Can Nuclear Fallout Create Ghouls?

[@kylehill]

Thanks to trainwell for sponsoring today’s video! Click my trainwell (formerly CoPilot) link go.trainwell.net/KyleHill-cp to get 14 days FREE with your own expert personal trainer! Just look at the difference between me in the video and me over a month later in the ad 💪😎💪

[@RWxAshley]

@@Jan12700Explain? Its just a fitness app. As far as I'm aware its not like Betterhelp where it can connect you w/ people trying to sell crystal healers, and other bs remedies.

[@scorpiomelancholia1559]

Get that bread homie Unless it's a scam

[@mistingwolf]

​@@Jan12700 Sources?

[@gordonfreeman9641]

first comment is right this is a scam lol

[@gedsgreg]

Snake Oli!

[@Bosef88]

Being ghoulified is horrible. Being ghoulified and stuck in a refrigerator? Peak evil.

[@spacereaper8283]

Billy? Is that you?

[@normalfnvplayer]

Surprisingly, that child didn't lose his mind. That kid has a strong will to live. I mean, it's a whole 200 years.

[@kosmokat111]

if I can be a fallout nerd for a sec, it's kinda annoying that for a cheap gag side mission they directly contradict one of the main plot points in the original fallout, Ghouls still need food and water. You can doom necropolis by stealing the water chip for your own vault, but this nerd survived like over 200 years in a fridge? I guess all the ghouls in necropolis are actually fine if you take the water chip /s

[@comiksmaker9758]

Peak fucking comedy

[@zorocz4444]

Ghouls in fact do not need to eat or drink it has been mentioned multiple times@@kosmokat111

[@kylehill]

Testing out some FALLOUT videos with all the game-related stuff coming out this year. Let me know if you want more! (And come on chat, like for the beef in the ad alone.)

[@mrlegolayer]

*Curse of Preston Garvey added

[@Moody-Boy]

More Please! 🤩

[@DavidJamesHenry]

I would like an analysis of nuclear powered cars. Obviously they wouldn't explode when shot a few times with a pistol, but I know that there were concepts for nuclear powered cars and I want to know the history of it and why we never put them into serious production.

[@TheDaggwood]

Yes please. How does nuka cola quantum glow like it has Cherenkov radiation? How big of a reactor would the nuclear powered cars (aka the Fusion Flea) require? How big is the Fatman explosion yield compared to the Davy Crocket? Im the biggest Fallout fan in America.

[@TheMoldyOne]

One thing you forgot in this video. The mutations in the game and the ghouls surviving the radiation comes from the F.E.V. Forced Evolutionary Virus. You should look into making some videos on the subject. F.E.V. videos are always cool.

[@lyr1kn156]

Preston truly is the most horrific consequence of nuclear war.

[@Loxly1888]

Ther is a settlement that needs your help. I'll mark it on your map.

[@rockstar-5934]

There is a settlement that needs your help. I’ll mark it on your map.

[@ablightuponall]

There is a settlement that needs your help. I’ll mark it on your map.

[@jayson9999ful]

There is a help that needs your map. I'll mark it on your settlement.

[@TrickyClaw]

There is a settlement that needs your help. I'll mark it on your map.

[@BiohazardEXTREME]

You said Goggins looks gross? He might actually be the best looking ghoul in the whole franchise.

[@bobtheduck]

He also doesn't have ghoul voice.

[@That0Homeless0Guy]

I'd say Chris Haversam is the best looking ghoul honestly.

[@BiohazardEXTREME]

@@bobtheduck There have been a couple of exceptions. If you blow up Megaton in Fallout 3, Moira still retains her voice despite being a ghoul. Jason Bright is another one, but he's an anomaly all around, I suppose. There might be one or two more that I'm forgetting.

[@AmbiguousGxrlzCluster]

Goggins looks not far off from Hancock in Fallout 4 ngl

[@bearlogg7974]

If a 9-5 schedule can do it, radiation isnt a stretch

[@astroinfinland6680]

Hahahaha 😂

[@astroinfinland6680]

I spit my coffee out, thanks

[@TheStygian]

The big misconception about fallout is that most of the terrifying mutants are FEV creations. The radiation created more sad and timid tumor filled deer, Brahmin and Ghouls. Which ofcourse aren't nearly realistic either - BUT far from apex mutants like Deathclaws and Mutants.

[@hughjass2640]

Not only that, but radiation actually directly interferes with the FEV, which is why so many super mutants are dumb, and why certain isolated populations (possibly in need of water) are of interest to certain groups.

