Vault-Tec Corporation

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Part of a series on
Vault-Tec Corporation
Subsidiaries
Future-Tec · Hawthorne Medical Laboratories · Vault-Tec Game Studios
Notable facilities
Vaults (List of known Vaults) · Vault-Tec headquarters · Vault-Tec Regional HQ · Vault-Tec University · Vault-Tec: Among the Stars
Notable technologies
Vaults · CAMP · Food paste · G.E.C.K. · Series 1000 shelter · TOMIS · VATS · Vault Star super-reactor · ZAX
Miscellaneous
Multi-generational starship · Project Safehouse · Vault Dweller's Survival Guide · Vault-Tec bobblehead
v · d · e

Vault-Tec Corporation, also simply known as Vault-Tec, was a pre-War defense corporation which won the federal government contracts to design and implement a network of bunkers known as Vaults. By the time of the Great War, it was the largest company in America,^[4] valued at an estimated trillion dollars, with stakes in countless industries and businesses. Its wealth gave it immense sway against the United States government, rendered broke by the decade-long Sino-American War.^[5]

As a result, the company deemed the USA a failed nation and shifted priorities. Hundreds of billions of dollars earned on Project Safehouse were used to ensure the survival of the company, while turning the Vaults into a giant social experiment to gather data for the company and the Enclave.^[6] The lack of confidence in the United States was so great that one of the corporation's leaders, Barb Howard, entertained the idea of Vault-Tec instigating the Great War themselves, to wipe the slate clean and usher in a new world free of war. While the company itself became defunct due to the nuclear war, with Vaults failing to safeguard their populations and failing,^[7][8] despised by surface dwellers as retreats for the rich.^[9] Select members of Vault-Tec survived the war in Vault 31, in suspended animation, as part of Bud Askins' plans.^[10]

The company is sometimes referred to as Vault-Tek^[11][12][13] and VaulTek,^[14] though it has consistently been spelled as Vault-Tec since Fallout 3. In holotape subtitles, it was also written as Vault-Tech although it is possible this was merely a typo.

Background[]

Origins[]

America's preeminent nuclear defense corporation existed as early as 2031, when it acquired and re-branded Morgantown's local college as Vault-Tec University, with some of their top executives and scientists either teaching or graduating from there.^[15] This investment in cadre would pay off in the early 2050s: When the Euro-Middle Eastern War, the New Plague, and the collapse of the United Nations resulted in a nationwide scare, the government set Project Safehouse^[16] in motion in 2054.^{[Non-game 2]} This massive national defense endeavor was intended to create shelters that would protect the population in the event of nuclear wars, famines, pandemics, floodings or asteroid strikes.^{[Non-game 3]} Vault-Tec proclaimed preparedness for any eventuality. Following the success of its demonstration Vault, built near their headquarters in Los Angeles at the time, the company won the bid for the construction of the shelters.^{[Non-game 4]} The tremendous success of the company allowed it to build a new headquarters in Washington, D.C.^[17]

The impoverished government financed the project with junk bonds and even then, only commissioned 122 of these shelters nationwide, allowing less than 0.1% of the population to save their life in the event of the holocaust.^{[Non-game 1]} Vault 13's budget was $400 billion dollars, and by the end of its construction the total costs reached $645 billion, well over 150% of the initial figure.^{[Non-game 5]} The staggering cost was further increased by the circumstances: As crucial elements of national defense, much of the project was classified and protected under the New Amended Espionage Act,^{[Non-game 6]} and the corporation received broad privileges in enforcing security, up to and including authorization for its private security to use lethal force if Vaults are activated.^[18] Lack of oversight led to consistent mismanagement,^[19][20][21] corruption,^[22][23] and embezzlement^[24] defining Project Safehouse before the War, even before taking the atrocious Vault experiments into account. Yet for all these problems, Vault-Tec was able to create a number of cutting edge technologies and develop shelters that legitimately protected the inhabitants.^{[Non-game 7]}

