The Origins of the Hellcat Power Armor and the Hellcat Company - Fallout 76 Analysis

Where does the Hellcat Power Amour come from? What about the mysterious Hellcat mercenaries who utilize it? In this video I aim to provide an answer to these questions.

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

IMPORTANT INFO PEOPLE HAVE MADE ME AWARE OF: 1. The news anchor at the start of Fallout 4 says the following: 'All the easier for our mechanized hellcats to drive any screaming Commie meamies right into the Bohol Sea' 2. The Hellcat logo resembles the logo of the 12th Armored division also called the Hellcat division, which was a tank killer unit. 3. The motto on the logo 'Mors Ex Mare', may or may not mean 'Death by the sea' From this info, it seems incredible likely that Hellcat company is based of the Hellcat division, they're even referred to as 'mechanized hellcats' by the news anchor. That could mean that the Armour is specifically designed to combat tanks, or maybe the role has now switched to amphibious operations, either way, it makes the military explanation much more likely.

[@enclavesoldier1112]

You sound Aussie mate

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@@enclavesoldier1112 I am

[@enclavesoldier1112]

@@TheOmegaInitiative finally, a fellow aussie. Hows covid treatin you? Well depends what state ya from I'm from NSW so I'm in lockdown rn

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@@enclavesoldier1112 I'm in lockdown too, It's probably made my video release faster.

[@enclavesoldier1112]

@@TheOmegaInitiative Ah yes, our premiers are really handling the situation properly. Not.

[@flyingace1234]

Going off the underwater theme, the red light _does_ have a point, potentially. Red light reduces strain when viewing in low light conditions, while retaining some low light vision in the eye. The Red Glow you see on the visors is the back-lighting for the internal displays like Oxygen and power. They considered the glow acceptable, when stealthing underwater, you have to be right underneath the target for them to see a light underwater. The high kinetic energy resistance could also represent a designed to resist underwater pressure.

[@l.r.j.r.6356]

Just like new vegas ncr ranger armor

[@missionslos8856]

Submarines also had red lighting in addition to normal white and blue in german Submarines during the second world War

[@flyingace1234]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 Hrm, time for some Scientific Wild Ass Guessing. It's because other power armors have built in coatings that block the glow? I mean, looking at the HUD for power armor in FO4 you clearly have a few light up bits that would theoretically glow. Normally a glare reduction system that effectively acts as sunglasses would block the glow for most Power Armors meant for use by land based troops. The Hellcat Armor, being designed for low light underwater environments, cannot afford the reduced visibility that such a coating would offer, and thus the glare reduction coating was considered an acceptable sacrifice, thus the glow can be seen through it.

[@flyingace1234]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 This is, admittedly, assuming that the implications of the armor's design point to this being an underwater suit used for amphibious or frogmen style operations. You need to see out of the suit to fight. Look at Atmospheric Diving Suits, the closest IRL comparison. Those have plenty of portholes and/or glass bubbles to see out of.

[@crackedcrypto1598]

Red light as also not visible to most terrestrial fauna, I’m not sure about aquatic animals. But nonetheless it would be valuable to keep yourself hidden from guard dogs and such, assuming the sound of a literal fuckin ton of steel clunking around 😂

[@JonarusDraconius]

The RED lighting is actually very easy to explain, especial if the group's origins are military or psudo-military... You see, 'red' light has the smallest impact on a persons natural 'night-vision' than any other colour! When I was in training with the Australian army, during our 'field' phase, we were given red-light torches, so we could still illuminate things, without harming our ability to see in the dark.

[@techpriest1852]

What service?

[@Demicleas]

@@techpriest1852 He said the Australian army

[@Dovah21]

That makes a lot of sense, it also helps the case of the red power armor lamps being named "Tactical Red". Having used high-lumen torches at night, that use either a soft blue or a standard white LED, I cannot see jack shit outside of the light's coverage. It's actually a little distressing at times.

[@thejuggernogperk1364]

I remember the news narrator going on about are 'hell cats giving the Chinese hell in the Pacific'

[@magicman3163]

It was probably deployed underneath US ships or something

[@thejuggernogperk1364]

@@magicman3163 thanks mate

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

Well damn, now I'm annoyed I forgot about that. Here's the quote: 'All the easier for our mechanized hellcats to drive any screaming Commie meamies right into the Bohol Sea'. That's not 100% proof that the Hellcat armour was amphibious, but it seems too good to be a coincidence.

[@thejuggernogperk1364]

@@TheOmegaInitiative thank you for helping me gov

[@orbitaloutcast9878]

@@TheOmegaInitiative It actually looks amphibious, wack.

[@justinsteidl8151]

My theory is Hellcat company is from the Marine Corp or Navy even and that's why the power armor is so different. It would make sense for the design to be different from what we're used to. Power armor design seems to differ amongst the different branches and companies making them. It would make sense for a military branch that fights commonly on water to design one that would be superior for fighting in that kind of environment.

[@phillipcaihoang8845]

I could see this being a Power Armour for the Marine Corp With the breathing apparatus and its dark olive green. As well as the name title, HellCat Like the 12th Armored Division, nicknamed: "Hellcat Division" "Suicide Division" "Mystery Division".

