Synth



A synth is an android (artificial human) created by the Institute. They are found in the Commonwealth in 2287, and in the Capital Wasteland in 2277.

Background
Synths, created by the mysterious Institute, are cybernetic organisms designed to resemble humans. They 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. They are even capable of eating and digesting food realistically.

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 a event called the Broken Mask Incident. 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 synths' Institute creators view them as nothing more than machines, and treat them as slaves. The Railroad has committed itself to freeing Generation 3 synths from their masters and smuggling them out of the Commonwealth to somewhere the Institute cannot reach them, the Brotherhood of Steel has sworn to eliminate all synths, seeing them as abominations.

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 physically and mentally indistinguishable from ordinary humans, having lab-grown bodies of real human flesh, bones, and organs instead of plastic and metal. As Dr. Roslyn Chambers found, no medical tests or procedures can out someone as a synth without killing them (synths that infiltrate settlements, for example, only drop synth components when killed), and psychological tests, such as Covenant's SAFE test, are dubious at best. However, they are not perfect duplicates, and have a few key differences from humans that are not immediately obvious: synths do not age, nor can they gain or lose weight (one Institute researcher remarked on this after discovering that many of the Institute synths had a taste for snack cakes.

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.

Gameplay
While most Synths are Gen 1 or Gen 2 and are thus allied to the Institute, synths can also be encountered in other places.

If the player has built a radio beacon, incoming settlers have the potential to be Gen 3 synths (non-infiltration). This can be observed by picking the Perception perk Awareness (requires 3 points), and targeting settlers in VATS. Synth settlers will have 10 energy resistance and 10 radiation resistance by default, subtracting any bonuses from apparel. If these settlers are put on a supply line and happen to pass any major Brotherhood of Steel encampment (Cambridge, etc.), they will be fired upon by the entire station, stalling any building the player can do.

Synths can also be a part of a Minutemen patrol, if the Sole Survivor has retaken the Castle and has an ample amount of well-off settlements. Again, this can be observed through VATS and the Awareness perk. Strangely, if a Minutemen patrol that possesses these synths passes a Brotherhood encampment, they will not be fired upon. Sometimes their patrol routes take them straight through the Boston Airport, into the courtyard of Fort Strong, and back through again. They will not fire upon each other and will sometimes pleasantly engage in dialogue with each other.

If the player has established a bad reputation with the Institute (in other words, completing the quest Banished from the Institute), the Sole Survivor's settlements will often be infiltrated by synths who will eventually open fire on the player's other settlers. While at first they can be hard to spot, they have subtle characteristics that set them apart from other "normal" synth settlers.
 * They do not sleep, even though they have a bed "assigned" to them, and will do their assigned job all throughout the night.
 * A synth component can be taken out of the trade window or pickpocketed, as opposed to having to kill them like normal synth settlers.

As a couple days pass, the "settler" will open fire on your other settlers and will become hostile to the player character and their companions. This is one of the few instances where an NPC can kill one of your settlers.

This will be a rare occurrence after the Institute is destroyed.

Synth
Weak and disturbingly human like, the generic synth poses little threat to low level player characters. 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 patroller
A step up from the synth Strider, this variant of synths is stronger and has a better aim. They are usually seen in groups of other synths, such as synth Striders or synth Leaders, and are usually seen with Institute pistols or rifles.

Synth seeker
Higher and stronger then the synth patroller, these synths can really pack a punch. Seen with other higher variants of synths, these types can be dangerous with other Synths. Usually seen with the same weapons as the synth patroller.

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 stormer
A really high level of the synth variants, these type of synths can be really deadly if unprepared. Seen with stronger variants of other synths.

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.