Fallout TV Series Shows Where Michigan Vault Would Be Located
When the world seems to be toeing the line of World War III with nuclear warfare potential being the biggest cause of hesitation, the Fallout TV series couldn't have dropped at a better time.
Fallout is traditionally a video game series with eight mainline games. Amazon Prime hosted the franchise's first live-action television series in April with eight episodes that were released all at once.
For those out of the loop or considering checking the incredibly popular show out, Fallout follows a divergent timeline from real-life America in which the culture preserved a 1950s style as world powers threatened total atomic annihilation with nuclear warfare. Once the bombs dropped, those who were lucky enough entered a vault to survive the Great War.
According to the Fallout Bible, which isn't canon but contains information based on canon material, America has 122 vaults spread across the nation. In the season finale, the TV show displayed a map as a character notes "over 100" vaults across the nation.
Now, the games have mostly stuck near the coasts. The first four installments all took place on the West Coast while the most recent three have been on the East Coast. The most inland region represented in a mainline game is Appalachia or West Virginia. Future installments are expected to be in Florida or a return to the Pacific states.
That said, we may have an idea of where a theoretical game could be set in the Great Lakes region as the TV show confirmed a vault location in Michigan.
Somewhat shockingly, Michigan is only home to one vault and it isn't particularly close to where you'd probably expect it to be.
The map shows Michigan's fictional nuclear fallout shelter being located west of Lansing but south of Grand Rapids. The dot appears to be closer to the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area.
This comes as a bit of a surprise to some as the most populated areas are, of course, Detroit and Grand Rapids. But remember, the vaults aren't designed to save the most lives, just important ones - wealthy ones. Most vaults don't even hold 100 people and their nefarious experiments often leave most of their inhabitants dead anyway.
However, a blurring of lines between fiction and reality could explain why Michigan's only vault is in Southwest Michigan away from the most prominent areas of the state. And it all comes down to cereal.
Sugar Bombs are the No. 1 breakfast cereal for any wastelander worth his salt. Wouldn't it make some sense that Sugar Bombs would be manufactured in Battle Creek with corporate headquarters to mirror real life?
The expectation is that roughly 17 of the more than 100 vaults would operate "properly." If Battle Creek is home to one of the top corporate offices, it could be a vault that would be intended to operate normally. But, whatever would be left of Detroit may not sit well with that.
With just the one vault though, the odds of a game ever being set in Michigan plummets. Detroit could have been a strong choice. Maybe a future installment will be in Chicago and give us some clue as to the nature of Michigan's only vault.
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