Games and gaming - Game characters and worlds - Vault Boy - Thumbs-up gesture
Vault Boy smiles, winks and gives a thumbs-up. What was this famous pose originally meant to convey?
Correct!
A well-known fan theory claims that Vault Boy is comparing his thumb with a mushroom cloud: if the cloud appears smaller, a person is supposedly far enough away. According to statements by early Fallout developers, however, this was not the pose's original meaning. Vault Boy is simply displaying exaggerated optimism, as though everything were fine even during a nuclear catastrophe.
That contrast is exactly why Vault Boy suits Fallout so well: his carefree smile and Vault-Tec's upbeat advertising world stand against a ruined, radioactive wasteland. The popular mushroom-cloud theory was later even incorporated into the Fallout television series.
