Is Lucy in the Fallout Games? Ella Purnell’s Character, Explained

Bethsda’s Fallout franchise has joined the ranks of other successful game franchises by entering the world of television. But rather than retell a story established in a previous game, Fallout opted to tell its own unique tale. But this also meant new additions like the series’ protagonist, Lucy MacLean, a character that begs the question, “Was Lucy Maclean in the games?“

Who is Lucy MacLean?

In Fallout, Lucy is an original character and denizen of Vault 33 and the daughter of its Overseer, Hank. She spent her whole life wanting nothing more than to be a good vaulter and provide any service that would get them closer to Reclamation Day, when humans can return to the surface. Instead, the harsh realities came rushing in when raiders stormed the vault, killed many in the process, and took Hank to the surface. This motivated Lucy to follow after entering the Wasteland.

On the surface, Lucy encountered the many dangers of the Wasteland and grew close to the likes of The Ghoul and Maximus, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel. All the while, as this new world hardened her, she never lost her spirit. Ironically, this growth is shown as she left the vault with a tranq gun but ended the series with an actual pistol.

Like in any Fallout game, you start with a sense of possibility and hope that this experience in the Wasteland will be both exciting and fun, even if a little. However, as you progress, there’s always a harsh reality of what the world really is and the horrors humanity committed to create it and survive in it. In Fallout, Lucy MacLean represents that same harsh realization as she’s layered enough to be her own character but still able to serve as a vessel that’s reminiscent of the main characters of each game.

Is Lucy’s Story Similar To Other Fallout Games?

While Fallout’s Lucy MacLean is wholly original to the larger universe, many aspects of her story call back to previous Fallout entries. For starters, Lucy’s mission to find her father is pulled directly from Fallout 3, where The Lone Wanderer ventures out of their vault to find their father, James, and understand why he left in the first place. This is also paralleled to the main focus of Fallout 76, where you must venture into the Wasteland to find Vault 76’s missing Overseer, just as Lucy did when finding her father.

The broad strokes of Fallout 4 could also be seen in Lucy’s story as The Sole Survivor of that story had their child stripped from them, forcing them to go into the Wasteland to find them. In a way, this parallels Lucy’s need to go to the surface, as her father didn’t leave of his own free will but was taken instead. All in all, Lucy’s story took inspiration from the source material but did so to offer a fun story that was both relatable and easy to understand for anyone unfamiliar with the games.

Lucy MacLean may not be based on any character from the games, but it’s clear that care was taken in her creation. As a result, she’s a character worthy of the universe and shows the same type of growth anyone who has played the Fallout games has experienced. She started as a bright-eyed protagonist but quickly became aware of the harsh realities of the Wasteland, resulting in a protagonist who could more than take care of herself. With that in mind, she may not have originally been from the games, but she has all of the attributes that make up a great Fallout character.

For more content on Fallout games, see our Fallout 4 guide hub and Fallout 76 guide hub.