Fallout 4/Characters/Factions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Main Storyline Factions

In General

  • Central Theme: As with the rest of the game, each of the factions are heavily based around the concept of moving on from trauma and struggling with/searching for an identity.
    • The four main factions are also all based around different interpretations of human nature. In fact, the entire central conflict of the game boils down to each faction having their own idea of what makes someone a "human", and being unwilling to accept any other outlooks on this issue.
      • The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel: The Brotherhood of Steel stick to a basic biological definition, disliking mutated life (such as Ghouls, Super Mutants and heavily mutated Wastelanders) and despising the Synths for being an "unholy" mix of technology and humanity. Elder Maxson outright says that the Brotherhood supports only "those born from the womb of a loving mother."
      • The Institute: The Institute seems to view humanity as an exclusive club, only fit for them and them alone. As the surface world is a lost cause in their eyes, no Wastelanders deserve to be awarded human status (except if they prove themselves to be worthy enough for the Institute's standards). The Institute's authoritarian society also means that disobedience can easily cost this status of "humanity" for their own citizens. So, "being human" ends up meaning here "being a privileged member of an isolated ruling class." The Sole Survivor can gain a place by being exceptional and then through playing by their rules, but some of them still view them with the contempt of nobles for a parvenu.
      • The Commonwealth Minutemen: Having easily the most "simplistic" outlook, the Minutemen generally have a homo politicus definition - If the person acts like a civil member of human society, than they deserve to be treated like a human just as much as everyone else does.
      • The Railroad: The Railroad have a very bleak outlook on humanity itself, instead putting Synths up on a pedestal. They are willing to sacrifice countless human lives to save a single Synth. Ironically, it can be seen that they still don't truly respect Synths since they're fetishizing Synthkind as the ultimate victim of humanity (and therefore, the ultimate innocent).
  • A Commander Is You: A rare non-strategy game example.
    • Commonwealth Minutemen - Balanced/Ranger. As a citizen army, the Minutemen are varied in their equipment, though pipe weapons or laser muskets and a modicum of leather or metal armor is most common. But don't be fooled by their ramshackle appearance, though, as they're deceptively competent, determined, pragmatic and very numerous. The Minutemen also have access to Pre-War howitzers, letting them shell enemy forces into dust should conventional firepower prove insufficient. In the end-game, they infiltrate the Institute, hijack their teleporter to call in troops, take all records they can find of Institute tech (including those on Synth construction, teleportation, and laser weaponry) fight their way through to the Institute's reactor, and set it to blow behind them. They also optionally take out the Brotherhood by shooting down their airship with artillery and then holding the Castle against a massive aerial assault.
    • Brotherhood of Steel - Elitist/Brute. The Brotherhood of Steel are foreign invaders and very few in number - but as the only faction with ready access to military training, vast armories of advanced weapons and Power Armor (with the exception of possibly of the Minutemen if you personally maintain and equip them with your own fleet of armor suits), their Knights & Paladins are some of the toughest and well-equipped of all the faction's Mooks. The Brotherhood also have access to Vertibird gunships, giving them air support. In the end-game, they get a Pre-War Humongous Mecha named Liberty Prime up and running and use it to smash their way into the Institute.
    • The Institute - Spammer/Technical. The Institute are an enigmatic cabal of scientists who have mastered the art of robotics technology to the extent where they can mass-produce Ridiculously Human Robots. However, their research is not geared for weapons development, so Institute forces lack Power Armor and their laser weapons are inferior in quality to Pre-War designs. Compensating for that, they can also move their Synths anywhere in the Commonwealth due to their teleportation technology. Through subtle manipulation and subterfuge, the Institute controls the Commonwealth in secret. In the end-game, they wipe out the Railroad by infiltrating their headquarters and wipe out the Brotherhood by hijacking Liberty Prime with a computer virus, using him to shoot down the Brotherhood's airship.
    • The Railroad - Guerrilla/Espionage. The Railroad are a collection of idealists from all walks of life, united in their wish to see the Synths freed from the Institute's oppressive grasp. Though far too few and lacking the technology of the Brotherhood or the training of the Minutemen to be an effective fighting force (barring a handful of "Heavies" to do some limited open fighting when necessary), the Railroad are masters of stealth and covert action, operating in the shadows and using intelligence to stay one step ahead of their rivals. In the end-game, the Railroad take out both the Institute and the Brotherhood by infiltrating agents into their centers of command and blowing them sky-high.
  • Faction Calculus: Another non-strategy game example.
    • Commonwealth Minutemen - Balanced. Minutemen fighters usually feature a mishmash of different weapons and armor, and are moderately powerful at most. However, they're also the most versatile faction in the Commonwealth, often resorting to dirty-handed tactics (like artillery strikes) to get the upper hand on their adversaries.
      • Alternatively, they're Cannons, combining generally weak militia troops with deceptively powerful laser weaponry and access to artillery fire support. Unusually for a Cannon faction, their military doctrine is almost entirely defensive; They focus on protecting settlements (and later, expanding artillery coverage across the Commonwealth) rather than on punching out their adversaries - but they have the strongest punch of any faction when they do take the offensive.
    • Brotherhood of Steel - Powerhouse. They've got the only air fleet in the Commonwealth, better military technology than anyone else in the region, and more Power Armor than the rest of the factions put together. Their favored tactics are to dominate the air with their Vertibirds, then drop in armored heavies and go hard and loud.
    • The Institute - Subversive. They have nigh-unlimited numbers of cheap and weak Gen 1 and 2 Synths, but they only resort to the Zerg Rush if they must; instead, their favored tactic is to infiltrate the enemy with Generation 3 Synths in the right places to sow havoc and weaken them to the point they can be easily crushed, while keeping their actual location hidden from outsiders to prevent counter-attacks. They also have access to extremely elite combat Synths called Coursers, but they don't have a lot of them, so they prefer to use them as secret agents rather than frontline fighters.
    • The Railroad - Cannons. Railroad Heavies are often equipped with Gauss Rifles and Railway Rifles which can punch through a Brotherhood Knight's Power Armor with ease, but aren't very well-armored themselves (to a point, at least), and they're few in number and don't really have the staying power to openly contend with the other factions.
      • Alternatively, they're Balanced. They don't have a lot of soldiers, but they've got very good spies and saboteurs on par with Institute Synths, and they have enough hoarded gear that the troops they do have are well-supported by advanced armored coats and Gauss weapons. Like the Institute, they try not to get into stand-up fights, but as Bunker Hill shows, they can still actually win such fights if they must, particularly if they have the home-team advantage.
  • Four-Philosophy Ensemble:
    • The Optimists - The Minutemen. Their original purpose was to defend settlements out of good will before getting themselves nearly wiped out, and can do so again with the Sole Survivor's help.
    • The Realists - The Brotherhood. Ten years after the war with the Enclave, with Owyn Lyons gone, his prioritization of helping people over retrieving technology has been merged with the more traditional approach of the Brotherhood. Under Arthur Maxson's lead, the Brotherhood of Steel scaled back its duties from strictly being "peacekeepers of the wastes" to retrieving dangerous technology and fighting different threats that endanger the people of the Wasteland.
    • The Cynics - The Institute. They believe it's futile for the Commonwealth to sustain itself on the surface and have plans to restart life from scratch. Alas, they've done so many things wrong in each attempt at realizing their end goal that even their current leader finds it increasingly harder to justify their actions.
    • The Apathetics - The Railroad, in a sense. The idea of a secret organization seeking to liberate all synths from the Institute sounds well and good. But the problem is, it's their only goal and they don't have the manpower to do much anything else.
    • The Conflicted - The Sole Survivor themselves. If they join all of the warring factions, they would soon realize that they don't have any real power to change anyone's way of thinking until the very end, and only with the faction they choose to fully commit to.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble:
    • Sanguine - The Minutemen. They seek to reach out to settlements to build up a network of support that helps all, and feel it is their primary mission to save the Commonwealth one settler at a time. Even when they are on the verge of being wiped out, Preston never loses his optimism about helping the people of the Commonwealth.
    • Choleric - The Brotherhood. Similarly to the Minutemen, they're also very open about their beliefs, but focus largely on the tasks of eliminating the Institute and their Synths as a way to bring peace to the Commonwealth. They are stubborn to a fault on this, to the point that they would eliminate one of their own upon learning he is a Synth due to the danger he poses to the chapter.
    • Melancholic - The Institute. They practice rigid perfectionism to present "Mankind, Redefined" and have an intense paranoia about surface life that puts them at odds with every other faction around.
    • Phlegmatic - The Railroad. While they seek to help Synths escape the clutches of the Institute and the Brotherhood, they prefer to stay in the shadows and don't even do much of anything in the game beyond decode a Courser chip unless the player chooses to either join them or openly antagonize them.
  • Grey and Gray Morality: No-one is clear-cut "good" or "evil" in the Commonwealth.

The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel

Ad Victoriam
"This campaign will be costly and many lives will be lost. But in the end, we will be saving humankind from its worst enemy - itself."
—Elder Arthur Maxson

The local chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel (an isolationist pseudo-religious knightly order of technophiles), returning from Fallout 3. Arthur Maxson has taken over as the chapter's new Elder, and their chapter's ideals have since become an amalgam of the Western chapters and Lyons' version of the Eastern chapter. They're still friendlier to Wastelanders like before, but no longer consider protecting the public to be their sole mandate; rather, the protection of the public is an indirect benefit due to their emphasis on establishing order throughout the Wasteland and attacking violent Super Mutants, Raiders, Feral Ghouls and other threats that endanger Wastelanders while they search for advanced technology. Additionally, their recruiting tactics are fairly open compared to the original Brotherhood, who very rarely accept outsiders. Unfortunately, they're now more vocal in their Fantastic Racism, and have heavy imperialist overtones when interacting with weaker factions. They've arrived in the Commonwealth after getting unique energy readings, and are going to war with the Institute in order to wipe out all Synths (who they see as worse than the atomic bomb in terms of a threat to humanity).

  • Absolute Xenophobe: While the Brotherhood doesn't hate people regardless of their background, the color of their skin or even how irradiated they may be, it absolutely loathes Ghouls, Super Mutants and especially Synths. It's also justified in that their ranks are made up primarily of people recruited from the Capital Wasteland, and thus would find little reason to find their "enemies" in the Commonwealth to be all that different from what they had to put up with before.
    • Their disdain against Synths and what the Institute is doing are also given added weight given how they find little reason to trust AI given that President Eden of the Enclave was a major thorn to them back in the Capital Wasteland.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: One of the reasons they give as to why Synths and the Institute have to be stopped. They also tend to see Synths as being a perverse mockery of humanity.
  • Altum Videtur: Ad Victoriam. Literally meaning, "To victory".
  • Badass Army: They're the only faction in the Commonwealth with access to Vertibirds and whole divisions of Power Armored soldiers, with the firepower to match.
  • Blatant Lies: When they first arrive in the Commonwealth, they claim their intentions are peaceful... and they announce this from a massive, heavily armored zeppelin with a fleet of minigun-equipped Vertibirds surrounding it.
  • Composite Character: Once Arthur Maxson took over, the East Coast Brotherhood became an amalgamation of West and East Coast ideals without the NCR to engage in a Hopeless War with. This latest incarnation of the Brotherhood combines a relentless pursuit of establishing order, gathering technology, and nation building that has never before been seen in their organization.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: They're impressive at direct warfare - and terrible at espionage.
  • Dieselpunk: Their general aesthetic, in addition to being Feudal Future.
  • Fantastic Racism: In addition to Ghouls and Super Mutants, the Brotherhood loathes Synths. On the other hand, they're very egalitarian as they don't discriminate based on ethnicity or gender.
  • Fantastic Rank System: Their rank structure is a simplified one roughly analogous to American officer ranks:
    • Elder: Equivalent to General.
    • Sentinel: Equivalent to Colonel.
    • Lancer-Captain: A hazy cross between Rear-Admiral and Lieutenant Colonel. For instance, Lancer-Captain Kells exerts considerable authority over the Prydwen like the naval rank would, to the point of enjoying considerable autonomy in regards to directing subordinates, with only Elder Maxson having the clout to directly countermand him. Otherwise, on matters not directly under his control, he would be considered a middle grade staff officer like the Army rank.
    • Paladin: Equivalent to Major.
    • Knight: Equivalent to Captain.
    • Initiate: Equivalent to Lieutenant.
    • Proctors are equivalent to Warrant Officers in terms of authority, with scribes being junior versions, though generally only those of Proctor rank hold any significant authority over other Brotherhood Members. Like real warrant officers, Scribes and Proctors serve as technical experts who assist actual combat personnel.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: They're a mesh of sorts between the Pre-War US military and the feudal Crusader States of old, in particular The Teutonic Knights and even the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
  • Feudal Future: Their ranks, stylings and command structure seem to be primarily based after medieval Europe (especially the Knights of Malta), albeit infused with memories of their origins in the US military.
  • Foil: To themselves in Fallout 3, though to a point. While they've become much more akin to their West Coast counterparts and have restored contact with the Lost Hills, they still retain more than a few of Lyons' reforms and a sense of altruism, however tempered they may seem.
    • To the West Coast Brotherhood of Steel. They've merged the ideologies of the West Coast Brotherhood of Steel and Elder Lyons' due to the reformations of Elder Maxson. Elder Lyons came to the East Coast to find a missing contingent of Brotherhood soldiers and to investigate the reports of Super Mutants in the D.C. area, and ended up trying to move his chapter to follow the "spirit" of the Codex. Elder Maxson's pragmatic enough to retain some of Owyn Lyons' reforms and not stick too blindly to the Codex, which allows the East Coast Brotherhood to avoid the fate that befell the Mojave chapter. This is evidenced by their willingness to recruit outsiders and their work at establishing order throughout a chaotic Wasteland.
    • Weirdly enough, they're now one to Caesar's Legion, of all things. Both are powerful military organizations that have been easily conquering the entire Wasteland around them, but have recently met their match at the story's start (the Legion was soundly trounced by the NCR at the First Battle of Hoover Dam, and the Brotherhood is struggling against both the Institute and Railroad in the Commonwealth). They're also both led by charismatic authoritarian leaders with grandiose ambitions for a better world (Elder Arthur Maxson and Caesar/Edward Sallow) that have gained cults of personality (although Maxson finds them unnerving and tries to suppress them), and stylize themselves after older cultures - the Legion emulates Imperial Rome, while the East Coast BoS invoke feudalistic imagery to make themselves like both medieval Europe and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. However, the Legion deliberately refuses to advance themselves technologically, are profoundly misogynistic, and try to purposely annihilate the records of the past. The Brotherhood infuse their feudal culture with advanced Pre-War tech, are egalitarian considering the genders, and honor the memories of their US military origins. Also, the Legion was ultimately unstable and overly desperate when trying to firmly establish its "Nova Roma" in New Vegas. Meanwhile, the East Coast BoS under Maxson have already managed to pull off this need for a homeland with their control over the Capital Wasteland, and have been able to do so without making life hell for the locals (in contrast to what the Legion would've done to the Mojave's inhabitants).
    • They're also this to the Commonwealth Minutemen. In many respects, the Minutemen operate in a very similar fashion to how the East Coast Brotherhood used to behave in the Capital Wasteland, only lacking technology. Generally speaking, the Minutemen are what Elder Lyons back in Fallout 3 was hoping to shape the Brotherhood into, all while pulling it off with much more limited resources. The Minutemen have also adopted a Revolutionary War image and its related iconography, while the Brotherhood utilizes Pre-War Power Armor to adopt a feudal image. Furthermore, both groups openly recruit Wastelanders, and both have a problem with having bigoted members as a consequence. Finally, the Brotherhood in general has suffered countless tragedies (mostly on the West Coast) and under its new leadership, its Eastern branch has become darker and more conservative. The Minutemen have suffered the same sort of catastrophic losses, but have come back more idealistic than ever.
  • Foreshadowing: Even before the Prydwen makes its grand appearance, the Brotherhood's been sending advance scouts and survey parties to investigate the Commonwealth. Paladin Danse is initially seen as part of those expeditions.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: They try their best to do the Commonwealth a service, whether or not its inhabitants like it.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Downplayed, after a fashion. Few in the Commonwealth, if at all expected the Brotherhood to come in full force, most notably through the Prydwen.
  • Godzilla Threshold: It's eventually revealed that the threat posed by the Institute is a major reason why Liberty Prime is not only brought along into the Commonwealth, but also why finishing the job on repairing Prime after so many years is so crucial.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Arguably subverted. However much the East Coast Brotherhood may seem more than a little reminiscent of the Enclave and even the Institute by 2287, they still hold steadfast to their cause and commitments, most notably in how they remain more open to outsiders than their West Coast brethren. In addition, even at their more zealous or excessive moments, there are lines that they refuse to cross. It still didn't stop Dr. Madison Li from abandoning the Brotherhood in order to join the Institute, as she sees the former as becoming no different from the people who killed James. Justified, as her grief over James' death obviously doesn't have her thinking clearly.
  • Humongous Mecha: The Brotherhood's brought along Liberty Prime, which is initially revealed to be mostly repaired and upgraded. And the Sole Survivor can help in finishing the job, allowing a fully refurbished, enhanced Prime to stride into action once again.
  • Hypocrite: They often argue that humanity and machine were never meant to intertwine, and the two must be kept completely separate. This is pretty ironic to be coming from an entire faction of Cyborgs, what with their usage of advanced technology that enhances and improves upon humanity - namely, Power Armor.
    • For all their dedication to defending Wastelanders, they don't extend that same respect or commitment to those who happen to be non-feral Ghouls or Synths.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: A sentiment shared by Elder Maxson and others in the Brotherhood is how they don't particularly enjoy doing some of their more heavy-handed if not brutal actions, aware that not everyone would like them. Still, they see such deeds as a hefty if necessary price to pay.
  • Incoming Ham: The Brotherhood's formal arrival into the Commonwealth counts as this, with loudspeakers onboard the brightly-lit Prydwen outright announcing it for all to hear.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: For all their hatred of Synths, the Brotherhood isn't exactly wrong with being concerned about them, or what the Institute has in store involving them.
    • They have a rather unnerving streak of Fantastic Racism a mile wide towards Super Mutants, Ghouls, Synths and intelligent A.I.. However, the vast majority of Brotherhood of Steel members (most notably Elder Maxson himself) are shown to hail from the Capital Wasteland, one of the most hostile Death Worlds seen in the entire series. Further elaborating on that, the reason why the Capital Wasteland is such a Crapsack World is because it was constantly run roughshod over (until the Brotherhood of Steel arrived and the Lone Wanderer intervened) by Feral Ghouls, Vault 87 Super Mutants, and malfunctioning robots for the last two centuries. Considering all that, it's not a surprise that they have no love for extensively mutated humans and self-aware A.I.s.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: At best, they come across as this.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Averted. Unlike the Institute, the Brotherhood's personnel are by and large all aware of what they're doing and why they're in the Commonwealth.
  • Motive Decay: Inverted. Under Elder Maxson, they still follow the original directives and Codex, albeit with some of Lyons' reforms. But they've evolved to the point of nation building, which is definitely beyond what the West Coast Brotherhood strove for.
  • Noble Bigot: How many of them can be generally described, given their disdain for Ghouls and Synths.
  • No Transhumanism Allowed: This is the main reason they rail against the creation of Synths.
  • Not So Above It All: While the Brotherhood makes a strong point to be professional and limit "fraternization" with locals to a degree, they still have quite a bit of fun as well as make a point to reach out to the Wastelanders they both defend and recruit.
  • Not So Different:
    • Their actions and overall power are more than a little reminiscent of the Enclave by 2287. Which is further underscored by how much of their equipment and technology (including their Vertibirds) are either taken or reverse-engineered from formerly Enclave-controlled facilities like Adams Air Force Base. On the other hand, they're still nowhere near as scummy or backhanded as the Enclave, given their generally fair rule over what had been the Capital Wasteland, in addition to still upholding at least some of the reforms Owyn Lyons fought for.
    • Surprisingly, to the New California Republic. Both are powerful imperialist organizations that are regional superpowers, have access to Vertibirds, and are disliked by the majority of the residents in the regions they are currently occupying (the Mojave for the NCR and the Commonwealth for the BoS). Like the NCR, the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel are invading the region in order to (supposedly) protect the natives from a greater "evil" (the Legion for the Mojave and the Institute for the Commonwealth) while also going after the local resources. In addition, both factions have grown in such size and political influence that they're the closest the Wasteland has to Pre-War nations. Finally, they're (implied, at the very least) also the only factions that leave both games more or less intact (in some form); even if the Legion wins in New Vegas, the NCR just retreats back west, and the Brotherhood of Steel has numerous soldiers back in the Capital Wasteland that will continue their organization even if the Prydwen is wiped out with all lives aboard.
    • They're also rather similar to the Midwestern Brotherhood in how they've really embraced the Feudal Future angle. Although it's strongly implied that the East Coast Brotherhood is not only more successful and egalitarian about it, but is also going even further with regards to nation-building.
  • Not So Similar: While there are some similarities with the Institute, the Brotherhood still chooses the well-being of the people as a top priority and would rather display their power and rule rather than be from the shadows.
  • Outside Context Villain: In a sense. While they're not villains per se (unless the Sole Survivor sides with the Institute or Railroad), the Brotherhood's significant military prowess comes as a big surprise to the Commonwealth's native factions.
  • Prodigal Hero: At least how they see themselves. Not only has the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel long since reconciled with the Brotherhood Outcasts, but they're once again in touch with their West Coast counterparts, especially the original Lost Hills Elders.
  • Putting on the Reich: Superficially, their uniforms and outfits (outside of their Power Armor) have deviated from their West Coast brethren to, though still evoking a knightly Feudal Future image, now more resemble a mix of both the Pre-War US military and Nazi Germany. Subverted, however, in that they're not actually evil (just morally gray).
  • Reality Ensues: The Brotherhood has a considerably harder time winning over hearts and minds in the Commonwealth and earning the locals' respect, at least initially. This can be chalked up to how they are for all intents and purposes outsiders barging in, seemingly unannounced.
    • Relatedly, it's implicitly stated that the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel succeeded (relatively) easily in taking control of the Capital Wasteland since the region was such an utter Crapsack World that there was no sense of regional identity amongst the various Capital settlements. Conversely, because the Commonwealth is much better off than the Capital Wasteland and there have been previous attempts at a regional society being formed, the Commonwealth's natives have more of a sense of political identity and are distrusting of a foreign power ruling over them.
  • Rising Empire: By 2287, the Brotherhood's ascendancy is all too apparent. Not only is the entire Capital Wasteland firmly under their command, but they've been actively spreading their influence to where most of the surrounding region is under their control, with it heavily implied that a not-insignificant chunk of the East Coast is under their watch.
  • Rule of Symbolism: They deliberately evoke feudalistic imagery to play off how they see themselves - heroic Knights in Shining Power Armor that are kept pure from the sins/mutations of the world and are on a holy crusade to save humanity itself.
  • Sigil Spam: Their old standard returns - a set of gears wreathed by winglets with a sword superimposed over it.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel and to a degree, the original West Coast Brotherhood.
  • Took a Level in Badass: They're well on the way to becoming more powerful and dominant than even the original Lost Hills chapter. Heck, they're arguably even more formidable than the NCR are now!
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Years of fighting against Super Mutants and other threats, coupled with considerable causalities (including the deaths of both Owyn and Sarah Lyons) have made the Brotherhood colder and more dour, but no less committed to both their original purpose and defending humanity.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: One frustration among the Brotherhood's higher-ups is how from their perspective, many in the Commonwealth seem to be this, at least initially.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: At least some in the Brotherhood see themselves at this. While they acknowledge that their actions may seem excessive or harsh, they genuinely believe that it's all for the best.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: While not nearly to the extent of siding with the Institute in the end-game, many of the Sole Survivor's companions make it clear that they think siding with the Brotherhood of Steel was a terrible idea.
  • Zeppelins from Another World: The Prydwen, which serves as the Brotherhood's main HQ in the Commonwealth, even after securing Boston Airport.

