be the morally grey faction and in all honesty come off as such, but somehow they get more hate in the fandom than even the near-morally-black Institute.

** The Synth Courser later in the story runs into the same problem as Kellogg, but unlike Kellogg, the Fat Man and Mini-Nuke are out in the open (albeit hidden around the final area before the boss fight).

* RonTheDeathEater: The Railroad. As discussed below they can come off as UnintentionallyUnsympathetic, and are demonized as self-righteous moral crusaders who only care about freeing synths even if they have to plunge the Commonwealth into total anarchy to do it. This ignores that the group has internal disagreements on their methods that show they are aware of their flaws, and as was pointed out in ''Fallout 3'', they're the only ones fighting for synths when there are plenty of other people looking out for the Commonwealth as a whole.
** The Brotherhood of Steel, ''big time''. It's common to see discussion of the Brotherhood as fascist conquerors who want to take over the Commonwealth and treat its citizens as their subjects from whom they will seize supplies and recruits to expand their power. Never mind the Commonwealth is full of enemy armies that are slaughtering each other and anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire, the Brotherhood is comparatively peaceful in their crusade and don't cause any trouble for civilians, and it is pretty clear that the Brotherhood member who wants you to coerce food from settlements by force is asking you to do it under the table.

** From the ''Nuka World'' DLC, there is the quest “Open Season”. It’s one of the rare cases in the Fallout series where the option to KillThemAll is Good-Aligned Choice. Many players enjoy this quest because of the sheer catharsis & satisfaction of [[LaserGuidedKarma killing every last Raider and their bosses]], who all [[AssholeVictim completely deserved it]], while also freeing their captives & slaves. It’s also liked for being one of the more challenging quests in the game even when using Power Armor, since you’re getting swarmed by all these bastards left-&-right.

** From the ''Nuka World'' DLC, there is the quest “Open Season”. It’s one of the rare cases in the Fallout series where the option to KillThemAll is Good-Aligned Choice. Many players enjoy this quest because of the sheer catharsis & satisfaction of killing every last Raider and their bosses, who all [[LaserGuidedKarma completely deserved it]], while also freeing their captives & slaves. It’s also liked for being one of the more challenging quests in the game even when using Power Armor, since you’re getting swarmed by all these bastards left-&-right.

** Pickman, an unsettling SerialKiller encountered during a minor side quest given by Hancock, has a significant fan following - likely thanks to [[EvilIsSexy his polished, outwardly handsome appearance]] and [[DissonantSerenity oddly charming demeanor]]. The fact that he only seems to prey on [[VillainByDefault Raiders]], making him far more of a semi-sympathetic SerialKillerKiller, only helps.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Mags Black, the leader of the ''Nuka-World'' raider group the Operators, quickly won a lot of fans from just her first appearance in the trailer, being seen sporting an unusually high-class look for a Raider, a smooth contralto, and a lovely outfit. After the proper release of ''Nuka-World'', a lot of players openly wished she could have been a companion or even ''romance option''. Doesn't hurt that her [[Creator/LauraPost voice actress]] is the English voice of [[WebComic/OnePunchMan Fubuki]].
** Pickman might be an incredibly creepy SerialKillerKiller, but Kyle Hester's remarkably calming and soothing voice coupled with his character's handsome appearance have earned Pickman a fair amount of admiration and lust from the fan community.
** Depending on if one sees the Brotherhood of Steel as evil or not, [[TallDarkAndHandsome Elder Arthur Maxson]] can also be viewed under this light, as evidenced by the legions of fangirls around both him and Danse.
** For a noticeably large section of the fandom, [[DemonicSpiders Assaultrons]] can count here due to their husky voices and attractive [[{{Fembot}} hourglass figures]]. What certainly helps is that one of the aforementioned {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s for the game is the Assaultron character KL-E-0, who many fans are vocally disappointed cannot be romanced.
*** Hancock even has a voice line where he [[SkewedPriorities attempts to flirt with an Assaultron]] before realising exactly what he's just tried to chat up.

