Line #28 YMMV/Fallout2024


1	%%Please wait until six months after release before adding examples of Audience-Alienating Ending, Broken Base, Base-Breaking Character, and Contested Sequel. (October 10, 2024)
2	%%Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard entries must be approved by the proper threads.
3
4	* {{Adorkable}}:
5	** Lucy's [[WideEyedIdealist Wide-Eyed Idealism]], perkiness, and firm dedication [[NiceGirl to being a kind individual]] make her insanely endearing and sympathetic, ''especially'' as the show continues to put her through BreakTheCutie.
6	** Maximus has his moments as well, especially with his excitement when wearing the Power Armor for the first time and experiencing [[spoiler:[[MundaneLuxury life in a Vault]] for the first time ever.]]
7	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation/Fallout2024 Has its own page now.]]
8	* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Leading up to the premiere, there was much grumbling and speculation over the quality of the series due to the ''very'' long track record of [[VideoGameMoviesSuck terrible live-action adaptations of various Video Game properties]], with diehard fans in particular being worried about it turning out to be as lackluster and divisive as ''Series/Halo2022'' or ''Series/ResidentEvil2022''. After the premiere was well-received by audiences and critics alike, many of these same fans were pleasantly surprised (though some had issues concerning the lore aspects).
9	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
10	** "Ladyfingers" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass is a soothing saxophone instrumental that plays over the scene of Lucy and Max crossing paths with fiends. It fits the world of ''Fallout'' perfectly.
11	** "Only You" by the Platters plays as a hilarious moment of SoundtrackDissonance when Max "saves" Lucy in Vault 4, and it fits the setting so well it's a wonder that it wasn't used in the games sooner.
12	** In a similar vein to "Only You" above, Nat King Cole's "I Don't Want To See Tomorrow" is used to ''fantastic'' effect throughout the series, first in the trailer and then during the epic final confrontation in the first season finale between the [[spoiler:West Coast Brotherhood of Steel and Moldaver's NCR remnants]]. Not only is it just a great song on its own, but the lyrics and overall tone provide a near-perfect allusion to the franchise's greater themes of [[CrapsaccharineWorld an obvious nightmare poorly hidden under a pleasant façade]].
13	** Speaking of the first season finale, the Ink Spots' "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" is used excellently, perfectly alluding to the season's BittersweetEnding with each character having accomplished major goals in their season-wide arcs... but left unfulfilled and depressed by the realization that the road ahead of them is far more arduous than they could've ever imagined.
14	%%* BrokenBase cannot be added for at least six months after release.
15	* CommonKnowledge: Certain fans have accused the show of trying to decanonize ''New Vegas'', claiming that the blackboard history of the NCR shows that [[spoiler:Shady Sands was nuked in 2277, which was four years prior to the events of ''New Vegas'' would have made the NCR's war effort during the game impossible.]] However, the blackboard doesn't say this at all: [[spoiler:it says that the fall of Shady Sands occurred in 2277, with the nuke being the next point on the timeline [[note]]though it's not specified if this "fall" refers to an economic downfall due to the NCR-Legion War or something else[[/note]].]]
16	* CompleteMonster: [[SmallRoleBigImpact Leon von Felden]] is a [[MadScientist high-ranking researcher at West-Tek and the lead scientist on the development of the Forced Evolutionary Virus]], whilst also being complicit in Vault-Tec's scheme to start the Great War. Wanting to use the virus to create SuperSoldiers, Felden orchestrates the [[PlayingWithSyringes mass experimentation]] of countless [[TestedOnHumans humans]] due to no longer wanting to test on animals. These experiments left horrific results at the Mariposa Military Base, and the Super Mutants of Vault 87, who became a marauding blight upon the Capitol Wasteland. Leon's legacy as the creator of the FEV virus has paved the bloody ambitions of countless megalomaniacs, from the Enclave's genocidal plots with a mutated FEV, to others creating their own deadly strains of Super Mutants.
