Ed (Fallout)

For other uses of the name "Ed", see Ed.

Fallout / Fallout 2 character
Ed
Ed outside Vault 13
Lore
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Vault 13
Role	Vault 13 citizen
Gameplay
Location	Vault 13 cave, near main door Reused: PMV Valdez, San Francisco Mariposa Military Base Level 3 Redding
Other
Dialogue	Special Pip-Boy message
Mentioned in	Fallout: New Vegas
Appearances	Fallout Fallout 2
Prototype ID	00000211

“You see Ed. Ed's dead.”— In-game description.

Ed is a deceased resident of Vault 13 whose skeletal remains can be found just outside of the Vault in Fallout.

Background

Formerly an inhabitant of Vault 13, sometime prior to 2161, Ed was sent out by the overseer with supplies, only to end up dying a few steps from the Vault's blast door. His body remained there, eventually decomposing to a skeleton by the time the Vault Dweller exited Vault 13 in 2161 to find a replacement water chip after the original malfunctioned.

Interactions with the player character

Interactions overview

Interactions
	This character has other interactions.	Ed's purpose is twofold: to immediately show that the outside world is dangerous, and to tell the Vault Dweller that they weren't the first person to leave the vault.

Inventory

Apparel	Weapon	Other items
Vault 13 jumpsuit	Knife	10mm AP x24

Appearances

Ed's corpse appears only in Fallout. The sprite is reused several times in Fallout 2 and is mentioned in the Fallout Bible and indirectly mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

• In Fallout, the appearance of Ed's corpse outside of Vault 13, according to Chris Taylor, was intended to serve as both a sign that the wasteland was dangerous and a suggestion that the player character was not the first to be sent outside the Vault.

“Zed's Dead, baby, Zed's dead. From Pulp Fiction. That's part of the reference. Ed was twofold: to immediately show the player that the outside world was dangerous, and to tell the player that he wasn't the first choice of someone to send out. Ed was sent out before the waterchip malfunction, however, since he's just bones.”— Chris Taylor, Fallout Bible 6

• The jumpsuit-wearing skeleton sprite was reused in other areas of Fallout to represent a generic dead Vault dweller: one is found in a cell in the Mariposa Military Base, adjacent to Sarah and her mutant lover, Flip, carrying a 10mm pistol and three stimpaks. It also appears several times in Fallout 2, such as in the lower parts of the tanker, in the Den West Side buried under debris next to the Brotherhood outpost, and in Redding under a pile of rocks near the working elevator that leads to the Great Wanamingo Mine's tunnels.
• The message that appears when interacting with the late Ed's skeleton references a line from the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction, spoken by Bruce Willis' character, Butch ("Zed's dead").

Gallery

Mariposa Military Base Level 3 prison

Den Brotherhood outpost

Great Wanamingo Mine

In the PMV Valdez

References

Non-game

Vault 13 Characters Cindy · Ed · Lisa · Lyle · Mary · Medic · Vault 13 overseer · Pat  · Sandy · Stacy · Susan · Theresa · Water thief · Vault Dweller · Water guard · Officer (Vault 13) · Upset vault dweller · Vault 13 citizen Quests Calm rebel faction · Destroy the Mutant leader · Destroy the source of the Mutants · Find the Water Chip · Find the Water Thief · Obtain more equipment · Research important information · Unlock the Armory