What Is Thaddeus Turning Into In Fallout? All The Theories, Explained
This isn’t even his final form!
We need to talk about Thaddeus. Maximus’ old buddy from The Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout was originally just a source of comic relief, but things took a dark turn when he dosed himself with a strange yellow “healing potion.” In the episodes since, we’ve seen him get shot in the neck with an arrow and survive, morph into a wrinkly Ghoul-esque appearance, develop a strange mouth on his shoulder, and, in the latest episode, lose his arm completely.
But is he really just turning into a Ghoul? After all, he does still have his nose. Some fans are suggesting that he may actually be transforming into something much less common — and much scarier. Here are all the theories as to what his ultimate form may be.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Fallout Season 2, Episode 7.
3. Ghoul
Thaddeus believes he’s going to become a ghoul, but he still has his nose.
This is the most obvious choice. We’ve seen what Ghouls look like thanks to Cooper Howard and Thaddeus’ crowd of child laborers, and it does seem like Thaddeus is well on his way there. He even believes this theory himself. “I’m sure you probably know this, but I’m actually kinda new to all this ghoul stuff,” he says to the Ghoul in Season 2 Episode 7. “Still got my nose. That’s the worst thing, really, just waitin’ for it to fall off.”
It’s then he shows off the mouth that’s growing on the side of his body, but it doesn’t look like the Ghoul thinks this is normal at all. So while Thaddeus being a Ghoul would be the most common sense answer, a lot of evidence is pointing somewhere else entirely.
2. Super-Mutant
Lots of fans believe Thaddeus’s “health potion” was actually F.E.V.
Many fans were quick to clock the similarities to the potion Thaddeus took and F.E.V., the man-made virus that creates Super-Mutants, the creatures that have appeared in every single Fallout game but didn’t appear in the series until Season 2, with a cameo from Ron Perlman.
Could it be possible that Thaddeus is mutating not into a Ghoul but into a different kind of mutant altogether? It would definitely explain the different kinds of mutations he’s experiencing, like whole limbs sloughing off before his nose falls off, which seems to be one of the earliest stages of mutation.
3. Centaur
Could Thaddeus be the live-action debut of a centaur?
This theory is a continuation of the last one — humans dosed with F.E.V. become mutants, but humans and creatures thrown into vats of F.E.V. become “centaurs,” strange hybrid monsters who often have misshapen legs (or even arms as legs) and no arms at all. The strongest piece of evidence for this is obvious: Thaddeus loses his arm during Season 2 Episode 7, which doesn’t seem to be usual for any kind of “regular” mutation.
But if centaurs are created by tossing humans and animals into F.E.V, then how could Thaddeus turn into one? Perhaps — and this is just the leading theory — the potion Thaddeus took wasn’t just F.E.V, but F.E.V. already infused with DNA from other creatures. That’s the problem with buying strange substances from snake-oil salesmen: you never know what you’re going to get.