* ThatOneAttack

** Paladin Danse. To be clear, his plotline ''is'' very enjoyable. [[spoiler:Learning that he is secretly a synth, something he himself didn't even know, then trying to save him from Maxson's order of execution,]] that is all great stuff. The wasted potential is that [[spoiler:after you convince Maxson to spare him, his role in the story is now over. Maxson exiles him from the Brotherhood of Steel, and there is nothing one can do to stop that. After this point, if you still side with the Brotherhood, he cannot be used for the rest of the campaign. If he goes anywhere near another member of the Brotherhood, they will open fire on him and you. This means that Danse is basically the only faction companion that gets locked out of the endgame of his own faction's arc. The only faction you can use him in the endgame with is the Minutemen (though any path that involves destroying the Brotherhood will have him refuse to work with you ever again, so you can't become hostile to the Brotherhood either).]] DummiedOut audio files show that [[spoiler:there was going to be an option to have Danse challenge Maxson for leadership of the Brotherhood of Steel, presumably allowing you to use him again with the faction, but this did not happen in the final product [[note]]presumably due to the FridgeLogic both in having Danse be able to take Maxson's place via KlingonPromotion when that has never been mentioned as possible in Brotherhood society before, and the Brotherhood willingly following the killer of the man who they predominantly have an almost HundredPercentApprovalRating for[[/note]]. Even after the Brotherhood exiles him, he would remain blindly loyal to them. It would have been interesting if you could convince Danse to fully turn on the Brotherhood and side with the Railroad, the Minutemen or the Institute to destroy them. Instead, destroying the Brotherhood will result in Danse refusing to travel with the player if he were exiled, or turning hostile if he wasn't.]]

*** For example, the Railroad can come off as UnintentionallyUnsympathetic due to the fact that in the process of freeing Synths, their actions potentially destabilize the Commonwealth. They can be played AmbiguouslyEvil if the player character does not believe synths to be sentient, or see their "solution" of more or less pressuring every Synth they meet into an immediate [[DeathOfPersonality Memory Wipe]] makes them little better than the Institute. Equally valid, many players see them as lovable misfits, liberators of synths, and a counter to more destabilizing factions such as the Institute. Still others believe that depending on the player’s actions there is room in the Commonwealth for both human- and synth-focused organizations.

** Paladin Danse. To be clear, his plotline ''is'' very enjoyable. [[spoiler:Learning that he is secretly a synth, something he himself didn't even know, then trying to save him from Maxson's order of execution,]] that is all great stuff. The wasted potential is that [[spoiler:after you convince Maxson to spare him, his role in the story is now over. Maxson exiles him from the Brotherhood of Steel, and there is nothing one can do to stop that. After this point, if you still side with the Brotherhood, he cannot be used for the rest of the campaign. If he goes anywhere near another member of the Brotherhood, they will open fire on him and you. This means that Danse is basically the only faction companion that gets locked out of the endgame of his own faction's arc. The only faction you can use him in the endgame with is the Minutemen (though any path that involves destroying the Brotherhood will have him refuse to work with you ever again, so you can't become hostile to the Brotherhood either).]] DummiedOut audio files show that [[spoiler:there was going to be an option to have Danse challenge Maxson for leadership of the Brotherhood of Steel, presumably allowing you to use him again with the faction, but this did not happen in the final product [[note]]presumably due to the FridgeLogic both in having Danse be able to take Maxson's place via KlingonPromotion when that has never been mentioned as possible in Brotherhood society before, and the Brotherhood willingly following the killer of the man who they predominantly have an almost HundredPercentApprovalRating for[[/note]].]]

** Saugus Ironworks is ''never'' cleared; even once you've done the story quest mission and killed their boss along with a dozen or so mooks, the Forged will keep respawning there, only a few hundred yards away from one of your possible settlements. Good luck trying to hang back and snipe them- they have an elevated position overlooking the surrounding terrain, they are super good at spotting you, and they will absolutely bomb your ass with molotovs while surrounding you with flamethrowers (yeah, fire is kind of their thing). And then you hear the whistle of an incoming Fat Man mininuke...

** Saugatuck Ironworks is ''never'' cleared; even once you've done the story quest mission and killed their boss along with a dozen or so mooks, the Forged will keep respawning there, only a few hundred yards away from one of your possible settlements. Good luck trying to hang back and snipe them- they have an elevated position overlooking the surrounding terrain, they are super good at spotting you, and they will absolutely bomb your ass with molotovs while surrounding you with flamethrowers (yeah, fire is kind of their thing). And then you hear the whistle of an incoming Fat Man mininuke...

