The Fallout series started in 1997 with the entry of Fallout and the most recent game is 2018's Fallout 76, which was released to a disappointed audience. One entry in the series, 2010's Fallout: New Vegas, is a favorite of fans. There is a trait found only in New Vegas called Wild Wasteland, which includes encounters only found if a player has the trait.
Random encounters are found throughout most games in the series, but New Vegas is the only game to include encounters related to a trait. The encounters range from references to Monty Python to Star Wars. Here are 10 of the best Wild Wasteland Encounters.
10 Holy Hand Grenades
The Holy Frag Grenades can be found in the basement of a church in Camp Searchlight. The grenades are a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where Arthur finds Holy Hand Grenades and prepares to throw one. On the box, a 5 is crossed out and replaced with a 3, referencing how Arthur prepares to throw a grenade and counts '1,2,5' before being corrected by his companion.
The frag grenade in the game has a white cross painted on it and acts similar to a mini nuke, causing a big explosion. After being thrown, the grenade causes a high amount of damage to anyone caught in the explosion.
9 Fossilized Seymour
Seymour is a dog that can be found fossilized in the Cave of the Abaddon in the Lonesome Road DLC. Seymour is a reference to the Futurama episode Jurassic Bark, where Phillip J. Fry's dog from the past is revealed to be fossilized.
Any fan of Futurama and New Vegas probably had the memory of the notoriously sad episode brought to the front of their mind. The player can put Seymour in their inventory and carry him around, allowing the fossilized dog to go on adventures with the courier.
8 Indiana Jones Doesn't Survive The Fridge
Close to Goodsprings is a fridge that contains a skeleton and fedora, referencing the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
In the movie, Indy survives a nuclear blast inside of a lead refrigerator and is launched through the air. In the Fallout universe, it looks like Indy was not able to survive the nuclear war using this method. Couriers passing by the fridge are able to pick up and wear the adventurer's fedora, putting it to better use than the skeleton of Indy.
7 UFO Hovering Over Nevada
In the far north of the game near Horowitz Farmstead is a broken UFO hovering and three aliens below it. The Fallout series has a history with aliens, and with the game being set in Nevada, it should not be surprising to see aliens make an appearance with the Wild Wasteland trait.
Fighting, killing, and looting the alien captain will give the courier a unique alien blaster. The blaster is one of the most powerful weapons, as it is guaranteed to give players a critical hit on an enemy. The critical hit causes any enemy to disintegrate upon death into a blue ash pile.
6 Stripe The Tiny Deathclaw
Stripe is a mini deathclaw found in the Old World Blues DLC. The deathclaw can be found in Higgs Village behind one of the houses. Stripe has a doghouse with his name at the top, with the name of the last dog who had the house on the ground.
Stripe acts like a dog, only coming after the player if they step into the backyard and then chases the courier to the sidewalk. There is a quest where the courier is tasked with helping a scientist find their dog, having the courier bring back a dog bowl found near the doghouse the deathclaw now inhabits.
5 Miami Detective Found In New Vegas
During a quest in the Ultra-Luxe casino, a certain Miami detective can be found dead in his room.
Without the Wild Wasteland trait, the investigator in the room is a person named Jay Barnes. The trait replaces Barnes with Crusoe, named after the actor, David Caruso, who plays Horatio Caine in CSI: Miami. Couriers who find the body are able to find the detective's sunglasses, a reference to how Caine delivers a one-liner and puts on sunglasses. Walking into the hotel room, couriers will find the detective...dead on arrival.
4 Planet Of The Apes
At the end of the Lonesome Road DLC, the courier is given the option to launch nukes at Caesar's Legion, the NCR, or both. With the Wild Wasteland perk, if the courier launches nukes at both factions, an ending slide reveals the monument found at the Mojave Outpost buried in sand.
The narrator makes another reference to Planet of the Apes when he said the courier "damned them all to hell." In the ending slide, a man can be seen on his knees in front of the statues, mirroring how George Taylor in the movie fell to his knees after seeing the Statue of Liberty.
3 Unexploded Nuclear Bomb In the Desert
The One is an unexploded nuclear bomb found near the Devil's Throat and Ranger Station Bravo. It resembles the nuclear weapon found in the middle of Megaton in Fallout 3. Enemies found around the bomb can include ghouls, glowing ones, and super mutants.
The bomb has a timer stuck at "9999" and gives off radiation to any courier that gets too close. Couriers with a science skill of 60 will be able to salvage components from the bomb, including 50 energy cells, 50 micro fusion cells, and two sensor modules.
2 Uncle Owen And Aunt Beru Make An Appearance
When couriers first make it to Nipton, they will find a town that has been burned down by Caesar's Legion and the residents murdered. Located near the town hall are two corpses labeled Owen and Beru, referencing Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle from Star Wars: A New Hope.
The charred corpses are found in front of a burned house, mirroring how Luke Skywalker finds his aunt and uncle after returning from meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi. To any player not looking for the reference, a notification pops up to alert players a secret is close by.
1 Roaming Gang Of Grandmas
Maud's Muggers can be encountered when players leave Cerulean Robotics for the first time. Located in Freeside, the gang consists of three old women in pink dresses, a reference to the Monty Python sketch called "Hell's Grannies." In the sketch, a gang of elderly women terrorize London.
The old women are named Malefic Maud, Rancorous Ruth, and Irate Ida. The women attack the player using switchblades and rolling pins, making them easy foes to defeat. Despite not dropping anything worth taking, the enemies are an amusing surprise for anyone not expecting to be attacked by old ladies.