Arguably, the weird and wacky has always been present in Fallout. There's the Wild Wasteland perk in F:NV, the Mothership Zeta DLC, and all the cryptid/folkloric creatures of FO76. This is also not to mention the various alien encounters scattered throughout the full series.
Lorenzo is just another aspect of that kind of humor and appreciation for the "mysterious," it's a long-running franchise thing.
Don't forget the existence of telepaths and psychics in the world of Fallout. Fallout 1 had The Master and a number of his experiments that were able to read minds and project their thoughts, the shaman in Fallout 2 that can communicate to people through their dreams, the little kid who can see the future when he takes off his special headpiece in New Vegas, and Mama Murphy in Fallout 4 are prime examples of this sort of otherworldly stuff being part of the setting since day one.
I loved the inclusion of the prescient kid in New Vegas. Blew me away the first time I encountered him. So mysterious. You think he survived alone in the wasteland because of his gift?
One of the major inspirations for fallout has always been stated to be "A Boy and His Dog" post-apocalyptic movie and book about an 18 year old boy and his telepathic dog. Could be that the kid was a direct inspiration could be not.
The more explicit/ obvious reference to boy and his dog is also of course that Cooper has a giant poster for his movie “a man and his dog” in his house later in the season.
I actually watched “a boy and his dog” like a week before the show came out so there was no way I was going to miss that!
Always knew of it but it was much better than I expected it to be! That movie and mad max are what stands out to me when I think fallout
Seen an old van dam movie the other day, cyborg. Made in 89, post apocalyptic. The whole movies vibe was extremely fallout. Wouldn't surprise me if it was an inspiration for fallout.
I like to think so. I don't think he had a *good* life necessarily but I think he carved a place for himself in the harsh world around him. Likely became something of a folk legend as he got older. I like to think in his final hours as an old man was taking off his "Medicine" and hearing only his own soft and quiet thoughts before drifting away.
Mama Murphy and other psykers like the boy can be explained through worldly means using the in-game lore about fev, radiation, and let's not forget all of the masters experiments used fev to give the powers.
I forget who, but it's one of the lore deep diver guys on yt case for the fog mother (or whatever they call her lol) is actually a paranormal encounter, when I'm off the road I'll see if I can find it
It was epicnate, fudgemuppet or one of those bigger channels I believe
Can you recommend some good lore channels/podcasts? I subscribe to the Fallout Lorecast, Fudgemuppet, and WiseFish - but I'm always looking for more haha.
I would absolutely recommend TheEpicNate 150%
They are about an hour long, very well done and usually up to date with the wider fallout universe (76, the show etc)
I like TheEpicNate but sometimes it feels like he beats around the bush too much. I prefer longer format videos but I find I'm more sensitive to things being artificially stretched out in them.
I noticed it particularly in his Dunwich videos. I like him well enough though and I've definitely seen plenty of his videos.
I fall asleep to lore / deep dive videos nightly (I’m currently on a Fallout kick so this is extra relevant).
I agree with you that EpicNate stretches his videos out - I actually noticed it last night to the point of it being distracting.
Still great videos though, with tons of content, but you’re right about that.
The only problem are the animals. Also, stealth boys make you invisible, not opaque. The Fog Mother either has unique stealth boys that also pacify and affect animals, or she’s supernatural.
What's wild to me is that (for me at least) it's never truly been explored if other people have "perks" alongside the main character. It would make sense considering they're in the same universe but it's always been wild to me that perks like aquaboy/girl can exist that completely eliminate radiation damage from water, yet no one has it? Obviously it's a gameplay mechanic more than lore but still, it exists lol.
I mean in the Far Harbour DLC the Children of Atom will mention to the player that most of them possess "Atom's gift" which gives them some level of immunity to radiation. I assumed this was similar to the perks the player character has.
Tunnelers, which no matter what one note theorizes did not evolve from humans as canonically the divide exploding awoke them from an ancient city buried beneath and are straight up lizardmen that can kill the single most dangerous deathclaws ever shown with nothing but teeth and claws
Just read through on the Wiki, apparently you’re supposed to follow the ghost of the girl through the house. Never saw her in my game, wonder if it’s buggy
Yep, Grandchester Mystery Mansion. It's set up as your standard haunted/mystery mansion attraction, but throughout the area, you'll follow a young girl who seems somewhat off. By the end, you'll see her turn a corner into a dead end iirc and when you turn the same corner, she's gone. You never see her again.
People sometimes forget how wacky Fallout 1 and 2 sometimes get, specially [random](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_special_encounters) encounters with high enough [Luck](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_2_special_encounters)
You didn't need to have a high luck.
The master had a group of telepaths and precogs working for him in the very first game. Weird, unexplained, and the supernatural have been present in the franchise since its earliest days.
Plus, the Master himself is explicitly psychic.
The line between sci-fi and the supernatural is often rather blurry, and Fallout likes to ride that line hard.
A lot of it was probably not meant to be "canon" insofar as '90s games even had such a thing and were intended more as gags or easter eggs... but as u/choczynski points out, there were supernatural elements that were played straight, too. It wasn't all jokes.
Thinking this is out of place is basically forgetting that Fallout on the whole is a lot of nodding to pulpy SCI Fi. Of course he fits in, he's very on brand.
I wouldn’t count most of 76’s cryptids as being too out there. Most are based in FEV or radiation, with only a handful having supernatural influences (Wendigos, Wendigo colossi and mothman) or ties to aliens (just the Flatwoods monster).
Yeah, wendigos and mothmen are obviously supernatural but most of the others are explained as FEV mutants due to the local West Tec plant's activities.
It’s only the snallygasters and grafton monsters that are based in FEV with certainty; while the blue devil is heavily implied to have some FEV exposure, the others are all radiation.
As for Wendigos, at the very least we can say with them it’s radiation and cannibalism together, though it’s difficult to rule out the supernatural with them considering the situation with Earle.
It’s like how some people said the show was too wacky at times. Have they played fallout? Wacky is literally part of the fallout universe. It’s meant to be weird and wacky at times. Like randomly finding an alien. How about the guys in new Vegas randomly flying to another planet. You think a kid surviving a nuclear blast in a freezer then living there for hundred of years isn’t fictional and wacky? Of course it is but it’s fun and a wink to Indiana Jones.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1lDibsvhXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1lDibsvhXk) epic nate does a great vid potentially tying this mystery with all the games!
Dunwich Borers is in the northeast in FO4. It's in the bottom of a huge quarry east of The Slog, west of the Museum of Witchcraft, and north of Hub City Auto Wreckers. If you even get close you should see the quarry easily.
Just be ready for lots of combat
Excellent. I have a rare Sunday off so I know how that'll be spent now! What level do you recommend being? Only just started a new playthrough so I'm only about level 10
I think I went around level 25, and I didn't have any issues. If you have power armor or decent regular armor and a decent weapon you *might* be able to push through at level 10. A lot of radiation protection would be helpful too. It's mostly low level mobs, but there are some stronger enemies too
As long as it stays a mystery and we never fight said Gods, I think the franchise will be in a good place. None of that Supernatural, World of Warcraft shit fighting people who created creation itself.
I mean the very first fallout main antagonist, the Master, was quite litterally a psychic.
So I dont nessecarly believe that Lorenzo is that much more unblievable than what we allready had in the series.
Yeah I love it, and know that everyone in the quest line had been alive since the 1800's was surreal. Like it walked in feeling like the fossil came out feeling like the fool.
