RobCo’s Secret

[@EpicNate]

💥Use my link to install Dungeon Hunter VI for Free:✅ dhskol.onelink.me/c9XC/ixuzhfwz & Get a special starter pack worth $50 [Available for the next 30 days]

[@ThisOldSkater]

Ok, but what I really want to know is, did you get that spoon balanced?

[@Pits750]

What's more interesting is this. Fallout 3 is set 200 years on from the war. Big town is where you go when you're 16(?) There's no Mungo's in Little Lamplight, so where do the kids come from? No adults, no procreation right? So are the kids born from the G.E.C.K and super mutants? Effectively being super mutant, mutants?

[@OleDirtyMacSanchez]

Going Feral in Ghouls is also caused by the brain getting cooked by Radiation as well, not just from slowly rotting. Remember that the higher functions of the brain are not protected, so the cooking brain can speed up the process of going Feral. If the new Genome of the Super Mutants were sequenced and studied perhaps some of the immunities they seem to possess could be added to the Ghoul Genome to curtail going Feral altogether. Perhaps through sequencing and studying the Genome of members of The Children Of Atom could reveal and benefit the Ghoul Genome as well, possibly even an end to the Necrosis and inability to breed that is the most prevalent part of Ghoul and Super Mutant physiology.

[@OleDirtyMacSanchez]

I would love if Nate read my comment and what he thinks of my addon for the process of Going Feral, but also my possible solution to Going Feral and even a possible solution to the most Prevalent Physiological Conditions of Ghoulification and even Super Mutation.

[@NecromancyForKids]

I like that you couldn't help but laugh at the line "No friends? No problem!"

[@CreepyTikiHome]

I know he's not pre-war. But Hancock is another interesting note as he sought out a drug that overnight seems to have turned him into a ghoul. 200 years after the bombs, in an era where being a ghoul is a death sentence, he found a drug that ghoulified him almost immediately. That's... Some weird screwed up stuff.

[@happy_fecker]

Great and incredibly valid point. How does Hancock fit in all of this "Ghoul lore"?

[@D0NU75]

It's a curious thing how ghouls and chems have a weird history. Ghouls can't get high with regular chems so they make their own more potent version of them and even then, those super chems do not act like they would on say, a normal human with twice chem resistance. My guess is that Hancock was subjected to one of those chems and since he was already a junkie and an alcoholic, his resistance made it so the chem acted more like a catalyst rather than an additive to the "ghoulification" substance of the chem.

[@nvfury13]

A *pre-war* experimental “anti-radiation” drug.

[@Cody-r7r]

Yeah almost like Bethesda doesn't know what the fuck their doing

[@liwojenkins]

I was surprised this wasn't in the presentation. This could be another connection to the DOCTOR.

[@Spirited_skiing]

Ghouls having radiation resistance, being extremely long lived, and barely needing to eat would be pretty useful for traveling the stars- the pre-war research could tie in with a lot of factions aims for star travel

[@HighestRegards-ui1fh]

Vis é vis, Vault Tech Among the stars in the Nuka World DLC...

[@jasperlazuly6623]

​@@HighestRegards-ui1fh seria util, pero el problema de la infertilidad puede hechar a la mierda la teoria, aunque el replicador de nuka gen podria servir para crear nuevos humanos, si se tiene una base de genes previamente almacenada 😅

[@UpperDarbyDetailing]

They aren’t radiation resistant, they’re actually healed by it.

[@purpleranger5987]

@@jasperlazuly6623well they could have humans in cryo which I imagine they would along with probably a place to fertilize eggs unnaturally.

[@andresamcoc3132]

@@purpleranger5987knowing robco they def have a vault jus for repopulation

[@nvfury13]

41:24 Please note, this drug is likely the same one that you missed mentioning during the Eddie Winters section (Nick mentions Winter’s doctor giving him an “experimental anti-radiation drug”), and that Hancock took in his quest for a new high that led to his ghoulification.

[@MegaZeta]

You mean you wanted to bring it up, not that the channel "missed" anything. It's okay to own your interests.

[@nvfury13]

@@MegaZeta They were attempting a full cover of the info about the character’s ghoulification prewar, so yes they missed that piece of information.

[@happy_fecker]

@@nvfury13 I agree. Leaving out Hancock was rather disappointing considering (if true) how he became a ghoul.

[@nvfury13]

@ShadowWolf2023-yp5zg “They” is a word that can be applied to any group or individual. if you are one of the “it’s a gender pronoun” fools, it is not, it is a gender neutral universal pronoun; if you are one of the “they is not singular” fools, it very much can be used that way, check the dictionary, even one from long before the gender madness.

[@LewisB3217]

@ShadowWolf2023-yp5zg they can refer to someone in the singular as well, feel free to attend your English classes whenever you want

[@Grimpy970]

Don't let the iceberg paralyze you. This is fun. This is art. This is not work. Release it whenever you feel it's done. We all trust your judgment around here, man. Don't let any one project drive you crazy

[@zanderwhitcroft]

The saddest thing about the Feral ghouls is that at one point most of all of them were aware and humanish at the start of the war. Makes me wonder how long many of them lasted as their fellow ghouls started going feral. That would be an interesting side plot in a game.

[@MegaZeta]

Agreed, though I understand why they don't dwell on it. The series standbys include both (1) feral ghouls as conscience-free RPG monsters for players to massacre and (2) ghouls as a metaphor for outsiders, stereotypes and bigotry. When the games address that connection, it tends to get awkward-Three Dog in _Fallout 3_ hurriedly following up a speech on accepting ghouls as people with an assurance to the player that mass-killing insane ghouls is a great idea.

