Hubologist (Fallout 4)

The Hubologists are a sub-culture of the Fallout 2 world, headquartered in the former city of San Francisco. They are a religious cult founded before the Great War by a man known as Dick Hubbell (or "The Hub" by Hubologists).

Hubology, as a religion, promotes the idea that humans are plagued by the spirits, or neurodynes, of the dead. Through a cleansing process offered at Hubology centers called alignment, members can remove these negative influences and gain greater powers. The degree to which a member has devoted his or her time and efforts to Hubology accords him or her a numerical rank; the Hubologist leader, AHS-9, holds the highest rank of any living Hubologist. Hubology uses a metaphor of a "wheel in the sky" to explain their existence, with the Dick Hubbell representing the center hub of the wheel, the Hubologists the extending spokes, and non-members the outer rim, "crushed" by the truth of their teachings. The existence of extraterrestrial life plays a role in Hubology, and as a part of this, the Hubologists in San Francisco are trying to repair a pre-war space shuttle to leave the planet.

In addition to their main base, they also have an outpost in the NCR. The Chosen One can visit either and receive alignment for a possible luck bonus (joining the Hubologists afterward is not a requirement). Despite the Hubologists' fervent beliefs, the player can find evidence that the cult was first started as a hoax to get money. In San Francisco, the player has the option of aiding the Hubologists in their mad schemes, or eliminating them as part of a Shi mission.

There is a scientist in one of the rooms in the San Francisco base (who, incidentally, is not an adherent of Hubology) that can improve Power Armor into Hardened Power Armor. He can upgrade it for a fee of $10,000 or can be threatened into doing it with a high Speech skill. However, he can only harden two Power Armors.

References to Scientology
While the game creators insist that any relation between Hubology and real-world persons and organizations is coincidental, Hubology is an obvious parody of Scientology. This may be partially due to the aggressive legal approach of the Church of Scientology towards those it considers threatening. Some similarities include:
 * Dick Hubbell, the founder of Hubology, bears several resemblances to L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. In early game files, the Scientologists are called the Elron
 * The movie stars encountered by the Chosen One in San Francisco are a reference to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, both outspoken Scientologists (although Kidman has since distanced herself from the religion)
 * The belief in neurodynes, alignment, and the AHS ranking system mirror Scientology beliefs in engrams, auditing, and the OT system
 * The "space culture" aspect of Hubology is similar to the advanced Scientology belief in the Xenu incident
 * The aggressive tactics of Hubologists towards their enemies bear some resemblance to those of the actual Church of Scientology

Appearances in games
Hubologists appear only in Fallout 2.