Vampire

Vampires are beings based on folklore that prey on humans for the purpose of obtaining their blood.^[1] They are also how The Family members call themselves^[2] in Fallout 3.

Fallout 3[edit]

Folklore[edit]

“Vampires are beings based on folklore that prey on humans for the purpose of obtaining their blood. In these fictitious stories the blood serves as both a food source and a center of power for the vampire. It is a common motif in these tales that a victim could become a vampire if bitten by one. Other noted attributes of the vampire are its ability to change into the form of a bat or wolf, to become gaseous at will, the ability to hypnotize the opposite gender and increased life span. It is interesting to note that the vampire is traditionally regarded in literature as having an aversion to sunlight. Many people believe this may stem from the misunderstanding of common phobias such as photophobia and heliophobia or even the actual physical issue of photosensitivity. In all of these accounts, the subject withdraws from daytime activities and is rarely seen outdoors. In the 18th century, with medical science in its infancy, this commonly gave rise to ridiculous accusations by the uniformed that these people were "strange" or "cursed". This is likely the reason vampire are awarded this attribute to their stories. Depending on the cultural source, there are several ways to kill or destroy a vampire. The most common is by driving a wooden stake through the vampire's heart. In some cultures, the stake was driven through the mouth or stomach as well. Other tales tell of decapitation or immolation being the preferred method of destruction along with anything else that can completely annihilate the vampire's physical form.”— Meresti Metro Station Terminal Entries

The Family[edit]

Main article: The Family

They have existed for at least six years, with its members originating from various other settlements, such as Arefu, Rivet City, Megaton and Paradise Falls.^{[Pub 1]}

Vance's "ability to find others of his kind manifested itself", and using his traits as a basis and wanting to establish some sort of society, he molded the residents into "vampires" and taught them their bloodsucking ways^[3]

According to Vance, "men of science" would call them cannibals,^[4] some, like Ian West, refer to themselves as mutants and freaks,^[5] and Vance claims they are "no longer cannibal, only consuming the blood of our prey."^[6] Vance says that someone with cannibalistic cravings can convert their cannibalism into hematophagy,^[7]^[8] and become a vampire through meditation^[9] and brainwashing,^[8] but they cannot make the Lone Wanderer "fully one of them".^[10]

Although the Family may truly believe they are like the vampires in traditional works of fiction, they retain no abilities or "powers" that distinguish them from any other cannibal in the Capital Wasteland.^[11]

Fallout: New Vegas[edit]

No-bark Noonan believes there's a Chupacabra, also known as "The Livestock Vampire", stalking Novac. He saw it once, describing it as having 2 heads, fangs that dragged on the ground, and invisibility, and using a rotating blunderbuss.^[12]

Perks and Traits[edit]

Night Person, first a trait in Fallout and Fallout Tactics, then changed to a perk in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout: The Roleplaying Game, depict vampires, and provide bonuses to the player only during the night. The Hematophage perk in Fallout 3 also depicts a vampire, and is given to the player by Vance if they befriend The Family, allowing them to heal from consuming blood packs. The Fallout 76 perk Bloodsucker depicts the act of vampirism, and allows the player to heal from blood packs and satisfy their thirst.

Notes[edit]

In Fallout 3, With a Medicine check of 90-100, the player can detect that the Wests had bite marks on the neck that "should have caused massive bleeding" and that they "appear to be from a human or humans with sharpened incisors or canines"^[13]

Gallery[edit]

Night Person trait from Fallout and Fallout Tactics
Night Person perk from Fallout 3
Hematophage perk from Fallout 3
Night Person perk from Fallout 4
Night Person perk from Fallout 76
Bloodsucker perk from Fallout 76
Night Person perk from Fallout:The Roleplaying Game
Fallout Shelter Online

References[edit]