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

Makes Sense

[@justinsteidl8151]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 1. It's called a theory for a reason. 2. Until the devs themselves say otherwise, all theories can be valid. 3. The devs barely gave any info to begin with, so claiming people are using leaps of faith is pointless. Theories are literally leaps of faith using information provided or discovered. 4. Not all cats are afraid of water. And I would imagine a "hellcat" if it existed as a living creature that we could interact with wouldn't be afraid of anything. 5. The fallout 4 news anchor mentions hellcats driving the communists back into the bohol sea, which is located in the Philippines. Philippines is more Navy or Marine Corp territory than army. 6. Like I pointed out before, as evidence by the different designs of power armor in existence, it all depends on who makes them. And currently there is zero information on who actually designed it so theories are allowed. 7. And finally it's fine to disagree with a theory but at least use a actual argument supported by what is known within the fallout lore.

[@justinsteidl8151]

The breathing apparatus design reminds me more of a scuba tank diving suit than a gas mask but that's just me personally. And I'm sure there are plenty of others that agree

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

@@justinsteidl8151 Kind of...

[@spacecowboy2836]

Red light is harder to see from a distance military’s use red flashlights sometimes instead of a normal flashlight

[@danielhall6578]

They also use the red flashlights because it doesn’t change how dilated your eyes are at night

[@asdfg2560]

It also doesn’t fuck up your night vision, unlike white light.

[@vavra222]

​@@colonel.halberstern5893 X-01? But dont get me wrong, i dont like how Bethesda is slowly adding dozens of new "pre-war" PA prototypes so often. I was OK with T-51b as the last kinda produced armor with X-01 as the freshest, top of the line pre-war prototype. Then they add T-60 and it was downhill from there... fuck up the lore just so their shitty game can get new shiny toys so that those few whales can be milked some more.

[@vavra222]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 Matter of opinion, but i understand you. Funny things is that only NV fans push it on everybody else, while the rest just play whatever they enjoy.

[@JonatasAdoM]

Yes, I had one of those old ones and it had different lenses to change the color of the light.

[@JackalArtsmith]

"This seems extremely lazy" Bethesda's writers being lazy? nooo, who'd of thought it?

[@kurumachikuroe442]

My theory is that the Hellcat is an Air Force design, meant to be used by paras on high-altitude-low-opening operations. While all PA suits are air mobile, we aren't told if they're air droppable, meaning a suit that uses sharp angles to increase effective armor without increasing weight and has internal air supply could exist.

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

That was one of my first thoughts with breathing system, but there's really no other factors backing it up, and they have the H.A.R.E power armour in 76, it's only a skin, but it's pointless adding a power armour that you already had.

[@v.h.s.italia]

@@TheOmegaInitiative if i remember correctly skins are not considered as full canon, but i may be wrong about it

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@@v.h.s.italia They're aren't automatically canon, but I'm saying if they were developing a paratrooper power armour skin, they would probably release that as a paratrooper power armour if they ever intended to release an actual paratrooper power armour.

[@v.h.s.italia]

@@TheOmegaInitiative that's right, i haven't think about that!

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 Power armour isn't specifically designed for use in nuclear environments, and the other power armour suits all have filter systems, the Hellcat model appears to have a rebreather.

[@Hardrada_129]

The power armor could be an even earlier prototype for the X-01 project. Given that it's pretty much just a mash-up of the X-01 and T-60. Maybe who ever was researching and developing the X-01 tried at first to build it off a suit of T-60 armor, but for one reason or another the idea failed and a whole new design would need to be created, thus resulting in the standalone X-01 armor we know of today.

[@fernadogonzalez2940]

I thought that same thing the first time I saw it as it looks kind of like the t-65 as a mash up of 2 armors the t-65 being a mixture between t-60 and t-51

[@xxwhodabeanerxx69]

@C D lmao why are you so press

[@babyhandsthegreat]

@C D It's a damn game get over it. It's not like your dad is a mall cop.

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

@C D lmao chill out kiddo

[@babyhandsthegreat]

@C D Where the hell did you get lazy from. There is no text where I go " oh I'm lazy and don't care" I care about the lore but more about how fun the game is. Fallout 4 had a bad story but was my favorite because there was alot to do. Stop being a damn keyboard warrior before your mommy comes and slaps you on the ass.

[@austinhawkins3307]

My theory is that its 8n the same family as the X-01 armor, possibly a very early design. We know the X-01 was plagued with issues, such as that it excelled in radiation resistance, and did very good in Energy resistance, but was abysmal in ballistic protection. We also know the X-01 was a radical redesign of traditional power armor. Now look at Hellcat. It looks like if the makers of T-60 were trying to make the next best thing. They got ballistic protection down easily, even including what would be the trademark "hump" of the X-01. But, their materials and overall mindset was more traditional PA design. Food for thought.

[@T0nik]

I really hope we can get some more lore on the Hellcats soon! Pretty interesting stuff

[@pizzaparker__0072]

It seems that the 'Mors Ex Mare' wording on their logo means 'Death by The Sea' or close enough to it. Which seems to help your neat little theory. And judging from what other comments are bringing up, it seems more and more likely that it is the case.

[@krashface4870]

Considering all, maybe this could be a sort of deep sea diving prototype suit. Maybe the Hellcats were part of the Navy?

[@krashface4870]

@C D yes

[@whitefanful]

@C D While I agree the number of suits is getting a bit on the high side this kind of development style is not unheard of. In every major war multiple teams will work on the same problem using differing methods to speed creation of a solution. So the Fallout US devoting several teams to making specialized power armor based off a proven concept is possible.

[@chuckn4851]

"from" or "out of" not "by"

[@pizzaparker__0072]

@@chuckn4851 As I said, close enough to it.

