William Shakespeare

Mentioned-only character
William Shakespeare
Vault Boy as Shakespeare
Lore
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Role	Playwright Poet
Mentioned in	Fallout 4

William Shakespeare, popularly referred to as The Bard, was a playwright and poet. He was arguably, and likely still remains, the most influential writer in the English language with his spellings being some of the first to be standardized. Many phrases and other sayings from his plays have also found their way into everyday speech and can still be heard commonly after the Great War.

Shakespeare in the Fallout series

• Several characters in the Fallout series share their names with other characters from Shakespeare's works, including Desdemona (Othello), as well as R. Rosen and Gilden (Hamlet; references to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern).
• Mister Handies throughout the series will say "have at thee," a phrase coined by Shakespeare.
• Phrases first coined by Shakespeare are said by many characters, including: "break the ice," "what's done is done," "mind's eye," "pound of flesh," "bated breath," "eat someone out of house and home," "laughing stock," "mortal coil," "wild-goose chase," and "piece of work."
• One of Dane's ramblings, demanding that he be brought a horse, is actually a reference to Shakespeare's Richard III; specifically, the famous line "My kingdom for a horse!"
• Arcade Gannon paraphrases a line from The Merchant of Venice. The line "Caesar can cite Cato to suit his purposes" is a paraphrase of the quote "The devil can cite scripture for his purpose" from Act 1, Scene 3 of The Merchant of Venice.
• Dean Domino will try to paraphrase a line from Hamlet when talking about the ghost people before giving up.
• Doctor Mobius misquotes the line "Et tu, Brute?" from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in one of his broadcasts to the Crater, instead saying "Et tu, Brutus?"
  • Arcade Gannon also references the same line when alluding to the death of the historical Gaius Julius Caesar and the possibility of "recreating" it with Edward Sallow.
• Nick Valentine quotes Shakespeare several times:
  • Nick says "Welcome to the Brave New World... with such people in it," a reference to the quote "O' Brave New World, with such people in it" from Act 5, Scene 1 of The Tempest.
  • He also invokes Hamlet by saying "Clothes make the man," a reference to the quote "The apparel oft proclaims the man" from Act 1, Scene 3 of Hamlet.
  • Another Hamlet quote appears if the Sole Survivor kills Skinny Malone during Unlikely Valentine, when Nick says "Good night, sweet prince. Here's to all the old days," a reference to the final scene of the play.
• Radio play actor Rex Goodman was imprisoned by super mutants in 2287 when he attempted to civilize them by reading from Shakespeare's works; Rex mentions the author by name. One of these super mutants, Strong, now seeks out the "milk of human kindness," a quote from Macbeth (known as "Mack Beth" to Strong) which he believes is an actual item that is also the "secret to humans." While descending Trinity Tower, Rex also quotes a number of Shakespeare's plays:
  • "Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow." comes from Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet.
  • "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." comes from Act 1, Scene 4 of Measure for Measure.
  • "So wise so young, they say do never live long." comes from Act 3, Scene 1 of Richard III.
  • "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." comes from Act 1, Scene 2 of The Tempest.
  • "Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course." comes from Act 3, Scene 1 of Henry VI, Part 3.
  • "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." comes from Act 2, Scene 2 of Julius Caesar.
  • "I go, and it is done; the bell invites me." comes from Act 2, Scene 1 of Macbeth.
  • "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is here no more." comes from Act 5, Scene 5 of Macbeth.
• An excerpt from Macbeth can be acquired in-game as a paper note in Fallout 4.
• Neighborhood Watch members reference Shakespeare as "the Bard" in idle dialogue after completing Curtain Call.
• The Hubris Comics terminal entries in Fallout 4 directly reference Shakespeare himself, with Aaron Babowski stating "We're not writing Shakespeare here. It's TV, right?"
• One of Deacon's combat taunts directly mentions Shakespeare, using his name as an adjective.
• The icon for the Roleplay public team type in Fallout 76 features Vault Boy dressed as Shakespeare.
• In October 2077, the drama department of Watoga High School was holding auditions for a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, coordinated by Mr. Miller.
• In the note Tonight's entertainment, found in the Sanctum in the Pitt, a member of the Fanatics named Rosco is scheduled to perform a one-man reimagining of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
• One of the Smiling Man cryptid's idle lines is "Ah, but this is wondrous strange." This is a quote from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, act 1 scene 5, in which the eponymous main character says, "O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!"
• In the episode "The Head," Davey from Vault 33 offers to teach the captured prisoners from Lee Moldaver's raiders about Shakespeare and Marlowe. Marianne replies by saying that Shakespeare may be too advanced for them.
• The item description for the republic robes in Fallout Shelter references the quote "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears," from Act 3, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
• Dialogue from Vault dwellers and other characters in Fallout Shelter quote Shakespeare, including "Once more unto the breach, dear friends," and "have at thee."

Appearances

William Shakespeare is mentioned by name only in Fallout 4 and the Fallout TV series episode "The Head," though references to him and his works also exist in Fallout, Fallout: New Vegas and its add-on Old World Blues, Fallout 76 and Fallout Shelter.

Behind the scenes

• The name of the Old World Blues quest What's in a Name? is a reference to a line in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
• Both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 feature a facial hair option named "The Bard," in reference to Shakespeare's iconic goatee.
• The Wastelanders quest All That Glitters is derived from the common expression "All that glitters is not gold" which in turn comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
• The name of the Creation Club quest Method to the Madness is a reference to a common saying that originated from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
• Romero and Julianna, characters cut from Fallout, would have been involved in a quest that heavily referenced Romeo and Juliet.
• The Bloomfield Space Center design document for Van Buren describes Kyle "The Hook" as having "the eloquence of a junior-high drama student pretending to know and quote the great works of Shakespeare."

Gallery

Magic: The Gathering featuring Strong in a makeshift rendition of Hamlet