The Institute

File:Fo4-institute-logo-orange.png
Mankind Redefined
"Haven't you been paying attention? You don't find the Institute - The Institute finds you."
—Conrad Kellogg

A mysterious cabal of Mad Scientists descended from the staff of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology (the Falloutverse's M.I.T. analogue). Little is known about them, apart from that no one has been able to find their base of operations and that they're the creators of the Synths. To the rest of the Commonwealth, they're seen as the local boogeyman since they rule the entire region (along with what's implied to be most of New England) from the shadows.

  • Ambiguously Evil: The morality of their actions depends on how sapient the player decides to see Synths as. Only the majority of the morality of their actions though, as an addendum.
  • And Then What?: A significant frustration within the Institute is how for all their knowledge and enlightenment, they don't really know what to do with any of it.
  • Armchair Military: The Institute's human staff and personnel aside from Kellogg are comprised entirely of civilians whose knowledge on warfare and combat in general are wholly academic in nature. It's not as much of a problem though when they could input said knowledge into Synths that are more than capable of using it, especially the SRB's Coursers.
  • Artificial Humans: They create them, and they're called "Synths".
  • Ascended Extra: They were previously just side characters in Fallout 3, but are now essentially the most important faction in the game.
  • Badass Army: Zig-Zagged and downplayed.
  • Believing Their Own Lies: To a degree. Those in the Institute who aren't Locked Out of the Loop have either compartmentalized or outright ignored the twisted antics going on such that they've all, but convinced themselves that they're completely innocent. Which in turn contributed significantly in keeping other personnel from being suspicious.
  • Big Bad: Well, for given values of "bad".
  • Big Brother Is Watching: This is especially evident in the form of the SRB, but it's implied that the human personnel and staff (though generally free to do what they wish) are being monitored as well.
  • Blue and Orange Morality: It's implied that this is part of the reason for their cruelty when dealing with the surface. Considering how they see the surface Wasteland as a lost cause after the collapse of the Commonwealth Provisional Government without their guidance, they view nothing wrong with making it a further nightmare. To coin a metaphor, they see helping Wastelanders as tantamount to "trying to bail out the Titanic."
  • But Thou Must!: You can't actually influence the Institute's policy regarding destroying the Brotherhood of Steel, even when you're Director. To be fair, the Brotherhood is equally obstinate. What makes this count is you can voice all of your objections and get overruled. You also can't direct them away from doing the same to the Railroad, though this is before your directorship.
  • Call Back: Their teleportation technology looks more than a little like the teleportation tech used by the Think Tank in Old World Blues.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Institute deliberately color-codes each of their facilities. It roughly goes:
  • The Conspiracy: Played with. They have the signs (an Ancient Conspiracy of usually faceless and always powerful individuals that manipulates events from behind the scenes), but their existence is publicly known to the Commonwealth.
  • Conspiracy Redemption: Or at least this is the Institute's hope, and Father's in particular. That hope being that all their actions, however scummy, insidious or outright reprehensible they may be, are for the good of all mankind.
  • Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Caesar's Legion. While they share a worrying amount of similarities, they also are meant to deliberately contrast with each other. The Institute is technophilic, basing their entire society around the creation of Artificial Humans. The technophobic Legion deliberately keep themselves limited on the tech spectrum because of Caesar's personal beliefs. The Legion is also a purely military organization run in a brutal dictatorship that rules over its subjects with harsh and direct punishment. The Institute is a purely civilian organization run in a loose confederacy (the various Institute divisions are mentioned as mostly working independently unless the Director personally steps in and wants multiple departments to work together on a single project) that rules over its subjects with cloak-and-dagger tactics that breeds paranoia and makes people never know who was really holding the smoking gun. The Legion also deliberately stylizes itself after both the Roman Empire and Sparta, while the Institute is loosely based after Renaissance Italy and Athens (although they intentionally try to avoid iconography because they see themselves as the true inheritors of the future and not chained to the past).
  • Cool but Inefficient: Their unique laser weapons. Justified since they're intended less to kill people and more to just sufficiently wound them so that a team of Synths can take them back to the Institute and have their Synth copy created for them there.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: They're excellent at espionage warfare - but aren't really good at any other variants of combat.
  • Crystal Spires and Togas: The Institute's overall aesthetic is this. Not only is everything decidedly sleek and clean (at least on the surface), but most of their attire is even more than reminiscent of togas.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: The Institute is easily the most advanced Post-War faction in the entire series, but seems focused on keeping all of its knowledge to itself rather than sharing it with the Commonwealth. Justified, as most members of the Institute have been indoctrinated to believe the Wasteland is a lost cause, and society must be rebuilt underground to safeguard humanity's future.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: The abysmal failure that was the Commonwealth Provisional Government.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: One of the first quests the Sole Survivor will be given by the Institute after they're seen as trustworthy is taking the weapons schematics of the Pre-War laser weapons used by the Brotherhood. Their own laser weapons (which they had to completely build from the ground up on a design level) are inferior to those, and they want to know how to make their weapons deadlier in the future.
    • Due to being masters of espionage warfare, they make up for their underwhelming military by being this. For example, while it was likely unintentional at first, their creation of the Commonwealth Super Mutants - all of which are easily led and foolish - are prodded by the Institute into fighting the Brotherhood of Steel and generally keeping the Commonwealth divided and weak so they can reshape it into their version of a better world.
    • The Institute's strategy can be summed up as this: "Why kill your enemy with your own soldiers right now with a possible risk to yourself, when you can infiltrate them over time, have them tear themselves apart from the inside via sleeper agents, mop up the remains with your near-limitless Gen 2 synth army, and take their best resources for your own?"
  • Dark Is Evil: The Synth Retention Bureau - easily the most straightforwardly villainous division of the Institute - has black as its main coloring.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: The entire faction is a subtle one of the Mad Scientist.
  • The Dreaded: They are the shadowy rulers of the Commonwealth, and are only spoken of in hushed whispers. Everyone is appropriately terrified of their might and power (even the Brotherhood).
    • Even worse are the Institute's dreaded Coursers, their mightiest surface agents and greatest spies & assassins, who are primarily tasked with returning "escaped" Synths to the Institute. Virtually anyone with half a brain in the Commonwealth (especially the Railroad, who immediately go underground whenever a Courser is so much as spotted on the surface) reacts to the prospect of fighting them with Ha Ha Ha No. This is perhaps best shown during the main quest "Hunter/Hunted": despite having significantly weaker weapons than his opponents (the Gunners, who are one of the most formidable factions in the Commonwealth), the Courser Z2-47 tears through them all with little to no effort, and is still quite the difficult fight for the Sole Survivor afterwards.
  • Elaborate Underground Base: Right under the ruins of C.I.T.
  • Everything Is an iPod In The Future
  • Fantastic Racism: The Institute sees Synths as being just as soulless as calculators are.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: A rather loose case, but they're based after both Renaissance Italy and Athens to a certain degree. They also have some shades of Communist regimes like the USSR in their efforts to purge the past and advance mankind, in addition to having their own Secret Police.
  • Foil: To the Enclave. The Enclave is obsessed with returning the world to a Pre-War America at the cost of annihilating anyone ever touched by radiation. The Institute wants to completely obliterate all traces of Pre-War America through cultural manipulation that will (hopefully) leave everyone touched by radiation intact. The Enclave is also descended from the military and corrupt government officials of the Pre-War USA, while the Institute is descended from the civilian and intellectual organization C.I.T. Just like the Enclave, the Institute is dedicated to making the Wasteland a better place - but does so with ruthless pragmatism and behind-the-scenes manipulation that make the Enclave's brute force approach look laughably trite. Finally, the Institute replaces the Enclave's racism against Wastelanders with racism against Synths, and is willing to incorporate the best into their ranks.
    • The Institute are also a Foil to Mr. House's New Vegas. Like House, the Institute have created a technocratic, highly advanced, secretive oasis in the middle of the Wasteland. The main difference is that Mr. House is still a capitalist and industrialist first before being a technocratic ruler, had used his scientific genius to find commercial success, and is motivated to preserve what little remains of the Pre-War United States. The Institute, in contrast, is purely science-focused and cares nothing for the Pre-War world, wanting to wipe out all records of America and other emergent Wasteland cultures so as to replace them with their own.
    • They're arguably even more of one to the Followers of the Apocalypse than the Railroad are. The Followers strive to not only gather knowledge but also apply and spread it around (often with limited resources and/or under less than ideal conditions), which has also carried over among those who broke off to join the NCR's "Office of Science and Industry". The Institute, meanwhile, can't seem to come to terms with what to actually do about all the knowledge gathered and "applied" over the centuries.
  • For Science!: Some of their zanier projects come across as this, such as Clayton Holdren's Synth Gorillas.
  • Gameplay and Story Integration: Gen 1 and 2 Synths are obviously mechanical creations, while Gen 3 Synths look virtually identical to humans. In fact, one of the game's main themes is questioning whether or not Gen 3 Synths are worthy of sapience. Reflecting this, the Legendary weapons effect "Assassin's" (which deals 50% more damage against humans) only works on Gen 3 Synths, and the "Troubleshooter's" effect (which deals 50% more damage against robots) only works on Gen 1 and 2 Synths.
  • Hard on Soft Science: The Institute appears to have a near-complete lack of any social scientific endeavors. This serves as a deconstruction, though, as while they have plenty of answers to "Can we?", they almost always pick the wrong answer to "Should we?". Due to this, the Commonwealth sees them as a boogeyman instead of a force for good. However, their excellent manipulation of the surface and remaking of cultural identities shows they have at least some knowledge in this spectrum.
  • Hidden Elf Village: Deconstructed.[context?]
  • Hoist by His Own Petard[context?]
  • Hollywood Tactics: Zig-Zagged.[context?]
  • Hypocrite: Their motto is 'Mankind Redefined". They've achieved this with the Synths - and yet they refuse to see Synths as equals to humanity.
    • For all their pretensions to being intellectually superior and meritocratic, its human staff and personnel have an almost religious reverence for Father, however much they try to downplay it.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Much like the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel, many of the Institute's members don't come across as particularly happy or satisfied about the monstrous things their organization has done, but nonetheless accomplish them because they think they're necessary for the future of humanity.
  • Internal Homage: To The Master's Unity, strangely enough. Both are mysterious factions with Cult-like undertones dedicated to creating a "Superior Species" (along with Super Soldiers) and want to sincerely guide the world into what they feel will be a utopian society.
  • Irony[context?]
  • Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Just a Machine: How they treat Synths, even the SRB Coursers.
  • Kick the Dog[context?]
  • Kill and Replace: How the Institute seeds Synth infiltrators across the Commonwealth.
  • Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Zig-Zagged and ultimately subverted.
  • Light Is Not Good: Despite their shiny, sleek aesthetics and generally light-colored motifs, they're definitely not as angelic or enlightened as they like to believe.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Due to the cultural indoctrination started by the founders of the Institute generations ago, the vast majority of the Institute's own scientists are completely unaware about the horrific actions their own organization has committed.
  • Manipulative Bastard: It's an open secret that they've been running the Commonwealth through various proxies, subterfuge, manufactured crises and various covert activities.
  • Mecha-Mooks: They're almost wholly dependent on Synths serving as these, and aren't afraid of throwing as many as seen fit at their enemies.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: They don't particularly care for how many Synths are lost out in the open, so long as they have the means to keep making more.
  • Monster Progenitor: They're the reason why there are Super Mutants in the Commonwealth.
  • Necessarily Evil : Even more so than their other antics, those in-the-know in the Institute increasingly see the likes of Kellogg as this.
  • Non Action Guy: The entire faction is this, what with them being an entirely civilian organization made up of scientists, intellectuals and assorted staff whose combat experience is wholly academic. Further highlighted in Kellogg's memories, which show just how dependent the Institute are on Synths.
  • Not Me This Time: Although taking the blame for the failure of the Commonwealth Provisional Government, the Institute insists that they had nothing to do with said failure. Though it's left ambiguous whether it's true or a case of them trying to deny any culpability.
  • Not My Fault: At least some in the Institute try to handwave the more dubious antics being committed by compartmentalising them as not under their department.
  • Not Quite the Right Thing: The Institute has ultimately positive goals, but they always seem to try to achieve them through the worst ways possible.
  • No Transhumanism Allowed: Part of the reason why they don't see Synths as human, seeing the notion as both an affront and a threat to mankind. On the other hand (and rather hypocritically), the Institute indulges in social engineering and trans-humanist principles in all but name.
  • Not So Different:
    • To the Think Tank in Fallout: New Vegas, in a sense. Unlike their "peers" in Big MT, they're relatively more sane, have an end goal and have no one like Dr. Mobius to keep them in check. Also in contrast to the Think Tank, which seems to have almost limitless resources to conduct their experiments thanks to their super-advanced Pre-War technology, most of the technology the Institute has is Post-War, and its staff regularly struggle with resource issues. All that said, while they do have an end goal unlike the Think Tank, they have a similar problem on find a way to achieve said goal, and that they also have very questionable ethics, which they're not afraid to bypass. In addition, the Institute also has a tendency to dabble in experiments with very questionable applications outside of "just because we can."
    • Like the West Coast Brotherhood of Steel, they're a xenophobic cabal that deliberately hides themselves away from the rest of the world. Both also have access to advanced Pre-War technology, and are starting to learn the hard way that the Wasteland is moving on without them and the tactics that previously worked well on simplistic tribals don't work on organized nation-states like the NCR and East Coast Brotherhood of Steel. The main difference is that they value innovation and actually are working on turning the Commonwealth into a society they feel safe sharing their tech with (whether the Commonwealth likes it or not).
    • Ironically enough, to the Enclave. Particularly in how like them, the Institute isn't afraid to abuse their technological superiority, cross morally dubious lines for their goals or how they'll bring "civilization" back to the Wasteland... whether its denizens like it or not.
  • Not So Similar: While there are some similarities between the East Coast Brotherhood and the Institute, however much both may like to think otherwise, the latter aren't afraid to rule from the shadows or cross certain ethical lines if it means (supposedly) safeguarding humanity's future.
  • Pet the Dog[context?]
  • The Power of Creation: Their main advantage isn't just that they've created Artificial Humans, but that they've created their own manufacturing base. Unlike even the Brotherhood of Steel, who largely need to still scavenge for weapons left over from the Pre-War days, the Institute can just make everything themselves.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: They will recruit Wastelanders into their ranks if they're seen as intelligent enough for their standards.
  • Raygun Gothic: Their general aesthetic.
  • Reality Ensues: Why are their laser weapons so crummy and their military mediocre? Because the lion's share of their resources has to constantly go into maintaining their facility. Living underground isn't easy, after all.
    • Due to their facility having been created entirely after the Great War, they frequently struggle with resource issues. The primary reason why they're not able to be more active in the Commonwealth than they already are is their over-reliance on an obsolete nuclear reactor and a lack of suitable replacements for the time being. Despite having been around for far longer than the Brotherhood has in the Commonwealth, the latter already outpaces them by far in their activity on the surface.
  • Reality Is Unrealistic: A common complaint thrown at the Institute is that it's unrealistic that supposedly advanced scientists like them would continue to commit experiments after a string of seemingly numerous failures. The funny thing is though, that in the past major scientific advances have been kick-started by unfocused research driven by happenstance and tinkering. Someone gets curious about a perceived inconsistency in experimental data, starts designing new experiments to examine the inconsistency, and ends up with a groundbreaking theory with fantastic new practical applications. So, in a way, their nigh-continuous research is actually pretty realistic.
    • Relatedly, many people complain that the Institute are cartoonishly villainous, claiming that the Institute performing convoluted, seemingly unimportant science experiments is a ridiculous concept. As the history of science has shown us, of course, it's not that unrealistic to believe that a bunch of self-righteous, sheltered "scientists" would justify all of their nightmarish experiments by convincing themselves that it was to bring mankind to its former glory.
  • Redshirt Army: The Institute's "military" capabilities are largely comprised of Synths, which are seen as disposable and replaceable.
  • Robot Names: Institute Synths are given a four-character designation, consisting of a letter followed by three numbers. Each of these designations also fits their duties. The only known details are that all Coursers have their designation begin with either an "X" or a "Z", and all infiltrator Synths have their designation begin with an "M".
  • Rule of Symbolism: The Institute is made up of almost entirely smooth and elegant heavenly Raygun Gothic designs, and Synths are often used as extensions of the Institute's will (like angels are by God). They're also led by an elderly man whose default appearance is that of a Caucasian man, similar to the pop cultural idea of the Judeo-Christian God. Combining all that with the fact that their teleportation technology looks similar to lightning bolts (a weapon used by various gods in countless mythologies) and the Institute being a veritable paradise to the hellish Wasteland outside, and the Institute comes across as a particularly barbed critique of the Christian concept of Heaven (especially the view of it seen in most popular media).
  • Secret Police: The Synth Retention Bureau (SRB) serves this role both within the Institute and in the Commonwealth at large. It also serves as the Institute's de facto military arm.
  • Shout-Out: The ultimate design of the Institute itself is heavily based after dystopian sci-fi of the 1970s and 1980s, with Logan's Run being the most obvious influence.
  • Sigil Spam: They have a stylized Vitruvian Man. It's also meant to resemble a Synth during construction.
  • Start of Darkness: The complete and utter disaster that was the Commonwealth Provisional Government pushed the Institute to their current Well-Intentioned Extremism.
  • Stone Wall: Their laser weapons start out as weak as pipe guns. However, they produce the best armor in the entire Commonwealth, and their laser weapons have an automatic firing rate that is slightly faster and deals more per-shot damage than their Pre-War counterparts.
  • Super Soldier: The Institute's rightfully feared Coursers.
  • Sweet Tooth: Hilariously, all Gen 3 Synths have a taste for Fancy Lad Snack Cakes, and even the Institute scientists find this puzzling.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: The standard way for Institute Synths and personnel to go to and from the surface of the Commonwealth. It also explains why the Institute's actual location is so well-hidden.
  • Theme Naming: Downplayed. While it's not universal, a few Institute members share the names of prominent scientists - the Sole Survivor can meet a Newton, a Higgs and a Loken (presumably, Brent Loken).
  • Token Evil Teammate: It's implied that the rest of the Institute sees the Synth Retention Bureau as this (along with being a Necessarily Evil).
  • Town with a Dark Secret: In a sense.
  • Villain Ball
  • Villainous Underdog: Kinda.
  • Visionary Villain: They genuinely believe that what they're doing is for the good of all mankind and in the name of science, however murky their means can be.
  • We Have Reserves: They have a lot of synths to throw at enemies, and have the capacity to constantly keep churning out more.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: They will ultimately bring about a paradise of order and prosperity when they eventually supply their advanced technology to the surface, saving the world - whether the Wastelanders above want them to or not.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Most of the Sole Survivor's companions make it clear to you that they think siding with the Institute was not the right thing to do.
  • What You Are in the Dark: There are some twisted things going on behind the scenes in the Institute that most within their own ranks either are unaware or or prefer not to think about.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer: Most of their problem-solving methods can be boiled down into "Throw synths at the problem until it stops!".
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: Much like the West Coast Brotherhood with the NCR, their war with the East Coast Brotherhood is making them realize perhaps too late that strategies that worked best on tribals and small towns don't work too well on organized military forces and virtual nation-states.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Institute has a nasty habit of disposing Synths that are deemed useless, whether it be through execution by Coursers or by literally tossing them into the trash. Which extends as well to even useful assets like Conrad Kellogg.

