Fallout Trailer Breakdown: The Story, The Easter Eggs, And The Mutated Monsters
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Amazon's upcoming TV series, Fallout, had a new trailer arrive, and there is a lot going on in it. This is the second publicly released trailer, with the first one arriving back in December. Coming in at a little over three minutes, the new look at the series introduces viewers to the world, the characters, and a few notable mutant creatures you're going to want to avoid--or squish.
The series will follow three characters: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul, a once-famous actor--turned bounty hunter--who became a ghoul after the nuclear bombs went off and has lived for 200 years; Lucy, a woman living in Vault 33 who has to venture out into the wastelands; and Maximus, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel with his own agenda.
Fallout arrives on Amazon Prime Video on April 11, and all episodes for the series will be available that day. Scouring through the new trailer, here's what we learned about the series, along with a few Easter eggs.
1. Walton Goggins as Cooper Howard
Cooper Howard was a movie star before the bombs went off. Right away, he introduces the Vault system, which are underground bunkers across the country where people can live if there's a nuclear fallout. Many of you reading this probably know this, but I'm sure there's plenty of folks that don't know this.
An interesting note here is that portions of this particular video were shown at Brazil's CCXP back in December. At the Fallout booth on the convention floor, guests were treated to a demonstration of vault life, complete with an entire introductory video featuring Cooper.
2. Vault 4
Howard stands in front of Vault 4. Obviously, this is one of the early vaults created for humanity--or those who can afford to live underground. There are living quarters, gardens, dining halls, etc. They contain everything you need to live underground--as long as other dwellers don't lose their minds. While Vault 4 hasn't been explored in any of the games, we do know there are at least 118 numbered vaults in the video game series and supplementary material released in the forms of books and board games--as long as it doesn't conflict with the video game series, which takes precedence in these occasional cases.
Some of them are monster-filled bunkers. Other vaults contain people who don't want to leave or deny the world outside has survivors. And others contained horrifying experiments on underage humans in order to create people able to survive in the wasteland (Hi, Vault 75. We'll always remember you).
3. Those Bobbleheads
These bobbleheads are scattered around the wasteland--and some in vaults--in the Fallout video games. Finding these items, in game, allows one improvement to your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats or grants you another perk.
4. Vault 33
We get a glimpse of Vault 33. Everyone is preparing dinner, right next to a garden. This seems like one of the few vaults that seems to have everything together. That feels like a rarity if you've ever played any of the Fallout games. Then again, as we saw in the first trailer in December, even Vault 33 will eventually descend into some type of chaos.
5. Intro video
The video where Howard introduces the vault system in a world where humanity was supposedly destroyed will feel very familiar to many people who have played the games. During character creation and tutorials, players get a video very similar to this, introducing the world they live in and will have to explore, mainly for the Bethesda games.
6. Shady Sands
We get to see the city of Shady Sands. It's a devastated city. However, there is some life within the ruins. Shady Sands is the capital of the The New California Republic, one of the commonwealths across the United States. Shady Sands was first featured in the original Fallout game.
7. Lucy
This is where we see Lucy for the first time. Played by Ella Purnell, Lucy will be one of the focuses of the Fallout TV series. She's a dweller of Vault 33, and she's headed out into the wasteland for the first time.
8. Dead body
Next to Lucy is what we can presume is a dead body. One of the elements of the Fallout series is that something gets into these vaults--not just the one you originate from--and causes chaos in the utopia you live in, and the main character has to venture into the unknown. So we can assume that someone died, was attacked, or got sick, and it's up to Lucy to find out what happened or get some medicine.
9. Vault 33 hasn't opened in a long time
Lucy enters a shop--where there's another bobblehead--and she mentions that Vault 33 has been locked up for 200 years after The Great War--which took place in 2077. That doesn't necessarily mean that no one in the past two centuries hasn't ventured out into the wasteland, but as far as Lucy and the others know, they've been locked away in Vault 33 for a long time.
The store owner she meets is surprised that there's a vault-dweller in the store, and she says, "I thought all you dipsh*ts were dead" before laughing hysterically. In the wasteland, people that live in vaults are considered weird and idiotic, but they are known to have existed 200 years later.
10. The song
The image above isn't exciting, but this is when the music starts. The song playing is "I Don't Want To Set the World on Fire" by the Ink Spots. It was released by the band in 1941. The song can be heard on the radio in Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76.
11. Guy with no nose
If you're familiar with the games, then you know this is a Ghoul. These people are the product of nuclear fallout. They lose their nose, their skin looks rotten, and many of them lose their humanity entirely and will attack you in the games. However, there are a few who haven't gone feral and help you out throughout the games. Also, they tend to live long, long lives--this is 200 years in the future.