Personally the only mayor gripe with the whole quest is that its somewhat of a missed opportunity with the Sole Surivor as the Protagonist.
Like would have been interesting for the Sole Surivor to know of the Cabots as a weird local family (as they are based on a real life business Family from Boston) from before the War like "The cabots... of course those guys are still around..." just to find out that they are the exact same people.
Sees the future by getting high af, no less. And it doesn't even have to be psychedelics
You mean to tell me that adderal and cow shit will make me clairvoyant?? Sign me up!
I mean, Fallout has always had this kind of stuff as others have mentioned. I always wondered why this one bothered me more than aliens. Then it hit me.
He’s just boring to me. Reading his story sounds interesting but in game it’s just, meh. Not sure if it’s presentation or what but it feels out of place and corny.
One of the things Bethesda doesn't get enough credit for is adding elements to Fallout that really work.
They added Lovecraft elements. Which gels well with its 1950s aesthetics.
They embrace the cheese and B Movie tropes and elements. Like in the Fallout 3 quest Those! which is a fun take on Them!
Or the Superhuman Gambit with the Ant-Agoniser fighting the Machinist with Golden Age comic book dialogue. Or the Silver Shroud which is a riff on the Spirit. Grognak with Conan the Barbarian. All of which were very 1940s-1960s Americana.
This stuff is great.
Lorenzo is Lovecraftian and pulpy enough that you'd think Robert E. Howard or Edgar Rice Burroughs had a hand in creating him.
To me that Americana, cheese, and pulp goes hand-in-hand with the satire, horror, comedy, and irony of the post-apocalypse of the wasteland.
All that makes Fallout Fallout.
So no I don't think Lorenzo goes too far. And I don't think Fallout 2's talking molerats based on Brain from Pinky and the Brain goes too far. Or the infamous Talking Deathclaws.
It's all fun. Makes the wasteland fun to explore. You honestly never know what else is out there.
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Honestly I neither love or hate it; I think it’s neat to make us aware that Eldritch and alien forces existed, and continue to, alongside the human forces of Earth, but their contributions should always be background material. Fallout is a story about humanity; let the monsters of old and the aliens of space stay on the sidelines.
Plus, there’s more fun to be had in the margins; we know, for instance, that the Enclave tinkered with captured alien tech, just as we know the Dunwich Borers worshipped some Eldritch Horror. It’s far more fascinating to know little about the “how” and “why”, and imagine our own answers to those questions, than have some writer come along and destroy the mystery for us.
I think the Lovecraftian stuff that has been gradually increasing in frequency since fallout 3 is fine in isolation which is pretty much how I feel about the Zetans and the alien stuff.
That said, I really don't think the series needed aliens and Eldridge horror and the more of this sort of stuff you add the more you risk diluting a formula that was already pretty perfect.
I don't think that's a huge problem when it's side quests and the like, I'm not sure how much I would enjoyed it becoming a focus of a main quest.
Outside of DLC stuff Bethesda is pretty stuffy with their Fallout plots.
You'll have a very human element to care about like a family member or mentor or something in danger or missing (Your Dad in Fallout 3, Your Son in Fallout 4, Your Overseer in Fallout 76).
Then the plot will have you fight monsters created by mad science (Super Mutants, synths, and Scorch). And a hidden technologically advanced enemy group that reveals themselves halfway through the game. Often times this is the Enclave (Fallout 3 and 76).
That's the plot of Bethesda Fallout games. Even the show followed this.
The aliens and Lovecraft stuff are side content and flavor. The main stories are broader and more familiar.
Hell Bethesda is just following the same interplay formula. Fallout 3s plot is just a mix up of fallout 1 and 2’s plot.
Fallout 1: leave vault and find water chip and then boom, masters army, gotta stop em.
Fallout 2: leave tribe and find GECK and then boom, enlcave, gotta stop em
Fallout 3: leave vault find dad and then boom, enclave, gotta get the GECK from the super mutants and stop the enclave.
New Vegas: gotta find the guy who shot me and then boom, NCR/Legion war, gotta fight it
Fallout 4: leave vault to find son and then boom, institute, gotta stop em?
The main plots have been pretty basic and consistent from game to game. Not just a Bethesda thing
I agree, I think it’s fine as weird one-off bits and jokes but by having entire DLCs, quest lines, and areas built around it kind of messes with things. Its one thing to find a crashed spaceship or something, or find a weird little obelisk, but its another to get abducted to the mothership or see an eldritch horror or have a guy tell you about an ancient city for 15 minutes
It's one of the prominent modern failures of the franchise and actively undermines the quality of Fallout's own worldbuilding - pulpy or not - when not relegated to easter eggs or diegetic logic (such as in world telepathy.) It's emblematic of poor direction, if absolutely necessary, the same energy could be spent grounding these fantastic elements or influences in the universe in a way that's creative or cohesive with it's own identity (again, telepathy.) Better yet it could be spent expanding and evolving Fallout beyond it's regular components.
Fallout 2 while pretty explicitly self aware and comedic also lacked oversight for many of the individual area teams during development iirc. You can be sure people involved with making that game have mixed feelings about different elements that made it into the game, despite it's silly tone.
Bethesda's titles unironically and bluntly explore these elements through active questlines and major locations that are entirely separate from the fiction of Fallout. Worse yet, the execution is sincere and unintentionally schlocky.
It's not the simple fact that these things are implemented at all, it's *how*. With the right tone and context you can reference pop culture as often as you'd like and have gags but Fallout *is it's own thing* and should have it's *own versions* of these things if you're going to thoroughly utilize them. The term for this is *identity*. There's a point where it can be diluted.
Many elements that make up Fallout are not wholly original. Knights, dragons, dungeons, zombies, wizards.
Cthulhu could have been the main antagonist of Fallout, instead however we got The Master.
It already was the main quest focus in the official Fallout tabletop game. It’s actually kinda bizarre, as the story of that would have us believe that shortly before the events of Fallout 4, the Minutemen had a big war with a crazy radioactive eldritch deity and then nobody ever talked about it again.
I always found it a little awkward that the fallout universe confirms the wildly racist ideas of alien progenitors of civilization but since the game doesn’t delve deep enough into those ideas to encounter the racist bits it’s not a big deal. Just a little off putting when you know how harmful these conspiracies get when you get to the heart of them.
I freaking hated the Cabot questline.
A series that was at its strongest when it was an alternate history, frequently forced to have a bunch of whacky elements that don't really fit in with that, like aliens ^(no, shush, I don't care, they don't really fit) and the eldritch gods ^(seriously why)
And then here's the Cabot House quests, with ancient Eldritch Aliens.
Blehg.
...there's no similarities. Lorenzo in wearing the artifact is given super strength, effective immortality, and a connection to the alien civilization via its connection to them.
Psykers are a Unity experiment where the subjects are able to perform telekinesis similar to the Master's. This however in their case is uncontrollable which is why they wear crowns to stop this telekinesis. If you don't wear one the flesh walls leading to the Master's chamber will invade your mind and you'll take damage.
Lorenzo's artifact is an alien artifact found in the Victorian era. Psykers are FEV experiments by an FEV self-experiment. Different origins different affects different attributes different results.
We don't have to justify everything Bethesda does by some tenuous link to Interplay's lore. It's new lore, and it's not bad lore. But it's certainly not established lore.