Some of these miracles manifested as breakthroughs in construction technology, allowing for these gargantuan bunkers to be constructed at a rapid pace.^{[Non-game 8]} Most were completed by 2063, although the construction of several Vaults was delayed, particularly Vault 13 (which only started construction in August 2063) and the network surrounding Washington, D.C.^{[Non-game 9]} Some Vault construction was delayed due to work stoppage.^[25] Despite these problems, Vault-Tec began advertising Vaults in newly annexed Canada, though these were in the early stages of completion.^[26] Furthermore, partnerships with other corporations followed, such as RobCo Industries, which provided personal information processors for Vault dwellers. Their joint venture was considered the most successful of its kind,^[1] licensed by Bud Askins, senior junior vice president and manager for “HR R&D” for Vault-Tec. Integration with admission systems ensured they were a permanent element of Vault infrastructure.^[27] Over the course of the Sino-American War, Vault-Tec became the largest company in the United States,^[4] and to maintain their power and influence, took steps to ensure the resource wars would continue, such as by acquiring and burying cold fusion research led by Lee Moldaver.^[28]

Going rogue[]

By the late 2070s, Vault-Tec deemed the United States a failed nation,^[6] and had its own plans for Vaults in conjunction with the Enclave. Calculating that a global thermonuclear war would wipe out 90% of life on Earth,^[29] executives scrapped the idea of preserving the United States. Instead, they would become a social experiment on a grand scale, serving a variety of purposes. The most benign was using Vaults as test environments to create technologies that could be used to redefine society, such as converting "useless" exercise into a socially-useful activity, manipulating the moods of the dwellers or even creating crude forms of mind control.^[30] Quick iteration time was prioritized over human life, and Vault 88 was set aside to act as proving grounds scheduled to activate in early 2078. Devices would then be rolled out through the rest of the Vaults every fiscal quarter.^[31] Ethical concerns were dismissed as counter-productive and close-minded.^[32]

Ultimately, the plans were grander. The Enclave wanted to use data harvested from the experiment to create a multi-generational starship to resettle on another world, rather than try to restore a world devastated by nuclear war.^{[Non-game 10] [Non-game 11]} As part of the Societal Preservation Program directed by Stanislaus Braun,^[33] only 17 of the Vaults were designed to work properly as control Vaults.^[34] The 105 other Vaults featured a variety of scenarios, ranging from annoying to downright lethal, to gauge how humans acted in these scenarios and feed data to the Enclave:^{[Non-game 12]} Some were not provided with enough food synthesizer for their population, others had only men in them, or were designed to open prematurely. Loss of life was meaningless in the face of data that could be acquired.^[35]

Vault-Tec executives focused around Barb Howard and Bud Askins had a separate plan, using the imminent nuclear war as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and redefine mankind, with Vaults used to experimentally determine the perfect conditions for humanity, in what Howard termed a "spirit of competition". The idea was pitched to the largest, like-minded corporations in the US,^[36] including Big MT, REPCONN, RobCo, and West Tek, who were offered the opportunity to claim a stake in several Vaults and create their own social experiments, entirely off the books.^[37] To ensure that the experiments would happen, Howard floated the idea of these megacorporations instigating the nuclear war deliberately, allowing an intentionally designed society to arise from the ashes, configured to eliminate friction, conflict, and ultimately war.^[38] Regardless of her proposal, secret orders were issued to overseers: Vault 76's was instructed to seize control of the Appalachian Automated Launch System and wrest nuclear weapons from the military.^[39]

Imminent nuclear war[]

Naturally, these plans were not publicized, and Vault-Tec was voted a company with the brightest future in the United States in January 2077,^{[Non-game 13]} despite rumors of peace negotiations briefly affecting sales.^[40] Its stock value quickly soared following the Anchorage Reclamation, due to the anxiety surrounding a potential nuclear confrontation.^{[Non-game 14]} Vault-Tec capitalized on this, offering single Vault spaces for sale.^{[Non-game 15]} Some Americans realized the gravity of the situation: As a private company to whom the government outsourced the entirety of contingency planning, it had a fiduciary responsibility to its investors to make money. Any peaceful solution to the Resource Wars and especially the Sino-American War would eliminate the specter of nuclear war and wipe out the need for Vaults, hurting the corporation's profits. This perverse incentive resulted in Vault-Tec having every reason to see the war continue or even see nuclear war erupt, especially since the government was broke and powerless in comparison with the company.^[5]