[@Dexidouos]

Red lights are generally harder to see in certain circumstances if the right technology is utilized

[@Dexidouos]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 No the person looking at the red light has a harder time seeing it than a person using the red lights to see

[@Dexidouos]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 the xo1 has glowing eyes doesn't it or am I crazy?

[@TheLudClub]

@@Dexidouos I'm pretty sure it does.

[@Sbeve_One]

I love the way it looks but I HATE the open gaps in the armor that lets you see straight through to the frame I mean it should’ve have 0 rad protection lol

[@vantablack4867]

One Idea could be that they're like a more, Violent Version version of the 'Atom Cats' from F4. In Fallout 4, The Atom Cats had a more detailed logo the the Minute Men, Gunner, BOS, Institute, or the Raider factions. They Also did sort of have a motto, 'Atom Cats Rule', but It's less of a motto and more of self endorsement. But, The main they did was POWER ARMOR TINKERING. They always have T-45, T-51, T-60, and rarely, can have X-01 spawn on them. So, a Possibility is that Hell Cats Used to be Atom Cats, but, when the Atom Cats were made, there were two factions. One Would be in the commonwealth, and mostly be fixated on modifying and buying and selling power armor to people. While the Hell Cats could have been more Fixated on Modifying Power armor for Warfare. But, some things I also want to say. You could be right about having the Hellcat being Pre-War. But, another theory could also be that it was a Modified version of the X-01. Due to sharing some characteristics, like you mentioned, Eye Head lamps and The Bulbous Shoulders. So, The Hellcats could have Modified the X-01 to becoming the Hellcat, and making it better for All type of Warfare And to Explained Why Zeke never Mentioned The 'Hell Cats' it could be that they were defeated in Appalachia, and F4 being 200 years in the future, and F76 being only 25, it wouldn't be exaggerating for the Atom Cats to just forget about the Hell Cats over some generations. (Feel Free to Correct me in the Comments. I probably goofed up somehow) Edit: Though, the Hellcat does look Amphibious. The helmet looks like it has a Re breather attached to it. And, Other power armor don't need oxygen tank, due to being Gas mask. The Hellcat would need them if it was for Under Water Use. But, Still Sticking to my Theory. It could just have been made more Amphibious, due to the Mog. Or that the Hellcats made base in a area surrounded by swamp or water. 2nd Edit: But, being Bethesda, they tend to make interesting things and ideas, and blow it out the window

[@Jkrocsko]

Damn you doin more lore work than Bethesda at this point

[@thesecondromuluan8216]

It looks like you were right. Given the tidbits of information we've been given from The Pitt in 76, it seems Hellcat Company consists of a lot of ex-military, which could mean we have so much as entire military company, *plus* any people they recruit or robots they reprogram operating in the wastes. Although something tells me Hellcat will come to an end at some point, unless future Fallout games have them around two centuries later.

[@FP194]

I would say the Hellcat Mercenaries were at one time a secret spec ops unit attached to the Marines and like the rifles Marine snipers use that are made in house so could this PA have been made in house by the Marines to fit their exact needs

[@kurthasedd7923]

I think there are a lot of possibilities for power armor and power armor designs that can be implemented and relatively lore friendly. Power armor has become a staple of the Fallout universe even though it was never really meant to be, kind of like the Brotherhood of Steel, we know of the pre war designs in the T45D, the T51B and technically the X01 prototype, but these were all designed for military use by the US army, but there are more entities out there that might be interested in producing power armor or trying to get their power armor suits bought up by the US military for their use or maybe not even for the military but to their own ends like the excavator power armor. We could see designs coming out of European countries who see this technological leap forward as a way for them to make money off of Americas wars or for their own use, we could see a wide variety of prototypes for riot control, amphibious assaults, fighting in high radiation environments, urban warfare models, air assault models etc. that just never saw mass production or frontline service because the US military said "No, we don't want it" With all that said, I am disappointed that we never get a straight lore answer for this, which is a shame because it adds to the great understanding of pre war America. In future installments I would like to see America try rebuilding itself, not as a unified country but like Greek city states of old with their own weapons and armor, with the places between these towns and cities as hellish no mans lands kind of like Judge Dredd, but that's getting a little too far off topic, point is, ultimately disappointed in the lack of effort on Bethesdas end to properly flesh out a change in lore that every Fallout fan knows

[@archdukefranzferdinand2112]

Right. Most of the new armor that 76 added wasn’t developed by the military, which is why I’m 100% fine with it.

[@PMMillard]

It'd be awesome if it had a passive effect of compressing air While above water and utilizing it for extended breathing underwater. amphib power armor sounds like something that would have been attempted, especially by the navy

[@UnholyWrath3277]

Seems to me power armor would be far to heavy to float and you'd just sink to the bottom unless it's got some serious propulsion

[@rose4100]

Good video. The only thing I have to say is that Red Light is more useful at night where it retains your eyes natural night vision and does not carry long distances (which is useful for stealth considerations). Why does night vision matter when you're using optics in the helmet? In combined arms operations where there will be Power Armour and non-armoured elements, the Red Light will not blind unaugmented units.

[@scubasteve4355]

The Hellcat Company logo is almost identical to the US tank destroyer battalion emblem, AKA "the hell cat." It also is reminiscent of the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer. Maybe the Hellcat armor was intended to be used in tank destroyer infantry units? High ballistic resistance to stand up to the heavy machine guns of a tank.

[@youraveragegamer1964]

Makes sense to me

[@matthewneuendorf5763]

Red light is better for night fighting, as it preserves the user's natural night vision in the event he needs to kill the lamp. I wonder if it was a prototype for vacuum combat (say, on the moon or something), with enhanced ballistic resistance to protect against random micrometeorites and such (though you'd expect boosted rad resistance for space work).

