

Eventually, Bethesda scrapped the idea for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion altogether, but in Fallout 3 they went the other way, allowing children for authenticity, but making them invincible. This once again raised issues, because the tactic would undermine the purpose of adding children in the first place, namely, realism. Bethesda's response was to simply make the characters invincible. They considered adding children to make the game more realistic, but this was a controversial choice: if the children could be killed, Bethesda likely would have been subject to serious controversy and legal problems that would arise from making it possible to murder juveniles in the game.

However, if they are accidentally injured, they can sustain crippled limbs.

In later titles, the Lone Wanderer is the only child with a possible on-screen death, during a virtual reality simulation at Tranquility Lane in Fallout 3.Ĭhildren in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4 are marked as essential, however, they are also coded so that they cannot be hurt by any kind of attack. Children may be killed in Fallout and Fallout 2, which earns the player the Childkiller reputation.