[@marhawkman303]

@@MegaZeta that's the ONE thing Nate skipped out on. WHY are some ghouls able to stay sane for CENTURIES, and some seemingly go nuts immediately? He mentioned THAT there's a huge disparity, but never really looked at WHY. Especially not in the context of Dunwich. Also, as a side-note: My personal theory is that FEV isn't a real virus, not in the sense people think. My hypothesis is that it's actually eldritch nonsense. It corrupts people and makes the eldritch monsters. "But X and Y researched to make it!" yeah, but was it biochemistry, or eldritch evil they were researching? Maybe the real research, was in how to take an eldritch concept and give it physical form?

[@nexdemise4182]

Pretty sure this is one of the reasons for discrimination against ghouls, just the belief that each of them will go feral sooner or later. Like obviously they aren't completely immune to radiation and the brain damage does add up over exposure time considering there's only 2 seen in game glowing ones who hadn't gone feral. Another part is likely access to food and water since the deserted places don't end up sheltering a random non-feral neither do you see any desiccated non-ferals, wouldn't be surprised if pushed into starvation their bodies decide that brain is a secondary organ to have and instead focus on keeping the body moving.

[@Leonard-nb7jk]

Let’s be honest if ghouls existed we’d have no problem discriminating against ghouls in a resource scare environment

[@topogigio7031]

It's not that deep, bro. Ghouls are literally subhuman (like Zoomers) so it's not bigoted to say they aren't Human

[@korstmahler]

Hancock and WInter both say the process felt great. I guess pre-war Ghoul making feels different to the weird "Oh I'm falling apart now" sickness that affects postwar ghouls. No postwar ghouls has said, "Yeah I felt great while turning into an immortal turbo-leprosy victim"

[@polytanksan5761]

It probably has something to do with the way they were ghoulified, Hancock apparently took a drug that made him a ghoul and it's possible that was the intended side effect while winter had some weird procedure done on him that doesn't sound like it involves FEV or the sickness the ghouls have

[@penguinsrockrgr8yt216]

I mean Hancock took an experimental radiation drug so he might have just been high out of his mind during the process

[@BoroMirraCz]

It seems that controlled exposure to radiation can make the process easier for the body - it triggers the same mutation as in other ghouls, but it can avoid damaging he body as much (vocal chords, hair). Which honestly makes sense. A lot of stuff in medicine is based on small doses of something dangerous... and sometimes it was discovered by accident when people were exposed to that stuff in uncontrolled manner.

[@mikoto7693]

@@polytanksan5761Was it specified what Winter did to become a ghoul? I kinda assumed that Winter and Hancock took the same drug.

[@TheoRae8289]

@@mikoto7693 he got nuclear waste from the Wicked Shipping owners. did you get far enough into the video to hear his holotape to his girlfriend?

[@keyboardcowgirl69]

like the mysterious stranger he always knows when to arrive and fire off an epic game theory like a revolver

[@chriscomp20]

Take a shot everytime he digresses

[@tylerroy706]

Your a mad lad

[@sleepyfilipino]

Sounds simple enough

[@marquiseh5128]

Old Longfellow like that

[@PaRan0iIdAnDr0id]

I don't have a death wish. 😂

[@Balthazar-mo4ix]

Thash a grape idea *passes out*

[@Steampunked777]

I actually kind of love it when KZbinrs don’t upload for like a few months or even a year and just all of a sudden upload something like nothing happened Edit: I say this because there was that one time when he didn’t upload for like a year and I just think its funny when that happens

[@themarvellousmacca]

Why are people liking this?

[@dingledongus]

​@@themarvellousmaccabecause we agree

[@hoddtoward]

@@themarvellousmacca you don't know about Steve1989 MRE reviews eh

[@Aulsalt]

@@themarvellousmacca With our beloved EpicNate, his content is honestly really great. He puts in a lot of effort with lore videos and more and we simply enjoy them. It’s like a welcoming treat. He takes his time with his content and we’re excited to see what topic he covers next.

[@themarvellousmacca]

@@hoddtoward Godd Howard. We're not worthy. We're not worthy. We're not worthy

[@fireking0531]

When i hear about the doctors experiment, I think that doctor roberts fully intended the ghoulification to happen, but needed a volunteer so he made it sound like it was for the betterment of radiation medicine. Once he got one he actively lied and turned ger into a ghoul. Then when she either got stuffed into the upstairs, or stuffed herself in there. He did it again with others. Many others. Itd make a effectively depressing fallout story lol

[@vodafoneuser1690]

Back then I‘d never imagined someone would surpass Oxhorn, Fudgemuppet, ShoddyCast and so on, but the past two years you became my absolute favorite channel ❤

[@BrotherMag]

Im sure by now it's very possible to surpass Oxhorn. After a while, it feels like his fallout content repeats itself.

[@TheFeltmeister]

I will always love my sweet sweet oxhorn videos nothing to watch time to rewatch oxhorn fallout videos from 1 up to 4

[@DaShoopdahoop]

@@TheFeltmeister lol his FO1 and 2 series are gold to me tbh

[@oh_sweet]

So what's radking then? Chopped radioactive liver?

[@vaultthirteen5782]

I don’t even mind the sparse uploads. Quality over quantity 🫡

[@docgrossman950]

I thought you'd mention Harold. He's arguably not exactly a ghoul, but he transformed into a ghoul-like mutant after falling into a vat of FEV. And he lives with the ghouls of Gecko as one of them. I know it's from the old-timey games but it's also interesting in my opinion.