17	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
18	** Chet is [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first introduced]] as Vault 33's bumbling gatekeeper and Lucy's ex, who pretends the door doesn't open in an effort to prevent her from meeting her groom from 32. Lucy decides to let him down nicely while also revealing that not only are they actually cousins, but she also thinks it's ''[[KissingCousins totally normal for cousins to experiment as long as they're kids.]]'' A hilariously [[{{Squick}} squick-inducing]] choice of words coming from someone who was otherwise introduced as a straightforward {{Adorkable}} WideEyedIdealist only moments ago.
19	** The joke at the end of Episode 2. [[spoiler:Wilzig thinks he's too wounded to continue his journey. Lucy gives him a RousingSpeech to keep him going...[[NegatedMomentOfAwesome only for him to anti-climatically reveal that he had already taken a cyanide pill]]. He then awkwardly rambles about its good qualities, including its banana flavor, even calling it "the most humane product that Vault-Tec ever made" (made even funnier because that’s probably NotHyperbole), and wondering why it wasn't more popular.]]
20	** Stephanie’s insanely awkward attempt to seduce Chet in Episode 4, particularly when he both plays along with her delusions regarding her dead husband Burt and him mistaking her water breaking for him having given her an orgasm from just a heated make-out session.
21	** The absurdly frank discussion about sex between Lucy & Maximus at the start of Episode 6 is so bizarre that it flies right past being just painfully uncomfortable and into hilarious CringeComedy territory.
22	** The wasteland doctor trying to shoot himself? Tragic. The wasteland doctor trying to shoot himself by awkwardly balancing on one leg while trying to fit the other foot's big toe into the much-too-small trigger guard of the rifle he's trying to eat? Hilarious.
23	** [[spoiler:Thaddeus getting suddenly shot through the neck with a crossbow bolt? Horrifying. His [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction incredulous reaction to him still being alive]], the awkward wheezing sound caused by him breathing through the new hole in his neck, and his [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight comically underplayed reaction]] to his impending ghoulification? ''Hilarious.'']].
24	* DracoInLeatherPants:
25	** The Ghoul/Cooper Howard has a lot of fans who are willing to ignore his more unsavory actions such as relentlessly killing multiple people and kidnapping and later trying to sell Lucy, due to Creator/WaltonGoggins' natural charisma in the role. It doesn't hurt that he only became this after the bombs drop (forcing him to do whatever it takes to survive), that he does have some standards, and has a tragic backstory.
26	** [[spoiler:Mr. House being revealed as one of the masterminds behind the Great War hasn't stopped many fans from holding out hope and making detailed but largely speculative arguments that he was a TokenGoodTeammate to the moguls who was against their plan but couldn't stop it, or at least had ALighterShadeOfBlack goals and methods.]]
27	* DryDocking: A lot of fans online refuse to ship The Ghoul/Cooper Howard with anyone regardless of canon, so that they can imagine/write fanfics pairing them with themselves or their {{Author Avatar}}s.
28	* EpilepticTrees:
29	** [[spoiler:In regards to the heavy implication in the Season 1 finale that Vault-Tec might have caused the Great War. While not ruled out, it's simply shown that Vault-Tec, and a cabal of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt corporate executives]] ''wanted'' it to happen, not that they explicitly did it. This means that it is still possible the show could, in flashbacks in later seasons, still end up aligning with the ambiguously canon "Fallout Bibles", where the Enclave was said to have fully embraced nuclear war as a way to "wipe the slate clean" and "begin again"(and the mysterious shadowy figure overhearing the executive meeting itself is often used as claims that the Enclave may be revealed to be behind Vault-Tec's actions), along with claims by Tim Cain that China did in fact drop the bombs first. And this is of course ignoring the possibility of other groups dropping the bombs first (such as the Zetans or Soviets)]].
30	** After TheReveal that [[spoiler:Vault-Tec has become TheConspiracy after the Great War and are dedicated to [[LetThePastBurn wiping out all Post-War civilizations]] not associated with them so they can TakeOverTheWorld and establish OneNationUnderCopyright, some fans have suggested that Vault-Tec is in part responsible for the series’ MedievalStasis, such as them being the true masterminds behind the [=CPG=] Massacre in the backstory of ''Fallout 4'' and being [[TheChessmaster the patrons]] of various evil mercenaries/mercenary organizations across the games that seem to be dedicated mostly to RapePillageAndBurn (such as Mr. Burke, Littlehorn & Associates and Talon Company in ''3'' along with the Gunners in ''4'')]].
