Let's talk about Albert Cole

[Atomic Postman]

Is he the canonical Vault Dweller? What do you think?

There's a lot of evidence pointing towards it but something about Albert Cole rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's his character icon, he does look like a bit of a slimeball.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think so. Not just because of the concrete evidence (i.e. the Vault Dweller memoirs), but because his character build is representative of the Fallout roleplaying experience: a game where it is possible to create a diplomatic character who solves conflict primarily through negotiation, rather than violence; where even the "final boss" can be outwitted, rather than out-gunned. Albert Cole embodies everything that was great about Fallout 1 and 2, and everything that is lacking in Fallout 4. All of us here at NMA should consider him our homeboy.

[In fact, I would go so far as to say that for me, in order to be considered a legitimate Fallout, a game has to pass the "Albert Cole Test". For any game, ask yourself (1) Is an Albert Cole build possible? (2) Is it viable (and is it fun)? If the answer to either of these questions is "no", it ain't a real Fallout].

I agree with you that there is something kind of slimey about him; that smirk in his character picture seems to imply he can be a bit of an asshole. He's described as being the equivalent of a lawyer, a profession that is, rightly or wrongly, associated with a fair amount of sleaze. But I'd argue that, too is part of the Fallout legacy: the ability to roleplay as a sleazy asshole. And if you read the Vault Dweller's memoirs, it's clear that he got up to some shady business with the Underground in the Hub; that to me also seems to be in keeping with Albert's persona.

 

[Atomkilla]

He's the definition of the alpha male.



...



I like to think that he was kind of a smug, suave bastard while in V13, but wastes turned him into something more (look at my avatar for reference).

 

[Dr Fallout]

Disliked him, loved what he stood for.

I petition the Albert Cole test.

 

[Atomic Postman]

Yes, the Albert Cole test does sound like a good idea, and I also get your point. Still, Albert Cole doesn't seem like the heroic type, and we know for a fact that the Vault Dweller assisted Shady Sands really early on, what with the Radscorpion killing and then saving Tandi from the Khans right after visiting Vault 15.

I suppose that's the point though, all we know about the Vault 13 heroes is their legacy. They could be a character of your own making that fits the mould outlined in the Vault Dweller's Memoirs, and they'd be entirely canon. You could choose to believe that the Vault Dweller was Albert Cole and the Chosen One was Narg, but it's up to you.

Personally, I don't think Albert Cole was the Vault Dweller. I might play him as a challenge run one of these days though.

 

[Dr Fallout]

Yes, the Albert Cole test does sound like a good idea, and I also get your point. Still, Albert Cole doesn't seem like the heroic type, and we know for a fact that the Vault Dweller assisted Shady Sands really early on, what with the Radscorpion killing and then saving Tandi from the Khans right after visiting Vault 15.

I suppose that's the point though, all we know about the Vault 13 heroes is their legacy. They could be a character of your own making that fits the mould outlined in the Vault Dweller's Memoirs, and they'd be entirely canon. You could choose to believe that the Vault Dweller was Albert Cole and the Chosen One was Narg, but it's up to you.

Personally, I don't think Albert Cole was the Vault Dweller. I might play him as a challenge run one of these days though.

I think that the Vault Dweller was a male... but what he did is what you decide.

 

[Atomic Postman]

Well, technically not since the Vault Dweller's Memoirs are canon.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Yes, the Albert Cole test does sound like a good idea, and I also get your point. Still, Albert Cole doesn't seem like the heroic type, and we know for a fact that the Vault Dweller assisted Shady Sands really early on, what with the Radscorpion killing and then saving Tandi from the Khans right after visiting Vault 15.

He could have done that for any number of reasons, though - I'm guessing he wanted to bed Tandi, so he talked the Raiders into letting her go. Maybe he took on the Radscorpions because he was a cocky bastard and wanted a thrill, and maybe he was smart enough to just use explosives to seal off the caves, rather than trying to face them directly.

