Is Fallout 4's Main Character A Synth? Every Reason Why (& Why Not)

Since the 2015 release of , players have had plenty of time to explore the vast lore of the game's world, and many have come up with interesting theories about some of the hidden details that they've discovered. The series has a breadth and wackiness to it that lends itself to fan theories, from truly bizarre characters to a wealth of audio and text logs found throughout each expansive RPG. One question that continually resurfaces in fan discussions is whether 's player character, the Sole Survivor, could be a synth.

's main character is unique among the games' protagonists, being the only one to have lived before and after the bombs fell. While 's introductory hours present the player character as the one human survivor of Vault 111, there are a few hints in the narrative that have led many players to think that there's more to the Sole Survivor than Bethesda initially let on. The popular theory posits that the Sole Survivor is actually a synthetic humanoid, or a synth, created by the Institute, and not a survivor of the Great War.

In an interview, Todd Howard confirmed the permanent location of the Fallout games, leaving players to look toward mods for unofficial solutions.

The theory first started to gain traction after the release of, 's biggest and best DLC expansion, which introduced a character named DiMA. One particular conversation between DiMA and the Sole Survivor has them ask about the player character's memory, which seemingly only extends as far back as the beginning of the game, when the bombs dropped. DiMA then goes on to suggest that all the Sole Survivor's memories have actually just been implanted.

Given their connection to the Institute, particularly its leader – Shaun, the Sole Survivor's kidnapped child – it seems relatively believable to think that the Sole Survivor could have been planted in Vault 111 rather than genuinely being the only one to survive its cryogenics experiment. The act of humans getting replaced with synthetic