31	* EstrogenBrigade: The Ghoul has a ''lot'' of female fans due to a combination of AllGirlsWantBadBoys, DarkAndTroubledPast, YouSexyBeast, and ICanChangeMyBeloved. Being played by the charismatic Creator/WaltonGoggins also certainly helps.
32	* FanNickname:
33	** Lucy's character has been nicknamed "Vault Girl."
34	** Creator/WaltonGoggins playing Cooper Howard a.k.a "the Ghoul" has given rise to the nickname of "Walton [[PortManteau Ghoulgins]]".
35	** Even though [[Creator/JonDaly Jon Daly's]] character is official credited as "Snake-Oil Salesman", most viewers have universally referred to him as "[[BestialityIsDepraved Chicken Fucker]]" due to his extremely memorable introduction.
36	* FanficFuel:
37	** The audience is almost only told about what happened to Cooper Howard before the Great War; as such, many fans are curious on what exactly happened to him over the intervening centuries, particularly in terms in wondering what role he might've played in the events of ''Fallout 1'', ''2'' and ''New Vegas''.
38	** How else has [[spoiler:the West Coast and Mojave Wasteland been changed following the NCR being devastated after Vault-Tec destroyed Shady Sands?]]
39	* FanonDiscontinuity: Many within the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fandom would prefer to ignore the impact this series has had on a number of factions within the game; [[spoiler:the NCR has been left in an unclear but worse state years after their last appearance, with Shady Sands being stated to have fallen in 2277 and been nuked some years later; TheStinger of the finale shows that New Vegas itself has either been ruined or at least left badly damaged over a decade later, making any action the Courier took to help Vegas and the Mojave Wasteland factions seemingly AllForNothing.]]
40	* FanPreferredCouple: In the fandom, Ghoul/Lucy is far more popular than the more canonical [[spoiler: Maximus/Lucy]], due to fans feeling they have great chemistry and the Ghoul being the fan favorite.
41	* FriendlyFandoms:
42	** This show's fans get along with those of ''Series/{{The Last of Us\|2023}}'', which is another post-apocalyptic series based on a video game. Many fans of both shows are happy for each other's successes, believing that it will continue the positive streak of good adaptations of video games.
43	** With ''Series/{{Westworld}}'' given that both shows are directed and produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Nolan even admits in an [[https://www.ign.com/articles/the-big-fallout-interview-todd-howard-and-jonathan-nolan-answer-our-burning-questions-about-season-1?utm_source=twitter IGN interview]] that ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' helped in the development of ''Westworld'', particularly the gaming mechanics. Some ''Westworld'' fans have even joked that the ''Fallout'' show is secretly ''Westworld'' Season 5, not helped by the fact that The Ghoul is eerily similar to The Man in Black and that Season 4 of ''Westworld'' [[spoiler:goes into AfterTheEnd territory with its own storyline]].
44	** With ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'', another critically acclaimed video game TV adaptation starring Creator/EllaPurnell in a lead role. Fans joke about [[FanficFuel what would happen]] if [[DarkActionGirl Jinx]] were to meet [[AllLovingHero Lucy]] while at the same time applauding the show runners for doing their adaptations and lore justice and sticking to both works' heavy anti-capitalist themes.
45	* HesJustHiding: [[spoiler:While the New California Republic as a whole in the series is gone, some fans like to think that its more likable soldiers and citizens from ''New Vegas'' are still alive, just in hiding. Eventually, Emil Pagliarulo ([[WordOfGod one of the writers for the games]]) would come out and confirm that the NCR is ''definitely'' on the downtrodden scale of things, but there are still remnants of it scattered throughout California and it is NotSoExtinct.]]