[@brigadier-tc8565]

More interestingly though, Harold's condition wasn't unique. There was another FEV ghoul in the game, Talius, who was one of the Vault Dweller's predecessors sent out into the wasteland for the water chip. He too was exposed to FEV by the Unity, but became a ghoul instead, and eventually joined the Followers of the Apocalypse

[@demonic_myst4503]

fev was cited by one the old devs as one the needed fctors to cause ghouls This is due to the fact radiation rapidly decays infact no bomb we seen has radiation decya long enough to last a year let alone the 100 for fallout 1 , basicly all the radiation zones in fallout 1-2 are either reactors still melting doan or fev labs

[@TheoRae8289]

iirc Harold is not from pre-war.

[@demonic_myst4503]

@@TheoRae8289 no he was born in pre ncr californiaa and was friends with the creator of the supermutants on the west coast

[@TheoRae8289]

@@demonic_myst4503 ah. Gotcha

[@Faith_1337]

Getting a new video from Nate is like seeing your food come to your table at a restaurant

[@Flaskkorv]

Weirdly enough, yeah it is 😂 I can't wait to get back from work to watch this.

[@all_guys_blazing2104]

And getting a notification for a short and thinking it's a full video is a server taking food to a different table

[@redcoatdestroyer55]

Especially if you’re eating at granite city

[@Flaskkorv]

@@all_guys_blazing2104 oof. so true

[@davidslays1751]

I can't believe how time flies been a member of this channel for almost 2 years and do not regret being one, I still love the videes!!

[@perihelion1225]

God I love that bell. Thanks for the top tier fallout content!

[@theswisswereright]

It's interesting that the ghoul sentry says the super mutants don't attack their settlement, because in Fallout 4, the Slog (a ghoul-only settlement, at least when you first find it) has a problem with super mutants attacking them regularly.

[@BoroMirraCz]

It's possible that its tied to the type of supermutants or their motivation. The motivation of the Vault 87 mutants is to create more mutants and overall their intelligence is much lower than of other mutants - so either their are just focused on finding new source of FEV and mutants (and the ghouls don't factor in that in any way) or they feel the connection to the ghouls on some sub-intelligence manner. The Fallout 4 muties are much more tribal because they are more intelligent. But this tribalism may as well cause them to "override" their natural feeling of connection to the ghouls and see them just as an enemy "tribe". And since they are not searching for the means to procreate, they are more focused on territory control (again, tribalism), which can cause them to no longer view the local ghouls with the "live and let live" attitude. In the end, two different groups of humans can treat ghouls differently, so why cannot the muties do the same?

[@TimW0918]

The Muties just after a piece of Hollie’s tarberry pie 😝

[@damiendemers7495]

I was thinking of the exact same thing!

[@demonic_myst4503]

Fallout 3 mutants are instictyak dumb predators not inteligent infact the vault that creates them has a log stating within 14 days any infected with the exsperimental derivitive strain used lose mental cognitity While in fallout 4 the super mutants are inteligent they just are racist they see all other creatures as inferior

[@grilledleeks6514]

Sure but the mutants in fallout 1 were being commanded to follow the orders of a particular individual. The mutants in fo3 are self governed

[@greenhowie]

Considering that Ghouls can exist as sentient life with no nutrients and massive parts of their brains missing, the most likely explanations are either an FEV variant, Zetan experiments/accidents or something related to Lorenzo's artifact (which might also be Zetan?) - you could imagine a Cabot family member unknowingly unleashing a disease to the world that became the basis for FEV but was also mutated by radiation, for example.

[@Yaivenov]

Perhaps FEV was derived from Zetan DNA by the prewar military?

[@iami3rian394]

They al.ost certainly survive off of radiation as an energy source. As stated by the foremost authority, it's definitely a mutation, one that doesn't affect everyone, and has very specific (and insanely potent) wavelengths of radiation that cause it.

[@sleestalk]

Now that, is an interesting theory.

[@olivercharles2930]

I feel like any theory involving the Zetans and especially the Cabot family is a reach. Not a diss or anything, just a personal viewpoint.

[@dolamoth]

Great video! I do think Dean Domino would be a pre-war ghoul to include amongst these other folks. You find him at the Sierra Madre in Dead Money in Fall-out New Vegas. He claims that he never lost his mind because of his obsession to break into the casino vault despite being relatively isolated in the Villa.

[@TheoRae8289]

him and the Mexican guy, whose name I can't remember because I haven't played NV, I just read a lot of wiki pages.

[@chipexe1312]

Dean wasnt a ghoul before the bombs dropped, he became one afterwards

[@chipexe1312]

Same applies to Raul

[@chipexe1312]

Both are interesting and well developed characters but neither is a prewar ghoul in the same ways people like winters or desmond were

[@dolamoth]

@@chipexe1312 that's true.

[@FedupAmerican1982]

That's why so many people were added to the vaults. Everyone who was predispostioned to ghouling was left outside.

[@JasonXLV1]

Aside from the necropolis vault, of course

[@nuyabuisness7526]

55:45 Couple of things. The kind of radiation that counts as 1 rad per second would still be an insanely high dosage. It can kill you in minutes. It quickly drops off with distance, but extended time around that obelisk could still heavily irradiate a person. Plus the picometers isn't a reference to strength of dosage, just the wavelength of the EMF in question. Specifically gamma radiation around that wavelength.

