Fallout 4 Theory: Is Father Really Your Son Shaun? (Lore And Theory)  

You know the moment I found out Father was Saun the first thought that popped into my head was "why the fuck have your synth's been trying to kill me? Why haven't you helped me?"

I always thought Liberty Prime was Shaun.

I think I know what the institute's motto is. "It's just a social experiment."

Plot twist: Dogmeat is Shaun

i wasn't buying it. the moment he tried to bullshit me i yelled "I have no son!" at the screen and proceeded to paint the walls of the room we where in with his blood.

Na... The Mysterious Stranger is a time traveling Shaun...

Except Shaun's appearance is altered by the players... So he is at least related to you

What if I made both parents black? Would Father also be black? If not, then Father isn't Shaun. He'd be an imposter!

Shauuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn! Best heavy rain line

15:13 what you came for... ur welcome.

I was confused due to the dialog in Kellogg's memories, if you click on the pods in his memory, he talks about "the old man" keeping you frozen instead of killing you, then in the next memory, he said that sitting in diamond city as bait was the "old man's" idea, meaning these old men are probably the same person and the fact that Kellogg did not age, even a little, proves that he is not Shaun and Father is just playing you. I think you were right, Shaun died during the harvesting of his DNA.

Before father die, he said slowly to the sole survivor.....with his last breath.. .. .. .. "its just a prank bruh"

need to get a dna test in the case of shaun nate you are not the father then he starts high fiving everybody and does a dance

I think that sinth kid shawn was created as a "Bait". To play the part of shawn and see how protagonist will behave. That the extreme emotion test. See how a pre-war human will act if fueled by hope.

Also, after killing Kellog, you just eliminated his most useful asset. This also means you would be an even BETTER asset than Kellogg ever was.

What if the real shaun is the super mutant that can be your companion and he was experimented upon and ended up being a super mutant but he is still looking for that human milk ( the last memory he had of his moms titty ).... Think about it...

You forget to mention that when you review Kellogg's memory when he is with the child in his house. Which is clearly the real child Shawn he talks about "the old man". I think it's entirely possible that the leader of the Institute is not Shaun and that he tricked the lone Wanderer into thinking he was

"Kellogg doesn't seem to be aware that Father was actually Shaun" proceeds to show a clip where Kellogg eludes that Shaun is an old man.

I always thought Father Shaun made synth child Shaun as a way for you to gain all the time you lost back. give you the chance to be the parent you never got to be. that's why he was in a hurry, he wanted child synth Shaun to be ready before he died of cancer, and make sure that he would emotionally react properly to having you as a parent. He created him so that you could get a second chance at raising him. It doesn't sound too far fetched considering the world they live in.

"Through science, we are family. The Synths, me and you". - Father. So if the Sole Survivor engages in sexual or romantic interactions with a Synth, does that make it inbreeding? Curie just became a lot creepier.

"The Old Man" is consistently used as a reference to Father. Kellogg's memories tell us that "The Old Man" gave the order to kidnap Sean and turn off the life support for all the other vault residents. this means that Father can't be Sean as Sean was still a baby, and frozen in a vault, when the Old Man gave the orders for Kellogg to abduct Sean and to kill all your nieghbours, leaving you as the "backup".

6:17 - Wanderer: "You ain't my son, my son's Black!" - Father: "uhhhh.... I'm Trans-race.' - Wanderer: "Oh...uhh.. sure."

is piper really thicc?

During Kellogg’s memory he said the old man gave him ordered to kill the other vault dwellers. How could old Shaun give Kellogg orders to kidnap young Shaun. Shaun is the little kid not the old man

Assuming that Bethesda did not lie about Father IS your son Why side with the Institute?? Just to see your dying son?? You destroy the Brotherhood (Which Morally grey I know but still trying to maintain order), you destroy the railway that have a good intention just to see your dying son?? Come on man, not worth it.... Might aswell just kill the broken evil bastard, and make another one with Piper

kellog even refrences "the old man" when shooting his parent

We need to get Nate on Maury, to get a DNA test.

I think that Father made up the whole story of him being Shaun because he was scared of the sole survivor. He also knew the sole survivor was going destroy the institute…unless he was made the head and joined them. And I think that the child synth project was about turning an already human (child Shaun) into a weird synth hybrid. Just my theory after playing for the first time.

Both Shaun and synth Shaun disliked the video.