46	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
47	** Creator/ErikEstrada's cameo as a former NCR Ranger, complete with the uniform and all, was seen as a very surprising and extremely well-done dramatic moment for both the series and his career. Many people who could recognize him were surprised to see his cameo and have been speculating if we're gonna see more of him in Season 2, noting that the action will probably move on to more of the NCR's territory into New Vegas.
48	** Creator/MoisesArias as Norman "Norm" [=MacLean=] turned out to be a pleasant surprise for a lot of viewers. Many viewers who were kids in the 2000s only knew & remembered him for his Creator/DisneyChannel KidCom roles as [[BrattyHalfPint annoying, bratty kid-characters]], particularly as "Rico" in ''Series/HannahMontana''. However, Moises has been well received for his role as Norm, really conveying his initial-cowardice, insightfulness, and determination, while encapsulating the character's desire to find out the mysteries behind the vaults, [[spoiler: and the horror he feels when he finds out the truth]].
49	* HilariousInHindsight:
50	** The teaser trailer makes a joke about ''Free Two-Day Shipping'', and announces the series is coming April 12th... for it to arrive two days ''early''.
51	** One of the narratives around the Brotherhood of Steel in the later installments of the games is that they were dying out without recruiting Wastelanders into their ranks. Considering that the Brotherhood is one of the safer places to grow up, logically they should not have any such problems unless they consistently suffer from devastating combat losses. Then we learn that Aspirants (or at least those from the same boot camp as Maximus) [[MissConception have no idea how babies are made or how sex works.]] Apparently, sex ed was dropped from the curriculum at some point in time.
52	** In the second episode, the Snake Oil Salesman spots Lucy & an injured Wilzig leaving Filly and then loudly begins to proclaim that he ''totally'' has serums to repair Wilzig’s ruined foot. As amusing as this is on the surface since it just comes across as the Snake Oil Salesman indulging in BlatantLies for a quick buck, it becomes significantly funnier come the first season’s penultimate episode when it’s revealed that [[spoiler:''[[RealAfterAll he wasn’t actually lying]];'' he really ''does'' have serums that can near-instantly heal someone’s crippled foot… they just come with the side effect of what seems to be ghoulification]].
53	* JerkassWoobie: Cooper Howard, or The Ghoul, lost his acting career working with Vault-Tec when he learned the AwfulTruth that [[spoiler:his wife came up with the idea to turn the Vaults into test chambers for whatever Vault-Tec's shareholders wanted]]. He was then outside the Vaults when the bombs went off, became ghoulified at some point in time, and lost his family while witnessing the fall of civilization firsthand. These experiences have left him a very cynical and changed man willing to mow down anything and anyone in his way and [[spoiler:sell Lucy to organ harvesters]] in desperation.
54	* JustHereForGodzilla: A not-insignificant percentage of viewers have freely admitted that the main appeal of the show for them (more so than any of its other aspects) is getting to watch Walton Goggins play a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot badass ghoul cowboy-bounty hunter]].
55	* LesYay: Between Moldaver and [[spoiler:Lucy's mother Rose]]. Their relationship is not explicitly romantic but Moldaver's first remark [[spoiler:to Lucy is mentioning how much she looks like her mother. She keeps Rose's feral ghoul form alive and eats dinner with it. When she's fatally wounded, her last act is to sit next to Rose's corpse and hold her hand]].
56	* MemeticLoser: Given his [[DirtyCoward cowardice]], {{Jerkass}}ery, [[OverrankedSoldier incompetence despite his rank]], and [[UndignifiedDeath the humiliating, pathetic demise he suffers]], it didn't take long at all for "Knight" Titus to be labeled as this. Being portrayed by controversial actor Creator/MichaelRapaport certainly didn't do him any favors.
57	* MemeticMutation: Can be found [[Memes/{{Fallout}} here]].
58	* MoralEventHorizon:
59	** Thaddeus loses all audience sympathy when he [[spoiler:locks Dogmeat in a Nuka-Cola cooler and leaves her to die despite her doing little more than inconveniencing him]].