[@kero8048]

I wonder why you didn't mentioned Moira Brown at all. I mean she got 'ghoulified' pretty much instantly after we blew up Megaton. Wouldn't that be a critical part in this investigation? Anyway, love the video, keep it up!

[@sleestalk]

good point but I think thats just the Bethesda devs just taking shortcuts. Because come on... You cant just off Gloria. Shes too dumb and innocent to die.

[@korstmahler]

Same thing happens to the side-cult of Atom worshippers from the Broken Steel DLC if you nuke Megaton. The leader goes feral but one of the other cultist keeps his wits. I mean... the guy was praying to atomic radiation before he lost his skin, so I guess he kept what little he had left.

[@Xx_Goobinator_xX]

​@@sleestalk she stole an old item I needed for a quest, so she met the barrel of my 10mm.

[@dracon2002]

One person you have missed: Jason Bright from RepCon facility near Novac in Fallout New Vegas. While being ghoulified in effect of Great War, he is the only known sane and friendly glowing ghoul

[@barrymcgee2468]

Hey Nate there’s an editing error here 39:22 You say “so” and it’s cut suddenly. Just making sure we didn’t miss out on something important you were saying about the first holo tape by the researchers assistant

[@PsychoTy1998]

I too also noticed that and thought my video had skipped :D Nates gotta fix this lol

[@LeonardAndHisBiscuit]

About the head thing, there were many depicted throughout Fallout 3 as well. Seems to be a callback to some 1950's deco stuff. Nate mentions that the head being at the bottom of the ritual site is used to justify a connection with the same head in the RobCo building, but if anything, it actually lends even more credence to Bethesda reusing assets that just *looked* like they could fit in a particular instance for creep value, like the ghouls.

[@chill_will9816]

17:46 Ive had a hunch that Thadeus was going to turn into a supermutant and not a ghoul in the show. Our proper intro to them will be them catching Thad, sensing he one of them, and making him essentially a squire for a supe warlord or something

[@thefrostyslime]

Watching this channel grow over the years fills me with so much joy.

[@ScarlettWookie7]

Been a tough few years… but Nate and his fallout videos have gotten me through all of them!!

[@RiffHarvester]

2:44am.... scrolling through, looking for something to wind me down so I can sleep, and what do I find? A juicy, irresistible video from Nate that is bound to be a treat for sure. Always top tier. Always something I missed or just didn't know about the lore, even after a few thousand hours.

[@analien7337]

Nate I’m absolutely biased when it comes to your fallout content. The vibes are just always immaculate. I digress, take as much time as you need, I’ll simply rewatch them.

[@drahcir8402]

Not even a small mention of Hancock, who used a pre-war serum to turn himself into a ghoul. Or at least a ghoul like being. This has implications about ghouls pre-war.

[@damenwhelan3236]

Nate seems to leave out shyt all the time.

[@GrifoStelle]

Well. Darn

[@RapWeasel22]

Omfg he forgot something??? How dare he 😮

[@damenwhelan3236]

@@RapWeasel22 Forgot about a central charecter on a topic that is inescapable whwn googled... That's not forgetful. That's incompetent. We where being kind by not pointing out directly.

[@TheoRae8289]

he was not around before the war. which is kind of the main topic. not the serum, just what pre-war ghouls experienced since not all of them changed by the same means.@@damenwhelan3236

[@doctor_who_dw2298]

Just wanted to say i love your content and appreciate the amount of work you put in these videos.

[@bard4uu]

i think it would be cool/sad to have a ghoul companion that's slowly turning feral. As you're adventuring they have moments where they lose control, you could be in a fight and you hear them let out inhuman vocalizations sometimes. They're forgetful and maybe as you progress, their eyes start to glow. Knowing bethesda games and how they work, it would be a more passive change and stuff but it would be cool to have conversations with them where they lament over their impending doom, and maybe they have passive comments about losing their mind. Maybe you could romance them and at the end of the game or something they turn feral and you're forced to kill them or lock them up somewhere. Who knows. I can imagine them being a likable character that makes you wonder if you can "cure" them, and makes you actually feel something.

[@bard4uu]

++ maybe they become a glowing one, so they start to emit a faint glow. Maybe randomly you take rads the longer you're with them.

[@TheNinjaNiky]

Yeah I always thought gouls were attracted to glowing ones, like that was cannon lore. You always find gouls near them, or near radiated places in general. So they're just attracted to radiation

[@iami3rian394]

They almost certainly use it as an energy source, which is why they barely need to eat or drink.

[@UpperDarbyDetailing]

@@iami3rian394ghouls are healed by radiation, so having a glowing one nearby would up them from “don’t need much food/water to not needing any at all.

[@korstmahler]

Glowing ones must emit radiation because the otherwise inert elements in their body have been activated by radioactive particle strikes. Stable sodium becomes unstable sodium, carbon gains too many neutrons ect. Glowing ones must then be rare because either the sheer amount of saturation must be dangerous for even a ghoul-prone person with minor FEV exposure, or maybe it just takes a long time and a LOT of radiation to do it. However it happens, the result is a self perpetuating ghoul. They might even do that Radiation Blast move by agitating the elements in their body to cause a minor super-criticality event like the IRL 'demon core' accidents.

[@MattHew-rq8zw]

24:33 had me in stiches... especially after nate had realized what he had said... I'm sorry big guy... but you made some of us chuckle more than you'd imagen!

[@cybercase_7807]

I'm a little confused, am I missing something?