Despite the ongoing popularity of the Vaults, drills in completed Vaults slowly created a cry wolf effect among the population. Turnouts for the drills fell over time, limiting the Vaults' future role in ensuring the survival of humanity irrespective of Vault-Tec's plans.^{[Non-game 9]} Work stoppages, civil unrest, and other problems also affected the implementation of the experiment plans. When the Great War happened on October 23, 2077, several Vaults were yet to be completed, while the cry wolf effect resulted in just a fraction of people going into the Vaults.^{[Non-game 16]} while the Enclave's grand plans were undone by circumstance and interference from within: The heart of the master plan, Whitespring, was cut off from the network and the plans crippled.^[41] Askins' plans succeeded to a degree, with Vault 31, 32, and 33 populating and sealing as scheduled. However, the actual loss of life fell short of the projected 90%,^[29] and survivors started resettling on the surface - including Vaults. In 2091, after receiving the all-clear signal, Vault 8 opened and Vault City was founded.^{[Non-game 17]} A year later, the demonstration Vault in the ruins of LA opened. The inhabitants founded Adytum in what became known as the Boneyard.^{[Non-game 18][Non-game 19]}

As a result, the ambitious plans of executives to use the nuclear war to wipe the slate clean and redefine society never came to pass. Vaults failed over the next centuries, while facilities of the defunct megacorporation became little more than prime sources of salvage, leading to Vaults being considered little more than a tall tale,^[7] and merely holes for the rich to hide in as the world burned.^[9] As a result, Vault 31 and its executives remained sealed underground,^[6] while the surface prospered, with the New California Republic becoming the first post-War nation state. However, the shadow of Vault-Tec did not disappear: After Rose MacLean fled Vault 32, discovering the NCR's existence, she inadvertently set in motion a chain of events that would culminate in the destruction of Shady Sands by her ex-husband, Hank MacLean, sending the Republic into freefall.^[42][10]

Corporate model[]

The primary focus of Vault-Tec was the development of a line of nuclear war defense installations and the technology necessary for their construction. Although their most recognizable product remains the venerable Vault, the company has also developed cheaper alternatives, like the Series 1000 shelter,^[43] and contracted its technologies out to other entities requiring a reliable, proven pipeline for constructing subterranean bunkers.^[44] Apart from heavy construction and technologies necessary for sustaining a population underground, Vault-Tec has also developed nuclear reactors,^[45] medical devices, such as the organ extractor,^[46] motion sensors based on Wattz Electronics' designs,^[47] and even the SimTek 5000 virtual reality simulation suite for accustoming Vault dwellers with the outside^{[Non-game 20]} and the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System for facing any threats.^{[Non-game 21]} Other proprietary inventions were designed to improve the quality of life for a Vault dweller, including SimuSun Lighting, Floorsuck Autocleaner Systems, Culinator 3000 Kitchen Systems, Entertainotron Rooms and Eye-On-You surveillance cameras.^[48]

Vault-Tec's technology at its best was generally reliable and of high quality, leading to widespread adoption. However, Vault-Tec outsourced many critical elements of Vault infrastructure, selecting the lowest bidders to maximize profits. The most notorious examples were water chips.^[19] Some of this outsourcing led to long-term partnerships: RobCo provided Pip-Boys, forming the most successful joint venture in history,^[1] General Atomics supplied nuclear reactors where Vault-Tec couldn't,^{[Non-game 1]} while Radiation King provided TV sets and other appliances for the Vaults.^{[Non-game 22]}

For the majority unable or ineligible to purchase a space in the Vaults, Vault-Tec developed its "most humane" product: Plan D, banana flavored cyanide.^[49]

Divisions[]

A division of Vault-Tec, Future-Tec, was tasked with developing cutting edge technologies to allow Vault dwellers to brave the horrors of a post-nuclear world. Their crowning achievement was the G.E.C.K.^{[Non-game 23]}

Employee relations[]

However, the reality for Vault-Tec employees was completely different. Employees received the Vault-Tec employee handbook, a monumental publication which outlined everything about the company and its procedures, down to bathroom breaks. The regulations were nothing less than draconian and oppressive: Vault-Tec's human resources and administration division considered 2.25 minutes (135 seconds) to be the reasonable length of a bathroom break. Exploitative and abusive labor practices seemed to be the norm.^[62][63] Employees could also be subjected to unethical medical experiments, eg. the aforementioned tests at Nuka-World and other locales, which could lead to severe medical issues including depression and suicides. These were buried as standard practice.^[64][65]

