Original artwork, not a still
Narrator
War. War never changes.
— Opening narration • Fallout (1997)
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the series' thesis, and the way each game introduces itself. The narrator's flat, tired voice makes the point that human conflict repeats, and that the wasteland you are about to walk through is only the latest result. Perlman's delivery was reused so many times that the phrase became the franchise's signature, and fans quote it whenever history repeats itself.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for FalloutShow the scene
The original Fallout (1997) begins with an intro cinema, then a sequence of still photographs over a narrator's voice: this is where the phrase is first heard. Ron Perlman speaks it, and the narration goes on to list conquerors from the Romans and Spain to Hitler before turning to the resource wars of the twenty-first century. Perlman voiced the opening and closing narrations of Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout Tactics, and the opening narration of Fallout 76.
Sources (2)
- Fallout Wiki: Fallout introNarration sectionReference checked
- Fallout Wiki: Ron PerlmanLead paragraphReference checked
Context reviewed