I think father is Shaun but years being at the institute has indoctrinated him into thinking in such a cold calculating manner. This is to me why he doesn't help the sole survivor in the least in the beginning and middle of the game because he see's his own father/mother as a variable in an experiment than his actual father/mother because he doesn't feel any attachment to his parents. Furthermore the "experiment" if you will was also his own little test to see if he was worthy to lead the institute after his passing. But of course all we can do is specualate.

I had a character with modded eyes. when I found Father he had the same modded eyes. I'm sure its him.

The brotherhood finds out danse is a synth through institute DNA records, I've always wondered why your character and father wouldn't have run a DNA test. Where is Maury when you need him

Here is some evidence. When you acces Kellogg’s memories he says: “I don’t know why we didn’t refreeze all of them. I guess the old man didn’t want many loose ends.” You probably think that the Institute was run by an old man before Shaun. But Kellog refers to father as “the old man”. Also, in the Institute we find the holotape “director’s recording #108” here a female voice says that she’s not happy that a Synth malfunctioned and killed diamond city residents (the broken mask incident). This female voice says she’s the director of the Institute. In Pipers “the synthetic truth” we learn the broken mask incident was 60 year ago. That same year Shaun was taken from the Vault and in the memory of taking Shaun Kellog refers to the director as “the old man”. Weird stuff right

Honestly I think people are blowing it way out of proportion about the synth kid version of Shaun. Obviously Shaun knew he wa going to die soon and must have known you were going to come out of the vault soon but by the time you reunite with Shaun he will already be dying. So Shaun made a child version of himself to comfort and relieve the sole survivor of the time he never had with Shaun.

What if the real Shaun died and they need the back up , but father knew he would not help if they killed his son. So father says he's Shaun so you can help him

Something that keeps me sceptical is that in the memory missiln after you kill kellog, kellog refers to an old man as soon as he works with the institute. He does this before and after the institute kidnaps shaun.

I was a new dad when I first played this. It hit me right in the feels

Confirmed, Puma is black and is named DeShawn

I believe dogmeat to be a synth placed there to help you. He's the only one allowed with you in the institute. Also the only German shepherd in the entire game

the baby they took it for research how to make mini shaun launchers

yes, i made a character with massive cheekbones and no chin. Shaun had the same features

If both you and Kellogg were "puppets", could Father have pulled Kellogg and the Courser's strings in a manner that hindered their ability to fight? After all, everyone expressed disbelief when you take down a Courser capable of clearing a whole building of gunners, and those who knew what Kellogg was capable of are similarly surprised.

Kellogg also refers to Father as "the old man" but in has memories he recalls "the old man" telling him to kill the parent holding Shawn in 111.

I love how you never run out of ammo

6:16 i think his wife got a little frisky with the neighbor . Shawn wasn't his in the first place

No I figured out that he isn't. When you access Kellog's memories, in the memory inside the vault, when you press on a cryopod, he says " I don't know why we didn't refreeze all of them. I guess the old man did not want many loose ends. Thus suggesting that the Institute's director at the time, 60 years prior was an old male, like the father. Furthermore, in Kellog's next and final memory he even refers to the father as the old man. Finally inside the Institute, you can find a holotape named director's recording #108. There a female voice explains how irritated she was about the fact that a synth went in diamond city and killed many people due to a malfunction. That voice presents itself as the institute's director. However by reading Piper's "The synthetic truth" article that this event happened nearly 60 years ago, at the time Shaun is supposed to be abducted. Thus the Institute's director at that time was a woman, which comes in contrast with Kellog's memories. This would suggest that Shaun was abducted more recent, and that the Institute killed him or raised him, and now he is a scientist there unaware of his situation. Combining that with other plot holes that are created, that are mentioned in the video, and with the fact that your first encounter with the Institute seems staged, you can conclude that the father is just the director, who wanted to conduct an expirement.

In Kellog's memories, when he kidnaps Shaun he mentions the "Old Man" and later mentions the "Old Man" when the Courser collects 'Shaun'

Father is a synth because the syringer doesn't affect him, just like other synths.

I hate theories like these. At start they tell you the opposite of what you thought, but later they just show that what you thought was actually right. Therefor making the whole video pointless.

Remember the memory part where you see Shawn as a ten year old It said on the radio “oh boy piper’s really done it this time “ piper would be over hundred years old if piper was there then

Nope. Bethesda is too lazy for this theory lmao

I replayed the game and when exploring Kellogg’s brain, while staying in his house in diamond city with Shaun he says , “it’s no coincidence that the institute came to pick up the kid, then he shows up” talking something about finishing the job and killing the player

Then how old is Kellogg? He kidnaped Shuan since he was a baby. And then Shuan become an old man but kellog still look the same.

