Fat Man (Fallout 3)

The Fat Man is a handheld tactical nuclear catapult found in Fallout 3.

Description
The Fat Man appears only in Fallout 3, and can be found in various places in the game. Because of its nuclear payload, it is by far the strongest V.A.T.S. enabled weapon in the game, perfect for taking out multiple enemies or heavily armored units - and in normal use, you'll be encountering both. The Fat Man has an estimated range of 150+ yards and will fall if shot in the air; be aware that the blast zone will be irradiated.

It should be noted that the Mini Nuke projectile is very heavy, and if simply fired straight ahead in a straight line, it will travel less than a couple dozen feet before falling to the ground and detonating (causing you to be caught well within the very damaging mini-nuclear blast). For best results, the Fat Man should be fired only in V.A.T.S. mode (which automatically compensates for the projectile's downward trajectory), or at an upward angle to catapult the mini nuke further so that it impacts at a further, safer range.

Item Locations

 * You can find this gun right outside of GNR, as well, during the "Following in His Footsteps" quest by picking it up from a dead Brotherhood soldier. Using this method, one can acquire the Fat Man fairly early in the game. Note that this Brotherhood soldier is found by the fountain near where you fight with the Super Mutant Behemoth you encounter during this quest, along with 8 mini nukes.


 * A Fat Man can also be found in Evergreen Mills, in the basement armory of Germantown Police HQ (behind an average locked door), or at the Talon Company fort.


 * In the Armory at National Guard Depot, behind a door that requires a passcode, you can find the Experimental MIRV version of Fat Man which can fire up to 8 Mini Nukes at once. This is no easy task, as all 5 Keller Family Transcripts must first be found.


 * One can be found at the end of the Old Olney Sewers after battle with a number of Deathclaws.


 * A Fat-man and Mini-nuke may possibly be found on a Scavenger lying dead on the side of a brown car in a gas station (large red rocket) slightly east of Old Olney (the next square over in the map, bottom part of the square). Northwest of the Nuka Cola truck (with many Nuka-Colas and Quantums) may be a better land mark. This may be a random encounter, but the scavenger seemed to be positioned slightly off the trunk, as if the developer wanted you to see him as he fell out of it. The scavenger's inventory may also be randomized.


 * One can also be found in Fort Constantine Alongside the T-51b Power Armor and two Mini Nukes. You will need all 3 of the special keys from the You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head Quest to access the room.


 * One can also be found in the ruins of the White House near a skeleton. Next to the Fat Man is 5 Mini Nukes.  The White House can be accessed from a utility manhole south of the building on Penn Ave.


 * Flak in Rivet City has also been known to sell one at times.


 * Another can be found equipped by Talon Mercenaries in the capitol building during or after the fight with the Super Mutant Behemoth.


 * A dead scavenger close to the center of sector h8v2 (at the boundary of leftmost and central mini-square in the map) carries a Fat Man and a Mini Nuke.


 * One can be found within the Ranger Compound, in the Ranger's sleeping quarters, on the Floor, and a Mini Nuke on a table.


 * Shrapnel in Rivet City carries one in which you can provoke him into a fight where you can knock the Fat Man out of his hands.
 * One can be found even as early as completing the first objective in The Wasteland Survival Guide. One has been found where a Raider pulls the Fat Man out as a weapon.

Controversy

 * The name and image of this weapon are references to the Fat Man atomic bomb that was dropped in Nagasaki, Japan, ending World War II. Because of this, the weapon was renamed when Fallout 3 was released in Japan (Nuka Launcher). It is, however, still refered to as the Fat Man in dialogue.

Trivia

 * The launch mechanism of the Fat Man is pneumatic, coupled with the heavy projectile, this accounts for the short range of the weapon. This type of launch system was first pioneered by the British PIAT anti-tank weapon of WWII, where the projectile was launched from a similar cradle-like contraption using a mechanical spring system, which had the similar properties of short range and lack of accuracy. This system is known as a spigot mortar.
 * Fat Man was the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945, at 11:02 a.m. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare and was the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more generically to the early nuclear weapon designs of U.S. weapons based on the "Fat Man" model. It was an implosion-type weapon with a plutonium core.