The one above is played by Walton Goggins. His name is simply The Ghoul. And yes, it's the same person you see at the beginning of the trailer, Cooper Howard. In the time since the bombs fell, he's become a deeply feared bounty hunter.
12. This bottle
It's hard to make out what's on this bottle. The top line says "Vault-Tec Plan" and the line below it says "Econo Savings Pack." Vault-Tec was the cooperation behind creating the vault system.
However, this bottle has a skull and crossbones on it. We learned at CCXP that it is poison. Were humans living inside the vaults meant to drink it--to kill themselves--in case something terrible happens within the vault? This is all speculation.
13. A robot with many uses
Lucy finds herself a Mister Gutsy robot. These robots can be a little tricky, though. Some are very helpful service bots. Others…not so much. From the looks of it, this Mister Gutsy is willing to help Lucy. They're in what looks like a medical room. So maybe Lucy was sent on a mission to get some medicine.
14. Ok… it's not so helpful
Very quickly, we find that Mister Gutsy wants to harvest Lucy's organs. Like many other of these robots, it's been modified not to help but to hurt. There are a few known Mister Gutsy robots that have been modified in the games and a couple that became self-aware and strayed from their programming.
15. The Brotherhood of Steel
This is where we meet the third main character of the series. This is Maximus (Aaron Moten), a scribe of the Brotherhood of Steel. Little is known about this character. However, the Brotherhood of Steel has been a part of the Fallout video game series since the beginning. They are a post-war offshoot of the Army. At times, this is a group protecting civilians, and at other times, they're extremely problematic.
Also, we catch our first glimpse as Power Armor. More on that later.
16. That's a big ship
In the previous Fallout games, there has been only one airship: The Prydwen. These are airships used by the Brotherhood. However, this most likely isn't the same ship. We also get a glimpse of smaller ships that look like helicopters. Those are Vertibirds, and they've been around since Fallout 2.
17. Power Armor
This is our first detailed glimpse at the Power Armor in this trailer. It looks pretty rad. This looks like the T-45 version. The armor is meant to keep the wearer more protected while also enhancing strength. They are treasured items in the game, as there aren't many working ones left. They run on a fusion core, which can be annoying to find.
Based on the logo on the suit, this is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, and he logo looks a bit like the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force--especially after seeing these first look photos.
18. Young Maximus
Here's who we can presume to be a young Maximus, getting a look at the member of the Brotherhood of Steel. The older version says his goal is to hurt the people that hurt him, so maybe the Brotherhood member was saving Maximus from another force.
19. Randy's donuts and a dog
Would it be a movie/TV show set in California without a Randy's Donuts location being featured? This one is destroyed, but we can see it in the background.
There's also a dog next to The Ghoul. Dogs are a big part of the Fallout games, as they can be companions and help you on your way.
20. What's happening at Vault 33?
Later in the trailer, we see something is going on at Vault 33. From an earlier trailer, we learned that there is a vault-wide revolt happening, which obviously results in a lot of deaths.
21. Who is this?
This woman seems to be pretty important, but we don't know her character's name. She's played by Sarita Choudhury, and this is the first time we see her. She's likely the leader of a faction or mayor of a town, but we're not entirely sure which one.
22. The conflict never ends
As we mentioned the two groups before, there is the Brotherhood of Steel and The New California Republic, and from this brief scene, they don't seem to like each other.
23. The Ghoul on TV
The Ghoul may be some sort of bounty hunter now, but he still has a connection to who he was: a movie or TV star. We catch a moment where The Ghoul is watching himself on a small TV.
24. Cooper Howard during the end of the Great War
The bombs went off during the end of the Great War, when various nations bombed each other with thermonuclear devices. This is when we see Cooper Howard carrying a little girl to escape his potential fate: death.
25. Just like in the games…
If you've ever played a Fallout game, then you know that walking around the wasteland is dangerous--and not because of raiders. Here, we see a member of the Brotherhood fighting a mutated bear. No thank you. This is bringing back some bad memories.
26. Giant monster
It's hard to figure out what this is. It looks a bit like a bloodworm, but it has arms and hands, which bloodworms typically don't have. This could be a mutated Wanamingo.
27. Satisfying
Mutated cockroaches are annoying, so it's great to see Lucy squashing the pest.
28. The one-eyed woman
We briefly see a one-eyed woman in Vault 33. This is Steph, played by Annabel O'Hagan. Steph leads the rebellion inside Vault 33.