Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT The rule of thumb seen in Amazon's television adaptation of Fallout is a unique way of determining the impact of a nuclear explosion. Since the highly-anticipated series was released on Amazon Prime Video on April 10, 1014, Fallout has quickly emerged as one of the best series of the year.
The Fallout mascot Vault Boy is the signature blonde-haired cartoon with a wide smile seemingly winking and holding up a thumb trying to encourage positivity and bright spirits. On the contrary, the thumbs-up emblem represents a much darker and more dubious intention, testing to see how close a nuclear mushroom cloud is.
Despite being a true American protocol response to nuclear warfare at one point, the nuclear rule of thumb theory is no longer supported or encouraged and has since become antiquated in modern society. For this reason and more, the nuclear thumb theory that inspired Vault Boy and is used by Cooper in Fallout should not be considered an actual rule for nuclear explosions.