The Commonwealth Minutemen & Settlers

United We Stand
"Protect the people at a minute's notice."
—Preston Garvey

A peaceful organization of volunteer soldiers that used to serve as the protectors of the Commonwealth, but have since then fallen on hard times. However, the Sole Survivor, Preston Garvey, and their allies can restore them to their former prominence (and even more).

  • The Alliance: They're a group of allied settlements and Wastelanders working together for the betterment of the Commonwealth, while opposing those who seek to lord over it like the Institute. And while they're not the beginnings of a NCR-like government by themselves, they can nonetheless help lay down the foundations for something like it.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: The Sole Survivor as General of the Minutemen.
  • Awesome Yet Practical: Their Laser Muskets. Despite looking a bit silly and being one of the only single-shot weapons in the game, they're impressively deadly and can become excellent sniping weapons with the necessary perks.
  • Back From the Brink: It's possible for the Minutemen to rebound from being just Preston Garvey and a handful of survivors to becoming the force to be reckoned with in the Commonwealth.
  • Badass Army: They graduate from initially being a Redshirt Army into this, as they can be trained and drilled into becoming as close to a professional volunteer-army as one can get in the Commonwealth.
  • Badass Bystander: As befitting their name and inspiration, they will respond to trouble at a minute's notice.
    • This becomes quite literal if the Sole Survivor puts the effort into helping properly arm the Minutemen's Settlers. It's very satisfying to come to a settlement raid in progress - and watch the Raiders/Super Mutants/Gunners/what have you get utterly curb-stomped by a bunch of ordinary people through a hail of laser and gunfire.
  • Badass Normal: No Power Armor (not by default, at least), no Synths (although it's likely that they have some Railroad-wiped Synths in their ranks), no super-advanced robots or tamed Wasteland beasties or even just an advanced manufacturing base (at least, not without the Automatron, Wasteland Workshop and Contraptions Workshop DLCs): they're just normal, well-trained militiamen with weapons and equipment that are jury-rigged Schizo-Tech at best. Despite their shortcomings and harsh start, with the Sole Survivor's help, they can eventually become a powerful enough faction to militarily take on both the Institute and the Brotherhood. And once they do, they win against both factions in two utter Curb Stomp Battles.
  • The Beastmaster: With the Wasteland Workshop DLC installed, the Sole Survivor (and Minutemen, by extension) can create Beta-Wave Emitters that let them catch dangerous Wasteland critters and pacify them to use in guarding settlements (or in arena fights).
  • Beware the Nice Ones: The Minutemen can become powerful enough to take down the Institute, which will come as a shock to everyone. The Railroad are quite impressed - with Desdemona admiringly stating that the Sole Survivor really is a General - and the Brotherhood of Steel come across as completely terrified. Their fear is also perfectly Justified, as the Minutemen are the only faction in the game that don't need to resort to espionage to tear the Prydwen out of the sky.
  • Big Good: As a faction, they're the closest thing the Commonwealth has to one.
  • Call Back: Like the Boomers from New Vegas, their greatest weapon is their massive howitzers, which can obliterate targets from miles away.
  • Cattle Punk: Their general aesthetic, along with the American Revolutionary War. Their ramshackle equipment also evokes that of Colonial and Wild West-era frontiersmen, and their peaceful rule over settlements is reminiscent of Cowboy Cops.
  • Combat Pragmatist: The Minutemen will use anything they can get their hands on when helping protect the innocent.
  • Curb Stomp Battle
  • Death From Above: Their 19th-century artillery cannons are their greatest weapon, and can shell enemy compounds into rubble.
  • Decapitated Army: The death of the Minutemen's previous General was a major factor behind their fall from grace.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Invoked. Even after destroying the Institute, should the Sole Survivor allow non-hostile personnel to evacuate, the Minutemen can offer to help the surviving, now homeless Institute staff build a new settlement for themselves as a gesture of goodwill and friendship.
  • Don't Make Me Destroy You: A positive example. The Minutemen would've been all too happy to leave the Institute be if they just stayed underground or had simply acted in good faith with the Commonwealth. But because of their oppression and the threat they pose, the Minutemen see no other choice but to destroy them.
  • Doomed Moral Victor: The majority of the Commonwealth saw them as this. The Sole Survivor can rebuild them and prove everyone wrong.
  • Elite Mooks: Unfortunately, the Minutemen are the only main faction to lack this. All of the other main factions have one - the Brotherhood has their Power Armored Paladins and Knights, the Institute has their Coursers, and even the Railroad has their Heavies.
  • Emergency Broadcast: Radio Freedom exists to alert Minutemen across the Wasteland whenever a settlement is in trouble.
  • Equal Opportunity Evil: Inverted. They're one of the most benevolent factions in the entire series, and are surprisingly egalitarian towards Ghouls. They also have no sexism seen in their ranks, and the only reason why many of them dislike Synths is less out of racism and more out of fear of Institute infiltrators. They also accept self-aware robots (specifically, those built by the Sole Survivor with the Automatron DLC) with open arms. It's likely that if the Commonwealth Super Mutants weren't Always Chaotic Evil, than even they would even be allowed to join.
  • Expy:
    • Of the Desert Rangers from both the Fallout and Wasteland universes.
    • They're also heavily based after the Regulators of the Capital Wasteland.
    • They're also the closest thing the Commonwealth has to the New California Republic, albeit at its formative stages.
  • Fallen Hero: If the Sole Survivor has them side with the Institute, they become the latter's surface proxies in all but name.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture/Gang Of Hats: They're clearly based after the Minutemen that fought during the American Revolution. However, their code and ethos, along with their intentionally loose command structure (being made up of a loose alliance of various tribal settlements) and being split up into pseudo-feudal knighthoods over the Commonwealth's different regions, is also (loosely) reminiscent of both the Iroquois Confederacy and the knightly orders of samurai in Feudal Japan.
  • Foil:
    • Similarly to the New California Republic, they're this to the Enclave. The Minutemen invoke a more virtuous, honorable memory of America rather than the twisted vision pushed by the likes of Eden. Though much like the Enclave, they were thought to be extinct. The Enclave also utilized advanced technology and futuristic Power Armor when attacking their opponents, while the Minutemen rely on cobbled-together weapons and 19th-century howitzers on the battlefield. Finally, the Enclave were profoundly racist towards Wastelanders, to the point of genocidal levels, and it only served to gain them hosts of enemies that drove them to near-extinction. The Minutemen are a largely egalitarian organization that actually performs public works and services (i.e. organizing safe and prosperous settlements while fighting off Raiders and Super Mutants) that gains them numerous friends across the Commonwealth.
    • While not quite to the extent that the East Coast Brotherhood is, they're also a Foil to Caesar's Legion. Both are powerful societies forged by ordinary Wastelanders that are deliberately based on cultures that most Wastelanders see as ancient history (the Roman Empire and Revolutionary America), are remarkably pragmatic, are organized as a union of tribal settlements, and have taken numerous levels in badass since they first started out. However, the Legion is profoundly misogynistic and technophobic, ruthlessly destroys the cultural identities of the peoples it conquers, and is horrifically draconian in how it imposes Caesar's law over the people under its control. The Minutemen feel that Gender is No Object, will happily use advanced technology if they can get their hands on it, let the peoples they're allied with practice their own unique traditions with no interference, and tries to peacefully encourage a more united regional government through public works.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: According to the series' lore, the Laser Musket is powered by the crank on the side. However, the repair system seen in previous games (like 3 and New Vegas) has been removed and, as shown in New Vegas, weapons with effectively infinite ammo will easily dominate a gameplay session even with a repair system. To prevent that, cranking the Laser Musket in actual gameplay just loads it with Fusion Cells instead of independently charging the weapon.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Downplayed.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: They got the tar beaten out of them several times over, but can come back with a vengeance.
  • Last Stand: The Quincy Massacre was previously this for them.
  • Low Culture, High Tech: By and large, they're akin to what Revolutionary America or even the Wild West frontier would be like if given access to futuristic technology.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • "Minutemen" is the name of a land-based nuclear missile, fitting for a series named Fallout. One of its warheads is even named W87, and the game takes place in 2287.
  • Mecha-Mooks: If the Sole Survivor has enough resources and the Automatron DLC is installed, than they can craft Automatons to help at Minutemen settlements. They can scavenge for resources, assist in defending the settlements from attack, farm crops, serve as traders and provisioners between different settlements, and accomplish countless other jobs.
  • Muggle Power: They're by and large ordinary people - along with some Ghouls and even several Synths - holding out against far more powerful factions. However, this can get potentially subverted by how much effort the Sole Survivor puts into beefing up their organization. By the end of the game, they can have veritable fleets of Power Armor, several prosperous and well-connected settlements allied under them, countless tamed Wasteland critters guarding the aforementioned settlements, deadly customized robots serving as servants, their own domestic manufacturing base, and outfitted with better armor and weaponry.
  • Mysterious Past: Interestingly for a major Big Good faction in this series, virtually no details are given about how the Commonwealth Minutemen were initially formed. While the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel are given extensive details on how they first came to be, that's not really seen with the Minutemen. The earliest known given details about the Minutemen's backstory is that they first rose in prominence when they saved Diamond City from a massive horde of Super Mutants in 2180.
  • Nice Guy: The vast majority of the Minutemen come across as remarkably friendly and kind, and their entire organization is pretty much based around Chronic Hero Syndrome. Should they take on the Institute, Preston Garvey and others even make it a point to insist that they save any non-combat personnel they find, even including non-hostile Synths. They also take records of Institute technology not out of malice, but to use them to help further their mission in progressing the Commonwealth forward.
  • Noble Bigot: Some of their number are prejudiced against Ghouls and Synths, but it doesn't necessarily make them evil (just kinda dickish).
  • Not So Different:
    • To the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel under Elder Lyons, as the Minutemen are more or less what Lyons hoped to reform the Brotherhood into.
    • To the New California Republic, especially in how they invoke a more optimistic and benevolent memory of America.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Sort of. Being comprised of volunteers hailing from various parts of the Commonwealth, not everyone has, strictly speaking, "military" training. In addition, they also have repentant, former Raiders and ex-Gunners among their ranks.
  • Reality Ensues: For all of their good intentions, their weak command structure and habit of overly focusing on compartmentalization led to the Minutemen over-extending themselves and a truly humiliating decline in regional power. At the start of the story, there's literally one active Minuteman left in the entire region.
    • The Sole Survivor has to do the vast majority of their settlement-building and related gruntwork despite being the ostensible leader of the organization. This is because they literally don't have the manpower necessary to do the work themselves for the vast majority of the game. Also, the Sole Survivor is the first Fallout protagonist to come from before the Great War, meaning that they're also the first protagonist in the series to have a classical education. Therefore, they actually know how to set up the needed resources for the Minutemen's settlements.
    • Even if the Sole Survivor manages to become General, it takes quite a bit of time before everyone amongst the Minutemen's ranks are either persuaded or convinced to recognize the authority vested.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: To the settlements under their command.
  • Redshirt Army: At least initially, they come across as this. Given enough time and effort however, they become much more of a Badass Army.
  • Retired Monster: Some Minutemen are implied to have previously been Raiders/Gunners that eventually developed a conscience and wanted to atone.
  • Rising Empire: With the Sole Survivor's help, they can effectively control most of the Commonwealth even before the main story is finished. Additionally, the Far Harbor and Nuka-World DLCs lets them set up "colonies" at Nuka-World (somewhere in western Massachusetts) and on Mount Desert Island (off the coast of Maine). They can become even stronger by allying themselves with the Railroad and learning how to use Wasteland critters and customized robots in combat along with setting up their own manufacturing base.
  • Rule of Symbolism: Most of the conflicts and political situations involving them are meant to parallel American history.
    • For example, they take back the Castle, their former headquarters, from a swarm of Mirelurks and their leader, the Castle Mirelurk Queen. During the American Revolution, the historical Minutemen often called the Redcoat infantry "lobsterbacks", and the Castle Mirelurk Queen can be seen as representing the British monarch.
  • Scavenger World: Minutemen and Wasterlanders alike often have to make do with what they could scavenge or cobble together.
  • Schizo-Tech: They make plentiful use of Laser Muskets, pipe guns and 19th Century-style artillery, among other things. Their general idea towards using technology seems to be "If it works, use it." The Sole Survivor can even outfit the settlers at Minutemen-controlled settlements with advanced Institute laser weapons and heavy-duty Synth armor for all they wish while they still live in ramshackle wooden huts. The Automatron and Contraptions Workshop DLCs also make it possible for them to gain access to their own customized Mecha-Mooks and more advanced manufacturing capabilities.
  • Sequel Hook: The "From Within" Minutemen side quest ends with the Minutemen gaining a copy of all Institute records. This includes their teleportation technology and even how to create new Synths - although it won't be accessible until after it's been sufficiently decrypted, of course.
  • Shout-Out: Their Iconic Item - the Laser Musket - seems to be based off of a similar weapon seen in Walt Disney's Treasure Planet.
  • Shown Their Work: They're based after the colonial militias of the American Revolutionary period to not just an aesthetic level.
  • Sigil Spam: They have a revolutionary musket crossed by a lightning bolt surrounded by three stars at the top, right, and left.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the New California Republic.
  • Take a Fourth Option: The faction as a whole can be seen as this, given how they're both a potential "wild card" in the struggle between the Brotherhood, Railroad and Institute over the Commonwealth, and serve as a viable alternative to all three sides.
  • Token Good Teammate: They become this for the Institute in that faction's ending, helping police the Commonwealth and aid in the Institute's plans for the future.
  • Took A Level In Badass: One of the most impressive examples in the entire series.
  • Trauma Conga Line
  • Ultimate Authority Mayor: For all the Minutemen claim to be partners with a settlement, every single decision in the settlement is made by the Sole Survivor, from reasonable things like how it's defended, to what specific foods they grow and who does what job.
  • Unknown Rival: To the Brotherhood of Steel and Institute. Should they rise back from the ashes, however, they will notice.
  • We Are Struggling Together: One of their main flaws. Notably, the Minutemen were already beginning to undergo this shortly after the Castle (and their last General) fell, with countless bouts of infighting and disagreements causing tensions amongst themselves. It's outright mentioned that many Minutemen simply quit in disgust as the infighting got worse and worse. Under Preston and the Survivor's guidance, however, the Minutemen can avoid this from happening again.
  • We Can Rule Together: A rare positive example, and it's one of the Minutemen's key principles to boot. Most significantly, it's possible for them to team up with the Railroad and even get on good terms with the Brotherhood.
  • We Help The Helpless: Their number-one code and ethos.
  • Zerg Rush: One of their main advantages. On the one hand, the Minutemen are individually just poorly-armed citizen militia that are no match to any of the other factions' Elite Mooks. However, there's a lot of the Minutemen, and when they all come together and shoot at the same target, these threats don't last long against being pelted with lasers and bullets from every angle.

