Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Fallout Season 1.
Power Armor is one of the Fallout franchise’s most iconic elements – so what is it? And how does it factor into Season 1 of Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation?
Related: When Does Fallout Season 1 Come Out?
What Is Power Armor in Fallout Canon?
Within Fallout‘s post-apocalyptic reality, power armor is (as its name suggests) a powered exoskeleton. It was primarily manufactured by defense contractor West Tek in the years leading up to a brief yet devastating nuclear war in 2077. Power armor turns infantry units into walking tanks, dramatically augmenting their strength and allowing them to shrug off (or temporarily withstand) most melee and ranged attacks while also providing radiation protection. These qualities – together with power armor’s scarcity in Fallout‘s Wasteland setting – make it the most sought-after protective gear around.
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As such, only a few of the Fallout universe’s factions have managed to stockpile power armor. The Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave have largely hoarded the available power armor for themselves, even manufacturing upgraded models. For the most part, these newer power suits offer relatively minor improvements on West Tek’s original designs. Even so, at least some post-war exoskeletons (such as the Enclave Hellfire Armor seen in Fallout 3) represent a major leap forward. But no matter the make, if you’re rocking a suit of Fallout‘s power armor, you’ve got a major advantage over anyone who isn’t.
What Type of Power Armor Appears in Fallout Season 1?
Fallout Season 1 features one specific model of power armor: the T-60 series. Whenever you see Brotherhood of Steel squire Maximus or one of the faction’s various knights kitted out in armor, it’s the T-60 iteration. To date, T-60 power armor has only appeared in two Fallout games, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. Fallout Season 1 also includes a shout-out to the T-60 power armor’s predecessor, the T-45 series, which Cooper Howard recalls being outfitted in during his army service. Featured in almost every Fallout installment since Fallout 3, the T-45 power armor was the first West Tek-produced suit approved for combat.
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The T-60’s real-world evolution out of the pre-existing T-45 design is covered in the Art of Fallout 4 reference book. “Our primary goal with the power armor [in Fallout 4] was to make it feel less like a suit that you’d wear and more like a vehicle you’d operate,” a caption reads. “This design began as a reimagining of the T-45d, but it was different enough that we dubbed it the T-60. This way we could bring the T-45 back as its own variant.”
Fallout Season 1 is streaming now on  Prime Video.
The above article was updated on 4/11/2024 by Leon Miller to add information about Fallout Season 1.