[@DrBrickface]

Actually, there is more to it than that! There is some very deep lore about how messed up the fallout universe is beneath the surface. In-world, radiation has the same effect that it does on people in reality. The only reason things like ghouls, brahmen, and all other manner of radiated mutants exist is because of extensive and secretive testing the united states performed on its water supplies (if i'm remembering correctly) in an attempt to harden the country against radiation as the future looked to be increasingly nuclear. Now obviously the 'magical' aspect of how they achieved this or why is anyone's guess - but I do love that the lore of the series addresses topics like this, and makes the story much darker.

[@snudu]

(untill nuka world which sorta made it cannon) deathclaws are genetic experiments and not FEV in old fallout (1/2) it was basicly just super mutants/centaurs/floaters/the master who were made from FEV

[@Toadaboticus]

wanamingos. Hands down are the most terrifying radiation evolution of blind eyeless cave dwelling species slowly getting irradiated from the groundwater over 200 years of being confined in the mine in a Apex vs Apex hunters allowing only the strongest hunters to continue to strengthen those already deadly genes and traits.

[@teoborges3949]

A West-Tek installation that held one of the FEV Samples in california was hit by a warhead, releasing a small ammount of FEV in the Atmosphere that helped futher speed up the mutation process

[@thomasvarney5758]

One thing with Fallout you can’t disregard is what happened when WestTek / The Glow got hit - the FEV storage there was aerosolized and spread worldwide. Everyone not in a Vault got a little of that sweet, sweet military grade mutagen.

[@lgmmrm]

Which is part of why the enclave is xenophobic against everyone else - everyone else actually is a mutant.

[@scarlettNET]

​@@lgmmrmThe funny thing is that they are *also* technically mutants. They may have avoided nukes thanks to their oil rig, but the aerosolised FEV would still have gotten them. It adds a really fun layer of irony to the Enclave, and it applies to a lot of real life right wingers too. The amount of eugenics obsessed neonazis who also happen to have some sort of deformity is comedic.

[@918guy]

​@@scarlettNETharvey weinstein and his leprosy dingus LoL

[@WOLVESOFWARGAMING]

Please don't make this political especially when there are people on both sides that want that "pure bloodline" ​@scarlettNET

[@cridow]

Yeah I was about to say that! FEV is very significant. It could be one of the reasons why some people ghoulify rather than die of radiation sickness

[@bpbp7407]

If you were a Ghoul you'd be the rarest Ghoul because you'd still have your hair.

[@Mutisi0n]

Like Samson, it is the source of his power

[@Appletank8]

Could be a wig

[@robertaylor9218]

There are a few of them. But they are mostly facial hair.

[@Veritas.0]

@@Appletank8 You're wiggin' Don't wig-out like that!

[@darryljones3009]

Raul had a moustache.

[@craigdellicarpini772]

The science of becoming a Ghoul is interesting. You know what else is interesting? That settlement that needs your help. I’ll mark it on your map.

[@markusw7833]

...What science is that?

[@LineOfThy]

You sneaky bastard

[@BirdOfHermes83]

I see what you did there. 👍 I'm on my way.

[@craigdellicarpini772]

@@BirdOfHermes83 Good! The Minutemen could use more people like you!

[@Tidevans]

that was well played

[@kalkuttadrop6371]

Something about Nuclear Waste I recently learned that might be useful to note when you discuss is, while nowadays it's solid material as you said, in the early days the largest producers DID create liquid radioactive waste, notably Hanford and Mayak, who's chemical seperation processes to make material for bombs created liquid wastes, which did leak on several occasions. Non-weapons plants don't have this issue, and even modern weapons production generally uses physical seperation like centrifuges instead of chemical treatments, but I think teaching the history on how we made things safer is useful. Nuclear in the 40s, 50s, and 60s WAS genuinely dirty and dangerous in many ways, and we fixed it.

[@evergreenrider]

My father put the roof on Hanford. Now every few years he's got to go get checked

[@chameleonx9253]

Building on this, there's non-ghoul humans in Fallout 4 that are immune to radiation, particularly among the Children of Atom. There's also significant evidence that ghoulification has a genetic component, as families tend to all become ghouls together. It's plausible that the constant exposure to low-level radiation in the Pre-War (as nuclear reactors were literally everywhere) caused a percentage of the population to develop the ability to metabolize ionizing radiation, as Kyle surmised. Then, when the bombs dropped, it was this trait that allowed some people trapped outside the vaults to become ghouls, rather than just dying. The humans in Fallout 4 who are immune to radiation might then be the result of this trait evolving even further, to the point where exposure doesn't cause necrosis.

[@SSD_Penumbra]

See, that could be a trait or it could be the more......esoteric reason. That being the god that the Children worship, Atom, actually exists in some capacity and its influence stops believers from melting through the floor. Reminder that the base from Far Harbour where they worship a nuclear submarine is so radioactive, GHOULS won't go near it.