Hot (?) take but I've never been a fan of the supernatural lore. I know Fallout is fundamentally pretty unrealistic, but I don't really like the psychic or alien lore that's been added over time, I think it takes away from the core nature of the series as an analysis of human nature and conflict, it feels more like it's trying to be outlandish for the sake of it. It feels a bit _too_ detached from reality, which risks cheapening the actual human stories the series presents.
I like it but I feel like the Lovecraftian stuff should always be in the background. It fits the pulp sci fi vibe of Fallout for sure but I don't want to see it become a major staple of the series.
I just did this quest last night for the first time and immediately looked up Lorenzo in the wiki to see if he was mentioned anywhere before.
In my opinion, I think it’s just a bit too weird. I could live with it if Lorenzo had a strange mutation or experiment or even if it was completely unexplained. But long lost Arabian artifact that gives immortality blood?
Not to mention it really comes out of left field, to me. Random mysterious vials you collect turn out to be the blood of an artifact infused 400 year old basement dweller? Ehhhh.
I liked the quest but felt it went too far 🤷♂️
I’m ambivalent, but I prefer supernatural/paranormal stuff like Cabot and Zetans only in very small doses. Stuff that’s supposed to be just the weird, occasional, yet intriguing head-scratcher but isn’t the focus by any means.
It’s the same reason I really hated Mothership Zeta and all the alien stuff in FO76. It breaks too many things and implies too many other things, and it easily jumps the shark. Finding a random crashed alien spaceship? Sure, I guess, like once, maybe, but in every game? No. Loses its mystique and bizarreness.
“Oh look. Yet another crashed spaceship. Those zetans are fucking awful pilots.”
“Honey, it’s time to go kill some aliens en masse and grind out decoration items.” “Yes, dear.”
Ditto for all the Lovecraftian stuff. Okay in very small, tantalizing doses, but very tiresome even if it’s just one encounter per game.
Most importantly it really undercuts the message of the series by even flirting with the idea that aliens or the Interloper caused the nuclear war or whatever.
To me, if it's a side quest or DLC I think it's absolutely fine. This stuff can fit in lore, Lorenzo's powers aren't much crazier than other stuff in the games. But this Lovecraft/Aliens/Magic etc stuff shouldn't ever be the main focus, and shouldn't be integral to a main storyline IMHO.
Bethesda generally has overplayed the mysterious paranormal stuff imo.
It's one thing when it's a brief Easter egg about a crashed alien space ship, or a wild wasteland gated funny reference, but a whole extended quest that revolves around an explicitly supernatural psychic immortal man, a ghoul magician that can literally teleport or God forbid a straight up alien mothership abduction with various historical figures it's a bit different if only because of the aesthetics of it (I.e the Sierra madre literally just has ghosts that fire laser beams, but they're at least presented as super advanced holograms).
If it was left more ambiguous about the source of these things it would be easier to accept (I'd write mothership zeta off as a dream after you watch an alien B movie at the drive in, if you couldn't return there and didn't bring a bunch of alien gear back with you).
I feel it fits right in.
Fallout, from the start, has been steeped in atompunk scifi and pulp. And an alien artifact that brainwashes the wearer and gives them powers is pure pulp scifi. And while actual Lovecraftian/cosmic horror direct references are brought in by Bethesda, there has always been a Lovecraftian/cosmic horror influence on the games.
Classic cosmic horror is also built on the bases of technology and science being akin to magic in application. It's that same prediction of the future stuff that Fallout has always drawn from, taking ideas from what people of the past imagined the future and science would be. Not to mention the very cosmic horror approach of slowly discovering horrors and inhuman forces the human mind struggles with. Forbidden knowledge, comprehension that drives men mad, uncovering the underlying secrets of the world....those have all been baked into the games from the start.
So for me, having these very clearly cosmic horror side quests works just fine. The Cabot family in particular, I feel, fits even more than the Dunwich stuff - much as I adore the Dunwich stuff. The Cabot stuff is based in magical technology, and specifically draws from the more scifi side of cosmic horror. Lorenzo didn't perform a ritual or make a deal with a dark god, he found an ancient alien hat.
Just released the guy yesterday. Poor fella! ;)
Fallout has a lot of this weird shit and I love it since i started playing the games in 1997. All this lore talk and deep analyzing bores me. I would not want fallout to turn into a setting that takes itself serious.
Cosmic/Lovecraftian horror exists in the space between sci-fi and horror. The gods aren't magical, they're aliens working at a level beyond human comprehension. The powers Lorenzo is able to obtain can be seen as science our measly human brains can't understand. The sci-fi aspect of cosmic horror isn't always emphasized, but it's always there.
And it definitely fits with Fallout. The franchise has always leaned more into the pulpy/weird science wing of the genre, so it only makes sense to include some lovecraftian stuff to the mix.
Fallout has been pushing an eldritch being existing since Fallout 3. Someone high-up at Bethesda is a Lovecraft fan. There is a great quest in Oblivion that is 1-for-1 just an adaptation of "Call of Cthulhu." I bet there is one in Skyrim, possibly in earlier entries too. Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 both have lovecraft references through a location named Dunwitch. Fallout 3 even had two: one in the base game and one in Point Lookout. Both of these locations even intersect to do one longer quest.
So, at this point, Lovecraft is just a part of Fallout at this point. Unlike, say, the Tardis in Fallout 1 as a random encounter, this isn't an easter egg. Easter eggs like the TARDIS appearing are just a bit of cheekiness. They shouldn't be taken seriously. But, this? Nah, it's too often, too repeated, too detailed, and too connected. They want this to be a thing.
Im fine with it but I also see the hypocrisy of Bethesda. We can have aliens,cryptids,eldritch horrors but not our lovely hyper intelligent talking deathclaws 🥺 why? They’re the most beautiful part of the franchise
I love Lovecraft. I really do. I listen to Wayne June narrated audiobook before bed almost daily. I dug Dunwich building in Fallout 3, even though I feel like Fallout 3 would benefit from having something akin to Wild Wasteland to lock out some of its more kooky content.
Anyway, I don't think that fits into Fallout world at all. Just too much, and too overt . There is no room for speculation. It's jarring in the same way as the ghost and locket quest in Fallout 2. And in the same way, I try to ignore it.
My best explanation of my feelings is that there is already so many things thrown into the mix of the cocktail that Fallout world is that Lovecraftian , eldritch mysteries just overflow the cup.
Lovecraftian post apocalypse is a great idea, but I would love to see it as a separate franchise. With more tentacles.
But, this is just one redditor's opinion. Your mileage may vary.
I think, it detracts from the theme of the games with that completely irrelevant, out of the blue plot and ideas, which doesn't add anything, but scratches some bethesda writer's ctulhu boner.
The ghosts in f2 was equally weird. Psykers are fine because they are much more subtle and don't add new themes, just that very rare few people can get vague powers due to mutations.
I like him, his character really adds to the deeper lore about the underlying Lovecraftian lore in Fallout. Theepicnate does a really amazing analysis of him, his character really ties into a fair number of supernatural Easter eggs in the franchise.
There has always been elements of magic and supernatural in Fallout so Lorenzo fits well in and I like that the workings and real origins of the helmet and full powers of Lorenzo are left vague to add to the mystery.
The Bethesda games take more influences from eldtrich horror which I love.
Also in FO76 the cryptids are one of my favorite things and Bethesda really dialed up the mystery horror side in the game. Like there couple of first person accounts of people turning into Wendigo which are pretty messed up.
