Summary
Falloutlore chronicles over two hundred years of post-apocalyptic drama, and in that period, countless factions have emerged, evolved, and been wiped out by monsters, natural disasters, or yet more nuclear bombs. The march of time can purge even the mightiest civilizations from memory, so it’s no wonder thatsome of the franchise’s most interesting factions have been sidelined in recent years.Fallout 5is still a long way off, but it has the opportunity to excavate some of the best forgotten groups from previous games.
While it would be interesting to bring back somemajorFalloutfactionslike the Brotherhood of Steel, NCR, or Caesar’s Legion forFallout 5, these groups have already been thoroughly examined in past media. Smaller or more obscure factions, on the other hand, are usually less developed and thus better suited for a sequel. Extrapolating on what Acadia or the Sorrows might look like after a few decades – or even centuries – offers adeeper creative potential than simply resurrecting the Enclave yet again.
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10The Great Khans Are An Old Faction With A Promising Future
Beyond the Vault: A Legacy of Raiders
The Great Khans have been around in one form or another since the very beginning of theFalloutcanon.Originally just the Khans, they were a hostile gang of vault-dwellers-turned-raiders that the player can encounter and wipe out in the originalFallout. Ever determined, they pop up again inFallout 2as the New Khans, only to be slaughtered again by the Chosen One. Finally, they re-emerge as the Great Khans inFallout: New Vegas, prideful raiders and chem-dealers with an understandable persecution complex.
This New Mongol Empire would be an incredible faction in a West-CoastFallout 5.
Little more than raiders in the first two games, the Khans are one of thebest factions inNew Vegas. Despite their poverty and identity struggles, the group is in the process of transitioning from a gang into a fully-fledged culture with its own art, history, and ideological goals. If the Courier decides to spare the Khans from the NCR and Caesar’s Legion,they can be prompted to establish their own civilization modeled after that of their historical namesake, Genghis Khan. This New Mongol Empire would be an incredible faction in a West-CoastFallout 5.
9The Children Of The Cathedral May Have Regrouped After the Fall Of The Unity
Cathedral’s Shadow: Did The Unity Fall Completely?
In the firstFalloutgame, the Children of the Cathedral are the public face of the Unity, a conspiracy by the Master to establish a mutant world order.Originally the personal doomsday cult of its founder, Morpheus, the group was hijacked by the Master and subsequently expanded across the Boneyard and New California.
Morpheus and the faction’s headquarters are destroyed by the Vault Dweller at the end of the 1997 game.
Despite their early dependence on Morpheus’ charismatic leadership,the cult evolved over the course of its expansion and by 2162 resembled a genuine religion.Fallout 2andNew Vegassuggest that its remaining members either fled or killed themselves following the death of the Master, but it’s conceivable that the group’s beliefs may have survived in one form or another.Fallout 5could feature the Children as an independent organization that has overcome the viciousness of its founder, and managed to establish itself as a new standardized religion for the Wasteland.
This Rare Encounter In Fallout 76 Has A Much Deeper Meaning
Fallout 76’s large open world has some hidden Easter eggs that players can stumble on, and one has a deeper meaning than players might realize.
8The Cabot Family Can Bring Back The Lovecraftian Influence
A Touch of Madness: The Cabot Family’s Enduring Influence
The Cabots are an old-money family living in Boston who, like much of the Pre-War bourgeoisie, have managed to achieve a kind of immortality. Unlike Mr. House or those frozen shareholders from theFalloutTV show, the Cabot family derive their long lifespans not from advanced technology but from a mysterious artifact that seems to predate human civilization. It’s never disclosed inFallout 4whether the object is actually magical, butits inhuman origins are a clear reference to the Weird Fiction genre and the work of H.P. Lovecraft.
