Amazon’s Fallout TV Show Retcons The Origin Of Vault Boy’s Thumbs Up From The Games

Vault Boy is the mascot of the Fallout franchise, and Amazon’s Fallout TV show just retconned the origin of the character’s signature thumbs-up pose. Vault Boy is a character that is seen all throughout the Fallout franchise, with him essentially being the face of the games. Because of this, it isn’t surprising that the mascot made some appearances in Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout TV show, but it is surprising how he was retconned.

Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout TV show is out now, with the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of the beloved video game franchise of the same name now making waves on the streaming service. The Fallout TV show brings many aspects of the iconic gaming series to life, with Fallout‘s cast of characters, locations, and storylines all making their way to the streaming series. While Fallout is a fairly faithful adaptation, it does make some changes to the video games, including this Vault Boy origin.

Cooper Howard Invented Vault Boy’s Thumbs Up In Fallout

& He Tells His Daughter

Fallout episode 1 starts off by showing a scene that takes place before the bombs drop, with it focusing on celebrity actor Cooper Howard (who later becomes The Ghoul). In this scene, the group discusses their paranoia about the bombs dropping, with Howard talking to his daughter about it. Howard explains that he was taught to stick his thumb up if a bomb were to be dropped. If the mushroom cloud is lower than the thumb, one should run, whereas one is as good as dead if the cloud is higher than the thumb.

It is implied that Howard learned this from Vault-Tec, the company behind the Vaults that Howard does advertisements for in the Fallout TV show. Because of this, it seems that this safety measure was implemented into the thumbs-up pose of Fallout‘s Vault Boy, with the company’s mascot acting as a reminder of this saying.

How The Fallout Games Explained Vault Boy’s Thumbs Up

It Is The Subject Of A Classic Fan Theory

While this is an interesting explanation for Vault Boy’s pose in the Fallout TV show, this actually wasn’t included in the games. It has been speculated for years that Vault Boy’s thumbs-up pose has to do with measuring the cloud, but official explanations have denied this theory, with figures behind the Fallout franchise explaining that it is simply a reflection of Vault Boy’s positive attitude.

The Fallout TV show confirming this detail means that it has cemented this classic fan theory as fact, with Howard’s explanation of the thumbs-up trick to his daughter being a moment of triumph for many long-time fans of the franchise. This is a major change to the lore of Fallout, with it being one of the best new additions to Amazon Prime Video’s TV series.