When it came to write his memoirs, Albert, being a skilled wordsmith, could easily make it seem like he did everything for noble, heroic reasons; embellishing a little here and there and leaving out the less savory aspects of his journey through the wastes.

The other part of the Vault 13 hero(es) being legendary is that their motives are lost in time - their descendants of course will imagine them as idealist and pure hearted, but reality was likely something very different. We see this all the time with real historical figures - think of George Washington.

 

[ElderMaxson]

Disliked him, loved what he stood for.

I petition the Albert Cole test.

I'll attempt an Albert Cole playthrough with Fallout 4. I think it may be possible with companions, as a technical pacifist. I might fail to report back on the results, though. I'm forgetful like that.

 

[Dr Fallout]

Disliked him, loved what he stood for.

I petition the Albert Cole test.

I'll attempt an Albert Cole playthrough with Fallout 4. I think it may be possible with companions, as a technical pacifist. I might fail to report back on the results, though. I'm forgetful like that.

Oh it's possible, I tried it. In Fallout 1 it's easy to thrive. In Fallout 2? It's possible but fuck random ecounters.

 

[The-Artist-64]

I always play as Albert, every time. In fact, I named some of my other protagonists 'Albert' just for the heck of it.

I've always thought that it's pretty obvious that Albert is the canonical vault dweller. I love the idea that he started out as a peaceful negotiater, but the wasteland changed him into a gun-toting justice bringer. It's a pity, though, that the memoirs say he took out the Cathedral first. I played it like a movie- first, he went for the source of the mutants, then to their base to take out their master.

 

[Atomkilla]

I always though that taking the Cathedral out first is the intended route, since, AFAIK Master doesn't really comment anything if you destroy Mutant base first. Then again, I could be wrong and he does, it's been a loooong time since I've played the game...or Master simply isn't omniscient, though I imagine such big piece of information would reach him soon.

 

[Nightstalker]

Albert Cole... I really think he's the original Vault Dweller. So, we know by its memoirs that the Vault Dweller is a male. We have a 50% on Albert and a 50% on Max. Max was that big strong man. Albert, a clever and charismatic son of a bitch. So he went into the wasteland, and for all that he did out there, he was forever changed. In its memoirs is said that "he has changed, the Overseer knew it, and i knew it too". So, who would experiment a greater change, the fighting man or the talker man? He destroyed Mariposa, the Master, saw Ian dying in front of his eyes, visited places like the Glow... In POS, it is said that the Vault Dweller was 27 when he started its quest (POS is not canon, i know, but is a pretty interesting reference, don't you think?).

Also, look at its memoirs. They were written by a man who is smart, not stupid. In the character selection, Max was presented as the big but idiot guy. The Vault Dweller memoirs has pretty interesting writing, so as "even the years couldn't erase the smell of human flesh burning". I don't think a man like Max is able to write something like that. Albert, who was the charism guy, and clever male option, could.

It's a mistery who the Vault Dweller really is. I hope it would be revealed some day.

 

[Millim]

Eh, I never took the memoirs into consideration when playing F2

 

[CerberusGate]

It's a mistery who the Vault Dweller really is. I hope it would be revealed some day.

Technically, the official pic used for the Vault Dweller does resemble Albert Cole greatly.

I consider Cole to be the Vault Dweller, mostly because his playstyle resembles the playstyles I use for most RPGs: A diplomatic talker that can scrap through a fight when needed while having the right kind of smarts to get by.

 

[Nightstalker]

Technically, the official pic used for the Vault Dweller does resemble Albert Cole greatly.

Its because of that i have this avatar.

The Vault Dweller is the one who is maybe closer to be known his appearence. As i said, the Vault Dweller was not idiot and he, in his memoirs, looked like a very carismatic guy, changed by the horrors of the wasteland.

You look at this motherfucker. Deserves being him.