Walton Goggins’ Fallout character might have actually appeared in the games, at least according to this fan theory

Fallout fans have spotted a new similarity between a Fallout: New Vegas character and one of the leads of the TV show, and now we can’t unsee it. 

Walton Goggins’ The Ghoul isn’t based on any one character in the Fallout franchise, but some viewers have wondered if we may have encountered him before. Posting on Reddit, one player pointed out that Goggins’ Cooper Howard, who worked as an actor in westerns in flashback scenes, seems an awful lot like Victor. 

The Securitron AI is a mainstay of Fallout: New Vegas, appearing as a cowboy-like image on the security bots across the Mojave Wasteland in 2281. The resemblance between the two is pretty uncanny, to start with, and some other fans have chimed in with their own theories about just how they might be linked and calling it their new headcanon. "Fuck it. People sell their likenesses all the time. That’s a great Headcanon," wrote one, while another added: "That’s… the best series theory I’ve heard so far!"

In fact, one theory even suggests this may actually be Cooper Howard, and it’s all down to Matt Berry’s character, Sebastian Leslie. In a flashback scene during episode six, Leslie tells Howard that Vault-Tec paid him to voice their Mister Handy series of robots. This is why he’s the voice of Codsworth elsewhere in the series. Given that Howard seemingly worked with Vault-Tec several times, could he have done the same thing?

"Cooper could have pursued this line of work, and Robert House (founder/owner of RobCo, among other things) certainly had the capital, as well as the social connection to Cooper through Sebastian/RobCo, to hire Cooper to do the voicework for Victor in his typical western character. Cigarette and all," one fan suggests, and it makes a lot of sense.

Given that the season one finale seemingly set up New Vegas as a big location for Fallout season 2, this has left us wondering if a season two mash-up might be on the way. It would certainly be a lot of fun for Goggins to voice Victor if we met him in the show, and even better if we saw him encounter the robot as The Ghoul. Make it happen, Prime Video.

For more on Fallout, check out our spoiler-filled guides to:

• Fallout TV show
• Fallout release schedule
• Fallout season 1 review: "A big Vault Boy-style thumbs up"
• Is the Fallout TV show canon? Here’s what Bethesda’s Todd Howard and the showrunners have to say
• Fallout season 1 ending explained: Hank, Bud’s Buds, and *that* finale location
• When does the Fallout TV show take place on the series timeline?
• Will there be a Fallout season 2?
• All of the Fallout Easter eggs we spotted in the TV show
• Fallout’s finale may have just answered the centuries-old mystery behind who started the nuclear apocalypse