Synth



Synths are androids created by the Institute and found in the Commonwealth, with two found in the Capital Wasteland.

Background
Synths, created by the mysterious Institute, are classified into one of three generations depending upon their complexity. Generation 1 synths are purely mechanical humanoids with skeletal appearances; consequently, they are crude representations of living humans. Like their predecessors, Generation 2 synths are also mechanical, but have more advanced frames that are partially or fully covered in plastic "skin" panels; they might pass for humans if not closely inspected. Generation 3 synths represent the pinnacle of synth technology; with biomechanical bodies capable of respiration, bleeding, consuming, and feeling emotions and sensations, Generation 3 synths are indistinguishable from true humans.

Nick Valentine is a unique synth; he believes that he was built as a prototype intended to bridge the gap between the Generation 2 synths and the truly sapient Generation 3 synths. Unlike other synths, his personality was built upon the mind of a pre-war detective who volunteered to have his memories encoded, giving him all of the memories and experiences of his namesake. He was later thrown away by the Institute for reasons unknown, and left to seek his own fortune in the wastes.

Although it is unknown when each successive generation was developed, the people of Diamond City first encountered a Generation 3 synth in 2229, in an incident called the "Broken Mask". The synth, which called itself Mr. Carter, was a synth prototype that was field tested without the Institute Director's approval.

By 2277, at least one Generation 3 synth is known to have had travelled to the Capital Wasteland after becoming fully self-aware and escaping the Institute. With the help of the underground organization known as the Railroad, he had his appearance and memories altered, and eventually wound up as the chief of security at Rivet City. Incidents of synths escaping have occurred multiple times prior to 2277 as the Synth Retention Bureau was created and had multiple coursers tracking rogue synths as far as the Capital Wasteland.

Many denizens of the Commonwealth have become paranoid and prejudiced against synths, fearing they might be abducted by the Institute and replaced with identical copies of themselves. Their paranoia is justified to a certain extent, as some of the most sophisticated synths encountered act as spies and could fool the unaware.

The Railroad has committed itself to smuggling Generation 3 synths out of the Commonwealth to somewhere the Institute cannot reach them. While they have tried to keep their operations under the radar, it has nonetheless caught the attention of the Institute, who assigns specialized teams to hunt down and exterminate Railroad bases of operation, usually led by a Courser.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel has sworn to eliminate all synths, seeing as they have had experience with the tampering of humanity (which started the original Brotherhood of Steel, which was [partially] created as a result of scientists tampering with the human genome at a West-Tek facility and eventually creating the modern day West Coast Super Mutant), and see synths as a situation that is no different; scientists and intellectuals pushing the boundaries of science without restraining themselves until another event that wipes out thousands of human beings, much like the Great War and the atomic bombs used to annihilate earth.

While a single Institute Courser can deal with a volunteer militia like the Railroad, the arrival of several hundred trained power armored soldiers in a warship, accompanied by an entire airforce, and who are constantly supplied with new synth hating recruits who are former Gunners, Minutemen, or Diamond City Security personell, has posed a serious threat to Synths, both freed and Institute. Thus, the Institute has committed its resources to finding a way of eliminating the Brotherhood of Steel in the Commonwealth.

Characteristics
Most encountered hostile synths belong to either Generations 1 or 2, are armed with Institute laser weapons and Shock Batons, and are immune to radiation damage.

Generation 3 synths are generally undercover and not hostile when first met. They may become hostile if their cover is blown. They use equipment appropriate to their role, rather than Institute weapons. While often immune to radiation, they are not guaranteed to be so.

When fighting against the Gen 1 and 2 synths, it is possible to shoot off their limbs. This can come in handy if there are too many of them, as the moment one of their arms is destroyed, they may be unable to use their weapons. However, they will then proceed to rush the player and begin attacking them with their remaining arm. Shooting their legs will result in them crawling to the player and attacking them with their hands.