[@MattHew-rq8zw]

it's not long after or before he explains that the two had been going at it (the brain and this ghoulishly handsom gentleman), which with a dirty mind could mean something entirely else, hence the "Don't!" - hence me giggling, because it A) caught me off guard. and B) I'm not old enough for things like that to not find it's juvenile gags funy... I'm simple like that.@@cybercase_7807 (milliseconds into 24:32)

[@residentevil5681]

​@@cybercase_7807"going at it" can be used as a euphemism for having sex. So...

[@angelastrouse3003]

@@cybercase_7807what he said could sound dirty to certain dirty minded people

[@angelastrouse3003]

But i certainly thought it was funny as well

[@DavidRodriguez-zo1zk]

I remember watching this anime about the Nagasaki Bombing for a class. It was based on the actual first hand account of the author. And in the aftermath this he and his mother set up a place for survivors to come and get water and rest. But I specifically remember a lot of the people who came to them were mutilated beyond saving, and were burnt head to toe missing limbs, missing a peace of them, but the fascinating part was that they were able to walk here make it there. Then when they drank water and rested, their bodies finally gave it up, like the bodies will to survive, like Mother Nature alone was keeping them alive long enough, and I remember seeing them and making the connection to ghouls, they looked mutilated and ghoulified. I’m not sure if that had any impact on ghouls design or conception but I thought it was a fascinating real world parallel which you could consider a real like ghoul from an atomic bomb.

[@clinetime2022]

I have heard in a survival time the body can block pain signals to the brain in a attempt to survive it stops when I person feels safe which might explain how they made it then died when they felt safe like they had help

[@infamousprime694]

Made up bullshit that you saw in an anime 😂

[@DavidRodriguez-zo1zk]

@@infamousprime694 it was based on the writers real life experiences from the atomic bombing as he was in Nagasaki

[@obnoxiouspedant]

Man can't read ​@@infamousprime694

[@isaac_aren]

I think the FEV explanation is impossible solely because of the crew of the Yangtze. They were in a sealed, underwater submarine, and from China. They would have had 0 exposure to FEV. The social isolation explaination for ferocity is also disproven by this (and that the group that glowing one guy in Nuka World is from) as Zhao makes it clear he was very close to his crew. Another note, that may just be a gameplay feature, is that many feral ghouls are seen with makeshift metal armour, meaning they must have been non-feral at some point and sought out armour.

[@Greenhawk4]

also in FO3 that one girl in megaton turns into a ghoul right after you blow it up.

[@itswallzy]

It genuinely makes me so happy that you're back posting again Nate. Great work fr!

[@Gerraint]

I love the idea one of the factor of a ghoul being feral is social loneliness. That means we saved Raul from becoming feral by being his friend.

[@Galvamel]

I always got the impression that Research Assistant Peters was working on making a more advanced version of RadAway. She says that the serum was not ineffective at toxic levels which sounded to me like she was working on improving RadAway so it would work on people who would normally be too irradiated for even normal RadAway to work.

[@TheNuclearGeek]

I actually have (what I think, at least) is a really good biochemical explanation for why ghouls seemingly age much slower while simultaneously seeming to "decay" physically AND eventually go "feral". It actually has to do with why we, generally, get cancer later in life. I want to keep this as simple as possible, but in order to keep living, we need to replace cells that die off. As our body grows new cells from our chromosome's DNA, but there is always a risk that the process can create a mistake. That is a mutation and the basis for evolution, but it is also what leads to cancer which is just bad cells that do nothing but grow more bad cells, that's tumors, basically. In order to reduce the likelihood that the growth of new cells will lead to cancer, at the ends of each of our chromosomes that are split and copied is a portion of DNA that is nothing but "junk" data, called telomeres. The reason it is there is because each time our cells split, it's most likely that a little bit of our DNA at the end, those telomeres, gets cut off in the process. So, the telomere sections get shorter and shorter the older you get and the more cell copies are made. Once you run out of "junk" data to lose, when you're older, it starts becoming more and more likely that you will lose essential data needed to grow a functional new cell and it will fail, or it will grow a cancer cell instead. That is why it's more likely we will get cancer when we are older - bad cell copies. My theory is that Ghouls look the way they do, and live for as long as they do, because their process of cell division is either radically slowed or stopped completely. I theorize the ghoulification process actually causes a strengthening in the cell membranes which allows the cells to become stronger, but too strong to allow for easy cell division, effectively stopping the growth and division process. This is why child ghouls stay children and why ghouls don't seem to age. They don't need to eat as much because they aren't actually using any energy to grow new cells. That is why their skin seems to decay, because they aren't growing new skin to replace any that dies or is lost, BUT since each cell membrane is stronger, that is harder to have happen. Since they can't grow new cells, they can't grow new cancer cells either. They can't catch most diseases because viruses can't penetrate the stronger cell membranes. This also explains why they eventually go feral as well, since becoming feral is really just a symptom of losing too many essential brain cells in the areas that are maintaining personality, aggressiveness, reasoning, etc. This is by no means an iron-clad explanation, but I think it is a reasonable one, or at least one that is on the right track, but my ego certainly won't be hurt if someone has a reason to blow this out of the water lol. I'm a chemical engineer and nuclear professional, not a biologist or doctor or anything. So, if there is someone that is that can improve on this, I'd enjoy hearing it as much as anyone 😁

[@TheNuclearGeek]

@accelerationquanta5816 That's just it though, no one is even sure they HAVE to eat anything. Which is supported by the kid locked in a refrigerator for 200 years. It's inconsistent to say the least. I was just trying to pose a possible reason for why.

