So I'm still uncertain about how humanity in the Fallout Universe survives in its "current," FO state. I'm sure It's been made infinitely clear or alluded too often in all the game and I just missed it.

So all the non-ghoul humans of FO are descended from Vault dwellers right? And Ghouls were humans from the Pre-War era who mutated into their current state which in-turn allowed them to survive to the current day?

The main thing to remember is radiation in FO doesn't work the way it does in real life. It's based on 50's pulp sci-fi understanding of radiation, before we found out how deadly it is, when people thought it made animals big and turned humans into mutants. Many people survived outside the vaults, and formed communities, though most of them are tribals and haven't progressed much.

No, most ghouls are Pre-War and are ghouls because they didn't have proper hiding when the bombs hit. Very few people are from vaults and I doubt the majority descends from them. Most people of the wastes are descendants of those who survived without vaults.

So if Ghouls are those who were directly exposed to the nukes+radiation and mutated then the regular humans are descended from those who hid in subways or caves or something?

Not every human in the wasteland came from Vault Dwellers. People survived in other ways, such as Bomb Shelters, Basemants, Military bunkers and so on. Many Ghouls are people that turned due to radiation but not every ghoul is pre-war, some just got to much radiation at some point in their lives.

Spot on.
I wouldnt speculate about the exact ratio vault dvellers / Surface survivors.
Also note that there seems to be at least speculations that a few new ghouls can be formed in contact with radioactive waste. Or perhaps thats just me.

Wait that was what styles said already. :bolt:

thanks for the replies guys. I guess i was just confused by the fallout 2 intro, specifically:

"A quiet darkness fell across the planet, lasting many years. Few survived the devastation. Some had been fortunate enough to reach safety, taking shelter in great underground vaults. When the great darkness passed, these vaults opened, and their inhabitants emerged to begin their lives again. "

I wasn't sure if that meant that only vault dwellers survived or not but I get it now .

A hiding place wasn't always good enough. The West Coast Ghouls "officially" (that is in quotes as not to exclude the possibility of FO3-style ghouls developing also) come from Vault 12 under Bakersfield. Although they should be safe from surface radiation and had clean water they still mutated.

That was because Vault 12 was meant to fail. The door would not close.

obviously radiation doesn't mutate people into ghouls and strange creatures, it simply kills them in real life

No one is talking about real life :facepalm:

Vault 12: In order to study the effects of radiation on the selected population, the Vault Door was designed not to close. This is the Necropolis Vault and a large population of ghouls was the result.

Indeed, but the vault door is underground. Most of the radiation shouldn't have reached them - Alpha and Beta particles don't penetrate well and would have been stopped by the flimiest of walls, and Gamma rays dont turn corners. Folks in level 2 and 3 shouldn't have recieved a significant dose, and I can't see the folks on level 1 getting much either.

Chalk it up to Science! not science I suppose.