Wendigo

Wendigos are cryptid creatures found in Appalachia in 2102.

Background
Wendigo is a mythical cannibal monster native to the northern forests between the Atlantic Coast and the Great Lakes region of North America. In post-apocalyptic West Virginia, the term is used to refer to a particularly terrifying humanoid monster lurking in the backwoods of the region. Few creatures, real or imagined, terrify West Virginians quite like the wendigo. Possessing alarming speed, razor-sharp claws and an insatiable hunger for raw flesh, it is truly the stuff of nightmares.

However, this monster is far from a myth. Wendigos are slender, tall creatures but they are usually slouching down or crouching. Their hands are exceptionally large with very long, skinny fingers and they are among the most vicious mutants in Appalachia, capable of closing distance and tearing enemies apart with high speed. Despite alleged pre-War sightings, it appears the population of wendigos in the region is descended from a banished head of the Gourmands, a cannibal raider tribe, who took shelter in the wendigo cave and was twisted by the radiation within into a mutant possessed by the darkest cravings.

Biology
Wendigos resemble gaunt, emaciated humanoids with ashy gray skin, long bony arms, a potbelly, a skull-like face topped with scant strands of long, stringy hair and mouths filled with long, jagged teeth. They have large claws on the tips of each finger while glowing variants look charred and glow green. They make a signature breathing sound when alerted and sound much like the rustling of dry foliage when moving.

They appear to have some sort of relation to feral ghouls, but the extent of such is unknown. They exhibit similar characteristics, such as radiation resistance, and appear to be neutral towards each other. There even appears to be some sort of symbiosis or cooperative hunting between the two, as feral ghouls are attracted to the wendigo's call, and a wendigo seems to summon them to help flush prey out or fight foes too strong for it to fight individually. Wendigos have an acidic bite. When the player character scraps a wendigo's teeth, they gain acid from them.

By 2103, certain wendigos had mutated into far more dangerous mutants, gaining two extra heads, extremely long legs and increasingly dis-proportioned limbs, becoming known as the "wendigo colossus."

Gameplay attributes
Wendigos are fast and can deal a large amount of damage in a very short amount of time. They get close and can be hard to hit without V.A.T.S. if using a firearm. Wendigos will not run away if the player character climbs onto objects or furniture but will continue to screech. During combat, wendigos may let loose a piercing shriek that doesn't damage the player character but will possibly attract a horde of feral ghouls to their location.

Though rare, one can occasionally witness wendigos perched atop tall and out-of-sight locations, which allows them to ambush prey. One such example can be seen with wendigos that perch on trees overlooking the central roads of the Mire.

At higher levels, wendigos will frequently appear as a boss-type enemy for groups of ghouls. They reliably drop up to eight loose screws, with a rare chance of dropping up to 11 screws.

Wendigo
The base variant of the creature, with most of the attributes described above.

Ravenous wendigo
A more powerful wendigo variant.

Glowing wendigo
One of the more commonly seen variants around the Mire, it is primarily black with a soft green glow. This variant also has a chance to spawn in a wendigo horde made up of two or three wendigos.

Scorched wendigo
A charred, fleshy wendigo with dark red eyes infected with the Scorched Plague. All regular wendigo variants have a corresponding Scorched variant with the same stats, abilities and items. They may become Scorched when attacked by scorchbeasts or the scorchbeast queen, becoming allies with other Scorched creatures.

Wendigo colossus
A three-headed, extremely tall wendigo in the add-on Wastelanders that is unlike any other variant. It is encountered only in nuclear blast zones, and is almost always accompanied by multiple glowing wendigos named "Wendigo spawn." The wendigo colossus's scream attack can send the player character running away without any control.

Locations

 * Up to three consistently spawn on the road south of Abbie's bunker, by the truck suspended by vines.
 * A wendigo can appear at the pylon ambush site.
 * A wendigo can appear in Willard Corporate Housing.
 * A wendigo can appear in the Garrahan Estate.
 * A wendigo can appear in Fort Defiance.
 * A wendigo can appear in the solitary confinement block of Eastern Regional Penitentiary.
 * A wendigo can appear in Haven Church.
 * A wendigo can appear in Lewisburg.
 * A wendigo can appear in Freddy Fear's House of Scares.
 * A wendigo can appear in the R&D section of Garrahan Mining Headquarters.
 * A wendigo can appear in Mountainside Bed & Breakfast.
 * A wendigo can appear in Big B's Rest Stop.
 * A wendigo can appear at KMAX Transmission.
 * A wendigo can appear at the Seneca Rocks Visitor Center.
 * A wendigo can appear at Watoga Emergency Services.
 * A wendigo can appear at Drop site C2.
 * Groups of wendigos can appear between the Whitespring golf club and a fissure site.
 * There is a possibility for a wendigo to spawn at Hawke's Refuge. It is one of three creatures that can spawn in a small cavern off of the main cave. The other creatures that may be found there are a withered feral ghoul or a putrid glowing one. It will always be one of these three.
 * Reliably found inside the wendigo cave.
 * One may be found along with a horde of feral ghouls at Firebase LT.
 * The Nightstalker (Legendary glowing wendigo) will always appear at the end of the One Violent Night event.
 * The wendigo colossus has a 1 in 15 chance to spawn when nuking any assault-type random encounter.

Challenges

 * Kill a wendigo in the wendigo cave (daily).
 * Take a camera picture of a well-fed player inside the wendigo cave (daily).
 * Possum: Photographer - Take a camera picture of a wendigo (lifetime).

Notable wendigos

 * Morris Stevens - The former leader of the Gourmands raider gang, devolved into the "progenitor wendigo" following his exile from the gang for eating fellow members.
 * Camp counselor Nia - A unique wendigo encountered during the Campfire Tales event.
 * Scott Conroy - A former cryptid hunter turned wendigo, found in the sunken remains of a church as a leveled diseased wendigo.
 * "The Nightstalker" - A legendary glowing wendigo that killed the Sons of Dane.

Appearances
Wendigos appear only in Fallout 76 and its add-on Wastelanders.

Behind the scenes
In Algonquin folklore, a wendigo is a malevolent spirit that is frequently associated with winter, coldness, famine and starvation. It possesses and transforms human beings who have committed sins such as selfishness, greed, gluttony, murder and especially cannibalism. The spirit then forces them to consume human flesh, turning them into a monster with an insatiable hunger for it. The wendigo is also part of the traditional belief system of many Algonquin-speaking cultures, such as the Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi and Innu peoples. Though the folklore among cultures varies somewhat, the wendigo is commonly seen as an evil, cannibalistic, supernatural entity.