Thaddeus only survived Fallout‘s first season thanks to a fortuitous encounter with the (pre-mind control device) Snake Oil Salesman, Dr. Chickenlover. The Brotherhood of Steel member was on the verge of death. Max’s power armor crushed Thaddeus’ foot into a mangled, fatal mess. It instantly healed, though, after he took a puff from a special, mysterious substance that also made him immune to radiation and pain. At the time it seemed like the Snake Oil Salesman had turned Thaddeus into a ghoul. That’s certainly what he thought when shortly after he survived an arrow in the neck. But season two’s seventh episode revealed he’s not a ghoul. His nose hasn’t fallen off because he’s a super mutant. That inhaler was filled with a serum video game fans know well. It’s the same one TV viewers are now learning about. FEV, Forced Evolutionary Virus.
The good news for Thaddeus is that he’s going to get to keep his nose. He’s wrong. He’s not a ghoul. (Because he didn’t listen to our Jesse Harshbarger who was way ahead of Thaddeus on this one.) Instead Dr. Chickenlover gave Thaddeus FEV, which turned him into a mutant.
Super mutants don’t lose their noses like ghouls. They instead gain strength, endurance, speed, and healing. Unfortunately for Thaddeus, FEV mutants do sometimes develop abnormalities, like a disgusting monster mouth on the chest. They might also lose a limb when it randomly falls off. So, you know, you win some/you lose some when you ingest an unknown substance in the wasteland.
Thaddeus’ transformation into an FEV mutant means that, despite being useless fighting Deathclaws, he might soon be a far more useful ally for Max. Thaddeus could soon be a green super soldier-esque figure like Ron Perlman’s recently introduced super mutant if he took an especially strong or effective form of FEV. If instead he got a less stable/weaker/poorly made version of FEV, Thaddeus could be doomed to a far worse fate on Fallout, one that leaves him a twisted mess far removed from his human form.
Considering he got his FEV from a literal Snake Oil Salesman in the wasteland….well…..we wish Thaddeus a lot of luck as he continues on his Fallout journey.
Is he destine to become a big green fighting machine? Rr a Cronerberg monster? Either way, Thaddeus shows just how much some major elements of the games are becoming major parts of Prime Video’sshow.
Fallout‘s second season has once again made both mutants and FEV, long significant parts of this world, a significant part of its story. Vault-Tec, Bud’s Buds, and Steph are preparing to experiment on Vault 33 with that mutating serum. And Ron Perlman’s character is readying for a war with the Enclave, the same evil group the series is also making a more relevant part of its story.
Sweet Thaddeus, who is at the crossroads of multiple plots, doesn’t know any of this. He doesn’t even know he’s going to keep his nose. Hopefully, he doesn’t lose any more limbs, though. Because he also doesn’t know that when mutants lose an appendage, something even worse than a chest mouth might replace them.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He’d take the surety of ghoulism over the risk of super mutant. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.