As a strategic defense contractor for the government, Vault-Tec's affairs and all related publications (including, for example, the Vault Dweller's Survival Guide) were protected by the New Amended Espionage Act and any whistle blowing attempts would likely hurt the whistle blower more than the corporation.^{[Non-game 6]}

Drills[]

Vault-Tec was authorized to carry out drills for citizens selected for inclusion in the Vaults and operated its own alert system. Beta alert drills were carried out at regular intervals (sometimes as many as five a week) to test admission protocols and prepare the future Vault dwellers for an orderly admission into the Vault, in case of an Alpha Alert. Members of the experimentation staff were expected to participate in the drills each time.^[66] Compliance and secrecy were accomplished simply by providing the scientists (frequently graduates or even students) with a hefty paycheck,^[67] added by the implied threat of force should they decide to blow the whistle.^[68]

Marketing[]

While Vault-Tec was a strategic defense contractor, the company carefully curated a public image as an all-American corporation guaranteeing the survival of the American way of life. The corporation's mascots, Vault Boy and Vault Girl, became recognizable nationwide, while Cooper Howard, a veteran of the first years of the Sino-American War and a movie superstar, was chosen as the company's spokesperson (after convincing from his wife). Appearing in promotional photoshoots and television advertisements promoting Vaults, he gradually became known as the "pitchman for the end of the world", eventually leading to ostracism in the Hollywood acting community.^[69]

The most ambitious effort was a large exposition at the Museum of Technology in the capital was designed to promote their shelters and explain their functionality,^[48] and the Among the Stars attraction at Nuka-World, highlighting the potential applications of patented Vault-Tec technologies in the colonization of space (which would also rationalize the mass investment in Vaults in the event nuclear war didn't happen).^[70] The attraction doubled as a testing area for the so-called Project Consumer Guidance, using electromagnetic radiation, subliminal messaging, airborne toxins, and theta-band radiation to manipulate human behavior. Vault-Tec had limited success, achieving primarily severe headaches in employees (an improvement from depression and suicide in previous iterations), and minor medical complications among visitors.^[64][65] Other notable partnerships include Galaxy News Network, with a decade-long partnership deal signed around the time Vault 33 was unveiled in January 2077.^{[Non-game 29]}

The company also invested in conventional promotional tours and awarding of prizes like the Pressed Vault Suit Award for preparedness were also used to promote a positive image of the company.^[71] Vault 76 was intensely promoted as Vault-Tec's commitment to preserving the American way of life, unveiled on the United States' Tricentennial.^[72] A massive merchandise line was created to promote Vaults, including baseball caps, lunchboxes, T-shirts, leather bomber jackets, golf tees, drink cozys, Vault-Tec bobbleheads (and the matching Bobblehead collector's stand), as well as Limited Edition snow globes showcasing landmarks around the nation.^[73]

Prospective dwellers could receive information on Vaults and potential postings via Vault-Tec's hotlines: 1-888-4-82858832 (1-888-4-VAULTTEC),^[74] 213-258-2858^{[note 1]} (213-25-VAULT),^[75] and KL-5743.^[76]

Iconography[]

Blue and Yellow/Gold are used prominently in Vault-Tec branding, including Vault-Tec propaganda posters, and branded armor and weapon paints. The symbol for the company is a white circle with three 'wing' protrusions on either side, and this symbol is often incorporated into the Vault's, sometimes on the main entrance of the Vaults. Likewise the big gear design of the Vault entrances are sometimes used as a major motif. The number of each-vault is also often a recurring motif in those vaults, and each Vault-Suit is tailored with their vault's number on the back, fostering a sense of Vault identity.

Vault Boy[]

Originally Vault-Tec managed to reach a sponsorship deal with 'America's Gunslinger' Cooper Howard as the face of their marketing campaign, appearing on posters and doing tv specials on Vault life. However, Cooper Howard parted ways with Vault-Tec upon learning of their horrific experiments and plans to escalate Nuclear Warfare, so Vault-Tec instead created the iconic Vault-Boy in his image, including the signature thumbs-up, and almost always in the standard issue Vault-Suit. The Vault-Boy represents the company as a whole, as well as the average Vault-Dweller trying to survive in the Vault and post-apocalyptic wasteland. Characterized as chipper, optimistic, hard-working, charismatic, but also indifferent to the suffering of others, the Vault-Boy appears constantly in Vault-Tec advertisements, products, and propaganda. The Vault-Boy also features in several animated shorts, commercials, promotional, and educational video's where the Vault-Boy is meant to act as the stand-in for the viewer through whatever imagined scenario Vault-Tec is presenting. Frequently intense bodily harm is either heaped upon the Vault-Boy, by the Vault-Boy, or around the Vault-Boy in cartoonish displays of gore.