[@hugohom2280]

i think the second explanation is much cooler and would add a lot to the lore

[@davis3138]

Wait you said that a possibility was that we just got the armor from Sergeant Kit since we're just given it at the end of the questline, but Sergeant Kit wasn't wearing a helmet, so where did we get the helmet from?

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

Because reasons. I'm sure it could be explained as he had it behind him the room he was in. It already doesn't make perfect sense, so that's not much more to believe.

[@wiredmetalplant6125]

We pull it out our ass

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@C D Mmmmmm, seems so.

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@C D Are you talkin about the dolphin skin in the scoreboard? Because that isn't canon.

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@C D I think it would be assumed crazy stuff like isn't canon in general, but I'm pretty sure Bethesda outright confirmed that the atomic shop wasn't canon.

[@sim.frischh9781]

The PA definitely looks cool, i hope someone will mod it into FO4 soon.

[@krashface4870]

There are so much outfits and stuff that need to be ported to 4

[@fernandoissac7262]

It’s in there now

[@krashface4870]

@@fernandoissac7262 sweet

[@aboutdiamond411._.3]

The mechanized hellcats were mentioned in fallout 4 tv scene

[@codeplague2599]

Me too I notice it when I started a new character.

[@Dragonlord-kr8hb]

I believe it could be a prototype of x 01 power armour but given to hellcats to see how well it does

[@Theigzorn]

bethesda: how can we add 40k spacemarine armor without getting sue'd? 3d modeler: i have someting you might like.

[@Ferro748]

Note about the 'red lights' in today's world: Ships such as carries use dark red lights during the night to illuminate the giant under deck hanger. Reason being that dark red light is of a wave length that doesn't carry as far as say a bright red or white light would so its consider the 'tactical' option. sure Bethesda might have just gone with red because of 'school of cool'. but in a tactical sense, if the hellcat armor was supposed to be used for underwater or amphibious assaults then dark red illumination makes sense.

[@7raccoons779]

I'm always skeptical of fan theories but all the possible explanations you gave for the design and hellcats seemed like they could definitely be possible.

[@zacharykeys1260]

The military makes use of red lights due to them being harder to see in the dark, so the Hellcat being ex military makes sense. The visor being great for a unit rolling up on the enemy in the dark as it’s less noticeable to the naked eye

[@mikesSoul789]

They literally just wanted to make a scary Star Wars armor

[@daltonpatterson3402]

Does anyone remember when the TV newscaster referenced “Mechanized Hellcats overseas” in the beginning of Fallout 4? Edit: I don’t remember where but I thought I had read that it was AMS janitor armor.

[@metronicmagician1816]

Honestly I’m kind of all for super customized/personal power armors like this. With how close 76 is to the Great War most if not all the power armor made is still kicking around in the world. Sets like the hell cat could just be super customized sets of armor from either elite teams, private militaries, hobbyists, etc. that just got lost to time between the roughly 200 years between this and the fallout franchise. Obviously all the mass produced sets of T-45 and T-51 would be kicking around 200 years afterward the apocalypse due to the sheer number of them while these hyper unique sets that probably only have a dozen or two made would have dropped off the timeline easily within the first 100 years (well before any fallout game starts).

[@apexpredator2699]

I reckon hellcat is simply spec opps power armor for the marines, where as T51 and T45 is standard military issue, also explains why it has so many similarities to x01 as it was probably an ofshoot of that as x01 was notoriously trickey to make

[@dnxsilverstorm8903]

When you were wandering about the red light that comes with the suit, what if the red light that is emitted is actually meant to be a IR light for night vision capability. I thought of this as a slight red light would be less noticable than a headlamp. The reason I thought of this is as you stated it looks like it was used in amphibious assaults and this could make it more stealthy for recon missions. For those who may say it's is a giant suit of armor never designed for stealth, sounds under water can not be perceived easily above water. A test you could do is if you go to a pool and go under water and crack your knuckles you and everyone else under water would hear it but above water would not, and any sound that would come from movement would be easily covered up by the sounds of the water and nature.

[@jniebaum32]

I can confirm that the color red is used for "silent running" of military vechiles worldwise as its harder to see from longer distances than any other color.

[@Xparkman30]

Red light is used tactically. Generally this is considered as a 'tactical' thing as it is often used by the military as a way to operate in the dark more efficiently, and less likely to be seen by the enemy. It's primarily to preserve night vision. It takes the eyes a half hour or more to be fully dark adapted.

[@Operador2281]

I really like the idea of a post apocaliptic U.S Remnant mercernary group

[@greenteaburrys1270]

Like the gunners from fallout 4?...

[@Operador2281]

@@greenteaburrys1270 no, i mean an actual group of remnants used by the US military,

[@sksShadow1987]

red light is used by the military because a) its the least visible colour (esp over distances) and b) its the least blinding colour, which is why for example submarines use red light during engagements

[@angrycrusader3926]

I like to think that this could be classified as Marine Corps Power Army.

[@l3loppesbruh853]

the thing with red lights is they are slightly harder to see from afar, so that means that it could be stealth armor for underwater. that could also explain why its all black

[@koltaire5938]

Heres a bit of information friend, we actually really do use red lenes and red colored flash lights in the field so that our lights aren't visible after a certain distance compared to white light

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

Interesting, the red light certainly would allow the Hellcat armour to be more stealthy then, but I wonder if it would be too dim underwater then.

