The world of Fallout is populated with every kind of character imaginable. From ghouls
and rangers, to vault dwellers and...crap. I need a second one to round this out. Moiras?
Anyway, it’s the characters that populate the wasteland that make the world feel truly
alive. So let’s take a look at a few pieces of inspiration behind some of the strange
personalities that make Fallout, Fallout. First, let’s take a trip back in time to
the original Fallout games, which featured a deadly villain known as the Master. In Fallout
2, the Master's actual name is revealed to be Richard Moreau. This is believed to be
a reference to the 1896 HG Wells novel "The Island of Doctor Moreau"; a sci-fi novel about
a scientist who conducts strange, disgusting experiments on animals he has imported in
an attempt to create different creatures out of them. This, of course, is similar to the
Master’s experimentation on human subjects. In previous episodes, we’ve talked about
Robert House’s connection to business tycoon Howard Hughes, but that isn’t the only troubled
millionaire he has something in common with. House’s obsession with snow globes is actually
a reference to Charles Foster Kane, the protagonist of Orson Welles’ cinema classic Citizen
Kane. The movie begins with a dying Kane dropping a snow globe. Charles Kane himself is based
on real-world newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. So in a weird way, Robert House is
derived from three separate powerful icons of industry.
Albert Cole, one of the residents of Vault 13 and a playable character in the first Fallout,
is a reference to one of the franchise’s favorite tales: Harlan Ellison’s “A Boy
and His Dog”. The story, which follows a morally challenged young man and his psychic
canine in the post-apocalypse, has the dog often calling the boy “Albert”, despite
that not being his name. That’s not all though, a callback to Albert Cole is found
in Fallout 3. In the early previews of the game, “Albert” was the name of the Lone
Wanderer.
Not all references come from literature, history
or pop culture. Some come straight out of the developer’s life. One of the
programmers of Fallout 1, Jesse Heineg, based the name and personality of the character
Ian on his roommate Ian Dunteman. Connecting the original game and Fallout: New Vegas,
lead designer Josh Sawyer said the description of the character Tycho in Fallout 1, which
states he is “a man in dusty leather armor with a trench coat and gas mask,” served
as the inspiration behind the NCR Ranger combat armor in New Vegas.
Speaking of Fallout: New Vegas, while looking into the White Glove Society, you may come
across the dead body of an investigator named Crusoe. This is a reference to television
actor David Caruso, best known for his role as investigators in NYPD Blue and CSI Miami.
This made even clearer when the player has the Wild Wasteland trait turned on, since
Crusoe’s body now sports the actor’s signature red hair and sunglasses.
But of course we are forgetting about Fallout: New Vegas’ most important character...no,
no, not that Courier person. You know who I’m talking about: Novac’s most prized
resident, Dinky the T-Rex! Dinky is a reference to Dinny and Mr.T-Rex, a pair of roadside
attractions right off Interstate 10 in Cabazon, California. The Cabazon Dinosaurs are actually
having a pretty great year, since they were recently featured in the Pixar film Inside
Out. And now it’s time for a quick word from
our sponsors at RobCo. Oh, wait. No, it’s not RobCo? Oh, it’s an actual sponsorship!
Well then, cue the music! Today’s episode of Hidden History is sponsored by Armored
Warfare, a game about tanks blowing stuff up. It’s a free-to-play MMO game where...you
blow up tanks with tanks. Tanks tanks tanks. They have over 70 models of tanks that are
based off of real-world tanks, and each one has a tactical purpose. Of, you know, blowing
up other tanks. Have I made that clear yet? You get to blow up freaking tanks. It has
PVE or, if the only thing that satisfies you anymore in life is to bring misery to other
people, there’s PVP too! A lot of the updates are based directly off of player feedback.
If that sounds fun to you and you want to play, head over to aw.my.com. Or click the
link in the description. Alright, that’s over now. I know ads can
be a bit of a bummer, but this stuff goes directly into bringing you stuff like the
fourth season of the Storyteller. I mean, that takes the sting out a little, doesn’t
it? Now time for our Comments Showcase! This week’s
comment comes from Ben Dover--hahahaha, classic, who says “In Megaton in Fallout 3, Confessor
Cromwell of the Church of the Children of Atom cries out prayers about the bomb, Atom.
At one point he says ‘Behold! He's coming with the clouds! And every eye shall be blind
with his glory! Every ear shall be stricken deaf to hear the thunder of his voice!’.
This is a reference to the bible verse Revelations 1:7, which goes: ‘Look, he is coming with
the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all peoples on
earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen’”. Thanks for that comment
Ben...Dover. Hehehehe. And now of course it’s time for the bad
comment showcase. Mason Crider says “If you do a hidden history showcase about the
deer god I will be mauled by a wolf and reincarnated as a deer just for this channel”. Um...alright
Mason, we’re going to hold you to that. We could always use more deer fans.
So last week we asked you what animated film Starcraft’s Tychus Findlay’s convict number
is a reference to. And the answer was B. Lilo & Stitch. Congratulations to everyone who
got it right! Your prizes are in the mail...yeah, they’re not in the mail. But we’re not
going to leave you without another trivia question. The Powder Ganger Phillip Lem is
named after two characters in what American sitcom?
A. Arrested Development B. Parks and Recreation
C. 30 Rock D. Better Off Ted