Trog (Fallout 3)

Trogs is a common name for mutants that used to be human, but after the Great War slowly devolved into scampering troglodytes who fear the light. Similar to ghouls, some of them retained more of their humanity, like the ones in Hoover Dam, while others became more animalistic, like the ones in The Pitt.

Fallout 3 (The Pitt add-on)
There is a population of trogs in The Pitt - the ruins of what used to be known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Due to the town's infestation with the Troglodyte Degeneration Contagion, around 20% of the populace devolves to creatures crawling on all fours and attacking all surface-dwellers on sight; however, some of their idle chatter suggests that they still have some shred of humanity, such as thanking the player when they are killed. They are known to hunt in packs.

Appearance
Trogs appear as human shaped, with longer, more flexible arms and legs. They also appear to be skinless, with most of their body showing raw flesh and muscle rather than skin. In addition, if you shoot a trog's head enough, the cap of their head will fly off, as opposed to the entire head coming off, or their head exploding.

Behavior and attributes
All trogs share the same attack patterns. Some may sneak up behind the player, until detected, then they charge. Most just charge towards the player. Their speed is almost on par with the Capital Wasteland's Yao Guai running at full speed. To add to this, their first attack is usually an even faster leaping attack out of a sprint, which is very hard to evade.

As Trog packs usually circle their prey, slowly closing in, the player is often surrounded. Sometimes only their silhouettes are visible. Although Trogs are extremely photosensitive, the in-game Trogs in Fallout 3 will actively pursue the player through light and dark. However, they spawn only in darkened areas such as the Steelyard, Power Plant and Abandoned Apartments, not in lit places such as Uptown even though they are one door away from its streets.

Trogs are no more durable than standard humans - the basic Trog is on par with a basic Feral Ghoul, and even the powerful Trog Brutes and Savages are still only on par with standard Raiders in terms of health. However, they are much faster than normal humans, have fairly powerful melee attacks, and typically hunt in packs. Additionally, Trogs are usually fought while the player is poorly equipped, since the player's equipment is taken away upon entering The Pitt, and good weapons and armor can be hard to come by in The Pitt until the player finishes the Arena and enters Uptown.

Trog Fledgling
These Trogs are the smallest and weakest of the Trog family. However, they are still quite fast and may overwhelm an unaware player. Headshots from decent weapons are usually fatal. In fact, they are one of the weakest creatures in the game, on par with Bloatflys in terms of health and attack damage. Level 7 players and under will primarily encounter this type of trog. They are easily dispatched with a .32 pistol.

Trog
Regular trogs are most common on Normal difficulty. These are larger than Fledgling Trogs but are still vulnerable to headshots from high-powered weapons. In terms of damage and health, they're on par with Mole Rats or basic Feral Ghouls.

Trog Brute
Trog Brutes are the most common Trogs on Very Hard difficulty. They do not look much different from Trogs, but have more health. They will take more punishment than usual to put down. The same rule applies: target the head. The legs can be crippled to slow their attacks to a crawl, if a fight begins to get overwhelming. Trog Brutes are actually on par with mid-level Raiders and most standard human NPCs in terms of health, although their melee attacks are fairly powerful.

Trog Savage
These Trogs are the strongest Trogs in The Pitt. They are encountered rarely, but are essentially Trog Brutes with slightly more health. It helps considerably to bring a high-powered gun such as Lincoln's Repeater or the Blackhawk pistol. Although only slightly tougher than Trog Brutes, Trog Savages have powerful melee attacks similar in damage potential to those of Giant Radscorpions or Mirelurk Hunters.

Van Buren
The Trogs of Hoover Dam, while not pleasant to look at, are much more human than their Pitt counterparts. A Trog's skin is a dull yellow/white as is their hair (in the case of those Trogs who do have it) due to a deficiency of melanin. The trade-off is that their skin became thicker, making them more resilient to their hazardous environment. They are, however, very sensitive to light, a trait they share with their more animalistic brethren from The Pitt.

The Hoover Dam Trogs were nomadic at one time thanks to a cave-in at their previous dwellings. Before Dodge and his troops came to Hoover, Billy-Bob and his trogs took up residence in Baseline, figuring it was pretty secure from caving in. No one argued with the trogs, and when Dodge came to Hoover, he asked if they would help out Otto with the maintenance in exchange for food goods and water. The trogs accepted and have been content ever since to mosey around Baseline making sure every light was flashing correctly.

History
Before the Great War, there were hillbillies. These people lived far away from civilized folk and fended for themselves in the wooded mountains. During the war, a lot of hillbillies decided it might be a good idea to head for the nearest caves and wait out the fiery mushrooms. Since the hillbillies were far removed from a lot of the nuclear blasts and subsequent fallout, especially being holed up in caves, the hillbillies fared pretty well. In fact, the hillbillies took to cave dwelling so well, they made caves their permanent home. Over the course of a couple of centuries, the isolation from the light, combined with ever so slight radiation that drifted over the world and managed to seep into caves, caused the hillbillies to change a bit. So, when some of the hillbillies first ventured out from their cave dwellings after two-hundred years, it came as no surprise that they could not tolerate direct sunlight very well. Smarter folks who saw the hillbillies started referring to them as troglodytes, but since most people of the wasteland were more ignorant, the term "trog" became more accepted. Even the hillbillies referred to themselves as trogs.

Appearances
The trogs appear in The Pitt add-on for Fallout 3 and were to appear in Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios.

Behind the scenes

 * Their name, appearance and habits can be viewed as references to countless similar instances from literature, film, games, etc.
 * The word "troglodyte" refers to a singularly unsophisticated person (which seems to suit the Trogs well). Also, this is what Obidiah Blackhall means in "Point Lookout" when he calls you a troglodyte: he is referring to the meaning of the word and not to these creatures.
 * The word "troglodyte" also means "cave-dweller", which gives an explaination for their aversion to light.