Fallout Vaults

Purpose: Control Vault

Notes: Inhabitants chose to remain in isolation for over a century until a water leak forced them to open for trade; Vault was subsequently massacred and taken over by the Fiends

Purpose: Publicly-known experiment; a Vault governed exclusively by scientists, with no other oversight

Notes: Scientists adopted a policy of letting in survivors to use as genetic experimentation test subjects; subjects broke free and killed the scientists, but continue to inhabit the Vault and accept outsiders, acting as a true refuge from the wastes

Purpose: A Vault filled with water built at the bottom of a lake, made not to house residents but instead to record information on those who find their way inside in an experiment called the Leviathan.

Notes: Vault is run by a robot called the "Guardian," who confiscates contraband. Reaching a certain room will allow the intruder to complete the Leviathan and be released.

Purpose: Control Vault

Notes: Inhabitants left on-schedule and used their G.E.C.K. to establish Vault City

Purpose: Control Vault

Notes: Inhabitants left on-schedule and used their G.E.C.K. to establish Vault City

Purpose: Social experiment studying a population's willingness to sacrifice individuals for the safety of the majority, using falsified threats of collective punishment

Notes: Inhabitants initially used elections to select sacrifices; attempted coup after the practice was abolished resulted in the deaths of most inhabitants

Purpose: Medical experiment studying the effects of gradual radiation exposure; door was designed not to seal correctly

Notes: Inhabitants became ghouls and founded the city of Necropolis

Purpose: Control Vault

Notes: Inhabitants chose to remain in isolation until a water chip failure forced them to send the Vault Dweller for a replacement. Schism caused by the Vault Dweller resulted in many inhabitants leaving; survivors were killed or kidnapped by the Enclave

Purpose: Social experiment in which a large population from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds were forced to live together; Vault's opening was intentionally delayed by several decades

Notes: Schism among the inhabitants led to the formation of three raider gangs from exiled inhabitants (Khans, Jackals, and Vipers). Remaining inhabitants formed Shady Sands

Purpose: Unknown

Notes: Inhabitants were kidnapped and transformed into super mutants by the Unity

Purpose: Social experiment studying effects of factionalism and means to induce paranoia and mistrust; inhabitants divided into rival "Blue" and "Red" sectors

Notes: Inhabitants subjected to subliminal messaging and faked acts of sabotage; many developed symptoms of psychosis. Ultimate fate of inhabitants is unknown; Vault was eventually occupied by Powder Gangers

Purpose: Social experiment studying the effects of excessive gambling; all disputes were to be resolved through games of chance

Notes: Inhabitants maintained a stable community until 2274, when Robert House successfully won ownership of the Vault in a game of blackjack and converted it into a hotel

Purpose: Research facility studying and creating genetically modified crops and flora

Notes: Genetically modified fungal infection transformed inhabitants into spore carriers

Purpose: Social experiment. Said to be full of "rich, obnoxious teenagers"[2]

Notes:

Purpose: Social experiment, consisting of three interconnected but divided Vaults, ostensibly as extra security from threats but also for support during crises; secretly a pet project of Bud Askins, a Vault-Tec sales executive who sought to use the Vaults to create a population of loyal Vault-Tec employees to monopolize the wasteland. Vaults 32 and 33 housed regular populations, while 31 housed cryogenically preserved Vault-Tec executives directed to go out to the other Vaults and indoctrinate them towards Askins' directive, with the truth hidden from the other two Vaults

Notes: Remains functional as of 2297, with many Vault-Tec employees still cryogenically preserved, watched over by Bud Askins

Purpose: See Vault 31

Notes: Original population found out the truth about Vault 31, revolted, and ultimately died from infighting, suicide, and/or starvation circa 2294; briefly taken over by Lee Moldaver's raiders in order to infiltrate Vault 33, and later resettled by dwellers from Vault 33 in 2297 on Bud Askins' orders

Purpose: See Vault 31

Notes: Remains functional as of 2297, and still following Bud Askins' directives

Purpose: Social experiment in which inhabitants were provided access to an overstocked armory with no security measures

Notes: Inhabitants manually installed locks on armory and restricted access to Vault Security; schism over these measures led a group to leave and form the Boomers tribe. Reactor leak caused by a civil uprising led to the death or ghoulification of most inhabitants

Purpose: Contained a hidden sector where scientists performed experiments on dangerous creatures

Notes: Excessive power usage by hidden sector led to failure of numerous Vault systems and the death of all inhabitants. Lab animals continue to inhabit Vault, feeding on spoiled food stores

Purpose: Social experiment in which a ZAX AI was tasked with selecting an ideal overseer from Vault population

Notes: ZAX began manufacturing crises to test the abilities of inhabitants; the crises eventually escalated to lethal threats, then direct manipulation encouraging the remaining inhabitants to kill one another

Purpose: Unknown

Notes: Vault remains inaccessible

Purpose: Social and medical experiment, in which a eugenics program was used to breed young inhabitants into perfect soldiers

Notes: Test subjects eventually revolted against researchers; Vault was eventually occupied by Gunners