[@splitzerx570]

Actually, the rad resistance in the Fallout franchise comes from airborne FEV that came from a direct impact on a FEV storage facility. Anyway long story short there is an airborne lesser variant of FEV that grants an increased tolerance to Ionising radiation. But I do recall somewhere being stated that (like you said) there is a genetic component linked to the tolerance of radiation and FEV.

[@chameleonx9253]

@@splitzerx570 I know that's in the Fallout Bible, but I don't know if it's still canon. Has atmospheric FEV ever been mentioned in any of the games?

[@SSD_Penumbra]

@@splitzerx570 Kind of, people's genetics have a sort of mutant gene in it that allow them to turn into ghouls or mutants respectively when exposed to high levels of radiation or the FEV. These people don't exhibit signs of radiation poisoning, as it just kind of happens. However, the Children of Atom *do* show signs of radiation poisoning, but it doesn't seem fatal to them.

[@XSilver_WaterX]

There's close to 7 organs in the human body that can develop this genetic condition. But which ones they are, is incredibly difficult due to the technology we don't have and the repressed/brainwashing our medical schools implement for some other but equally unethical agenda for the human race. my top pick: the brain, particularly the mass covering the lizards parts like the hippocampus and eletto-bite, the thing CONNECTING the hypo and mass. If said mass is overwhelmed by the type of radiation or radiation's changed tone, THEN you turn feral and being biting your fellow humans.

[@leadfoot5307]

"...like some fungi in Chernobyl. Heh, that's me." The fact that this took a second to land, but man, when it did...well done, Kyle.

[@spiker.ortmann]

Didn't caught it until I saw your it written on your comment to be honest, and I find that strangely funny in itself... 😂 It's fungi, by the way.

[@Unfamiliar_Fruit]

This is literally the most played out joke imaginable

[@FriedCrispies]

​@@Unfamiliar_Fruitnaa I got an even more played out joke. Why did the chicken cross the road?

[@timo4258]

I'm dumb

[@spiker.ortmann]

@@timo4258 why do you say that? Maybe KZbin just isn't showing me a whole conversation where that statement as final answer makes sense, happens sometimes, but... why do you said you're dumb?

[@about7grams]

Preston did nothing but good for everyone in game (provided they weren't actively trying to kill the minutemen) and gives you easy farmable early quests and everyone just shits on him. Poor, poor Preston. He's always so blinded by settlements needing help he forgot to help himself.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

That's a good point. Let me mark it on your map.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

Literally lol!@@MonkeyJedi99

[@fireblast133]

Literally all they had to do to make him not seem annoying is to stop him handling the radiant quests once Radio Freedom was back online.

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

It's not so much the character as it is his intrusive quests. I'm in the middle of a quest, and all of a sudden ERMAGERD A SETTLEMENT IS IN NEED OF RESCUE RIGHT NOW! and if you don't immediately head over the settlement goes to shit. It's annoying. Preston himself is okay, a little boring personality wise but other than that he doesn't bother me.

[@Rosewell8]

@@Satellite_Of_Love That's not him, It's just a game mechanic. It happens with or without him.

[@StrangelyIronic]

It's ok Kyle, Curie is the best companion. She has the best character development, from a modified Miss Nanny to having more emotion and asking more human questions than basically any of the companions (aside from maybe Nick... whom is an early Synth).

[@SeraphRyan]

Nick is second best, and Cait being 3rd best. Curie is still the best overall companion, for in gameplay reasons on top of growth reasons too! Ignoring everything else, she has the best stats up to level 100~ of every companion, and most people dont even play to that level. Someone designing the game loved her a lot.

[@randybobandy9828]

Strong is the most intellectual... Fight me about it

[@dumbbirdwayne]

As a long time viewer, I’ve always loved how Kyle’s videos are either really dark, depressing, horrible cases of accidents, or silly science stuff about funky video game enemies but irl, the tonal whiplash is amazing - also as someone with a huge interest in Biological changes because of environment, that part about the fungi was really cool!

[@EyeOfMagnus4E201]

4:55 It’s okay. You’re not alone! Curie is my favorite Fallout 4 companion too.

[@WaveOfDestiny]

Ms.Nanny Curie >> synth Curie

[@typicaluser697]

​@@WaveOfDestiny *BASED*

[@knoven-]

​@@WaveOfDestinyGet her some of those fine assaultron legs ºoº

[@nukesrus2663]

For science, of course

[@hamptonoliver5247]

Curie, Nick, and Dogmeat the best companions

[@awesomehpt8938]

Patrolling KZbin almost makes me wish for a nuclear winter

[@gamewatch6861]

KZbin? I feel that way about patrolling the internet in general.

