Vault 15

Vaults & Shelters · Source: Fallout (1997), Interplay Entertainment — in-game world, terminals, and dialogue

Overview

Vault 15 was designed with a deliberately diverse population of radically different ideologies, part of Vault-Tec's social experiments, featured in Fallout. Located in the mountains north of the wasteland, it opened far earlier than planned.

History & Background

The vault's doors opened in 2094, and its clashing factions — communists, ultra-capitalists, and others — could not coexist. Groups departed in waves, founding settlements that shaped the wasteland; some of these people later became founders of the New California Republic. By 2161 the vault is a ruin occupied by raiders, including the future Great Khans, and the Vault Dweller must descend into it in search of the water chip.

Geography & Layout

Vault 15's entrance sits atop a mountain pass; the interior is dark, partially collapsed, and infested with raiders, scorpions, and rats, its dormitories and computer records telling the story of its doomed experiment.

Wasteland Significance

Vault 15 is directly tied to the founding of the NCR and the Great Khans, making it a pivotal origin point for two of Fallout's most important factions, and it is one of the earliest examples of Vault-Tec's social engineering.

Notable Appearances

Fallout (1997); its history is expanded in Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas.

Tags: vault-15, fallout-1, social-experiment, ideology, raiders, great-khans, ncr-origins, mountain-pass, water-chip-quest, vault-tec