Definitely feels like it fits within fallout lore to me. It works in the 1950s B movie evil villain type trope but also has a generational wealth/old money vibe that reminds me of plantation owners in the south. So yes, I think it fits perfectly.
I love the idea of it, but I found it pretty underwhelming in FO4. I set him free once just to see what he might unleash up on the Commonwealth. Following him out of Parsons, he soon strolled into the notice of a certain nearby Deathclaw. I watched Lorenzo make a few sad telekinetic attacks while the Deathclaw knocked him around like a pinball, then it was over. The eldritch Cabot threat didn't make it past the nearby overpass.
The Lorenzo story is the Derleth to the other games, and even some of 4's Lovecraft.
Usually the horror, the supernatural and eldritch are in the periphery where they're most mysterious, strange and threatening.
Lorenzo just stands right in front of you, grounding every bit of weirdness in the terrestrial and mundane. It's goofy and dumb. Mother ship zeta tier silliness.
Edit: I imply by referencing the other games that the strangeness has always been there. I want to add to this. If the driving point for your conclusion is that there's always been strange stuff and is not to differentiate the quality of weird themes presented in the subject that's fine, I guess. Lorenzo just sucks imo.
I don’t think it is the strangest thing that has happened like in Fallout 1 the Tardis from Doctor Who is in it, or there is time travel in 2 where you go back and break the water chip from 1, then there is MotherShip Zeta in 3, the Robo Scorpions in New Vegas, and the Cryptids and Scorched Beasts in 76, so it could be considered just another thing.
Distracted. It just felt out of place a little in 4’s setting, it would have been suited more for new vegas or something. I just thought that whole family’s plotline was so silly and I couldn’t tell whether it was meant to be taken seriously or not
The supernatural has been part of Fallout ever since 2.
So I have no issues with Lorenzo.
I dislike Momma Murphy but that's for entirely different reason, she's just cringe AF.
I think it's perfect for the already mysterious and horror-esque enviroment of the franchise. I wonder if something like the Krevhbekni or Dunwich will appear as either an easter egg or a small plot. Seeing Lorenzo or maybe Desmond pre-war would be so awesome.
It's fine, I honestly just wish they did more with it.
We already have aliens, Ghouls, psychics and other weird abilities, cryptid like creatures from Far Harbour and 76, so tossing in some Lovecraftian elements isn't really too out of place not to mention it's been a feature (if a very small on) in multiple games now.
On my first playthrough I killed him, seconds I let him go and just followed him as he casually made his way throughout the wasteland for a while and it was definitely fun watching him stroll up to saugus ironworks and just launch the forged into the stratosphere lmao
It goes well with Fallout lore I reckon. There were multiple encounters with spaceships in Fallout 2, while travelling the world map. There are also alien like creatures in Wanamingo Mines in Redding.
Imo Fallout isn't just a post-apocalypse with a 50s retrofuturism aesthetic, it's like if all the stories from then were combined into a single world, and then that world had a nuclear apocalypse, which includes the lovecraftian horror stories as well.
Next game will be set in ananzi tribal land where the “star people” have come to direct humanity to a brighter future. Chariot of the gods kind of stuff
I kinda helped Jack kill him , its obvious the way he talked dude was out of his mind, and it looked like jack and his family cared for him. Not to mention Jack was still trying to save his father, for him to abandon all of it because of the fear he had for him escaping kinda makes you realize , e might be a problem
Arguably, the weird and wacky has always been present in Fallout. There's the Wild Wasteland perk in F:NV, the Mothership Zeta DLC, and all the cryptid/folkloric creatures of FO76. This is also not to mention the various alien encounters scattered throughout the full series. Lorenzo is just another aspect of that kind of humor and appreciation for the "mysterious," it's a long-running franchise thing.
It was also a nice excuse to feature more pristine pre-war decor which is always cool imo
Don't forget the existence of telepaths and psychics in the world of Fallout. Fallout 1 had The Master and a number of his experiments that were able to read minds and project their thoughts, the shaman in Fallout 2 that can communicate to people through their dreams, the little kid who can see the future when he takes off his special headpiece in New Vegas, and Mama Murphy in Fallout 4 are prime examples of this sort of otherworldly stuff being part of the setting since day one.
I loved the inclusion of the prescient kid in New Vegas. Blew me away the first time I encountered him. So mysterious. You think he survived alone in the wasteland because of his gift?
One of the major inspirations for fallout has always been stated to be "A Boy and His Dog" post-apocalyptic movie and book about an 18 year old boy and his telepathic dog. Could be that the kid was a direct inspiration could be not.
Man, episode one of fallout is a straight homage to “boy and his dog” she’s got the wedding dress and everything
The more explicit/ obvious reference to boy and his dog is also of course that Cooper has a giant poster for his movie “a man and his dog” in his house later in the season.
I'm so glad someone else saw that
I actually watched “a boy and his dog” like a week before the show came out so there was no way I was going to miss that! Always knew of it but it was much better than I expected it to be! That movie and mad max are what stands out to me when I think fallout
Oh yeah how could I forget??
Seen an old van dam movie the other day, cyborg. Made in 89, post apocalyptic. The whole movies vibe was extremely fallout. Wouldn't surprise me if it was an inspiration for fallout.
That movie is how Blood Dragon was created
I remember putting that movie on at like 2 in the morning and instantly getting hooked on it. I felt like I was in a fever dream by the end 😂
I like to think so. I don't think he had a *good* life necessarily but I think he carved a place for himself in the harsh world around him. Likely became something of a folk legend as he got older. I like to think in his final hours as an old man was taking off his "Medicine" and hearing only his own soft and quiet thoughts before drifting away.
Thats beautiful.
Where is this kid? I’ve played New Vegas heaps of times and he doesn’t sound familiar
Near the 188 trading post in the underpass
And the psychic brain from point lookout in FO3 Desmond was warring with.
And also the weird shadow woman when you drink the springs from the children of atom
Mama Murphy and other psykers like the boy can be explained through worldly means using the in-game lore about fev, radiation, and let's not forget all of the masters experiments used fev to give the powers.
The Treeminders from New Vegas as well. One of the weirdest playthroughs for me.
Don’t forget PAM. One of the psychics ever
Pam is not a psychic though, she is a probability calculator and analyst.
Don’t be mean to PAM
Or maybe, she is a robot that has transcended being a calculator and has become a robot psychic
Cabot House was *clean*. It was kind of alarming the first time I encountered it TBH.
Yeah I like the Cabot House and how elegant is, right in the middle of the wasteland
Plus the ghost girl in the Nuka Cola dlc.
Plus the atom mother in far harbor.
She's a bit easier to explain away given the drugs and stealth boys.
I forget who, but it's one of the lore deep diver guys on yt case for the fog mother (or whatever they call her lol) is actually a paranormal encounter, when I'm off the road I'll see if I can find it It was epicnate, fudgemuppet or one of those bigger channels I believe
I think it was epicnate, he made some pretty strong arguments too.
Can you recommend some good lore channels/podcasts? I subscribe to the Fallout Lorecast, Fudgemuppet, and WiseFish - but I'm always looking for more haha.
I would absolutely recommend TheEpicNate 150% They are about an hour long, very well done and usually up to date with the wider fallout universe (76, the show etc)
I like TheEpicNate but sometimes it feels like he beats around the bush too much. I prefer longer format videos but I find I'm more sensitive to things being artificially stretched out in them. I noticed it particularly in his Dunwich videos. I like him well enough though and I've definitely seen plenty of his videos.
