Human

Humans (known taxonomically as Homo sapiens, Latin for "wise man" or "knowing man"; ghouls and supermutants also refer to regular humans as smoothskins or normals) are the dominant species of post-nuclear America. These post-War members of the species can be divided into four major ethnic groups: African, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic.

Mutated humans, while still members of the Homo genus, are a different species from Homo sapiens.

Description

 * Main article: Homo sapiens

Post-nuclear humans, as a direct result of the radiation and other biochemical agents released into the environment during and after the Great War, exhibit more diversity, primarily in genetic structure. The aforementioned factors have resulted in an increased rate of mutations in humans, although very few of these result in phenotypical changes. Most of these changes are non-lethal, non-damaging variations in the human DNA that simply increase the genepool variety.

These variations have been uniquely interpreted by the Enclave leadership as basis for claiming that the humans living outside the Enclave and isolated Vaults are no longer pure, that they are, in fact, near-humans that pose a threat to the "pure" humanity living in the aforementioned locations. This theory, despite the claims of Dick Richardson and John Henry Eden has no basis in fact, as "pure" and "non-pure" humans are, for all intents and purposes, identical, outside minor genetical differences.

Species
Humans with a substantially different phenotype and physiology:


 * Ghouls, humans with an unique genetic makeup that rendered them immune to the lethal effects of radiation, but not to its degenerative effects. Ghouls are sterile, deformed, but enjoy an extreme lifespan.
 * Supermutants, humans subjected to forced evolution via either EEP or FEV-II. The former are prevalent in the Capital Wasteland area, the latter in the American Southwest,
 * Of note is that humans living in areas in proximity near the West Tek Research Facility, due to the presence of airborne, wild FEV in the area following the Great War, are unsuitable for such mutation. The presence of the wild virus, has effectively inoculated them from the full effects of the virus . A second factor precluding mutation is a high level of genetic damage as a result of absorbed ionizing radiation.
 * Ghost People, humans evolved by the Cloud of Sierra Madre, filtered through the Big Empty hazmat suits. The resulting species enjoy heightened perception, agility and extreme longevity. However, the drastic physiological changes have resulted in a loss of human cognition (although its degree remains unknown),
 * Swampfolk, humans who have developed extreme deformities as a result of combined New Plague infection and ionizing radiation. Unique to the Point Lookout area.

Sub-species
Humans with a different physiology, but an identical or near-identical phenotype:


 * Beastlords, humans who developed an ability to exert psychic control over other animals. Unique to the Midwest area,
 * Slags, humans whose physiology adapted to prolonged seclusion underground. Unique to the Modoc area.

Human sub-types
Humans who have a different phenotype, but as a result of either natural (prenatal genetic factors, degenerative illnesses) or artificial causes (invasive surgery, pharmacological experiments) have a different phenotype, but are still genetically humans.


 * Trogs, humans who have entered the terminal stage of the Troglodyte Degeneration Contagion,
 * Cyborgs, humans who have replaced a portion or even the entirety of their bodies with artificial prosthesises or entire artificial shells, for example: Think Tanks,
 * Lobotomites, humans who have been turned into mindless drones as a result of the Big Empty surgeries.

Gameplay relevance
In Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas, the player can only play as a human character. Fallout Tactics allowed the player to control other races (see Fallout Tactics races), even though the player could only start as a human and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is the only Fallout game allowing to play a ghoul as a principal player character.

Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout: Tactics
In the SPECIAL character system, humans have 40 Character Points to divide between their Primary Statistics.

Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas
Human NPCs suffer extra damage from headshots both in V.A.T.S., and in free fire mode. They prioritize their targets according to the weapons they carry. Any grenades the NPCs carry can be detonated with a well placed shot.

Shooting the enemy's weapons is a very effective way of disarming humanoids, as the weapons they carry are often of inferior quality requiring only a few shots, and their hand to hand damage is negligible. This does not apply to enemies using Unarmed weapons.