[@tisFrancesfault]

​@@gamewatch6861if it makes folk feel any better, real life makes you wish for a nuclear winter....

[@Zac_Frost]

Yo, same.

[@harrypadarri6349]

Then you need to wholesomify your algorithm! Thanks to great math channels, channels with playthroughs of songs on bass, channels of small bands and some generally goofy videos, my recommendations often contain a decent amount of uplifting content. :) It’s good to be conscious about the state of the world, which also contains bad stuff, but don’t get lost in it.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

KZbin's securatrons do the patrolling for how many of my comments vanish.

[@F4Wildcat]

As a kid, i was playing FO3 and i was not knowing what i was doing. I detonated the megaton bomb on order of Tenpenny and then i came across...ghoulified Moira. I felt so guilty...

[@ethanhoward389]

I knew exactly what I was doing...I felt no guilt

[@morrigankasa570]

YOU SHOULD FEEL GUILTY!!! In all my playthroughs of Fallout 3 I have never done that or consistently Evil Karma things! Same for Fallout New Vegas!

[@Max88188]

​@@morrigankasa570how to miss 50% of vegas story

[@EyeOfMagnus4E201]

@@morrigankasa570Usually I play the good guy, but you have to try every option in a game just once to see what happens. In Skyrim, I played the Brotherhood questline the first playthrough, but then usually kill them except on the rare evil playthrough.

[@kylehill]

Me too man, me too

[@DockOkk]

0:04 "another settlement needs our help"

[@GGBlaster]

I could see a couple potential ways ghouls could be created: First might be that the people who became ghouls possessed favorable genetic traits that developed and proliferated long before MAD. These could include higher radiation resistance, a primitive form of radiosynthesis, or traits that, while not directly helpful for surviving nuclear radiation, happen to perform well enough for the ghoul to “tough out” the radiation. Of course, these ghouls would have still had to reproduce post-MAD so that their traits could combine and develop further, as it’s unlikely those traits would be pronounced enough to produce the ghouls we see in-game. The other (more likely) explanation is that Vault-Tec was doing some shady genetic research. And at this point, is there any shady science Vault-Tec hasn’t done?

[@jurekovacic1739]

Well there is also the 3rd option. The finger points to BigMT and the Brains. It would go something like this: Nuclear war was imminent. China needed to be beaten. Why not create people who are resistant to nuclear radiation. Thus, to not create mass panic, they introduced substances into the water stream, air, food, everywhere and were on the verge of testing when the bombs fell. The meds took to some people (like those with premutated genes for what kyle was talking about) and not to all. All in all the Big MT consider this experiment a succes and express wishes to experiment further.

[@nemoexnuqual3643]

That actually works with the point of the FEV. The idea that Vault Tec may have exposed people to a lab grown virus seems very plausible… no wait IT WAS CHINESE FRUIT BATS! FRUIT BATS! AHHHHH Dr. Faucci hea, I am the science, and it was totally fruit bats so go get your expewimental injecshawn…

[@Zal0vid]

F.E.V

[@nemoexnuqual3643]

@@Zal0vid F.E.V. Aka COVID 19 booster

[@Actnonverbas]

The fact that fungi grew towards the highest radiation spots and used them to grow gives me hope, life will flourish, even after our selfish actions

[@areth2228]

Life Adapts it just needs time and a little bit of luck to do so thats how it works, adapt or die.

[@obligatoryusername7239]

Who cares if fungi thrive in a post-human world?

[@pappanalab]

Oh it’s not even a question. Life was here before us and it’ll be here after us. The Permian-Triassic mass extinction killed 90% of all species on earth and look at where we are now, life recovers.

[@MaeKatt]

the one thing about ghouls is that, as far as i can remember, not just anyone will become one. theres a family in fallout 4 where the mom, dad, and son (who was trapped in a fridge for 200 years...) are all ghouls, because their genetics were whatever was needed so that when they got irradiated they ghoulified instead of liquified

[@Zac_Frost]

Just like how some people are genetically immune to some diseases and viruses because their cell structure just isn't compatible with them.

[@LordElrond8]

I know this isn't the point of the video, but that periodic table colored based on the fractional source of each element is incredible. I've never seen that information visualized that way before and would love a poster of that to hang in my office.

[@bradameerbeg2154]

Myth busters actually researched the Cockroach myth, and they die from the same amount of radiation the we do. It was a quote from a movie, I think “After a nuclear war, the only left will be cockroaches” was the line, and from that the myth was born that they were immune. Which they are not.

[@matthewcarpenter4716]

DUDE! You are literally posting some of the most entertaining and educational material for me to get my Radiography students to watch. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I am making this video an assignment for them now!

