For fans of the Fallout video game franchise, theory-crafting comes with the territory. There is a plethora of lore throughout each game in the series for fans to pore over and scour. Despite that, there are still many holes in the puzzle of the universe. This excludes questions about the future of the timeline like what the Institute might do with their teleportation technology. Rather, it relates to questions of what happened before the events of the games themselves.
Every fan knows that nuclear war is what created the Capitol Wasteland, the vaults, and a host of irradiated ghouls and monstrous creatures. But all of the games take place in America -- one of the few areas to rebound after the fallout of the Great War. But who shot first? Did Vault-Tec play both sides? Was the Enclave behind the Great War altogether or was it the Zetan aliens?
10 Did China Have Vaults, Too?
There is not much to suggest about the state of China post-war. Furthermore, there isn't much information about China in general even during/before the Great War apart from a tenuous economic position and fossil fuel shortage.
But questions about the vaults weigh heavily on the mind of many a Fallout fan. For one: did China have a Vault-Tec equivalent or contingency plan for nuclear war?
After all, American forces had been in Mainland China in some form since 2074. If Vault-Tec, a corporation, was in it for themselves, it would make sense to play both sides.
9 What Happened To Survivors In Europe Or The Middle East?
The Euro-Middle Eastern War started after the European Commonwealth decided not to pay what the Middle East asked for oil. Instead, they decided to attack in 2052. But in 2053, a nuclear weapon obliterated Tel Aviv and sparked the U.S. Project Safehouse (a.k.a. the vault project).
The war ended when the Middle East's fields ran dry. Unfortunately, the European Commonwealth quickly fell into civil war. But there is little to suggest what exactly happens to either group area during The Great War and after.
One sliver of evidence comes in the form of Allistair Tenpenny: a man who immigrated to the Capital Wasteland from the U.K. for success.
8 How Did Australia Fare During The Great War?
What happened during and after the Great War in countries in the Southern Hemisphere remains mysterious. This includes places like South Africa, Brazil, and Australia. The Fallout timeline diverges from the real-world timeline around the 50s. Without in-universe lore for the country, Australia's political leanings and economic standing remain unknown.
Some fans theorize that Australia could have been on friendly trading terms with China (as they are in the real world). But they could also have maintained allyship with the U.S. As such, the larger population centers in the country may have been spared in favor of bombing American military bases.
But what of the nuclear fallout and the ongoing resource issues?
7 Did The Enclave Want The Great War To Happen?
Though the Enclave has a diminished roll in Fallout 4, they have been the main "bad guys" throughout the franchise and were the main governing body operating after the bombs dropped. Fans will recall that the group, along with the U.S. President at the time, quarantined on an offshore Poseidon Oil rig to avoid radiation. They believed that any contamination ruined the human genome and spoiled humanity.
Despite Vault-Tec beginning in earnest after the European-Middle Eastern War in 2054, the Enclave ramped up its efforts through the Sino-American war. They also planned to find a new planet using a spacecraft, but not before conducting cruel and odd experiments on vault dwelling survivors of the bombs.
This begs the question: did the Enclave know that nuclear war was happening before anyone else? Moreover, given their zealous beliefs and connections to corporate and government officials, did the Enclave want a nuclear war to break out in order to gain more control?
6 Given The Resource Wars, What Happened To The USSR In The Great War?
Hardcore will recall that one of the characters in Fallout 1, Natalia Dubrovhsky, is the granddaughter of a Russian diplomat who secured a spot in Vault 13. That suggests that, to some degree, the U.S. and the USSR had a decently civil relationship. Furthermore, Dukov from Fallout 3 is a Russian character, so a post-war USSR probably exists.
So where does that leave the rest of Russia when the bombs dropped and how did they fare with the nuclear fallout on top of resource scarcity?
5 Why Did Literally Everyone Fight Over Oil?
Though the Sino-American War waged between China and America over Alaska, the U.S. was not the "good guy" in this situation. Before the U.S. annexed Canada to protect Alaska, it had destabilized Mexico to effectively ruin the country in order to protect oil reserves.
The European Commonwealth had also previously united to resolve the resource issues but quickly fell into in-fighting. Even with atomic power providing an alternative, why wouldn't any other country explore other energy options beyond oil and atomics?
4 Did Aliens Start The War?
Outlandish theories abound within the Fallout fandom including one about Courier 6 being an android. But some fans also have a theory that Zetan Aliens started the Great War. While viewed by some as a "cop-out" explanation, others don't see a problem with it. There's also an audio log in a DLC from Fallout 3 that could serve as evidence of the theory's veracity.
When compared to how aliens figure into the Fallout universe, the likelihood of them starting a conflict to theoretically end mankind's technological advancement doesn't seem too farfetched. In fact, maybe they wanted to avoid some breakthroughs regarding atomics.
One must wonder if they know about the Insitute and their teleporter.
3 Why Would China Nuke America If It Had Superior Stealth Tech?
All Fallout fans know about the unmitigated prowess of power armor. This combined with other technology created by other corporations helped cement America's place as the global imperator. But China had plenty of unique and dangerous technology all on its own.
For instance, China could use its stealth submarines or stealth suits to disrupt politics/economies anywhere they saw fit. All it required was a sneaking mission, cloaking technology, and intelligence. With this option in their back pockets, why would they choose the nuclear option?
Fans can only speculate as to the reasons why; perhaps the situation in China was so dire that the government saw no other option.
2 Which Country Really Launched The First Nuke?
Though then-President Richardson claimed that China fired first, there has been no confirmation as to which country or entity truly fired first. What fans do know is that Ney York City was the first area struck.
The scrapped Fallout movie plot had a Vault-Tec member firing off the first bomb and not China, the USSR, or another country like India or North Korea. Fans have put this theory out as a possibility, but most agree that it doesn't make much sense.
Though Vault-Tec could have acted in a way to spur nuclear war, it doesn't track that they would leave unfinished vaults or be caught so off-guard by the attack if they were directly involved.
1 Was Nuka Cola Quantum's Release Related?
This connection is flimsy, at best, but the question still remains. Along with other big brands like General Atomics, Nuka Cola had a stranglehold on American households and maintained it in the nuclear wasteland. But their new item dubbed "Nuka Cola Quantum" was set to release the same day that the nuclear bombs went off.
This could be mere coincidence or it could be a cosmic joke played by whoever was pulling the strings behind the Great War. Without more lore to comb through or a new significant story in the Fallout franchise, fans are left to theory-craft and wonder.