There is also the fact that the husband recognizes Codsworth as I mentioned in my response to their post. It would make sense if the husband stashed his family somewhere safe and went out to get supplies, but if you can play a female, then it kind of disproves that idea since the wife should be taking care of the child. So the spouse and child must have left before the protagonist. The spouse could be dead, but I just don't see Bethesda creating a child based on the genetics of the husband and wife that you create just to kill it off. It is possible that there are 3 protagonists in the game where the husband, wife, and child are playable.

Already written - sort of.

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers.

Am I the only one who immediately thought Buck Rogers when the premise was introduced?

'Im freezing my ball bearings off'

You think the Sole Survivor is actually sole survivor? Hyping up all that "http://puu.sh/kd4if/3ce4f32a8b.jpg" nonsense, trying to make the player invested in the family in a cringe-worthy way only to have them all die in the vault? Well, it would be interesting, that's for sure. Or maybe BGS misuses the word "Sole" the same way they did with "Lone".

Yeah. I'm thinking everyone is dead (maybe by your hands?) and one of your tasks/objectives will be finding out who's in charge of vault tech.. (and maybe getting some revenge.) On the other hand it could be something else really creepy... like you are actually a descendant but instead of children growing up they are used as vessels to transfer the minds/memories of the original vault dwellers. Most likely none of this will be the case and it's the one idea everyone initially thought of but were too afraid to commit to because it was so easily guessable.. You are a Sim.. cyborg, robot guy.

I was under the impression you are the sole survivor of 111. Boston is full of people.

As others have said ghouls would be much more valuable if you use that as a basis as not only do some have knowledge before the bombs fell they also have knowledge of all the time between.

Well they did have telegraphy, railways and macadamised roads only decade after 1815. Hopefully our Georgian time traveller wouldn't be totally terrified by the logical advance of technology from his own era.

Now, for demonic monstrosities, imagine the Sole Survivor, a guy living more or less with the sensibilities of our own era, when he first comes face to face with a http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/b/bc/Centaur.png/revision/latest?cb=20110204015102.

Or maybe "...Honey?"

It would be much closer to someone from today going back back to 1815.

Speak for yourself as I've been a stern believer in the android theory since e3.

I'm 100% sure we are not? going to be the solo survivor of vault 111,
Since the baby of the protagonist is made to look something like us, why do that if the baby is only going to be in the first 5-10 mins of the game?

Unless, of course, the Wasteland is similar to the Internet; in which case everyone will tell him to "Shut the **** up", ask why they should listen to him, remarks like "lol u old br0"...

Maybe that isn't the only baby we meet in Fallout 4? Even if our child survived, we probably wouldn't meet him as a baby after the intro; and while it's possible, I'm not sure Bethesda would model and animate a baby with variable appearance just for the opening sequence. On the flipside, they did model a ton of pre-war assets that are presumably only seen in the intro... I just don't know. But seeing a few babies in the settled parts of the wasteland would be fine.

There is no telling what happens in the 'events' that 'transpire' between entering the vault and waking 200 years later. As far as we know the protagonist is separated from his family before he goes under.

Imagine, for example, that the part of the vault the protagonist enters is a sort of staging facility where citizens are put into cryofreeze then put on an underground train to be transported to a storage facility until they are awakened. The players family is frozen and shipped off, then the player is put into cryofreeze, but before he can be loaded and shipped another bomb hits and collapses the tunnel. When he wakes up he is the sole survivor of the facility but knows that his family was put under and shipped elsewhere and may still be there ... after all, he survived this long and they might have as well.

Protagonist, spouse, and Shaun enter Vault 111 with scientist and two other ex-Navy/Marines. Scientist gets trapped and killed in vault door area. Five remaining survivors enter cryo pods to avoid death by overpressure. Protagonist watches as pod containing Shaun and spouse fills up with cryogenic fluid, effectively 'drowning' them prior to stasis kicking in. Protagonist's pod then starts filling up and he/she blacks out. Cut to 208 years later (June 21st 2285), and protagonist wakes up choking on cryogenic fluid as his/her pod empties. They quickly search for something to change into to replace their freezing cold and soaking wet clothes (specialist training on avoiding hypothermia), hence them wearing the rubberised Vault 111 suit upon leaving. The pod containing their spouse and child is no longer inside the vault, and the other two occupied pods are non functioning and now contain skeletons. There is a locked and sealed hatch inside the vault which refuses to open. An audible alarm, as well as flashing lights and a voiced notification lets our protagonist know that there was a system failure inside the vault. After a quick search, they find a 10mm pistol and some ammo, and on the way out they pick up the Pip-Boy. As the blast-doors open above them, the pressure drop causes them to catch their breath. They must now try and find out what happened to their family, starting at their former home which is on the same plot of land as the vault. The Groundskeeper's Log seems to have been last updated by none other than Codsworth, so maybe he knows something about what is going on.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Maybe we're just using the words wrong.. You're not the "Sole Survivor." You're the "Soul Survivor. " You've come out of the vault carrying the souls of everyone who died in the vault.. and you have to deliver their souls to death.. Death of course is now running a nightclub and won't accept the souls until you do him a solid by reconciling God and Satan's relationship.

The SS doesn't have a clue what has happened. He doesn't know how much time has past(200+ years) and nothing about his family. The wife and child never make it into the vault. That is why he is the only survivor. You WILL see the child again, more than likely a ghoul.

If any thing it would be the reverse.

The SS doesn't have the 200 years worth of resistance built up by the survivors including resistance to any bio weapons released during the great war.

Wow, this is an amazing topic with some amazing theories as to the Sole Survivor. I am torn between a couple of the really good ones, and I'll be the first to admit that I am not the best at speculation, but am leaning toward s/he being ex-military. I think their military training will play a big part and I do hope we find our family alive at some point in the story.

But I absolutely cannot wait to play this game and put my poor little mind to rest.

There was a speculation that Vault 111 opens its vault and releases its dwellers into the wasteland in batches.
Your wife and child could be one of the earlier ones to be released first and you are probably the last one to be released.

The whole goal of FO4 could be to locate your wife and child. (They could be alot older then you now. Or dead)

Just pure speculation, but personally I think its rather believable.

That would go against what we've been told about the game...being the sole survivor, not simply the last remaining survivor.

of course it wouldn't be the first time Beth lied about something like this. You were born in a vault. The vault hasn't been opened for 200 years. Seems to me that wasn't misleading advertising, but outright lies.

I'm hoping that what Beth says this time, isn't yet another lie, and being the sole survivor is exactly that.