Official Canon V. Your Personal Fanon

[The Dutch Ghost]

This! I am sure most here will agree with your assessment.

heh, but I have pretty much the same list and you don't praise me

 

[Throatpunch]

... So if you don't care why'd the fuck you ask for clarification?

Yeah great fucking clarification, you just said that shit contradicts other stuff without giving examples.

 

[Izak]

Yeah great fucking clarification, you just said that shit contradicts other stuff without giving examples.

PoS and Tactics (these two Bethesda decanonised, by the way) both claim the Brotherhood originated from a vault when in Fallout 1 we're told they originated from Mariposa.
Fallout 3 and 4 both make a whole lot of small mistakes.
There are more incidences of this, but you'd have to ask someone with more knowledge in the series for a list of them.

 

[Black Angel]

Canon = 1, 2, a lil bit mix of Van Buren and New Vegas (to be elaborated further down the line as we work on dem NMA's Fallout PnP and as the fanmade Van Buren finally finished), bits of Fallout Bible and Cut Content.

Semi-Canon = 3 and Tactics.

Non-Canon = 4, Shelter, POS.

Yeah great fucking clarification, you just said that shit contradicts other stuff without giving examples.

Did you just asked NMA to give example as to why shit contradicts other stuff in Fallout 3 and 4?

I won't be bringing 1, 2, NV in for this topic, but Fallout 4 fucking contradict Fallout 3. Hint: The Replicated Man quest of Fallout 3. It's one of, if not THE only, better quests in Fallout 3, yet things we get to see in Fallout 4 just seemed to completely disregard whatever the fuck we did back in Fallout 3. I understand you see 3 and 4 in the way that they have no impact towards post-apocalyptic America as a whole, but it's like Fallout 3 and 4 took place in completely different place between each other, it's so fucking dumb.

And then there's the issue of which one won Anchorage: is it T-51b Power Armor? Is it T-60? Or Liberty Prime? Even for its' own lore, Bethesda doesn't seem to fucking care, so for you to see them both as canon is baffling.

 

[Throatpunch]

The Replicated Man quest of Fallout 3. It's one of, if not THE only, better quests in Fallout 3, yet things we get to see in Fallout 4 just seemed to completely disregard whatever the fuck we did back in Fallout 3.

I cant see how F4 contradicts the replicated man

And then there's the issue of which one won Anchorage: is it T-51b Power Armor? Is it T-60? Or Liberty Prime? Even for its' own lore, Bethesda doesn't seem to fucking care, so for you to see them both as canon is baffling.

You know these holes you are picking are silly. Stop being so pedantic.Was it T60 or T51? Fucking massive problems.

 

[Black Angel]

I cant see how F4 contradicts the replicated man

Harkness is the prototype for Gen 3 Synth, and if Zimmer didn't get to recover him, the Institute would be set back years, as Zimmer himself admitted. But by the time of Fallout 4, we get to see Gen 3 Synths all over the place, right? So supposedly we revealed Harkness to Zimmer, but where the fuck is he? Zimmer was only mentioned in FO4, but where are the stuff that happened back in FO3? Where is Harkness, or any mention or him, or whatever as a proof that the Lone Wanderer did what's necessary for the Institute to make Gen 3 Synths like they were so easy to make, they were all over the Commonwealth?

 

[Izak]

I thought Zimmer said it would set them back significantly, that doesn't necessarily mean they can't make more Gen-3s, it'd just take time.

 

[Black Angel]

But Zimmer confirmed that A3-21 is irreplaceable. I mean, okay, 10 years might be enough, but the amount of Gen 3 Synths to be found as of Fallout 4 kind of suggested the events of The Replicated Man never happened, especially since Zimmer was only mentioned.

I'll admit that I don't know much, since I haven't played Fallout 4. But this topic was discussed before (by Ragemage, I think, where he was pissed at Fallout 4 for making the events of Fallout 3 seemed like it never happened).

 

[CerberusGate]

But Zimmer confirmed that A3-21 is irreplaceable. I mean, okay, 10 years might be enough, but the amount of Gen 3 Synths to be found as of Fallout 4 kind of suggested the events of The Replicated Man never happened, especially since Zimmer was only mentioned.

I'll admit that I don't know much, since I haven't played Fallout 4. But this topic was discussed before (by Ragemage, I think, where he was pissed at Fallout 4 for making the events of Fallout 3 seemed like it never happened).

According to Fallout wiki (not sure if completely accurate: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Zimmer), Zimmer never made it back from his trip to the Capital Wasteland. So, it is possible that The Replicated Man simply did not happen or was irrelevant to the grand scheme of things. Then again, seems that only a few things in 3 are relevant to 4 like the East Coast BoS getting new tech to play with and a conspicuously missing Lone Wanderer.