60	** The Season 1 finale shows that [[spoiler:Hank [=McLean=] is a [[BitchInSheepsClothing fundamentally despicable]] [[EvilAllAlong and abhorrent wretch of a person]] in that he wiped Shady Sands off the map with a [[NukeEm nuclear bomb]]. Not only did he kill tens of thousands of innocent people and devastate the New California Republic, but he condemned his own wife to a hellish FateWorseThanDeath as a Feral Ghoul all out of a mix of his own ControlFreak nature and a twisted classism-based InsaneTrollLogic]].
61	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Credit to the sound design put into the production of the series, there is just something immensely satisfying about the ''"FWOOM"'' sound of the fin-stabilized grenades being shot out of the Ghoul's handgun.
62	* OlderThanTheyThink:
63	** [[spoiler:The revelation that Vault-Tec were possibly the mastermind behind the Great War was originally supposed to be used for the canceled ''Fallout'' movie treatment]].
64	** [[spoiler:The NCR being destroyed was an idea originally tossed around by Creator/ChrisAvellone, as he hated how the ''Fallout'' universe began to resemble a modern civilization instead of the post-apocalyptic wasteland presented in ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' ([[https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/4u3cxj/comment/d672ii5/ though he later reclarified that he envisioned the post-War nations as not destroyed but infighting states]] ''Series/BabylonFive'' style). The option to nuke the NCR's Long 15 supply lines into New Vegas, Ulysses' tribe's home of Dry Wells which was absorbed into Caesar's Legion, or both in ''Lonesome Road'' is an expression of this desire. ''Van Buren'' was also slated to have an ending where the player could nuke the wasteland back into oblivion.]]
65	** [[spoiler:The situation of the NCR as a VestigialEmpire/rump state also has similarities to the NCR that would have been featured in ''Van Buren'', where it was also in rather moribund shape, though the circumstances were much different, with the NCR in ''Van Buren'' being a LostColony centered around Hoover Dam that had lost all contact with the core region, with the fate of the NCR proper being unknown]].
66	* PlayAlongMeme: Ever since the Vault 4 Overseer mistakenly referred to Lucy as “Goosey”, due to a misunderstanding from reading her name (and failing to correct himself afterwards), fans have gone along with the misnaming and pretended that Goosey really was Lucy’s actual name.
67	* PortmanteauCoupleName: Those who ship the Lucy with the Ghoul have taken to calling them "Ghoulcy".
68	* RealismInducedHorror: While the ''Fallout'' franchise as a whole has always had this element to it, many reactors and critics have significantly praised how well the series evokes the terrifying prospect of [[AtomicHate nuclear war]] in the opening scene of the first episode, particularly in terms of how tense and uncomfortable the whole scene is.
69	* SpecialEffectsFailure:
70	** In general, the CGI used throughout the series is quite good… with the noticeable exception of the Radroaches, most of which blatantly stick out and are clearly inserted into the surrounding environment whenever they appear.
71	** As Knight Titus and Maximus inspect the Yao Guai's cave in the second episode, the forest seen behind has a strangely warped fish-eye effect. The right side of the tree looks normal by comparison.
72	** [[spoiler:The de-aging effect used to make Hank look like a young Creator/KyleMacLachlan during the flashback in "The Beginning" is not particularly convincing. His head looks poorly pasted onto his body, and his mouth sports some very conspicuous CG.]]
73	* SpiritualSuccessor:
74	** Already the show has gotten a lot of comparisons to ''Series/{{The Last of Us\|2023}}''. Both are TV adaptations of popular video game franchises, both have a post-apocalyptic setting, and both star a plucky brunette young woman and a more jaded survivor of the apocalypse. The comparison is even stronger when Season 1 ends with [[spoiler:them becoming reluctant travel companions]].
75	** Many also see the series as the official canon version of ''WebVideo/FalloutNukaBreak''.
76	** One of the storylines involving conflict between NCR and Brotherhood of Steel made it a somewhat official adaptation of unreleased [[VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren Van Buren version]] of what became ''Fallout 3''.
