The Capitol Building

Before the Great War, the United States Capitol Building housed the legislative branch of the government of the United States. It is located in Washington, D.C., on top of Capitol Hill at the east end of the the Mall. The other side of the Capitol opens onto Seward Square. When discovered by the Lone Wanderer, it is a battle site between super mutants, Talon Company and later, the Enclave.

Layout
The Capitol Building complex comprises four areas, two of which can be directly accessed from the Capital Wasteland. The "Capitol Building" entrance from the west, in The Mall, exits into the Capitol Building west entrance area. The Seward Square entrance from the east is one of two doors into the Capitol Building west entrance.

Upon entering from the west, the other door into the Capitol Building east entrance is immediately ahead and to the right. The entrance to the third area, the Hall of Columns, is in almost exactly the same direction, east-southeast, but about six times further away, past the super mutant behemoth in the rotunda. At the end of the Hall of Columns are two stairwells; the door at the bottom of the second accesses the fourth area, the Conference Room.

A door in the northwest corner of Conference Room area leads back to a room one floor above the southeast corner of the west entrance area, but it is effectively a one-way passageway, as when the player goes through, the floor of the upstairs room caves in and crashes down to the room beneath. This also triggers a second battle between opposing forces in the rotunda (Talon Company and mutants, although these battles may differ by level).

Rotunda
Inside the Capital Rotunda, the Lone Wanderer will initiate a battle between the Talon Company and the super mutants. In the center of the rotunda is a super mutant behemoth. Several other mutants are also present, ranging from basic all the way to master. Two super mutant overlords are also present if the player has installed Broken Steel. The entry-point to the Rotunda is on the west, just before the doorway is a passage north, that will lead to an average locked computer controlling the three Mark VIII defense turrets inside the Rotunda. It is set to not attack the Talon mercenaries, but the targetting data can be cleared. These rather hefty turrets will more or less clear the whole area of hostiles including the Behemoth without help from the player.

Appearances
The Capitol Building appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes
On May 8, 2007, Bethesda Softworks released a piece of Fallout 3 concept art by Craig Mullins depicting the Capitol after the Great War. This picture appeared then in an apparent terrorist threat, said to be shown in an Islamist forum as a real-life would-be scenario, according to media. Source: http://www.news.com.au/al-qaeda-urges-use-of-wmd/story-e6frfkp9-1111116473744

Bugs

 * The super mutant behemoth can sometimes spawn inside the small room with the turret control computer next to the rotunda.
 * Although it may well be intended by the developers to prevent players using the behemoth's size to their advantage, the super mutant behemoth cannot be damaged from outside the rotunda room.
 * The behemoth can sometimes spawn dead, with the Talon Company mercs shooting at its dead body.
 * The Deathclaw outside the Capitol Building inside the Deathclaw Cage can sometimes spawn outside the cage of which will have dead Enclave Soldiers around it.