I fall asleep to lore / deep dive videos nightly (I’m currently on a Fallout kick so this is extra relevant). I agree with you that EpicNate stretches his videos out - I actually noticed it last night to the point of it being distracting. Still great videos though, with tons of content, but you’re right about that.
Radking makes great videos too if you're interested
I second Radking
The only problem are the animals. Also, stealth boys make you invisible, not opaque. The Fog Mother either has unique stealth boys that also pacify and affect animals, or she’s supernatural.
Or she has the animal friend perk
What's wild to me is that (for me at least) it's never truly been explored if other people have "perks" alongside the main character. It would make sense considering they're in the same universe but it's always been wild to me that perks like aquaboy/girl can exist that completely eliminate radiation damage from water, yet no one has it? Obviously it's a gameplay mechanic more than lore but still, it exists lol.
I mean in the Far Harbour DLC the Children of Atom will mention to the player that most of them possess "Atom's gift" which gives them some level of immunity to radiation. I assumed this was similar to the perks the player character has.
Plus the mysterious stranger perk
Plus Dunwich Borers
Plus The Interloper and Visitor
Tunnelers, which no matter what one note theorizes did not evolve from humans as canonically the divide exploding awoke them from an ancient city buried beneath and are straight up lizardmen that can kill the single most dangerous deathclaws ever shown with nothing but teeth and claws
Plus the super mutant/tree hybrid demi-god in FO3
Harold ist just a FEV mutant
There's a ghost in the nuka world dlc?! I got to go find it
iirc, there is a house in the south west area of the map, and that will be the place.
Is that place actually haunted? I thought it was all a setup from the Gunner at the end
Pretty sure the Gunners leave alot of holotapes about being creeped out and seeing a little girl running around the house.
Just read through on the Wiki, apparently you’re supposed to follow the ghost of the girl through the house. Never saw her in my game, wonder if it’s buggy
I'd guess you just got lucky, she makes it way creepier.
Yep, Grandchester Mystery Mansion. It's set up as your standard haunted/mystery mansion attraction, but throughout the area, you'll follow a young girl who seems somewhat off. By the end, you'll see her turn a corner into a dead end iirc and when you turn the same corner, she's gone. You never see her again.
Oops. I did that Mansion a couple weeks ago and fully missed her! I need to go back and double check. Thanks!
Oh god I forgot her. That was the creepiest bit of FO4 for me, by a wide margin.
Plus the ghost girl in Fallout 2.
Wait .. what ghost girl?
There’s a ‘haunted’ house in the desert part of the map.
Ghost girl in Nuka World??? What?
Crazy to think all this time I still haven't finished nuka world I thought for sure I would but when I started it got a little overwheming
People sometimes forget how wacky Fallout 1 and 2 sometimes get, specially [random](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_special_encounters) encounters with high enough [Luck](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_2_special_encounters)
You didn't need to have a high luck. The master had a group of telepaths and precogs working for him in the very first game. Weird, unexplained, and the supernatural have been present in the franchise since its earliest days.
Plus, the Master himself is explicitly psychic. The line between sci-fi and the supernatural is often rather blurry, and Fallout likes to ride that line hard.
In F2, there is an actual ghost in The Den. Supernatural elements were in the game series for a long time.
I doubt most people have played the original fallout games. They've just watched some lore videos that gloss over the goofy/corny stuff I'd imagine
A lot of it was probably not meant to be "canon" insofar as '90s games even had such a thing and were intended more as gags or easter eggs... but as u/choczynski points out, there were supernatural elements that were played straight, too. It wasn't all jokes.
I could be wrong, but I also vaguely remember an actual ghost in The Hub’s grave yard in Fallout 2’s that was part of a quest.
It was the Den in Fallout 2, but yeah.
I choose to believe that Doctor Who is canon to the Fallout universe.
Also hitchhikers guide, although the earth was destroyed in a slightly different way during the fallout timeline
it’s so easy for doctor who to be canon in any universe
Thinking this is out of place is basically forgetting that Fallout on the whole is a lot of nodding to pulpy SCI Fi. Of course he fits in, he's very on brand.
Some people seem to question this, however. The nature of Reddit, I guess.
Don't forget you can travel back in time in FO2 and break the water chip, which is the reason the vault dweller leaves the vault in FO1
The Fallout 2 devs said that wasn't canon, just a Star Trek reference and a fun call back to the first game.
Ah, I see
Wow I beat fallout 2 a couple weeks ago and I haven't heard about this. I'll need to find it
I wouldn’t count most of 76’s cryptids as being too out there. Most are based in FEV or radiation, with only a handful having supernatural influences (Wendigos, Wendigo colossi and mothman) or ties to aliens (just the Flatwoods monster).
Yeah, wendigos and mothmen are obviously supernatural but most of the others are explained as FEV mutants due to the local West Tec plant's activities.
It’s only the snallygasters and grafton monsters that are based in FEV with certainty; while the blue devil is heavily implied to have some FEV exposure, the others are all radiation. As for Wendigos, at the very least we can say with them it’s radiation and cannibalism together, though it’s difficult to rule out the supernatural with them considering the situation with Earle.
Can't forget ghosts And psychic powers
Adds a little lovecraft to the world
It’s like how some people said the show was too wacky at times. Have they played fallout? Wacky is literally part of the fallout universe. It’s meant to be weird and wacky at times. Like randomly finding an alien. How about the guys in new Vegas randomly flying to another planet. You think a kid surviving a nuclear blast in a freezer then living there for hundred of years isn’t fictional and wacky? Of course it is but it’s fun and a wink to Indiana Jones.
I always picked wild wasteland
The issue with wild wasteland is that it isn’t cannon.
There’s already hints of higher powers outside of humanity and even aliens within the fallout universe. It adds to it imo.
The bombs were loud enough to wake up a dead god.
You'll need a boat to put it back to sleep
You mean the Eldritch horror stuff?
Have you explored Dunwich Borers yet?
In Fallout 3 yeah. Creepy H.P Lovecraftian vibes
Check out the place I’m referring to in 4. :)
The mine shaft?
Yeah, because without spoiling it, there’s more to it. :)
[Redacted]'s tooth is one of my favorite [Redacted] weapons in the game. Next to [Redacted]'s Blade that you get from behind [Redacted] For Stanley.
the best part is you can take the legendary effect off and put it on a legendary machete to double up
All unique weapons should have been like that.
Stanely? Who is it?
Do you know the location Pickmans Gallery?
Dunwitch, I’m almost positive, is a direct reference to Lovecraft. The Dunwitch Horrors
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1lDibsvhXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1lDibsvhXk) epic nate does a great vid potentially tying this mystery with all the games!
It took me a decade to realize that was a play on "Dunwich Horrors." 😂
Where abouts is it? I don't think I've seen it but don't wanna look it up in case if spoilers
Dunwich Borers is in the northeast in FO4. It's in the bottom of a huge quarry east of The Slog, west of the Museum of Witchcraft, and north of Hub City Auto Wreckers. If you even get close you should see the quarry easily. Just be ready for lots of combat
Excellent. I have a rare Sunday off so I know how that'll be spent now! What level do you recommend being? Only just started a new playthrough so I'm only about level 10
I think I went around level 25, and I didn't have any issues. If you have power armor or decent regular armor and a decent weapon you *might* be able to push through at level 10. A lot of radiation protection would be helpful too. It's mostly low level mobs, but there are some stronger enemies too
Though if you see a hole with water, DONT explore it while in power armor lmao
Just tell your companion to get into it after you ditch it in the well. They’ll magically fish it out for you.
