The world of Fallout wouldn’t be what it was without war, and as players know, it never changes. Before and after the Great War that transformed the United States into a Wasteland, certain characters in the Fallout franchise played a major part in its continued destruction. Obviously, the U.S. and Chinese governments take most of the blame in this fictional universe, as they were the ones that fired nuclear weapons at each other for two hours that fateful day in 2077.
Members of the Enclave managed to ruin the world decades long before and after the bombs fell, while The Institution spread fear and panic among survivors in the Commonwealth. Then there are companies like West Tek and Vault-Tec that experimented with human life to create monstrosities in their wake. But a handful of individuals influenced the outcome before, during, and after the Great War that ruined the world.
6 General Constantine Chase
General Constantine Chase was a four-star general of the United States Army before the Great War and led its troops in the battle of Anchorage. The Lone Wanderer comes across Constantine in the Anchorage Reclamation simulation in Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage, but the general is also mentioned in data in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.
Aside from being part of the conflict that would inevitably bring a nuclear apocalypse across the world, Constantine is the reason why Psycho became such a prevalent drug in the Wasteland. Before the Great War, his pharmaceutical company Chase R&D produced the drug, and he approved the experimental use of it on his soldiers despite it not having been thoroughly tested. As a result, the military-grade amphetamine caused many harmful side effects, including heart attacks, psychosis, and even dementia.
5 General Jingwei
The People’s Liberation Army of China was led by General Jingwei, “a cruel and effective taskmaster and a ruthlessly efficient tactician,” as described in Fallout 3’s Official Game Guide. Like Constantine, Jingwei led the Chinese invasion of Anchorage, intending to secure its oil resources during the Resource War. Little did Jingwei and Constantine know that their actions would have dire consequences in the months ahead.
It’s unclear precisely what happened to General Jingwei following the Great War, but it can be assumed he was captured or perished, as the Lone Wanderer can find his Shocksword in a cache at the Outcast outpost in Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage.
4 Dick Richardson
Dick Richardson was the leader of the Enclave in 2242 and planned to carry on the Enclave’s mission of defeating China and retaking the United States – even though both countries had already been decimated by nuclear missiles.
Stationed on the Poseidon Oil rig in the Pacific Ocean, Richardson planned on releasing the FEV Curling-13 variant into the atmosphere, killing all non-Enclave civilians (whether mutated or not) so that the Enclave could recolonize the Earth. “The only way for true humans, and democracy, to be safe is to cleanse the mutants from the globe,” Dick says in Fallout 2. “A lot of near-humans will sacrifice their lives for the return of humanity. Humans will prevail.” However, Richardson’s plan of mass genocide was thwarted by the Chosen One, who destroyed the rig with a thermonuclear explosion, killing Dick and other Enclave members still onboard.
3 Thomas Eckhart
Not all members of the Enclave settled on the Poseidon Oil Rig – some, like Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Eckhart, sought shelter in purpose-built bunkers dotted around the United States. Thomas used his political connections and money from the Department of Agriculture to build the Whitespring bunker, with 48 people under his command. Unfortunately, those who disagreed with his belief that the war against communism should continue were killed. So Thomas was left to carry out his plan of using nuclear silos in Appalachia to fight back.
During his time in office as the self-appointed “Last President of the United States,” he commanded Enclave scientists to experiment with mutations resulting in the creation of the Scorchbeast - bats exposed to biochemical material. These terrifying monsters would regularly escape and terrorize the Wasteland, and by 2086 Thomas unleashed them to raise alert levels on monitoring systems to DEFCON 1 to access nuclear warheads. What he didn’t anticipate, however, was the beasts mutating humans on the surface and inadvertently creating the Scorched.
2 Stanislaus Braun
Stanislaus Braun had much more authority than just being the overseer of Vault 112. He was also the director of Vault-Tec’s Societal Preservation Program and the head of Future-Tec. But, while Vault Dwellers have Stanislaus to thank for the invention of the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.), the overseer was a sadist who reveled in the distress and violence caused by societal and human experiments in control Vaults across the United States.
Stanislaus was a major part of creating these experiments, aiding in the destruction of future human lives due to psychological and/or physical anguish, in addition to unnecessary deaths. The Vault 112 overseer would continue to torture and kill Vault Dwellers in simulations he created, like "Toucan Lagoon" and "Slalom Chalet" for his own entertainment. Stanislaus had lived out his days in one of the Vault’s simulation loungers, taking on the persona of a young girl called Betty in "Tranquility Lane."
1 Robert House
Robert House founded RobCo Industries, one of the most successful and profitable businesses in the Fallout universe. RobCo produced robots for various services, most notably within the homes of American families. But the corporation also had defense contracts with the United States Army, making killer robots and advanced warfare technology.
While robots like Assaultrons and Sentry Bots are fundamental weapons on the battlefield, they are deadly in the Wasteland due to their violent programming. Instead of protection, these robots don’t discern civilians from hostiles and will therefore kill on sight, making an already dangerous environment even more deadly.