Mutation as Metaphor: The Politics and Values of the Original Fallout
Deep under the ground, I found an evil that was behind the mutants and their army. Within a dark and forbidding Vault, where the walls dripped with human flesh, and the screams of the dying echoed through the halls, I found many evil creatures and mutants.
Walking among the misshapen ones, I killed one of their servants and took his clothing. Hidden from casual searches, I made my way to the bottom of the Vault. The deeper into the Vault I went, the more gruesome the journey. More and more flesh was to be found, integrated into the very walls. The worst part of it was that the flesh was still alive, and even aware of my presence.
After a while, I found myself in the presence of the most hideous sight yet. I still cannot bring myself to write of this discovery, but let it be known that when I left, the Beast was dead and the Master of the mutant army was no more.
— Vault Dweller’s Memoir
The Master, the final boss of the original Fallout was not, in fact, the final boss of the original Fallout. He was never even the real problem, although he was, in some ways, the progenitor of it. To understand why, we first have to admit that the first Fallout presents the player with a deeply political narrative and that narrative makes definitive value statements…