[@koltaire5938]

@@TheOmegaInitiative I’m not sure underwater. I would imagine that a suit of armor would have some kind of augmented vision device for water operations. But that’s speculation. But yes, in the field we have to use red lights in the field.

[@Erreul]

It probably was made for Marine forces, since in the Fallout series the Marines do all the same things that do in real life, IE ambitious and first assault, and shipboard security, the Marines also when used in tandem with other forces are often used in a focal role, IE their going to be up front pushing. What we're looking at here is probably a Marine unit, Screaming Hellcats being one of the companies, possibly the Anti Armor company, your looking at diving lights on the front, a rebreather on the helmet, you mentioned the hump for head defense, as well as the higher physical damage, perfect for fighting against a Chinese force known to use AK's or even more especially against a stealth trooper using a sword that will probably wait for you to turn your back. Why it's back in the America's, probably just found a stash that didn't head to the front or the company was moved for some sort of strategic reason. After googling it, there is in fact a Marine base in the real world in Georgia, obviously this being a different universe that doesn't mean there would be there in the exact same place, the base is a Logistics base, so it wouldn't be far from reasoning extra stocks of armor would be there for training, repair or refit, the people are either Marines that simply moved up to get out away to a safer place or it's possible these people scavenged the armor from the Marine base and simply moved up for what ever reason, the Sergeant in charge being the sole Marine that opened the stocks to the people.

[@throttlebrah]

Everytime i see Hellcat armor i scream "Rawwr" like Terry Crews

[@Pigness7]

I really respect all the effort you put in to make stuff make sense

[@dylanthompson3889]

Hellcat is actually the name of the tank

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

What tank?

[@dylanthompson3889]

The m18 hellcat.

[@Cpt_Boony_Hat]

@@TheOmegaInitiative M18 Hellcat actually a tank destroyer. Whose branch logo is what I use as my logo, which is probably where the Hellcat company logo was derived from. IRL Tank Destroyer branch was deactivated in 1946.

[@dylanthompson3889]

@@Cpt_Boony_Hat It had something to do with a tank though so I was kind of right.

[@Cpt_Boony_Hat]

@@dylanthompson3889 I’m just a technical arsehole because it is one of my favorite Veichles of all time. And thank you for your comment because we might figure out more history of this armor

[@thorveim1174]

a few extra things: -the blocks on the back arent additional air storage, just space accomodation for the air tanks of the power armor frame (very visible if you remove one of the arms) -its the only power armor that doesnt cover the entire frame, as its visible from the side around the belly section and from the top as well. this may mean it actually compromises on environmental protection, maybe for the sake of heavier ballistic protection

[@xenoblade0398]

I'm a T-51 fan but the Hellcat armor looks so dam good.

[@presby100]

The hellcats could also be former marines or navy seals or some other navy related force going with the Underwater Theme. Once the world ended they didn't know what to do anymore so they broke off from the military. Similar to the BOS.

[@jessesenpai6473]

Yo that hellcat armor looks dope asf I want it

[@dinowizard0213]

When I first saw it I just thought it was an X-01 skin.

[@ragnarok2678]

Honestly, I love the theory that it's a power armor made for Amphibious Operations, It looks much more military than any of the other power armors, but with that stealth design seen in aircrafts like Stealth Bombers The Hellcat Company motto is "Death from the sea" no less, so it reinforces that theory.

[@vladtheimpaler8348]

bruh the helmet looks like starscream's head

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

Which Starscream?

[@vladtheimpaler8348]

@@TheOmegaInitiative Michael Bay's version

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@@vladtheimpaler8348 Kinda

[@wifelikecow]

I won't say underwater but rather beach landings. In the small news snippet that plays in FO4 you hear a small mention of a company or battalion in the south Pacific gaining progress on or near mainland China.

[@rainbowsixODST]

The Hellcat was probably used by Seal Teams or other such units so likely very few were made. Sort of like the Stealth Black Hawks used in the Osama Raid. It even looks like it would be for SOF.

[@sneed9793]

looking at this and reading comments this was most likely a armored division frontline power armor since the damage resistance is high and the hunch for upper back protection

[@serPomiz]

I theorize the hellcats was supposed to be an "incursion" version of the PA. We know from fallout lore that the cinese focussed on classic ballistic weapons, and only had little development toward laser weaponry. While the 60 and 65 were deaigned to be an all-rounder defensivelly, this one looks more like the type of PA that spearheads an attack. Also, if what the newsguy feom 4 is correct, the hellcats division was away from the mainland. My theory is that the hellcat PA is one of the "specialized" army PA, and after the end of the war, the group of vets that would become the mercenary just collected them before getting back to the mainland

[@Tattle-by-Tale]

I remember in the beginning of Fallout 4 the news is talking about Hellcats in the pacific doing something I don't remember. They could have been just talking about.... idk, maybe it's a nickname for troops? But maybe they were talking about troops in Hellcat Power Armor doing underwater recon in the south China sea

[@kennyburkamp4054]

The hellcats is definitely some special forces the emblem is very military and distinctive and the Latin sentence in on the emblem translate to death by the sea or death by the water which is a very navy/usmc thing to put on the emblem of a special forces unit or infamous usmc battalion or division under there command

[@VARO548]

Always appreciate these deep dives and lore videos about gear, keep it up man

[@smoothiedude5919]

Epic

[@DrDakotaX]

red light is harder to spot at a distance by humans, This is what we use in the military at night. Just something to note.