 

[Brivoo]

I can't believe Fallout Shelter is even an option, but I suppose it's good to have it for the sake of comprehensiveness.

Either way, I consider:

-Fallout to be 100% canon
-Fallout 2 to be mostly canon with some semi-canon aspects (the ghosts could've been a hallucination, for example)
-Fallout: Tactics to be semi-canon with explanations as to the contradictions similar to 2; I also consider the ending where Barnaky is put in the Calculator to be canon for my own purposes and the ending where the Calculator is destroyed for all other occasions;
-Fallout: BoS to be non-canon with aspects that could be repurposed for other works
-Fallout 3 to be semi-canon as to most aspects of the DC wasteland prior to the Lone Wanderer's emergence from Vault 101
-Fallout 4 to be almost entirely non-canon
-Fallout Shelter to be 100% non-canon (obviously)
-Van Bauren and the Fallout Bible to be canon unless stated otherwise; some aspects like the Cyphers have already been mentioned in-game, so I'm sure this is a perfectly fine position to take.
-I don't consider cut content from the games to be canon but stuff like cancelled games have the same rules as above (i.e. Tactics 2)

You know these holes you are picking are silly. Stop being so pedantic.Was it T60 or T51? Fucking massive problems.

Fallout 3 tells us that not only you're not meant to be able to take your Pip-Boy off but that it also connects to your nervous system; Fallout 4 forgets that and decides that it's basically a smartwatch.

Fallout 3 tells us that Liberty Prime wasn't at Anchorage because he wasn't finished yet, but Fallout 4 denies that.

Fallout 3 confirms once again the notion that ghouls can't survive on radiation alone, but Fallout 4 contradicts it by giving us the Kid in the Fridge.

Fallout 3 also confirms once again that robots don't actually have personality or sentience, but Fallout 4's robots not only actively feel affection for you but they also have a drive for creativity and can their AI can be transplanted into what is essentially a human body with no repercussions, strengthening the notion that they are self-aware (which also renders the entire Synth thing pointless).

Those are only a few tidbits that Fallout 4 contradicts in its own predecessor among dozens of others. One or two would, of course, not matter much (New Vegas also pulls off the Pip-Boy stunt after all) but it's the sheer numbers of them that give the impression that Bethesda just doesn't care.

Even Fallout 4 defies its own canon by having Glory (a synth) and that other one you have to escort to the safehouse remember the Institute when it has been established that all of them have a safety switch blocking said memories.

 

[CerberusGate]

(New Vegas also pulls off the Pip-Boy stunt after all).

Perhaps it was Obsidian that wanted to render Pip-Boy nervous system attachments from 3 to be rendered non-canon so Obsidian ditched it and Bethesda simply followed the leader.

 

[Millim]

Fallout 3 tells us that not only you're not meant to be able to take your Pip-Boy off but that it also connects to your nervous system; Fallout 4 forgets that and decides that it's basically a smartwatch.



Those are only a few tidbits that Fallout 4 contradicts in its own predecessor among dozens of others. One or two would, of course, not matter much (New Vegas also pulls off the Pip-Boy stunt after all) but it's the sheer numbers of them that give the impression that Bethesda just doesn't care.

Even Fallout 4 defies its own canon by having Glory (a synth) and that other one you have to escort to the safehouse remember the Institute when it has been established that all of them have a safety switch blocking said memories.

Yeah, the New Vegas one was kind of confuing, my guess is that while in Vault 101, the people who gave you the Pip-Boy worked on it, but could only get it to work by connecting it to the nervous system (there's a few ideas that could bypass this contridiction).

And I'm suprised that Bethesda got their canon so badly wrong. You're right, they don't care, and they don't even have an answer.
I'm actually kind of angry that the games media don't pull them up on this fact.

 

[SpecialHands]

I haven't played Fallout 4.

Are you kidding me? You're one of the people I've seen so staunchly deride every aspect of the game but you've not played it? Was this a typo? I don't really understand.

 

[Brivoo]

Perhaps it was Obsidian that wanted to render Pip-Boy nervous system attachments from 3 to be rendered non-canon so Obsidian ditched it and Bethesda simply followed the leader.

It is entirely possible they didn't even realize it was meant to be permanently attached; after all, you only find out through the one dialogue option when the Overseer gives you it in Vault 101. I don't blame anyone for this one; Bethesda didn't really need to drive the point home since it isn't vital or even tangentially relevant to the story and even Obsidian can slip up at times.

I'd also be interested in analyzing the logistics of having something permanently attached to your arm when you're a child. Does it grow with you? Is the screen comically oversized and you have to grow into it? Are parts of it replaced as you grow?

