Atomic Bomb (Fallout 3)

The Megaton atomic bomb is the undetonated C-23 Megaton nuclear weapon sitting at the center of Megaton. The fate of the bomb and the whole settlement is determined in one of the adventures of the Lone Wanderer.

Background
The bomb was dropped on Washington D.C. during the Great War in 2077; however, it remained undetonated in its crater. The founders of Megaton discovered the bomb, and a group of people calling themselves the Children of the Atom started worshipping it. Both groups teamed up, and, using airplane parts from a demolished airport, built Megaton's walls and structures and settled in the area.

The bomb is active, and, in 2277, the Lone Wanderer is given the choice to detonate it (and destroy Megaton) in a cloud of nuclear dust or disarm it and save the town's population. Mister Burke is the person who is looking for help detonating it, as his employer, Allistair Tenpenny, considers it "a blight on the landscape" of the Capital Wasteland. Megaton's sheriff Lucas Simms offers reward for disarming the bomb. The fate of the town lies in the Lone Wanderer's hands.

Characteristics
The atomic bomb itself is in the center of the town, since Megaton was built around the crater in which it sits. It lies in a puddle of radioactive water from which Confessor Cromwell is constantly making speeches about his religion.

The bomb can be rigged to detonate with a fusion pulse charge.

Located near the tip of the bomb (facing the Church), a biological hazard symbol is barely recognizable.

At Fort Constantine, there is a bomb storage containing multiple nuclear weapons identical to the Megaton bomb, suggesting that the bomb may be of American design and misfired during the Great War.

Outside of Megaton
After consuming some punga seeds, the Lone Wanderer sees the bomb sitting next to Mister Burke during the hero's hallucination in Point Lookout's Sacred Bog. Although similar to the Megaton bomb, it is much larger. After an interaction with Mr. Burke, the bomb explodes, and the Lone Wanderer wakes up outside of the Sacred Bog. Since Mr. Burke is a delusional appearance of Tobar the Ferryman, the bomb's explosion may be interpreted as the physical pain or loss of consciousness the Lone Wanderer experiences when Tobar removes a lump of his/her own brain.

Behind the scenes

 * The Megaton bomb is modeled after the "Fat Man" bomb, one of the world's first two functional nuclear weapons which were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Appearances

 * The Megaton atomic bomb appears as a world object in Fallout 3 and is the central subject of The Power of the Atom quest.
 * The bomb also appears in the Point Lookout add-on quest Walking with Spirits.