Bethesda’sFalloutgames contain quite a few Easter eggs relating to Lovecraft’s stories.The entirety of thePoint LookoutDLC forFallout 3is a homage to the writer, as are the hidden eldritch forces that haunt the Dunwich Borers quarry inFallout 4. Due to their immortality and established history, the Cabots would be an excellent vessel for further Lovecraftian shenanigans inFallout 5. These supernatural elements shouldn’t overtake the setting, but they certainly make for somefun and memorable side quests.
7The Treeminders Could Mellow OutFallout 5
Going Green: Can The Treeminders Offer an Eco-Solution?
The Treeminders are a benevolent cult fromFallout 3that sprouted up around Harold, a cranky ghoul-tree hybrid and one of thegreatestFalloutcharacters ever.The hill where Harold lays down his roots develops into an ecological paradise, leading the sect to view the ghoul as a divine figure.Even ifFallout 5isn’t set on the East Coast, Harold’s influence may have spread to other territories over the course of several generations.
Harold’s mutation has the potential to change the face of the setting, since aFallout 5set far into the setting’s future could feature lush forests and strange wildlife – a glimpse at a new post-nuclear epoch for Earth.Fallout’s central theme is that of stagnation. “War never changes” is a cynical admission that humanity is trapped in a desperate cycle. The Master’s mutant plot may have differed on the surface from other ideologies, but its violent methods and beliefs were utterly regressive. Harold’s hippy commune represents a chance for genuine change, and the advent of a brighter post-human future.
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6Fallout 5 Could Benefit From The Wackiness Of The Cult Of The Mothman
Praise the Mothman! Cult Capers in Fallout 5
It’s impossible to take an organization like the Cult of the Mothman seriously.In essence, they’re a bunch of murderers who worship a quirky West Virginian cryptid. Further plot twists include the coincidental evolution of giant mutant moths, and the fact that the Cult is actually performing the bidding of a tentacled Lovecraftian creature known as “the Interloper.”
Fallout 2has been rightly criticized for introducing talking deathclaws to the setting, while the third game’s alien DLC was a similar misstep.
Fallout 76jumps the shark when it comes to its wackier factions.Fallout 2has been rightly criticized for introducing talking deathclaws to the setting, while the third game’s alien DLC was a similar misstep, but76trumps these examples by tossing both alien gods and intelligent moth-people into just one of its major questlines. The Moth cult looks great, however, andthere are enough genuinely intriguing plot elements regarding the Interloper that the faction could appear in a side quest inFallout 5.
How To Find (& Kill) Mothman In Fallout 76
Fallout 76 contains a variety of creatures that put players in harm’s way. Here’s how players can find and defeat the Mothman lurking in the shadows.
5The Sorrows Could Have Formed Their Own Nation
From Slaves to Sovereigns: The Rise of the Sorrows
One of the things that distinguishes the Black Isle and ObsidianFalloutgames from the Bethesda titles are their differing outlooks on post-nuclear society.The factions present inFallout 3,4, and76are still largely rooted in Pre-War culture.They squat in the ruins of the Old World and talk about TV shows, comics, and communist threats hundreds of years after the fact.Fallout 2andNew Vegasoffer a different approach by introducing tribes into the Wasteland.
Fallout’s tribes are patchy in their execution; at best an inventive portrayal of burgeoning societies, and at worst an insensitive and queasy attempt at comic relief. The Sorrows, thankfully, fall in the former camp. They have developed their own language and religion, and live in relative peace in the pristine setting of Zion Canyon. At the end ofNew Vegas’sHonest Hearts,the Courier can allow the tribe to keep their home and distance them from the Christianizing influence of Daniel.AFallout 5set further in the future could see the Sorrows commanding their own unique nation.
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4Acadia Could Generate A Synth Society
Synth Haven: Acadia’s Expansion Dreams
Acadia is the name given to an observatory inFar Harbor, the first major expansion forFallout 4.The building is run by DiMA, a prototype synth who escaped from the Institute and refers to himself as the “brother” of companion Nick Valentine. DiMA is attempting to establish a community for synths where they can be free from both the tyranny of the Institute and human intolerance.