Numerous other similar figures show up in Vault-Tec marketing, most notably the Vault-Girl, usually simply representing additional Vault-Dwellers for the Vault-Boy to interact with.

Vault Suits[]

Barbara Howard implies that the Bluey and Yellow/Gold color scheming used in the Vault-Tec Vault-Suits and the company more broadly were inspired by Cooper Howards blue and gold sheriff's outfit from his western films. Vault suits are recognized for being primarily blue, with black boots and leather cuffs, with a large yellow/gold stripe going down the front, with a couple of black wires and circuitry. These Vault suits are mandatory for all Vault Dwellers, and many Vault Dwellers continue to wear them even after moving to the surface. Each Vault Suit has the number of their vault stitched on the back.

Vault Suits are often very tight to wear, though some of them are much baggier. Variations include a Utility Jumpsuit often worn by Vault Repairmen, and Vault Labcoats worn by doctors and scientists. Vault Suits provide limited protection against radiation and energy weapons, though this can be upgraded to sizable degrees. The Jumpsuits often are worn alongside leather armor by famed Vault Dweller's braving the Wasteland.

Vault Security often wear security armor and helmets overtop their Vault Suits.

Slogans[]

• Better Living Underground!
• Be prepared for the future today!
• Hard Work is Happy Work
• Surface Never, Vault Forever

Ideology[]

On its surface, Vault-Tec presented itself as a typical civic-minded patriotic capitalist corporation, the like the exemplified the best of the American system. Much Vault-Tec advertised and propaganda centered on the idea that the American way of life, and it's associated economic standards of living, could be preserved in its underground Vault's, and that the Vault-Tec 'family' would help to usher in the next chapter of American history with its reconstruction and resettlement.

In actuality the Vault-Tec corporation was entirely dismissive of American values of democracy, equality, and capitalism, and was run by what can only be characterized as complete psychopaths and sociopaths who delighted in human suffering, with the ultimate goal of world domination. With the United States' failures during the Great War (having essentially bankrupted them) Vault-Tec deemed America a failed nation, and saw no point in trying to revive it. Instead they believed that 'America's best and brightest' lay in Vault-Tec and they were the only thing left worth preserving. While pro-American themes would be continued to be used within Vaults, these values were abstracted, and often the values of Vault-Tec were the ones more truly emphasized. Most Overseers were granted autocratic power, while many Vault's were designed with undemocratic systems such as a technocracy, or with purposefully designed upper and lower classes. Vault 76 was given secret orders to seize American Nuclear Silo's, disposing of any survivors be they of civic, federal, or military authorities (IE still in the control by the American government).

While ostensibly praising Capitalism's system of competition, Vault-Tec's ultimate goal was a total monopoly on the survival of mankind. They believed that if they were in control of all surviving humans on the planet that they will have outlived all potential competition, and thus will have eliminated any conflict. To this end they were actively trying to escalate the Sino-American War to total nuclear devastation under the assumption that the only potential survivors would be enclosed in Vault-Tec facilities. They failed to account for survivors on the surface, or other factions that were able to seek shelter from the bombs and survive such as the Enclave. Vault-Tec seems to have been manipulating factors in the wasteland to prevent the formation of post-war states, or otherwise destroy those that have arisen- most notably with the atomic bombing of Shady Sands by Vault 33 Overseer Hank McClean.

Rather than design the Vault's as advertised as large nuclear-bunkers to allow communities to survive, the Vaults were instead designed with horrific social experiments with only 20 control Vault's designed to actually save people. Supposedly these experiments were done to test potential societal models and determine the most superior through a means of competition, however many were simply designed to vail, such as the Bakersfield Vault which was designed to not fully close. Many of these experiments seem to have been motivated entirely out of sadism rather than scientific curiosity as their experiments are so bizarre and deranged that their scientific value is nebulous at best. It can be seen that more benevolent, straightforward, or harmless experiments that were proposed at Vault-Tec were typically outright dismissed and those that proposed them characterized as not understanding the corporate culture, so malevolent experiments were much more prioritized. It was believed that truly bold science needed to cross ethical boundaries. Vault-Tec employees were not at all safe from these experiments, often they were lied to about the nature of their experiments and Vault-Tec staff were the subject to such horrific social experiments, with many deaths resulting even in the pre-war era.

