Fallout 4/Characters/Factions: Difference between revisions

 

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[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 {{spoiler|all the while ''defying'' its intended experiment}}.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Not only are they relatively accepting ([[Properly Paranoid|if rationally cautious]]) of outsiders - they openly trade with the Bunker Hill Caravans - they're not [[Too Dumb to Live|dumb enough]] to just leave their front door open like [[Fallout: New Vegas|Vault 3 in the Mojave Wasteland]] was.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]

* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: Like other Vaults, they used to be this.

* [[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.

* [[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 [[Honor Harrington|the planet Grayson and the Star Kingdom of Manticore]].

* [[Town with a Dark Secret]]: A relatively benevolent example.

 

=== Diamond City ===

* [[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.

* [[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).

* [[Urban Segregation]]: The powerful and well-to-do of Diamond City reside in the upper stands.

 

** 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.

* [[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.

 

 

* [[Boom Town]]: According to Nick Valentine, Diamond City should be concerned about competition from Bunker Hill since they're growing incredibly fast.

* [[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.

* [[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]]: {{spoiler|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 ===

[[File:Covenant-987.jpg|thumb|'''Past The Test To Stay S.A.F.E.''']]

 

* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]]: The settlement in general.

* [[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, {{spoiler|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]]: {{spoiler|Against Synths, although they arguably dwarf even the ''Brotherhood of Steel'' in their hatred}}.

* [[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.

* [[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 [[The Ageless|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]].

* [[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 [[Crapsack World|Wasteland]], and don't want to get anyone's (potentially lethal) attention.

* [[Immortality Begins At Twenty|Immortality Begins At Twenty]]: Well, kinda.

* [[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 {{spoiler|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.

* [[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 [[Fallout 3|Toshiro Kago]], and that's just from a ''chronological'' perspective since he was [[Human Popsicle|kept frozen by aliens]] from the 1600s until 2277.

* [[Shout-Out]]: A '''very''' subtle case. {{spoiler|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}}.

 

=== The Rust Devils ===