Megaton

Megaton is a fortified settlement in the Capital Wasteland. It is built in and around a crater with a megaton class unexploded atomic bomb at its center, giving the town its name. The town of Megaton is protected by large metal walls made from various scavenged materials, primarily the scraps of old pre-War airplanes, which were assembled and reforged together several decades ago by the founders of Megaton in an effort to make the town safer. With 28 named inhabitants and several unnamed Megaton settlers, it is rivaled only by Rivet City in population.

Beginnings
Megaton was first settled by a large group of people who sought shelter in Vault 101, but were denied access because the residents of the vault were not allowed to leave or let anyone enter. Locked out of the vault, these settlers, led by Manya Vargas' father, constructed their homes in a crater close to the vault using aircraft debris from a nearby airport. All materials from the airport were used the town's construction, so the airport no longer remains.

Megaton's construction was aided by the Children of Atom, who worship the undetonated atomic bomb in the town center. The settlers left the bomb unmoved in exchange for their much needed help.

First contact with Vault 101 and raider attack
In February 2241, an expeditionary party of Vault 101, led by Anne Palmer and sent by the Overseer of the Vault, made contact with the residents of Megaton. Initially, the locals were cautious of the strangers before eventually accepting and welcoming them into their settlement. Palmer appointed two vault residents, Agnes Taylor and Lewis, as vault ambassadors to Megaton. A record of this expedition was archived in the Overseer's terminal in his office.

That same year, a group of raiders attacked the town, resulting in the death of 14 year old Colin Moriarty's father. After the raid, Moriarty inherited his father's wealth and his bar, Moriarty's Saloon.

Boppo's raid
In 2277, a gang of raiders occupying Springvale elementary school launched a raid on Megaton. A group led by Boppo staged the raid on Megaton, but the attack ended abruptly when Boppo was shot in the head and killed by the town's sheriff, Lucas Simms. However, the raiders did not leave the area, choosing instead to remain at the Springvale school. Boppo's successor recognized the folly of any raid on Megaton, and instead began attempts to tunnel into Vault 101. This plan was terminated when the raiders tunneled into a giant ant's nest.

Layout
The city of Megaton has been built in a steep-walled crater around an undetonated atomic bomb, which rests in a small puddle of radioactive water at the bottom of the depression. This gives the city two roughly circular levels centered on the bomb. The main gate consists of two old aircraft wings and is powered by a jet engine, which can be opened and closed to protect the only entrance/exit to the town.

Following the entry path to the bottom of the depression, the Megaton clinic will be on the right and The Brass Lantern on the left. Just past the bomb to the right is the Children of Atom building and past it to the left lies Mister Burke's house. Confessor Cromwell will be found here standing in the puddle and sermonizing to random Megaton settlers.

Turning right immediately upon entering and following the lip of the crater will lead past Lucas Simms' house, around the water processing plant, down to Craterside Supply, then back up to the men's restroom, Moriarty's Saloon and Billy Creel's house. Going down the ramp from there will lead around Nathan and Manya's house (a blue bus) and to the women's restroom. Craterside Supply can also be easily reached by taking the ramp directly to the right of the Megaton clinic.

Turning left instead of right at the upper lip will lead to a locked house (which is a reward from Lucas Simms for deactivating the central atomic bomb), followed by Jericho's house. From there, going down will lead to Lucy West's house while going around to the left will lead to the end of the right hand path.

The Megaton armory (very hard lock or with Lucas Simm's key) can be reached by going up the ramp and around the Church of the Children of Atom to the right or by going down the hill starting from the back door of Moriarty's Saloon. Inside the player will face a strong opponent, Deputy Steel, a unique Mister Gutsy.

The common house can be reached by going around the women's restroom to the right or by passing behind Moriarty's Saloon rather than going around the front past the entrance to the men's restroom. Just look for the couch sitting outside.

In front of the city, outside the walls, is a caravan stop, Micky the water beggar, and Deputy Weld. Behind the city, near the southwest corner, between a group of 3 scorched trees is the hollowed-out rock.

Megaton ruins
Revisiting Megaton's ruins after blowing it up in The Power of the Atom quest, the Lone Wanderer will find Deputy Weld's head with an orange (or purple) eye nearby, sticking out of a pile of debris. He says, ironically, "Welcome to Megaton. The bomb is perfectly safe. We promise. Please hold," in a garbled voice that sounds broken. The sky will be green, and, if the Wasteland Survival Guide quest has been started, Moira Brown will survive as a ghoul and appear to mention that she is relocating to Underworld. If the quest is not started, Moira can still be found in Underworld. Detonating the bomb before retrieving The Strength Bobblehead will render it unobtainable. The area around Megaton will contain progressively higher levels of radiation closer to the town's ruins.

Appearances
Megaton appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * In Beneath The Planet of the Apes, a cult is featured worshiping an undetonated nuclear weapon after the modern world has been destroyed.
 * A megaton is a unit used to measure the force of an explosion, equivalent to that of a million tons of TNT.
 * In the Japanese version of Fallout 3, Burke is completely gone, and therefore, the quest to blow up Megaton has been completely removed due to its parallels to real historic events, referring to the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Bugs

 * After Broken Steel is installed, if you pick-up the note from your door, after completing quest Holy Water, the note will respawn every day. This can be very annoying, and it is recommended to receive the note from a settler.
 * Occasionally the player will be shot at by the settlers of Megaton upon first entering, which can be rather troublesome for a low level character.
 * Rarely, after you fast travel to Megaton a Brotherhood soldier may appear in the entrance of the city, a few seconds later he will leave the city.
 * Sometimes after you blow up Megaton Harden Simms will still be walking around the out-side of the ruins and if you speak to him, he'll talk to you like nothing has happened.
 * Sometimes Megaton settlers refuse to sleep at night, rendering the mister sandman perk useless in the city.