I nearly quit watching Fallout because of this one detestable character

Let’s get this out of the way first. I’ve only played Fallout 3 in the series, and I went into the TV show knowing nothing more than the vaults, the factions where you have to pick the best out of many evils, giant cockroaches, messed-up experiments, and the legend that is House. When I started the show a week ago and watched the season two finale yesterday, I had a gnawing thought that bugged me the entire time—like I was being pestered by my very own post-apocalyptic cockroach.

Why am I suffering through hours of a show that contains one of the worst characters ever written?

Spoiler warning for seasons one and two of Fallout.

The manchild, the questionable myth, the lackluster legend. Screenshot via Prime Video (YouTube)

For a show that has its set of terrible characters (and not in the badly written sense), you’d think we have the pick of the bunch when it comes to who’s the worst. But, like with My Hero Academia, Naruto, Demon Slayer, Batman: The Dark Knight, and The Silence of the Lambs, the villains in Fallout are significantly more interesting than the heroes. The main reason I stuck around was for what I consider the show’s greatest mystery: where are Barb and Janey Howard? Sure, the Ghoul is an anti-hero himself, but he’s far more nuanced and grounded, much like The Last of Us‘s Joel Miller.

Please, give me anything else that isn’t THIS FLASHBACK. Screenshot via Prime Video (YouTube)

But when it comes to abysmal characters, look no further than Maximus. Part of the Brotherhood of Steel and a victim of the Shady Sands massacre, Maximus has a childlike innocence as he navigates the Wastelands, looking for a place to call home. His story, much like Lucy MacLean’s, demonstrates his naivety and how his environment can brainwash him into false ideologies. Lucy grows up kind, but it’s at her own detriment inside the unforgiving Wasteland, where people will do anything to survive. Meanwhile, Maximus’s childlike wonder makes him easily the most malleable (even though he’s an adult who’s seen endless violence).

She had to pick someone, I suppose. Screenshot via Prime Video (YouTube)

When it comes to character development, Maximus is a repetitive slog of a man who wants to be a hero. He continuously makes mistakes, can barely comprehend differing opinions, and is rarely punished for his actions. His story is very much about being knocked down and getting back up, but only rare moments act as low or turning points for him. His backstory in season one consists of the same flashback on a loop, as it reminds you he was a child when his parents were killed and his home bombed, who looks up to his savior, a Knight. Of course he’d want to become one.

But his actions are far from those of a man deserving of knighthood. This is likely the point of his arc, for the Brotherhood has its own twisted idea of power and that none are deserving of it. The show frequently brings up the question of who should be in charge of infinite power, and Maximus arrives at the conclusion that it’s Lucy. But his childish nature would give the Cold Fusion to any Vault 33 dweller for they too were brought up like Lucy (too kind for their own good)… though Lucy has big doe eyes and a carefreeness about sex, so for Max, she automatically wins.

I’m not sure what she sees in him, and in all honesty, how does he get the girl?

Running away from character development. Screenshot via Prime Video (YouTube)

Maximus is a grown child and pawn to the Wasteland, who is continuously put in positions of power and has no clue what to do in them.

A character only strong in armor, Maximus hasn’t really changed from his first season onwards. Lucy has been stripped of her humility, having everything she knew about the world eradicated by the surface she dreamt of visiting, and has now become a survivor. We can see how Cooper Howard has changed over the 200 hundreds when comparing his past to his life as a Ghoul. But what about Maximus? His story almost follows the rags-to-riches formula and initially felt like comedic relief before Thaddeus replaced him.

So what’s next, and will we get actual development for his character, or will he remain a sulking, one-track-minded bit of a loser? Am I alone in my dislike for this man, that I almost quit the show when he gorged on popcorn and caviar in Vault 4 after ignoring Lucy’s gut feeling that something’s wrong?

Oh, it’s just me? Okey-dokey.