If the words "another settlement needs our help" sounds familiar, then the Minutemen of Fallout 4 have successfully made themselves into one of the most iconic factions in the Fallout franchise. These patriotic fighters are perhaps the first people that the Sole Survivor will encounter upon wandering into the wilds of the Commonwealth, only to be invited into their ranks.
Although annoying with their never ending quests, the Minutemen are a unique faction that does good for the sake of goodness, without favoring anyone in particular. Open-minded and welcoming pretty much anyone with open arms, they're a faction with a difficult past riddled with tragedy and internal power struggle.
10 Anyone Can Join
One of the best features of the Minutemen has to be just how inclusive they are. Anyone is welcomed by the Minutemen into their ranks, because above all their faction is based on charity and voluntary help. Those wanting to help people, ghoul or human, are always wanted in its ranks.
Moreover, age doesn't seem to be a problem either for its members. Preston Garvey himself began fighting for the Minutemen when he was only seventeen years old, which in the age of a post-nuclear apocalypse is probably acceptable, but still insanely young.
9 Faction War With Brotherhood
There's two factions that the Minutemen might find themselves at odds with: the Institute, depending on the choices of the Sole Survivor, as well as the Brotherhood of Steel. The Institute is pretty much a given, unless the player chooses to side with the Institute and spare it from a nuclear explosion.
However, the Brotherhood doesn't always turn automatically hostile towards the Minutemen. Only if the Sole Survivor becomes an enemy of the Brotherhood will the Minutemen choose to attack the Prydwen.
8 Always Friendly
Of all the possible factions that the player can join, the Minutemen is probably the one with the most wiggle room. Even if the player joins other factions and sides with them from an ideological point of view, the Minutemen aren't likely to turn against them.
This makes them the friendliest faction of all the available ones. Though they might be annoying at times, they'll never turn the player down.
7 Inspired By A Real Faction
The Minutemen wasn't from just anything. It's actually based on a real group of people that once existed during the American Revolution. The idea behind the real faction was pretty much the same: being able and ready to defend citizens of America "at a minute's notice".
These were usually not professional soldiers, but rather locals who were trained and who had sworn to protect their people with their lives against the British.
6 Appear Only In Fallout 4
While most of the other major factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, the Railroad and even the Institute have made themselves more than well-known in previous games of the franchise, the Minutemen are a bit of a unique case. This is actually their first appearance in the entire series.
Although it's unclear when Fallout 5 will come out, it could probably be deduced that the Minutemen will see a similar faction added into a Fallout game in the future, or even a continuation of their story.
5 Defended Diamond City
The Minutemen might not seem like much at the beginning of Fallout 4, but they were once a pretty cunning bunch. In fact, these people were so powerful and well-organized that they were able to defend Diamond City, the biggest settlement in the Commonwealth, from a super mutant attack.
This is what made them so well-known and popular at the time, and it gave them all the bragging rights initially, before they were faced with their inevitable downfall.
4 The CPG Massacre
If anyone ever needed further proof that the Institute was absolutely vile and evil, this is it. At the peak of the Minutemen's power, the Commonwealth's settlements attempted to form a provisional government with each of their representatives gathering for negotiations.
This would have been a huge step towards organizing humanity post-bomb. However, the Institute put an end to this attempt by having a synth slaughter every participant, which led to the Minutemen choosing to discontinue any talks.
3 Loose Ranking
Although the Minutemen do use military rankings and wording to define one another's position in a hierarchy, they're still a very loosely organized group of people. The General is always the most high-ranking member of the group, but after that everyone is often seen as almost equal.
This is a totally different system compared to the rigor and strictness of the Brotherhood of Steel, for instance, which has very specific rankings and a highly organized environment with superiors and inferiors.
2 The Fate Of The Castle
In Fallout 4, the Castle is one of the central arenas during the main quest and the Minutemen quest. It not only has to be defended against an Institute attach, but it also has an entire quest dedicated to securing it from a bunch of Mirelurks that have started infesting it.
The fact that taking the Castle over is even possible is all thanks to General McGann, who set up a security perimeter and drank himself to death in the cellars of the castle, to preserve the armory. His sacrifice was almost necessary, as it allows the Sole Survivor to restore pretty much the crown jewel of the Minutemen back to its previous state.
1 The Quincy Massacre
So what exactly made the Minutemen lose their influence and grow weak, as the player finds them at the beginning of Fallout 4? The loss of the Castle and the CPG massacre aside, another event put a serious dent into the faction's pristine history: the Quincy Massacre.
When a traitorous Minuteman, Clint, joined the ranks of Gunners after being frustrated by the power struggles within the Minutemen, the Gunners attacked Quincy and effectively took over the entire settlement. The Minutemen, nearly entirely destroyed, were forced to retreat, having lost their most valuable settlement.