The Railroad

Follow The Freedom Trail
"I have a question, the only question that matters: Would you risk your life for your fellow man? Even if that man is a Synth?"
—Desdemona

A faction of ordinary Wastelanders dedicated to fighting for the freedom and protection of Synths. They're run as an equal-parts espionage organization and people-smuggling operation, and are so secretive that many in the Commonwealth see them as just a myth. Their goal of saving and protecting Synths puts them in conflict with both the Institute (who see Synths as just tools for their own use) and the Brotherhood of Steel (who see Synths as dangerous technology that must be destroyed).

  • Activist Fundamentalist Antics: They turn this trope Up To Eleven.
  • Androids Are People, Too: Their motivation in a nutshell.
  • Ascended Extra: They play a much larger role compared to their introduction in Fallout 3.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: They use this methodology to smack both the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel and Institute down hard.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: As well-meaning as they can be, they're also not afraid to do some wetwork or subterfuge.
  • Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: They have this reputation.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: They're an ... odd bunch of people, to say the least. However, they're frighteningly effective and can strike down much-much more powerful organizations.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: They are experts at espionage and covert activities, in addition to their technical know-how. On the other hand, they have neither the resources, firepower or manpower to take on the other factions head-on.
  • Early Bird Cameo: They're first mentioned, albeit in passing, in Fallout 3. Which also suggests that the Railroad has connections as far as the Capital Wasteland.
  • Expy: Downplayed, but they seem to be heavily based after the League of Humanity from R.U.R..
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture/Gang Of Hats: Of the Underground Railroad just before the American Civil War (rather obviously), the C.I.A. during the Cold War, and even (loosely) the various anti-Communist revolutionary groups found across Eastern Europe during the Iron Curtain.
  • Flame Bait: Within the Railroad itself. While everyone agree that they want to liberate Gen 3 Synths and even Coursers, whether this extends to the Gen 1 and 2 variants that look like nothing more than Terminator robots and are completely devoid of emotion is a matter of debate amongst themselves. Deacon says it is best that you don't mention it at all to any Railroad members.
  • Foil:
    • To the Followers of the Apocalypse. While both are largely humanitarian organizations dedicated to helping the downtrodden and less fortunate, the Railroad is more focused on the Followers' anarchism and "fight the power" elements than their expertise with science and knowledge. While the Followers are frequently co-opted by the NCR, the Great Khans, and other groups to build their empires, the Railroad actively tears them down but has a far less positive effect on society as a whole (while still helping individuals). The Railroad are also perfectly fine with their sometimes ruthless reputation for helping liberate and protect Synths (most of which will likely cause the Commonwealth to stay chaotic), while the Followers are intentionally trying to distance themselves from that stereotype of anarchism.
    • To the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood see Synths as the potential destroyers of humanity, while the Railroad seeks to free them at any cost (even human life). The Brotherhood is also huge and loud while the Railroad is quiet and secretive.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: They can rise from being a (relatively) mild annoyance that not many within the Institute seem to be even aware of and that the Brotherhood only considers a minor road block in their fight against the Institute, to becoming enough of a threat to spark a violent Synth revolution within the Institute and blow the Prydwen out of the goddamned sky.
  • Good Is Not Nice: Fully intend to wipe out both the Institute and the Brotherhood of Steel.
  • Good Is Not Soft: The Railroad has been kicked around horribly by the Institute and its members take unimaginable risks — and they keep going.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Sometimes their actions are more extreme than what even the Brotherhood is willing to do. They are even considered by many to be as mysterious as the Institute themselves.
  • La Résistance: They serve as this for the Institute.
  • Moral Myopia: They unfortunately suffer from this to a certain extent.
    • On the one hand, the Railroad are a courageous band of heroes dedicated to helping Synths and defending Synths' rights. However, all of their efforts are devoted to protecting Synths when the rest of the Commonwealth's peoples could use a hand as well.
      • Deacon even lampshades this, pointing out that if the Railroad were to help more random Wastelanders, more people would have an actual incentive to help the Railroad and actively right the Institute.
      • Of course, in the Railroad's defense, there's no knowing until it's too late if the person they help out of the good of their heart is really who they say they are or if they're part of an elaborate Institute trap.
  • Not So Different:
    • To the Institute, ironically enough. As similarly to their enemies, they're heavily reliant on secrecy and covert activities, albeit with far less resources.
    • To the Minutemen as in certain respects, they're just as well-meaning and genuinely concerned. Which makes it possible for both factions to work together.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Most Railroad members only use code names or titles and we never learn their real names. The Sole Survivor is also allowed to choose their own, and is only ever referred to by it afterwards. Desdemona, Deacon, Drummer Boy and Glory all use such code names.
  • Properly Paranoid: The sad thing is that they're absurdly paranoid about Institute spies & infiltrators... and yet, as the terminals of paid Institute informants will show in the SRB, they're still not paranoid enough.
    • It's also why they're so unwilling to reach out to the Commonwealth in general. If they help the wrong person, or say the wrong thing, the Institute would be on top of them in a heartbeat.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Its members come from all across the Commonwealth, irrespective of background, gender or social status, more often than not sharing little else in common other than their concern for Synths. That's not even getting to the Synths who are also part of it.
  • Reality Ensues: The Railroad's almost single-minded insistence on saving and defending Synths at the expense of virtually everything and everyone else proves to be a significant hinderance. Deacon himself lampshades this more than once, pointing out how their Single Issue Psychosis is doing more harm than good in the long run.
  • Rebellious Rebel: Subverted as the Railroad is made of the rich, poor, rebellious, lawful and everything in-between. Deacon, however, cultivates this image as a means of dealing with the fact he's a Heartbroken Badass.
  • Shown Their Work: In the Railroad HQ, one of the minor events happening in the background is a Railroad Agent marking down reports given to them via Morse code on the radio. The Morse code created for the game is surprisingly accurate if one takes enough time to "translate" it.
  • Sigil Spam: They have a railroad oil lamp with a candle-flame. However, the variant seen on their flag seems to have the symbol for an atom replacing the flame.
  • Single Issue Psychosis: Justified, though somewhat downplayed. They care a lot about the plight of the Synths and of their acceptance into humanity. Beyond that and opposing the Institute and Brotherhood, however, they're not particularly concerned with everyone else in the Commonwealth. Additionally, the Railroad is composed from people all across Wastelander society with little else in common but their desire to help Synths - so obviously they're only really concerned about Synths in the grand scheme of things.
  • Spy Fiction: They're heavily inspired by this in how they operate.
  • Steampunk: Heavily downplayed, but they have this as their general aesthetic.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: They view working with the Minutemen as this, at least initially.
  • True Companions: In general, the Railroad seems to see each other as an extended family and are all very close friends.
    • They can eventually come to see the Minutemen as this.
  • Unknown Rival: Played with. While the Institute is aware of their existence, at least as a constant annoyance, the Railroad makes a point to intentionally be this in part to keep the former off the latter's tail for as long as possible. This is inverted with the East Coast Brotherhood, who immediately recognize the Railroad as a threat and ruthlessly track them down while the Railroad is genuinely surprised by the Brotherhood's animosity towards them.
  • We Can Rule Together: With the Minutemen.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: What their plans ultimately amount to. Freeing Synths, in their eyes, is worth whatever the cost - no matter how bloody the outcome.
  • Zombie Advocate: They vehemently defend Synths even as more people grow disdainful of them. There's also Railroad members that want to liberate Gen 1 and 2 Synths - whose programming is so limited that they mindlessly attack anything outside of Institute jurisdiction.

Far Harbor Factions

In General

  • Faction Calculus: Far Harbor (Balanced), the Children of Atom (Powerhouse) and Acadia (Subversive).
  • Four-Philosophy Ensemble:
    • The Optimists - The Children of Atom, albeit in a very twisted sense.
    • The Realists - Acadia.
    • The Cynics - Far Harbor.
    • The Apathetics - The Brotherhood and Institute.
    • The Conflicted - The Sole Survivor (again).

The Harbormen of Far Harbor

We've Paid Our Dues In Blood And Bullets

"Either us Harbormen survive on our own terms, or we take the Long Walk together." - Allen Lee

The original residents of Mount Desert Island. The Harbormen primarily reside in the north of the Island in the titular community. They used to be spread all over the Island, but the Fog has driven them back to the northern docks - only the Fog Condensers (courtesy of Acadia) keep the Fog back and the crowded little town inhabitable. Unfortunately, a recent change of leadership in the Children of Atom has sparked tensions between both sides, as the Children see the Fog as a blessing, while the residents of Far Harbor only see it as something that's killed countless members of their community and should be eliminated.

  • Badass Army: Downplayed, but the Harbormen are still alive not just because of the Fog Condensers.
  • Badass Normal: They're by and large just mariners and homesteaders struggling to survive in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: All of the Harbormen are a deconstruction of the Determined Homesteader archetype.
  • Fantastic Racism: Despite the fact that Acadia's Fog Condensers are the main reason why they're not dead, most of the Harbormen still dislike Synths. Averted in other respects, however, given how at least a number of them are descended from Japanese Americans, but otherwise get along just fine with their neighbors.
  • Fatal Flaw: Pride.
  • Gang of Hats: They're (appropriately) based around fishing and Colonial New England.
  • Had to Be Sharp: All Harbormen consider themselves meaner and tougher than any mainlander on account of their eminently more hostile environment.
  • Rite of Passage: In order to gain their respect, the Sole Survivor must complete the "Captain's Dance," a rite of passage that involves throwing yourself into a lake full of the Island's worst creatures you can find. The quest is even named that.
  • Torches and Pitchforks: If the Sole Survivor hasn't sufficiently helped Far Harbor and they convince DiMA to confess his crimes to the Harbormen, Allen Lee will lead a lynch mob that kills everyone in Acadia - Kasumi included.
  • Vicious Cycle: According to Old Longfellow, the Harbormen are incorrect to believe that the Children of Atom are "feeding" the Fog. He's old enough to remember when the Fog was this thick, and agrees with Captain Avery in how it seems to move in cycles over the decades. There are long periods when the Fog is fine and hidden away in the deeper reaches of the Island... and then there's now, where the only inhabitable regions are those with Fog Condensers or are suitably far enough above the Fog line.

The Synths of Acadia

The Haven Of Humanity's Children

"You've entered a place of clarity. Understanding. Peace. While you're here in Acadia, Synth-kind welcomes you, as long as you welcome us." - DiMA

A community of runaway Synths located in the observatory atop the Island founded by DiMA. In the past, they gave Far Harbor the Fog Condensers as a sign of trust. Unfortunately, the Children of Atom see the condensers as an affront to Atom, and Acadia's providing of them to Far Harbor threatens the community's neutrality as tension mount between the Children and the Harbormen. The Harbormen also still use Acadia as a scapegoat for their problems.

  • Butt Monkey: They're the weakest faction on the Island, and most of the endings to Far Harbor's storyline ends with Acadia razed to the ground. Except not really, as DiMA's machinations actually allows them to subtly control the entire Island.
  • Foil: Of sorts to the Railroad, in that while they also care about the plight of Synths (being Synths themselves), they're not afraid to go much further than rescuing and defending their brethen. DiMA also lampshades this should the Sole Survivor ask him about them.
  • Gang of Hats: They're primarily based around science and astronomy.
  • Mad Scientist: Averted. They're seen as this by the Children of Atom and Far Harbor, but it's more just that they have the most advanced technology on the Island and have the luxury of being able to actually continue research.
  • Non-Action Guy: They're the least violent out of the Island's main factions.
  • Not So Different: To the very Institute they ran away from. Weird boogeymen with advanced technology whom all the other factions distrust because of how secretive they are.
  • The Runaway: An entire community of them, basically.
  • Schizo-Tech: Like with the rest of the Fallout series, they have both really advanced and primitive technology. They rely on pretty old food planters to grow plants, but are able to alter Synths' memories and have advanced plastic surgery facilities.
  • Town with a Dark Secret: DiMA has done a lot of really questionable things to serve as failsafes should Acadia be at the brink of collapse.

The Church of the Children of Atom

Glory Unto Atom

"The people of Far Harbor need only peer out their windows to look upon the face of Atom Himself, given form in holy Fog." - High Confessor Tektus

Returning from Fallout 3, the Church of the Children of Atom have changed quite a bit in the intervening decade. They were originally a loony but harmless cult of kooks that worshiped an atomic bomb in Megaton. Since then, they've become considerably more militant, swelling in numbers and going off on a vicious crusade across New England to "spread Atom's word". The Children are split into three main groups - the Crater of Atom faction (found in the Glowing Sea, they are peaceful if a bit rude to the Sole Survivor), the main Commonwealth faction (who are violent religious extremists that execute attack outside of their cult on sight), and the Mount Desert Island faction (one of the main factions in the Far Harbor DLC).

The events of Far Harbor revolve around a brewing conflict between the Children of Atom, Acadia and Far Harbor. The Children regard the Fog found on the Islands as a holy extension of Atom, and believe that it makes the Island "Atom's land", which they wish to expand everywhere. Unfortunately, the Children and the Synths of Acadia are the only factions immune to the radioactive Fog (although everyone has to fight against the murderous creatures the Fog spawns). They've become noticeably more hostile to Far Harbor (Allen Lee recently killed one of their missionaries) and Acadia (the Fog Condensers DiMA designed for the Harbormen to use for survival), with tensions now at an all-time high.

  • Always Chaotic Evil: The mainland Commonwealth faction of the Children will try to kill you on sight.
  • Ascended Extra: They're one of the most important factions in the Far Harbor DLC.
  • Call Back: Some of the more antagonistic Commonwealth Children (like the group holed up in Kingsport Lighthouse) act more like the Apostles of the Holy Light in how they revere ghoulification.
  • Cargo Cult: They still worship radiation and nuclear weapons/technology - who they revere as their holy god "Atom".
  • Church Militant: Justified since they live in the Wasteland.
  • Corrupt Church: The Island's division of the Children has become this under Tektus' command.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: Their over-reliance on radiation-based weapons can become this at times.
  • Defector From Decadence: The Far Harbor sect at least has one who's more literal than most. Being a defector from the Enclave who found "salvation" with the Children.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Heavily downplayed, but their religious zealotry, military prowess and geographical position of being surrounded by enemies in what they see as a "holy land" paints the Far Harbor sect of them as an analogue to the various Crusader States.
  • Foil: They're a subtle one to the New Canaanites from Honest Hearts. The New Canaanites are nearly extinct after brutal attacks from the White Legs, and are Church Militant by consequence of having to survive in the Wasteland. They're also remarkably friendly to outsiders, don't try to pressure people into joining their faith, and hail from a faith that began before the Great War (Mormonism). The Children of Atom are a powerful Rising Empire in the region and are Church Militant even by the standards of Wastelanders. They also are suspicious/hostile to outsiders, frequently try to pressure people into joining their cult, and their faith was only created after the bombs dropped.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Somewhere along the line, Confessor Cromwell's congregation seems to have taken a pretty nasty turn.
  • Gang of Hats: Their obsessive love of radiation and nuclear-based technology/weapons.
  • Glass Cannon: In the vanilla game, thanks to their radiation weapons, they can kill even a high-level player very quickly, since radiation damage isn't affected by level. However, because they only wear basic robes with minor radiation resistance, almost any weapon can put them down in a few hits. And if you're immune or very resistant to radiation because you're, say, wearing Power Armor or got a ghoul buddy with you, cleaning them up is reduced to a chore. However, God help you if they start using Nuka Grenades.
    • Far Harbor gives them the Zealot's Marine Armor and Radium Rifles, giving them a much needed edge against many of the inhabitants of the Island.
  • Good Shepherd: Some of them are still largely benevolent and friendly. Unfortunately, even that is downplayed by their fanatical religion.
  • Homage: Their more antagonistic factors paint them as a love-letter to the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
  • Humanoid Abomination: They're somehow immune to radiation despite appearing completely human. Some humans in the early Fallout games were considered 'mutants' and also had this immunity to radiation.
  • Internal Homage: The more antagonistic elements of the Mount Desert Island faction of the Children seems to be heavily inspired by the Children of the Cathedral from the original Fallout.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Some of their beliefs can't be waived off as mere zealotry.
  • Religion of Evil: What they've become compared to what they used to be, killing anyone who isn't or doesn't want to be part of their cult.
  • Rising Empire: They're the most powerful force on the Island, and it's implied that a fair chunk of New England is firmly under their control.
  • Sinister Minister: What a large portion of them are.
  • Token Good Teammate: In the vanilla game, the sect found in the Crater of Atom (a.k.a. Ground Zero to the Boston bomb) are the only non-hostile members of the Children of Atom.
    • Far Harbor introduces The Nucleus, their base of operations in the island. As long as you stay on good terms with them, this reveals that they're still as friendly as they were in Fallout 3.
  • Took a Level in Badass: To the point that they can be an even fight for the Gunners, are a powerful Rising Empire, and are just generally a veritable nightmare to fight.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: The majority of them are now genocidal cultists that worship Feral Ghouls and murder anyone that disagrees with their faith.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: Far Harbor reveals that after the more reasonable Confessor Martin went missing shortly after arriving on the Island, the megalomaniacal High Confessor Tektus took over, likely leading to the current state of the cult.
  • Weapon of Choice: The Commonwealth divisions only seem to use Gamma Guns if they can help it.
    • The Far Harbor sect use Radium Rifles, which inflict both radiation and ballistic damage.
  • Well Intentioned Extremist: What they see themselves as.