More proof: if Shaun lived through the Kellog Kidnapping, he would be deaf.

i need someone to please help me understand this when Kellogg takes baby shaun Kellogg is about lets say 40 but when father says its been 60 years how is Kellogg that old he cant be

I knew he wasn’t Shaun because of Kellogg saying he did what he did what the OLD MAN told him to do

I think there's a 10 Year Old Synth Shaun and a real 10 Year Old Shaun. When you access Kellog's Memories, he says something about 'The Old Man hates loose ends'. That could easily be Father. The Synth Shaun was there to trick you into believing that Father is Shaun while the Real Shaun was released when you try to blow up the Institute maybe as a gesture of 'Okay, you won. Here's your prize.".

Someone should just make a mod where synth Shaun is the real Shaun and father is just tje leader of an evil faction that needs to be taken down. Also the game needs an end boss not just kill some mobs and game over.

What confuses me is the ages/time. Kellogg takes baby!Shaun and then what? 50 years later they give him a synth!Shaun who is 10 years old? Kellogg isn't like why isn't this kid 50? And does Kellogg have implants that keep him from aging because he was probably middle age when he took baby!Shaun but he looks no different when you confront him later. Did Father rapidly age from baby to senior citizen in a decade? Did I miss something in game or is that just really bad writing/math? We know there is a Preston Garvey impersonator so why not a Shaun one in Father? The real Shaun probably died in the procedure to get his DNA. If that is even true either.

Based off of what I've seen in my playthroughs, Father can't possibly be Shaun. The main thing that I think proves this is when you are going through Kellogg's memories, and get to the scene where Kellogg is in his Diamond City house with 10 year old Shaun, Diamond City Radio is on. The radio is hosted by Travis, who sounds exactly the same as when the sole survivor leaves the vault. Now, for Travis to have been in his 20s when Shaun was 10 and still in his 20s when Shaun is in his 60s is kind of impossible. On top of that, he mentions Piper and her newspaper in the memory. This applies that Piper was at least in her late teens, likely early to mid 20s while Kellogg was still with 10 year old Shaun. When the Sole survivor meets Piper, she is maybe late 20s at the oldest, which would be impossible if Shaun is now 50 years older than he was back then. I have yet to see anyone else mention this, and I know a 3 year old video isn't the best place to bring attention to it, but I think it needs to be put out there.

Regardless of what happened to Baby Shaun, the story is brutal and horrible, just like war. This is the story of a baby cryogenized, then taken away to be raised by strangers who did not treat him well in an post apocalyptic world full of horrors, desolation, and well... turned into THE wasteland. His fate was perhaps the fate of all babies who were alive at the time the bombs fell in 2077, at least the fate of those who survived as orphans to fend for themselves in such a world. The story has all the brutality of real war. It's really sad and disheartening, as happens to any war child in real life.

(taps on to the video) Yes. Yes he is. (leaves)

Something interesting that proves the synth that thinks its Shaun is a synth, or just not human, is that with the power armor modification that highlights living targets, Shaun doesn't get highlighted like literally every other NPC in the game

Even now, every time I see Father I want to go full John Wick mode against the Institute again. Killing the spouse, stealing the baby is for me a declaration of war.

GAAAAARRRRRRRYYYYYY!!!! best line in a game ever

Father isnt shaun cause that was fifty years ago during memory sequence piper was alive that ling ago but piper isnt fifty in main story that means shaun is illuminati

Honestly I think it’s just lazy writing that caused all the holes you mentioned in the beginning.

This is a Bethesda game unfortunately Shaun is the father

but shauns appearance changes with the players

I think Father wanted the Shawn Synth experiement to be done quickly because he knew his survivor parent would be there to see him. So when he dies of the cancer after telling his parent he was Shawn they would have a piece of him left. I get it omg

i definitely didnt believe him fully. i wosh you could ask for a DNA test in the game tbh

how did kellogg not age.... he was at the vault when baby shaun was taken... then he looks the same when lone survivor goes after him?

send father to muary

Shaun...i am your father...

I just wasted several minutes of my life watching this so at the end he can tell me that according to the game’s writer old guy is Shawn

I always find the entire "is he Shaun" question thing really weird because the game doesn't really do anything to make you question it. I mean it'd be one thing if we found a terminal entry that said something like "the old man has a plan that's crazy and I'm not sure if he can convince them of what he wants to convince them of", but we don't even get anything like that. In terms of narrative, I believe in this instance it's safe to assume Father is who he says he is, simply because the game doesn't really try to give us any reason to doubt him.

