Vault 31

	For the location in Fallout Shelter, see Fallout Shelter locations.

Vault 31 is a Vault-Tec Vault in Los Angeles, California in the Fallout TV series.

Background[]

As part of the Three Vaults, Vault 31 is connected to two other Vaults, Vault 32 and Vault 33, forming a tripartite society. Ostensibly, this society is divided into three Vaults to serve as a buffer against threats in case one Vault is compromised while still being able to support one another through times of crisis. The other Vaults are told that Vault 31 is just like them and only differs in having higher-quality resources, education, and food;^[2] this is a lie perpetuated by the released Vault 31 dwellers.^[3]

In reality, the experiment within the Vaults was a program called "Bud's Buds," devised by pre-War Vault-Tec sales executive Bud Askins, who sought to use the three Vaults to breed a population of loyal Vault-Tec employees who would then go on to establish a monopoly over the wastes after everyone on the surface had perished from nuclear war. Bud would accomplish this by populating Vault 31 with a hand-picked group of junior Vault-Tec executives whom he trained, who would then be cryogenically frozen in the Vault. In contrast, the other two Vaults were populated with people with traits he found genetically desirable who would live as normal.^[3]

When the time came, his junior executives would then be sent out into the other two Vaults to become their overseers and breed to create generations of junior managers loyal to Vault-Tec, guiding their societies towards Bud's mission. Bud himself would act as Vault 31's overseer, having his brain preserved in a robot (not nearly as advanced as a Robobrain, but rather just a "Brain-in-a-Roomba."^[3]

Ostensibly, the three Vaults regularly conduct intermarriage and inter-Vault trade every three years in a ceremony known as the Triennial Trade, but (for Vault 31's part) this is a ruse concocted to provide Vault 31 with any necessary items and to enable the individuals cryogenically frozen in Vault 31 to join the other Vaults and accomplish Bud's directive. To date, all the overseers of Vaults 32 and 33 have been members of Bud's Buds, including George Yaffe, Betty Pearson, and Hank MacLean, often using (or possibly even starting) concerning incidents to boost their campaigns; this trend is so well-known that both of the Vaults have adopted an electoral slogan celebrating candidates from Vault 31.^[2]

Fallout TV series[]

The truth about Vault 31 was revealed in S1E8 of the Fallout TV series when Norm MacLean decided to impersonate Betty Pearson to trick Bud Askins into opening the inter-Vault door. Upon learning the truth, Norm decided to return to 33, but Askins locked the door and suggested that it would be wise for him to use his father's cryo-capsule since 31 doesn't have any food supplies. Earlier in the show, we learned that denizens of 32 learned the truth about 31, killed their overseer, and tried to break into the neighboring Vault, an attempt which ultimately failed.

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Known residents[]

This list is divided between dwellers who have been reactivated (defrozen and released into other Vaults), and dwellers who are still dormant (cryogenically frozen). The overseer is Bud Askins.

Reactivated[]

Eighteen Vault 31 dwellers were thawed and sent into the neighboring Vaults. Eight are not accounted for.^[1]

Dormant[]

The Vault held at least 126 preserved executives in the beginning. These include:^[1]

Notes[]

According to Steph Harper in the episode "The Past," the mashed potatoes in Vault 31 are better than in Vault 33.

Gallery[]

A partial manifest of Vault 31 residents

Betty Pearson and Hank MacLean's empty cryo pods

Entrance hallway

Norm and Roomba Bud

References[]