You know, when people talk about Fallout, they usually go on about the Brotherhood of Steel, or maybe the New California Republic. But the Enclave Fallout? That one is a whole other beast, lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings behind some of the series’ most twisted plots. Trust me, the Enclave makes a lot of the other factions look like they’re playing Monopoly while the Enclave’s busy plotting global domination.
So, grab a seat. You’re in for a ride through one of Fallout’s darkest chapters—a faction so sinister they made “we’re the good guys” sound like a bad joke.
Origins: America’s Secret Safety Net—With a Side of Hubris
Let’s rewind a bit. Picture pre-war America—a time when the Cold War was heating up, and the threat of nuclear war was a real possibility. The U.S. government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to set up a contingency plan. Enter the Enclave: a shadowy, elite group made up of the top-tier government officials, military brass, and corporate moguls. Their purpose? Well, the idea was noble enough—create a safe haven for America’s most “important” people to survive the bombs that were about to drop. You know, the “best and brightest” could rebuild civilization after the fallout, while the rest of the population got to… well, suffer.
Fast forward to 2077. Boom. The Great War happens, and the Enclave’s secret Oil Rig becomes a vault of sorts for the political and corporate elite. The rest of us? Mutated, wandering the wasteland, wondering what happened to the concept of survival of the fittest. Fun times.
I remember the first time I encountered the Enclave in Fallout 3. You’re trudging through the wasteland, minding your own business, and BOOM—out pops an Enclave soldier, all decked out in that wicked T-51b Power Armor. It’s like meeting someone who got all the good genes and somehow ended up running the world. Annoying, right? But that’s the Enclave: the survivors of the Great War, convinced they’re the last “real” Americans.
The “Pure” Americans: A Little Too Pure
Now here’s where the Enclave really starts to get twisted. So, they survived the apocalypse, and you might think that’d make them a little more humble, right? Nah. Instead, they came out swinging with a belief system so messed up it could make your hair stand on end.
At the core of the Enclave’s philosophy was this: only the “pure” (aka themselves) should inherit the Earth. The rest of us, well, we were just “mutants,” unworthy of surviving the wasteland. Yeah, because radiated people with three eyes and six fingers are totally inferior, right? The Enclave’s answer to this? Genocide. They weren’t shy about it either. They believed in wiping out anyone who wasn’t of “pure” blood—real Americans. Which, as you can imagine, is about as welcoming as a family reunion at a Klan rally.
I’ll be real with you: their whole “genetic purity” thing always rubbed me the wrong way. Like, in Fallout 3, they tried to use Project Purity to unleash a deadly toxin that would kill off anyone who didn’t have “good” genes. Uh, excuse me, but last time I checked, I was just trying to survive the wasteland—not apply for a DNA test from Hell. You need nitrogen-rich soil—wait, no, was it potassium? Let me Google that again…
Anyway, fast forward past three failed attempts at their schemes, and it’s clear: the Enclave wasn’t just some survivalist group. They were an ideology wrapped in a blood-stained flag and power armor, ready to force the world to fit their twisted view of “purity.”
Tech-Savvy Tyrants: Better Weapons, Worse Plans
What sets the Enclave apart from all the other factions? Their tech. Oh, their tech is top-of-the-line. While everyone else is still figuring out how to shoot a gun without it jamming, the Enclave rolls up in Power Armor that can take a nuke to the face and still walk it off like nothing happened. They’ve got energy weapons, robots that can kill you before you even blink, and access to FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) that could turn you into a mutant mess—or a super soldier, if you’re lucky.
But let’s not kid ourselves. They didn’t use this tech for peace. No, no. They used it to dominate and exterminate. They weren’t building a utopia; they were just laying the groundwork for the worst dystopia.
Oh, and the whole FEV thing? Don’t even get me started. The Enclave wasn’t just sitting around, twiddling their thumbs with all this power. They were breeding genetically engineered humans—perfect, flawless humans—who would then go on to rule the world. Never mind that they created the super mutants in the first place, or that FEV was the source of the horrors they claimed to hate. These guys thought they were the pinnacle of human evolution. Spoiler alert: they weren’t.
I still remember that time I tried to break into their Fallout 2 base. I thought I could just waltz in, steal some tech, and leave. Spoiler: I didn’t even get past the first wave of robots. They were out here acting like the Terminator, but in fallout gear.
A Leadership Built on Lies and Brass
If you thought the tech was bad, wait until you hear about the Enclave leadership. These guys were like the spoiled rich kids who get everything handed to them but still act like the world owes them more.
Let’s take President John Henry Eden, for example. In Fallout 3, Eden isn’t even a real person. He’s an AI, a narcissistic AI who believes he’s the reincarnation of America’s founding fathers. Yeah, that’s right. He’s got the entire country’s history crammed into his circuits, and he’s convinced that only he can save the world. His idea of “saving the world”? Wiping out all mutants (aka, everyone except his precious Enclave).
Fast-forward a bit. Eden’s sitting pretty on his Oil Rig, pretending he’s the Second Coming, while his army of Enclave soldiers enforces his genocidal vision. Oh, and he talks to you like you’re the problem. Trust me, every time I heard his voice, I wanted to throw my controller out the window. I didn’t, though—because I’m stubborn. (You don’t play Fallout without developing a stubborn streak.)
Anyway, here’s the kicker: Eden’s leadership wasn’t all that great. Sure, they had power, but it wasn’t enough to stop the constant rebellions or their eventual downfall. The Enclave wasn’t as invincible as they thought. They were too obsessed with their own legacy to see that the world had moved on. Fast forward past their Oil Rig disaster, and the remnants of the Enclave are left clinging to power in Fallout: New Vegas—and failing miserably.
Fallout Fallout: The Enclave’s Last Stand
It’s crazy to think about it now, but despite all their tech and power, the Enclave couldn’t hold on forever. The world changed. The survivors of the wasteland weren’t just going to bow down to some government leftovers who thought they were the “chosen ones.”
And that’s the thing. No matter how powerful the Enclave was, their sense of entitlement and obsession with their “purity” was their undoing. They didn’t get that the wasteland was full of survivors—people who fought tooth and nail to build something better, even if it was just a little sliver of hope in a world gone to hell.
The last time I saw the Enclave’s fallout, it was in Fallout 3. I made the choice to blow up the Oil Rig, not because I hated what they stood for, but because there’s no room for elitism when you’re standing on the bones of an old world.
I’d love to say I threw a parade for their fall, but honestly, I was just relieved to move on to other messes, like the Brotherhood of Steel’s obsession with everything.
Legacy of the Enclave: A Cautionary Tale
So, here’s the thing. The Enclave may be dead and buried in the wasteland, but they’ve left behind a legacy of fear, control, and blind ambition. A lot of what the Enclave believed still echoes in the remnants of the wasteland’s factions today—whether it’s the militaristic ideologies or the pursuit of “purity” at any cost.
They’re not gone completely. In fact, I have a weird feeling that somewhere out there, someone’s trying to bring them back. Maybe it’s that same group of elites who think they’ve got it all figured out. But one thing’s for sure: when you believe you’re the last great hope for humanity, you’re probably doing something wrong.
