Haven't seen a thread on this yet so I've decided to start one. As we should all know by now the Sole Survivor is the upcoming player character of Fallout 4. I've seen speculations ranging from his or her (for the sake of simplicity I'll be referring to the male SS as of now) backstory and history prior to the nukes dropping to the types of relationships the Sole Survivor can have with non-player characters. It's also been discussed that this will be the first time in the Fallout series where the player will be able to build their own settlement. But what I haven't seen discussed or even speculated is the effect the Sole Survivor will have on the Fallout universe.

In my opinion, he should be considered by all the powers that be and factions associated to be the single most dangerous person to their pursuit of influence and superiority. For all intents and purposes he maybe your average Joe, depending on how you build his S.P.E.C.I.A.L., but the fact remains that he is literally a living piece of the "Old Word" in the present time. Even the most mundane knowledge that he takes for granted can stem the tide in various endeavors and for that reason alone he will be on a lot of people's most wanted list. Not only that, but he could also be the beginning of true progress for the Wasteland depending on how the Main Quest plays out.

So what do you think the Sole Survivor will accomplish and how will he be regarded by the different factions, tribes, and nations of the Wasteland? Will he be viewed as messianic figure heralding the return of best of the times before October 3, 2077? Or will he be considered a menace or terrorist for further destabilizing an already chaotic Wasteland? Perhaps both?

They're not the only living piece of the old world. Some ghouls are over 200 and may in fact be older than the soul survivor.

Hard to say what effect he/she will have but it could be durastic as they will likely be the last true pure strain of human DNA. I can imagine that the Institute will want to get their hands on them for scientific purposes.

I haven't been following FO4 news and speculation until a few days ago, but is the PC really the sole survivor? Why go to the trouble of allowing you to model your wife at char gen, and waste dev time on creating an algorithm to generate your baby's face, if they're simply going to get killed off?

There are lots of theories of the PC being an ex soldier of some type. If that's the case, the story could focus on some backstory of knowledge he has of a weapon or secret military instillation. Most likely though, as in all fallout games so far.. The PC will be searching for something and that something will be based on whatever happens in the vault that makes them the sole survivor. I'm assuming that something happens with the baby.. I have no idea why the creators would go so far as to state that the baby will be based off it's parents looks if there's no reason for the baby to look like anybody (other than skin color) if it's only alive for just the prelude bit.

Ha.. I basically just came to that same conclusion. Baby.. why go through the trouble of baby? It is interesting that I completely assumed that the character I created will be the one coming out of the vault. It could have simply been tricky word play "You then emerge from the vault 200 years later".. You being you the player.. not you the character you created. . It very well could be the family makes it into the vault and thrives and you are actually playing a descendant of the original family.

That's been discussed to death in other threads. Not much more to say until more information is given.

And I'll second OP that ghouls are already there and many lived before the bombs dropped, so the PC isn't as special as you may think. If anything he/she has a lot to catch up on since a lot has happened while they were sleeping (?).

Why would he be the most dangerous guy?

Imagine a guy from 1815 being transported to today. He wouldn't exacty be a threat.

Likely wouldn't even be able to read and comprehend your post. Lol

But the descendant theory is disproved by that conversation the protagonist had with Codsworth in the E3 video about being 200 years late for dinner. The protagonist would not recognize Codsworth or said "You must be Codsworth. My grandpa told stories about you that he heard from his grandpa."

We're also not living the post-apocalyptic version of 1815 either. But if we were....

As far as the ghouls go. They aren't exactly human anymore. Not that they don't have a place within any future society that emerges after the Sole Survivor. But by virtue of being a "pure" human with knowledge of the civilization that preceded the nuclear apocalypse makes them a symbol that people will flock to.

All well and good except that I doubt the average person will have any idea who they are and what they look like. If not for mass media I doubt I would know any famous person just by seeing them.

But society, technology, and progress occurred quicky during that spam of time.

From the time when the bombs dropped to the time line in the game, progress was set way back in most places and only barely trickled on in a few select places.