Purpose: Control Vault

Notes: Inhabitants became instrumental in the reconstruction of Appalachia and the eradication of the Scorched Plague

Purpose: Social experiment in which a single man was locked in the vault with only puppets[3]

Notes: An unknown inhabitant was feared to the point of superstition by the slavers of Paradise Falls

Purpose: Secret Service facility intended to house the United States gold reserves

Notes: Reactor leak killed or ghoulified most agents assigned to the Vault; survivors were rescued by the residents of Vault 76 during an attempted heist of the gold reserves

Purpose: Research facility; scientists in a secret sector of the Vault would work to develop a universal disease cure via experiments on an unwitting civilian population

Notes: Operations sabotaged by Overseer due to moral objections; researchers were sealed within their section of the Vault with no means of escape or contact. Researchers continued work by experimenting on mole rats and eventually perished; civilian section of the Vault maintained a stable community and remains inhabited

Purpose: Every year, a vote is held to exile a dweller deemed the most dangerous to the Vault

Notes: Vault maintained a stable society and remains inhabited

Purpose: Research facility studying the effects of the Forced Evolutionary Virus on humans; civilian population was used as test subjects

Notes: Inhabitants were transformed into super mutants and seized control of the Vault

Purpose: Testing facility for experimental productivity-boosting equipment to be used in other Vaults

Notes: Vault's construction was never completed. Overseer Valery Barstow became a ghoul and eventually recruited the Sole Survivor to help complete the Vault's experiments

Purpose: Medical experiment testing means to induce aggression using white noise

Notes: Inhabitants were driven insane and eventually killed one another. Vault later became infested with bloatflies and mirelurks

Purpose: Social experiment testing the viability of pacifist belief systems in post-apocalyptic conditions; all inhabitants were members of a nonviolent religious community save a single Vault-Tec employee

Notes: Vault-Tec observer confessed to the experiment and urged inhabitants to arm themselves for safety purposes. This advice was ignored, and the Vault was eventually massacred by paranoid outsiders. Damage to the Vault's G.E.C.K. sustained in the massacre created the Mire

Purpose: Social and medical experiment in which addicts were given experimental rehabilitation treatments and encouraged to remain clean, then informed of a secret stash of chems

Notes: Inhabitants initially recovered from addictions, but rapidly descended into violence once informed of the secret stash. Vault was eventually occupied by the Gunners

Purpose: Research facility intended to monitor and study mutated wildlife, using genetic engineering to develop anti-mutant countermeasures. Staffed by only five individuals

Notes: Automated security measures threatened to execute inhabitants if they failed to meet quotas due to secretive and unethical nature of research. Inhabitants eventually attempted to sabotage security systems and escape, but failed and were killed. Test subjects eventually began to escape the facility

Purpose: Social experiment in which Overseers were granted unlimited authority over a Vault intended to remain closed indefinitely

Notes: Overseer Alphonse Almodovar eventually began to send secret scouting parties into surrounding wasteland and recruited an outsider, James, as doctor. Vault eventually fell into civil war after James and the Lone Wanderer escaped

Purpose: Medical experiment studying effects of psychoactive drugs released via air filtration systems

Notes: Population erupted in violence after drugs were released; ultimate fate of inhabitants is unknown. Drugs remained in air supply for 200 years, causing insanity and hallucinations in survivors who entered

Purpose: Social experiment studying effects of leadership conflicts: most management positions were to be filled by a terminally ill Overseer upon entry, power systems were designed to fail after 20 years, no entertainment was provided, and armory was provided triple the standard ordnance

Notes: In addition to stated purpose, Vault was also provided with a cloning device. A single inhabitant, Gary, was cloned repeatedly; clones eventually turned violent and overran the Vault

Purpose: A high-class, "fancy" Vault filled with products from Mary May, Ticknor and Fields and Fallon's

Notes: Inhabitants initially maintained trade with Vault 84, but died after the facility became flooded with radiation

Purpose: Medical experiment studying long-term effects of cryogenic stasis on unwitting subjects

Notes: All-clear signal was never recieved, resulting in a coup by Vault Security and the abandonment of the Vault. One test subject, an infant named Shaun, was extracted from stasis and kidnapped by Institute agents; remaining subjects died due to power failure save for a Sole Survivor

Purpose: Social experiment in which inhabitants were placed in a virtual reality simulation controlled by the Overseer

Notes: Experiment was designed by Overseer Stanislaus Braun for his own psychotic amusement; after entry Braun tortured the inhabitants for centuries

Purpose: Social experiment in which wealthy inhabitants would be stripped of luxury and forced to live in cramped squalor under an incompetent Overseer

Notes: Vault was never completed, possibly due to contract fraud and/or embezzlement. Construction site was eventually taken over by Skinny Malone's triggermen outfit

Purpose: Social experiment in which 10 wealthy residents would live in luxury while 300 impoverished residents lived in squalor, with wealthy residents granted total authority

Notes: "Lower class" section of the Vault was never completed due to embezzlement of construction funds. Inhabitants of the "luxury" section eventually transferred themselves into robobrains to achieve immortality, and continue to occupy the Vault