Fallout’s greatest mystery was actually debunked years ago

Much like The Elder Scrolls series from Bethesda, the world of Fallout is packed full of secrets and lore waiting to be discovered. However, one of Fallout’s greatest mysteries was actually debunked years ago.

Since the release of Fallout 3 in 2008 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the Vault Boy has become the iconic mascot of the post-apocalyptic RPG series. He can be found in-game letting you know what each perk is before upgrading, he’s the poster boy of Fallout marketing material and he can also be purchased in many forms of memorabilia. Even if you’ve never played a Fallout game, the chances are that you’ll recognise his face. Simply put, he’s one of the most recognisable mascots in the history of video games.

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In most cases, Vault Boy can be seen giving you a thumbs-up with one eye closed. For years some corners of the internet have speculated what this means. To be honest, I always assumed that he was just being nice offering encouragement to any would-be vault dweller. Yet, as reported by Screen Rant, a common theory of why Vault Boy strikes this particular pose is to determine whether someone is outside the blast radius of a nuclear bomb.

For example, if a person held up a thumb and squinted their eye, and your thumb covered the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb, they were outside of the blast radius. Which to be fair, kind of makes sense.

Well, it has nothing to do with the blast radius, as confirmed by Brian Fargo in a tweet over a decade old, the head of Interplay, the studio responsible for the original two Fallout games in the series as well as Fallout Tactics. Instead, Fargo confirmed, “Vault Boy simply has a positive attitude.”

So, there you go, Vault Boy was just being nice all along. The entire Fallout series since the third game is available on Xbox Game Pass at no extra cost to subscribers.