Summary
There are many evil groups and factions in theFalloutshow, but the series has given eight hints that the Enclave is the worst of the bunch. Thedifferent factions ofFalloutare usually used to highlight something wrong with the Wasteland, and illustrate how morally graythe world ofFalloutreally is. While all of them are flawed, there’s one faction that has been far more evil than all the rest throughout the entire franchise: the Enclave. It’s been the antagonist of several games in the series, and there’s a fair bit of evidence suggesting the Enclave will also be the antagonist of theFalloutshow.
The Enclave was essentially a group of powerful people - politicians, military officials, and corporate executives - who were part of a deep state organization before the apocalypse. They wanted to keep their power over the United States even after the bombs fell, and they did quite a few horrendous things to stay in control. The group terrorizedFalloutfor decades, and it even reappeared in the show, albeit briefly. While the Enclave’s cameo inFalloutseason 1 was short, there are eight hints that the group will play a much bigger, and more antagonistic, role inFalloutseason 2.
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8The Fallout Franchise Loves To Use The Enclave As Its Main Antagonist
The Enclave Was The Main Villain Of Fallout 2 & 3 & A Secondary Villain For The Rest Of The Franchise
One of the biggest hints that the Enclave will be a major villain of theFalloutshow comes not from the show itself, but rather from the franchise as a whole.The Enclave has been the main antagonist of bothFallout 2andFallout 3, and the group earned its designation as villains handily. One of the main goals of the Enclave was to carry out a genocide against anyone with mutated DNA, which amounted to everyone afterFallout’s nuclear apocalypseand the radiation from it. On top of that, the Enclave has been one of the most consistent villains in the entire franchise.
Fallout’s penchant for using the Enclave as its main antagonist is one of the biggest hints that they’ll play the same role in the Fallout show.
The Enclave has been very overtly villainous in the past, but its handiwork has also indirectly caused quite a bit of chaos and misery on its behalf in other installments.The Enclave used the Forced Evolutionary Virus to create many of the monsters inFallout, such as scorch beasts and super mutants. The effects of its inhumane experimentation were everywhere, and the franchise loves to use them as a villain whenever it gets the chance.Fallout’s penchant for using the Enclave as its main antagonist is one of the biggest hints that they’ll play the same role in theFalloutshow.
7The Fallout Show Revived The Enclave - After Fallout 3 Destroyed It
There Must Have Been A Good Reason For The Fallout Show Bring The Enclave Back
Falloutloves to use the Enclave as a stand-in for a purely evil group, but there was one big reason many viewers thought they couldn’t return for theFalloutshow.As the antagonists of bothFallout 2andFallout 3, the Enclave suffered massive losses at the hands of the Chosen One and the Lone Wanderer, respectively. AfterFallout 3, the Enclave had all but been destroyed, and only a few surviving remnants were thought to still be roaming the wasteland. TheFalloutshow, however, brought the group back, which opened the door to it becoming the villain once more.
The creators of theFalloutshow have repeatedly noted that they have the utmost respect for the games' canon. Everything in the show was meant to fit in with existing lore, but their decision to bring back the Enclave seemingly contradicted that.It undid the ending ofFallout 3just to explain Siggi Wilzig’s backstory, even though he could have easily been part of another faction. The only reason such a massive change would make sense is if the Enclave is going to play a major role in the future of theFalloutshow, like by being its main antagonist.
6More Of The Enclave’s Experiments Could Show Up In Fallout Season 2
The Fallout Show Has Already Teased Some Of The Enclave’s Worst Creations
The Enclave is mostly known for its attempted genocide, but it also excelled in another villainous area: inhumane scientific experimentation. During the Sino-American War, before the apocalypse, Enclave scientists helped develop organic weapons, which were essentially animals that were engineered to kill.The most notable example was the super mutant, which was created by infecting a person with a bioweapon known as the Forced Evolutionary Virus. The Enclave did, however, work on several other genetically engineered monsters like centaurs, scorch beasts, and more. The group’s handiwork terrorized the wasteland for decades, and it will likely terrorizeFalloutseason 2 as well.
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TheFalloutshow has already teased a few appearances of some notable Enclave creations.One shot of Siggi Wilzig’s escape showed a super mutant hand poking out of a tarp, which is evidence that the Enclave has continued its research into FEV. The show also explainedDogmeat’s origin, which could introduce cyberdogs.Falloutseason 2 will see Lucy and the Ghoul travel deep into the Mojave wasteland as well, which should mean that they’ll encounter even more of the Enclave’s worst monsters. If its creations are going to be a problem in the upcoming season, it isn’t a stretch to think the Enclave itself will be too.
5The Brotherhood Of Steel Is A Fierce Enemy Of The Enclave
The Brotherhood Of Steel Needs A New Enemy After Wiping Out The NCR
The Brotherhood of Steel has always been a major faction inFallout, but the show took it to a new level via Maximus.As a newly named Knight and one of the show’s main characters, Maximus makes it likely thatFalloutseason 2 will continue focusing on the Brotherhood. There’s a problem with that, though, as the Brotherhood no longer has any major enemies in the wasteland. It defeated the NCR atthe end ofFalloutseason 1, and Maximus secured the cold fusion chip. IfFalloutkeeps the Brotherhood as a major player in the wasteland, it will need a new enemy for season 2.
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Luckily,Falloutalready has the perfect replacement enemy to face off against the NCR: the Enclave. The Brotherhood wiped out the Enclave on both coasts, and the two factions were mortal enemies. In the West, the Brotherhood was actively hunting down Enclave remnants as late asFallout: New Vegas.TheFalloutshow has also already set up a confrontation between them, as the Brotherhood has the cold fusion chip, and the Enclave will surely want it back. If the two factions were to have their conflict in the Mojave it would be the perfect way to let Maximus interact with Lucy and the Ghoul again.