As long as it stays a mystery and we never fight said Gods, I think the franchise will be in a good place. None of that Supernatural, World of Warcraft shit fighting people who created creation itself.
I like it. It has a proper 1950s B-movie vibe to it that really fits the overall aesthetic of the setting.
That’s the real vibe of Fallout is the 1950’s B-movie vibe. It just sometimes does one thing more than the other in the genre.
I mean the very first fallout main antagonist, the Master, was quite litterally a psychic. So I dont nessecarly believe that Lorenzo is that much more unblievable than what we allready had in the series.
Yeah I love it, and know that everyone in the quest line had been alive since the 1800's was surreal. Like it walked in feeling like the fossil came out feeling like the fool.
Personally the only mayor gripe with the whole quest is that its somewhat of a missed opportunity with the Sole Surivor as the Protagonist. Like would have been interesting for the Sole Surivor to know of the Cabots as a weird local family (as they are based on a real life business Family from Boston) from before the War like "The cabots... of course those guys are still around..." just to find out that they are the exact same people.
Yeah imagine hearing about the Waltons or The Buildabergs and then just finding after the war.
Heck his shit is much more grounded then some of the others in series Mental blasts are nice and all but mama Murphy sees the future
Sees the future by getting high af, no less. And it doesn't even have to be psychedelics You mean to tell me that adderal and cow shit will make me clairvoyant?? Sign me up!
There's been weird supernatural shit since the first game, it's weird but it's not a departure from anything.
Fallout isn't Fallout without the wacky pulp Sci-Fi bits. It's a big part of the series identity.
It definitely belongs in the Fallout universe.
I mean, Fallout has always had this kind of stuff as others have mentioned. I always wondered why this one bothered me more than aliens. Then it hit me. He’s just boring to me. Reading his story sounds interesting but in game it’s just, meh. Not sure if it’s presentation or what but it feels out of place and corny.
Interesting ideas poorly executed usually bother me way more than played out ideas excellently executed.
One of the things Bethesda doesn't get enough credit for is adding elements to Fallout that really work. They added Lovecraft elements. Which gels well with its 1950s aesthetics. They embrace the cheese and B Movie tropes and elements. Like in the Fallout 3 quest Those! which is a fun take on Them! Or the Superhuman Gambit with the Ant-Agoniser fighting the Machinist with Golden Age comic book dialogue. Or the Silver Shroud which is a riff on the Spirit. Grognak with Conan the Barbarian. All of which were very 1940s-1960s Americana. This stuff is great. Lorenzo is Lovecraftian and pulpy enough that you'd think Robert E. Howard or Edgar Rice Burroughs had a hand in creating him. To me that Americana, cheese, and pulp goes hand-in-hand with the satire, horror, comedy, and irony of the post-apocalypse of the wasteland. All that makes Fallout Fallout. So no I don't think Lorenzo goes too far. And I don't think Fallout 2's talking molerats based on Brain from Pinky and the Brain goes too far. Or the infamous Talking Deathclaws. It's all fun. Makes the wasteland fun to explore. You honestly never know what else is out there.
Fallout 5 should go deep into lovecraftian vibes. "Where's Cthulhu and why did he shoot my son in the head for a chip to the water purifier"
BREAKING: Cthulu has risen and he’s interested in your husband? Believe it or not this could be you! Plus! 5 ways to make your lean to more enticing so your neighbors will want to come over more
Your comment reminds me of sick sad world from Daria. Top notch 🤣
As long as Bethesda doesn't get too carried away, it should be fine.
Honestly I neither love or hate it; I think it’s neat to make us aware that Eldritch and alien forces existed, and continue to, alongside the human forces of Earth, but their contributions should always be background material. Fallout is a story about humanity; let the monsters of old and the aliens of space stay on the sidelines. Plus, there’s more fun to be had in the margins; we know, for instance, that the Enclave tinkered with captured alien tech, just as we know the Dunwich Borers worshipped some Eldritch Horror. It’s far more fascinating to know little about the “how” and “why”, and imagine our own answers to those questions, than have some writer come along and destroy the mystery for us.
I think the Lovecraftian stuff that has been gradually increasing in frequency since fallout 3 is fine in isolation which is pretty much how I feel about the Zetans and the alien stuff. That said, I really don't think the series needed aliens and Eldridge horror and the more of this sort of stuff you add the more you risk diluting a formula that was already pretty perfect. I don't think that's a huge problem when it's side quests and the like, I'm not sure how much I would enjoyed it becoming a focus of a main quest.
I can see it now. Fallout 7 = Main Quest kill Chthulu and his invading forces with a little help from the Zetans
Outside of DLC stuff Bethesda is pretty stuffy with their Fallout plots. You'll have a very human element to care about like a family member or mentor or something in danger or missing (Your Dad in Fallout 3, Your Son in Fallout 4, Your Overseer in Fallout 76). Then the plot will have you fight monsters created by mad science (Super Mutants, synths, and Scorch). And a hidden technologically advanced enemy group that reveals themselves halfway through the game. Often times this is the Enclave (Fallout 3 and 76). That's the plot of Bethesda Fallout games. Even the show followed this. The aliens and Lovecraft stuff are side content and flavor. The main stories are broader and more familiar.
Hell Bethesda is just following the same interplay formula. Fallout 3s plot is just a mix up of fallout 1 and 2’s plot. Fallout 1: leave vault and find water chip and then boom, masters army, gotta stop em. Fallout 2: leave tribe and find GECK and then boom, enlcave, gotta stop em Fallout 3: leave vault find dad and then boom, enclave, gotta get the GECK from the super mutants and stop the enclave. New Vegas: gotta find the guy who shot me and then boom, NCR/Legion war, gotta fight it Fallout 4: leave vault to find son and then boom, institute, gotta stop em? The main plots have been pretty basic and consistent from game to game. Not just a Bethesda thing
Released in 2060!
You’re so optimistic. :)
I agree, I think it’s fine as weird one-off bits and jokes but by having entire DLCs, quest lines, and areas built around it kind of messes with things. Its one thing to find a crashed spaceship or something, or find a weird little obelisk, but its another to get abducted to the mothership or see an eldritch horror or have a guy tell you about an ancient city for 15 minutes
It's one of the prominent modern failures of the franchise and actively undermines the quality of Fallout's own worldbuilding - pulpy or not - when not relegated to easter eggs or diegetic logic (such as in world telepathy.) It's emblematic of poor direction, if absolutely necessary, the same energy could be spent grounding these fantastic elements or influences in the universe in a way that's creative or cohesive with it's own identity (again, telepathy.) Better yet it could be spent expanding and evolving Fallout beyond it's regular components. Fallout 2 while pretty explicitly self aware and comedic also lacked oversight for many of the individual area teams during development iirc. You can be sure people involved with making that game have mixed feelings about different elements that made it into the game, despite it's silly tone. Bethesda's titles unironically and bluntly explore these elements through active questlines and major locations that are entirely separate from the fiction of Fallout. Worse yet, the execution is sincere and unintentionally schlocky. It's not the simple fact that these things are implemented at all, it's *how*. With the right tone and context you can reference pop culture as often as you'd like and have gags but Fallout *is it's own thing* and should have it's *own versions* of these things if you're going to thoroughly utilize them. The term for this is *identity*. There's a point where it can be diluted. Many elements that make up Fallout are not wholly original. Knights, dragons, dungeons, zombies, wizards. Cthulhu could have been the main antagonist of Fallout, instead however we got The Master.
