Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
In 2241, the tribal community of Arroyo suffers the worst drought on record. Faced with the calamity, the village elder and daughter of the Vault Dweller tasks her child, the player, to retrieve a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) — a device capable of creating thriving communities out of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Assuming the title of the Chosen One, they are given the Vault Dweller's jumpsuit, a RobCo PIPBoy 2000, a Vault 13 water flask, a spear, and some cash to start them on their mission.
The Chosen One finds Vault 13, the location of a G.E.C.K., devoid of its former human residents and instead inhabited by intelligent Deathclaws. Returning to their village, they find it empty and learn its population was captured by the remnants of the United States government known as "The Enclave". The Enclave terrorizes the inhabitants of the continental United States with their supreme arsenal of advanced technology. The Chosen One, through various means, activates an ancient oil tanker and engages its autopilot, thus allowing them to reach the Enclave's main base on an offshore oil rig. It is revealed that the dwellers of Vault 13 were captured as well, to be used as test subjects for the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Vault 13 was supposed to be closed for 200 years as part of a government experiment, making them perfect test subjects. The Enclave modified the FEV into an airborne disease, designed to attack any living creatures with mutated DNA. With all genetic impurities removed, the Enclave (who remain protected from radiation) could take over. The Chosen One frees both their fellow villagers from Arroyo and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave captivity and subsequently destroys the Enclave's oil rig, killing Dick Richardson (Jeffrey Jones), the President of the United States, and Frank Horrigan (Michael Dorn), a cybernetic Super Mutant working for the Enclave's Secret Service.
In the end, the inhabitants of Vault 13 and the villagers usher in a new era of prosperity to Arroyo with the help of the G.E.C.K., turning the community into a flourishing city.
The Chosen One finds Vault 13, the location of a G.E.C.K., devoid of its former human residents and instead inhabited by intelligent Deathclaws. Returning to their village, they find it empty and learn its population was captured by the remnants of the United States government known as "The Enclave". The Enclave terrorizes the inhabitants of the continental United States with their supreme arsenal of advanced technology. The Chosen One, through various means, activates an ancient oil tanker and engages its autopilot, thus allowing them to reach the Enclave's main base on an offshore oil rig. It is revealed that the dwellers of Vault 13 were captured as well, to be used as test subjects for the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Vault 13 was supposed to be closed for 200 years as part of a government experiment, making them perfect test subjects. The Enclave modified the FEV into an airborne disease, designed to attack any living creatures with mutated DNA. With all genetic impurities removed, the Enclave (who remain protected from radiation) could take over. The Chosen One frees both their fellow villagers from Arroyo and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave captivity and subsequently destroys the Enclave's oil rig, killing Dick Richardson (Jeffrey Jones), the President of the United States, and Frank Horrigan (Michael Dorn), a cybernetic Super Mutant working for the Enclave's Secret Service.
In the end, the inhabitants of Vault 13 and the villagers usher in a new era of prosperity to Arroyo with the help of the G.E.C.K., turning the community into a flourishing city.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Fallout 2. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license