Fallout: Worst Factions That Have Done The Most Harm

The Fallout games are some of the best open-world post-apocalyptic games ever made. The series features some of the best world-building in gaming, and has lore so deep that it’s easy to get lost in wikis for hours. Each Fallout game features the same decision-based gameplay that, at some point or another, forces the player to pick a side in its narrative.

Making that decision isn’t always easy. Fallout’s lore is full of factions, most of them vying for power. There are no heroes in these games and most of their factions have done more harm than good. While some like the NCR and Minutemen have hurt the world by sometimes failing in their altruistic goals, the factions below have actively set out to harm the wasteland’s survivors.

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The Children of Atom

Nuke Worshipers

The Children of Atom are a cult that worships the Atom. They believe the Great War was a great turning point for humanity, and have a bad habit of hanging around in the most irradiated areas of the Wasteland.

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For the most part, they’re not too bad, and tend to keep to themselves. However, there are a few areas in Fallout 4 where the worshipers will shoot the Lone Survivor or other passersby on sight for seemingly no reason. Their greatest threat to the Wasteland, though, is simply the fact they’re a cult. They indoctrinate other wastelanders and encourage them to irradiate themselves. The cult plays an important part in one of Fallout 4’s DLCs, and their role in the Far Harbor story shows they may be more dangerous than previously given credit for.

The Gunners

Killers For Hire

There are plenty of mercenary factions to pick from in Fallout’s lore, but the Gunners are arguably the worst, and most dangerous. They might advertise themselves as military-style mercenaries, but their tactics are closer to those of the raiders. The Gunners shoot on sight and don’t think twice about shooting up peaceful settlements when they need supplies.

The Gunners are highly trained, well-equipped, and more than capable of holding their own against any of Fallout 4’s other factions. It was the Gunners who caused the Quincy Massacre, which led to the fall of one of Boston’s most altruistic factions, the Minute Men. Thankfully, compared to other factions, they’re highly localized. Otherwise, they would be an even bigger threat to the Wasteland.

The Brotherhood Of Steel

Big Fans of Genocide

Lots of Fallout fans love the Brotherhood of Steel, especially those who first met them in Fallout 3. Sure, they’re militaristic, but they protect the wasteland by wandering around taking out Super Mutants, right? In reality, the Brotherhood of Steel is a cautionary tale of what happens when a faction becomes convinced they’re the good guys.

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They’re willing to wipe out anyone who disagrees with them, and their methods can be more than a little extreme. The Brotherhood is obsessed with hoarding advanced technology, but isn’t big on sharing. Most worryingly, they’re purists who are more than willing to wipe out certain forms of sentient life — particularly ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths. The Brotherhood of Steel might claim to be the good guys, but they’ve done plenty of awful things.

The Raiders

Gangs Of Sadistic, Drug-Addicted Cannibals

The Raiders aren’t so much a united faction as they are a collection of psychotic gangs that occasionally work together. While these gangs might operate under different names, they tend to all be pretty similar.

Raiders terrorize the wasteland, attacking settlements randomly and doing whatever they want. They show no mercy and have a worrying tendency to eat those they kill or, at least, paint the walls with their insides. The only thing that limits the damage the Raiders do is that they tend to work in small bands. However, Fallout 4’s Nukaworld DLC highlights how dangerous they can be when they decide to work together.

The Institute

Fallout’s Deadliest Geeks

In Fallout 4, the Lone Survivor spends much of the game trying to find their missing son, Sean. When they finally do, they discover that Sean has become Father, one of Fallout’s greatest villains, and leader of the Institute. While Fallout 4 tries to be morally gray, it’s pretty clear to most gamers that Sean and the Institute are the bad guys. What makes the Institute so bad?

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They’re intellectual elitists who think they know what’s best for the Wasteland, and represent what happens when scientific curiosity goes unchecked. There are few moral lines the Institute won’t cross to further its scientific goals. It essentially created a race of sentient slaves called Synths and used them to infiltrate settlements across the Wasteland. They see the synths as their property and will stop at nothing to get their property back, including killing innocent bystanders. Plus, they abducted the Lone Survivor’s baby and killed their spouse.

Caesar’s Legion

When Cosplay Goes Too Far

In Fallout New Vegas, players can decide to go it alone, or side with either Caesar’s Legion or the NCR. Both are established factions, but one is quite clearly the evil choice. Caesar’s Legion is what happens when fascists decide to cosplay as Romans.

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Caesar’s Legion has done a lot of bad things, including crucifixion, massacres, and slavery, to name just a few. In New Vegas, they’re led by a psychopath who has styled himself after Caesar and will stop at nothing to see his vision completed. While some fans argue that the Legion offers stability to those it conquers, that stability comes at the cost of freedom and common human decency. Caesar’s Legion is one of Fallout’s most powerful and evil factions.

The Enclave

Cartoonishly Evil

There’s a strong argument to be made that the Enclave is Fallout’s worst faction. They first appeared in Fallout 2 and played major roles in both that game and Fallout 3. They’re made up of remnants of the old U.S. government, and are obsessed with ensuring humanity’s purity.

In Fallout 3, the Enclave plans on wiping out anyone who has been exposed to radiation, believing them to be impure. That’s basically everyone. If trying to wipe out most of the human race wasn’t bad enough, the Enclave’s evil deeds can be traced back to before the Great War. They worked closely with Vault-Tec and are responsible for some of that company’s most heinous experiments. If the Enclave ever pulls ahead of the other factions, rest assured, humanity is well and truly doomed.

Unity / The Master’s Army

Created Super Mutants

Oftentimes, the worst villains are those who are convinced what they’re doing is for the greater good. Fallout 1 featured the Master, a mutated scientist obsessed with forcefully evolving all of humanity into a “perfect race” by removing all inequalities. He planned on doing this by infecting everyone with the Forced Evolutionary Virus, otherwise known as FEV.

Ultimately, his plans were put to a stop by that game’s protagonist, the Vault Dweller. But sadly, the damage was already done. Those infected by the Master became Super Mutants, some of the most powerful enemies in Fallout. There are various sources of Super Mutants in Fallout lore (the Institute also created some), but those created by the Master are some of the most dangerous. Countless wastelanders have lost their lives to these beasts and the human suffering caused by the Master’s experiments is almost incalculable.

Fallout

FranchiseFalloutPlatform(s)PCReleasedOctober 10, 1997Developer(s)InterplayPublisher(s)Interplay More

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