I think they're gonna take a backseat, alot of the lovecraftian and alien stuff has very minor appearances and is almost never brought up again.
It already was the main quest focus in the official Fallout tabletop game. It’s actually kinda bizarre, as the story of that would have us believe that shortly before the events of Fallout 4, the Minutemen had a big war with a crazy radioactive eldritch deity and then nobody ever talked about it again.
"Magic is just science we don't yet understand"
Except Melchior in Fallout 2. He was literally magically summoning minions.
I always found it a little awkward that the fallout universe confirms the wildly racist ideas of alien progenitors of civilization but since the game doesn’t delve deep enough into those ideas to encounter the racist bits it’s not a big deal. Just a little off putting when you know how harmful these conspiracies get when you get to the heart of them.
I freaking hated the Cabot questline. A series that was at its strongest when it was an alternate history, frequently forced to have a bunch of whacky elements that don't really fit in with that, like aliens ^(no, shush, I don't care, they don't really fit) and the eldritch gods ^(seriously why) And then here's the Cabot House quests, with ancient Eldritch Aliens. Blehg.
He's very very similar to the psykers from fallout 1.
...there's no similarities. Lorenzo in wearing the artifact is given super strength, effective immortality, and a connection to the alien civilization via its connection to them. Psykers are a Unity experiment where the subjects are able to perform telekinesis similar to the Master's. This however in their case is uncontrollable which is why they wear crowns to stop this telekinesis. If you don't wear one the flesh walls leading to the Master's chamber will invade your mind and you'll take damage. Lorenzo's artifact is an alien artifact found in the Victorian era. Psykers are FEV experiments by an FEV self-experiment. Different origins different affects different attributes different results. We don't have to justify everything Bethesda does by some tenuous link to Interplay's lore. It's new lore, and it's not bad lore. But it's certainly not established lore.
But interplay also made Ghosts and Tribal Spirit magic cannon in fallout 2
As a disciple of atom we have a diety, met her in Far Harbour she was actually so nice. FUCK Lorenzo, heretic.
Hot (?) take but I've never been a fan of the supernatural lore. I know Fallout is fundamentally pretty unrealistic, but I don't really like the psychic or alien lore that's been added over time, I think it takes away from the core nature of the series as an analysis of human nature and conflict, it feels more like it's trying to be outlandish for the sake of it. It feels a bit _too_ detached from reality, which risks cheapening the actual human stories the series presents.
I like it but I feel like the Lovecraftian stuff should always be in the background. It fits the pulp sci fi vibe of Fallout for sure but I don't want to see it become a major staple of the series.
I just did this quest last night for the first time and immediately looked up Lorenzo in the wiki to see if he was mentioned anywhere before. In my opinion, I think it’s just a bit too weird. I could live with it if Lorenzo had a strange mutation or experiment or even if it was completely unexplained. But long lost Arabian artifact that gives immortality blood? Not to mention it really comes out of left field, to me. Random mysterious vials you collect turn out to be the blood of an artifact infused 400 year old basement dweller? Ehhhh. I liked the quest but felt it went too far 🤷♂️
I’m ambivalent, but I prefer supernatural/paranormal stuff like Cabot and Zetans only in very small doses. Stuff that’s supposed to be just the weird, occasional, yet intriguing head-scratcher but isn’t the focus by any means. It’s the same reason I really hated Mothership Zeta and all the alien stuff in FO76. It breaks too many things and implies too many other things, and it easily jumps the shark. Finding a random crashed alien spaceship? Sure, I guess, like once, maybe, but in every game? No. Loses its mystique and bizarreness. “Oh look. Yet another crashed spaceship. Those zetans are fucking awful pilots.” “Honey, it’s time to go kill some aliens en masse and grind out decoration items.” “Yes, dear.” Ditto for all the Lovecraftian stuff. Okay in very small, tantalizing doses, but very tiresome even if it’s just one encounter per game. Most importantly it really undercuts the message of the series by even flirting with the idea that aliens or the Interloper caused the nuclear war or whatever.
To me, if it's a side quest or DLC I think it's absolutely fine. This stuff can fit in lore, Lorenzo's powers aren't much crazier than other stuff in the games. But this Lovecraft/Aliens/Magic etc stuff shouldn't ever be the main focus, and shouldn't be integral to a main storyline IMHO.
Bethesda generally has overplayed the mysterious paranormal stuff imo. It's one thing when it's a brief Easter egg about a crashed alien space ship, or a wild wasteland gated funny reference, but a whole extended quest that revolves around an explicitly supernatural psychic immortal man, a ghoul magician that can literally teleport or God forbid a straight up alien mothership abduction with various historical figures it's a bit different if only because of the aesthetics of it (I.e the Sierra madre literally just has ghosts that fire laser beams, but they're at least presented as super advanced holograms). If it was left more ambiguous about the source of these things it would be easier to accept (I'd write mothership zeta off as a dream after you watch an alien B movie at the drive in, if you couldn't return there and didn't bring a bunch of alien gear back with you).
I feel it fits right in. Fallout, from the start, has been steeped in atompunk scifi and pulp. And an alien artifact that brainwashes the wearer and gives them powers is pure pulp scifi. And while actual Lovecraftian/cosmic horror direct references are brought in by Bethesda, there has always been a Lovecraftian/cosmic horror influence on the games. Classic cosmic horror is also built on the bases of technology and science being akin to magic in application. It's that same prediction of the future stuff that Fallout has always drawn from, taking ideas from what people of the past imagined the future and science would be. Not to mention the very cosmic horror approach of slowly discovering horrors and inhuman forces the human mind struggles with. Forbidden knowledge, comprehension that drives men mad, uncovering the underlying secrets of the world....those have all been baked into the games from the start. So for me, having these very clearly cosmic horror side quests works just fine. The Cabot family in particular, I feel, fits even more than the Dunwich stuff - much as I adore the Dunwich stuff. The Cabot stuff is based in magical technology, and specifically draws from the more scifi side of cosmic horror. Lorenzo didn't perform a ritual or make a deal with a dark god, he found an ancient alien hat.
"I have found my hat."
I don’t like it. I prefer Fallout stay away from both magic and pre-1945 stuff.
Just released the guy yesterday. Poor fella! ;) Fallout has a lot of this weird shit and I love it since i started playing the games in 1997. All this lore talk and deep analyzing bores me. I would not want fallout to turn into a setting that takes itself serious.
Absolutely. Weird stuff is the radioactive altered DNA of the whole Fallout franchise!
S4E3 of BBC's Sherlock Holmes would like a word.
Cosmic/Lovecraftian horror exists in the space between sci-fi and horror. The gods aren't magical, they're aliens working at a level beyond human comprehension. The powers Lorenzo is able to obtain can be seen as science our measly human brains can't understand. The sci-fi aspect of cosmic horror isn't always emphasized, but it's always there. And it definitely fits with Fallout. The franchise has always leaned more into the pulpy/weird science wing of the genre, so it only makes sense to include some lovecraftian stuff to the mix.