[@joelheinitz2139]

Username checks out

[@RedpillRenegade]

Worth the read good theory both realistic and sound. I feel like I learned something lol

[@TheNuclearGeek]

@@RedpillRenegade Why thank you very much.

[@TheNuclearGeek]

@@RedpillRenegade And they told you gaming would rot your brain 😁

[@Nobody_Fn_Important]

thank you for doing more Fallout 4 or fallout itself content. I just love this game and the lore in it, it's so diverse and awe inspiring, also inspires a lot of theories itself. I love this stuff.

[@171akup]

The super mutants not attacking ghouls reminds me of a movie where an entire hoard of zombies would ignore any regular living human if they were sick, but the zombies had to have some sort of sixth sense of knowing who is sick and who isn't without being able to see the sickness.

[@TimW0918]

World War Z

[@MrJerichoPumpkin]

@@TimW0918 which was pretty crappy. My suspension of disbelief took a 3 weeks vacation 15 minutes in.

[@SoldierOfGodwyn]

Another amazing and informative video. Thank you for this content, always nice to learn more about the Fallout universe

[@AlexandervonBelow]

If the "X-Factor" was FEV, this would explain what happened to Thaddeus in the Fallout TV series: The Snake Oil Salesman gave him FEV, and given that the whole wasteland was radioactive, this will eventually ghulify him

[@DeathRex88]

Ah, my thought was that Thaddeus was exposed to it passively from the shit farm, wherever that is, and the Chicken-guy just shot him up with enough rads to kill him. He either heals or dies, either way, it's a win for the "doc".

[@RedGreenLeft]

But how do u explain the Bounty Hunter(yes I forgot his name). He saw the explosions in LA…. Did his wife expose him to FEV?

[@DeathRex88]

@@RedGreenLeft the ghoul? I'm sure the fallout lore accounts for this by the few ghouls before the war and the implications of testing on soldiers and the such.

[@Two_Gnomes_In_A_Trench_Coat]

Great way to start veterans day weekend nate let's goooooo!

[@thomaspesch2038]

So I have a question about something I noticed when in the Mechanist lair, before the war the lair was a lab for human experiments on robobrains but in a room where they would do the operations I noticed on one of the boards showing X-rays is 2 images of a deathclaw head, why would that be there?

[@Supercohboy]

I may be misremembering, but I thought there was a retcon that something similar to Deathclaws was being experimented on pre-war but it didn't come to fruition. I think the X-Rays are a reference to that, I remembered noticing the same thing in my playthrough. I may be wrong though, and if so, I have no idea why those photos would even exist in-lore and as far as video game assets go...maybe it was originally art for a cut quest that was repurposed?

[@polytanksan5761]

@@Supercohboy iirc I think I remember seeing something saying that deathclaws were something created prewar and when the war happened they broke out, might be something non canon though

[@HighestRegards-ui1fh]

Really? I'm going to go back and look around in The Mechanist's Lair for that....and the Super Mutant head in a jar.

[@incredibleflameboy]

​@@polytanksan5761thats exactly the canon explaination for their existence and why they're so widespread.

[@conwaysquest6961]

Deathclaw robobrains. DEATHCLAW. ROBOBRAINS. Just imagine the potential!

[@bakachan_]

I’m so glad this channel still updates. I still love Fallout just as much as I did YEARS ago when I started listening to Nate. Please never stop

[@toakongu1]

I'm more inclined to believe the first theory you mentioned about the X factor being genetic. The Nuka-World DLC for Fallout 4 sees the Sole Survivor having to clear several theme parks, including Kiddie Kingdom which is inhabited by ghouls. During the course of clearing the park you can find a lot of terminal entries detailing the story of the park employees who took shelter in the tunnels beneath it. They were out fortifying their defenses one day when a rad storm rolled in and they were caught in it. After that, they all started ghoulifying and all eventually went feral, except for 1 who you meet near the end of clearing the park. In the entire series, all we've ever seen as results of FEV exposure is super mutants. So I'm inclined to believe ghoulification is genetics based and that whatever gene is responsible was fairly common in the wider population before the war.

[@mikoto7693]

There were often mentions of some people dying quickly if I recall.

[@A.Filthy.Casual]

26:10 i love the game he plays while waiting to record the audio tape and you can see him jump for joy when he succeeds its so wholesome and cute

[@KingNilNothing]

The incredibly loud "BUT" @25:14 made me laugh so hard...

[@ShadeMeadows]

Always great to hear these! No matter if they have previously known info, it's always great to hear everythin' again to catch up!

[@majorpwner241]

I imagine all youtubers like him have to tap into every resource they can for these videos, from other fan theories to forums to whatever concrete established lore they can get ahold of. No one knows all the lore. What they provide though is a very neat and polished product bringing many ideas into one place and keeping things interesting and entertaining.

[@NiceandAccurateMoose]

Nate: *uploads an hour long deepdive on ghoul lore*. Amazon's unreleased Fallout series: *sweats*

[@iakatat2]

Well the way Amazon has been going with series. This is probably better in every way.

[@NiceandAccurateMoose]

@iakatat2 I have some hope for the series, but with many adaptations of popular media with lots of dense lore, things tend to get watered down or excluded for the sake of being digestible for audiences. I've seen very few rare examples of thick lore being respected in adaptations, but even then it's very niche. My only hope is that because the story for the series is supposedly brand new and based in a new place, that gives wiggle room. Time will tell. *Nate would be an excellent reference for lore, though*

[@onepuffman]

We were all wrong, it's magic yellow ghoul vape juice.

