First off, please forgive me (and my thread) if this subject has already been beaten to death before. For the past few weeks my internet connection has been less than fair, and I can barely do a thing. That includes using the search bar.

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Does anyone think the spouse may possibly be a companion? I was just thinking of how it may just be a smart choice on Beth's part for a few reasons. One, we undertake the painstaking (because who else spends hours on customization? And that's just one character) operation of fleshing out.. well, their face. We've made our perfect companion in a way (unless you're making them ugly as sin, then proceed to upload once the game is out. Those are always fun to look at.) If none of those companions are to your liking, romantically that is, then you can rekindle your marriage and return them to the love nest of your old neighborhood, post-apocolyptic family dog included.

Two. Since you can use either character as the protagonist, it would be ideal to keep the spouse around. There would be no need to hire another voice actor/actress or create a new follower. In-game wise, we also know they are capable of survival.

I know there is speculation that Shaun could be a companion, but with the news that our human followers are all romance-able, I just don't see that. (Plus, I deeply desire a Star Wars upshot.) Also, before someone announces the spouse is likely deceased, yes, we all know that and while that is possible (and probable for that matter), it still isn't confirmed. Anyway, my thread is just girlish hope.

(Oh, and if the Spouse does turn out to be a companion, I'm sure you can kill, maim, and/or abandon them. Who knows, they could be shacked up with another and you can either convince them to join you in the search for your shared offspring or leave while ruining their newfound happiness in a scampish way. -Grenades in the undies-)

I'm not sure if they will be a companion, but I do want them to be one.

I wonder if the term "sole survivor" of Vault 111 has really sunk in for some people.

I hope they stay dead from a story perspective. The "twist" that they or the child are still alive seems so cliche. Maybe I would do it on subsequent playthroughs if there's a good reason. Maybe.

They dead.

The very idea of the spouse being alive and well kinda seems odd with the fact we can have romance-able companions: the Sole Survivor is moving on with his/her life, so I wouldn't expect to see or hear of our ex-spouse at all. "Hey your beloved spouse and baby, and you all survived! Now, go cheat on them with some wasteland trash..." I don't want to find them to be alive at all, even less to be a companion.

I wonder if some people can read between the lines.

"…events transpire and you emerge the sole survivor of Vault 111." - Todd Howard

You could wake up and your family can be missing and not counted among the dead. That would still classify the character as the Sole Survivor. You know, there was a little game called Fallout 3 and your character was labeled the Lone Wanderer, but you could have multiple companions throughout the game. You even have a dog in most of the advertisemant, oh my. [How scandalous it is to mislead the players. No game or game company has ever done that before.] Seriously though, it's just a pretty title. They could be dead, highly likely in fact, but the argument that 'Sole Survivor' means they're dead is, well, not a good argument at all.

Fair enough. It would be awkward should we find them later in the story, and we're currently traveling with a romantic companion of choice. Personally, I feel we will find them, and they'll die in front of us, much like Liam Neeson (our father) in Fallout 3, or they will have already died years before you wake from cryo and somehow learn of their fate through the story.

Tis' true. But my fear of being dissatisfied with the line-up of romantic companions (not particularly fond of Piper or Grady) leads me to hope that stud muffin of a husband lives.

On the second question, could you add "I'm not going to bother customizing my spouse" or something like that as an answer?

Because I'm not going to bother customizing my spouse. I'm just gonna make my character and leave the spouse with their default appearance.

If the family survives, I'm going to do my best to ignore them. We are all different people now 200 years after the life we knew died, right? Not to mention if they survive they will either A.) be ghouls or B.) have gotten saved in the vault but released long before the PC did making the spouse, potentially, a lot older than the PC. Now that I think about, there are a lot of "ifs" involved with the PC's family surviving. If they survive the blast, if they get released before the PC, if the spouse can keep themselves alive in the hell of the Wasteland while simultaneously taking care of and raising an infant.

Depends on the character I'm playing. The one I currently have in mind would probably avoid their spouse like the plague for a while just to get over the shock and then tentatively and sporadically reestablish contact. Others will want them to go die in a hole though. As for what they look like? Depends on how I feel at the time. They're unlikely to be straight up hideous though.