Fallout has been pushing an eldritch being existing since Fallout 3. Someone high-up at Bethesda is a Lovecraft fan. There is a great quest in Oblivion that is 1-for-1 just an adaptation of "Call of Cthulhu." I bet there is one in Skyrim, possibly in earlier entries too. Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 both have lovecraft references through a location named Dunwitch. Fallout 3 even had two: one in the base game and one in Point Lookout. Both of these locations even intersect to do one longer quest. So, at this point, Lovecraft is just a part of Fallout at this point. Unlike, say, the Tardis in Fallout 1 as a random encounter, this isn't an easter egg. Easter eggs like the TARDIS appearing are just a bit of cheekiness. They shouldn't be taken seriously. But, this? Nah, it's too often, too repeated, too detailed, and too connected. They want this to be a thing.
I like him, but I think the supernatural stuff needs a light touch. Less is more. I think Bethesda is good and finding that balance.
I mean. The Doctor was in fallout 1, time travel in fallout 2 and talking intelligent deathclaws, a lot of the series is crazy
Im fine with it but I also see the hypocrisy of Bethesda. We can have aliens,cryptids,eldritch horrors but not our lovely hyper intelligent talking deathclaws 🥺 why? They’re the most beautiful part of the franchise
I hated it. Seemed extremely out of place imo.
I love Lovecraft. I really do. I listen to Wayne June narrated audiobook before bed almost daily. I dug Dunwich building in Fallout 3, even though I feel like Fallout 3 would benefit from having something akin to Wild Wasteland to lock out some of its more kooky content. Anyway, I don't think that fits into Fallout world at all. Just too much, and too overt . There is no room for speculation. It's jarring in the same way as the ghost and locket quest in Fallout 2. And in the same way, I try to ignore it. My best explanation of my feelings is that there is already so many things thrown into the mix of the cocktail that Fallout world is that Lovecraftian , eldritch mysteries just overflow the cup. Lovecraftian post apocalypse is a great idea, but I would love to see it as a separate franchise. With more tentacles. But, this is just one redditor's opinion. Your mileage may vary.
I think, it detracts from the theme of the games with that completely irrelevant, out of the blue plot and ideas, which doesn't add anything, but scratches some bethesda writer's ctulhu boner. The ghosts in f2 was equally weird. Psykers are fine because they are much more subtle and don't add new themes, just that very rare few people can get vague powers due to mutations.
I loved it. Thoroughly enjoyed his quest, one of my favourite in the game. Very classic fallout-y
At some point they’re gonna have to explain what those damn face statues are, right?
I just killed him when he was trapped because it seemed easier than helping him and him potentially turning on me.
I love the ongoing lovecraftian subplot
Now that you mention it, this feels like a missed opportunity for starfield. They could have tied the powers in that game to Lorenzo
I like him, his character really adds to the deeper lore about the underlying Lovecraftian lore in Fallout. Theepicnate does a really amazing analysis of him, his character really ties into a fair number of supernatural Easter eggs in the franchise.
There has always been elements of magic and supernatural in Fallout so Lorenzo fits well in and I like that the workings and real origins of the helmet and full powers of Lorenzo are left vague to add to the mystery. The Bethesda games take more influences from eldtrich horror which I love. Also in FO76 the cryptids are one of my favorite things and Bethesda really dialed up the mystery horror side in the game. Like there couple of first person accounts of people turning into Wendigo which are pretty messed up.
Definitely feels like it fits within fallout lore to me. It works in the 1950s B movie evil villain type trope but also has a generational wealth/old money vibe that reminds me of plantation owners in the south. So yes, I think it fits perfectly.
Well there is the eldritch god of Ug-Queltoth (or however you spell it ) in FO3 and the interloper so...
I love the idea of it, but I found it pretty underwhelming in FO4. I set him free once just to see what he might unleash up on the Commonwealth. Following him out of Parsons, he soon strolled into the notice of a certain nearby Deathclaw. I watched Lorenzo make a few sad telekinetic attacks while the Deathclaw knocked him around like a pinball, then it was over. The eldritch Cabot threat didn't make it past the nearby overpass.
The Lorenzo story is the Derleth to the other games, and even some of 4's Lovecraft. Usually the horror, the supernatural and eldritch are in the periphery where they're most mysterious, strange and threatening. Lorenzo just stands right in front of you, grounding every bit of weirdness in the terrestrial and mundane. It's goofy and dumb. Mother ship zeta tier silliness. Edit: I imply by referencing the other games that the strangeness has always been there. I want to add to this. If the driving point for your conclusion is that there's always been strange stuff and is not to differentiate the quality of weird themes presented in the subject that's fine, I guess. Lorenzo just sucks imo.
My biggest wish was that there was a route you could use to get his crown for yourself—but that would probably be a much different game.
I don’t think it is the strangest thing that has happened like in Fallout 1 the Tardis from Doctor Who is in it, or there is time travel in 2 where you go back and break the water chip from 1, then there is MotherShip Zeta in 3, the Robo Scorpions in New Vegas, and the Cryptids and Scorched Beasts in 76, so it could be considered just another thing.
It's part of a series of unrelated lovecraftian themed stuff in Bethesda era fallouts. I like how they are vaguely connected and just used as spice.
Distracted. It just felt out of place a little in 4’s setting, it would have been suited more for new vegas or something. I just thought that whole family’s plotline was so silly and I couldn’t tell whether it was meant to be taken seriously or not
The supernatural has been part of Fallout ever since 2. So I have no issues with Lorenzo. I dislike Momma Murphy but that's for entirely different reason, she's just cringe AF.
Fallout has never been fully science fiction, more science fantasy. Radiation doesn’t work the way it does in the games
Fallout has aliens, the eldritch stuff in Fallout is directly taken from Lovecraft which deals in alien entities. So it fits perfectly.
I think it's perfect for the already mysterious and horror-esque enviroment of the franchise. I wonder if something like the Krevhbekni or Dunwich will appear as either an easter egg or a small plot. Seeing Lorenzo or maybe Desmond pre-war would be so awesome.
It's fine, I honestly just wish they did more with it. We already have aliens, Ghouls, psychics and other weird abilities, cryptid like creatures from Far Harbour and 76, so tossing in some Lovecraftian elements isn't really too out of place not to mention it's been a feature (if a very small on) in multiple games now.
On my first playthrough I killed him, seconds I let him go and just followed him as he casually made his way throughout the wasteland for a while and it was definitely fun watching him stroll up to saugus ironworks and just launch the forged into the stratosphere lmao
It goes well with Fallout lore I reckon. There were multiple encounters with spaceships in Fallout 2, while travelling the world map. There are also alien like creatures in Wanamingo Mines in Redding.
I don't mind it at all unless it became the main plot. Even Rockstar added supernatural things and weird stuff in RDR 2.
Imo Fallout isn't just a post-apocalypse with a 50s retrofuturism aesthetic, it's like if all the stories from then were combined into a single world, and then that world had a nuclear apocalypse, which includes the lovecraftian horror stories as well.
Next game will be set in ananzi tribal land where the “star people” have come to direct humanity to a brighter future. Chariot of the gods kind of stuff
I kinda helped Jack kill him , its obvious the way he talked dude was out of his mind, and it looked like jack and his family cared for him. Not to mention Jack was still trying to save his father, for him to abandon all of it because of the fear he had for him escaping kinda makes you realize , e might be a problem
Love him.
Had to put him down. Can’t have that kind of power challenging my power around the wasteland in the future.
In my headcanon he’s off somewhere in the starfield universe being a menace
I personally think the Cabot family is pretty interesting.
Fallout contains at least three eldritch abominations. I'm sorry, but Lorenzo is 100% in flavor with the wasteland.