While bleak on the surface, the Fallout franchise has some of the most immersive worldbuilding outside of Bethedsa’s other massive franchise, The Elder Scrolls. That said, the Fallout universe’s shift from fantasy to a post-apocalyptic sci-fi hellscape comes with its own problems that lead to theories involving one that may prove how the war ACTUALLY started.
What Was the Fallout Like Before the Bombs?
While it’s known that the bombs in Fallout dropped in 2077 as a result of the Sino-American War, you may not notice the story is set in the future as the aesthetic is so different. In the Fallout universe, the aesthetic remained in a 1950s-era setting where TVs were still black and white, and even the children’s toys still used lead-based paint.
Toys carrying lead-based paint may be useful in the wasteland for resources, but as one Reddit theory stated, it may have also led to the end of the world. It’s no secret that companies like Vault-Tec cared little for the average American, as the experiments in their vaults showed. Toys still using lead-based paint proved that the government was just as careless since lead-based paint has been known to cause mental health issues for children exposed to it. As a result, generations of exposure could’ve led to rash reactions to situations by adults, leading to events like the Great War. More than that, it could’ve even, in a strange way, led to many mutations and reactions following the bombs dropping.
Did Lead-Based Paint Aid in Fallout Wasteland Mutations?
In the real world, radiation exposure would lead to a very slow and painful death — lead poisoning or not. However, the Fallout universe has taken many liberties and proven that life can not only survive after nuclear war, but evolve. At the base, you often find raiders as the most common threats. These are twisted humans who have lost their minds trying to survive in the wasteland.
However, those exposed to higher levels of radiation became Ghouls, irradiated humans who didn’t die but mutated to be nearly immortal at the cost of their looks and, on occasion, their minds. Finally, there are Super Mutants, humans who were exposed to the Forced Evolutionary Virus and turned into hulking monsters that were super strong and invulnerable to radiation.
Since every human and mutated human in Fallout was tied to individuals who interacted with lead-based paint, it’s possible that it didn’t only poison them but also changed them on a genetic level. As their bodies developed some immunities due to long exposure, it’s possible radiation affected them differently. Considering X-ray doors are lead-lined to shield from that form of radiation, it’s possible a lead-poisoned body could also shield them from gamma radiation.
With that in mind, humanity could’ve absorbed higher levels of radiation and, rather than die out immediately, changed into things like Ghouls or be more resilient and turned into Super Mutants when given FEV. As for the human survivors and raiders, they may have lived on, but the lead they were possibly born with made their minds even more fragile.
Does the Fallout Lead Theory Make Sense?
For all of the lore in the Fallout games, there are still more questions than answers. This allowed things like Prime Video’s Fallout show to offer its own answers, such as Vault-Tec being the secret reason behind the bombs dropping. If that remains true in the games, that would also mean the theory of lead-poisoned politicians dropping bombs isn’t.
That said, considering everyone was exposed to lead-based children’s toys, including Frances Turner, who proposed the idea of dropping the bombs in the show, the theory may not be entirely ruled out. The people in charge of Vault-Tec and other companies were frantic to maintain their money and power before the bombs dropped, perhaps more than the average CEO. To resort to global nuclear annihilation isn’t an idea made lightly, but one someone could decide when not in their right mind. For now, it’s unclear if the lead-poisoning theory is canon, but it’s a great way to show the holes in a world that didn’t care about medical health and only got worse over time.
Want to know more about Fallout? Check out GameSkinny’s Fallout guide hub.