Despite this, Vault-Tec was able to foster a sense of reverent loyalty to the company that would persist for centuries after the Great War and without any communications to some existing corporate structure. Very few Vault-Tec Overseers in face of the Great War and their now limited resources for survival would refuse to carry out their experiments in their now isolated Vaults. Consequently the vast majority of Vault's ultimately failed. Likewise Vault-Tec actively cultivated a toxic work-culture, focused on displays of loyalty through overworking, and encouraging abuses through the corporate chain of command.

Products[]

Vault and shelter equipment[]

• The Vaults
• Series 1000 shelter
• Vault-Tec Shelters
• Equipment and supplies for the Vaults, including food synthesizers
• Vault-Tec reactor
• Uranium Nuclear Reactor^[45]
• Vault Star super reactor
• Soda fountain
• Phoropter
• Vault-Tec water pump
• Plan B - Budg-Tec Pop-Up Shelter^[77]
• Plan C - A Vault-Tec stamped Carboard Box^[77]

Computers[]

• ZAX AI units
• ARIC-4 AI
• Tranquility Lane simulation
• Vault-Tec "Shop-Tec" computerized trading system vending machine^{[Non-game 30]}

Consumables[]

• Nutritional Alternative Paste Program (NAPP) food paste^{[Non-game 31]}
• Plan D - Banana-flavored Cyanide

Reclaiming the wasteland[]

• Garden of Eden Creation Kit or G.E.C.K., developed by Future-Tec
• The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System or "V.A.T.S."
• C.A.M.P.
• My stash box
• Scrapbox
• Vault-Tec supply packages
• Vault-Tec Population Management System

Books and manuals[]

• Survival handbooks, including the Vault Dweller's Survival Guide
• Vault-Tec Employee Handbook^[78][79]
• Vault Boy's Big Book of Laughs for Kids
• Vault-Tec Edition Bible
• You're SPECIAL!

Entertainment[]

• A Better Life Underground game board and its radio play
• Power Cycle 1000
• Pipfall
• Red Menace
• Vault playing cards^{[Non-game 32]}
• Vault-Tec Channel 9

Merchandise[]

• Vault-Tec baseball cap^[80]
• Vault-Tec drink cozy^[81]
• Vault-Tec promotional lunchbox
• Vault-Tec leather bomber jacket^[82][83]
• Vault-Tec t-shirts^[84]
• Vault-Tec golf tees^[85]
• Vault-Tec promotional Vault Boy bobbleheads (Executives-only)
• Vault-Tec bobblehead collector's stand
• Vault-Tec limited edition snow globes
• Vault-Tec alarm clock

Locations[]

• Vaults 1-122
• Vault-Tec Industries headquarters, located in Southern California.
• Vault-Tec headquarters, located in Vernon Square, Washington, D.C.
• Vault-Tec Regional HQ, located in Beacon Hill, Boston.
• Vault-Tec: Among the Stars, an attraction at the Nuka-World amusement park showcasing a potential extraterrestrial Vault using contemporary Vault-Tec equipment.
• Vault-Tec University, located in Morgantown, West Virginia, and also known as VTU, it served to train potential Vault staff and overseers for Vaults across the country.
• Vault-Tec Agricultural Research Center, located near Flatwoods, West Virginia.
• Vault-Tec Warehouse, located in Los (non-canon)

Appearances[]

Vault-Tec Vaults and technology appear in all of the Fallout games, tabletop titles, and the Fallout TV series.

