

These vaults were ostensibly intended to protect those wealthy enough to afford a spot in one from the nuclear holocaust, but they were also used for a "social experiment" by the Enclave, where most of the vaults secretly had some unusual and often downright harmful "gimmick" intended to test how people would behave in such situations. The Enclave were also secretly involved in the "Vault" program of nuclear shelters, which is one of the central elements of the Fallout universe. What the Enclave does not seem to fully grasp, however, is that there designation of "mutants" applies to pretty much everyone except themselves and the surviving communities that are still locked away in Vaults, and their goal would essentially entail genocide. Their ultimate goal is to rebuild the American civilization in its original, pure form by eliminating all the "mutants" who are no longer fully human due to all the radiation. They originated mainly from pre-war "shadow government" agents and other corrupt politicians, and consider themselves to be a legitimate continuation of the true U.S.
