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The dweller of Vault 77, also feared as the Puppet Man, was a citizen who entered Vault 77 just before the Great War.[1] Inside, he discovered that he was the shelter's sole resident, accompanied only by a government-issue puppet ration as part of his unique Vault experiment. He is the main character of One Man, and a Crate of Puppets, an official promotional comic for Fallout 3 produced by Penny Arcade.

Around 2080 he emerged from his dwelling place and set out wandering the ruins. A friend to the meek folk, the ghouls, and the gentle beasts of the wasteland, he alone rose up against the tyrants of the region, and he alone reduced their works to bone and ash.[1] With Vault Boy as his right hand lieutenant, he stood in judgment of the wicked people of the New World.[1]

Two hundred years later, guilty men speak in hushed tones of a mythical hunter of slavers, and the sight of his number fills their ilk with anxiety and superstition.[2] His legend haunts their oral traditions, as they dread ever more the merciless return of the stranger with no name.[2]

Background[]

Pre-War[]

Somewhere in America, a plain, able-bodied man of average build was selected for entry to the local Vault by the Societal Preservation Program. His name and history are lost to time. Shortly before the bombs fell, this chosen test subject heeded the instructions of Vault-Tec, and was able to reach Vault 77 safely.

At the end of the world, the unremarkable man approached the gaping maw of his new home, but nobody came to greet him. Nervously, he entered the Vault.

Sealing[]

As the massive door sealed behind him, the man was confused as to where the other residents were. He called out, and, hearing no response, searched for signs of his new neighbors. He found the strange, barren complex utterly still and devoid of human activity.

In the second hour, he beat his fists against the indifferent Vault door in a display of despair, crying out for it to reopen. "You forgot all the other fucking people!!" he screamed in futility. As the bombs fell, his pleas filled the vacuous bunker, resonating weakly throughout its chambers, never to be answered.

Isolation and puppet fixation[]

77 Isolation

The dweller of Vault 77 endured harrowing depression. For months, he returned to the door to cry. He continued to beat on the door, apparently unable to open it for the time being. One year, three months, and twelve days after the sealing, he finally opened a crate labelled "P13X U.S. GOVERNMENT ISSUE PUPPET RATION."

Within the box, he discovered puppets of a little old woman, a royal king, and a loyal dog. He gave each a personality, and engaged in an extended puppet show to stave off boredom and ease his loneliness.[1] He came to regard them as Grandma, the King, and the good Reverend Hound, local clergyman and sheriff.

Later, he heard a voice from inside the crate and discovered a Vault Boy puppet he had originally overlooked.

Implicated in the death of a monarch[]

77 confrontation scene

Some time thereafter, the lonely man awoke to cries of regicide. The King had been found murdered in a grisly fashion, his head torn from his body. The dweller of Vault 77 called out to the merciful Lord; as before, his cries went unanswered.[1] Losing his composure, he roiled in the throes of manic paranoia for some time.[1][3]

The man could not imagine Granny or Reverend Hound to be capable of such a brutal act, leaving the Boy the only possible culprit.[1] Soon thereafter he privately confronted the Boy, who not only confessed to the murder, but accused the man of being complicit.[1]

He knew it would not be long before the sheriff-reverend would come for them both, and resolved to flee that very night.[1] He made preparations to abandon the Vault, with no choice but to work together with the ruthless Machiavellian murderer who had decapitated his master.[1] His initial excursion lasted less than a minute; after opening the Vault door, he encountered a gigantic radscorpion, holding a car in each claw. He re-sealed the Vault and decided to "sleep on it."[1]

Life as a fugitive[]

The man was eventually successful in leaving Vault 77. Having failed to protect the King, he wandered the roads as an unassuming rōnin for some time, developing his abilities.[1] The unforgiving wasteland offered no wild horses to break, so he forged a bond with a giant ant named Mr. Pinch, and rode around on it. He was very optimistic in regards to his journey, and mused to himself that while it was hot out for December, he was never one for snow anyway.[1]

Along his travels, he broke bread with a mysterious one-armed ghoul draped in the tatters of a Vault suit with no identifiable number.[1]

First Puppet Man Incident[]

77 Who killed Bob?

He was later captured by two slavers. He warned them not to mess with his Vault Boy puppet, as it was crazy and had killed before. The slavers contemplated butchering him for food.

The unassuming Vault dweller somehow slew the first, Bob. The second fled, returning to their headquarters, where he attempted to warn his collaborators. The hysterical goon was too shaken to be of use. Before he could communicate his omen, he was interrupted by a sudden, repetitive clanging noise. The doomed slaver cried out that the puppet man had come.[1]

With his bare hands, save the effigy of Vault Boy's face on his right, the Vault dweller beat each to death. When there were no slavers left to crush, the camp fell quiet, and his rage was quelled.[1] He returned to wandering the ruins, a free man once again.

Cultural impact and legacy[]

V 77 Suit and Tape

The location and living status of the dweller of Vault 77 are currently unknown. The Lone Wanderer can find a mysterious Vault suit in the possession of slavers at Paradise Falls, alongside a holotape labeled "Burn this Goddamn Jumpsuit." On the recording, one of them demands that the jumpsuit be destroyed, for fear that a "stranger with no name" may come back for it.[2] However, nobody has followed through with burning it.

The Vault 77 jumpsuit confers a +5 bonus to Unarmed and Melee Weapons. Supposedly, the sight of it "freaks the boys out."[2]

Notes[]

  • The proper noun "Puppet Man" is long-standing fan verbiage; in the comic, he is passingly referred to as "the puppet man" once, and the phrase does not appear elsewhere in official materials. The character has no prescribed proper name.
  • As the only human resident of Vault 77, he can be considered its overseer by default.
  • The Puppet Man's illustration from Magic: The Gathering appears to take place at a specific point in time between two scenes of the comic. Based on the placement of the puppets on the dweller's hands and the apparent agency of the Vault Boy puppet, it seems to depict him in the aftermath of the King's assassination, before his confrontation of Vault Boy.

Appearances[]

The Puppet Man appears in the official Fallout 3 webcomic One Man, and a Crate of Puppets. He is alluded to in Fallout 3, as his Vault suit is found in Paradise Falls, with a holotape mentioning the legend surrounding him.

He also appears in the Magic: The Gathering crossover event, in the illustration for the card "Fraying Sanity."

Behind the scenes[]

  • The Puppet Man appeared on a Fallout 3 poster displayed at Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) 2008, which showed him holding a Vault Boy puppet covered with blood.[4]
  • One of the fan-created perks entered in the Fallout 10th Anniversary Contest was "Puppet Master," which reads, "You have a special little friend, who has followed you through thick and thin, and always has an opinion about things. Gain an extra dialogue option."
  • People are often afraid to destroy cursed objects, for fear of releasing something bound to the object, or offending the powers it may represent.
  • A page hosting the comic still exists on Bethesda's website, where Pete Hines wrote the following:
Anyway, when we were working on Fallout 3 I pitched the idea of reaching out to Tycho and Gabe about doing a comic set in the Fallout universe. But unlike some of the other ones they had done around games to that point, we didn’t want to give them any particular requirements. We didn’t want them to create something that was overtly promotional. Mostly, we wanted to see what would happen if Penny Arcade did Fallout. I remember Tycho being pleasantly surprised at that notion.— Pete Hines
  • A Vault Boy puppet was seen in a stream promoting Fallout 76. It famously dabbed.
Promo 76 The Omen

Gallery[]

References[]

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