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That highway is totally wrecked.— Billy Peabody

Billy Peabody is a ghoul child living in the Commonwealth in 2287.

Background[]

Billy lived with his parents, Carol and Matt Peabody, in Quincy before the Great War.[1] When the war struck, Billy was away from his home. He heard the warning sirens and when the nuclear impacts started, he opted to close himself in a nearby fridge to hide from the bombs. He survived, but he became trapped because the fridge's locking mechanism did not have an interior handle.[2] The fridge in which Billy has been trapped for two hundred and ten years is found near a bombed-out house along the road between Neponset Park and University Point.

Before the war, Billy used to collect baseball cards.[3] He also likes dogs, and will comment happily if Dogmeat is a companion of the Sole Survivor.[4] He will also mention his pre-War friend Cindy, who lived near him in Quincy.[5]

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

Interactions
Perk nociception regulator color
This character is essential. Essential characters cannot be killed.
Icon quest starter
This character starts quests.

Kid in a Fridge

Quests[]

Kid in a Fridge: The Sole Survivor can free Billy and help him return home to his ghoul parents, who have not known of his survival for 210 years. During the journey, the Sole Survivor will be approached by a slave dealer named Bullet, where they will be given the option to sell Billy into slavery.

Inventory[]

Apparel Weapon Other items
Street urchin rags

Notes[]

  • Billy has a different reaction depending on whether he is released from the fridge during daytime or nighttime.
  • Billy creates a currently unexplained inconsistency in the Fallout world by showing that ghouls may be able to survive without food, water or air. Bullet, to whom Billy can be sold, remarks that ghouls do not need to eat and are immune to aging.[6] Billy survived locked in a fridge for 210 years with presumably only what was left in the fridge, similar to how some feral ghouls are locked away for years and how Coffin Willie was buried alive for months. This suggests an ability to survive on radiation alone or the ability to enter a state of hibernation, as demonstrated by feral ghouls. In contrast, Harland in Fallout: New Vegas explains that he had to eat radroaches and drink pipe condensation to survive, and within Fallout, the entire city of Necropolis will die out if the Vault Dweller takes their water purifier's control chip. This is not even consistent with Fallout 4 since Kent Connolly needs sustenance to survive, which is mentioned in Irma's terminal.
    • In fact, this also contradicts the settlement system in Fallout 4 itself; in the settlement system, generic settlers have a chance of spawning as ghouls, who will require food and water just like regular humans.
    • In the same vein, the quest Duty or Dishonor shows that even feral ghouls require food, as Initiate Clarke steals supplies to feed a pack of feral ghouls within the Boston Airport ruins because he believes it is immoral to just kill them, as well as to prevent them from getting hungry and attacking Brotherhood of Steel personnel.
    • While ghoulification is known to halt the aging process in adults, Billy's existence asserts that it prevents all aging in humans, as Billy has remained a child for 210 years with apparently no further growth since its onset.
    • Despite being locked in a dark and very confined space for a considerable time, Billy is able to see without hindrance and can perform motor functions just fine.
    • He is also perfectly sane, though it is known that people can be driven insane if they are forced to spend just days alone in cold, cramped and confined spaces, including a refrigerator.
  • If the Sole Survivor gets into a fight with hostile enemies and Billy is near, he will crouch in cover and stay away until there are no more enemies that detect the player character.
  • The robots at Easy City Downs will try to attack Billy even when their combat inhibitors have been disabled and targeting parameters overridden. If the Sole Survivor leaves the location, eventually Billy will rejoin them.
  • Although Billy has no hair, he has been allocated a hair color of light red in the Creation Kit.
  • If the Sole Survivor has Cait as their companion, and offers to escort Billy home, she will complain about having to watch over him.[7]
  • Billy is one of the few ghouls who has human-looking eyes.

Notable quotes[]

Appearances[]

Billy Peabody appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes[]

Billy is voiced by one of lead designer Emil Pagliarulo's children in an uncredited role.[Non-game 1] Each of Pagliarulo's four children voiced a different character in Fallout 4.[Non-game 2]

References[]

  1. The Sole Survivor: "Where did you live?"
    Billy: "Quincy. But I don't know how to get there. Everything's so different. It's all blown up. I just wanna find out what happened to my Mom and Dad."
    (Billy's dialogue)
  2. The Sole Survivor: "So what's the story with you and that fridge?"
    Billy: "It happened so long ago. Back before everything got wrecked. When I heard the sirens, I tried to find someplace safe. When everything started to shake and fall apart, I just crawled inside. When it got quiet again, I tried to get out, but there isn't a handle on the inside. I just want to go home. Can you help me? Please?"
    (Billy's dialogue)
  3. The Sole Survivor: "I suppose it won't hurt to see your old home. Whatever's left of it."
    Billy: "I hope it's still there. I had some great baseball cards."
    (Billy's dialogue)
  4. Billy: "Hey, you have a dog. I like dogs."
    (Billy's dialogue)
  5. Billy: "I guess Cindy is probably dead too. She lived on my block. She was a year older than me."
    (Billy's dialogue)
  6. Bullet: "Ghouls are immune to radiation, don't age, and don't need to eat."
    (Bullet's dialogue)
  7. The Sole Survivor: "Then let's go find your home."
    Cait: "Great, now we have to watch this little brat?"
    (Cait's dialogue)

Non-game

  1. Bethesda_DE: Interview with Jeff Gardiner and Emil Pagliarulo at Gamescom 2020 (reference starts at 00:47:53):
    Emil Pagliarulo: "The Kid in the Fridge, that's Fallout 4."
    Alina Ullrich: "Yeah, yeah, I love that one."
    Emil Pagliarulo: "Speaking of easter eggs, that's my son doing the voice of that kid."
  2. Emil Pagliarulo on Twitter: "I'm getting a kick out of these little trivia breaks! Here's another. In Fallout 4, each of my 4 kids voices a character - the student announcer in DB Tech, Sheng Kowalski in Diamond City, Piper's little sister Nat, and Billy, the ghoul 'Kid in the Fridge.'"
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