The Trappers

The Madmen Of The Fog

"Don't look a Trapper in the eyes. They're... not there." - A nameless Harborman

The version of Raiders found on the Island. They have a coastal/fishing theme, and are largely cannibals. They're said to be residents of the Islands rendered insane by the Fog.

  • Ax-Crazy: They're insane even when compared to the drug-riddled Raiders, and can often be heard laughing maniacally or growling like animals in combat.
  • Gang of Hats: They have a coastal/fishing theme. They wear scavenged fishermen/diving gear, use lobster traps for helmets, and carry harpoon guns and pole hooks into battle.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Trappers have no qualms about eating humans (or even Synths that look like people), something not even Raiders are crazy enough to fall to.
  • Spikes of Villainy: The Trappers' signature armor is noticeably spiky and bulky. Quite fitting, as they're insane, even compared to Raiders.
  • Villain by Default: Like Raiders, they're always hostile to everyone.
  • What Measure Is a Mook?: Averted in comparison to Raiders. Trappers don't seem to care when some of their own are killed.

The Robobrains of Vault 118

We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay

"Greetings! Welcome to Vault 118 - Your home away from home, underground!" - Maxwell

Built below the Cliff's Edge Hotel, Vault 118 was intended to encompass two different wings under one Overseer - one to house members of the highest class of society (Hollywood actors, business tycoons, scientists and artists), and the other to house the lower classes. However, because of budget cuts, the majority of the Vault was made up of robotic staff and only the wealthier half of the Vault was ever finished. Thinking of ways to cheat death, the wealthy inhabitants had their brains placed into Robobrain bodies and have just spent their time doodling around for the intervening centuries. The Sole Survivor comes to visit them in order to solve a murder mystery based here.

  • Ace Custom: Their Robobrains are mentioned as being specifically superior to the Robobrains found elsewhere in the Wasteland. Most notably, the formerly human inhabitants are still relatively sane and unlike other Robobrains retain their personalities and humanity. Their robotic bodies are also small enough to comfortably fit through Vault corridors. Justified as well given how among the Vault's inhabitants is Bert Riggs, one of the lead developers behind the Robobrain.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: They're just as deadly as any Robobrain if pushed. Especially the actual murderer.
  • Camp: Wonderfully so.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: Played with. They're more or less aware that over two hundred years have passed since the Great War. On the other hand, they seem incredibly oblivious to the fact that the world they knew actually ended. Not to mention how they tend to much ado about their Pre-War wealth, which means very little if at all in the outside world as the US Dollar is nonexistent.
  • Internal Homage: To the Sierra Madre, albeit Played for Laughs. Especially since one of the inhabitants had a rivalry with Vera Keyes before the Great War.
  • Mecha Mooks: The entire staff is robotic (mostly Mr. Handies and Protectrons).
  • Ragnarok Proofing: Justified because it's been actively maintained by its robotic staff over the decades. On the other hand, the parts of the Vault that aren't frequented by the inhabitants like the Overseer's Office look a bit worse for wear, mainly because of neglect.
  • Upper Class Twit: Everyone, at least those still around at any rate. The lower class wing of Vault 118 was never completed, while the Overseer shot himself rather than spend the rest of his life having to put up with the Robobrains.

Nuka-World Factions

The Nuka-World Raider Tribunal (In General)

The Ravagers Of The Commonwealth

"Now that we're here, let's get this party going..." - Porter Gage

An massive army of three different Raider gangs - the Disciples, the Pack and the Operators - who had pushed out any and all Trader resistance out of Nuka-World and turned it into their own personal playground, under the leadership of Overboss Colter. But seeing as the Sole Survivor just killed him, now they're the Overboss.

  • Badass Army: They sacked the entirety of Nuka-Town USA with little to no effort.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: The default story ending for the Nuka-World DLC involves them banding together under the Sole Survivor's guidance and brutally conquering the Commonwealth, spreading nigh-endless chaos and misery in their wake.
  • Black and Grey Morality: They're all vicious blood-thirsty Raiders joined together out of greed, but the Operators and the Pack are both slightly less evil than the Disciples.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The three gangs would like nothing more than to throw each other under the bus if they could. One of the ways Nuka-World can end if you fail to unite them is to align yourself with one of them and then killed the rest.
  • Co-Dragons: Mason, Mags and Nisha, first to Colter and then to the Sole Survivor.
  • Downer Ending: The Commonwealth faces this if the Sole Survivor leads them on their rampage.
  • Enemy Civil War: By the time the Sole Survivor shows up, they're all but on the knife's edge of this.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: They fear and despise the Institute like anyone else.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Ultimately, every single one of them is some variation of "bad".
  • Foil: They're more or less what would've happened if Caesar's Legion was started with Raiders in lieu of tribals, already had a "Nova Roma" with Nuka-World, didn't feel the need to base themselves after any earlier societies (although if you squint really hard, you could loosely compare them to the Mongolian Empire combined with the barbarians of Gaul), and was begun in a comparatively urbanized location (western Massachusetts) rather than the wilderness of the American Southwest.
  • Gang of Hats: The Operators are really sharp dressers who like cash and manipulating people. The Pack have a serious animal motif going on, they use stuffed animals as body armor. And the Disciples are blood thirsty Knife Nuts who liberally strew the remains of their victims around their territory.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The Sole Survivor can use Porter Gage's plan to gain their trust so as to lower their guard before massacring them all during "Open Season".
  • Kill Them All: The "good" ending for the Nuka-World DLC amounts to this, as it involves the Sole Survivor wiping out every Raider gang there, including their leaders.
  • Loophole Abuse
  • Morton's Fork: It is impossible to keep all three gangs in your good graces, as there is an uneven number of parks and outposts you can claim before someone decides they're not getting a big enough piece of the pie.
  • Nice, Mean, and In-Between: To break it down -
    • The Nice Ones: The Operators, whose fetish with caps means they're the gang conquered Settlers will want to reason with.
    • The Mean Ones: The Disciples, who are such bloodthirsty savages that it's likely they'll just kill the Settlers rather than talking to them.
    • The In-Between Ones: The Pack, who like to dominate over their Settlers without killing them, but give the Settlers no room for negotiation anyway.
  • Rising Empire: With the Sole Survivor's leadership, they conquer the rest of Nuka-World before spreading out to the Commonwealth. And as Porter Gage implies it, they're not going to stop there.
  • Slavery is a Special Kind of Evil: Nuka-World's sizeable slave population is made up of the Traders and Settlers that used to call the place home before the Raiders moved in.
  • Slobs Versus Snobs: The Pack and the Operators are this respectively, which some random Disciples may occasionally lampshade.

Disciple: I don't know what's worse - wearing a tie, or wearing a teddy bear.

  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Being made up of selfish Raiders, the gangs all hate working together.
  • Truce Zone: Two. While Nuka-World is an enforced version, Mention is made of the Combat Zone, which is the resident Commonwealth Bad Guy Bar where Red-Eye explains he's hung out at with other raiders, many of which likely are with the Nuka-World Raiders by proxy.
  • We ARE Struggling Together!: They are, and they hate it, but at the same time, it's why they stick together. Essentially, they needed to join forces to secure control over Nuka-World, but would have otherwise backstabbed each other later if it wasn't for the fact that if one of them went rogue, the other two would crush them, and since none of the three want that, they've settled for a loose confederation run by an Overboss to preserve the status quo, which they still don't like but is currently less offensive than the alternative.

The Disciples

The Savage Cutters

"Nuka-World's going to attract people far and wide - and we're going to bleed them dry in more ways than one." - Nisha

An extremely vicious gang of Raiders holed up inside Fizztop Mountain. They are led by Nisha, and their symbol is five tally marks composed of knives. Most of them are women, and they're all primarily interested in violence and bloodshed - which they can preferably dish out with their unique daggers.

  • Amazon Brigade: Almost, but not quite.
  • Bloodier and Gorier: While the average raider is content to string up bodies and severed heads, these guys have entire troughs of blood and their hangouts are COVERED in gore, to the point they could rival Super Mutants for most entrails left all over the place.
  • Ax-Crazy: These guys and gals are really into violence.
  • Dark Action Girl: All the female members, Nisha being their poster girl.
  • Faux Affably Evil: The Disciples are probably the most polite out of the Nuka-World Raiders, showing surprising respect to the Sole Survivor and don't really insult them like how the Pack and Operators do. But make no mistake - the Disciples are among the sickest, darkest and most depraved excuses of humanity in the entirety of the Fallout series.
  • Hemo-Erotic: A non vampiric example, as they get off on the spilling of blood, and if their leavings concerning the bodies can be taken into consideration, they like drinking the blood of their kills as much as they bathe in it.
  • In Love with Your Carnage: To the point that it's not much of an exaggeration to say they jerk off to the concept.
  • Knife Nut: Their preferred combat style.
  • The One Guy: There's roughly 1 man within every 10 Disciples.

The Pack

The Feral Tribals

"The Pack are the meanest sons of bitches you'll ever meet. We do whatever it takes, and we're fiercely loyal." - Mason

A gang of "colorful" Raiders found in the Bradberton Ampitheater. They are led by Mason, and their symbol is a snarling dog's head. They're easily the most "tribal" out of the Nuka-World Raiders, and base their hierarchy around the animal kingdom while using attack animals in combat.

  • Animal Motifs: Largely dogs. Some other animals like Mole Rats are also featured.
  • Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Pack members are forbidden to shed each other's blood. Definitely played straight when it comes to a Pack member taking over as their new leader, since it's forbidden to kill the previous one. They humiliate and then exile them instead.
  • The Beastmaster: Their main advantage.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: It's pretty hard to take a guy wearing a clown mask and bright orange fur trousers seriously. Even when he does have a big gun pointed at your head and has a veritable swarm of Mole Rats to back him up.
  • Blue and Orange Morality: Their attitude toward slavery. The Pack is of the opinion that there are no slaves in Nuka-World that didn't ask to be a slave.
  • Foil/Evil Counterpart: To the Great Khans. Both are tribal groups with unique outfits that have served as professional pirates in the past. However, the Great Khans have a sense of honor and simply want to live the rest of their lives out in peace while returning their tribe to its "glory days." The Pack are utterly merciless and have never really stopped being glorified Raiders (unlike the Great Khans) while also wanting to aggressively force their influence upon others.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: Made up of them.

The Operators

The Professional Mercenaries

"We are the only rational players around here, and would make valuable allies - so long as we know you intend to get this place back to bringing in caps." - Mags Black

A gang of pseudo-aristocratic Raiders found in Nuka-Town USA's Parlor. They are led by Margaret 'Mags' Black, her brother William and their friend Lizzie, and their symbol is a bleeding heart inside of a crosshair. Primarily, they're concerned with making caps over displays of strength or brutality, and their aesthetic is a lot of fancy candles, lights and vases around territory they own. They generally act more like an aritstocratic mob gang of mercenaries than the Raiders they really are.

  • Aristocrats Are Evil: They come across as more snobbish than their Pack and Disciple counterparts. Add to that, their leaders are quite perhaps the closest things to actual aristocrats in the post-nuclear wasteland.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: They all wear tailored suits and formalwear, albeit modified with similarly crafted armor.
  • The Beautiful Elite: An "ugly" Operator doesn't really seem to exist.
  • Blue Blood: They're largely comprised upper-class exiles from Diamond City.
  • Cold Sniper: The Operators favor sniper rifles and are the most professional of the raider gangs.
  • Consummate Professional: Compared to the other Raiders in Nuka-World, they have no pretensions of doing anything other than "business". Which just so happens to involve slavery and assassinations.
  • Faux Affably Evil: They try to act nice and civil, but their actions speak for themselves. And they're just as evil as the other Raiders.
  • Foil:
    • To the White Glove Society. Whereas the White Gloves were once tribals remade by Mr. House into sophisticated caricatures of Pre-War high society who nonetheless try their best to live up to their reputation, the Operators by and large are rogues hailing from Diamond City's elite (thus as close to being "born on a silver spoon" in the Commonwealth as one could get) but simply see their high society pretensions as a justification for their savagery.
    • To the Triggermen. Both superficially share an Old World motif and a more professional attitude, but while the Triggermen actually try to be like the original Mafia and Boston gangsters of old, the Operators don't even pretend to have something akin to a consistent moral or ethical code like those mobsters.
  • The Mafia: They behave and generally operate more like this than as Raiders.
  • Only Sane Man: They certainly feel this way about not only themselves in comparison to the other raider gangs, they also feel this way about the people who built Nuka-World.

The Nuka-Town USA Traders

The Hubologists

Minor Commonwealth Factions

The Various Commonwealth Raider Gangs

It's Either You Or Me

"Deathclaws, ferals, even bots. They don't know what they're doing. But Raiders, they choose to be this cruel." - Piper Wright

"Raiders" is a catch-all term for the countless gangs of murderous cutthroats scattered across the Wasteland. There are a multitude of Raider gangs, although this section focuses on those found in the Commonwealth. Underneath the tropes is a short and non-comprehensive list of the non-unique Commonwealth Raider gangs, each organized under a unique Raider Lord.

  • Adaptational Heroism: A very downplayed example, but Fallout 4 is the first game in the entire series that goes out of its way to humanize Raiders.
  • Adaptational Modesty: The Raider outfits in Fallout 4 are quite a bit more modest and practical compared to some of the more risque ones from Fallout 3. Overall, Raider armor looks more like someone who might have been high at the time tried to do the best they could with random pieces of junk, and much less like outfits overtly inspired by fetish gear in tribute to Mad Max 2.
  • Always Chaotic Evil: The vast majority are sadistic killers that will try to kill the Sole Survivor on sight.
  • Anti-Villain: Surprisingly, many Raiders come across as this. Lots of them are simply disadvantaged people who are down on their luck and rob people in order to survive, and are guilty about their past sins and only continue since they think there's no redemption for them. Some of them have even had enough of a Heel-Face Turn that they eventually quit the Raider lifestyle entirely, becoming either Settlers or members of other factions (i.e. the Children of Atom, Minutemen and even Pillars of the Community).
  • The Apunkalypse: Lawless anarchic gangs running extortion schemes or just killing and looting.
  • Asshole Victim: The sympathetic ones aside, most Raiders are Serial Killers and murdering psychos that the player shouldn't feel that bad about killing.
  • Badass Crew: Each gang is this.
  • Butt Monkey: Considering how they're the weakest faction in the Commonwealth, everyone gets their turn to use them as a punching bag.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Notorious for doing this, especially when trying to pursue you.
  • Curb Stomp Battle
  • A Day in the Limelight: The Nuka-World DLC focuses entirely on them, and is the first work in the Fallout series that lets the player actually join up with Raiders.
  • Dead Guy on Display: The more vicious Raiders have dismembered corpses and decapitated heads on full display around their lairs.
  • The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: All of the Commonwealth Raider tribes have their own unique power struggles. Not only will Raiders mention the Sole Survivor wiping out competing gangs, but they will mention how this affects regional power struggles along with wanting to join up with new Raider groups - which will automatically notify the Sole Survivor of their locations on the Pip-Boy's map.
  • Drugs Are Bad: Their heavy usage of dangerous chems, like Jet and Psycho, is implied to be part of the reason why the vast majority of them are so psychotic.
  • Fallen Hero: Some Raiders (most notably, the ones at Libertalia) were originally Minutemen that fell from grace.
  • Fantastic Racism: Most are this towards Synths and Ghouls.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: None of the named Raider Lords like Bosco. If Bosco is killed early on, then subsequent Raider leaders, such as Slag and Tower Tom, will express relief at his death.
  • Genius Bruiser: Some of the Raiders and Raider Lords are disturbingly smart, but are thankfully hampered by either having incredibly dumb subordinates, very narrow goals, or some variation thereof.
  • Hellbent For Leather: A good majority of Raiders wear punkish leather as some part of their outfits or as armor, befitting their criminal nature.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Some Raiders will, without any sense of irony, call each other lunatics or psychotic.
  • Mob War: They seem perpetually in the midst of one massive gang war; not that it stops them from being a threat to everyone else (unfortunately).
  • Mooks: Most of them are just generic enemies, and consist of the most commonly encountered human enemies in the game. They also spawn at typically lower levels than Gunners or Super Mutants do. Also justified, as unlike the Raider tribes found out west that can number in the thousands, most eastern Raider gangs are just that - gangs, made up of a few dozen people that use some Pre-War ruin as a rallying point to harass outsiders. They're generic enemies because, in the grand scheme of things, they're essentially just bandits and criminals, rather than the vaguely-tribal behavior seen out west with Raider groups like the Great Khans, Vipers and Fiends.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: To help humanize Raiders, some of their Enemy Chatter now has them seeming utterly horrified and disgusted with themselves for killing innocent people. In fact, one of the most common lines the Sole Survivor can hear from Raiders is "God, I hope the next one dies clean, not like that last one..." (loosely paraphrased).
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Refreshingly averted. Unlike the Raiders of Fallout 3 and New Vegas (who acted more like cannibalistic highwaymen), Commonwealth Raiders will actually... well, raid settlements - including those under the control of the Commonwealth Minutemen.
  • Post Apunkalyptic Armor: Raiders wear scavenged leathers, hunks of metal, et cetera. Unlike earlier games, the Raider gangs in the Commonwealth have managed to obtain power armor frames and throw on plating.
    • Though this is somewhat downplayed in comparison to Fallout 3 or Mad Max 2. Raider attire in Fallout 4 looks more like an attempt to make practical armor from cobbled together junk, and less like leather fetish gear.
  • Punch Clock Villain: Some Raiders come across as this.
  • Retired Monster: Several Settlers/Minutemen are implied to be former Raiders that developed a conscience and wanted to atone for their crimes.
  • Scary Impractical Armor: Despite looking quite intimidating and bulky (especially the Sturdy and Heavy classes of Raider armor), Raider armor is easily the weakest type of body armor in the base game.
  • Schizo-Tech: Justified, since their gear consists of anything they can spare/steal.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Due to the A.I.'s new brilliance, some Raiders will just turn tail and run for their lives when they realize that their foe (like the Concord Deathclaw or the Sole Survivor) is far more than what they can really handle.
  • Spikes of Villainy: Can be seen on Raiders who don stuff like the Spiked Armor.
  • Took A Level In Badass: Not uniformly, but they've got access to heavier firepower and gear than the Capital and Mojave Wasteland Raiders.
  • Villain by Default: The number of times that they don't attack the Sole Survivor on sight can be counted on one hand.
  • Wacky Wayside Tribe: Some of the Raider tribes found across the game are differentiated to make them more unique. For example, Judge Zeller's Raiders act as an army unto themselves, brought under the Raider Lord's leadership through brutal torture and indoctrination methods.
  • What Measure Is a Mook?: While for the most part they're violent psychos, some terminal entries and dialogues you hear if you sneak up on them count. Sometimes they appear strung out and horrified at what they have done.