77	** [[spoiler:With the ending revealing that Vault-Tec was the mastermind behind the Great War, this is the closest we will get to seeing the cancelled ''Fallout'' movie pitch be shown on-screen]].
78	** [[spoiler:With the last shot of New Vegas seemingly lying in ruins, with its gates blown open and signs of combat, this may be as close as ''VideoGame/FalloutDust'' gets to being made canon.]]
79	** The Vault 33 subplot bears similarities to [[spoiler:the Silo from the ''Literature/{{Wool}}'' book series, in which three Vaults are under the control of cryogenically frozen leadership who are all-but spelled out to be responsible for the nuclear war that devastated the surface world, with one Vault/Silo even wiped out in a rebellion, and said leadership either wiping memories from or silencing individuals who would compromise their goals (either through murder or cultural brainwashing).]]
80	* UnexpectedCharacter: The Season 1 finale includes a scene in the Pre-War era with Vault-Tec hosting a meeting with [[spoiler:the leaders of various high-powered corporations in America, which features not only Frederick Sinclair as the rep for Big MT; Leon Von Felden, the creator of the FEV, as rep for West-Tek, and Julia Masters, a higher-up from REPCONN mentioned in ''New Vegas'']] but perhaps more notably, [[spoiler:Robert House himself as rep for [=RobCo=]]].
81	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: [[spoiler:For a lot of viewers, Lee Moldaver's reveal as GoodAllAlong doesn't remotely justify her actions in the first episode and she has crossed the MoralEventHorizon as much as Hank [=MacLean=] did. This is especially true if you note her use of a wedding to cover her attack explicitly sets up Lucy to be sexually assaulted and murdered by deception despite being the daughter of her close friend]].
82	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
83	** The T-60c Power Armor in the show are entirely practically designed suits (four fully functional suits of them in total [[WordOfGod according to the production designer]]) that are completely faithful to the games depiction of them, and while ''definitely'' cumbersome due to the reality of wearing such a bulky suit in real life, they are depicted incredibly well with both menace and awe every time they show up in the series. What makes this all the more impressive is that the crew claimed that the suits weigh over 160lbs each, [[https://www.tiktok.com/@fallout.on.prime/video/7361912008867958058 and yet the performers can even breakdance in them rather seamlessly]].
84	** The mix of CGI and physical model work used for both the Yao Guai in the second episode and the mutated Gulpers later on are both seriously impressive.
85	** The makeup work for the various ghoul characters is pretty excellent; while the Ghoul himself is easily the best example since he's the ghoul character to appear most often, other ghoul characters (such as Roger and [[spoiler:Rose [=McLean=]]] look ''very'' convincing.
86	* TheWoobie:
87	** Lucy has it rough. Her father gets kidnapped, and after she got out of her vault to rescue him, she ends up learning how [[NaiveNewcomer very unprepared she was for how rough life is within the Wasteland.]] Not to mention that [[spoiler:she finds out in the finale that her father was EvilAllAlong, and pretty much someone she shouldn't have tried to save in the first place.]]
88	** Even before we know [[DarkAndTroubledPast his backstory]], Maximus is abused frequently as a Brotherhood aspirant, with his opening scene showing him getting beaten up. After his only friend is sabotaged by an unknown attacker, leading to him filling in Dane's role as a squire, his Knight treats him poorly, which includes trying to give him radiation poisoning at one point. His Knight then blames him for a Yao Guai attack that wasn't his fault.
89	** Chet. The poor guy was born into a small community where the only person he could have a relationship with is his own cousin, and as a result of them experimenting, he fell in love with her. He then has to watch her get married to a stranger, watches multiple friends get murdered, and then loses his job for helping Lucy leave the Vault. He even remarks at one point that he "doesn't know who he is anymore", showing a clear identity crisis. He then gets cajoled into a quasi-marriage with Stephanie, [[ReplacementGoldfish where she essentially pretends that he's a different man: her deceased husband, Bert]]. In any other story, this guy would be ''really'' weird for loving Lucy, but under the circumstances Chet was put in, it's downright tragic.

Context YMMV / Fallout2024