Summary
One strange detail fromFallout: New Vegascould have a multitude of implications for the franchise.Falloutis known for its wacky but innovative science explored across the games. These creations often remain in the realm of possibility, but push the boundaries of what an advanced scientific nation could come up with. The 1950s theme that the franchise follows also helps to ground the advanced science into a world built around it.
ThoughNew Vegas’s history and loreare the standouts from the entry, the disembodied brains present prove to be an underrated feature. These brains are kept alive through the franchise’s technology and are shown to be capable of moving from body to body. The exact methods are never fully explained, but it is shown that as long as the brain is kept healthy, this process can be repeated forever. In that regard, assumptions can also be made that parts of these technologies help keep brains from degrading due to age.
How Fallout: New Vegas' Disembodied Brains Work
A Product Of Fallout’s Wacky Science
In the questline of the popularOld World BluesDLC, the player is transported to an old lab of pre-war scientists that removes their brain. These scientists are also brains living in machines looking to extend their lives and practices. The Courier is tasked with chasing after the antagonist of the DLC, Dr. Morbius, to get their brain back. However, it is eventually revealed thatthese scientists are kept at bay by Dr. Morbius to prevent them from escaping into the Mojave.
Thesedisembodied brains have been one of theFalloutuniverse’s methods of immortality, but have their flaws. The only method that works that has been seen so far, is the brains living in machines. This can be seen in the quest “Nothin' But A Hound Dog,” where the player is tasked with finding a new brain for a cyberdog, Rex. However, this situation is a bit different, since Rex’s brain has changed.
In the DLC itself,the courier can move due to what the scientists claim to be tesla coils accepting signals from the brain. Though this may be a bit of a scientific stretch, clearly something is allowing the body to move without the brain’s presence. The scientists inOld World Bluescan control the robotics of the lab through the same methods as well as by being connected to the lab itself. This technology would need to be fleshed out more in lore but does have major implications for other areas of the franchise.
How Brain Technology Could Change Fallout’s Story
The Key To Immortality
The most obvious use of this brain technology would be to give people immortality. Theoretically, as long as the brain remains healthy, it can be moved from body to body without issue. The alternative would be to use the Courier method, where a brain is sending signals to a body from another location. Both have pros and cons; exposing the brain to different kinds of risks while still extending human life.
This method could lead to the return of past charactersor new individuals from before the war. This has been used before with cryosleep (Fallout 4’s main charactersurvives for over 200 years in a cryopod), but that has been seen to have its risks as well. The brain method, while arguably less humane, appears safer for the recipient. It also allows the user to be aware of what is going on around them and react to it if necessary. Overall, for those who do not care what happens to their main body, brain technology is the superior option.
Cryosleep most recently appeared in theFallouttelevision series, as a seemingly popular method for keeping Vault-Tec executives alive well after the Great War in Vault 31.
This could also be brought into the popularFalloutlive-action TV show, helping bring back fan-favoriteNew Vegascharacters into Season 2, even if their time has passed,a difficult narrative task if the series wants to remain accurate and respectful to the source material. Regardless, this could be a major boost for the show, which looks to be steering its focus onto the mysterious Vault-Tec.
How Brain Technology Could Change Fallout’s Gameplay
A World Of New Gameplay Possibilities
This technology could drastically change the style of main characters throughout the franchise.A future game could have the main character be one of these disembodied brains that transfers different bodiesacross the game. This could be done for story reasons, or through gameplay where each body has different SPECIAL stats and is more useful for certain parts of the game. The one caveat to this system would be finding the proper balance with the popular RPG mechanics.
This could also expand off ofFallout 4’s Synth technology, combining the superior body functions of a Synth with the brain of a human.Thiswould essentially perfect the Synths, albeit making them more like cybernetically enhanced humans than synthetic humans. This has been seen with characters like Conrad Kellogg, but even he had some remaining human parts that would eventually have killed him. However, this new entity would practically eliminate the drawbacks of both origins.
A final creative option, that would push boundaries, would beusing the brain to control other organisms. Theoretically, the tesla coils could be put in hollowed-out bodies of compatible wasteland creatures like Deathclaws and used to remotely control them. This would have major lore implications, as the Enclave has already tried to control Deathclaws, but would also make for an incredibly exciting gameplay experience.
Overall, the brain technology first explored inNew Vegashas a ton of potential across the franchise. Its greatest asset comes from the ability to enhance both the story and gameplay of the franchise. However, this technology has been somewhat pushed to the wayside since its use inOld World Blues, so it may never go that far. Regardless, this strangeFallout: New Vegasdetail would have a major impact on the franchise if utilized properly.