4The Ghoul Knows Somebody Is Controlling The Wasteland
The Enclave’s Whole Goal Was To Control The World After The Apocalypse
One of theFalloutshow’s most overt bits of foreshadowing came in the finale of season 1, just after Hank MacLean had fled from the Ghoul and Lucy. As he prepared to go after him, the Ghoul told Lucy, “You look out at this wasteland, looks like chaos. But there’s always somebody behind the wheel.“The Ghoul’s line could be referencing Vault-Tec or another pre-war company, but there’s also a very good chance the Enclave is the true power of the wasteland. Hank did blow up Shady Sands on Vault-Tec’s behalf, which indicated the company had quite a bit of power, but the Enclave had more.
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Vault-Tec was a massive company, but it was also just a company. Its main goals were to preserve its leadership’s lives, and to make a profit in the apocalypse. The Enclave, however, was a self-proclaimed extension of the American government, and had all the resources a government would.Vault-Tec had, essentially, the vaults and their personnel, whereas the Enclave had an entire military, power armor, forts, research programs, and more. The Enclave is the only group with the resources, strength, and secrecy necessary to rule the wasteland without most people knowing.
3Hank Is Looking For Help In The Wasteland & Could Find The Enclave
After New Vegas' Destruction, Mr. House Probably Won’t Be Much Help
The last part of the Ghoul’s quote about the ruler of the wasteland, “And that’s who I want to talk to. That’s where your daddy is headed,” also serves as a hint that the Enclave is the group behind the wheel. At the end ofFalloutseason 1, Hank arrived at New Vegas, but he found that it had been destroyed and seemingly abandoned. Like the Ghoul said, he was looking for somebody in charge. If that somebody was Mr. House, he’s likely no longer in much of a position to help Hank, even if he did somehow survive New Vegas' destruction.
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Mr. House’s power is, at best, greatly diminished, and that could lead Hank to search for an even more powerful player, like the Enclave.Fallouthas already hinted that he’s well on his way to the Enclave anyway. During Siggi Wilzig’s escape from the Enclave,Falloutrevealed that the Enclave’s base was hidden somewhere in a mountainous region. The only mountains anywhere near California are the Rocky Mountains, and Las Vegas is directly between them both. It also makes sense that Hank would seek them out, given the Enclave’s connection to Vault-Tec.
2It’s Still Not Clear Who Actually Dropped The Bombs In Fallout
Fallout Has Room To Explore The Origins Of The Apocalypse & Fit The Enclave In
One of the biggest reveals ofFalloutseason 1 came during the Vault-Tec meeting, when Barb said the company would be willing to drop a bomb and start nuclear war.Barb only said Vault-Tec was willing to do that, though, andFalloutnever showed who actually did drop start the apocalypse. It was actually heavily implied thatVault-Tec didn’t drop the bombs. One of the biggest pieces of evidence was that if Barb had known about the bombs, she would have had Janey ready and in a Vault when the bombs dropped, and the fact that she didn’t indicates that she was surprised by it.
If Vault-Tec didn’t start the apocalypse, that means another group who was active before the war had to. It’s possible China really did start the apocalypse, but it’s just as likely that the Enclave could have been behind it all.Fallout 4revealed that the president and members of the Enclave had hidden themselves in bunkers months prior to the apocalypse, meaning the group knew what was coming. It’s not clear exactly how the Enclave fits intoFallout’s apocalypse, but the start of the apocalypse was a major part ofFalloutseason 1’s pre-war story. The show will almost certainly reveal who was responsible in an upcoming season.
1There Could Have Been An Enclave Representative At The Vault-Tec Meeting
Barb Howard Seemed To Obey A Shadowy Figure At The Vault-Tec Meeting
The Vault-Tec meeting also potentially had an even bigger connection to the Enclave. At one point during the meeting, Barb looked up to a person who was watching the meeting from the shadows for approval before she revealed the vault experiments. This person that Barb looked to, seemingly for approval, could have been a representative of the Enclave.IfFalloutdoes confirm the Enclave was at the Vault-Tec meeting, it would be proof of their collaboration, and a sign that the Enclave is involved in all of Vault-Tec’s shady dealings in the wasteland. That would even fit with the original inspiration forFallout.
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Timothy Cain, the original creator ofFallout, revealed the true purpose of Vault-Tec’s vaults, and how the Enclave helped that happen.Barb explained that many of Vault-Tec’s vaults were designed as experiments to “create the perfect conditions for humanity,” and Cain said the Enclave was the real reason for this goal. The Enclave wanted to build a multi-generational spaceship to take its members to a new planet after the apocalypse. The experiments were designed to figure out how to have people living in close quarters for so long, which is why there was such a focus on cryogenics in different vaults.
With such an overt connection between the Enclave and Vault-Tec, there’s quite a bit of evidence that the Enclave will at least show up inFalloutseason 2. If it does appear, the Enclave would fit perfectly withFallout’s tone and themes. The franchise has always offered a critique of the powers that be, the ones that ruined the world, and the Enclave is a group that was designed to be exactly those powers. It will be interesting to see what the Enclave could have in store, and what their involvement could mean for the future ofFallout.
Fallout
Cast
Set 200 years after an apocalypse, Fallout follows residents of luxury shelters as they re-enter a post-nuclear world. Confronted with a bizarre and violent landscape, the series explores the stark contrasts between their sheltered existence and the harsh realities of the outside universe.