Notes[]

Behind the scenes[]

• The Vault experiment was an idea created by Tim Cain during the initial stages of Fallout 2 development.^{[Non-game 4][Non-game 12]}
• The player character was intended to discover Vault-Tec's complicity in the grand social experiment by unearthing files hidden in the computers at Vault 8 and Vault 13, describing the purposes of the respective Vaults and their history.^{[Non-game 1][Non-game 33]}
• In Van Buren, the developers intended to showcase that even the Enclave didn't count on the Vaults to save anyone, and tried to make their own contingency plan by seizing Bloomfield Space Center and refit the Hermes-13 to take its elites off-planet.^{[Non-canon 1]}
• In the abortive Fallout movie, the idea that Vault-Tec deliberately started the war was part of the movie's plot. The idea was resurrected for the 2024 television series, although whether Vault-Tec actually did so was kept ambiguous. Barb Howard floats the idea of deliberately triggering a nuclear event to redefine the world, while Bud Askins says "after we've wiped the surface clean" while speaking to Norm MacLean. The wording is unclear if Askins meant Vault-Tec or humanity in general, or whether they accomplished it through action (dropping the bomb) or inaction (not stopping the war).
• The Vault-Tec building seen in the Fallout 2 intro is a still from the film, Dick Tracy, resized and slightly modified.^{[Non-game 34]}
• Outside of the Fallout series, the Vault-Tec logo also appeared in the 2016 reboot of Doom (published by Bethesda Softworks) on certain doors in the UAC facility on Mars. Vault-Tec is also mentioned in RAGE.^{[Non-game 35]}
• A location referred to as Vault-Tec headquarters is mentioned in the Fallout Bible 3 and rulebook to Fallout: The Roleplaying Game.^{[Non-game 36][Non-game 4]}
• The "Vault-Tec Documentation Department" is mentioned in the Fallout manual and Fallout 4 manual.^{[Non-game 37][Non-game 38]}

Gallery[]

Fallout 2[]

Vault-Tec Films as seen in the intro cutscene of Fallout 2

Vault-Tec headquarters in Los Angeles, California

Fallout 3[]

Museum of Technology

Vault-Tec headquarters

Warning sign

Fallout: New Vegas[]

Promotional banner in the Vault 21 lobby

Banner

Banner

Cleaned-up recreation

Fallout 4[]

Vault-Tec van in the year 2077

Vault-Tec Regional HQ

Vault-Tec calendar in The House of Tomorrow

A poster advertising Vaults

Vault-Tec Corp. sign in Vault 111

Fallout 76[]

Vault-Tec University (VTU) in Morgantown in Appalachia

The Vault-Tec Agricultural Research Center

Vault-Tec containers at the R&G Station

Vault 76 exterior

Beginning of the Vault 79 slideshow

Reclamation Day poster

Reclamation Day poster

VTU poster

Magic: The Gathering[]

Magic: The Gathering card

Extended Art

References[]