[@korstmahler]

I wasn't wrong. That same drug was used by Hancock, Eddie Winters, Desmond Lockheart and probably others.

[@onepuffman]

@@korstmahler What drug?

[@korstmahler]

@@onepuffman Hancock refers to it as an experimental radiation drug, the others in similar ways.

[@mikeferro7879]

You forgot about Hancock,who became a ghoul by taking an experimental drug.possibly a later version of what made eddie winter a ghoul

[@virno69420]

An experimental "radiation" drug.

[@Charles_baylis]

I like that Bethesda went with the story you have different dialogue options if you show up at the mechanist lair dressed in the silver shroud costume

[@andrewosborne7544]

You're srill epic Nate, thanks for the great work

[@kirstiefaith9502]

God the joy I feel when there’s a new EpicNate video is the closest thing I’ve felt to Christmas morning since I was tiny. Absolutely stellar work, 12/10💛

[@danielpiekut]

The "longest week or two" in history

[@hoo2042]

Eh, I bet it will be great when it comes out.

[@creepergaming7926]

just when i needed something to allow my brain to focus while i do other things nate comes in clutch!! so glad you're back nate

[@trevorturner6921]

The goat is back!

[@Xw3dn3sd4yX]

33:17 The body language of how excited you got balancing the soup bowl on the checker board seems to be a universal thing lol gotta wiggle the mouse or right stick a bunch and jump around cuz how else are you gonna celebrate?

[@Dustee2515]

We are obliged to spread the love for Paul, we are all a part of the MittenSquad.

[@nicholasbradley8868]

This channel is great. Thanks for keeping at it!

[@HerrViken]

Love your videos man, it always makes my day! Keep it up!

[@slof69]

not seeing the spoon balance ontop of the cola is a huge cliff hanger

[@sheriffcraft7673]

the best Bethesda games lore man, my favorite fellow "lore-maniac", love you Nate ❤

[@gh0stp3ppergaming23]

Been watching you for years man! I've always loved you content and I especially love your more in depth and longer videos. Please keep making this amazing content just like you always have!

[@ClaytonOHara]

thank you for your content, man. i’ve been real depressed and nerding out on Fallout lore always helps a bit. not all heroes wear capes, buddy! you’re awesome!

[@steveharrison76]

I love the research assistant’s tapes. The way it starts you think she’s just some heartless scientist… but it turns out that she’s sacrificing herself for a theory she truly believes in and thinks will help everyone. It’s somewhat alarming that she asks for “permission” to abort the trial, as that implies that there actually IS a moral-free scientist involved… DAMN YOU ROBERTS!!! (Also, please do a Bostonian accent every single time you say doctor from now on: let’s get that in the channel mythos…) And I do think that Occam’s razor is far more likely with regards to the ghouls and mutants in the Mechanist lair. It’s entirely possible that the robots brought live or post-mortem specimens back for the mechanist. She was convinced that the tech worked, if we consider this. Therefore, wouldn’t it be far kinder to use mutants and ghouls for the brains, rather than human prisoners? I expect this didn’t work, in fact of course it didn’t - she’s completely wrong about the tech! And thus it was abandoned. The system is automated, after all. And this accounts for the total absence of any evidence for the research being done on pre-war ghouls and mutants. Not saying I’m right; just that the converse does require quite a large assumption, based on what we are presented with (the utter lack of document evidence, the mechanist’s belief that the process is viable and her complete shock that the robots are explicitly attacking everything they find). Just an observation, doubtless crammed with holes and gaps. ;)

[@mikoto7693]

That was the exact same conclusion that I came to. That the robots brought back “samples” from the wasteland. Ghouls, super mutants and even a deathclaw.

[@scottyd1234]

I wasn’t thinking it….until you said “dont”. Now I can’t stop.

[@ONI-GAMI]

Raul (if i remember his name correctly) in New vegas is the only person to get close to the supermutants in black mountain, He is a ghoul. "But he is forced to be there" yes, by nightkin. Nightkin in new vegas have attacked ghouls and other supermutants because of their addiction, even so supermutants see the problem and want to help them. Not sure if this is mentioned but it also helps prove that Supermutants see ghouls as some sort of ally/help.

[@connordovah7933]

This is an incredible video. Thanks Nate. You've been great for yonks, but youre just getting better and better. 55:04

[@Jonasansu]

I have always kind of theorized ghoulifaction has something to do with the new plague. Maybe people who have the gene to be a carrier or something also means they become ghouls when mild FEV exposure and radiation mix. It doesn’t fully explain it, though.

[@Doyoueverwonderwhywerehere]

Fev exposure would have made them completely immune to radiation tho even if just mild exposure

[@krimzon2676]

Needs a Part 2 after the Fallout Series. Snake Oil Salesman clearly has a serum that causes instant ghoulification.

[@krimzon2676]

Another thing that I think might be interesting in this investigation is the Children of Atom. Considering they are a cult or religion in which the followers welcome unprotected exposure to rads, you would have thought that all of them would be a ghoul, or in some stage of ghoulification. But thinking back on this, I don't think I've ever met a Child of Atom ghoul in the game. Maybe they just eliminate a follower who shows signs of ghoulification, as though Atom has chosen a sacrifice for them, but that seems less probable for a seemingly [mostly] peaceful religion. So why is their prolonged exposure to rads not turning them into ghouls? This seems to suggest that it isn't rads at all that is the catalyst for ghoulification.

