Summary
- Fallout 76's Floaters connect to the series' lore, existing in Fallout and Fallout 2, aiding Super Mutants in battle.
- Floaters are a result of experimentation with the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV), like Super Mutants.
- The origin of Floaters in Appalachia is never fully explained, but some theories have arisen.
The weirdest Fallout 76's take on Mothman or the Flatwoods Monster. They might have extra limbs, a green hue, or seemingly supernatural powers, but for the most part, it's easy to guess where the inspiration came from.
But there are some creatures whose origins aren't exactly clear, and Fallout 76 isn't eager to explain them. They may just seem to be consequences of widespread radiation (or a developer's overactive imagination), but even then, there had to have been some pre-War starting point for these bizarre life forms. As it turns out, there's a perfectly good explanation for Fallout 76's weirdest creature - it just requires a look back at some of the series' oldest and most arcane lore.
Fallout 76 Skyline Valley Preview: You're Running Out Of Reasons Not To Play
Skyline Valley is the biggest update Fallout 76 has delivered, adding a vast new area and more Ghouls than players can shake an electric sword at.
Where Do Fallout 76's Floaters Come From?
How Floaters Connect To The Rest Of The Fallout Series
Fallout 76's Floaters seem to come out of nowhere: they're bulbous-headed creatures who come in a variety of colors, each one matching up with a type of elemental damage. They pop out of the ground seemingly at random, floating toward the player and striking them with incredible speed and damage. Once their HP bars are depleted, they explode, spreading gunk that deals damage over time to anyone who steps on it. They follow Super Mutants around like hunting dogs, striking their prey on command and without wavering. But in all of Fallout 76, it's not clear what exactly they are.
For answers, players need only look back to the first two Fallout games. Floaters existed in Fallout and Fallout 2, and worked in much the same capacity: they would follow roving Super Mutant bands and aid them in battle. In a Reddit Q&A, Eric "Ferret" Baudoin, Fallout 76's lead quest designer, clarified that they are the same Floaters across all three games. They may have looked significantly different, and didn't deal elemental damage, but that can be chalked up to regional variation - or maybe evolution.
Hidden files suggest Floaters were also due to appear alongside Super Mutants in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but were ultimately cut from the final games.
This comment makes it clear that Floaters are the result of experimentation with the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV), the same mutagen used to create Super Mutants (albeit a different strain). Per Fallout lore, FEV is easily manipulated to effect a desired biological mutation in its host. Different variations of FEV for the different colors and abilities of Super Mutants throughout the Wasteland. They've been employed by various individuals and factions throughout the Fallout series timeline to raise armies, improve the human immune system, or even just to see what would happen.
Is Fallout 76 Cross-Platform? Crossplay & Progression Explained
With Fallout 76 being available on multiple platforms across generations of consoles, many newcomers may be wondering if it s crossplay.
What Floaters Suggest About Fallout 76's Hidden Lore
West Tek In Appalachia
But there's one small problem. Every Fallout game makes it incredibly clear where its Super Mutants came from. In Fallout 76, it was an experiment by West Tek, the developers of FEV, that saw the virus intentionally allowed to contaminate the water supply in the town of Huntersville. Those who were exposed to it as a result became the first Super Mutants in the region. In the original Fallout, the first Super Mutants were created by West Tek, but their population was expanded after The Master used a different strand to raise his army. But it's never clear where exactly the Floaters that accompany them come from.
Given their aquatic features (tentacle-like limbs, mandible-like jaws, fish-like spines), the Appalachian Floaters could conceivably have been spawned from the contaminated Huntersville water supply. If it ran off into groundwater, or nearby bodies of freshwater, local ponds, lakes, and rivers, the wildlife there would inevitably be exposed to FEV as well.
From there, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine bottom feeders rapidly evolving into the mucky, big-eyed Floaters that plague the post-apocalyptic Wasteland, shedding their gills and developing the ability to survive above the surface. The name "Floaters" would even make more sense: imagine their floating heads as mutated swim bladders, allowing them to control their buoyancy in air much as fish do in water. Sensing kin in the similarly infected Super Mutants, Floaters may have been naturally drawn to them as companions.
5 Fallout 76 Mutations You’ll Want To Keep (& 5 To Cure ASAP)
Between good mutations such as Chameleon and less effective ones like Empath, taking radiation damage in Fallout 76 is like Russian Roulette.
But what about the West Coast Floaters? The Super Mutants there were created selectively, so there's little chance of accidental runoff creating Floaters. Their use of the same name suggests that The Master may have been aware of West Tek's experiments in Appalachia, seen how the Floaters there aided the Super Mutants, and resolved to recreate the results. It's not hard to square a presence, or at least a knowledge, of West Tek's Appalachian branch with known lore about The Master. Little is known about him before he fell into a vat of FEV, so anything's possible.
But whatever the similarities between Floaters and their willingness to help Super Mutants suggest, it's impossible to say. Fallout 76 is constantly getting new content, but an expansion making the leap to Floater-focused content seems highly unlikely. For now, the true nature of Floaters will probably remain one of Fallout 76's greatest mysteries.
Source: Eric "Ferret" Baudoin/Reddit
Released in 2018, Fallout 76 is Bethesda's first foray into a massively multiplayer online world centered around Fallout. In this release, players find themselves in Appalachia, where they must do what they can to survive and rebuild the world around them. Players are free to meet other players and embark on quests across the wasteland.
Your comment has not been saved