Boston’s post-apocalyptic wasteland is a brutal place where difficult decisions will sometimes have to be made. The Sole Survivor’s prime directive is to find their son, and they will stop at nothing until he is found. No job is too dirty, no enemy too daunting, no terrain too hostile.
However, not all severe acts are born from desperation. Some are choices that the player can make to benefit themself at the expense of others — decisions many will classify as “Evil” or “Wrong.” These moral qualms won’t stop many wasteland wanderers, for sometimes the darkest deeds lead to deep satisfaction — or flat-out hilarity, depending on one’s capacity for gallows humor.
Updated on July 08, 2025, by Ritwik Mitra:Fallout 4is finally earning the respect it deserves. Players are coming to realize how engaging the game’s exploration present is, something that a lot of fans had taken for granted until Starfield showed just how boring it was to explore procedurally generated landscapes. The BethesdaFalloutgames have been criticized for shoehorning players into the role of a hero without making the villainous path all that riveting. Still, there are ways thatFallout 4lets players be as evil, even if they may not be in line with the Sole Survivor’s personality.
13Join and Aid The Institute
The Single Worst Alliegance Players Can Make
The Institute is one of the most morally corrupt factions in theFalloutseries. The idea of using sentient synths as a way to gain information and place humanity in a constant state of paranoia is not a heroic act in the slightest. The fact that the Sole Survivor’s son ends up being the leader of the Institute makes for a tough pill to swallow.
If players really want to lean into an evil playthrough, then the worst thing they can do is aid the Institute in its plans to take over the world and force its ideology on the masses. This means taking out the other factions that are largely innocent, coupled with an ending where the Sole Survivor leads the Institute following their son’s demise.
12Murder Every Non-Essential NPC
Go On An Unwarranted Rampage For No Reason
Sometimes, players don’t need to put in a lot of effort to be evil in a video game likeFallout 4, where the Sole Survivor is free to do almost anything they want. If they want to go on a genocidal rampage and kill everything in sight, what’s stopping them?
No matter the innocence of a person standing in front of the player, there’s nothing preventing players from going all out and devastating an entire population. Being a mass murderer is easier than it seems, and it is bound to negatively affect the Sole Survivor’s karma in a major way.
11Not Helping Bobby De Luca With His Addiction
Selling Jet At A Premium Rate Leads To His Untimely Death
Given how grueling life in a post-nuclear wasteland is, it’s easy to see why people would turn to drugs to make it easier to deal with the pain in their lives. However, this can end up having serious consequences for those who abuse these newfangled narcotics. Bobby de Luca is a great example.
Initially, players might love the idea of selling Jet to this addict at a premium. However, after his sister begs the Sole Survivor to help him with his addiction, players can have a serious heart-to-heart with this character to make him stop. Alternatively, though, they can keep on lining their pockets with his caps until he finally breathes his last.
10Cannibalism
The Cannibal Perk Lets The Sole Survivor Eat Corpses To Heal
Players have been able to acquire theCannibal perkin multipleFalloutgames. The first time it appeared was inFallout 3, where players can eat the dead bodies of most humanoids they find.
The process and effects are similar inFallout 4, though now consuming the dead is quicker and more graphic with blood spurting about. This perk is a great way to heal after a tough fight, especially if one is fighting humans, Ghouls, or Super Mutants.
9Extort Money From A Child
Force A Young Girl To Give Up Her Prized Possessions
If the player finds and explores Vault 81, they will notice a cat near the entrance. After speaking to various people, the Sole Survivor will encounter Erin Combes, a young girl looking for her missing cat. Her feline friend, named Ashes, is not too far away and can be easily found and then returned to the girl.
However, if the player has high enough Charisma, they can demand greater and greater payment from Erin. She is a child and does not have much to offer, but she loves her cat enough to give away all of her most prized possessions. These include her teddy bear, her favorite kickball, and a silver locket that she was given by her mother.
8Cause Mama Murphy To Overdose
Giving Her Drugs To See Her Visions Eventually Leads To Her Demise
Most will come across Mama Murphy at some point when completing objectives for the Minutemen. She is an elderly lady who acts like a fortune teller and aids the Sole Survivor with hints in the form of visions induced by chems.
If the player gives her too many drugs in exchange for visions, she will die. Other NPCs even give warnings about the dangers of enabling her bad habits, but the player can ignore these and pump her full of recreational chemicals for tips and hints.
7Prolong The Suffering Of A Cyborg
Listen To Sierra And Force Bradberton To Live Longer
In Nuka-World, players can encounter Sierra Petrovita, who will tell the Sole Survivor about a possibly lucrative quest involving some fact-finding. Aftertediously searching Nuka-Worldfor letters to a secret password, the player and Sierra can enter a hidden area where they will find the creator of Nuka-Cola, Jon-Caleb Bradberton who is naught but a frozen head in a jar.
Bradberton has been conscious for 200 years and no longer wishes to be subjected to this horrible fate, so death would be mercy. He’ll ask the player to end his suffering in exchange for some great rewards but Sierra insists that he be kept alive so that she can spend time with him. Knowing this, the player can still keep him alive against his will in exchange for a unique article of clothing offered by Sierra.
6Convince A Scientist To Kill Himself
Refusing To Give Brian The Cure Is Utterly Heartless
Inthe Glowing Sea, the player can encounter a civil Super Mutant named Brian Virgil. The Solve Survivor can learn that Brian was once a scientistworking for The Instituteand can help the player break into it in exchange for a cure. Brian once hid a single dose of the cure for the kind of mutation he suffers from in The Institute and asks that the player retrieve it for him.
If one returns from the pristine labs, with or without the cure, they can converse with Brian. His mind is beginning to slip, and he will soon become a near-mindless monster like other Super Mutants. After hearing this, the player can imply that he should take the easy way out instead of letting himself descend into violent madness.
5Betray Kind Synths
While exploring Far Harbor, it is possible to encounter a faction ofpeaceful Synthsliving in an observatory. They have dubbed this structure Acadia and spend their time avoiding conflict with humans.
The Synths here express their enjoyment of their freedom and imply that being captured by The Institute would be their worst nightmare. As a vehicle for cruelty, the player can inform The Institute about Acadia’s existence, which will lead to the Synths there being captured and having their minds wiped.
4Send Settlers To Their Death
Fool A Group Of Survivors Into Being Devoured By A Cannibal
Also in Far Harbor, the player can pick up a quest from Small Bertha, who will tell of a lumber mill near Echo Lake covered in a foul fog and swarming with feral Ghouls. The Sole Survivor can accept the quest and clear the place of threats to make it a bit safer for settlers. Upon doing so, they will meet a madman named Malcolm, who turns out to be a violent cannibal.
Despite this, the player can arrange a deal with him where the Sole Survivor will send settlers to the mill and allow Malcolm to hunt, kill, and eat them at his leisure.
