The games are connected by more than taking place in the same world. They also all echo similar themes of war, survival, rebuilding, and morality. The games always say “War never changes,” and it is worth examining what that really means to understand the themes of Fallout. The games also get into the concept of history repeating itself, for better and worse.
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What “War Never Changes” Really Means
The statement “war never changes” is always said by a narrator in a Fallout game, and often repeated. A lot of people may think this statement to be wrong, that war always changes. Even other video games like Metal Gear Solid 4 open with the opposing statement, “war has changed.” However, while war does change in terms of weaponry, technology, and such, that is not what the Fallout games are focused on. Their statement delves more into the primal nature of war, not the technology that is used to wage it. The franchise speaks to the fact that war will always happen in the game of the “greater good.”
“War never changes,” in the Fallout universe means that humanity is destined for violence. They will fight over anything from water to weapons. Indeed, characters fight for that and more on land that exemplifies the consequences of war. The bombs falling did not stop war, despite destroying so much. War is always ongoing in Fallout, as even when a game is completed, it is always hinted that the peace will not last and that war will begin again at some point in the future.
The Theme Of Survival
The war theme present throughout Fallout is obviously very cynical, though this suits a game about the post-apocalypse. It is not all doom and gloom, though, as another theme the series has is the survival of both the individual and society. Despite the bombs falling and destroying so much, humanity manages to survive and live in the ruin of what was destroyed.
In the dark and depressing world of Fallout, this is one of the more happy themes. However, it does have its twists. Survival can be hard. There are pre-war ghouls that survived the bombs, but at the cost of seeing all their friends die and changing biologically forever. The fallout shelters, while getting humanity to survive underground, also sported unethical experimentation on its subjects. In fact, the vaults bring up one of the other overarching themes of the series.
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The Vaults And Their Big Lesson
Vaults are a staple of the Fallout series, with players often starting their adventures inside one or stumbling upon them throughout their journey. However, while they served as symbols of survival, they actually had more sinister plans going on backstage. Every vault was built with an experimental plan, one that was kept secret and lacked the consent of the vault dwellers. Most of these experiments resulted in tragedy, with dwellers killing each other, being turned into super soldiers, or being mutated just to name a couple of examples.
Ultimately, the vaults connect to a lesson and theme. With the vaults, Bethesda is making it clear that corporations and governments do not truly care for people and only seek more power and knowledge no matter the consequences. This is very true of pre-war corporations and governments, who were at fault for the war in the first place and then began to turn on their own people. Overall, the theme that power corrupts is conveyed through the Vaults and the companies within the Fallout universe. Those who are in leadership often sacrifice people for an unknown future, even when they are not soldiers. The “greater good” is what Fallout’s vaults stood for, and is what many factions stand for. It is something they all have in common, but is also what makes them fight and do unethical experimentation.
History Repeating Itself
This fits into the “war never changes” theme, though there is more to history repeating itself than just war. In Fallout, history also repeats itself in cultures and societies. The Brotherhood of Steel has modeled themselves after knights of yore and raider groups such as the Khans are like the Mongol warriors. When examined, all is destroyed, but what rises back from the ashes is not exactly new. Caesar’s Legion is based on the Roman Empire and religions such as Dharma are based on Buddhism. New Vegas keeps its gambling and a police force.
So in the grander sense, humanity doesn’t change, not just war. Ulysses on the Lonesome Road DLC even connects these two, saying “If war doesn’t change, men must change, and so much their symbols.” History repeating itself on a cultural level is partly why war doesn’t change, and each entry in the Fallout series goes out of its way to highlight this.
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