** "Hole in the Wall" is even worse. Austin, the Vault kid who has taken a shine to you, gets sick after being bitten by an infected mole rat. Said mole rat is one of many in the closed-off section of the Vault and all of them are going to try and bite you. Mole rats aren't exactly hard to kill, but there's a lot of them, they pop up out of nowhere, and it's very hard to kill them before they get at least one bite in. Worse still, your companion and the allied Protectron in the Vault will somehow infect you if they're bitten, and they aren't competent enough not to get hit. A single hit means you're infected, which in-game means you get a perk that takes a permanent 10 hit points off your maximum. There is a single dose of anti-virus that will cure it, and the good ending requires giving it to Austin. For perfectionist players, the mission is extremely obnoxious. Mercifully, the dialog system can be cheesed to allow you to cure Austin and yourself with the same dose (get to the option, pan the camera to exit dialog, cure yourself, then go back and cure Austin though dialog), but that isn't apparent to most casual players. Hope you've stocked up on Stealth Boys and/or Frag/Bottlecap Mines on this quest because you're definitely going to need them if you don't want to get bitten for your life.

** If you romanced one of your companions, going to bed with them nearby results in you sleeping together and a buff called Lover's Embrace. There's been reports that sometimes instead of your lover, you wake up next to ''[[TeamPet Dogmeat]]''. The [[BestialityIsDepraved possibilities]] are hilariously disgusting.

** Marcy Long. She's an UngratefulBitch who never shows you any respect or gratitude, and almost all of her dialogue is whining, paranoia of attacks, or just being a jerkass. And it isn't trauma or cynicism from Quincy, either; when you get to Quincy, Jun's old terminal entry reveals this is just how she is. With Patch 1.7 (or Patch 1.0.9 for Playstation players), Jun and Marcy have their essential status revoked, letting players put a bullet in her head -- and just to hammer home in how much she's hated, ''no one reacts if you kill her'', not even her husband.

* JunkRare: Their [[RandomNumberGod randomly generated nature]] means that the majority of Legendary items you encounter will be worse than your character's current equipment, or bear useless/[[CripplingOverspecialisation overly specific]] effects, leaving [[BetterOfSold higher value]] as their only benefit.

* LesYay: Cait and Piper have this in spades, lending itself to the OneTrueThreesome interpretation of their relationship (in fact, if you've romanced both and switch from Cait to Piper as your active companion, Cait will even suggest a threesome).

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: One of Nick Valentine's passive dialogue quotes, now that the NintendoHard Survival Mode is in play:
-->'''Nick Valentine:''' You good to keep going? I don't sleep or eat or anything like that, but if ya need to, you do it.
* [[{{SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct}} He/She Can Really Act]]: As much as players (not unfairly) criticize the game’s use of a voiced protagonist in a ''Fallout'' game, most players do agree that the two voice actors for the Sole Survivor do an exceptional job with the character. Both Brian T. Delaney and Creator/CourtenayTaylor are able to convey the many emotions of the main character, making their various lines dramatic, intense, funny, sad, upbeat, etc. right when they need to be. So while most fans agree that ''Fallout'' really shouldn’t use a voiced protagonist in future games, at least ''4'' makes it worthwhile.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: After going through Kellogg's memories, Kellogg manages to somehow speak through Nick and taunt the player character. Regardless of the reactions picked, Nick regains control with no idea what happened, and this moment is never mentioned or brought up again.

** "The Silver Shroud" for the most part is fun and easy as it's just shooting certain people and leaving a literal calling card behind... until you get to Sinjin. This Raider boss has your radio buddy Kent hostage and you have to save him but doing so is harder than it seems. He has around three leveled lackeys that will shoot you if you don't scare them off... which means Sinjin will shoot Kent right afterwards. You can challenge Sinjin but then his lackeys will start shooting you too.

** Scribe Haylen (a NiceGirl [[TheMedic medic]] working at Cambridge Police Station) and Proctor Ingram (a FieryRedhead GadgeteerGenius with a SuperWheelchair) might be the only two Brotherhood of Steel members that even those who fervently hate the faction rarely have any problem with, with some even wishing that Haylen had been a potential companion (with the fact that she's [[spoiler:the only Brotherhood member to stand up for Danse in "Blind Betrayal" certainly helping]]). Brotherhood Scribes Quinlan and Neriah also have their fans for their quirkiness and some of their experiments (although that fanbase is understandably restricted mostly to those who ''don't'' hate the Brotherhood as a whole).

** Nukatrons, Protectrons armed with weaponized Nuka-Cola Quantum, easily the worst robot just below Sentry Bots and Assaultrons. Their explosive projectiles deal massive damage even through maximum upgraded power armor and has surprisingly long range. Thankfully, they're only slightly tougher than your average protectron.
** Cave Crickets, giant crickets who're as tough as Radscorpions and can run very fast. Not to mention they often come in packs.