‘Fallout’: 7 Disturbing & Diabolical Game Vaults Fans Hope Make It to the Series
Warning: The following post contains discussions of self-harm and sexual assault.
“Surface Never, Vault Forever!” That’s the Vault-Tec way! Within the world of Fallout, viewers learned that those who dwelled within the vaults believed themselves lucky: saved from the terror of nuclear fallout, their Vault-Tec sanctuaries kept them safe, sound, and snug as a bug in a rug. Little did they know, however, that they were being slowly suffocated by the true monstrosity lurking behind Vault-Tec’s smiling slogans and sealed steel doors.
In the first season, viewers were initially introduced to Vaults 31, 32, and 33 first through their residents, then through their tragedies as the season unfolded. Ultimately, the more sinister reality of a twisted Vault-Tec experiment was revealed: It was designed to breed the “perfect” Vault-Tec executives to rule the post-apocalyptic world. As the series progressed, audiences also learned of additional horrors of the Vaults. None appeared to offer true safety. As revealed in the Season 1 finale, the corporations had their own designs for the people living within their walls, and it wasn’t safety.
With Season 2 underway, countless new horrors await prying eyes inside the forgotten vaults. Fans of the games and devoted lovers of the lore know all too well what Vault-Tec is capable of, but viewers of the series have only begun to scratch the surface. Human experimentation, ritualistic sacrifice, deranged clones, and far worse still lurk behind those sealed doors, with each vault hiding its own carefully engineered nightmare.
Below is a look at a few of the most twisted and evil Vaults ever opened.
Fallout, Season 2, Wednesdays, Prime Video
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
Vault 11
Game: Fallout: New Vegas; Mojave Wasteland, West of Boulder City
After the doors were sealed, the Vault dwellers were informed that they needed to sacrifice one dweller each year if they wished to survive. The first dwellers chose their sacrifice via election, naming that person the “overseer.” At the end of their term, they would be killed. Over several years, political powers formed, propaganda machines developed, and corruption took over.
One corrupt candidate sexually assaulted a dweller named Katherine under the threat of nominating her husband, but doomed himself regardless. As a result, Katherine lead a revolt that allowed her to become overseer, and in doing so, she ended the elections with Overseer Order 745, which stated: “A citizen will be chosen one month prior to the start of his or her term with our mainframe’s random number generator, ensuring complete impartiality and fairness.”
This led to political chaos, and after massive bloodshed, only five dwellers remained. Together, they took a stand against the computer, refusing to make another sacrifice, which they believed was suicide.
As it turned out, the initial order was a test the entire time. The computer delivered the automated message unveiling the experiment, thanking the survivors for their “commitment to human life is a shining example to us all.” To reward their behavior, no one would be killed and the doors opened.
Most of the remaining survivors committed suicide out of shame.
Vault 106
Location: Fallout 3; Capital Wasteland
All of the inhabitants of Vault 106 were drugged through the air system using psychoactive hallucinogens that made them paranoid and violent. The Overseer knew the Vault dwellers were being experimented on and lied to them, soothing their nerves just long enough for the drugs to keep working and for the residents to lose their minds. Everything became a weapon as the dwellers turned on one another and began to massacre each other.
By 2277, only a handful of residents remained, completely unhinged and driven to kill anyone and anything that came near them. Anyone who enters the Vault falls victim to the drugs, which is still being pumped through the air system.
Vault 112
Location: Fallout 3; Washington, D.C., United States
The 85 residents inside were told they would ride out the apocalypse in a virtual reality version of “heaven,” but the Vault’s sadistic overseer, Dr. Stanislaus Braun, had other plans. He began playing God with their lives, trapping them in endless cycles of torment. Braun created a nightmare called Tranquility Lane, a warped 1950s suburban neighborhood where he appeared as a small girl named Betty, orchestrating his experiments while repeatedly erasing the residents’ memories so the suffering could begin again, forever.
The only escape was to end the simulation by killing the residents, releasing them from centuries of torment, and leaving Dr. Braun alone in the hellscape he created.
Vault 108
Location: Fallout 3; hidden beneath the ruins of Little Lamplight
Best known as “The Gary Vault,” this is truly one of the more unhinged and nightmarish Vaults in the game. Built to accommodate 475 people for 38 years, the power supply was intentionally set to fail after 20 years while it housed a large amount of weapons, a low amount of entertainment, and a lack of leadership. In other words, a recipe for disaster.
Scientists began engaging in cloning experiments with one individual, “Gary.” However, with each new copy, Gary grew more and more aggressive towards non-clones. There were notes about killing the clones to make room for experiments, but no further notes were found.
When the player finds the Vault, it is teeming with angry, bloodthirsty Garys who can only say his own name. Hostile, savage, and feral, the Garys are a moment of absurdist horror of what can happen when man plays God and fails. Spectacularly.
Vault 22
Location: Fallout: New Vegas; Mohave Wasteland
Before players even reach Vault 22, they’re met with a warning sign: “Stay out! The plants kill!” Wiser words were never written.
Sponsored by Big MT, Vault 22 was never meant for ordinary residents, but for agricultural scientists conducting biological experiments intended to save humanity. One such project involved a fungus designed for pest control, releasing airborne spores that slowly overtook a host’s body over 10 to 20 days.
It didn’t take long for the spores to spread through the vault, transforming the scientists into hostile, feral plant creatures. The 118 survivors who fled became cannibalistic killers, slaughtering other survivors and feeding on imprisoned women and children.
Vault 12
Location: Fallout (1997); Bakersfield, California
The Vault door was designed to not seal correctly as it purposely exposed all the residents to nuclear fallout and massive amounts of radiation. This resulted in the entire population of the Vault becoming ghouls.
In 2083, the ghouls would leave the Vault and found the city of Necropolis. This is a central piece of lore for the in-universe Fallout games.
Vault 77
Location: Unknown
This Vault was built for thousands, but it housed only one man and a crate of puppets. Designed as a study on the effects of extreme isolation, the experiment locked a single resident inside with dozens of hand puppets as his only companions. Over time, he slowly lost his grip on reality, creating an entire society through the voices and personalities of the puppets.
Eventually, a “coup” among the puppets drove the man to flee the Vault in shame. When he later encountered Wastelanders, he proved to be far more brutal than any of them, as his time in isolation twisted him into a full-fledged killing machine.
(It should be noted that this Vault is not part of any game, but a story within the official Fallout webcomic “One Man, and a Crate of Puppets.”)
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