Taking place several decades in the future, though designed with a charmingly retro aesthetic, Fallout is 🍷a series of games set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a nuclear holocaust. The U.S. government foresaw this catastrophe and funded a project to build a series of fallout shelters called Vaults. However, instead of acting as a safe habitation for survivors, the Vaults became sites for bizarre and disturbing experiments.

Each Vault was assigned an Overseer, and their experiments on the inhabitants ranged from mildly unethical to horrifying. By the time most of these Vaults w🐠ere opened, they were nothing but tombs, save the handful where something truly creepy could be found living inside.

15 Vault 112

Tranquility Lane

Created by Dr. Stanislaus Braun, the director of the Societal Preservation Program, Vault 112 was home to 85 people, all suspended in a virtual simulation of Braun's own design. He had prototyped various simulations in the past, and the one installed in Vault 112 was called Tranquility Lane.

While conceptually it was meant to allow Dwellers to live perfect virtual lives, Dr. Braun had a more sinister purpose in mind. With administrative privileges over the simulation, he took on the form of a little girl and terrorized his residents. For fun, he'd virtually kill them, wipe their memory, resurrect them, and repeat. Everyone in the simulation was trapped inside by a failsafe, and while Braun had the ability to kill them permanently, he himself could not die. Truly killing his residents meant living alone in Tranquility Lane forever.

14 🍒 🤡 Vault 68 And 69

Gender Inequality

These Vaults may be a paradise for some, but a nightmare for others. Entrance to these Vaults was granted by special selection, prioritizing the few over the man🤡y for their unique specifications. Vault 68 was home to 999 men and one woman, while Vault 69 was home to 999 women and one man.

While details of what transpired in these Vaults and their location are unknown, it leaves some disturbing things to the imagination. Naturally, the population of either vault could not be 💯sustained for more than one or two generations, leaving the Dwellers to die out before they could repopulate.

13 Vault 77

Puppet Man

Featured in an official webcomic by Penny Arcade, this infamous Vault is home to only one man. He was given food, supplies, and a single crate of puppets as part of the Vault's experiment. Only after over a year of panic and depression did he finally open the crate of puppets.

Inside he found a dog, a grandmother, and a king. Slowly slipping into insanity, he gave them each a personality ꧂and put on his own show, treating his puppets as real people. One day, he hears the voice of another puppet in the crate, that of a Vault Boy. Having initially overlooked this one, he begins talking to this seemingly homicidal puppet as more disturbing events unfold. Check out the comic for the full story .

12 Vault 108

Gary's Vault

Vault 108 was originally designed for observi⛄ng power and leadership conflicts. However, it was also the only Vault (besides Vault 8) equipped with clone technology for reproductive and medical purposes. One man, Gary, created 54 clones of himself for research purposes. However, certain flaws in the p꧅rocess caused each clone to be more violent and deranged than the last.

As the Vault became overpopulated, the scientists opted to kill clone subjects to make room for more. But before this could happen, the clones escaped their confinement and took to killing any Dweller that wasn't Gary, eventually wiping out the Vault until only several dozen clones of Gary remained. When the player enters this Vault, all Gary clones, except for the original Gary and a couple of outliers, will attack on sight.

11 Vault 22

Killer Plants

Rather than house the subjects of an insane social experiment, Vault 22 was home to scientists, all working on a method to promote plant growth and 𒅌sustainability while underground. Three species were originally used for the study: a common𝔍 mantis, a kind of Venus flytrap, and a fungus.

While the spores of the fungus were useful in the study, they eventually proved to be toxic to humans, rapidly infecting the Vault's population. After killing the host, the fungus takes over the body and uses it to spread more spores, a chain reaction that forces the survivors of this Vault to flee the often violent spore carriers. After the Vault was abandoned, the other plants flourished and mutated into a more deadly form. Upon arriving at the Vault, the player is greeted by a "stay out" sign, warning them of the danger ahead.

10 Vault 29

The Children Are Our Future

Through "accidental" redirection or careful selection of adults with terminal diseases, Vault 29 became home to only children under the age of 16. Rather than a human Overseer, the Vault would be managed by an AI supercomputer called the Zax. This robotic caretaker was meant to raise and ed𒅌ucate these children so that they may one day be able to venture out into the wasteland and rebuild society.

However, these plans were changed by Diana Stone. Once a brilliant scientist, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer before the war. She underwent an operation in which her brain was connected to a computer. She found the experiment unethical, and at the start of the Great War, assumed control of ZAX using her new form. She sent robotic💞 helpers out into the wasteland to build and prepare a village called Twin Mothe꧋rs. When the children had matured, she sent them there to settle into their new life.

9 Vault 75

The Children Are Our Future (Pt. 2)

Another sanctuary meant only for children, Vault 75 was located beneath a middle school. Any parents or teachers who made their way into the Vault were separated from the children and executed by security. A terrifying experiment then ensued, in which the children were tested for their physical and mental limits. Those who were too weak did not survive, and even those deemed ꦉunfit at "graduation" were also killed. The strongest children were "harvested" for their organs, for the purpose of creating superior genes. Those who showed intellectual promise w🍸ere recruited as scientists to help with the experiment.

Eventually, one of the recen🌱tly graduated scientists helped stage a rebellion, leaving all residents of the Vault either dead or out roaming the wasteland.

8 Vault 87

Forced Evolution

This Vault was the site of medical experiments i🎶n which scientists attempted to force test subjects to undergo biological changes that would allow them to survive in a nuclear wasteland. Subjects were locked in airtight chambers and exposed to the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Many did not survive the experi✅ment. Those who did increased in size and strength, while developing resistances to environmental dangers. This was, however, at the cost of their mental well-being; most turned violent and aggressive.

A year after the experiment's inception, a nuclear event led to the mutants escaping their confinement. Scientists who weren't killed were forcibly exposed to the virus. Mutants were deeply invested in the preservation of their kind, and because they were sterile, they took to kidnapping humans all across the Capital Wasteland and bringing them back to the Vault to be exposed to the FEV.

7 Vault 106

Psychoactive Drugs

Ten days after Vault 106 was sealed, psychoactive drugs were released into the air filtration system. The residents, acting as guinea pigs for this drug testing, were assured that everything was fine when some of them began exhibiting strange neurological symptoms. Eventually, all of them succumbed to the hallucinogenic and went insane. The fate of the Overseer, Dr. Albert Leris, who was aware of the Vault's true purpose, is unknown.

When the player enters this Vault in-game, the drugs are still being pumped through the air system, causing the player's vision to blur. Walking deeper into the drug-filled Vault, you'll see various hallucinations, as well as confront Dwellers who are very much real. Poisoned by the drugs, they'll attack on sight.

6 Vault 36

(Not So) Picky Eaters

While not featured in-game, Vault 36 is featured in the , a collection of lore written by one of the games' designers, . However, Avellone has since confirmed that the Fallout Bible is no longer canon.

Most Vaults were stocked with provisions to last several decades at least. They were also equipped with food synthesizers that would distribute food as ඣneeded. However, Vault 36 was intentionally given a food extruder that only provided a sickening, watery gruel, lacking in most essential nutrients. The fate of this Vault is unknown, though one possibility is that the Dwellers died due to lack of nutrition. Another is that they resorted to cannibalism.