This could just be my faulty memory, cause I haven't played Fallout 4 in a long time, but to me it's odd that Kellogg really hasn't aged that much since kidnapping Shaun. Yet if father is Shaun he went from a baby to an old man.

My problem with the Father/Shaun situation is when you access Kellogg's memories. The last memory, when Kellogg and Shaun are sitting in Diamond City, there is a radio playing. On it, you can hear Travis talking about Piper. That was when Shaun was supposedly 10 years old. According to father, another 50 years have passed since that memory but yet Piper and Travis haven't aged a bit? In that cut-scene, Kellogg refers to the leader of the institute as the "old man". If the "old man" is Father, how could Father (Shaun) be sitting right next to Kellogg? Also, when Shaun and X6 are about to relay, Shaun asks "Are you going to take me to my father?" This tells me that Shaun has never met "Father" and that Kellogg has been in possession of Shaun for 10 years. We know the institute needed pristine DNA but why would they have waited 10 years to relay the boy? I think Shaun was taken to the institute and his DNA extracted as a baby, and then dumped on Kellogg for the next 10 years. Why would the "old man" do this? I don't know but neither does Kellogg, who admits that in this cut-scene. Perhaps Brian Virgil's escape and Kellogg's reassignment by the "old man" was a timely coincidence. "Old man" did let player out of Cryo remotely, but did not expect him to survive. Knowing that the player would be coming for his son, "old man" reassigned Kellogg to Brian Virgil knowing that he would ultimately cross paths with the player. This would provide the "old man" a first line of defense against the player, or it would provide a timely demise for Kellogg of which the "old man" admits was becoming a bit to unpredictable and dangerous. About Brian Virgil... Now if the game is to be believed, Kellogg got those assignments when the Shaun was ten and still has not completed them after 50 years??? Kellogg is a synth and almost certainly knows it. Going into the glowing sea would be no issue for him so why wait 50 years? I think that the events of F4 happen right after Kellogg's memory, and real Shaun is either killed or held prisoner by the Institute after he is teleport-ed from Kellogg. Father is actually the "old man" Kellogg refers to. Father is not kin to the player, and that is perhaps why Madison Li had so much issue with the project. Madison, and perhaps others, know the kid is not the "old man's" and struggle with the ethical dilemma of not only ripping a family apart, but also harvesting an innocent child. Maybe the "old man" wanted a son? Maybe everyone calls the "old man" father because he lead the institute scientists to greatness? Maybe the "old man" is faking being your son to keep from getting his ass kicked after Papa bear player figured out a way to jury rig his happy ass into the institute. My $0.02

Do you remember that one show? YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER!!

The most compelling evidence is that EVERYONE remembers Shaun and Kellogg living in Diamond city. As Father said, kid synth Shaun was a work in progress, he wouldn’t let him go with Kellogg AND he’d been with him for a while according to Kellogg. Also Travis miles playing over the radio.

Father says you were released 60 years after but when you are in Kellogg's memory you see him with a 10 year old Shaun and on the radio you hear the host talking about piper pissing off the mayor which you find her locked out of diamond city when you first visit why would she be locked out 50 years after and why would Kellogg have a synth Shaun he could but there's no reason

I know this is old but when you go into the memories of Kellogg during the part where he is in the cryo lab in the vault, if you click on primary patient which hold either Nora or Nate with Shawn, Kellogg mentions “the old man” and this made me think, isn’t the “old man” Shawn? Or was there another institute leader with the same nickname before Shawn? I hope someone reads this so they can try and explain it. I’m really curious.

I believe that the real Shaun died during the process of getting some of his DNA. And the old man played as if he was Shaun because he knew that the solesurvivor would kill him on the spot if he/she knew or found out.

What if the "synth sean" is actually the real Sean who is heavily trained to follow certain words?

How to really see If father is Shaun, Change ur Fricking Skin Color

I think the synth shaun is built to give Nate/ Nora some closure and give his dad the wish to raise a child and father can see how great of a father he really is

Imagine having a son that’s older than u oh wait 👀

I personally think it’s messed up taking synth Shaun as a son, he’ll never age and it’s literally replacing what would’ve been your actual son with a fake, he’s still sentient but it’s messed up. This is why institute scientists were against it.