Jared's Gang

Likely the first Raider chief the Sole Survivor will encounter. He rules over Corvega Assembly Plant in Lexington, and recently failed in trying to expand into the rest of Lexington due to the city being home to a horde of Feral Ghouls. He sent his lieutenant Lonnie to try and take the rest of Lexington (for the second time) from the Ferals, while his other subordinate (Gristle) was sent to Concord to both kill the last of the Minutemen (because Jared wants Preston Garvey's Nice Hat) and kidnap Mama Murphy. Yes, this means that the Raiders the Sole Survivor fights in Concord at the start of the game are under Jared's control. Jared's been obsessed with the "Sight" - Mama Murphy's prophetic visions - ever since he was a kid, and she had a vision of him doing horrific acts as a Raider lord. He's one of the Raider Lords paid over by Kessler at Bunker Hill, gets his resources purely by raiding, and he accepts his payment in entirely chems (bought from Sinjin's A.J.) so that he can try to induce the Sight in his underlings. None of these methods have worked so far. He and the rest of his crew will likely be killed relatively early on in the game by the Sole Survivor as a result of the Minutemen main quest "The First Step", where the Sole Survivor wipes out the Corvega Raiders on behalf of the farming settlement Tenpines Bluff as part of rebuilding the Minutemen as a formidable organization.

Sully Mathis' Gang

Based in Thicket Excavations, a now-flooded quarry infested by Mirelurks. Led by Sully Mathis, the Sole Survivor will be enlisted/tricked by him in helping clear out the quarry for his gang to inhabit. From there on, Mathis' gang spends their time both preying on neighboring caravans and trying to raise the remaining Mirelurks for food, which they trade for caps with other Wastelanders. Notably among the other Commonwealth Raider Lords, Sully Mathis actually isn't a total asshole initially. He doesn't attack you when you first meet since he sensibly realizes he could use your help, and with a Charisma check, you can even get a clear warning from him that asking what his plans are would be bad for your health if you keep pushing. He even pays you for helping him clear out the quarry for his gang to inhabit. Later, all bets are off if you return to the quarry he was trying to drain - but if you got that Charisma check, you can't say you weren't warned...

The Tourette Sisters

Tower Tom's Gang

Judge Zeller's Army

Controlling the East Boston Preparatory School, Judge Zeller operates a particularly brutal group renown for compelling its members into “Blood Contracts” via brutal torture. Despite his institution of these "Blood Contracts," Zeller extorts Bunker Hill while also regularly attacking its caravans (thereby breaking his own contract with them). As consequence, Kessler notes in her terminal that this is an unsustainable arrangement, and she plots to take him out via the Sole Survivor. Zeller gets his resources most likely from only raiding, and his "Army" likely numbers no more than a couple dozen fighters.

Crazy Bosco's Empire

Indisputably the largest Raider tribe in the entire Commonwealth, this group is led by "Crazy Bosco" in the ruins of D.B. Technical High School, and is vying against the Gunners, Feral Ghouls and Super Mutants for control of Boston proper. All of the Raiders found in Downtown Boston (which is, at the very least, several hundred) are under his command (except for Back Street Apparel, Hardware Town and Hyde Park), with a specific outpost mentioned being the Shamrock Taphouse. Unfortunately (for him), Bosco is slowly going insane due to a bite from one of his guard dogs that had rabies. He has a special hatred for Libertalia (he could never take the place because there's "too much water there"), Scutter of Hyde Park and Tower Tom. He gets his resources through the massive scavenging opportunities afforded to his men by their control of (most of) Boston.

Libertalia

Based in a floating city of shipwrecks found in Boston Harbor near Nahant. This massive Raider stronghold is comprised of former Minutemen and newer Raider recruits led by Captain James Wire. Initially, the Minutemen settled here after the Fall of the Castle, and the citizen soldiers tried to get jobs as caravan guards. Unfortunately, after they got stiffed one too many times on food payments, they devolved into being Raiders (by threatening to attack caravans if they didn't hand them over food and caps), with Wire's last entry being him admitting that his former General would be disgusted at what he's become. He shrugs it off though, calmly noting that principles are worthless to a starving man. Wire is mentioned as one of the Raider Lords paid over by Kessler at Bunker Hill, and it's mentioned that his Raiders are relatively orderly around her caravans. During the Institute main quest "Synth Retention", Wire disappears and is replaced by the Railroad-rescued Synth Gabriel/B5-92. Turns out that the mind-wipe process most Synths go through gave him violent psychosis, which led to him taking over Libertalia and using the Raiders there to oppress nearby settlements. The Institute then send the Courser X6-88 and the Sole Survivor to wipe them all out, both to protect the nearby Settlers and to bring B5-92 back to the Institute.

Slough's Gang

Controlling Quincy Quarries, Slough and his crew are comprised entirely of Ghouls. The Quarries are heavily irradiated, with geysers in the quarry regularly emitting severe radiation poisoning. The gang uses this to their advantage, as its radiation affords them healing while providing only damage against any human attackers. Unfortunately, it also restricts how far they can go on assaults away from the quarries, and so they mostly get their resources by raiding the local Gunner detachment. The group likely numbers no more than a couple dozen Ghouls. Notably, beneath the quarries is Vault 88 if the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC is installed, and they'll be shown trying (to no avail) to break into the Vault and plunder its (non-existent) stores.

Scutter's Gang

Controls Hyde Park (a small and mostly flooded town south of Boston) with a small group of Raiders. Crazy Bosco knows of him for his refusal to submit to his rule, and Scutter's group likely numbers no more than a couple dozen fighters. The gang is currently being infiltrated by Gunners which has led to a huge witch hunt among the gang. The Gunners are hoping to capitalize upon once their numbers have been whittled down enough, but are currently too preoccupied to really do anything else but watch it all play out. Notably, according to the Fallout 4 Survival Guide, Scutter’s crew has a reputation for “skinning and wearing their victims."

Ack-Ack's Gang

Boomer's Gang

The L&L Gang

A loose alliance of Raider gangs bound by one thing - their hatred of the Institute's Synths. Aside from the Institute themselves, they're the main foe of the Railroad in the Commonwealth. After the Railroad's ending has the Institute blown to hell, the Railroad starts to refocus on fighting them off in the form of the "To The Mattress" radiant quests given to the Sole Survivor by Desdemona. Their leaders are Captain Sally and Johnny T. Walters, and their main subordinates are "The Bruiser", Lucky Tatum, Big Maude, Stevie Buchanan and Tammy Mac.

The Commonwealth Super Mutant Collective

The Commonwealth Is Ours

"I am a Super Mutant! I am unstoppable!" - A Super Mutant battle-cry

The "local flavor" of Super Mutants found in the Commonwealth. No one knows for sure where they come from, but they're seen as bad news and regularly attack virtually everything in sight. They are organized into a series of marauding warbands found across the Commonwealth, intent on expanding forth from their fortifications and seizing the entire region for their own.

  • Action Bomb: The dreaded Super Mutant Suiciders.
  • Always Chaotic Evil: Aside from Strong, Virgil and Erickson, no friendly Commonwealth Super Mutants are seen over the course of the game. However, Enemy Chatter implies that some of them are more peaceful (read: more pragmatic and less mindlessly suicidal), and they just aren't encountered by the Sole Survivor and other local Commonwealth residents.
  • Angry Guard Dog: Their Mutant Hounds, which can be just as frustrating to fight as the Super Mutants themselves.
  • Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Commonwealth Super Mutants are never seen fighting each other. They do let other members of their race die if they're sufficiently injured though, as they see them as too weak to be worthy of keeping alive along with being "not true Super Mutants" for getting mortally wounded in the first place.
  • Arch Enemy: The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel seems to be this for them.
  • Badass Army: Easily the most ferocious army in the entire Commonwealth.
  • Badass Boast
  • Bash Brothers
  • Blood Knight
  • Body Horror
  • Composite Character: In a sense, as they incorporate elements of both the Mariposa Super Mutants and the Vault 87 Super Mutants. Their savagery and ability to get Stronger With Age (some are even Behemoths!) comes from the Vault 87 mutants. However, their (comparable) leap in intelligence, seeing themselves as "the master race," and green skin comes from the Mariposa mutants.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: Despite being primarily Dumb Muscle, some of them are intelligent enough to reprogram computer terminals to gain machine gun and laser turrets on their side.
  • The Dreaded: No one in the Commonwealth likes the Super Mutants, and that's for a damn good reason.
  • Dumb Muscle: The vast majority of them are impressively stupid, though they're still noticeably smarter than their counterparts in the Capital Wasteland.
  • Dying Race: Brian Virgil was able to shut down the Institute's FEV lab before he fled to the Glowing Sea. While the Commonwealth Super Mutants are somewhat aware of their creation (they can be heard muttering "No green stuff here..."), they have no visible way to propagate their species, dooming them to extinction. Unfortunately for the Commonwealth, they're still The Ageless, so they'll likely be a decent threat for the foreseeable future unless they have more Defectors from Decadence like Strong and Erickson.
  • Elite Mooks: To ordinary human enemies.
  • Fantastic Racism: Interestingly, Enemy Chatter indicates that the Commonwealth Super Mutants don't just attack non-mutants because they're hungry; rather, they do it for the additional reason that they view all other "races" as inferior (the loading screens directly state that they see themselves as "the Commonwealth's master race") and only worthy of getting hunted for sport or being used as slaves.
  • Fantastic Slur: They call humans in Power Armor "bucketheads". In return, most Wastelanders call them "greenskins".
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Most people in the Wasteland consider getting captured by Super Mutants this. Justified, since that will likely result in them being Eaten Alive.
    • Brotherhood of Steel members see being turned into a Super Mutant as this, since they're both becoming an abomination of nature and are loosing their previous sense of self.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: In a sense. They just appeared one day in the Commonwealth, and have been ravaging the entire region since.
  • Go Mad From The Revelation: Most of them are psychotic because their minds can't properly handle the horrific mutations that their bodies have been subjected to.
  • Hell Is That Noise: The beeping Mini-Nuke of a Super Mutant Suicider. Pray you have a powerful enough ranged weapon handy or enough Action Points to hit the hand carrying the bomb from afar...
    • The howl of a Mutant Hound, which, for whatever reason, sounds more like a war horn than anything even remotely resembling an actual dog's howl.
  • Hulk Speak
  • Hidden Depths: A rather surprising case. According to Strong, most Commonwealth Super Mutants operate in a collectivist mindset, equally sharing their resources among each other for a common goal and almost never fighting each other.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: The main reason why they attack Commonwealth settlements is to take the residents away for food.
  • It Can Think: Some Super Mutants are surprisingly intelligent in combat despite being members of what's essentially an entire (sub)species of brutish savages.
  • Large Ham
  • No Indoor Voice
  • Pragmatic Villainy: While it's partly a result of the radiant quest system, some Super Mutants will simply kidnap a settler and ransom them for caps, and they will return the settler unharmed (more or less) if they get paid. While this may at first seem odd, it's possible that they use the caps for trading with other Super Mutant groups (after all, only the Commonwealth breed seem to be collectivist) or purchasing weapons off of foreign Raider tribes.
  • Proud Warrior Race: Commonwealth Super Mutants seem to operate in militant warbands ruled by the strongest member, and have their own subculture almost entirely based around combat prowess. However, they still operate in a collectivist mindset, sharing their resources equally amongst each other and frowning down upon theft and cowardice.
  • The Reveal: Sneaking around the Institute's BioScience division will reveal a lost FEV lab. The Institute are the source of the Commonwealth Super Mutants, as they injected many of the people they kidnapped with the FEV in order to investigate biological mutations. It's also implied that they did this in order to develop new beneficial mutations in their Synths, keep the surface disorganized and unable to fight back against the Institute, and create an intelligent breed of Super Mutants for the Institute to use as lab rats/surface agents.
  • Right-Hand Attack Dog: Since they're the first breed of Super Mutant to have no Centaurs, they instead have mutated dogs called "Mutant Hounds".
  • Scary Impractical Armor: Downplayed, as the majority of their armor has been redesigned to look like it could be actually useful in combat.
  • Shown Their Work: The noise of a Super Mutant Suicider's Mini-Nuke is comprised of two parts - a continuous beeping and a tone. This tone is a Shepard tone illusion, wherein the tone sounds like it is continually rising in pitch, but it really isn't and is just a loop.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Much like their brethren in the Capital Wasteland, their presence in the Commonwealth has made it a hell of a lot harder for the natives to unite in a similar way that the West Coast had under the banner of the NCR. They're also one of the most common enemy types in the game, and are recurring antagonists in the Brotherhood, Minutemen, and Institute questlines.
  • Taking You With Me: Super Mutant Suiciders have this as their M.O.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Downplayed. While their physical design actually has them looking less muscular than their counterparts in the Capital Wasteland, the majority of Commonwealth Super Mutants seem to be a hell of a lot smarter.
  • Tragic Monster: Considering how they are all ordinary people that have been horrifically mutated into vicious monsters, it's hard not to pity them to a certain degree. Among the more notable examples is Swan, a Super Mutant Behemoth who was once an Institute prisoner-turned-test subject named Edgar Swann.
  • Unwitting Pawn: To the Institute. While their creation was originally an unintended side-effect of their synthetic tissue research, the Super Mutants are now sent into the Commonwealth to keep the region weak and divided. It's also implied that the Institute are trying to create more intelligent Super Mutants so as to come up with more effective surface agents to fight off dangerous threats like the Brotherhood of Steel.
  • The Virus
  • Was Once a Man: Like all other Super Mutants, they were human... once.
  • What Measure Is a Mook?
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?
  • Worthy Opponent: Enemy Chatter implies that they like fighting the Brotherhood of Steel the most, since they see them as an actual challenge in combat.

The Gunners

We Do Anything - For The Right Price

"Damn Gunners, they're just Raiders with fancier weapons! They'll attack anyone they think is too weak to defend themselves." - A nameless Commonwealth Settler

A ruthless army of mercenaries found operating in the Commonwealth, who have been warring with the Minutemen (and pretty much everyone else) for a long time now. Despite their claims about being skilled mercenaries, they're little more than slightly more-organized Raiders with very militaristic pretensions, even attacking many of the Sole Survivor's settlements after they're organized. They also have a "no-prisoners" mindset, will do any job for the right price, and are actively attempting to conquer the entire Commonwealth on behalf of some mysterious other party. Additionally, after they sacked and conquered Quincy, they control the town as one of the six main settlements of the Commonwealth.

