The arrival of Fallout on Prime Video has invited many new fans to the franchise. With the series having five mainline games and many spinoffs, there’s one question that fans have been asking after binging the 8-episode series – is the Fallout TV show canon? The short answer is yes, the show takes place in the same universe as Bethesda’s games.
Why did the fans doubt the show’s legitimacy in canon? Well, the show has some minor inconsistencies within the larger canon, although most of it can be ignored. One major event is the introduction of Shady Sands, a city in the New California Republic that was destroyed by nuclear weapons in the past. The fall of the city, introduced in episode 5, was said to happen in a certain year which would indicate that Fallout: New Vegas is non-canon. This has since been proven false, and to clear up the confusion, an official timeline of the series has been revealed.
Here is the entire timeline of the Fallout franchise.
The Entire Fallout Timeline
Inciting Incident (Nukes Drop) – 2077
The inciting incident that kicked off the entire premise of the franchise takes place in 2077. It seems like a magic number considering that’s also when another notable RPG franchise, CDPR’s Cyberpunk, is set. Nevertheless, the nuclear war between the United States and China destroyed the world on October 23, 2077.
Fallout 76 – 2102
The latest game in the franchise is also one of the earliest in its canon. Bethesda’s Fallout 76, an online multiplayer RPG, is set twenty-five years after the nuclear war. The game takes place in West Virginia.
Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game – 2161
The first Fallout game, developed by Interplay Productions, takes place 84 years after the war. Unlike the later games, the first one was a CRPG. Players take on the role of a vault dweller from Vault 13, set in Southern California.
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel – 2197
Fallout Tactics takes place just over a decade after the blasts. It follows the Brotherhood of Steel and puts more focus on tactical combat. Unlike the first two Fallout games, Fallout Tactics takes place in the Midwest. Many elements of the game have been utilized in Bethesda’s games following the transfer of rights post-Fallout 3.
Fallout 2 – 2241
The second game in the series, developed by Black Isle Studios, takes place 80 years after Fallout 1. It does contain a direct link to the first game, as players take on the role of the grandchild of the first game’s protagonist. It is set on the west coast of the United States.
Fallout 3 – 2277
The first game from Bethesda, and the first one to be presented with a first-person view. Fallout 3 takes place in the Capital Wasteland around Washington, D.C. Despite being set in the capital and nearly 40 years after Fallout 2, it features no direct connections to that game, which ended with the protagonist killing Dick Richardson, the President of the United States.
However, it is revealed that Eden, a supercomputer, took over the Enclave after Richardson’s death. Fallout 3’s protagonist is a resident of Vault 101.
Fallout: New Vegas – 2281
Regarded by many as the best game in the series, Fallout: New Vegas takes place in the eponymous city over 200 years after the Great War. The game shows three major factions at war – the New California Republic, Caesar’s Legion, and Robert House. We get to know more about the NCR in the Fallout TV show.
Spoilers: With the ending of the Fallout TV show teasing New Vegas as the primary setting for season 2, we expect it to tie into the game.
Fallout 4 – 2287
Fallout 4 takes place ten years after the third game, this time following a resident of Vault 111. The game is set in The Commonwealth, an area that covers Boston and parts of New England. It’s the first game to have a section set in 2077, showing life from the point of view of residents on the day the bombs dropped.
Fallout TV show – 2296
Finally, the latest project in the series is also officially set in the far future, at least compared to the games. Set ten years after Fallout 4, the show explores the wasteland of Los Angeles. It also delves more into the history of Vault-Tec, exploring the interconnected vaults 31, 32, and 33. It also explores the origin of Vault Boy, the franchise’s iconic mascot.
The timeline was shared by Emil Pagliarulo, Studio Design Director at Bethesda Game Studio. With more seasons of Fallout planned, and Bethesda working on Fallout 5 after the release of The Elder Scrolls 6, the timeline of the universe is only going to get more complicated.
We’ve only covered the official Fallout projects, but there are plenty of mods and fan-created stories that explore other periods and locations in the universe. For example, Fallout London, a recent mod, is set in 2237 between the events of Fallout 1 and 2.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The Fallout live-action series adaptation is streaming on Prime Video.
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