Non-game

Non-canon

v · d · e Pre-War companies Accommodation, apartments and hotels Casa Madrid Apartments · Cranberry Heights · Dini's Hotel · Harbor Grand Hotel · Harbormaster Hotel · Junction Motel · Le Canard Apartments · Roadside Pines Motel · Shady Pines Trailer Park · Statesman Hotel · Steelwork Flats · Summer Springs Boarding House · Tiki Tonga Apartments · Waves Crest Orphanage · Wright's Inn Banking and finance Bridgeway Trust · Burnside Bank & Loan · Cambridge S&L · Commonwealth Bank · Commonwealth Savings and Loan · Concord Savings and Loan · Isla Negra Holdings · Lexington Bank · New Appalachia Bank · People's Bank of Point Lookout · University Credit Union · Weatherby Savings & Loan Beauty, cosmetics and health Aldersea Day Spa · Berkeley Springs Spa · Besnik's Barbershop · Jessica's Beauty Salon · Lasergrafter Biotech and medicine Arktos Pharma Company · Chase R&D · CHROMAX Genetics · Dyer Chemical · Greenetech Genetics · Greenway Hydroponics · HalluciGen Incorporated · Jim's Limbs · Kanawha Psychiatric · Lee Rapid Pharmaceuticals · Livermore/Broansoun Laboratories · Med-Tek Laboratories · Nova Biogistics · West Tek Computer and software Allied Technologies · Apricot · Banckom · Computechtron · Diamond Inc. · Falcon Northwest · Macrosoft · N.E. · PagSoft LLC · Planned Diversion Programming · RobCo Enterprise Solutions · Skeks Corporation · SoftLock Solutions, Inc. · Think Machine · Virtual Strategic Solutions Energy and robotics Acme · Bot-Stop · Bysshe Company · Calpower · Cerulean Robotics · Duncan & Duncan Robotics · GDA Fusion · General Atomics International · Greene Custom Defense Systems · LaZer-Sec Systems · LightLife · Mass Fusion · Nuka-Advantax · Pep Gas · Petró-Chico · Poseidon Energy · PPE · RobCo Industries · Rok-Solid Brand · Schoelt · Solitare · Steam Whistle · Sure Power · Universal Electric, Inc. · Universal Pyrotechnics, Inc. · Versicorps · Zapp's Neon Signs Entertainment and video games American Comics Code · Big Daddy Billiards · Big Ranch Nevada State Lotto · BKM Recording Company · Broadway Cinema · Bumbalo's · Cat's Paw · Clayton's Drive-in · Don't Be Bored Games Company · Dynamite Animation Company · Fantastique Cinema · Gomorrah · Hubris Comics · Imperial Records · Juke 'n Jive · Lucky 38 · Manticore · Marx Toy Company · OEI Motion Pictures · Planned Diversion Programming · Radiation King · Red Racer · Sanders Brothers · Shaw & Associates · Silver Rush · Special Win · Starlight Theaters · The Tops · Ticker Tape Lounge · Vault-Tec Game Studios · Warren Theater · West Virginia Lottery Company · Wilson Atomatoys Food and drinks Bawls Guarana Corporation · Big Pops · BlamCo · Dairy Fresh · Dunwick's · Gwinnett Brewery · Chateau Montrose · Coffee King · Colontoni's Pizzeria · Dandy Boy Apples · Diggity's! · Doghouse · Falmouth Winery · Fancy Lads · Fizzy's Fountain Drinks · Grape-Pearl Soda · Greasy Prospector · Joe's Spuckies · Little Cobb Creamery · Little Italy · Lobster Grill · L.S. Smuckman Company · MacDougal-Bernard Company · Mama Dolce's · Nuka-Cola Corporation · Oak Holler · Old Possum · Olde Royale · Packed Full Of Joe · Parsons Creamery · Pickaxe · Platinum Inebriater · Rooster's · Saddle Up · Sardinia Sun Fine Wines · Shafta · Sharon's Downhome Country Lemon · Slocum's Joe · Spring Valley · Sunset Sarsaparilla Company · Supa Yum! · Surkov · T.V.G. · Uisce Beatha · Vim! Pop Incorporated Heavy industry A&N Construction · Atomic Mining Services · Dent & Sons Construction · Dunwich Borers LLC · Garrahan Mining Company · Gilman Lumber Mill · Grafton Steel · Holland Chase Concrete Company · Hornwright Industrial · Interior Slabs · M&M Construction · Mass Gravel & Sand · Ornate Obelisks · Pillar Pushers · Quincy Quarries · Sunnyfield Construction · Vault-Tec Corporation · WV Lumber Co. 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Enterprises · Long Branch Arsenal · M&A Guns Manufacturers · Manhattan Projects Inc. · Masterson · Mauser · Rheinmetall AG · Pancor · Purebore · Ranch Defender · Rockwell · Romington · SharpWit, Inc. · SIG-Sauer · Silver Star · Raider of America · Red Raptor Firearms · Red Ryder · Sellier & Bellot · Smith & Wesson · Southern Cartridge · Stent Security Solutions · Union Cartridge · Wattz Electronics · Whoop Ass · Winchester · West Tek · Yuma Flats Energy Consortium Other B&K Cleaners · Bernardo's · Big Al's Tattoo Parlor · Big MT · Boston Communications · Burnett and Associates · Clark, Clark, Clark & Associates · Cole & Parker Holdings Ltd. · D. Miller & Sons · Dawnshire Pottery, Inc. · Egret Tours · Fantastic Tours · Gramercy & Ulster · Granite Wolf Insurance · Grey & Gould · Happy Liberty Imports · Hermes Communications, Incorporated · Jay's Moving · LGJG · LoveLine · Madden's Boxing Gym · Priblos' Curios · Pulowski Preservation Services · R&G Processing Services · Rockwell Clearing House · The Whitespring Resort · Ticknor and Fields · Tucker & Sons Funeral Home · Van Lowe Taxidermy · Westside Cleaners Storage · Wilson Brother's Auto Repair