The following contains spoilers for Fallout, now streaming on Prime Video

Summary

• Brotherhood of Steel brings order using a mix of ancient titles and modern training.
• The New California Republic in Fallout has a tragic, decimated fate in season 1.
• Vault 4 residents show kindness, , and connection to NCR's legacy in Fallout.

One of the inherently fun aspects of Fallout characters she encounters represent a number of different factions and alliances, fleshing out the ravaged wasteland that serves as the show's primary setting.

The different factions that appear in Fallout reflect a lot of longstanding elements of the games. Some, like the Brotherhood of Steel, have been long-enduring elements of the games and are faithfully recreated for the series. Others go through unexpected but important reinventions, adding new layers of tragedy and menace to groups like the New California Republic and Vault-Tec. These different organizations steadily tease out the potential future of the series, and sets up a fascinating take on the Fallout universe.

8 Brotherhood Of Steel

Knights In Rusty Armor

The Brotherhood of Steel is one of the most prominent factions in the Fallout franchise and plays a major role in the Fallout show. The Brotherhood of Steel is a religious order that uses a melding of classical knightly titles and modern military training to bring their brand of order to the Wastelands. In the show, they are shown to be ruthless in battle but with a genuine faith in their mission. The Brotherhood ends Fallout season 1 in a strong position, having wiped out Moldaver's forces and taking control of the Cold Fusion Reactor she activated before her death.

The Brotherhood of Steel is remarkably similar to the version that appears in the games. Both versions utilize much of the same technology, including the T-60c powered armor worn by Knights of the Order. In the games, there are numerous chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel, with different branches operating largely independently of one another. They still conform to the same societal ranking system. This means that if the show's Brotherhood of Steel encounters other chapters of their faith that haven't yet appeared in the series (such as the Appalachian and Eastern Brotherhoods), they'll find potent allies to rely on.

7 New California Republic

A Major Game Location Is Gone By The Events Of The Show

In the original Fallout games, the New California Republic is one of the most distinctive and important factions that players can align with or come up against. In the games, the NCR is a faction that feels largely familiar to pre-war society, although this means they still suffer from some of the same in-fighting and expansionist leanings that bedeviled pre-war societies. While the New California Republic is going strong in the games, it's been severely targeted and decimated by the timeline of Fallout, which takes place decades after the events depicted in the games.

Over the course of Fallout season 1, it's revealed that Moldaver had become a leader in Shady Sands alongside Lucy's mother. However, upon discovering her location, Hank MacLean ventured from Vault 33 to recover his children and ultimately drop a nuke on the NCR. The legacy of the NCR lives on even if the community has largely fallen, however, most notably in the form of Moldaver's surviving forces. Holed up in the remains of the Griffith Observatory, this group is seemingly wiped out by the end of season 1.

6 Vault 4

The Most Wonderful Vault On Earth

During their journey across the Wastelands together, Lucy and Maximus discover that Vault 4 has become its own unique community. Vault 4 was initially used by Vault-Tec as a living lab, with scientists experimenting on human DNA. The result was a number of mutated humans in the present day, as well as some of the fearsome mutant creatures seen elsewhere in the series. Notably, Vault 4's citizens ultimately opened their doors to people from the surface in the aftermath of the New California Republic's collapse. Many of their citizens still honor the history of the NCR.

They pray to the Flame Mother even after adjusting to their new home in the Vault. Compared to the rest of Fallout's world, the denizens of Vault 4 are surprisingly kind. Although their traditions seem bizarre to Lucy (setting off a chain of misunderstandings that gets her banished from their community), Vault 4 is shockingly ive. They give her supplies before sending her off into the wastelands. The fact that Lucy and Maximus leave Vault 4 on decent by returning their power core could allow them to return as a potential ally in a prospective Fallout season 2.

5 Filly

Setting The Mood For The Show

Filly is one of the first communities seen in Fallout, serving as an introduction to the world for Lucy and the audience alike. The small town Filly is part of the greater Los Angeles area, and was constructed in 2296. A giant landfill that has been repurposed as a community, Filly operates on a purely transactional status. Some of the town are willing to help for the right price, while others will take any opportunity to enrich themselves at the cost of other's lives. Filly serves a similar function to locations like the town of Megaton in Fallout 3.