[@trogdor8764]

One of the big questions of the Fallout universe was how the Children of Atom manage to live in highly radioactive areas, without dying or turning into ghouls. Did they have some secret technology, or was their god Atom real, and granting its faithful supernatural protection? The Far Harbor DLC finally answered this question with "idk some people are just born immune to rads I guess, and the rest of us have to use radiation medicine like everyone else." Because, you know, that stuff just grows on trees out in the Glowing Sea. 10/10 writing.

[@Crillidan]

"Ah, you think the rads are your ally? You merely adopted the radiation. I was born in it, molded by it. I saw the light before I was even a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding."

[@Asageun]

​@@Crillidan from the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me, I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the blessed machine

[@serPomiz]

the various games point toward ghoulification being a very specific set of mutation helped by specific fev exposure, even 4, but yeah, having the cultists being the only ones giving a straight answer was NOT the brightest idea at bethesda...

[@tonystank3091]

Far Harbor also seems to imply that their god *is* real, with all that vision shit.

[@Hellimatrix]

@@tonystank3091 I mean to be fair drinking some irradiated as all hell water is bound to give you some hallucinations.

[@xSanityControlx]

"What makes Goggins here looks so gross?" *presents the most beautiful ghoul to ever live* 🤣

[@SSD_Penumbra]

Actually, that honour goes to Desmond, the MI5 ghoul with a full head of hair and a stache and a mouth like a sewer from Point Lookout.

[@thomasjoychild4962]

@@SSD_Penumbra Aren't those fake?

[@VoidTrueLord]

​@@thomasjoychild4962If I remember correctly, he doesn't drop a wig when you kill him, so its probably real.

[@thomasjoychild4962]

@@VoidTrueLord Wow, the British really ARE built different.

[@CherryPinkMega]

And Starfield is still catching strays. As it should.

[@LordLongHands]

Out of left field, but deserved

[@hahayeahman4593]

Out of left STARfield if you will​@@LordLongHands

[@Abvoyx]

​@@hahayeahman4593the exit door is in the left,thank you

[@EngiGODS358]

Play Morrowind instead

[@Gorilla_Jones]

I like Starfield. 🤷 More internet pile up in effect. 🤦

[@mad_scientist5597]

There is at least one ghoul who seems to be eating and digesting normally in the fallout universe, so they probably don't all rely on radiosynthesis. In some place in New Vegas (it might be FO3 but I think it's NV) you can meet a non-feral ghoul who is hiding from something in a fairly large room. Aside from what he is hiding from, he will tell you that he spends his days eating something and that he does his bussiness in the corner. I think you can find the corpses of whatever he eats in the room as well, although I wasn't there myself to smell the corners. A lot of feral ghouls are also found in places with no radiation detected by the pipboy, like subway tunnels and stuff. Ghouls and glowing ones also need to drink water as is obvious from the events of Fallout 1.

[@karlallen330]

Oh him, can't remember his name but he's hiding from and ambushing Nightkin, a species of super mutant addicted to stealth boys (invisibility devices), in the basement of the Repconn Test site.

[@Dr_Ornstein]

​@@karlallen330His name is Harland, he was eating Radroaches and collecting condensation from the pipes for water

[@mad_scientist5597]

@@karlallen330 yeah that sounds right, he's not one of the brights but he's found in the same place

[@ThijsSchrijnemakers]

that's one sweet burn at 09:33 xD

[@Dalocklear73]

I love that there’s so many people talking about fallout lately. Great video bro

[@-Luucy-]

Same. I'm going to buy Fallout 4 soon and can't wait to play it for the first time. I've already found some interesting and cool mods for it lol

[@kendarr]

​@@-Luucy-try playing before adding mods so you have an ideia of the base game

[@aland7236]

0:13 🤨 Sorry Kyle, I'm looking to be vaporized in an instant.

[@airplanenut89]

I read an article recently that was talking about how wolves in Chernobyl might be becoming resistant to the radiation in the area.

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

The way wildlife has adapted to that area is fascinating.

[@gavinlightfoot5521]

Lots of the fish too, they often have slight mutations

[@themightybob]

This finally made me realise that when moira heals you after doing the radiation part of the quest for her, she actually turns you into a ghoul I thought it was just some random mutation that makes radiation heal you but its literally the same thing

[@synthomite405]

The creater of fallout, Tim Cain, said that the slight background level of FEV released into the atmosphere from the west tek facility being bombed is a factor in ghoulification

[@Jimbobob5536]

"Hey Kyle, got word of a settlement that could use some help. I'll mark it on your map."

[@grandobsidian]

So I need to add and addendum: it is correct that radiation causes damage through ionization. However, the primary method of damage is by turning water into hydrogen peroxide which prompts a response from the body. Cancer cells are naturally more rad resistant. But! Because they are also more metabolicly active they an be made more rad sensitive. Also, thank you for sneaking in a critique of LNT to help explain to people why radiation isn't the problem people think it is.