[@kevintan3705]

I’d imagine the inter-branch relations of the US military are mirrored in the Fallout universe. Although the branches are all part of the same group, they fight over who gets the most money from Uncle Sam. Afterwards, they tailor their portions primarily for their own needs.

[@thepackerssmacker8188]

The red light is tactical. Red light doesn't effect your adapted night vision and is hard to detect at a distance

[@____________838]

Could those tanks be “CO2 scrubbers”, like in use for a rebreather? Likewise, those cheek plates look like parts of a scuba regulator. Is this perhaps some sort of Marine Recon(the special forces of the Marines) power-armor?

[@Junkzillabox]

I'm pretty positive most, if not all, of the power armor skins in the atom shop are not actually canon in the current time period, it's just there for fun. The paints are cool, but the actual skins should be just there for fun. Hellcat is an actual power armor so it's probably canon now.

[@PureCountryof91]

Hellcat power armor makes sense in the Pitt.. the suit can take an absolute pummeling because of the needs of those made to clean up the pitt

[@_setanta_]

I think the light modules you mentioned on the chest aren't actually lights but maybe an active protection system (a device that shoots down projectiles such as missiles and are often seen on modern armoured vehicles with an example being the trophy active protection system) this would explain the extra 2% damage resistance.

[@jacklevesque9743]

Sorry just tested it by throwing tons of nades at kit and they still blew up

[@xboxseriesxoverlord]

@@jacklevesque9743 That trophy system busted.

[@jacklevesque9743]

@@xboxseriesxoverlord but yet 12 percent ballistic damage can be blocked

[@omegavalwin]

also can i point out that the Navy in WW2 had a plane name Hellcat Grumman F6F Hellcat

[@Longlost67]

This is why the US army uses red light: There are two types of visual receptors in your retina: rods and cones. Rods are black and white vision and cones are color vision. Rods require a chemical called rhodopsin to work, and that is only produced by the body in very low light or dark conditions. Exposure to bright light causes the rhodopsin to break down, thus turning off the rods and eliminating night vision (until there is sufficient dark exposure). Deep red wavelengths do not cause the rhodopsin to break down, but we can also see it with our cones, which gives us greater visual acuity (rods are more associated with movement and are clustered around the periphery of the eye, whereas cones are clustered in the center, mainly in the fovea). So, TLDR, with red light we can see better because we are illuminating our objective and we are preserving our night vision.

[@darkninjacorporation]

The armor certainly looks intimidating. Those eye slots remind me of some sort of soldier ant. Your theory that the armor was designed for Navy Seals or maybe Marines storming beaches / other naval actions is pretty clever. Nothing will top the T-65 armor in terms of aesthetics though

[@samueleveleigh2767]

Personally i prefer the idea of it being made for civil suppression rather than military use like the others. It makes sense that with riots getting worse by the day the government would attempt to adapt power armour to this role and release the combat models back to the battlefield.

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

The only problem with that is, the government probably wouldn't want to spend that much on riot equipment. The other power armours are designed for military use and can also be used against riots. We see the LAPD's solution to riot gear being a variant of the riot gear/combat armour used by the army (and the marines if we consider the desert ranger armour in Honest Hearts) on the west coast, the riot gear is still extremely good, but no doubt a lot cheaper than power armour.

[@samueleveleigh2767]

@@TheOmegaInitiative I dont think these suits would ever have been deployed en mass, most likely they would be reserved for only one or two per commonwealth. Plus we know that the American government in thr fallout universe typically isnt one to be concerned with cost given how the enclave was able to build a mass of bunker complexes filled with cutting edge technologies without anyone finding out (apart from sam blackwell i believe) We also know that in apalachia specifically the circumstances for such a suit would be perfect. There are plenty of protest camps around the region with some APC's having haluligen gas cannisters on board, and the somewhat Liberal lending out of power armour to companies would give the local authorities a bit of leeway with what kind of developments they made. Not to mention that apalachia was meant to be the "beating heart" of the enclaves operations so there would likely be a good deal of pressure to stop the riots at any cost.

[@sski]

As a Fallout 'boomer' I take umbrage against Bethesda introducing Power Armor willy nilly in games these days. I remember when you had to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and take P.A. training before you got to sport even the most lowest grade of P.A., and it was a challenge to get to that point. Now? It's given out like bubble gum from a windowless pedo van on a street corner. Thanks for the new vid, Omega! Good to see you again :D

[@diffsnicker6570]

Youre not a fallout boomer because F1 and 2 didn't have power armor training you're a fallout gen x

[@BLOODYMESSI4H]

The hellcat armor looks like something out of cyberpunk or 80's retrofuturism in contrast to the other power armors.

[@harrygreenwood7165]

X01: not the highest in DR and ER Me: "Impossible, perhaps the records are incomplete"

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

Well, they kind of are, the Appalachian Enclave's X-01 an earlier model than the one found in Fallout 4.

[@harrygreenwood7165]

@@TheOmegaInitiative just realised the line is "Impossible, Perhaps the *Archives* are incomplete" also I haven't touched 76 so my power armour knowledge is a bit outdated lol

[@omegavalwin]

@@TheOmegaInitiative actually they are the same X01 leads to Avance PA F4 really mess up PA reason we don't have T51A in F76 it was dumb T51B is the pinacle

[@chrissinclair8705]

Mors ex mare means "Behavior or acting from the sea" so yes it's some sort of marine assault armor. Although "Mort ex mare" death from the sea would have been more apt but perhaps the devs just misspelt it.

