Fallout: Ranking Every Vault From Least To Most Horrifying

Home to the Lone Wanderer, our protagonist of Fallout 3, Vault 101 had a directive from Vault-Tec to remain closed forever.

The idea was that the Vault would never be exposed to the outside world, allowing Vault-Tec to study how its residents would survive and eventually have to resort to in-breeding to keep the population going.

In the early days of the Vault, the Overseer helped to maintain the Vault being closed by telling everyone that the world above was completely destroyed and there was absolutely no hope of returning to the surface.

In reality, however, the Vault door was actually opened several times. In fact, the Lone Wanderer, and his father, James, actually came from outside the Vault, and left it again at a later time.

In 2258, the Vault also became more of a dictatorship, as the Vault's Overseer declared a police state designed to practice isolation. This leads to the Lone Wanderer fighting against the system and wanting to leave the Vault to pursue his father.