[@0scarsl1]

Radiotrophic fungi are fungi that can perform the hypothetical biological process called radiosynthesis, which means using ionizing radiation as an energy source to drive metabolism. It has been claimed that radiotrophic fungi have been found in extreme environments such as in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Most radiotrophic fungi use melanin in some capacity to survive. The process of using radiation and melanin for energy has been termed radiosynthesis, and is thought to be analogous to anaerobic respiration. However, it is not known if multid-step processes such as photosynthesis or chemosynthesis are used in radiosynthesis or even if radiosynthesis exists in living organisms.

[@adriangoesvroom]

The part about how fungi is able to benefit from more radiation makes me think that perhaps that was the thing that allowed for Harold to become a tree. Some sort of rad-fungus was the liaison between Harold and the plant, making Harold NOT ONLY radiotrophic, but also explaining why he’s photosynthetic. This is just a small theory

[@saintsolatus]

If my memory is correct, not every person has the potential to become a Ghoul, some people seem to have a "Ghoulification" gene that predisposes them to the condition. A theory I've come up with has to do with a practice that was semi popular post WW2 called "Atomic Gardening", where seeds would be planted near a piece of radioactive material to forcefully mutate them, attempting to produce advantages mutations and there was a certain "Goldilocks" zone where the plant would be effected by the radiation and have a higher chance of generating positive mutations while not being to close to get a radiation overdose and not to far to get an ineffective amount of radiation. So with all that, maybe if people are in the Goldilocks zone of a nuclear bomb, they have a chance to develop mutations that result of Ghoulification?

[@borregospringsbs]

The Starfield bashing was hilarious

[@Moody-Boy]

So on point too!

[@Aario_TH]

Agreed Curie is the best

[@ZeSgtSchultz]

I think in the old fallout lore, people who were immune to the pre war blu flu (or maybe it was the other way around) were the people who had the possibility to become ghouls

[@VD_the_GodKing]

Its actually people who were infected with FEV.

[@exiledgoldfish6329]

I remember watching a video about a guy who got exposed to a massive amount of radiation and iirc doctors were able to keep him alive for a month or so. His entire body basically melted. It’s pretty remarkable he was even alive for as long as he was

[@wawe5557]

I suspect you're thinking of one of Kyle's own videos! It was part of his half-life histories series, the one on the Demon Core iirc. That dude was hardcore enough to tell his wife to take care of their children even as his internals were literally turning into liquid.

[@Okamikurainya]

I'm surprised you didn't bring up the "Ant Walking Alligators" here, considering the topic. It was heartbreaking to learn about and gave younger me nightmares for years. To this day, surviving a nuke is far more terrifying to me than dying to it.

[@hughmongus6191]

You've gotten a lot farther than you should have, but then you haven't met Frank Horrigan either.

[@RinVindor101]

Worth mentioning a Fallout lore guy TheEpicNate315 does a lot of videos on this topic and just released a video that breaks down some more details on exactly how ghouls are made and it involves FEV that creates the super mutants as well. He cites some of the original creators for the Fallout series as well before Bethesda took over.

[@roxxiedapiratevods1812]

Another Settlement needs your help

[@chrishodgson5430]

If Kyle makes more Fallout videos, I'm here for it!

[@ThePOSM]

Preston Garvey being a terrible consequence 😂😂😂 Great video!

[@KevinLambertperfected]

"just like New Vegas is everyone's favorite" Facts.

[@valiroime]

Not fact. New Vegas is decent, but FO 4 would be my personal fave due to location.

[@nemoexnuqual3643]

@@valiroime100% the weapons modifications and building settlements was extremely fun. I also love the Mass effect style cut scene conversations instead of the NPC just responding to clicking on a line of dialogue. They could go even more Mass Effect if they wanted and have multiple layers of conversation options. I made a character to be a beautiful woman (who looks as much like my wife as I could do because I’m a total sap even after almost 15 years married) and enjoy seeing her in the cut scenes. New Vegas was fun but guns don’t wear out in two magazines and no you can’t reload 5.56 ammo from 10mm ammo in real life, that was just complexity for complexity sake. Also why oh why do all the women in FO3 have chocolate milk mustaches?

[@cridow]

i have the most hours in fallout 4 but my personal favorite is actually the very first. nothing beats the unity as antagonists to me, and the master was an amazing villain. i fucking love fo1

[@robertst.cinjr.2370]

Me and my feonsay love your videos keep up the good work.

[@sebbo-p1y]

*Fiancée

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

😮

[@EthanolEnthusiast]

Can she spell as good as you too?