[@Ron1nVsEverything]

Jury is still out on whether or not that was just a sample of FEV that the Chicken Lover dude gave him. Seems more likely he'll turn into a Super Mutant I think given that level of healing factor seems more in line with FEV than ghoulification.

[@Saintt1796]

Nah, I'm like 99% sure it was FEV. Ghouls don't have that near instant regenerative property.

[@Amarenamann]

I saw a mudcrab the other day. Horrible creatures...

[@SkinnyEatWorld95]

Man I seriously love everything you post. You're the best Nate! 😁

[@keelall1382]

I thought this said robocops secret and was very confused for a solid 30 seconds

[@themarvellousmacca]

Dead or alive, you're a ghoul

[@Reefer-Rampage69]

This channel as well as fallout and TES have become such an integral part of my life, thank you for contributing and making such an impact!!

[@TheSmithy7113]

NOOO! You failed me, why didn't you show whether or not the spoon was placed correctly????

[@andykaufman7620]

You deserve Fallout video of the Year sir. Have an Ice-Cold Nuka Cola Victory. You earned it. Take a victory lap.

[@keeptexasfree7361]

Didn’t Hancock turn ghoul because of a drug? What if the government and companies only told you it was the rads to cover their actions?

[@BRONCOJUGGALOTALKSMOVIES]

So glad you put up another video. You know how many times I watch your videos over and over again while I travel. Especially when I'm not able to play. I really hope you do a new Skyrim video soon.

[@masonedens3395]

rest in love, mitten squad.

[@williamlazenby314]

I didn't know he passed until I read this comment.

[@truesnakegod]

He returns once again! Happy with the content! Keep it coming as long as you can!

[@nazrac2098]

Is it just me or did Nates voice get deeper.... ???😲

[@StoneGarage]

It's the pot. You gotta smoke alot to get the deep and wild into lore. Smokers rasp

[@nolyf8084]

"A DOCTA" LMAO keep up the great work thanks for the laughs

[@rofflesvanwagon]

Thumbnail of my ex wife

[@tippyjo5850]

😂😂😂and you still married her!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@theULTIMATElife50]

Its too bad that VanBuren is non canon because I believe it would have revealed more about the FEV in the pre war era as derived from a "new plague" that swept across the US. How the "new plague" was also used to create a variant to be used as a bio weapon against the chinese, something that I believe is touched on in FVNV OWB with its small prison camp, and that all post war mutations are some combination of radiation exposure, FEV or its relatives, and biology. If you noticed humans are not the only creatures to ghoulify, most mammals and a few birds encountered in the game appear to have some form of ghoulification. Most mutated non-mammals don't seem to share this trait and are affected in a way that is closer to a Super Mutant.

[@ianalopez]

Getting ready for the New Vegas festival in Goodsprings! Hope to see many of you guys there!

[@WhiteIkiryo-yt2it]

Always good to see another video from you dude. Funnily enough, I have just startsed a new Fallout 4 playthrough.

[@teocampbell2115]

Curious about the odd cuts in the section on RA Peters, specifically around 39:20 at the end of holotape 2/3 when the narration starts and then abruptly cuts off to start the third holotape. Was there a reason for that, or just an editing error? Speaking of Peters, I can’t help but feel bad for her. The holotapes are labeled “_Control_ Subject’s Recording,” which in clinical trials and lab experiments usually means they’re being given the *placebo* version of whatever is being tested; establishing a default baseline to compare against the results of the real deal. She mentions serum sample 42-BA-7’s results in animal trials (just before the cut mentioned above) and it’s implied to act fairly quickly before she breaks into a coughing fit, and then holotape 3/3 starts with her questioning why it isn’t having any effects-which, if she WAS part of the control group, they wouldn’t have told her it’s a placebo. They would have tried to lead her to believe that it was the genuine article. I’m sure the reason she wasn’t allowed to terminate the experiment is precisely BECAUSE they wanted to compare the effects of radiation on someone who *isn’t* being treated with the experimental serum vs someone who *is*. Her ghoulification into a Glowing One is almost certainly a result of this, of having been given a placebo and told it would save her, and subsequently being left to endure her fate totally alone. Poor girl. 😢 Just wanted to help improve life for everyone in the Commonwealth, everyone in the world, and like so many others in the Fallout universe, she fell victim to the very same rampant unethical science that resulted in everything from Vaults to super mutants to Shaun’s kidnapping and beyond. Unfortunately, if fate had been kinder, we wouldn’t have these stories.

[@TheGreatAlaskanBushman]

Hands down my favorite KZbinr I’ve watch all of the Skyrim and fallout vids multiple times keep up the good vids man

[@JustinLBivens]

thank you for the video, always enjoy watching these when i have a bit of time to sit and simmer for awhile

[@mr702s]

The research assistant, that is great acting!!

[@LIBER000]

One of your best video's yet. Love the long form.

[@vedinc]

nate i love your videos so much. your voice is very calming and interesting to listen to, i tend to just play your videos to fall asleep to. Ive watched all your skyrim videos atleast 3 times over the years and now i keep coming back to these lengthy fallout lore videos and i love them. Just the time and effort you put into your dialogue and videos is phenomenal. I could listen to you literally talk about anything you make even if its just like rock's or plants id still watch hours of it idc

[@SMon42]

21:40 Side eyes Eddy Winters Looking foward to you talking about him!

[@TheTotallyRealXiJinping]

25:15 That *BUT* vibrated my eardrums through my subconscious into my dreams and shook my reality until I woke in a frenzy to protect myself. 10/10

[@Gr0g234]

I can't describe how hyped I get when there's a new Nate video