Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
The main characters of the Fallout TV show
Image via Prime Video

Fallout viewers think they’ve solved the mystery of the Ghouls’ vials

What is the actual purpose of vials?

A small line of dialogue between two Ghouls in Prime Video's Fallout TV show might have revealed a big secret about how the Ghoul drug works. The Ghouls' survival was believed to be connected to yellow vials they take regularly, but it seems there's more to that story than meets the eye.

Recommended Videos

One of the main characters in the Fallout TV show, Cooper "The Ghoul" Howard, is a rare human who remembers the world before the apocalypse. Despite being disfigured, he's managed to stay alive for 217 years, thanks to the yellow vials of mysterious medicine.

However, a simple line of dialogue between Coop and another ghoul, Roger, reveals that regular ghouls might not need any medicine at all. When we meet Roger in the show, Coop tells him he doesn't have any vials. Roger answers by saying the following:

I did okay. Twenty-eight years since I first started showing. Not as long as you, though. You’ve outlasted us all. How long since you first started wastelanding?

These couple of sentences imply that regular Ghouls don't need vials to survive and that vials were invented to prevent Ghouls who began turning into Ferals from completely losing their mind. That would also explain why there are so many non-feral Ghouls in the show, despite vials being extremely rare and hard to get.

At this moment, it's hard to tell what the yellow vials' original purpose was. Some say NCR developed them to prevent the Dayglow Ghoul population from becoming Ferals. Others say the vials contain RadAway, which helps Ghouls reduce the effects of radiation. Many organizations in the Fallout world meddle in scientific experiments, such as Enclave, Big MT, and Vault-Tec, and we're yet to see who's exactly behind those vials and why.

For more related info, check out Fallout Viewers spot Todd Howard Napoleon painting in TV show on Pro Game Guides.


Pro Game Guides is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
We have upgraded our commenting platform! Existing comments will be imported over the next few weeks.
Author
Image of Nenad Grujić
Nenad Grujić
My name is Nenad Grujić, and I'm a Staff Writer for Pro Game Guides since November 2023. My specialties are fighting games, action adventures, RPGs, driving simulations and anime games. I've been writing about video games since 2012, and I worked for IGN Adria, Blue Moon Game, Emulation Galaxy, and many other gaming sites. In my free time I like to study martial arts, watch movies and TV shows, sing karaoke, and make fandubs and AMVs.