[@Herbertti3]

I can handle ghouls and super mutants but Preston Garvey is too much for me.

[@SabreArchon]

I love how Preston Garvey is one of the terrible consequences of nuclear war

[@keeganplayz1875]

I've actually been wondering about this for a long time (fallout is a top favorite game series of mine). Thanks for the analysis, Kyle! I really love every single on of your videos!

[@AlphaGamingImpact]

Kyle turn in to Thor

[@danjoy2]

The answer is a resounding 'No', but Kyle theorizes possibilities that can never occur anyway. Good video!

[@4RILDIGITAL]

The way you tie science in with Fallout's lore is truly remarkable! The notion of 'radiosynthesis' as it applies to the ghouls makes the concept a little less far-fetched.

[@theaveragegamer7221]

Within the Fallout lore, It is theorized that the Forced Evolution Virus (FEV) played a part in the creation of ghouls. When the bombs fell, there was a brief outbreak of FEV and I believe the radiation from the nuclear blasts altered the FEV which caused some people who lived past the lethal dose to evolve and adapt to the radiation. Super Mutants were created from an altered strain of FEV that The Master created.

[@Thefalloutfanpage]

I loved this video! I always thought Ghouls were pretty unrealistic, but you made some great points to justify them more. However one thing I will note is that Feral Ghouls do eat humans, so they don't completely rely on radiosynthesis. Now Non-Feral Ghouls don't eat humans, so they do completely rely on radiosynthesis, as some Ghouls note that they don't have to eat.

[@FilmFightFanatic]

I can understand why single-celled organisms like fungi would multiply at a ridiculous rate. Cancer is essentially a uni-cellular thing that multiplies like crazy and especially more often so at certain radiation levels. It just so happens that fungi are fundamentally a simpler life form than humans are and so an overgrowth of single cells wouldn’t negatively impact the fungi as much as it would a human.

[@MisterKrakens]

"And the pixie cut" Well spoken here ! Why I hated that as a teenager and love that right now will always be a mistery.

[@hughmongus6191]

Forget Preston Garvey you should be more worried about Frank Horrigan.

[@MathewSan_]

Great video 👍

[@collinemerson2573]

The shade being thrown on Stanfield and saying newvegas is everyone's favorite. I knew there was a reason I subscribed

[@clappincheeks5584]

Love your videos man, this is a BANGER! And the hair looks amazing like always 😎

[@dannybauman1454]

Love your burns on starfield. :)

[@sembalo1776]

this reminds me of your old because science videos, love it!

[@AscendantExile]

love your videos. they're so interesting, informative and exceptionally entertaining. love the jokes and skits you use to break up the information you're presenting. your jokes always at least make me smile and other times im wheezing (might've actually fallen out of my chair laughing once but we don't talk about that)

[@da8675]

As an ancient player of the pen-and-paper RPG game Gamma World, rumored to be the inspiration for the Fallout game, I enjoyed the fanciful idea that radiation could sometimes benefit your character with some "good" mutations. As I grew up and gained some understanding of just how far-fetched it was, it became increasingly more difficult to suspend disbelief, but thanks to your scientific explanation, I can suspend disbelief just enough to enjoy the game again and the TV show. Thanks for the help.

[@HazelS71]

how fun it must have been for the artists and developers to research this stuff to put into the game ghouls are some of the most interesting characters you can meet in the series and gotta lay respects to that NV shoutout RIP benny❤

[@XaviusNight]

It should be noted that the humans in the Fallout universe have been living with constant radiation doses from food and water and environmental contamination, which is likely where the crazy degree of radiation resistance in post-war Fallout humans comes from. Even the ones in the vaults were using pre-war food sources, which also had radioactive materials in them because it as used as a preservative.

[@carriongaming744]

Good timing with the fallout set release coming up lol. Haven't been much of a fallout fan but I really liked this one. Keep it up!

[@obotowski]

Just learned about radiotrophic organisms in my Wildlife class, that's cool that it came up so soon after learning about it. Great video :)

[@BirdOfHermes83]

Radiation is everywhere?!?! Now I have another reason to stay in my house and play Fallout!

[@spongeboymebob771]

I remember reading somewhere that ghouls aren't just ordinary humans hit with "normal" ionizing radiation, but it has to be combined with exposure to the FEV. So you can either have no radiation exposure and all FEV exposure and become a Lieutenant-type Super Mutant, some radiation and some FEV exposure and become a rank and file dumb Super Mutant, or more radiation exposure and some FEV exposure and become a Ghoul. Thats my understanding at least, and it makes sense considering so many FEV facilities and other bioweapon facilities were hit in the war and released all that stuff into the air alongside the fallout, exposing just about everyone to a bit.