As for the neural interface thing, the reason why the Outcasts need you specifically for the Anchorage simulation is because it needs a neural interface device to connect to, e.g. your Pip-Boy. I was rather impressed when Bethesda dedicated a room and a holotape to explaining that the Outcasts had actually been actively hunting Pip-Boy wearers and sending out a radio transmission was their last result. I miss those days.

 

[CerberusGate]

It is entirely possible they didn't even realize it was meant to be permanently attached; after all, you only find out through the one dialogue option when the Overseer gives you it in Vault 101. I don't blame anyone for this one; Bethesda didn't really need to drive the point home since it isn't vital or even tangentially relevant to the story and even Obsidian can slip up at times.

I'd also be interested in analyzing the logistics of having something permanently attached to your arm when you're a child. Does it grow with you? Is the screen comically oversized and you have to grow into it? Are parts of it replaced as you grow?

As for the neural interface thing, the reason why the Outcasts need you specifically for the Anchorage simulation is because it needs a neural interface device to connect to, e.g. your Pip-Boy. I was rather impressed when Bethesda dedicated a room and a holotape to explaining that the Outcasts had actually been actively hunting Pip-Boy wearers and sending out a radio transmission was their last result. I miss those days.

The logistics aspect of having a Pip-Boy 3000 grafted to your arm would be something interesting to look into. Perhaps Fallout 3 should have explored this in the tutorial segments like a conversation with the guy who gives you the Pip-Boy where he mentions needing to replace your Pip-Boy parts since you are growing up and all. Obviously current Bethesda would not be interested in looking into this but it does get you thinking.

 

[5545Trey]

Fallout - Obviously canon.

Fallout 2 - As canon as the first game.

Fallout Tactics - Semi-canon.

Fallout: PoS - Bares little to no resemblance to Fallout; non-canon.

Fallout 3 - The only thing I can accept as canon from this game is Operation Anchorage, because it was the only time I was able to see the Great War in-game.

Fallout: New Vegas - The only Fallout game which stays true to the first two games, and actually considers them canon, so New Vegas is just as canon as they are.

 

[Black Angel]

You know these holes you are picking are silly. Stop being so pedantic.Was it T60 or T51? Fucking massive problems.

Yep, fucking massive problem. Not only Bethesda can't respect the lore established by the originals, they can't even respect their own established ones. This is why it baffles me why would you see FO4 as full-canon, when they can't even decided which is canon or not. FO3, I can respect that, but you gotta think about making FO4 canon because it shits on the canon status of FO3, too, so it kind of conflicting if you DO try to discuss FO3 and FO4 side-by-side.

But I digress, you've stated that you don't care, and I should really not bug you about it any further.

Are you kidding me? You're one of the people I've seen so staunchly deride every aspect of the game but you've not played it? Was this a typo? I don't really understand.

Yep, haven't played it. Have seen enough on the internet to decide it wasn't worth my money and time (except maybe as I occasionally participate in some discussion).

 

[Izak]

Are you kidding me? You're one of the people I've seen so staunchly deride every aspect of the game but you've not played it? Was this a typo? I don't really understand.

Several members here haven't played the game but still spew vitriol. I'm not speaking for them, but I imagine they didn't buy the game because they expected it to be another Fallout 3, only to later hear testimony from their friends about how mediocre the writing was and how most, if not all quests boil down to: Kill, Loot, Return.
You have to understand that most users here think of Fallout as an isometric role-playing game, I think it's understandable that they would be pissed off about Nu-Fallout throwing away the isometric and role-playing aspects, even if they haven't necessarily played it.

 

[Brivoo]

Are you kidding me? You're one of the people I've seen so staunchly deride every aspect of the game but you've not played it? Was this a typo? I don't really understand.

I think criticizing lore-breaking is fair enough even if you haven't played it; criticizing gameplay just rings of hypocrisy if you haven't experienced it, though.

If you haven't played the game and you have qualms about its gameplay, it's probably best to preface your statement with it.

 

[Big No]

Fallout 1, 2, & NV fully canon for me. Cut content's canonicity varies to me. It just depends on what the content is.

Tactics, 3 & 4 would be mostly canon since I'm good at coming up with excuses for lore issues. Things like Enclave being on the East coast is definitely unlikely, but not impossible. Things like Pre-war Jet are hard things to excuse so I'd consider things that cannot be explained away to be non-canon.

BoS and Shelter would be fully non-canon since the former is garbage with no redeeming qualities and the latter is just a silly phone game which I wouldn't take seriously.


On the discussion of the Pip-Boy being fused to the wearer's arm, I just presumed the vault residents were just bullshitting the LW since it only comes up once and only when the LW actively wants to take it off. Not sure about the Outcasts and the Gary though.