Church of the Children of Atom

This page is about the faction appearing in Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Far Harbor. For the location, see Children of Atom.
For the characters, see Child of Atom (Fallout 3).

Fallout 3 / Broken Steel / Fallout 4 / Far Harbor faction
Church of the Children of Atom
High Confessor Tektus in Far Harbor addressing his followers.
Society
Leaders	Confessor Cromwell Mother Maya Mother Isolde High Confessor Tektus
Members	Mother Curie III (formerly) , High Confessor Martin (exile)
Locations
HQ	Children of Atom
Locations	Megaton Crater of Atom Kingsport Lighthouse Crater house Sentinel site The Nucleus
Organizations
Related	Apostles of the Holy Light
Credits
Appearances	Fallout 3 Broken Steel Fallout 4 Far Harbor
File:Cromwell.png Confessor Cromwell preaches in front of the bomb.

 

“The members of the Church of the Children of Atom worship Megaton's atomic bomb.”— Fallout 3 loading screen

The Church of the Children of Atom is a religious faction in Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and its add-on Far Harbor.

Background

The Church of the Children of the Atom seems to have existed as far back as Megaton's construction, as Manya mentions that they were instrumental in getting the town built. The citizens of Megaton do not mind them residing there as their technologies and workforce were needed to build the city, in exchange for it being "built around the bomb."

By 2287, the church's influence has grown over into the Commonwealth, and even as far north as Maine, with Children of Atom being active on the distant island. The Children of Atom residing in the Commonwealth are also far more fanatical, with most members opting to attack the Sole Survivor on sight. However, those found in the Crater of Atom are passive during the quest The Glowing Sea.

Beliefs

“The Church of the Children of Atom believe the war of 2077 was actually a great holy event perpetuated by their god, Atom.”— Fallout 3 loading screen

The Children of Atom believe that each atom contains within it an entire universe, and when an atom is split many universes are created. Therefore, instead of seeing the Great War as destructive, the Church believes it was a creative and unifying holy event. The Children of Atom also see death more as a celebration of life and unification to Atom through "the Glow." "The Glow" is the earthly embodiment of Atom and the Children of Atom's direct connection to Atom. The Children of Atom view the ghouls as "Atom's forsaken" or those who have unfinished business and, for denying the ghouls their unification with Atom himself, Atom touches them with "the Glow" and asks that they spread the word of Atom to those around the world. Those ghouls that refuse to accept the "gift of the Glow" and refuse to spread the word of Atom are doomed to becoming feral ghouls.

Members

Fallout 3

• Confessor Cromwell leads the Church and can usually be found preaching outside in front of the bomb. Cromwell will accept donations on behalf of the Church.
• Mother Maya is a Child of Atom and wife to Confessor Cromwell.
• Some unnamed Children of Atom.

Broken Steel

• Mother Curie III, leader of the Holy Light Monastery is a former Child of Atom. Possible Ghoul.
• Atom's Champion, a neutral Feral Ghoul Reaver member.
• Brother Gerard, a church guard or possible ghoul.
• Novice, A Ghoul member.
• Sun of Atom, A neutral Glowing One member.

Fallout 4

• Mother Isolde is the leader of the Crater of Atom group, and is interacted with during the quest The Glowing Sea.
• Members of the Church, which are hostile to the Sole Survivor on sight.
• Sister Verena
• Brother Griffith
• Sister Layla
• Brother Foster
• Brother Ward
• Brother Ogden

Far Harbor

• High Confessor Tektus
• The Archemist
• Sister Mai
• Brother Kane
• Grand Zealot Richter
• Zealot Theil
• Zealot Ware
• Brother Devin
• Sister Aubert
• Sister Gwyneth