  • Always a Bigger Fish: To the ordinary Commonwealth Raiders.
  • Arch Enemy: To the Commonwealth Minutemen.
  • Armies Are Evil: They're much more organized than Raiders and operate under a military-style hierarchy, and have something approximating standard equipment to boot.
  • Army of Thieves and Whores: By consequence of essentially recruiting from Raiders.
  • Asshole Victim: It's hard to sympathise with them even compared to Raiders, especially given how ruthless they can be.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: For all their pretensions of military ranks, the Gunners still seem to operate on a primitive command system where the toughest soldiers are on top and the weakest ones are at the bottom.
  • Ax Crazy: The Gunners basically take the place of a hyper aggressive army of thugs, only much more organized and better armed.
  • Badass Army: For all their many faults, they're still one of the most formidable military forces the Commonwealth has ever seen.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: They handed the Commonwealth Minutemen their ass on a platter during the Quincy Massacre.
  • Dangerous Deserter: Aside from the Forged, this tends to subverted. Many of those who "deserted" from the Gunners tend to be good people or generally want to be left alone. The Gunners themselves, however, aren't so charitable towards them.
  • Eagleland: Decidedly Flavor 2, with them more or less representing the physical manifestation of virtually every negative stereotype ever given to the U.S. military.
  • Elite Mooks: Compared to Raiders, they're more trained and better-armed in general.
  • Energy Weapons: One of the main gameplay differences between Gunners and Raiders is that Gunners tend to use lasers and plasma weapons while Raiders almost always use bullets.
  • Evil Counterpart/Foil: To the Commonwealth Minutemen. The Gunners are a group of aggressive mercenaries and Sociopathic Soldiers intent on using extreme military discipline to conquer the entire Commonwealth. They're also one of the only factions to have access to Pre-War military tech, being that they mostly use Energy Weapons and even have Vertibirds on their side. The Commonwealth Minutemen, in contrast, are a band of heroic militiamen and citizen soldiers that want to help unite the Commonwealth together by protecting settlements and laying the groundwork for a new society. They seem to rely mostly on Had To Be Sharp for training their soldiers and rely on cobbled-together weapons, 19th-century howitzers and anything they can grab for protecting the innocent. It's not that big a surprise that these factions utterly despise each other and are in the midst of a vicious war.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Oddly, they DO adhere to certain boundaries, which is why Diamond City and Goodneighbour are off limits as targets as well as Bunker Hill to a degree. There are also a far less common threat to settlements than Raiders or other flora and fauna.
  • Expy: Of the Talon Company mercenaries from the Capital Wasteland.
    • To a lesser extent, they're also ones of the Slavers of Paradise Falls.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture/Gang Of Hats: They're more or less a mix of the Pre-War U.S. military and the German Hessians that fought against the colonists during the American Revolution.
  • Greater Scope Villain: Whoever is hiring the Gunners to ravage the Commonwealth and conquer it on their behalf. All that's known is that they're not native to the region.
  • Hate Sink: Considering how Raiders have now been suitably humanized to the point that the player may actually feel bad about killing them, the Gunners primarily exist to fill that now-vacant void of utterly hate-able antagonists. Being an army of enslaving mercenaries that massacre entire cities for kicks, the Gunners are the scum of the earth, comparable to the Paradise Falls Raiders in their demeanor.
  • A Nazi by Any Other Name: Gunners tattoo their soldiers' blood types on their foreheads to help their field medics give them the right transfusions during battle. However, this is also a reference to the Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany, who also had blood type tattoos, albeit found on the underside of the left arm.
  • Outside Context Villain: Downplayed, but it's mentioned that they're not native to the Commonwealth, and are also the only faction aside from the Brotherhood of Steel that are entirely armed with Pre-War military-grade equipment.
  • Private Military Contractors: Their main shtick, and they're not afraid to do get their hands dirty. For a hefty price, anyway.
  • Rape, Pillage, And Burn: The Gunners regularly attack militia settlements, probably because they're being paid to, but also just as likely for the sheer hell of it. Once some of your settlements are large enough, they will start turning their attention there, so be careful. Even your settlers will say that they are just a more organized, better equipped group of raiders.
  • Renegade Splinter Faction: A few of the even more violent and crazy Gunners ended up defecting and joining the Forged.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Talon Company mercs encountered throughout the Capital Wasteland.
  • Tattooed Crook: Some Gunners have their blood type tattooed on their foreheads, presumably for medical reasons.
  • Those Two Bad Guys: Winlock and Barnes, the two Gunners that confront MacCready in Goodneighbor when the Sole Survivor first meets him.
  • Token Good Teammate: There's a few decent Gunners, mostly those who actually serve as mercenaries. Notably, there's several Gunners that serve as the Cabot Family's private security force around Parsons State Insane Asylum. Many other decent Gunners, however, had either been killed by their own "comrades" or simply left.
  • Villain by Default: Justified by the pre-existing war between the Commonwealth Minutemen and the Gunners, which the Sole Survivor pretty much walks into when they help Preston in Concord.

The Triggermen

A group found mainly in Goodneighbor and other parts of Boston, the Triggermen are Mafia-themed gangsters lead by mob bosses such as Skinny Malone and Marowski. The largest faction of Triggermen are located in Vault 114, and the Sole Survivor will have to fight through them in order to rescue Nick Valentine (who they've taken prisoner).

  • Affably Evil: Almost all of them are rather polite despite being ruthless criminals.
  • Equal Opportunity Evil: They have quite a number of Ghouls among their ranks (to the point where roughly 1 out of every 4 Triggermen are Ghouls), many of whom were part of the original Mafia.
  • Foil: To the Families of the New Vegas Strip and the Omertas in particular. Unlike them, who were originally tribals that had been deliberately rehabilitated by Mr. House in the image of Pre-War gangsters, the Triggermen have a decidedly stronger connection. This is in part due to the relatively urbanized environment of the Commonwealth as well as the fact that the Ghouls among them were actual gangsters in the Mafia, or at least claim to be so. Though that being said, both the Triggermen and Omertas clearly like their shtick and have really run with it.
  • Friendly Enemy: Of sorts. Skinny Malone in particular genuinely doesn't want to see Nick Valentine put in harm's way, even after he's captured. In addition, unlike Raiders they tend to actually warn the Sole Survivor to back off before going hostile.
  • Made of Iron: Even later into the game, they can be pretty stubborn despite not wearing much in the way of armor.
  • More Dakka: Their Weapon of Choice is usually a sub-machine gun.
  • Neighbourhood Friendly Gangsters: To a limited degree. Most are hostile enemies, but many that call Goodneighbor home form its guard force and thanks to Hancock refraining them from starting anything while in there, unless you step onto their turf despite being warned to back off.
  • Nice Hat: Many wear them as part of their mobster look.
  • The Mafia: Their general theme. Not to mention how some of the mobsters were even part of the actual Mob back before the War.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: In contrast to Raiders, they all dress in snappy Pre-War suits, suspenders and tuxedoes.

The Forged

The Burned Kings Of Saugus

"I'm Slag, and we are the Forged. And you, stranger - you're somebody with some guts. I like that." - Slag

A small but incredibly ferocious gang of Raiders that just came in from outside the Commonwealth. Mostly made up of ex-Gunners, and they're primarily found at Saugus Ironworks (located right between The Slog and Finch Farm) under the control of their leader - Slag. Slag's subordinate Bedlam also controls Dunwich Borers, and they are trying to scrap the metal found through the mine to be processed at Saugus for weapons, armor, and ammunition manufactuing. All of them are obsessed with the destructive might of fire and industry, and they're the main antagonists of the "Out of the Fire" Minutemen side quest involving Finch Farm. Saugus itself is also an important location because of it holding the dampening coil needed in the "Here There Be Monsters" side quest.

  • Armor Is Useless: Averted.
  • Badass Army: Despite their small numbers, they're surprisingly formidable.
  • Bad Boss: While no Raider boss is an understanding employer, as such, Slag does things like cutting off the limbs of people who displease him. He's also thrown several of his raiders into the furnace for a failure.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Averted, as they're too dumb to properly run Saugus anyhow.
  • Dangerous Deserter: To the Gunners.
  • Decapitated Army: Averted.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Even the Gunners find them beyond the pale.
  • Fire-Breathing Weapon: Flamers and Molotov Cocktails are among their favorite weapons.
  • Gang of Hats: A fire/industrial theme. Forcibly invoked by Slag, who cuts off the limbs and feeds to the forge members who don't take a name that fits the theme.
  • Heavily Armored Mook: Members typically wear Spike Armor or Cage Armor, which provides a decent amount of damage and energy resistance.
  • If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten: When the Sole Survivor meets Slag, he's ordering his newest recruit, the local Farm Boy Jake Finch, to kill a captive just to prove that he's willing to kill.
  • Internal Homage: To the Pitt.
  • Pyromaniac: A gang of them.
  • Shout-Out: One of the failed Raider initiates was named Yancey, and he was fed to the Forged for refusing to change his name. In the Futurama episode "The Luck of the Fryish", Fry's brother Yancey is jealous of Fry because of his name.
  • Spikes of Villainy: Like Raiders, they're fond of Spike Armor and Cage Armor adorned with spikes made from rusty rebar.
  • Wacky Wayside Tribe: Less "wacky" and more insanely dangerous, at any rate.
  • Weapon of Choice: Their Flamers and Moltov Cocktails.

The Crew of the USS Constitution

The Wooden Ship Of Iron Men

"You visit this fine vessel in trying times. Becalmed these long years on her airy perch. Damn you Weatherby Savings & Loan! I spit at you!" - Captain Ironsides

A group of Pre-War robots who have commandeered the USS Constitution and are looking to set sail with it (into the skies). They're led by Captain Ironsides (a Sentry Bot), and their other noteworthy members are the Bosun (an armless Mr. Handy), Mr. Navigator (a relatively unarmored Mr. Handy), the Lookout (a beaten up Mr. Gutsy) and the First Mate (a police-issue Protectron). They're the main protagonists of the side quest "Last Voyage of the USS Constitution", and the Sole Survivor can choose between aiding them in their quest to return the Constitution to the Atlantic Ocean or helping a gang of scavengers and Raiders sabotage the ship so as to sell the parts for scrap.

  • Ax-Crazy: The First Mate is very eager to kill any intruders. It takes multiple reprimands from Captain Ironsides for him to stand down and let the Sole Survivor pass through the ship unmolested.
  • Camp: Unquestionably the funniest faction in the entire game. Only in the Fallout verse will you see the USS Constitution be crewed by a bunch of English-accented robots who are looking to soar into the skies with it.
  • Future Imperfect: Zig-zagged. Ironsides is aware enough that he knows that 210 years have passed and the United States government is no more, but still thinks that the remaining crew must war with Communist China.
  • Gentle Giant: Captain Ironsides is a huge Sentry Bot, but only considers violence to be a last resort.
  • Grew Beyond Their Programming: Terminals aboard the Constitution explain part of Ironsides' backstory. Namely, he used to be just a tour guide robot, but the intervening centuries caused him to gain sapience. Now, it's at the point that he actually acknowledges the fall of the United States (which not that many other robots in the franchise actually recognize), but has adjusted to this in quite a bizarre way - namely, he sees himself and the robots under his command as the last members of the United States military (as far as he knows, no other military robots have become self-aware to the degree he has) - with him being in charge of both the Navy and Army - and he must strike back at China to avenge the fallen United States.
  • Large and In Charge: Captain Ironsides. He can't even fit below deck.
  • Large Ham: Captain Ironsides chews enough scenery to give the Silver Shroud pause.
  • Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: Lampshaded In-Universe. Captain Ironsides is just as confused as the Sole Survivor is on how the USS Constitution got rocket boosters and ended up on top of Weatherby Savings and Loan. However, he's ultimately decided that it's not worthy of concern and they should move on from it.
  • Nice Guy: Captain Ironsides is always humble and polite, even when the Sole Survivor says to his face that his plan will fail.
  • Nice Hat: Captain Ironsides' bicorne hat is utterly magnificent. He gives the Sole Survivor one if you help him complete his mission.
  • Shaggy Dog Story: A lighthearted example.
  • Shout-Out: The name of their related quest is "Last Voyage of the USS Constitution", and it's supposed to be a reference to Star Trek (i.e. "These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise...").
  • Sliding Scale of Robot Intelligence: They pretty much run the gauntlet on this. Captain Ironsides and the Bosun come across as fully sapient, the majority of the crew are various robots (mostly Protectrons) with the mental capacity of a ham sandwich, and the First Mate and Mr. Navigator are both somewhere in between.
  • Stealth Pun: They're literally a Wooden Ship of Iron Men, and their ship is floundered on a bank.
  • Suicidal Pacifism: Lampshaded by Captain Ironsides. The crew will only retaliate against Raiders and scavengers if they're an immediate threat, and then only to the extent that they're forced to retreat. Ironsides will acknowledge this as shortsighted, but explains that his programming dictates that he not harm citizens of the Commonwealth, which these aggressors are.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: The Bosun proclaims his loyalty to the captain because he wants to and certainly not because he's been reprogrammed five times to do so! Furthered by the fact that the Bosun is a Mr. Handy with no arms or armor, making him essentially a floating brain with three eye-stalks.

The Pillars of the Community

  • Cult: Though generally a benign version. Except for their founder, who is really a scammer who founded it to fleece people.

The Raiders of the FMS Northern Star

A band of aggressive Ghouls who are based around a grounded shipwreck. Despite being unhinged and looking the part, they don't really act like other Raiders, nor do they stray too far from the wreck that they call home. They're heavily implied to be foreign sailors of Scandinavian (more specifically, Norwegian) origin who were left stranded during the Great War.

Vault 81 Residents

The Lovely Vault With A Dark Past

"Welcome to Vault 81! Here, we pride ourselves on having maintained a successful Vault over these past two centuries!" - Overseer Gwen McNamara

The only prosperous Vault in the Commonwealth that, unlike most others, is not only still operational but is also inhabited by the descendants of those lucky souls who escaped the fires of the Great War. But this supposed control Vault, where Curie can also be found, is not without secrets. Also, Vault 81 is one of the six main settlements of the Commonwealth, and is (likely by default) the most populous settlement in the region. Located to the west of the Chestnut Hillock Reservoir found in West Boston.

  • Acceptable Breaks From Reality: Like with the rest of the Vaults in the Fallout series, Vault 81 looks remarkably small for an underground settlement that should be able to fit over 1100 people. However, that would likely cause too much stress to be placed on the game engine for it to be feasible.
  • Arcology: While the Vault was designed to be this as "standard", its inhabitants have clearly made the most of it over the centuries.
  • Crap Saccharine World: Subverted, with it being as stable as a control Vault.
  • Dissonant Serenity: The entire Vault is just downright surreal for dedicated Fallout players because it's such a genuinely peaceful and pleasant place to visit/live.
  • Eccentric Townsfolk: Inverted. Compared to many other areas in the Commonwealth, they're noticeably normal in their behavior and generally mundane lives.
  • Everytown, America: Vault 81 is not only a thriving time capsule of Pre-War America, but it's also one that manages to show it at its best.
  • Fantastic Racism: Inverted. They don't trust outsiders, but the Overseer has convinced them to accept traders. The Sole Survivor can also prove to them that outsiders can be heroes too.
    • Played straight for Ghouls and Synths (as shown if the Sole Survivor brings Hancock or Nick with them to the Vault), but even then, their prejudice comes across more as simple fear rather than outright racial hatred.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Heavily downplayed, but still apparent. They're obviously meant to represent quintessential small-town America, especially in how most of the Vault's citizens are only faintly aware of the Commonwealth's dangers. However, their geopolitical position if the Sole Survivor helps open them up more to the outside world as popular regional traders after largely isolating themselves is evocative of Japan being opened up to the West by Commodore Perry. Bonus points if the Sole Survivor is with the Minutemen here, as their association with the heavily Americana-influenced Minutemen would fit right in with Commodore Perry opening Japan largely on behalf of the United States.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: Kind of. They're very much a well-preserved, if living piece of Pre-War America at its best. On the other hand, while they're generally unaware of just how much things have changed, they're wise enough to keep their guard up.
  • Foil:
    • To Vault 101. Both Vaults had kept themselves closed to the outside world for several generations. But whereas Vault 101 was dutifully following its intended purpose (prolonged, indefinite isolation) and by Fallout 3 was slowly depopulating with each passing generation, Vault 81 is still thriving in its (relative) isolation all the while defying its intended experiment.
    • To Vault 3 in the Mojave Wasteland. Vault 81's inhabitants are smart and cautious enough to not leave their front door open, something that Vault 3 naively did and resulted in the Fiends just outside killing them all to the last man. For added irony, Vault 81 isn't even a control Vault, whereas Vault 3 was.
  • Foreshadowing: One of the first minor objectives the Sole Survivor will receive while in Vault 81 is giving blood samples for the Vault's resident doctor and helping with medical research. This is not the first time Vault 81 has been focused around medical research.
  • Genre Savvy: Not only are they relatively accepting (if rationally cautious) of outsiders - they openly trade with the Bunker Hill Caravans - they're not dumb enough to just leave their front door open like Vault 3 in the Mojave Wasteland was.
  • Heroic Sacrifice
  • Hidden Elf Village: Like other Vaults, they used to be this.
  • Last of His Kind: By 2287, it's one of the small handful of Vaults that still remain operation and well-kept. And it's not even a control Vault!
  • Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Justified. Because the alternative, which the first Overseer and the Vault-Tec scientists alike averted, would have been horrendous.
  • Properly Paranoid: While they may not be fully up to speed with what's happening around the Commonwealth in 2287, they're smart enough to be rationally cautious of outsiders and keep armed guards on standby to fend off any would-be intruders.
  • Quirky Town: You don't get much quirkier in Fallout than a bunch of normal, nice, decent people with no trauma, horrible secrets or major mental baggage.
  • The Remnant: Played with. Although Vault 81 isn't one to Vault-Tec especially given how the first Overseer defied Vault-Tec's directives and opted not to undertake the intended experiments, it has retained much of the original Vault policies in addition to preserving Pre-War American suburbia.
  • Shout Out: A Minutemen-aligned Sole Survivor helping open up Vault 81 more to the outside world is partly a Homage to the political situation with the planet Grayson and the Star Kingdom of Manticore.
  • Town with a Dark Secret: A relatively benevolent example.
  • Underground City: It's a Vault, so this is to be expected. In practice though, it's more like "Underground Small Town".

Diamond City

The Great Green Jewel Of The Commonwealth

"Welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth! Safe! Happy! A fine place to come, spend your money, settle down!" - Mayor McDonough

The largest settlement in the Commonwealth (after the relatively secluded Vault 81 and the Institute razed University Point to the ground), and one of the region's six main settlements, serving as the default regional capital. Located in the ruins of Fenway Park in the Fens. It's kept safe thanks to both "the Wall" and its trigger-happy police force controlled by its Mayor.

  • Brand X: Despite the city being built out of Fenway Park, and baseball gear being omnipresent in the city lore (from guard outfits, to the store selling bats for defense, to the bases marking intersections), there's not a mention of the Boston Red Sox by name. This was likely because Bethesda couldn't secure the rights to the team's brand. All uniforms thus conveniently lack the team logo while otherwise keeping to the red and white color scheme.
  • Crapsack World: Despite their claims of being otherwise, they're ultimately closer to Rivet City and Megaton than New Vegas and Shady Sands in terms of living standards. For one, its citizens still live in makeshift metal shacks built on top of the stands rather than the largely stable buildings found outside due to the surrounding cityscape being a chaotic warzone. There's a school, a bar and a church - but these are the height of the luxuries on offer, with dredging the city water supply for garbage still yielding the occasional human skull. The town also appears at first glance to be safe from destruction despite the constant battle outside between its guards and the Raiders/Super Mutants, but this is a subversion. Diamond City once had a gaping hole in its defensive wall covered by nothing more than a couch until Piper Wright published an article about the danger to spur action to fix it. Generally, the city itself is much more vulnerable than its people or mayor are ready to admit.
    • Crap Saccharine World: What society in Diamond City is like at its most optimistic. If you remove the constant Institute paranoia and institutionalized bigotry against Synths (and to a lesser extent, Ghouls), it's otherwise one of the biggest and most stable bastions of civilization the Commonwealth currently has.
  • Fantastic Racism: Against both Ghouls and Synths.
  • Foil: To New Vegas, as alluded to above. Both cities sell themselves as functional oases of progress and civilization from the surrounding Wasteland, but New Vegas is obviously more advanced and far safer than Diamond City is. However, New Vegas ultimately comes across as a glorified tourist trap due to its overabundance of casinos and lack of societal institutions, while Diamond City is an actually functioning settlement and city-state.
  • Future Imperfect: While the citizenry by and large have an appreciation of baseball, not everyone it seems has a good grasp on how it's played.
  • Gang of Hats: They have a love of baseball.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Megaton, albeit much more stable and organized. Also, they can be seen as one to Rivet City and even New Vegas (to a much lesser extent).
  • Town with a Dark Secret: Not only are the concerns over Synths subverting Diamond City proven to be all too true, but even the Mayor is revealed to be one.
  • Urban Segregation: The powerful and well-to-do of Diamond City reside in the upper stands.

