When it was first released in 2018,Fallout 76was widely criticized for its lack of human NPCs, which ultimately made the game world feel empty. However, there was arguably a justified lore reason for the lack of locals in West Virginia, as any humans who didn’t flee the area or live in the safety of a Vault shortly after theFalloutfranchise’s Great War are believed to have succumbed to the local Scorched Plague, or had been transformed into a Ghoul. This is why the first players who left Vault 76 on Reclamation Day were essentially the only humans inFallout 76’s wasteland at the time.
While both Scorched and Ghouls still roam the Appalachian wasteland in current-dayFallout 76, the passage of time within the game’s lore has since led to humans resettling in Appalachia and the formation of new factions inFallout 76through the game’s various post-launch updates. For anyoneplayingFallout 76for the first time in 2025and beyond, and finally leaving Vault 76, players may want to know the differences between some of the Scorched and Ghouls they’ll inevitably encounter, and where these mutants come from.
How Are Scorched and Ghouls Created?
The Fallout Franchise’s Ghouls Are Created By Radiation
Ghouls are known to be the result of humans and animals who were exposed to radiation and irreversibly transformed into mutants. Most Ghouls were likely created by the lingering radiation from the bombs dropping duringtheFalloutfranchise’s Great War, though Ghouls can seemingly be created from any source of radiation. A new type of Ghoul introduced inFallout 76’s Skyline Valley region is the Lost. Aside from their distinct appearances, Lost are essentially identical to Ghouls.
AlthoughFallout 76’s playable Ghoul characterwill let players “cure” themselves and undo their Ghoul transformation, this is likely for the sake of convenience and not a canon part of the franchise’s lore. Nor is the Scorched Plague curable after someone has become infected. Similarly,Fallout 76allowing players to recover from becoming fully Feral as a Ghoul is also unlikely to be canon.
The Enclave Created Fallout 76’s Scorched Plague
Scorched are the accidental creation of theFalloutfranchise’s Enclave faction. While Ghouls are created solely by exposure to radiation, the first Scorched were created by a combination of radiation and biochemical experiments conducted on bats that led to what is now known as the Scorched Plague. After the Enclave’s initial test subjects escaped containment, these bats (a.k.a. Scorchbeasts) began spreading the Scorched Plague to any creature that came into direct contact with them, which explains whyFallout 76originally had no human NPC survivors when the first Vault dwellers left Vault 76 on Reclamation Day in 2102.
What Are the Differences Between Scorched and Ghouls?
Aside from their origins, one of the differences between these two types of mutants is in their life spans. Instead of further exposure to radiation being harmful to Ghouls, it heals them, potentially allowing them to live many decades after their initial transformation. However, Ghouls are still susceptible to dying from natural causes or fatal injuries. On the other hand, human victims of the Scorched Plague will live short lives before the plague eventually overtakes their bodies and turns them into petrified statues.
Another key difference between these two types of mutants is that the Scorched are a hive-mind collective with little to no resemblance to their former identities. This is why whenever players are fighting a Scorchbeast, especially theScorchbeast Queen inFallout 76, other Scorched will soon appear to join the fight. Whereas, for Ghouls, it’s common for human Ghouls to remain civilized individuals after their transformation and retain their pre-existing morals and intellect, so long as they can indefinitely fend off becoming Feral, where they then habitually accompany other Feral Ghouls and are reduced to primitive states.
Fallout 76
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4, welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fell, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers—chosen from the nation’s best and brightest – emerge into post-nuclear America on Reclamation Day, 2102. Play solo or join together as you explore, quest, build, and triumph against the wasteland’s greatest threats. Explore a vast wasteland, devastated by nuclear war, in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story. Experience the largest, most dynamic world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Expand southward to Skyline Valley – a brand-new region of Appalachia. Investigate the cause of the electric storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 and its dwellers, including a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.