[@eazir2152]

Red is the lowest wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum, thus, it is the hardest light for the human eye to see. It the military, if we had to use a light at night, we only used red lights

[@fallout0624]

My theory on this matter is this suit was the Marine's equivalent to T-51b. The Army would have taken priority for T-45d, T-51b, and T-60. The Marines would have to either have to go with another model or not have any power armor at all.

[@connorelliot731]

One thing I'd like to add. It was mentioned only once in fallout 4, but the sea of tranquility was mentioned as a battle zone, so it is possible that this is a 0g/Eva power armor

[@johnwilson5012]

If your first suggestion is it, then at least in USMC structure they would be one of five companies to a regiment. I was wpns co for example. This would also give credence to offering one or two other sets of armor, but not necessarily power armor.

[@ryanhalko]

This was found in a cut terminal- but that was the power armor made for the JANITOR of the building

[@stephenmoutsos2900]

This video is awesome! Can you make a video about what if plants vs zombies was in fallout 76?

[@JamieDWestII]

I know this is late and will probably not be seen but red light can't be seen by many fish and can't be seen by any squid/octopus. So a red light could give you visibility underwater without attracting something like a giant squid to the lights, if they were worried about such things. Honestly thinking about it a large variety of land animals can't see red light either so it could be an effective way of lighting up the area with out certain animals being able to see it.

[@mrtango1824]

5:02, that some sexy artworks. Please, someone mod these into fo4.

[@justine5799]

I believe their most likely a special operations group. something like Navy Seals or something. The Hellcat was a ww2 tank destroyer as well. I think that the naming conventions for mechanized infantry probably became used for power armor, as vehicle supported infantry would probably become a standard by 2077. The intimidation factor from the build, as well as the use of prototype armor elements points helps further this, as special forces often have bleeding edge equipment.

[@hyfryd6677]

It's such a nice set, It softens the blow that they really dropped the ball on the lore for it.

[@zixx844]

Here is what they should have done. Made the Hellcat power armour actually be of Russian origin. The USSR very much existed before the bombs fell and they had somewhat friendly relations with the US. Perhaps then, the Soviets got their hands on a suit of T-45 and reverse engineered it to create the TU-15, or Hellcat as the Americans call it. The reason for its very high ballistic protection but low radiation and energy resistance is cause the suit was designed for patrolling the Soviet Unions border with the former European Federation. Raiders from the fallen state were trying to enter Soviet territory and they were armed with powerful ballistic weapons like anti-material rifles and RPG's. So the Soviets engineered the TU-15 specifically to protect border guards against high powered ballistic weapons.

[@supking403]

Let me guess the leader of the company was named shepherd

[@dr.1277]

My man’s Decked out like a deathwing terminator

[@WarNvrChanges]

As someone who is very interested and very intrigued with the Fallout universe and lore this is one of my main problems with Fallout 76. I know Fallout 76 is an online game and therefor it needs to constantly put “ something cool” that players want in the Atomic shop, but it comes at a major cost to the Fallout lore. After seeing all these different types of power armor in the game it makes what use to be a very fascinating aspect of Fallout, power armor , feel watered down and not so special anymore.

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

They don't need to always add power armour, I think most people are fine with just skins being added.

[@JacobYaw]

Oooooo, what if the higher kinetic resistance is used to compensate for the huge pressure differential underwater? When hunting Chinese Subs for instance. I LOVE this theory, makes me like it so much more. Thanks!!!

[@bringbackdislikesbringback1124]

After reading some of the coments i think its safe to say the hell cat power armor is the marine power armor like how you have the combat armor and then the marine combat armor If u look at it from that point of view the marine combat armor is way more powerful than the heavy combat armor meaning that the marine core in fallout would have access to far superior armor and gear than your typical solder

[@bringbackdislikesbringback1124]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 i would suggest u look at the logo and read some of the top coments on the video

[@TheOmegaInitiative]

@@colonel.halberstern5893 All power armour only has a short breath limit, granted the Hellcat the does too, but given the lack of lore around the armour it isn't surprising that a small detail like that would be missed if the power armour already has a breathing time that you shouldn't ever be in a position where you reach it.

[@kennyburkamp4054]

@@TheOmegaInitiative in specially in a place like Apalachicola with ocean not nearby and little places to dive under water it making the armor have longer underwater duration seems unnecessary

[@jaybywater3220]

When I saw it I thought it was a variation of xo1 and left it at that before I put it in my stash and left it there

[@goldenbucket5731]

I really wish Bethesda put as much care in their games as they do with the designs for their power armors

[@maycontainnuts3127]

bruh these Astartes are looking wack what would the Emperor think?

[@dividedbyzerotx]

Would certainly make sense for (ostensibly) private military contractors to use powered armors that weren't adopted by the U.S. military. There's typically more than a few entries to U.S. military equipment trials. The U.S. Army recently adopted a new standard rifle (the Sig Spear, now the M5) and it was one of four entries. Presumably powered armor trials should be a similar process in the Fallout universe. But the entries submitted which are not chosen often find themselves in private hands or other governmental departments. I was in Washington D.C. two years ago for Independence Day and was floored to find that the M11117 ASVs I actually helped trial during a deployment in Iraq had found their way into the hands of the FBI and were deployed on the streets. And sometimes military hardware is produced purely for export with zero intention of ever being offered for adoption to their home country. The British Vickers line of tanks is a great example.