Goodneighbor

Of The People, For The People

"Goodneighbor's of the people, for the people, you feel me? Everyone's welcome" - Mayor John Hancock

The second largest settlement in the Commonwealth, and one of the region's six main settlements. Found based in Scollay Square, which is located to the east of Boston Common. The city has a well-deserved reputation for being a den of sin and vice, and is run in a form of polite anarchy under the control of its Mayor - John Hancock.

  • Anarchy Is Chaos: Averted.
  • Film Noir: The city in general has this as a pervading element, albeit to a degree. Complete with gangsters and a nightclub.
  • Foil: The city as a whole is one to both Underworld from the Capital Wasteland and the Mojave's Freeside.
    • While both Underworld and Goodneighbor are heavily populated by Ghouls and are very popular towns, Goodneighbor is more of a Wretched Hive while Underworld was more respectable. However, Goodneighbor is also far more formidable than Underworld and is fiercely independent, whereas Underworld's fate is still unknown (with it being implied that the BoS lynched the city/encouraged them to move somewhere else).
    • Although Goodneighbor is to Diamond City what Freeside is to the New Vegas Strip, Goodneighbor is, despite its rough appearance, far more organized, can fend for itself, and is actually safe. Though similarly to the Followers of the Apocalypse having a presence in Freeside, the Railroad's generally benign (if rather discreet) presence helps as well.
  • Neighborhood Friendly Gangsters: Goodneighbor is protected by a gang called the Neighborhood Watch, who dress in three-piece suits, wield tommy guns and are technically Triggermen.
  • Rule-Abiding Rebel: To a degree. While many are varying levels of shady or even outright scummy, they are generally civil and mostly respectful to each other and even visitors who don't start anything. The catch is that if the loose rules that govern the place are broken or they are NOT in Goodneighbor, those very same people have no compunction about screwing you over.
  • Small Town Rivalry: With Diamond City. Also justified in that it was largely founded by former citizens of Diamond City. That the Mayors of Diamond City and Goodneighbor are brothers also helps.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: After a fashion to Freeside in New Vegas, though subverted in that it's actually rather livable.
  • Wretched Hive: Amusingly subverted/downplayed. While its reputation isn't entirely unfounded, many of the inhabitants just want to live their own lives in peace and are (usually) friendly once the Sole Survivor gets on their good side.

Bunker Hill

The Spider At The Web's Center

"This is Bunker Hill. All the caravans in the Commonwealth come through here. And every Raider outfit in the area gets protection money to keep their paws off the market and our homes. Welcome." - Mayor Kessler

The third largest settlement in the Commonwealth, and one of the six main settlements of the Commonwealth. Made up of a fortress town surrounding the Bunker Hill Monument in Charleston. Bunker Hill is mostly noteworthy for being the Commonwealth's main trade caravan nexus, and gets taken over by the Commonwealth Minutemen after the Battle of Bunker Hill.

  • Boom Town: According to Nick Valentine, Diamond City should be concerned about competition from Bunker Hill since they're growing incredibly fast.
  • City of Spies: The town is filled with Railroad agents and Institute spies, along with the members of nameless caravan cartels, the representatives of Raider tribes and other factions.
  • Foil: Downplayed, but they're one to Canterbury Commons from the Capital Wasteland.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: The residents of Bunker Hill aren't fans of the Minutemen, but this is because their previous calls for help to the Minutemen fell on deaf ears due to the organization's infighting after the Fall of the Castle.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Properly Paranoid: It's mentioned that even by Railroad standards, Old Man Stockton obsesses with security measures, passcodes, and drop off points. But considering the Institute knows about Bunker Hill...
  • Small Role, Big Impact: It's revealed to be one of the major hubs of the Railroad. Also, the titular "Battle of Bunker Hill" is the opening shot of the war between the Brotherhood of Steel, Railroad, and Institute.

Covenant

Past The Test To Stay S.A.F.E.

'We hope you enjoy your stay!" - Mayor Jacob Orden

One of the six main settlements of the Commonwealth, and can join up with the Commonwealth Minutemen depending on how the Sole Survivor resolves the "Human Error" quest. Located roughly between Medford/Malden and Lexington. Covenant is a largely pristine and well-guarded settlement that seems... off on a closer look.

  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The settlement in general.
  • Continuity Nod: The S.A.F.E. test the Sole Survivor needs to pass in order to enter Covenant is the G.O.A.T. from Fallout 3's character creation sequence.
  • Crap Saccharine World: On the surface, Covenant looks like a gorgeous little Pre-War town, complete with a delightfully quirky robot that serves lemonade! But in reality, Covenant is an elaborate trap created with the sole purpose of rooting out Synths from the Wasteland, whereupon the suspects are kidnapped and subjected to nightmarish torture to figure out their true identity.
  • Fantastic Racism: Against Synths, although they arguably dwarf even the Brotherhood of Steel in their hatred.
  • New Tech Is Not Cheap: And Pre-War tech is even more expensive. Covenant is built like a fortress on the outside, but looks spotless and Pre-War 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 elsewhere in the Commonwealth.
  • Properly Paranoid
  • Reality Ensues: Behind the scenes, they're getting run into the ground financially due to them deliberately lowering their prices for competition, making Covenant look like a Pre-War town, and the expenses of running the Compound.
  • Stepford Smiler: A whole settlement of them though some have more trouble keeping up the facade than others.
  • Town with a Dark Secret
  • Wacky Wayside Tribe: One of the darker examples of this trope within the series.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Sole Survivor can both agree with their ultimate end goals (freeing the Commonwealth from the Institute) and disagree with their methods (brutally torturing all suspected Synths - including the innocent ones already rescued by the Railroad).
  • Whole Plot Reference: The storyline of Covenant is more or less based after the towns of Andale from Fallout 3 and Hackdirt from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The Atom Cats

  • Badass Crew: They are a post apocalyptic biker gang, only instead of motorcycles, they have power armor, which is actually even more deadly and impressive.
  • Gang of Hats: They are power armor fans who specialize in customizing it, much like one would cars.
  • Neighborhood Friendly Gangsters: Their gang like structure aside, they are otherwise content to stick to themselves and even maintain friendly relations with other settlements, though they are regarded as a bit odd at owrst.

The Cabot Family and Associates

A Pleasant Family With Otherworldly Secrets

"This is my ancestral home. The Cabots have always lived here, since long before the Great War. If you're asking what we're still doing here, with Boston in its current sad state, well... that's a story for another time, perhaps." - Jack Cabot

A mysterious family and associated mercenaries living in a suspiciously well-kept mansion in Beacon Hill. They have a secret origin leading back to the Great War and even earlier, and are the main characters of their eponymous quest-line.

  • The Ageless: How their immortality is mostly depicted.
  • Badass Family: Downplayed, but they had to be to survive not just the aftermath of the Great War, but even the generations leading up to it.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: They're all rather friendly... but are deceptively dangerous.
  • Big Screwed-Up Family: As polite and amiable as they seem, they all have issues. Not to mention how Lorenzo Cabot, the family patriarch, is still alive and imprisoned for his supposed insanity.
  • Bittersweet Ending: If the Sole Survivor sides with Jack and not Lorenzo, this happens. All of them have lost their source of immortality, dooming them to a slow death, and are all saddened by Lorenzo's death (Wilhelmina even commits suicide out of grief). However, they're still alive for now, and won't get slaughtered by Lorenzo. Also, it's likely that given Jack's genius, they can find another way to stay immortal and can maybe even help the Minutemen, Institute or other organizations progress the Commonwealth.
  • Fictional Counterpart: Cabot House's design and location is based after the Nichols House Museum, which preserves the lifestyle of Boston's Victorian elite. This is much like how Cabots are un-aging, and have been so since the 1800s.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: Subverted. They look and behave as if the past two centuries never happened, but it's more out of habit and keeping up a more "dignified" appearance than actual obliviousness to the world around them.
  • Foreshadowing: Some subtle details are laid out for their Mysterious Past.
  • Functional Addict: Just about everyone, due to their dependency on the "Mysterious Serum" to stay alive.
  • Hidden Elf Village: In a sense. Though it helps that they hired mercenaries like the Gunners to help keep it that way.
  • Idle Rich: They don't really seem to do much outside of their mansion on Beacon Hill. Justified since they live in the Wasteland, and don't want to get anyone's (potentially lethal) attention.
  • Immortality Begins At Twenty: Well, kinda.
  • Intercontinuity Crossover: A rather unexpected example. Specifically, their questline is one to HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, with Lorenzo Cabot having discovered "The Nameless City" from Lovecraft's eponymous short story.
  • Nice Guy: The family in general is this, though Jack Cabot in particular is arguably the friendliest. Even Lorenzo is rather pleasant once the Sole Survivor gets to know him.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Averted, with them being based after the historical Cabot family. The real Cabots came to Beverly, Massachusetts in the 1700s, and were one of the first families amongst the "Boston Brahmins" (the Bostonian elite).
  • Old Money: It's all but stated that the Cabots were this before the Great War, being among Boston's elite. Not only were they rich and prominent enough to afford an expedition halfway across the world in the 19th Century, they even had ties with the US Government such that it was their intervention that kept Lorenzo from Death Row and instead helped guarantee his imprisonment.
  • Old Retainer: Edward Deegan, who's been in the Cabots' employ since before the Great War and is their oldest, most trusted servant. Unlike the family, however, the only reason he's still alive is because of being a Ghoul.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: The "Mysterious Serum" allowing them to live for so long is derived from the blood of the family patriarch, Lorenzo.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: The Cabots, as seen by the Sole Survivor, have been alive since the 19th Century, making them the oldest non-Ghoul humans in the franchise by over 400 years. The only older human is Toshiro Kago, and that's just from a chronological perspective since he was kept frozen by aliens from the 1600s until 2277.
  • Shout-Out: A very subtle case. The House may be named after the Cabot Museum from the H.P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald story Out of the Aeons. The museum is located in Beacon Hill and used to be a mansion before its conversion. Seems very apt for the generally Lovecraftian themes surrounding the Cabot family.
    • A popular real-life toast around the Cabot family goes "And this is good old Boston,/The home of the bean and the cod,/Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,/And the Cabots talk only to God." This is reflected in-story by the Cabot family being nigh-immortal through tapping into alien technology with nigh-divine powers. Lorenzo is even worshiped as a god-like being by a tribe of crazed Raiders.
  • What Happened To The Mouse?: It's rather surprising that the Sole Survivor can't really do anything beyond literally using the "Mysterious Serum". It's a shame that it can't be handed over to the Institute for study or even reverse-engineering.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?: Zig-zagged. Most of them seem to be happy with nigh-immortality, but some of their dialogue implies they miss dead friends and are getting bored from the centuries continuing to drag on and on.

The Rust Devils

Introduced in the Automatron DLC, they're a deadly gang of Raiders with a penchant for robots. Coming from outside the Commonwealth, they serve as the antagonists for the second third of the DLC, having captured Jezebel, one of the Mechanist's Robobrains. Their main headquarters is the Fort Hagen satellite array and hangar, both of which they have converted into a massive fortress. However, the Sole Survivor and Ada clear them out in their quest to destroy the Mechanist. They're then reduced to minor antagonists found skirmishing with the other factions across the Commonwealth (mostly spawning close to places where robots are scripted to appear, like some of the Pre-War military checkpoints).

  • Ace Custom:
    • They employ various custom robots. Of particular note is A.H.A.B., a Sentry Bot equipped with flamethrowers and having a Deathclaw skull for a head.
    • Their leader Ivey wears a unique set of Tesla T-60 Power Armor (which is different from regular Power Armor with Tesla mods).
  • Armor Is Useless: Averted with their unique Robot Armor. It's superior to Metal Armor in protection and is almost equal to the lighter Synth Armor (ballistic protection is better, but energy protection is slightly worse).
  • Big Bad Wannabe: They would normally be a pretty serious antagonist, but are quickly crushed by Ada and the Sole Survivor. They're also small potatoes to forces like the Brotherhood of Steel and the Institute.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: They would probably get a lot more caps working as mechanics and guards for settlements. Amusingly, the Sole Survivor can actually take advantage of this, using the Rust Devils' unique robot mods to help build their own Mecha-Mooks so as to help the Commonwealth Minutemen.
  • Decapitated Army: Averted. Even after the death of their leader Ivey, they will still be active in the Commonwealth.
  • Disk One Final Boss: They would normally be a pretty credible threat to the entire Commonwealth, with them already able to take out a lot of the Mechanist's robots...and then they get their asses handed to them by Ada and the Sole Survivor.
  • Elaborate Underground Base: Their headquarters is located underneath the Fort Hagen satellite array.
  • Elite Mooks: They're noticeably harder to fight than normal Raiders (for what're pretty obvious reasons).
  • Enemy Civil War: They fight the other Raider gangs just as much as they fight the Mechanist's mechanical hordes and the game's other factions.
  • The Evil Genius: Their expertise with robots arguably makes them this among the various Commonwealth Raider gangs.
  • Gang of Hats: Raiders with a penchant for robots. They wear robot parts for armor, use robot parts as weapons, sic reprogrammed robots on Wastelanders...
  • Renegade Splinter Faction: They're basically Raiders with a certain penchant for robots. As noted above, they fight anyone who isn't them - including the other Commonwealth Raider gangs. The easiest location to see this in action is at the General Atomics Factory.
  • Scavenger World: Like the other Raider gangs, they clearly evoke this imagery.
  • Shout Out: It's possible that they're named after the tribe of the same name from the popular apocalyptic fiction festival "Wasteland Weekend".
  • Skeletons in the Coat Closet: They frequently decorate their custom robots with skulls.
  • Wacky Wayside Tribe: Aside from a (relatively) small part of Automatron, they serve no real importance in the overall story.

The Mechanist's Army and Robobrain Generals

The Ruthless Forgers Of Tomorrow

"We will restore justice and bring about the dawn of a new age!" - The Mechanist's Eyebots

The main antagonists of the Automatron DLC, although they're mostly active in the first and last thirds of the story (respectively, before and after the Rust Devils are taken care of). This consists of both the various hordes of mechanized monsters released upon the Commonwealth by the Mechanist and the "Robobrains", advanced Pre-War robots with human and animal brains serving as their CPUs that are the commanders of specific squads of the robots. Oddly, while they go around killing anything in their path, they're also followed by Eyebots talking about how the robots shouldn't be feared and how they will bring about a new era of peace and safety in the Commonwealth.

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: With a horrifying twist. Thery ARE following their directives to do what's best for the Commonwealth, but HOW they interpreted those orders is another story: They figured humans are gonna die off so easily they might as well Mercy Kill them before anything else in the Commonwealth gets to them first. It's still technically making the Commonwealth safer, since part of the aforementioned spoiler is making the Commonwealth more dangerous.
  • Badass Army: They're surprisingly tough in a fight, especially at a lower level.
  • Badass Automaton: What they all are.
  • Black Comedy
  • Brain In a Jar
  • Body Horror
  • Call Back: The "commanders" of the Mechanist's armies are the Robobrains from previous games.
  • Continuity Nod: The history given of the Robobrains (special robots that use the forcibly-extracted brains of criminals) closely mirrors the history given out by Fallout 1 lead designer Chris Taylor in a really old interview, plus the info given in J.E. Sawyer's tabletop RPG.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: Alas, the Robobrains are actually intelligent when fighting against the Sole Survivor and Ada.
  • Decapitated Army: Zig-Zagged.
  • Exact Words: What triggers the entire conflict of the DLC.
  • Expy: The Robobrains have been reworked into being loose Expies of the Daleks from Doctor Who.
    • To be more specific, the Robobrains are (like the Daleks) robots with organic brains taken from murderous psychopaths as their central processor with a single, cold, calculating eye mounted up front. They also move around on a tracked chassis and can't help, but look like giant salt shakers. They interpret all orders given to them as a license to kill both anyone and anything. Finally, their voices are electronically synthesized. A pity the Robobrains don't also scream "EXTERMINATE!".
  • Faux Affably Evil: The antagonist robobrains can be charmingly polite, even as they make it clear they want you dead.
  • Foil: The Robobrains are this to the Synths. Both are a synthesis of biology and machinery, and are used as soldiers by their creators. Both also engage in independent thinking in ways that their inventors never intended. However, Robobrains were implanted with human brains so as to just enhance their mechanical functions, while Synths were designed to resemble humans because the Institute wanted them to be even more efficient than humanity itself. Robobrains are also obviously robots, while the newer generations of Synths are virtually identical to humanity.
  • Gone Horribly Right: The Mechanist's armies are following their directives and orders a bit too well, and too literally to boot.
  • Grew Beyond Their Programming: The Robobrains most certainly have - and not in good directions.
  • Humans Are The Real Monsters: At least the mass majority of the ones whose brains were put in robotic shells.
  • Jerkass: At best, this is what most of the Robobrains are that are remotely aware.
  • Just a Machine: The majority of the forces count as this. Averted with the Robobrains, who serve as commanders and thusly have more self-awareness in order to properly come up with strategies for battle.
  • Mercy Kill: How the Mechanist's armies interpreted their orders to help the humans of the Commonwealth.
  • Mix-and-Match Critters
  • Murder Is the Best Solution
  • Mythology Gag
  • Omnicidal Maniac: What the minions of the Mechanist have become. To the Mechanist's credit though, this they were not aware of and are horrified to discover.
  • Shout Out: As seen in the various experiment logs, the vast majority of subjects reacted to being forced into a robotic body by committing suicide. Additionally, only the most depraved examples of humanity were able to withstand the implantation process, and even then became murderous without routine control measures. All of the above is a Homage to RoboCop 2.
  • Small Role, Big Impact
  • Took a Level in Badass: The Robobrains have done this by far in comparison to the versions of them seen in previous games.
  • The Unintelligible: Most of the non robobrain mechs speak in mechanical noises.
  • Weapon of Choice: The Robobrains seem to like using poisonous smoke grenades and Tesla rifles in combat.
  • Wetware CPU: The Robobrains are a machine with a human brain in biogel as it's core.

Vault 88 Dwellers

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