“ Some of the lore that really... was written, y'know, back in the day. It makes sense and we use that and put it in our games. We don't just assume that everything in the Bible is canon. We have to take it step-by-step inside. It's a judgement call. ” Emil Pagliarulo , August 2020

The Fallout Bible is a collection of documents containing background material for the first Fallout games. They were compiled, written, and released by Chris Avellone in 2002 on a semi-regular basis, petering out after three installments. Chris Avellone refers to it as non-canon, i.e. not binding for Bethesda Game Studios.

The studio has used the Bible as a source in Fallout 3 production,[1] and many parts of it have been used in games released since by both Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment.

Emil Pagliarulo spoke about the Bible's status within canon in August 2020. He stated that the writers of Bethesda's Fallout games often use the Bible as a supplementary source, secondary to the games themselves. Writers investigate the Bible after they look at what is in the games first. However, they do not assume that everything in the Bible is canon; instead, they take it step-by-step to include what makes sense. In his own words, "it's a judgment call."[2]

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Background Edit

The idea, initially elaborated by community veteran Dan Wood, was to create a document that would serve as a total guide to Fallout: the history of the setting, the elements that compose it, the things that define it, and the rules that guide it. It would also serve to tie off loose ends left by the games and to provide details on questions previously raised, important due to the prospect of someone who wasn't Black Isle making Fallout games grew ever more real.

However, instead of being a definitive, unambiguous guide to Fallout, Avellone's Fallout Bible became a sort of long question and answer session with fans emailing a multitude of queries to him and receiving answers. Avellone would frequently toss in interesting bits of information about the games and original design documents, including the official Fallout timeline. Avellone made some mistakes here and there, many of which were corrected in later issues of the Bible thanks to fan feedback. The whole project was cut short when Avellone left Black Isle.

Installments Edit

There are nine main installments of the Fallout Bible and Fallout Bible 0, a compilation of the first three with various corrections.

See also Edit

References Edit