[@goldjaws]

So here's my thoughts of an explanation on how it can just be resistant towards ballistics and nothing else Lasers would do energy damage right energy as an electricity and maybe Heat well all they would need to do is find a material that is strongly resistant against ballistics and not that resistance against like heat and electricity like rubber is resistant to electricity but can easily be shot through/step through or even burnt through whereas metal would be more resistant to ballistics electricity and heat or plastic could be resistant to ballistics and if you're lucky electricity Materials matter quite a bit because some materials will be resistant to electricity because it won't be a conductor or it might be more vulnerable to electricity cuz it uses a lot of electronics maybe it's more resistant to ballistics because of its toughness but is not very strong against heat or electricity

[@goldjaws]

So I decided I'd give my theory to the hellcat power armor (several actually) #1 the hellcat power armor could be designed for situations in a fire now here is why those breathers would be different the other power armors are designed for combat or for construction now because they would mostly be working in fire they would need a more advanced breather because it's kind of hard to breathe when in a fire and the lamp could just be a modification made by the hellcat company after the bombs fell and maybe the original Power Armor was painted differently the shoulder guards could have been used to just defend yourself from falling rubble and that would also explain the ballistic defenses because maybe it wasn't designed to deflect bullets maybe it was designed to deflect falling rubble that would also describe the paint because the paint itself would just be a post-war modification it wouldn't really need a lot of things extra breathing because they'd be in a stressful situation within a fire where the air is not very breathable and that would also explain all the tubes because maybe it's filtering and storing air why all the lights being on the eyes could just be an aesthetic choice or maybe they're just trying to put it in the eyes to prevent the headlamp from getting damaged because of falling rubble because if you have the headlamp like on top of the power armor it could break or fall off when hit by rubble. #2 maybe the hellcat armor was made post war my thoughts for this is because it shares a lot of similarities with the x01 armor which is a enclave prototype made after the war the x01 shares the pauldrons but it also shares the visor light and this would make sense that it would be closely related to the x01 armor now why would the hellcat company have this armor and not the enclave while The enclave didn't use the x01 for very long maybe the hellcat company created the armor based off of the x01 armor but the x01 armor would be better in a lot of cases because it's designed to fight against a different group of enemies The enclave normally fought people like the brotherhood major organizations with technologically advanced weapons whereas if you're a mercenary group you're mostly just dealing with ballistics and people who don't know what they're doing so the power armor would be vastly different from what it's designed off of while at the same time holding a lot of the same characteristics #3 so for this idea we're going to assume that the hellcat armor is related to the x01 armor but this time we're saying it's actually an enclave armor not that The enclave ever used it just that it was created by The enclave but got ditched in favor of the Xo2 which is superior and if your group like the enclave and you ditch an idea what do you do with it you just throw it out the enclave is known to do this with many things for example their failed experiments what do they do when the experiments don't work out that well usually they just throw it out into the waist land and salvage whatever maybe the hellcat armor was picked up by the hellcat company who made some modifications and used it as their own it also explained why you can only find it in Appalachia since there's a heavy enclave presence correction there used to be a heavy enclave presence it would also make sense since you can find a lot of the x01 power armors in their prototype phase within the enclave bunker which would mean that the enclave focused on power armor within Appalachia which would also explain why a failed prototype of enclave armor would be roaming around in Appalachia it also explains why there's no XO2 armor because XO2 armor would largely be used later on by The enclave and since the Xo1s were in their prototype phase that would say that the XO2 armor hasn't came out yet and exo-1 is in its early phases by the time the enclave is destroyed that also tells us that maybe the hellcat armor was even a prototype to the x01 Prototype a botched idea when they discovered the brotherhood of Steel existed making them focus more on laser weapons or maybe before the brotherhood there was another group having access to laser/plasma weapons making The enclave change their ideas on how to make power armor #4 maybe both x01 and XO2 are not related at all to this hellcat power armor that just conveniently has a lot of the similar features to the x01 and XO2 power armor so for this we will say there was no enclave involvement at all we will also say the hell cats were not involved in its creation and with this case we're going to go to one mentioned in the video where it was created by a mercenary group or at least a group that would use power armor and I don't really want to go with like mercenaries and stuff like that for this so instead I'm going to go with an interesting thought what if it was created by rioters maybe before the hellcats got a hold of it it was a power armor made by someone in their basement who wanted to really show the right control police what's what sort of like the killdozer which is a real life example of someone doing something that would seem very hard to hide and yet somehow happened anyways miraculously that involved starting at coup against the local government so with this killdozer rip off backstory because police and riot control probably didn't use laser weapons unless of course they were robots doing right control which probably only happened when there were no actual law enforcement around to do the work or maybe the person just wasn't a major scientist and didn't know how to work on anti-laser weapons so just stuck with ballistic I mean come on for this backstory it's basically some guy who got a hold of like some power armor schematics and could only somewhat make sense of it and made their own suit of power armor so it wouldn't be super advanced or anything like that it would just be the most effective thing someone could make with the knowledge they had available which would be not much why would this one also be likely one may ask well in Appalachia there was several riots going on against mining companies crazily enough and one mining company had access to power armor now who was writing against the mining company the workers were now if a worker worked with power armor for a while they probably could have gotten some knowledge about power armor made their own suit to fight against the company and maybe this person was even a repairman and if someone repairs power armor for a long enough time they might be able to make their own original suit

[@stephenknizek2651]

Do you think Hellcat Company might be connected to the Gunners? And maybe the Hellcat armor was limited to this universe's version of the USMC?

[@eternalmiasma5586]

I think the origin is just that they made it, I mean we see raiders making their own with scrap, it’s not hard to believe if you got together a group with both the caps and knowledge, they could make their own armor. Or, if it is pre war, some of the stranger features could be mods, like the red visor