New Satellite Brotherhood of Steel Branch
In the Fallout Bible, written by Fallout 2 and New Vegas writer Chris Avellone, the techno-religious Brotherhood of Steel was founded on the west coast in 2077 but remained largely inactive until the 2150s. So how did they arrive in Appalachia 48 years before they emerged from their bunker?Well according to Bethesda, after bombs fell, the Brotherhood “used a satellite to help spread their reach, and that influence and message made its way all the way to West Virginia.” That means the Appalachian arm of the Brotherhood might not really be Brotherhood at all, but just some guys who heard about them and decided to take up the mantel.
Super Mutants, Already?
The appearance of Super Mutants in Fallout 76 has caused a bit of a stir among fans. The first Fallout established that Super Mutants were originally created by The Master in 2103. However, Fallout 3 already retconned the Super Mutant genesis back to as early as 2078, when Vault Tek purposefully exposed the occupants of Vault 87 to the Forced Evolutionary Virus, or FEV.
And although it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe Appalachia’s Super Mutants came from Vault 87, according to Fallout 76’s revisions, this batch is actually native to the region. These brutes are born out of Huntersville, where defense contractor West Tek conducted experiments on the town by contaminating its water supply with FEV.Power Armor New and Old
If you paid close attention to Fallout 76’s E3 demo, you might have noticed a character wearing the iconic Advanced Power Armor from Fallout 2. According to lore, remnants of the American government known as the Enclave only began development of Advanced Power Armor in 2198. That armor’s appearance in Fallout 76 almost a century earlier would spell a lore-breaking contradiction.
It would, that is, only if Fallout 4 hadn’t already retconned an earlier prototype that predates the armor we know. The model X-01 suit, introduced in Fallout 4, was in fact created before the Great War of 2077, making its presence in Appalachia consistent with the lore. At the very least, Bethesda is consistent with its retcons.With Fallout 76, Bethesda is more than willing to rethink tradition, continually giving itself the creative freedom to do so.Despite being set before the events of any game in the franchise, Fallout 76 is decidedly more oriented towards a shared future for Fallout.