Notes

• One sign directly below the Megaton church reads 'Local Cult', which means that either they acknowledge themselves as a cult, despite the Confessor's arguments, or that they are unaware of the sign or the meaning of the word.
• Unlike the mostly peaceful Children of Atom encountered in the Capital Wasteland, members of the Commonwealth chapter will aggressively attempt to "convert" all nonbelievers by spraying them with lethal amounts of radiation, including the Sole Survivor. Their indiscriminate hostility often leads to three-way fights between the player character, the children and whatever else happened to cross their path, be it animals or members of other factions like the Gunners or the Minutemen. The only Children of Atom that can be talked to are the ones found in the Crater of Atom and Henri inside the Sentinel site, and even those boast a fairly volatile temper towards non-believers.
• True to their beliefs, church members in the Commonwealth rely almost exclusively on radiation weapons in combat, mainly the very dangerous Gamma gun and the even more devastating Nuka grenade. They also make liberal use of nuke mines to secure their strongholds, making assaulting those an even more hazardous undertaking. While the Children usually only wear rags they boast a significantly large health pool compared to similar NPC types. In addition, the amount of damage they can inflict is staggering, especially given their nearly unerring aim with their Gamma guns.
• Quite contrary to their beliefs, they keep and feed a glowing one in Kingsport lighthouse. It could be possible that they are a splinter sect, quite like the Holy Light Monastery.
• For a reason that is not yet scientifically known, many of the Children of Atom (and an unknown amount of other people, e.g. Grand Zealot Richter discovered this prior to joining the Children of Atom) are immune to the adverse effects of radiation and live freely in high-radiation zones like The Glowing Sea. This is possibly the effect of 200 years of human evolution since the bombs fell. When asked how this is possible, the Children just go on about Atom and his glory.
• Some of the Children of Atom do use anti-radiation medication, referring to the act of using it as 'scouring'. They do so either because they need it (since "Atom is picky about sharing His blessing"), or out of religious motivation as a form of penitence: 'Scour oneself and embrace the Glow anew'.
• A small group of Megaton's Atom followers were directed by Confessor Cromwell to travel north, they settled on The Island on Maine. Eventually taking up a stronghold in the old Submarine base, thus creating the Far Harbor branch of followers.
• So far the Children of Atom have been encountered only on the East coast.

Appearances

The Church of the Children of Atom appears in Fallout 3, its add-on Broken Steel, Fallout 4 and the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor.

Behind the scenes

The Children of the Atom are a reference to the film Beneath The Planet Of The Apes which included a cult that revolved around the worship of an atomic bomb. Within the Fallout series, said cult previously served as inspiration for the town of Gravestone in Fallout Tactics.

Factions in Fallout 3 Major factions Brotherhood of Steel · Enclave Secondary factions 2nd Monument Defense Detachment · Abolitionists · Brotherhood Outcasts · Chinese remnants · Church of the Children of Atom · Enclave Department of the Army · Enclave Research and Development Division · The Family · The Institute · Littlehorn & Associates · Lyons' Pride · Nuka-Cola fan club · Project Purity · Raiders · The Railroad · Regulators · Reilly's Rangers · Rivet City Council · Rivet City Security Force · Slavers · Sudden-Death Overtime · Talon Company · Treeminders · Tunnel Snakes · Vault 101 security Add-on factions Mothership Zeta Alien (Fallout 3) Broken Steel Apostles of the Eternal Light Operation: Anchorage People's Liberation Army · United States Army · United States Army Corps of Engineers The Pitt Pitt slaves · Pitt raiders Point Lookout Tribals

Factions in Fallout 4 Major factions Brotherhood of Steel · Commonwealth Minutemen · The Railroad · The Institute Secondary factions Atom Cats · Cabot family · Church of the Children of Atom · Covenant · Diamond City security · Forged · Gunners · L&L Gang · Neighborhood Watch · Pillars of the Community · Publick Occurrences · Raiders · Recon Squad Gladius · Triggermen · Salem Volunteer Militia · Synth Retention Bureau · Alien (Fallout 4) Add-on factions Automatron Rust Devils Far Harbor Harbormen · Trappers · Children of Atom · Acadia Nuka-World Hubologists · Nuka-World raiders (The Pack · Disciples · Operators)