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This page attempts to list examples of retroactive continuity (retcons) in the Fallout TV series.
Ever since the Fallout series' inception, changes to lore have been implemented with every new entry in the series, as either additions or revisions.
The wasteland consists of many, often isolated regions, and overall covers whole landmasses. Flora and fauna vary from region to region, as well as the impacts of the Great War. The grade of civilization depends on this, and cultural differences between north and south, east and west, existed already in the pre-War era. Communication nowadays often relies on folk memories, with all of their inaccuracies, personal interpretations, and recordings from the past, which have been affected by radiation and decay.
This article serves as a catalog for these changes to the lore, established with the Fallout TV series.
For more detailed information, please refer to each topic's main article.
Brotherhood of Steel[]
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As of season 2, the Brotherhood of Steel is shown to have grown into multiple different chapters in parts of New California and the American Southwest outside of Lost Hills. These include the Knights of San Fernando (evidently in San Fernando, California); the Yosemite chapter (in Yosemite, California); the Coronado chapter (Coronado, California); and the Grand Canyon chapter (Grand Canyon, Arizona). Dozens of other chapters are also said to exist in various locations, all of which have apparently drifted apart from one another but accept the dominance of the Commonwealth Brotherhood of Steel.
Additionally, the Brotherhood's ranks have changed:
- The Knights of San Fernando shown in the TV series have established a new rank of clerics, who act as the chapter's leadership. The Commonwealth Brotherhood also uses clerics, but not in a leadership role.
- The Knights of San Fernando has grouped together all of its recruits as aspirants regardless of age, where they would have been initiates or squires previously.
- The Knights of San Fernando now use "squire" as the next rank in the hierarchy for aspirants who are assigned as support units to knights, instead of as child trainees.
Enclave[]
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The events of the season 1 episode "The Target" include a flashback showing Siggi Wilzig's escape from an unnamed Enclave research colony, revealing that the Enclave remains active c. 2296 in at least one site, and is organized to the point of hosting multiple scientists, a security force, and a canine population while performing ongoing research. This contrasts with the endings of both Fallout 2 and Fallout 3, where the Enclave were shown to be thoroughly defeated, with Fallout: New Vegas suggesting that the organization's presence on the West Coast had been reduced to isolated, completely disorganized remnants.
On the other hand, Fallout 76 establishes the existence of an Appalachian Enclave that was active in the early post-War years, the status of which is unclear by later points in the timeline. But this leaves the possibility of other groups associated with them that have yet to be introduced.
Frederick Sinclair[]
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Frederick Sinclair's portrayal in the season 1 episode "The Beginning" contrasts vastly with his characterization in the Dead Money add-on for Fallout: New Vegas.
See here for more information about the contradictions between Sinclair's portrayal in Dead Money and the TV series.
Ghoul biology[]
| Retcon Type |
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See the main article for more details about ghoul biology.
In multiple episodes, ghouls are shown to require an unnamed drug within vials to keep themselves from turning feral, as seen with Roger and the Ghoul.
Promotional images implied that this drug was RadAway, but in all episodes it is shown, there are no labels to identify it. Later updates for Fallout 76 have seemingly incorporated this addition; ghoul players can use a mysterious chem called "The Fix" to stave off ferality.
Great War timing[]
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In the first episode of the series, "The End," the Great War is shown to have occurred during late morning in Los Angeles (3 hours behind EST). This seemingly contradicts the time of day the Great War is stated to have started according to multiple sources, including in Fallout 4's Switchboard terminal entries, at 9:42 am EST.
Mr. House[]
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Season 2 shows two different men identified as Robert House, with the implication the one as portrayed by Rafi Silver (including his cameo appearance in Season 1) serves as a stand-in for public facing appearances while the one as portrayed by Justin Theroux is meant to be the real Robert House. The relationship between these two characters is unknown to date.
Lucky 38[]
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Season 2 depicts the Lucky 38's tower structure with some additional floors as well as a circular building attached to the base of the tower that was not present in its previous depiction in Fallout: New Vegas.
Shady Sands[]
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Shady Sands, the capital of the New California Republic, is shown to have been either moved from the middle of New California to the Boneyard (Los Angeles) or as having always been there.
Likewise Shady Sands does not feature any of the adobe style buildings that were seen Fallout and Fallout 2, but instead seems to be built using pre-war buildings and/or pre-war style buildings.
Power armor additional features/weak point[]
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The TV series' version of T-60 power armor is capable of flight through built jets in the forearms instead of an external back jet pack as seen with T-60 power armor in previous games.
A plot point of the season 1 finale is the Ghoul revealing that the T-60 power armor possesses a critical weakness consisting of a weld vulnerability below the chest plate, allowing high-caliber/penetrating rounds to punch through and injure the wearer; he demonstrates this through massacring several Brotherhood knights during the Battle of Griffith Observatory using the vulnerability. He also implies that it existed in the predecessor T-45 model, being the cause of many soldiers' deaths during the Sino-American War, and was left in place when the T-60 model spun off from it.
Additionally, the TV series' T-60 power armor helmets have a built-in lift for removing the face plate to expose the face of the user. This feature is also retroactively given to the T-45 power armor.[1]
Another difference is that fusion cores cannot be removed without a specialized key, and that removing the core of a power armor suit that is currently worn makes the armor lock down, trapping the user inside. In past games, power armor wearers have been able to exit the armor when the core is ejected.
Novac[]
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Novac is shown to have a different layout than it did in Fallout: New Vegas, with buildings arranged in a different way, a pool, and Dinky the T-Rex facing towards the motel instead of away from it. Likewise, the surrounding area is shown to be open and flatter than it was in-game.
New Vegas Strip[]
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The New Vegas Strip is shown to have a more compact layout, with the Ultra-Luxe located directly adjacent to both the Lucky 38 and Gomorrah. There is also now a gate leading into the Strip from the exterior Mojave Wasteland, without going through Freeside. Other changes include:
- The Lucky 38 has a larger circular section behind its tower.
- Vault 21 is shown to have already been a hotel before the Great War.
References[]
- ↑ Fallout TV series, Season 2, Episode 4: "The Demon in the Snow"