The difference between Sole Survivor and our man from 1815 being zapped to today is that the world didn't blow up and send civilization to a screeching halt with slow rebuilding over the next two centuries. Sole Survivor will have a lot less of a learning curve to go through than the poor helpless 1815 man who will likely be crying in a fetal position at our apparent witchcraft mumbling, "What are those things that roar and fly across the sky? What is the meaning of being able to talk to someone half the world over? What are those demonic monstrosities that belch out black smoke and scream across this dead, grey landscape you call a road?"

Haha This is a very accurate statement. At the very most the sole survivor may know a few extra things that other people may not know. Although I don't think what he may or may not know about pre-war society is going to have a large roll. More like that shock of waking up to a completely different world. He's more like someone from our society going back to 1815.

Oh yeah.. forgot about that. So we're back to... "What's the point of the baby looking like you?"

From the information we have its a fair bet the SS is a vet , so would have pretty good knowledge of wepons and similar technology and been raised in that time a good grasp of all common technology. Iv always believed ghouls are half mad and have probably forgotten a lot of what they knew before the war (how good are most of us with 20 year old cars e.g chokes now image it was 200 years ). The SS would probably be a mine of useful information and may know of undiscovered bases or other gold mines of technology and useful things

The protagonist is not the Sole Survivor, but the Last One to Leave or LOL. Their spouse and child left the vault before you so their child might be the same age as you and the protagonist's spouse might be in their 60s or dead. Otherwise, how else would romantic relationships with the protagonist's companions be possible without being considered as an advlterer.

I was a wondering what that big red A on them vault Gals and guys chest was.... Thought it was a new gang. Now I know.

(personally I think it would tug at the heartstrings a bit more if your spouse was alive but old as sin, and telling you to move on thats just me I guess, dont suppose I would move on either a promise is a promise)

Here is an odd idea though wont the SS kind of be a typhoid mary (or mark) I would suspect they would be loaded with virus and germs that have long since died out because no carriers....... (I would wave this off as there sanitized leaving the vault or entering but man small pox did a number when introduced to the states)

Unless you know something the rest of us don't, that comment is a bit premature. We don't know if he/she is simply the last remaining survivor, or if the term Sole Survivor really means what it says...the only survivor of Vault 111.

That's my point. What if a scientist (using scientist as an example) from 2015 woke up 1815? The knowledge in that brain of his could make life easier for a lot of people.

Sounds like a steampunk future story waiting to happen.

As asgard said, "Why go to the trouble of allowing you to model your wife at char gen, and waste dev time on creating an algorithm to generate your baby's face, if they're simply going to get killed off?" Why create a baby unless your character will meet it again after leaving the vault. It also relates Fallout 4 back to Fallout 3. Instead of the main quest being to look for your character's father and help them complete their dream, it is to look for your character's child and help them complete their dream.

In fairness, we probably won't be seeing the baby model after the intro anyway, regardless if we meet our son as an advlt. And modeling the baby's appearance might be nothing more than transferring the skin, hair, and eye colors onto the baby. And they couldn't very well have a baby that didn't match at least the skin tone of his parents.

Part of me is wondering what the hell kind of tech Vault-Tec is using that could safely preserve a baby for over a century. You'd think a baby couldn't handle the trauma. Maybe our spouse had to stay behind? That would add a dark bit of irony to the whole "But is there room for my whole family?" dialog with the vault-tec guy, and changes the context of the "200 years" dialog with Codsworth.

there is a 50% chance u will be looking for your baby or your wife

well the husband he created in the beginning looks exactly like and is named the same as the guy you bee when you emerge from the vault, so I doubt this is true. The baby and the other half of your couple could of waken up first and left before you? Or maybe the baby grew up and now your ancestors are outside the vault somewhere? Who knows what the story is gonna be, actually kind of loving not knowing, it is making me even more excited.

Or, instead of a scientist an incredibly gorgeous WWII era nurse gets transported back to late 1700s Scotland.