The town introduces the broader scope and general tone of civilization outside of the Vaults. Filly has connections to other organizations across the Wastelands, with Ma June working for Maldaver's interests while of the Enclave's families call the town their home. This suggests Filly really does operate as something of an independent player in the overarching Fallout world, as it can be seen as a port for any number of contrasting and even conflicting ideologies. So long as someone has bottle caps, there's a place for them in the town.

4 The Enclave

Trying To Bring Order To The Wastelands

The Enclave, otherwise known as Governmint, is a minor faction encountered by Lucy and the Ghoul in Fallout season 1. The Enclave is run by Sorrel Booker, a former acquaintance of the Ghoul who has risen into power in his corner of the world. He's recruited Sheriffs to enforce his laws, seeking to bring order to the local Wastelands. Booker has also arranged a partnership with a local organ dealer group operating out of a Super Duper Mart. The former shopping center has appeared in multiple Fallout games.

This connection to an openly criminal group suggests Booker is more crimelord than political leader.

It's unclear how dangerous the Governmint will be going into a possible Fallout season 2. The Ghoul dispatches the sheriffs with relative ease, suggesting this faction may be less of a major organization in the show and more indicative of the kinds of criminal gangs that appear in the show. More than anything, the Enclave could be seen as a tease of the other criminal organizations that spring up across the Wastelands, seeking to spread "order" under their banner. The introduction of the Governmint could set the stage for groups like the Triggermen to play a more important role.

3 Raiders

Killers In A World Of Killers

One of the most common kinds of enemies for players to encounter in the Fallout series, the Raiders are a loose collection of criminals and killers that appear across the series. Maldava's attack on Vault 33 utilizes a band of these Raiders, which showcases how deadly and effective they can be in a fight. However, Maldaver has little care for the ones that were captured by Vault 33, leaving them behind to die. Other Raiders appear throughout the season, with a small group of them trying to steal and strip Maximus' T-60c powered armor for parts.

Violent and impulsive, the Raiders are one of the most common threats encountered in the Wastelands, with some even openly eating people. While the Raiders aren't the most deadly threat that the heroes of Fallout encounter on their adventures, they remain a dangerous one due to their deceptively average appearances. Even just an encounter with two ing Raiders late in the season that results in a quick exchange gunfire almost gets Maximus killed, highlighting the inherent danger of the Wastelands.

2 Valut-Tec

How The Company Still Impacts Fallout's Wastelands Centuries After The Great War

The company that designed the Vaults in Fallout, Valut-Tec was a corporate juggernaut before the Great War ravaged the world. As revealed at the end of season 1 of Fallout, Vault-Tec was responsible for the war that ended up destroying the surface world, with several companies investing into Vault-Tec for their own personalized Vaults. While these companies may no longer exist in their original forms in the Wastelands, their influence remains a factor in games and seemingly in the series. The experiments carried out in Vault 4 were imagined by the business moguls who invested in Vault-Tec, for example.

As a result, Valut-Tec's influence is still felt centuries later. Notably, there appears to be some form of Vault-Tec leadership still in the world. Vault 31 is revealed to contain several Vault-Tec employees, who were frozen cryogenically and released to control settings like Vault 33. However, things might change soon enough, with Norm's suspicions potentially setting up the exposure of Vault 31. Season 1 also ends with the reveal that Hank still works for the company, apparently fleeing to their base. This all sets up Vault-Tec as the primary antagonist of a prospective Fallout season 2.

1 Wildcards

No One Controls The Ghoul

In the world of Fallout, several wildcards have little connection to the various factions in the world. Sometimes, these wildcards are motivated solely by singular survival such as the Snake Oil Salesman who eventually sells Thaddeus a "cure" for his injuries that transforms him into a Ghoul. Others are driven by specific personal goals, such as the Ghoul formerly known as Cooper Howard.

This is perhaps the most effective way the show could reflect the player characters in the original Fallout games. The series has always been defined as an open-ended RPG, allowing players to interact with several factions before making a final decision about them regarding their in-universe fate. This fits very well into the ending of Fallout season 1, which sees Lucy, Dogmeat, and the Ghoul venturing into the wastelands to find their traitorous loved ones. These kinds of wildcards help flesh out the dangerous world of Fallout.