The Fallout fanbase can’t work out if it’s better to know who dropped the first bombs before the wastelands formed, or whether it’s better a secret.
The whole point of the Fallout universe is that nuclear war is bad, shocker I know, but it has to be said.
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It also highlights how war can be used to turn a profit for dodgy organisations, mainly Vault-Tec which as we saw in the Fallout TV series orchestrated the nuclear bomb attack to ensure people end up in their vaults.
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In the games things are a bit more subtle, and while you can find evidence Vault-Tec caused the disaster it’s never explicitly said.
This has sparked a bit of a discussion in the community as to whether the player should know who’s fault it is, or whether the origins of the Fallout world should have been left a mystery.
In a Reddit thread by BrandonMarshall2021, it was said “I always thought it was the Chinese that dropped the bombs? Was it revealed that Vault Tec dropped the bombs in Fallout 4 or any Fallout lore?”
Fans were quick to get involved and drop some of the lore found across the several Fallout titles, with one saying it’s been a “long standing theory that Vault Tec started it,” though it was only the TV series that said it was them.
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One fan hit the nail on the head though and said while the games “always kept it very vague” the point has always been “that it doesn't really matter who did it since they both destroyed the world.”
Of course the real answer could be everyone started it, just coincidentally at the same time hence the level of destruction that unfolded.
With Fallout 5 confirmed to be the next game in the series, perhaps we’ll finally get a canon answer on how the whole thing kicked off.