Acadia is reminiscent of the Necropolis fromFallout(1997), a so-called haven for ghouls with a similarly flawed leader. Unlike Set, DiMA is no warlord, but he does stoop to violent and unethical methods in order to protect his synth community. If the Sole Survivor allows him to get away with his crimes, it’s possible thatAcadia might one day blossom into a synth society that spreads across the Wasteland and appears inFallout 5.
3The Think Tank May Still Have A Role To Play In The Wasteland
Big Brains, Big Trouble: The Think Tank’s Unfinished Business
The Think Tank is what remains of Big MT’s top scientists – floating brains in jars with television screens instead of faces. When the Courier meets the six brains in theOld World BluesDLC forNew Vegas, they are erratic, confused, and woefully unfamiliar with human biology. It’s clear from the experiments littered about the Big Empty, however, thatthe faction has lost little of its scientific brilliance, and ismore than capable of further altering the Wasteland.
Many of the Mojave Wasteland’s most unpleasant inhabitants hail from the Big Empty.The Sierra Madre’s Ghost People, the coyote-snake hybrids known as nightstalkers, and even the terrifying cazadors all originate from the Think Tank’s horrific experiments. The group’s comic personas mask a genuine threat that, if the Courier chooses to leave them unharmed, may continue to plague the Wasteland in a West-CoastFallout 5.
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2Vault City Is A Terrible, But Typical Fallout Faction
Moral Ambiguity: Vault City’s Flawed Experiment
Vault City, as it appears inFallout 2, is a so-called “utopia” created by dwellers of Vault 8 not long after the Great War.It boasts advanced Pre-War tech, and ample food and clean water for (some of) its residents. Its people pride themselves on being self-sufficient and are generally distrusting of outsiders. But, as with every supposedly utopian society in theFalloutsetting, all in Vault City is not as it seems.
The Chosen One can apply for Vault City citizenship, but is inevitably rejected for failing to match the admission test’s ludicrously high standards. It’s then revealed that those who fail the test can still live in Vault City as “servants” – slaves being a more accurate word.Vault City represents the soft-spoken, bureaucratic evil of the Pre-War period– the sort that brushed away the annexation of Canada as a diplomatic maneuver, and needless civilian deaths as collateral damage. These tactics work, however, and Vault City is an extremely successful community that could well still exist in the setting ofFallout 5.
1The Followers Of The Apocalypse Are A Beacon Of Hope
Hope Endures: The Followers of the Apocalypse Carry On
The Followers were founded and headquartered in the Boneyard, the name given to the ruins of Los Angeles in the originalFalloutgames andNew Vegas.The group is a loosely-connected, anarchic organization that seeks to bring education and humanitarian aid to the Wasteland.They are generally pacifists, will often work free of charge, and one of the best companions inNew Vegas, Arcade Gannon, is a member.
By design, the Followers work within the confines of other nations and have no real permanent territory or military power of their own.
The Followers of the Apocalypse may not be perfect, but they are one of the few factions in theFalloutuniverse that seems truly selfless. By design, the Followers work within the confines of other nations and have no real permanent territory or military power of their own. While it may seem nearsighted in a place as violent as the Wasteland,this lack of interest in governance is exactly what keeps the Followers from being stamped out, and may secure their presence inFallout5. Settlements and governments fall, but ideas persist.
Fallout
Fallout is a post-apocalyptic RPG franchise set in an alternate future where a nuclear war devastates the world. Players explore vast, open worlds filled with mutants, raiders, and advanced technology. The series emphasizes player choice, allowing various approaches to combat, dialogue, and decision-making. Each game follows different protagonists navigating the wasteland to uncover secrets, form alliances, and rebuild civilization amidst the ruins of the old world. The franchise is known for its rich lore, dark humor, and retro-futuristic aesthetic, which has transferred over into its new series on Amazon Prime.