In the mission Call to Arms, Institute synths display a disturbing level of sapience, eerily treading the line between man and machine. The synths' sapience is exemplified in their dialogue, they call out to both the Sole Survivor and Paladin Danse when in the ArcJet Systems building, stating "whoever you are, I know you're there". Synths will also question themselves if they have detected but cannot uncover a target, commenting that their systems may be in need of recalibration. This dialogue, more than anything, hints heavily at the level of potential independence possessed by the synthetic humanoids.

Synth
Weak and disturbingly human like, the generic synth posses little threat to low level players. Even so they are rarely found solitary and often come in groups of four or so. Armed with institute weapons they are one of the cheapest ways of attaining large amounts of power cells. Like ghouls, their limbs can be removed and they will change their tactics accordingly.

Synth strider
Stronger than your ordinary synth, these striders, while fairly weak, are still a significant step up. They, like their counterparts, use almost exclusively institute weapons, though there are exceptions where they will use shock batons. Likely by the point you meet these enemies they will already replace a good percentage of the synth enemies you'll meet. Take caution as with most synths they almost always travel in decently sized groups.

Synth leader
Stronger than most synths, Leaders can pose a dangerous enemy for the unprepared. Unlike most synths, leaders are armored and possess heavily modified institute weapons. They almost exclusively travel with other synths and usually act as the final opponent in synth occupied areas. Those of low level or who have armor specked towards anti ballistic weapons may find these opponents somewhat troublesome.

Synth trooper
Synth Troopers are the backbone of the synth reign. They are a little more aggressive than most of their counterparts and usually spawn in weaker packs of synth Striders or occasionally Patrollers. Proceed with caution.

Synth eradicator
The strongest variant of synth, and one of the deadliest enemies in the game. Equipped with the best Institute weaponry and having high damage resistance.

Appearances
Synths appear in Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. The two synths encountered in Fallout 3, Armitage and Harkness, were ostensibly Generation 3 synths, and Generation 1 and 2 synths were not introduced until Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * Synths share many similarities with the terminators from the Terminator film franchise. The most notable one being that the Generation 1 synths are nothing more than endoskeletons that loosely resemble a human skeleton, just like the majority of terminators created by SkyNet. The Generation 2 synths differ in that they possess artificial skin like the T-600 terminators shown in Terminator Salvation. The Generation 3 synths were designed to look exactly like human beings so that they can infiltrate human settlements undetected, which is the exact purpose of the T-800 infiltrator seen in every Terminator film. Sometimes when in combat with Gen 1 and Gen 2 synths, they will say to the player "You must be terminated." Finally, the biggest similarity is that both the Fallout and Terminator franchises depict a post apocalyptic America destroyed by nuclear war.
 * The Generation 3 synths are much like Replicants from Blade Runner, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, in that they are synthetic humans genetically engineered entirely out of organic substances and are virtually indistinguishable from real human beings. This is one of many Blade Runner references throughout the game. In fact, the surname "Deckard," if used in some way as part of the player's name, is one of the names that Codsworth is capable of saying. This is a reference to Rick Deckard from the film. In addition, the test required to enter Covenant measures psychological response to random questions, very similar to the exam that Blade Runners give to suspected Replicants.
 * The hunting of rogue synths somewhat references the movie Artificial Intelligence. The movie depicts a futuristic America where androids are used as servants for various jobs, but they commonly gain self awareness and run away only to be hunted down and destroyed.
 * The exact distinction between Gen 1 and Gen 2 synths is a little vague. In the games files there are three types of non Generation 3 synths, not two. Some are unambiguously gen 1 synths and spawn with a completely exposed mechanical skeleton and typically don't use armor, as seen in Kellogg's memories during Dangerous Minds. On the other hand, some are unambiguously gen 2 synths and have intact "skin" which can only be damaged by crippling their limbs, expressive faces, and typically wear clothes, such as the synth requisition officer. In between these are synths with rigid plastic skin, which typically spawn at least partially damaged and can be blasted off by the player even without crippling limbs, similar to other robots. The last group could represent gen 2's that have begun to decay, but given the more rigid appearance of their skin, they appear to be an earlier model. It could be that Gen 1 synths may have been built with plastic casings that often degraded over time and some units simply have none left.
 * Gen 2 synths bear similarities to the NS-5 robots from the film I, Robot.