↑ Meresti Metro Station Terminal Entries:Vampires are beings based on folklore that prey on humans for the purpose of obtaining their blood. In these fictitious stories the blood serves as both a food source and a center of power for the vampire. It is a common motif in these tales that a victim could become a vampire if bitten by one. Other noted attributes of the vampire are its ability to change into the form of a bat or wolf, to become gaseous at will, the ability to hypnotize the opposite gender and increased life span.
↑ Vance: We call ourselves vampires; a brotherhood that honorably stretches back thousands of years.
(Vance's Dialogue#172)
↑ Vance is 41, and the leader of the Family. When he was younger, he decided that life in Rivet City wasn't for him and began to wander the Wasteland. Soon, the ability to find others of his kind manifested itself. Over time, he gathered these outcasts and founded their home in Meresti. Using his traits as a basis and wanting to establish some sort of society, he molded the residents into "vampires" and taught them their bloodsucking ways. He is a fair leader, not tyrannical. He's never demanded anyone do anything they didn't wish to do, and he never wishes to put anyone in harm's way. He sees himself as a leader, but more in the way of a guide or a priest than a king. He addresses the residents of Meresti often so they will never "stray from their true nature"—that of the vampire. Vance is not violent and only attacks or orders attacks when survival demands it.
Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Wasteland Census#Vance
↑ Vance: Men of science would call us cannibals, eaters of human flesh. Society labels us as monsters, demons and the unclean.
(Vance's Dialogue#38)
↑ Ian West:I'm a mutant; a freak! The only person I was ever able to talk to was my sister Lucy, and she's gone.
↑ Vance:Let me counter that ignorance with a lesson in objectivity. I say we are no longer cannibal, only consuming the blood of our prey.
(Vance's Dialogue#120)
↑ At 19, Brianna is the youngest member of the Family. She was originally a prostitute, but her lust for flesh (to eat) caused her much pain and anguish in the populated centers of Washington, D.C. She therefore struck out into the Wasteland and stumbled across her fellow "vampires" in Meresti Station. Vance, sensing her traits, immediately took her in and converted her Cannibalism to Hematophagy. She's been living in Meresti ever since.
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Wasteland Census#Brianna)
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 Lone Wanderer: What you're doing here is brainwashing them, plain and simple.
Vance:Yes. In a way, I am brainwashing them. I am eliminating their fears, their inhibitions and their shame.
I have reined in their cravings and taught them to eat not of the flesh, but to drink of the blood.
(Vance's Dialogue#178)
↑ Vance:To be a vampire is a life commitment. It is not achieved by my words, it is something you earn by your own will and sincere meditation.
↑ Vance:Sadly, I cannot fully make you one of us, but I can teach you how the life blood of others brings us regenerative powers.
(Vance's Dialogue#28)
↑ The Family is a group of cannibals who have banded together thanks to the efforts of Vance, their leader. Living under the ruins of Meresti Trainyard, the group keeps out of public view, staying away from larger towns and settlements and only surfacing to feed. Realizing that the cannibal is both feared and hated even in the lawless Wasteland, Vance has decided to teach his people the way of the vampire as he interprets it from classic literature. He's convinced most of the Family that they are indeed true vampires, teaching them to drink the blood of their prey and not to feed upon the their flesh. Vance believes this gives them a sense of belonging and purpose in a world that doesn't understand their unusual trait. Although the Family may truly believe they are like the vampires in traditional works of fiction, they retain no abilities or "powers" that distinguish them from any other cannibal in the Capital Wasteland.
Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Faction profiles#The Family
↑ "There's been things of a disturbing nature going on at the McBride Corral. Seems every night one of their herd meets a most unnatural death, and always there's holes all over the body. Work of the chupacabra, the livestock vampire, says No-bark, but they don't pay no mind. Too many holes, they say, and there's bullets in them. Well, says No-bark, we got a chupacabra with an automatic weapon. And that's when they get real quiet, 'cause now they see the predicament we're in."
↑ Dead West text:The bodies of the Wests have bite marks on the neck area that go to the bone. The lack of bloodstains on the sheets is strange, as any bite or wound of that depth should have caused massive bleeding. The bite marks on the neck appear to be from a human or humans with sharpened incisors or canines. The bodies seem to have a blackish powdery residue present not unlike that found in old trainyards.
(Fallout 3 message box transcriptions#Arefu)

Publications

↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Wasteland Census#Alan:One of the most recent additions to the Family, 22-year-old Alan was ambushed by slavers and taken to market in Paradise Falls. He escaped but sustained a potentially mortal wound. He wandered south and collapsed not far from Meresti Station, where Vance discovered him. Currently he does not participate in the Hematophagy rituals, because he is still learning the ways from Vance.

[1] Meresti Metro Station Terminal Entries:Vampires are beings based on folklore that prey on humans for the purpose of obtaining their blood. In these fictitious stories the blood serves as both a food source and a center of power for the vampire. It is a common motif in these tales that a victim could become a vampire if bitten by one. Other noted attributes of the vampire are its ability to change into the form of a bat or wolf, to become gaseous at will, the ability to hypnotize the opposite gender and increased life span.