Actually Father does have synths that do help you on your way, they just don't have the synth component in their inventory but are classified as Synths by the game code. One such example is the friendly mechanic who helps you in Sanctuary. Plus the voice of one the people with Kellogg sounds vaguely similar to addict old lady. There is lot more going on but that info is locked away from us.

If not, where is he? Could he be the lone drifter in Nevada? Perhaps he is the Mysterious Stranger?

You always open to the same clip. Get something new.

The biggest mistake in the Institute option is they are still viewed as the enemy, and the Sole Survivor doesn't dispute it saying he's in charge and they won't be kidnapping people anymore.

Love the comments!!! On a serious note, when you're in Kellogg's memory he talks about "old man". He brings the kidnapping up BEFORE the kidnapping itself, and says it was a mistake for him to let you live. I feel like Father created a synth, fusing Shawn's body and his own mind. Though, just like Nick (and how Kellogg still lives within his memory after the fusion), Shawn was fused with the "old man". So in actuality, no matter how hard he tries to control this "infused mind" he cant confirm he is actually the true Shawn. Father wants you to join the institute but Shawn wants to be with you. Both minds combined must be the reasoning behind giving you a synth version of your son and allowing you to take full control. So in a way he is not your son but deep within he is. He is physically your son but spiritually (or mentally) he is the "old man". Though like Kellogg, Shawn is Bruce Banner/Hulking his attempt to show you the truth. Combine this with the video we all just watched and form your own opinion. My final inquiry is yes. Father is in some ways the actual Shawn. He is just not fully Shawn and shares a memory with the original synth creator.

What is that white armor he is wearing, it looks dope.

On my first playthrough I seriously doubted that "Father" was Shaun and I'm still bothered by the fact that the Sole Survivor didn't request some kind of DNA test. The game does not bother to convince you that "Father" is your son but it also doesn't give you the option to deny that "Father" is your son.

As I read through comments here, it's quite clear to me, that Kellogg can not mean the same old man in all of his memories. When he enters the vault to get baby Shaun, he does on the orders of the old man, right? Right. Then some 50 or 60 years later in Diamond City with Synth Shaun he again mentions the old man. That same old man from when Kellogg kidnapped baby Shaun half a century ago? Kellog is enhanced by Institute technology, but I doubt any Institute personel, including directors, were. And Father wasn't a Synth either, as he was dying from cancer. So he defiitely couldn't be the person ordering Kellog to kidnap baby Shaun as that person was already known as old man. Which means whoever Kellogg refers to in the kidnapping scene, isn't Father/director Shaun. Thus Father may be Shaun in fact. The concept of time flowing seems to be missed with some people. Only Kellogg has those enhancements, so whatever person he was working for half a century ago, can't be the same person leading the Institute now. No one can be old for that long. Father is around 60 or so. At the time baby Shaun was kidnapped, he would be ... under a year old? Hardly qualifying for an old man back then, even hardly qualified for the director at that time. Only really qualified to be the kidnapped child. Unless some serious time travel involved, so he send himself to the past to order Kellogg to kidnap baby Shaun. But I don't think the Institute has that kind of technology, they focus more on teleportation, than time travel.

How is Kellogg younger then father when he was a infant?!

From my first playthrough I kept wondering, why did Father never offer to prove he's Shaun using DNA testing?

I have always believed that 'Father is Shaun' ...Hes Human, because synths can't get cancer... I also believe Fathers ultimate plan was to release his parent from the stasis and then transfer his own consciousness into the synth-shaun...and then live cancer-free with his parent who came for him...but something ended that plan...just a theory, who knows

VinylicPumaGaming, This is all true, but you the player...You are A Synth.... Shaun is James The Father from Fallout 3.... and Deacon is The Player Character from Fallout 3... Deacon is Shaun's son... and you play as The Grandfather, but A Synthetic Version...Deacon and Shaun aka Father, which is James... of fallout 3...dont know each other both lived...after Project Purity!!!!!! Thanks to The Enclave, this is why The Institute has X01 Power Armor!!!!! Think about it..this makes sense Pinkerton of Rivet City, changes The Character's face...A John Doe, aka Johnny D. As in Deacon..and Pinkerton later got the nickname Pinky...which was also Railroad and I think he himself was A synth aswell..this is why Deacon lies he has to keep his identity unknown, because he might have an idea that Father is James his father... but is unsure... this is why both Factions The Institute & Railroad want you to join them...I believe this is Fallout 3 & Fallout 4's biggest Secret plot twist !!!! Thank You for making this content, True Follower Out!!!!!!!