[@ghw1985]

I cannot express how awesome your videos are. keep up the amazing work Kyle

[@kprnoobkiller4418]

This was the first vid of yours I've ever seen extremely interesting you seem like a chill guy and your channel seems interesting but I have to say this Jason momoa from temu

[@LordofSorrow7]

This man, yet being knowledgeable and competent, also has a really good humorous mind, which appreciable amongst scientific research and engineering, good job at explaning so many things !

[@SeraphRyan]

Curie is the best companion, I am glad you agreed!

[@nhpkm1]

There's also the selection factor, there where billions highly radiated we only see the few survivors

[@Cryptic_Orbit]

Another banger of a video Kyle, absolutely killin it!!

[@TheGivingBlob]

If plants grow so much quicker with this added radiation, why is the fallout universe such a wasteland?

[@unit0137]

i was so lonely at one point that i would replay fallout everytime i finished curies quest because i enjoyed helping her so much... i appreciated your comment on the second best companion

[@The_Cyber_System]

The fact that Aria is using Copilot is the biggest compliment for the service

[@chabothehutt5161]

Kyle Hill confirmed single cell life form

[@pitviper64]

I have to add that with the prolific amount of nuclear material in the Fallout universe radiotrophic fungi make sense for Ghouls. Pair that with a little bit of the FEV and you have a cocktail for a slowly taking over fungi. It's growing repairing and replacing the ghoul.

[@Rose-yx6jq]

Will my hypothesis is yes but they wouldn't have such longevity IRL. They might look the same but they sure as hell wouldn't be living 200 years.

[@FastFowl]

2:16 I'll save you ~1/6 of the run time, integrated ad ends at 4:05

[@NickTheGreatAndPowerful]

4:54 Kyle is a man of good taste

[@rkroll17]

Great Starfield review

[@VolkAus]

I sort of took the radaway medication as being a possible cause for ghouls. Radaway was common before the bombs because damaging exposure was common. In fallout 3 Moira Browns survival guide questline involves getting irradiated in order to test effects of radiation. Get a very high exposure and when she gives the character her home brew radaway the character gets a mutation that results in regeneration to damaged limbs when irradiated. Fallout 4 has glowing mushrooms as a ingredient for radaway. So what I am getting is radaway is not a perfect cure to radiation exposure but can cause imperfect regenerative mutations from its attempts to undo the damage of radiation exposure(possibly bonding in some part of the glowing fungus into the host genome).

[@Kap13]

There is a settlement that needs your help. I’ll mark it on your map.

[@vinkerdoodles]

Dude, the Starfield refs were soooo goooood! Yesterdays updoot was a thing, but I want the game to be good soooo bad!

[@kolspaz]

Perhaps you could do an episode on the way that they figured that gravity effects plasma.

[@satisfiedskullservant]

I was wondering where the fallout video came from, but knowing Kyle is an mtg fan and the new fallout decks are in the spotlight, I'm guessing that was the inspiration for a new fallout video

[@Most_Jeffinitely]

You've gained a new subscriber, let me mark them on your map

[@woodrobin]

Ghouls and Super Mutants in the Fallout universe are derived from different strains of the Forced Evolutionary Virus. The prototype version was supposed to be an anti-radiation drug, and was tested on various civilian populations to see how it would affect people exposed to either deliberate doses of radiation or the fairly high background radiation levels of nuke-happy pre-war America. “Ghouls are a type of mutant. Harold is a ghoul. He's also a little special. Super Mutants are humans with no or minimal radiation damage who have been exposed to FEV. Ghouls are humans with significant radiation damage exposed to FEV. Harold is, well, Harold.” - Chris Taylor, Fallout Bible 5 (Harold is a ghoul who had a small seedling start growing in the tissue on his skull, which eventually fully integrated into his system until he was essentially a talking, sentient tree. The mixture of the FEV, his mutated flesh, and the mutated plant resulted in a symbiotic unification.) Basically, if the person is carrying the Forced Evolutionary Virus in a dormant form and is exposed to high doses of radiation, the FEV adapts the body to the radiation dosage and makes modifications to preserve life. If the person is not irradiated and the FEV is administered in a high, active dosage, it optimizes the body for durability and longevity to a higher degree, discarding unneeded system (hence why Super Mutants don't have genitals and can't naturally reproduce). If the person carries the dormant FEV and doesn't get a particularly high does of radiation, they may live and die a normal human and never ghoulify. But basically every person living in the Fallout version of America (at least) is a carrier of the FEV -- it's been dumped into too many water supplies pre-War, and it's had centuries to spread. That's why groups like the Enclave and the Institute focused so much on Vault Dwellers: they were one of the few environments where 'pure' human DNA without FEV alterations could still be found.

[@denismollanji6922]

Thank you for the video Science Viking!