Based on the beloved video game franchise of the same name, Prime Video’sFalloutseries is set in an alternate, post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Sometime in the 1950s, their timeline split from our own (known in the series as the ‘Divergence’) and their history took a drastically different turn than our own. While our world was plunged into nuclear paranoia, following the end of WWII, the world ofFalloutfound itself embracing nuclear as its primary source of power, leading to the franchise’s signature nuclear-punk aesthetic. However, limited global resources saw the nations of Earth plunge head first into war once more, a war which would last until the year 2077.
As a result of the Great War, which saw nuclear bombs drop across America in the year 2077, the world ofFalloutis now populated with some of the most bizarre creatures in science fiction. These range from giant irradiated lizards to literal Wendingos. Amid this strange collection of unsettling monsters is the ghoul, the most direct result of the nuclear radiation that plaguesFallout’s Earth. But what actually are ghouls? How are they created? And who isWalton Goggins' mysterious ghoulish character in the series?
Fallout’s Ghouls Are Irradiated People
Ghouls are probably the most common creatures found in the wastelands of America inFallout’s post-apocalypse. With severed noses and moldy brown, flaking skin, ghouls count among the most unsettling and most tragic of the franchise’s bestiary. As you might expect from their mundanely humanoid shape, ghouls were once normal humans.
Most games in theFalloutseries take place at least 100 years after the bombs have dropped, allowing radiation to have unprecedented effects on the landscape and its inhabitants. For some unfortunate survivors, the frequent exposure to radiation caused bizarre mutations to their DNA. The most distinctive aspect of ghouls is their peeling skin, which in the case of older ghouls, is almost stripped clean. The radiation that haunts America kills the skin cells, causing the skin to literally peel off until there is nothing but exposed muscular tissue.
Another trademark visual of ghouls inFalloutis their distinct lack of noses and ears. Just as the radiation kills the skin cells and causes severe burns, it also destroys much of the body’s connective tissue. As a result, the ghouls of theFalloutfranchise have no noses and instead have distinctive holes in the center of their heads.
For some unfortunate ghouls (or fortunate, depending on how you view it), the radiation can also greatly damage their brains. Across the games, but more specifically the newer entries in the franchise, players will likely come across Feral Ghouls. These zombified humans have had their brains destroyed by radiation and now wander the wasteland aimlessly, aggressively attacking any living creatures they come near. These creatures draw obvious inspiration from zombies in popular cinema, likeGeorge Romero’sNight of the Living Dead. With ghouls seemingly being a common sight in Prime Video’sFalloutseries, expect to see the survivors come face to face with these brutal creatures as well.
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The latest trailer for Prime Video’sFalloutshows Walton Goggins' mystery characterbefore and after the bombs have dropped. However, the trailer also makes it clear that the post-apocalyptic landscape we see is set 200 years after the bombs have dropped. So, how has his character stayed alive so long? If you thought the severe radiation burns were bad, another common mutation ghouls experienced was a drastic increase in their lifespan. Throughout the games, players come across many ghouls who were alive before the war and are still alive as a result of the radiation. The trailer has hinted that Goggins' character appears to be one of these unlucky few.
Who Is Walton Goggins' Ghoul in Fallout?
Direct details about Walton Goggins' character, appropriately named, The Ghoul, haven’t been fully released. It is likely that audiences won’t learn his true nature until the show’s premiere in April. However, there are a few key details that can be ascertained from the first trailer.
Firstly, as the trailer’s opening suggests, The Ghoul was a sales representative for Vault-Tec before the war. The trailer opens with Goggins, looking like a regular human, appearing in a sales video for Vault 3. If the name didn’t give it away, Vault-Tec is the company responsible for the hundreds of vaults scattered around America in the franchise. The Ghoul’s position as a sales rep for Vault-Tec will feel eerily familiar tofans of theFalloutvideo games.Fallout 4featured a similar character, known as the Vault-Tec Rep, who sells the player’s character their place in Vault 111 right before the bombs drop. Much later in the game (200 years later to be specific), players can find that same Sales Rep in one of post-apocalyptic Boston’s shanty towns, with decaying skin and a cut-off nose, much like The Ghoul.
Audiences also quickly learn that The Ghoul won’t be a morally uplifting protagonist in the series,unlike Ella Purnell’s vault-dweller. Having seemingly wandered the wasteland for 200 years, The Ghoul has likely witnessed all the manner of horrors and now appears to be a drug-dependent bounty hunter with no moral objections to brutal killing. His narcotic dependency will likely form a large part of his character, given that he delivered the funniest (and simultaneously, most badass) line in the entire trailer, “That is a very small drop, in a very large bucket of drugs!”
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The Book of Eli, the post-apocalyptic action film, is a must-watch before Prime Video’s Fallout series releases in 2024.
Prime VideosFalloutadaptation is currently scheduled to hit the streaming platform on April 11, with its release date being recently moved a day forward from its original slot. The series will run for 8 episodes, with all episodes dropping on the 11th.