[2] Vance: We call ourselves vampires; a brotherhood that honorably stretches back thousands of years.
(Vance's Dialogue#172)

[4] Vance is 41, and the leader of the Family. When he was younger, he decided that life in Rivet City wasn't for him and began to wander the Wasteland. Soon, the ability to find others of his kind manifested itself. Over time, he gathered these outcasts and founded their home in Meresti. Using his traits as a basis and wanting to establish some sort of society, he molded the residents into "vampires" and taught them their bloodsucking ways. He is a fair leader, not tyrannical. He's never demanded anyone do anything they didn't wish to do, and he never wishes to put anyone in harm's way. He sees himself as a leader, but more in the way of a guide or a priest than a king. He addresses the residents of Meresti often so they will never "stray from their true nature"—that of the vampire. Vance is not violent and only attacks or orders attacks when survival demands it.
Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Wasteland Census#Vance

[5] Vance: Men of science would call us cannibals, eaters of human flesh. Society labels us as monsters, demons and the unclean.
(Vance's Dialogue#38)

[Ianmutant-6] Ian West:I'm a mutant; a freak! The only person I was ever able to talk to was my sister Lucy, and she's gone.

[7] Vance:Let me counter that ignorance with a lesson in objectivity. I say we are no longer cannibal, only consuming the blood of our prey.
(Vance's Dialogue#120)

[8] At 19, Brianna is the youngest member of the Family. She was originally a prostitute, but her lust for flesh (to eat) caused her much pain and anguish in the populated centers of Washington, D.C. She therefore struck out into the Wasteland and stumbled across her fellow "vampires" in Meresti Station. Vance, sensing her traits, immediately took her in and converted her Cannibalism to Hematophagy. She's been living in Meresti ever since.
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Wasteland Census#Brianna)

[brainwash-9] 8.0 ^8.1 Lone Wanderer: What you're doing here is brainwashing them, plain and simple.
Vance:Yes. In a way, I am brainwashing them. I am eliminating their fears, their inhibitions and their shame.
I have reined in their cravings and taught them to eat not of the flesh, but to drink of the blood.
(Vance's Dialogue#178)

[10] Vance:To be a vampire is a life commitment. It is not achieved by my words, it is something you earn by your own will and sincere meditation.

[Vancesad-11] Vance:Sadly, I cannot fully make you one of us, but I can teach you how the life blood of others brings us regenerative powers.
(Vance's Dialogue#28)

[12] The Family is a group of cannibals who have banded together thanks to the efforts of Vance, their leader. Living under the ruins of Meresti Trainyard, the group keeps out of public view, staying away from larger towns and settlements and only surfacing to feed. Realizing that the cannibal is both feared and hated even in the lawless Wasteland, Vance has decided to teach his people the way of the vampire as he interprets it from classic literature. He's convinced most of the Family that they are indeed true vampires, teaching them to drink the blood of their prey and not to feed upon the their flesh. Vance believes this gives them a sense of belonging and purpose in a world that doesn't understand their unusual trait. Although the Family may truly believe they are like the vampires in traditional works of fiction, they retain no abilities or "powers" that distinguish them from any other cannibal in the Capital Wasteland.
Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Faction profiles#The Family

[13] "There's been things of a disturbing nature going on at the McBride Corral. Seems every night one of their herd meets a most unnatural death, and always there's holes all over the body. Work of the chupacabra, the livestock vampire, says No-bark, but they don't pay no mind. Too many holes, they say, and there's bullets in them. Well, says No-bark, we got a chupacabra with an automatic weapon. And that's when they get real quiet, 'cause now they see the predicament we're in."

[NCISPlayer-14] Dead West text:The bodies of the Wests have bite marks on the neck area that go to the bone. The lack of bloodstains on the sheets is strange, as any bite or wound of that depth should have caused massive bleeding. The bite marks on the neck appear to be from a human or humans with sharpened incisors or canines. The bodies seem to have a blackish powdery residue present not unlike that found in old trainyards.
(Fallout 3 message box transcriptions#Arefu)

[Alanguide-3] Fallout 3 Official Game Guide/Wasteland Census#Alan:One of the most recent additions to the Family, 22-year-old Alan was ambushed by slavers and taken to market in Paradise Falls. He escaped but sustained a potentially mortal wound. He wandered south and collapsed not far from Meresti Station, where Vance discovered him. Currently he does not participate in the Hematophagy rituals, because he is still learning the ways from Vance.

[1]